Several more days passed in the blink of an eye.
After settling the matter of the Simple Domain, Mukuro temporarily returned to Tokyo so he could deal with any incident together with that white-haired man the moment it appeared.
One evening, inside the large apartment near Tokyo Jujutsu High that Mukuro had bought during his student days.
"If every day could stay this peaceful, that would be nice. Once Megumi and Itadori grow up, we might be able to retire soon…"
Nanami leisurely brewed a cup of coffee and leaned back on the sofa, letting out a rare sigh. A newly opened book lay beside him.
This was a side of him that only appeared in front of Mukuro and Haibara.
In this rapidly digitizing era, he still loved the feel of a physical book in his hands. Yet because of the nature of his job, even after a long stretch of time he could only read a few pages.
Every time he stopped just as he was getting into it, it left him with a hollow, hungry feeling.
"Once Sukuna's matter is resolved, the jujutsu world will probably go through a complete reshuffle," Mukuro replied from across from him.
And in truth, that was exactly what he believed.
Sukuna's revival had been decided the moment Satoru was born. It was a matter of balance between the positive and negative sides of the world. With or without Yuji as the vessel, the King of Curses would return in some form.
But this was already the peak of the last thousand years.
Once Sukuna died, this struggle for balance would come to an end. The next time a curse user or cursed spirit of that level appeared would only be after their era of strength had ended, after they had all died of old age and the balance reset.
Bzzz! Bzzz!
While the two men were talking, Nanami's phone suddenly vibrated.
"Nanami-san! Fushiguro-senpai should be with you, right? It's an emergency!"
Ijichi's panicked voice came from the other end.
"Hmm?"
After a brief exchange, they roughly understood the situation.
For several days in a row, people had been holding Halloween cosplay events around multiple exits of Shibuya Station. And tonight, something had happened.
About an hour ago, a curtain with a radius of four hundred meters had been dropped, centered on the Tokyu Department Store branch nearby. Thousands of civilians were trapped inside.
More importantly, the curtain did not block the Windows from entering or leaving. In other words, it only restricted ordinary humans, and that binding greatly strengthened the curtain.
According to the investigation, the people inside were shouting, "Bring Satoru Gojo here."
Based on the danger assessment, the incident had unquestionably reached special grade. It was extremely dangerous.
The higher-ups decided that Mukuro and Satoru would enter and exorcise the cursed spirits as quickly as possible, while Nanami and the other sorcerers guarded the exits of Shibuya to prevent any cursed spirits or curse users from escaping.
This plan had been finalized in an emergency meeting to avoid heavy casualties.
"So it's finally here…"
What surprised Mukuro was that Kenjaku still dared to make a move while fully aware that both he and Satoru were in Tokyo.
"Overtime again…"
Even though he had done nothing all day, it was already past working hours. The resentment of a salaryman like Nanami visibly rose, and along with it the cursed energy around him began to swell.
"Let's go. After we deal with this, I'll treat you to a late-night meal. How about a trip together in a few months?"
Seeing how tired his friend looked, Mukuro walked over and squeezed his shoulder as he spoke.
"We'll talk about it later."
A trip…
He wanted to go too. But he had to take care of his students first. As a proper sorcerer and a teacher at the school, strict self-discipline was necessary.
Bzzz! Bzzz!
Right as the two were about to leave, the phone in Mukuro's pocket started vibrating.
"Fushiguro, something's happened in Kyoto!"
Utahime's anxious voice came from the other end.
* * *
More than ten minutes later, near Shibuya Station.
"Hurry up and bring Satoru Gojo here!"
A man was smashing his fists against what looked to them like a transparent wall, shouting at the top of his lungs.
"Satoru Gojo? Who's that?" some confused onlookers asked.
"How should I know? Someone just said that if we bring Satoru Gojo, we can get out!"
The man spoke with terror in his eyes. He had just seen it. Near one side of the station entrance, a violent gust had suddenly appeared out of nowhere. Then like a bathtub with the plug pulled, it sucked everyone outside in as if they were water.
Right now, he only wanted to escape.
"Hmm?"
At that moment, the white-haired man with the blindfold stepped into the curtain. Looking at the packed crowd, he felt the situation was a little different from what he had expected.
"Sorry, make a little space."
Although he said that, he had no time to care about the civilians. Stepping into the air, he rushed toward the area where the cursed energy was the densest.
* * *
Ten minutes ago, underground.
"Looks like he's taken the bait."
Kenjaku looked at his phone and smiled as if everything had gone exactly as planned.
"So what now? You're sure that thing will work, right?" Jogo sounded uneasy.
"It'll be fine. Two special grade sorcerers are still too much for us. I don't even know whether Mukuro Fushiguro has any teleportation ability. Let's treat it as a gamble."
Would it succeed?
Even Kenjaku could not be certain.
He only knew that if he missed this perfect vessel for Sukuna, he might never get another chance. If the vessel died of old age, who knew whether Sukuna would disappear with it? He had no patience to wait for another ally of that level.
And this body he was using was already that of an old man. No one knew how long it could last.
"I'll leave the rest to you. Wear him down properly. We have plenty of hostages and subordinates."
Kenjaku turned and left with a wave of his hand, leaving the train tracks to Jogo and Hanami.
* * *
Back in the present, Satoru descended from above.
"Only you two? There should be other curse users too, right?"
He landed on the railway, the Six Eyes beneath the blindfold scanning in every direction, but he didn't sense any other cursed energy.
Instead, beyond the doors and railings blocking his view on both sides… there seemed to be a large number of humans.
**
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