Three days had passed since the catastrophe in Tokyo. Three days since Sukuna took Megumi.
The location for the unsealing was a desolate mining field, chosen for its emptiness. The air was crisp, carrying the scent of pine and impending disaster.
Shin stood in the center of the clearing, placing the fleshy, eye-covered cube—the "Back" of the Prison Realm—onto the dirt. He backed away slowly, joining Yuji, Maki, and Hana behind a makeshift barricade of stacked boulders and sandbags some fifty meters away.
Shin dusted his hands off, looking at the excessive fortifications.
Shin: "Is this really necessary? We're treating him like a bomb."
Maki adjusted her grip on the Split Soul Katana, her eyes fixed on the box.
Maki: "We have to assume the worst. We don't know if he'll come out sane or insane. For us, it's been 19 days since he was sealed in Shibuya. But inside that thing? Time doesn't exist. To him, it could've been a second, 19 years, or a hundred years."
She looked at Shin, her expression grim.
Maki: "If his mind is broken, we might have to fight Gojo Satoru and Ryomen Sukuna at the same time to stop this madness."
Yuji swallowed hard, looking at his hands. He was missing a finger, but his eyes were determined.
Yuji: "If he is crazy... could we take him on?"
Shin leaned back against the rock, crossing his arms. A dry, humorless smile touched his lips.
Shin: "Nah, I'd lose."
Maki ignored the quip.
Maki: "Plus, that Prison Realm could be serving as a pressurized tank. The moment Gojo is free, his Cursed Energy could decompress violently and level the entire area. Brace yourselves."
Hana stepped forward. She looked pale, the bandages where her arm used to be stark white against her uniform. The Angel took control, her aura flaring.
Angel: "Ready."
She raised her remaining hand toward the sky.
Angel: "Jacob's Ladder."
A pillar of divine light descended from the heavens, engulfing the Prison Realm. The sound was deafening—a high-pitched choir of destruction that vaporized the dirt and stone around the artifact. The light blinded them, forcing everyone to shield their eyes.
Then, silence.
The light faded. Smoke drifted across the crater.
The group peeked over the barricade. The Prison Realm was gone. But the crater was empty.
No Gojo. No Six Eyes. Just scorched earth.
Shin stared at the empty spot, his jaw dropping.
Shin: "Oh my god. Hana killed Gojo."
Whack.
Maki smacked the back of Shin's head with the flat of her hand, hard enough to make a hollow sound.
Maki: "Knock it off. He's not dead."
Shin rubbed his head, wincing.
Shin: "Well, he isn't here, is he?"
Later That Day – Jujutsu High, Tokyo
Seeing as the unsealing had technically "worked" but failed to produce the sorcerer, the group had no choice but to retreat. They headed back to the rendezvous point at Jujutsu High to link up with the others.
The mood in the room was heavy. Hours had passed.
Panda and Yuta Okkotsu greeted them at the door. Yuta looked exhausted, his dark circles prominent, but he offered a small smile of relief to see Maki and Yuji alive.
As everyone sat down in the faculty lounge to debrief on the failed unsealing, the floor suddenly lurched.
Rumble.
It wasn't a normal earthquake. The windows rattled in their frames. The tea in the cups on the table rippled violently. It felt like the atmospheric pressure of the entire country had just dropped.
Yuta stood up instantly, his hand going to his katana.
Yuta: "That's not seismic activity. That's Cursed Energy."
Maki: "It's massive. Something huge just clashed."
The group tensed, weapons drawn, expecting an attack. But then, as quickly as the shaking started, it stopped. A familiar, overwhelming presence washed over the room. It wasn't malicious. It felt like the sun coming out from behind a storm cloud.
The door to the lounge slid open.
Gojo Satoru stood there. He was dusty, his uniform slightly rumpled, but he looked exactly the same as he had in Shibuya. He strolled in, hands in his pockets, radiating an aura of absolute invincibility.
Gojo: "Yo. You guys been well?"
The silence in the room was absolute. Yuji's legs gave out, and he slumped back into his chair.
Gojo lowered his blindfold—or rather, he wasn't wearing one. His Six Eyes scanned the room, taking in every injury, every scar, and every missing person.
Gojo: "You guys don't look too good. You've been through the wringer, huh?"
Yuji looked down, his voice cracking.
Yuji: "Sensei... we lost Megumi."
Gojo's smile didn't falter, but the temperature in the room dropped ten degrees.
Gojo: "I know. I saw him."
Shin: "You saw him?"
