"Yo~ Looks like we're actually going to meet the mighty Greymon after all, Suguru!"
Satoru rolled up from the ground, brushed off imaginary dust, and grinned arrogantly.
"You really should learn how to show some respect. That's Master Tengen you're talking about, the one who's lived for over a thousand years and maintained Japan's barrier all this time."
Suguru sighed helplessly. His friend's way of talking never changed. It was also why he and Utahime could never get along.
"And what about you, newly promoted special grade sorcerer? Don't you have any thoughts about meeting the greatest barrier master in history?"
Beside them, Mei Mei crouched down and poked Mukuro, who was still lying on the ground under the dim glow of dusk.
"What's there to think? You might as well ask him how he feels about meeting the strongest sorcerer in history—"
Bang!
Just as he sat up and said that proudly, Masamichi's iron fist of discipline slammed down on the top of his head.
"Teacher Yaga is as strict as ever~" Mei Mei chuckled softly behind her hand, watching him take the hit.
"Alright, I'll leave things here to you all. Don't worry, I'll cover all the expenses myself," Masamichi said simply before getting into the car with the three boys. Soon, the vehicle disappeared down the road, leaving only the five girls behind.
"By the way, Mei-san, you've known that Fushiguro guy for quite a while, right? Has he always been like that?"
Utahime glanced at her as the sunset stretched long across the ground.
The youngest special grade sorcerer was flashy like Satoru, but at least he wasn't unbearable. Unlike Satoru, he used polite speech when needed and never mocked those who worked hard yet couldn't reach the level of geniuses.
At the very least, he was a not-so-awful kind of awful person.
"People born strong tend to be strange in one way or another," Mei Mei replied. "That's why slow birds like us have to work even harder so we don't get left behind."
As the sun slowly dipped below the horizon, she turned back toward the group with a polite smile.
"Let's go."
* * *
Elsewhere.
By the time Masamichi and the others returned to Jujutsu High, night had already fallen.
Since Satoru and Suguru were originally assigned to escort the Star Plasma Vessel to the Tombs of the Star Corridor, they knew the way without difficulty.
They took the elevator down to the deepest part of the complex, passed through a long corridor, and arrived at the inner sanctum: Master Tengen's domain.
The place was almost completely white.
"So this is the interior of the Tombs of the Star Corridor? There's nothing here at all…"
Satoru muttered as he looked around curiously like a kid who'd never seen the world before. But apart from the whiteness, there was nothing else in sight.
"It seems Master Tengen has sealed this area off." Suguru spoke up, his tone serious. "In other words, he's refusing to see us."
As one of the few who actually paid attention in class, Suguru's knowledge of the jujutsu world was nearly encyclopedic.
"Master Tengen, we—"
"I already know."
Before Masamichi could even begin explaining their purpose, an aged voice sounded throughout the chamber.
Then came the sound of footsteps.
A being with four eyes and a body shaped like a human-sized thumb appeared from nowhere and stood before them.
"T-That's… Master Tengen…"
Even though Masamichi had prepared himself mentally, the strange sight still left him speechless.
"Don't mind my appearance," Tengen said gently, scratching his head with a finger. "I understand I must look rather unusual to you."
There was no trace of authority in his tone. Instead, he sounded like a kind old man.
"Pfft! hahaha! A thumb! He's literally a big thumb!"
Satoru burst out laughing, holding his stomach as his voice echoed in the empty space. The way Tengen scratched his head, like a little finger rubbing a big one, was just too funny for him to handle.
"Satoru! That's rude!"
"It's fine." Tengen raised a hand to stop Masamichi's ready-to-strike fist. "Children should be lively. There's nothing wrong with that."
Looks didn't matter to him. After a thousand years, he had long forgotten whether he was once male or female, or what he had originally looked like.
"Master Tengen, may I ask… why do you look like this now?" Suguru asked carefully, still using polite speech.
A vein bulged on Masamichi's forehead. Even with formality, the question sounded disrespectful.
"If your body could live for five hundred years, child, you'd also look like me," Tengen answered patiently.
"Hahaha! Hey, Suguru, why don't you live five hundred years and see if you turn into a big thumb too?"
Satoru leaned against Mukuro's shoulder, laughing so hard he could barely stay upright at the image in his head.
"Satoru, you little brat, that's enough!"
The punch landed squarely, and both Satoru and the innocent Mukuro, who hadn't even spoken, ended up with matching lumps on their heads.
"Now then, let's get to the point. I already know you deliberately let the Star Plasma Vessel go."
Not giving Masamichi a chance to say a word, Tengen spoke first. Since all of Japan's barriers were built upon his foundation, everything within them fell under his awareness. And because the incident happened within the Tombs of the Star Corridor, there was no way he wouldn't know.
"Well… that was my fault. Because of my poor supervision, the students disrupted your merging process…"
Seeing no other way, Masamichi took responsibility himself.
"Hey, teacher, that's not right." Mukuro stepped forward, hands in his pockets. "We made that choice. No one else should take the blame."
"Yeah, for once, I agree with this idiot," Satoru added, stepping forward as well.
"Count me in too." Suguru walked up beside them.
The three stood shoulder to shoulder before the living fossil of the jujutsu world.
"You kids…" Masamichi sighed, unable to say more.
"Actually, I don't intend to blame you," Tengen said as he slowly sat down. "Though the future is uncertain, for now, I still have a bit of humanity left in me."
When he merged with a Star Plasma Vessel, he also absorbed their memories. Their regrets were nothing compared to his long lifespan, but those brief decades were still entire lives to them.
Every time Tengen spoke, he sometimes felt their voices mixed with his own, gentle reminders that he had taken their lives away.
"Then, Master Tengen, you—" Masamichi began, but Tengen cut him off.
"I plan to evolve. Maybe that's a better path forward."
He had finally made up his mind to take the road he'd never walked before.
"You've got to evolve into a MetelGreymon, Master Tengen!" Satoru shouted, completely unserious as usual.
"…"
Mukuro and Suguru exchanged a look, both dark-faced and speechless.
"The future's in your hands now, young and powerful sorcerers." Tengen smiled at them.
What was expected to be the start of a great conflict within the jujutsu world ended quietly in a simple conversation…
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