Satoru Gojo grabbed Shin and teleported them directly to a sprawling, traditional estate hidden deep within the mountains.
Gojo casually kicked the wooden door open and strolled inside.
As soon as they crossed the threshold, Shin heard the harsh, raspy voice of an elderly man.
"Gojo, you are late!" the voice barked.
Shin glanced around the dimly lit hall. He could not see a single person. He was surrounded by pale shoji screens, the voices of the elders echoing from safely behind the paper walls.
Gojo shrugged indifferently.
"Sorry about the delay," Gojo declared, sounding completely unapologetic. "I ran into a Special Grade Cursed Spirit on the way. Unlike you cowards who hide behind paper doors all day out of fear, I actually have real work to do."
A heavy, suffocating silence fell over the room.
After a long pause, the voice of another elder broke the silence. He sounded so weak he was practically at death's door.
"Kagura Shin," the elder rasped. "We received reports that you can manifest a Domain Expansion and utilize it proficiently in combat. Is this correct?"
Shin nodded silently to confirm the claim.
"Furthermore," another frail voice chimed in. "Our investigations suggest your Cursed Technique possesses healing properties similar to the Reverse Cursed Technique. Is this also true?"
"That is correct," Shin answered simply.
A flurry of furious whispering erupted from behind the paper screens.
Shin had no idea how the elders were communicating or what they were debating. However, after a painfully long wait, Gojo and Shin were finally dismissed.
Once they were safely outside the estate, Shin looked at his teacher in complete confusion.
"Gojo-sensei, did we really just come all the way out here to answer two questions?" Shin asked. "They didn't even ask me to prove my abilities in actual combat."
Gojo curled his lip in disgust.
"One of the conservative higher-ups possesses a Cursed Technique that acts as an absolute lie detector," Gojo explained. "Once you answered their questions truthfully, the verification was complete."
Gojo sighed heavily.
"The atmosphere in that room is absolutely revolting. It feels completely lifeless and devoid of any vitality."
He fell silent for a moment, looking back at the pitch-black estate. He then turned to Shin as they walked down the mountain path.
"They are nothing but a bunch of rotten oranges desperately clinging to power," Gojo muttered. "As long as they are in charge, the Jujutsu world will remain stagnant. They refuse to adapt, completely rejecting modern Cursed Techniques while obsessively elevating classical ones."
Gojo gestured emphatically.
"You actually have an upperclassman named Kinji Hakari. He was suspended from Jujutsu High simply because the elders deemed his Cursed Technique too 'new' and unorthodox for their archaic standards!"
Gojo shoved his hands into his pockets.
"I used to think about just assassinating all the higher-ups," Gojo admitted casually. "But what good would that actually do? Without fresh blood to replace them, the next people to take the seats would just be more rotten oranges."
He smiled, looking up at the moon.
"That is exactly why I chose to become a teacher. As long as I raise enough strong, talented students, I can foster a generation capable of overthrowing these rotten oranges. My students are going to reset the Jujutsu world and make it strong again!"
Gojo patted Shin on the back.
"Sorry for making you listen to my rant, Shin. Let us head back to campus. Fushiguro and the others are still waiting for us!"
Gojo teleported them directly back to the Tokyo Jujutsu High training grounds. Under the heavy moonlight, they found Megumi, Yuji, and Nobara sprinting laps around the track, heavily reinforcing their bodies with Cursed Energy.
A singular, shared resolve burned in the hearts of all three first-years.
I refuse to cause any more trouble for Gojo or Shin! I have to get stronger. I will never be a burden in a fight again!
Meanwhile, on the other side of Tokyo, Jogo had been unceremoniously dumped into Dagon's aquatic Domain by Hanami.
Kenjaku and Mahito lounged comfortably on beach chairs. Mahito took one look at Jogo's battered, bruised, and exhausted state and burst into cruel laughter.
"Oh, Jogo!" Mahito mocked gleefully. "Didn't you brag that you were going to twist Satoru Gojo's head off and use it as a soccer ball? How exactly did you get beaten this badly? Hahahaha!"
Jogo ground his teeth together but remained entirely silent.
What was he supposed to say? Was he supposed to admit that he never even forced Satoru Gojo to use his Cursed Technique? Was he supposed to admit he got beaten into submission by a teenager in black armor?
Even though Jogo kept his mouth shut, someone else was happy to supply the humiliating details.
Kenjaku sat up from his beach chair and smiled.
"You misunderstand the situation, Mahito. Jogo wasn't severely injured by Satoru Gojo. He only took one punch and one kick from him. The vast majority of Jogo's injuries were inflicted by the boy named Kagura Shin."
Kenjaku paused for dramatic effect.
"Oh, by the way, Kagura Shin is still just a first-year student. I believe he is only officially ranked as a Grade 2 Sorcerer right now."
Kenjaku and Mahito both erupted into uproarious, mocking laughter.
Jogo gnashed his teeth so hard they audibly cracked. If he were not currently suffering from Cursed Technique Burnout, he would have exploded the entire beach.
"Shut up and stop laughing!" Jogo roared. "Kenjaku, what the hell is the deal with that Kagura kid? My Cursed Technique had absolutely zero effect on him!"
"Ah, I don't know the full extent of his abilities yet," Kenjaku admitted. "I do know he uses his Cursed Energy to manifest real-world items for combat. It operates similarly to the Construction Technique, but his creations immediately vanish once they exceed a specific distance from his body."
Kenjaku tapped his chin thoughtfully.
"Because of that strict distance limitation, his Cursed Energy consumption is drastically lower than standard Construction. Furthermore, he utilizes strange potions to apply strengthening and weakening effects. To put it in modern terms, it is exactly like applying buffs and debuffs in a video game."
Kenjaku smiled darkly.
"I don't know the official name of his technique. However, I did recognize the hand sign he used to deploy his Domain Expansion. It mimics the posture of God creating Adam from the Book of Genesis. It represents the creation of life and the world itself. Perhaps the boy views himself as both God and Adam—both the creator and the ultimate beneficiary."
Kenjaku looked around at the blank stares of the disaster curses.
"Why is everyone so quiet?" Kenjaku sighed. "Oh, you curses must not have read the Book of Genesis. My mistake. I forgot I was dealing with illiterates."
A long, heavy silence fell over the curses.
Finally, Mahito broke the quiet.
"Speaking of plans... wasn't our main goal to resurrect Ryomen Sukuna? Now that Jujutsu High has two absolute monsters guarding the vessel, how are we ever supposed to capture Yuji Itadori?"
Kenjaku smiled, his eyes narrowing. "You don't need to worry about that. I have already formulated a plan. When the time comes, you just need to execute your roles perfectly."
Time flew by. The second-year students finally returned to Jujutsu High from their extended missions.
Gojo happily handed the physical training of the first-years over to the senior students. This freed Gojo and Shin up to handle high-level exorcism missions across the country.
During these travels, Shin took the opportunity to quietly execute his own master plan. He preemptively raided the Eishu Juvenile Detention Center and the Yasohachi Bridge, securing both hidden Sukuna fingers before any major incidents could occur.
Shin immediately locked the deadly artifacts inside an Ender Chest.
Go ahead and try to resurrect, Sukuna, Shin thought smugly. Once I secure the remaining five fingers stored inside the Jujutsu High vaults, I am locking them away forever. I would love to see what the King of Curses can accomplish when he is permanently capped at eleven fingers!