Gojo: "I warped to Kenjaku to kill him. Sukuna was there. He's wearing Megumi like a suit. We... exchanged pleasantries."
Gojo walked over to a chair and sat down, crossing his long legs.
Gojo: "Listen up. I couldn't kill him right there. Kenjaku has weird binding vows involved, and Sukuna is... well, he's Sukuna. So, I made a date."
Maki: "A date?"
Gojo: "December 24th. Christmas Eve. That's when we settle this. The final battle. I need you guys to get ready, too. We're heading back to Jujutsu High properly to train. We have one month."
Gojo paused, his eyes drifting to the corner of the room where a man with strange markings on his face was weeping silently with joy.
Gojo: "By the way... who is that?"
Everyone turned to look at Choso.
Yuji scratched his cheek, looking awkward.
Yuji: "He's... uh... my brother."
Gojo blinked. He looked at the Death Painting Womb, then back at Yuji. He grinned.
Gojo: "...Nice to meet-cha, Yuji's brother!"
Choso burst into tears, clenching his fists in triumph.
Choso: "YUJI! HE ACKNOWLEDGED ME!"
The tension in the room broke slightly. The absurdity of the situation—the end of the world looming, yet they were all together—brought a strange sense of calm.
As the group began to pack up, moving toward the exit to head to the training grounds, Shin lingered by the door.
Shin: "Oh! By the way, Sensei."
Gojo stopped, looking back over his shoulder.
Gojo: "Hm?"
Shin kept his voice casual, as if discussing the weather.
Shin: "I killed all of the Higher Ups. The conservative elders? They're all dead. I slaughtered them a few days ago."
The room went dead silent. Panda dropped his water bottle. Yuta's eyes went wide.
The shock of Shin's confession hung in the air like smoke. "I killed all of the Higher Ups."
Yuta Okkotsu was the first to react. His eyes widened, his hand instinctively tightening on his katana before relaxing. He looked at Shin, then at Gojo, trying to gauge the morality of the situation.
Yuta: "Shin… you assassinated the council? When?"
Shin shrugged, leaning Playful Cloud against the wall. He didn't look remorseful. He looked bored.
Shin: "While you guys were busy in the colonies. They were blocking the release of the Prison Realm. They were conspiring with the Kamo clan to keep the status quo even if the world burned. So, I walked into their chamber and removed the obstacle."
Maki let out a short, sharp scoff. She smirked, crossing her arms.
Maki: "Efficient. They were rotting wood anyway. I would have done it myself if I wasn't busy in Sakurajima."
Gojo laughed. It wasn't his usual loud, boisterous laugh. It was low, vibrating with a dangerous kind of satisfaction. He walked over to Shin and slapped him on the back—hard.
Gojo: "You saved me the trouble! I was planning to wipe them out the moment I got back. Good initiative! I like you already."
Gojo's visible eye—the vibrant, crystalline blue of the Six Eyes—bore into Shin. The smile on Gojo's face didn't fade, but his gaze sharpened into something clinical. Analytical.
Gojo: "But… walk with me for a second. The rest of you, head to the training grounds. Shoko is waiting to patch up the survivors."
The group dispersed, leaving Shin alone with Gojo in the dimly lit hallway.
Shin felt a bead of sweat roll down his back. Being under the gaze of the Six Eyes was like standing naked in front of an X-ray machine. Gojo hummed, walking circles around Shin.
Gojo: "Shin Zenin… Shin Zenin…"
He tapped his chin, looking at the ceiling.
Gojo: "I've been to the Zenin estate a hundred times to annoy those old geezers. I've seen Maki, I've seen Mai, I've seen Naobito… but I don't have a single memory of you."
Shin kept his face neutral.
Shin: "I was a nobody. I stayed in the background."
Gojo stopped walking. He leaned in, his face inches from Shin's. The air pressure in the hallway grew heavy.
Gojo: "That's the thing. My Six Eyes don't miss 'nobodies.' Even if you were weak, I would have seen your flow. But looking at you now? It's disjointed."
Shin's heart skipped a beat.
Gojo: "Your body is young. It's a Zenin body, definitely. High physical specs, Heavenly Restriction leaning. But your soul?"
Gojo pointed a finger at Shin's chest.
Gojo: "Your soul is older. It's worn. It doesn't match the container. It's like someone shoved a size 10 foot into a size 8 shoe."
Shin stiffened, gripping his staff tighter. Gojo had figured it out in less than a minute.
