Chapter 59 – The Forced Recall of 2.5 Gojō Satoru
Megumi glanced at Yuji, his tone steady.
"I'll have my uncle protect you."
After spending the day with him, Megumi had already decided — It wasn't right for Yuji to just be executed. It was far too unfair.
At this point, he could only leverage connections to try and sway the higher-ups.
There were only two people who could actually make that happen: his homeroom teacher Gojō Satoru, and his uncle Zen'in Shinsuke.
With Gojō out of the country, that left only one option.
"…Thanks, Megumi."
Yuji still couldn't understand why everyone wanted him dead, but if someone was willing to protect him, wasn't that basically a lifesaver?
---
Two days later, Megumi brought Yuji to Jujutsu High right on schedule to handle enrollment.
"Yuji Itadori, right? Come with me."
Shinsuke eyed him with mild irritation.
This was supposed to be Gojō's job, but the guy had conveniently skipped town.
"Oh, okay."
Yuji looked around curiously, then asked,
"Uh, Mister, Megumi said I might get the death penalty. Is that… true?"
"You're currently the vessel of Ryōmen Sukuna, the King of Curses. By all rights, the higher-ups shouldn't allow you to exist.
But considering how rare Sukuna's vessel is, they've decided to let you ingest all twenty of his fingers before killing you, thereby erasing the King of Curses completely."
Of course, that "decision" only existed because Shinsuke had personally threatened them.
Otherwise, those old men would've executed Yuji without hesitation.
"So I'm dead either way, huh?"
Yuji let out a breath, then grinned faintly.
"At least this way I die for something. That's not so bad."
"…Wait. Twenty fingers? I'm not about to eat his toes, am I? No way I'm doing that."
Yuji froze at the thought. Ten fingers made sense — but toes too? The idea made him queasy.
"Sukuna, the King of Curses, had four arms. Twenty fingers.
Who in their right mind would turn toes into cursed objects?"
"Haha… fair enough. That's a relief." Yuji chuckled nervously.
"Hey, Mister, are there really that many curses out there?"
Even now, his understanding of curses was still fuzzy.
Shinsuke gave him a quick rundown of curse basics.
Just then, a mouth opened on Yuji's cheek, its tone dripping with arrogance:
"Hey, sorcerer. Care to make a deal?"
Slap.
"Sorry, Mister," Yuji winced. "Sometimes this guy pops out on his own."
Though Sukuna couldn't seize control of his body outright, he'd occasionally emerge like this.
"Oh? And what kind of deal?"
Shinsuke's lips curled slightly. He was curious what the so-called King of Curses would propose.
"Restrain this brat and let me take over completely," the mouth on Yuji's hand said, voice laced with 'sincerity.'
"In return, I'll give you the chance to follow me."
Pffft.
"Hahahahaha…" Shinsuke burst out laughing.
"Didn't expect the King of Curses to be so entertaining. You almost sound human."
"Unfortunately, I'm no sorcerer — just an ordinary man. Take your offer to that white-haired guy instead."
"…I see. Fine. I'll remember you."
Sukuna marked Shinsuke in his mind. Someday, he would make this "ordinary man" pay for the insult of calling him human.
He was the King of Curses — four arms, two faces.
He may have once been human, but he despised being called one.
"Uh… Mister, is this guy really that strong?"
Yuji didn't actually know how powerful Sukuna was. But the title "King of Curses" said a lot.
"He's strong," Shinsuke replied casually. "Back in the golden age of jujutsu, all the sorcerers combined still couldn't defeat him.
Even after death, no sorcerer in later generations has ever managed to destroy his fingers."
Yuji's expression stiffened.
"What if I eat all twenty fingers and then lose control? Is there anyone who can stop him?"
Yuji was already thinking ahead, worried about what might happen in the future.
Shinsuke said calmly,
"Relax. You need to understand—right now, in the jujutsu world, there's someone called the strongest sorcerer. If it comes to it, he'll step in."
"Really? The strongest sorcerer? What's his name? Can I meet him?" Yuji's eyes lit up with curiosity.
"You'll find out soon enough. He'll also be your teacher. His name is… 2.5 Gojō Satoru. Don't forget it."
"…2.5 Gojō Satoru? What kind of weird name is that?"
Before Yuji could question further, they had already arrived at Principal Yaga's office. The room was dimly lit, only a few candles flickering in the corners.
"Principal Yaga, the kid's yours now. I'll leave the rest to you."
Shinsuke gave Yuji a wry smile.
"Do your best to pass the evaluation."
Then, without another word, he stepped outside and closed the door behind him.
"Eh? Mister?" Yuji turned around, but his escort was already gone. Left alone, he looked around nervously until his eyes landed on the man at the desk, busily sewing a small doll.
"Hello! I'm Yuji Itadori!"
Yaga paused his stitching, lifted his head, and gave Yuji a steady look.
"So you're the one."
"Why do you want to come to Jujutsu High?"
---
About half an hour later, Yuji staggered out of the office, sporting a few bruises.
"Looks like you passed."
Megumi leaned casually against the doorframe.
"Megumi! You're here? Where's Mister?"
"It's Professor Zen'in," Megumi corrected with a sigh, then turned to lead the way.
"Come on. I'll take you to the dorms."
His expression was full of annoyance—clearly, once again, he'd been stuck with all the grunt work.
"Oh, o-okay!"
Not long after, Yuji arrived at his room. His eyes widened in delight.
"Whoa! This place is awesome—it's a single room!"
Megumi explained, "Most of the second- and third-years are out, so the place feels empty. Even if they were here, there aren't that many of them. Anyway, I'm next door. Call me if something comes up."
"Got it!"
Excited, Yuji began unpacking, slapping up a poster of his favorite woman on the wall, then carefully arranging his things. Tomorrow, he'd start learning how to use cursed energy and begin the search for Sukuna's fingers.
---
The next morning—
Yuji awoke to find two towering men standing in his room.
"Holy crap! Mister!? And, uh… who's this guy?"
The sudden sight nearly made him jump out of bed.
"This," Shinsuke said with a smirk, "is the one I told you about yesterday—the strongest sorcerer alive."
Introduced with clear emphasis, the tall man at his side was none other than Gojō Satoru. Shinsuke had spent the previous night forcing him to cut his trip short and come back—there was no way he was going to let Gojō treat a work trip like some vacation.
"Oh! So you're Professor 2.5 Gojō! Nice to meet you! I'm Yuji Itadori!"
Yuji straightened up instantly, his eyes gleaming with admiration. This was the man who could fight Sukuna head-on. Whether Yuji succeeded or failed from here on out depended on him.
"…What 2.5 Gojō? I'm Gojō Satoru, your jujutsu teacher."
Gojō rubbed his chin, giving Yuji a long, assessing look. His expression turned puzzled.
"Well I'll be… he really did merge with Sukuna."
He had thought Shinsuke just dragged him back out of spite, annoyed he'd taken time off. But no—this time, the bastard was telling the truth.