Gojo: "You're an incarnated player, aren't you? Like the ones Kenjaku made."
Shin exhaled, realizing there was no point in lying to those eyes.
Shin: "Something like that. But I'm not with Kenjaku. And I'm definitely not with Sukuna."
Gojo stared at him for a second longer, then shrugged, the terrifying pressure vanishing instantly.
Gojo: "Eh, I believe you. If you were with them, you wouldn't have killed the Higher Ups to help unseal me."
He leaned back against the wall, grinning.
Gojo: "But here's a warning, 'Shin.' Keep your distance from Angel. Her technique, Jacob's Ladder, extinguishes reincarnated players. To her, you're in the same category as Sukuna. If she realizes your soul is 'foreign,' she might try to purify you. And unlike me, she won't ask questions first."
Shin nodded slowly. That explained the lingering stares he felt from Hana earlier.
Shin: "Understood. So, what's the plan for the next month? We can't beat a 20-finger Sukuna with just push-ups."
Gojo grinned, the terrifying aura returning.
Gojo: "We're going to cheat."
November 20, 2018 – The Training Grounds
The "Cheat" was revealed the next morning.
The group—Yuji, Yuta, Maki, Hakari, Panda, Inumaki, and Shin—were gathered in the dojo. Standing next to Gojo was a small, blue-haired boy in a suit, looking incredibly bored, and a tall woman with a massive axe.
Mei Mei and Ui Ui.
Gojo: "To catch up to Sukuna in one month, normal training won't cut it. We need to improve your barrier techniques, your domain countermeasures, and your basic reinforcement instantly."
Yuji: "How?"
Ui Ui stepped forward. He didn't speak to them directly; he spoke to his sister.
Ui Ui: "Sister, shall I explain the technique to the monkeys?"
Mei Mei: "Go ahead. Time is money, after all."
Ui Ui: "My Cursed Technique allows for the swapping of souls. We can swap your souls into different bodies. For example…"
He pointed at Yuji and Kusakabe (the sword master).
Ui Ui: "If we put Itadori's soul into Kusakabe's body, Itadori's body will remember the muscle memory of high-level sword arts and Simple Domain usage. It bypasses the learning curve."
Shin raised an eyebrow.
Shin: "Muscle memory transference via soul swapping. That's… disturbingly convenient."
Gojo: "We can only do it twice per person before the soul loses its shape. So we have to choose carefully. Yuji, you're swapping with Kusakabe to learn barrier techniques. Yuta, you're swapping with Gojo—me—to learn better efficiency."
Gojo turned to Shin.
Gojo: "Shin. You're a special case. You have zero Cursed Energy, like Maki. Soul swapping won't help you learn techniques because you can't use them. But… your physical body needs to push past its limit. You need to stop holding back because you're afraid of breaking yourself."
Maki stepped forward, spinning her spear. She looked at Shin with a predator's grin.
Maki: "He's sparring with me. No techniques. No swapping. Just brutality. We're going to see which Heavenly Restriction breaks first."
Shin looked at Maki. She was a demon. A scarred, physical monster who had wiped out an entire clan. And she was smiling like she wanted to tear him apart.
Shin cracked his neck, picking up Playful Cloud.
Shin: "Bring it on, princess."
December 24, 2018 – Shinjuku
The month passed in a blur of violence and sweat.
Shin stood on the roof of a skyscraper in Shinjuku. The winter wind was biting, but he didn't feel it. He wore a modified version of the high school uniform, reinforced with cursed tools woven into the fabric.
He felt different. Heavy, yet weightless. The sparring with Maki had sharpened his senses to a razor's edge. He could hear the heartbeat of the pigeon three streets over. He could feel the shift in air pressure as clouds moved. He had truly stepped into the realm of a monkey.
Below them, the city was empty. The civilians had been evacuated. The stage was set.
Gojo Satoru stood at the front of the group. He was stretching, looking completely relaxed.
Opposite them, floating above the ruins of a tower, stood Ryomen Sukuna. He was still in Megumi's body, but the transformation had progressed. He looked older, sharper. And standing beside him was Uraume and Kenjaku.
The final battle was here.
Gojo turned to his students one last time.
Gojo: "If I lose…"
Yuta: "You won't."
Gojo smiled.
Gojo: "If I lose, jump in. Don't hesitate. Shin, Maki, Yuta, Hakari. Use everything you learned. Kill him."
Gojo stepped off the ledge, floating into the air to meet the King of Curses.
Shin tightened his grip on his staff.
Shin: "Let's get to work."