(Pov Satoshi)
It had been a few days now since I retrieved the prison realm box from Kenjaku. At the time, I was confident that I had won and we could prevent the culminating games entirely. I had been wrong: Kenjaku had known I would likely steal the prison realm, so he had placed a seal on it. None of us could open it, and the inventory worm was still hibernating and recovering. I had been forced to borrow one of Maki's cursed tools, a long-handled warhammer. So I had been unable to access the Inverted Spear to force it open and free Satoru.
Things had been relatively stable at least since the end of the battle, as without Suguru's body to store curses, Kenjaku couldn't unleash as many on the city. Still, though, he had recruited more curse users than I had expected, and the fear they were causing was giving rise to more cursed spirits.
There was also the small factor that the higher-ups decided I had somehow turned traitor and set a bounty on me. I suppose they had just been waiting for an opportunity to do so, given their dislike of Satoru and me. It may have had something to do with the blatant disregard for their wishes and desires in all aspects, though I doubt the vandalism helped.
Either way, I was technically a wanted man, though I doubt there's anyone dumb enough to come after me. That didn't mean I was going to let this stand, though. Once I was certain that my students could handle the issues lingering in Shibuya, I was going to beeline right to the higher-ups' office of weird screens.
It shouldn't be too hard, at least I thought it shouldn't. Nanami was still alive, and very few other members of either school suffered any serious injury. Not to mention Suguru was here, and he was his own army, given the number of cursed spirits he had consumed. Things should have been fine, emphasis on should have.
Turns out Naobito, the head of the Zenin clan, had still shown up and managed to mess up even worse this time. Instead of just losing an arm to Dagon, he lost nearly half his torso and didn't survive the night. That had been part of the reason the higher-ups put such a high bounty; they thought I had killed the guy for some reason. I had honestly been hoping he'd survive the incident because getting the Zenin clan to help out would be much easier if he were in charge. Sure, he was an abrasive drunk, but he knew when to call it.
Now the likely options were all insane traditionalist freaks, and only one of them would even consider someone like me to be worth talking with, and I did not want to talk with Naoya. I also wasn't thrilled at the prospect of a clan massacre, though that was mostly just laziness; killing that many people usually just creates more problems later.
It was as we were cleaning things up across the streets of Shibuya when the first challengers began appearing. While many seemed to understand that I could and would win any fight with them, some still insisted that, without cursed energy, I couldn't win. So the bounty hunters came, some working directly for the Jujutsu Headquarters, others just opportunistic curse users, all of them a pain in my ass.
The first one was some random guy, I think his name was Takeshi or something. He tried ambushing me, but couldn't get close enough before I noticed him. He didn't last too long after that. More came after, and more died, though not all. I tried letting some go, hoping they'd relay how useless it was, but if they did, it didn't stop the others.
They even started targeting my students in an attempt to force me to surrender, but they never got far that way either. It was at the end of our time in Shibuya, though, when the big guys came out to play.
We were just about to clean up and make plans to return to Jujutsu High and talk with Tengen. They needed protection, and they needed to tell the others what Kenjaku had done and what the new barriers were doing. Before we could leave, though, multiple presences made themselves known, many carrying strong, cursed energy levels.
When I finally found them, I saw three leading figures I recognized well. An older man with his hair pulled back into a traditional topknot and wielding a katana at his side. A middle-aged man with a beard and a large, unruly mane of hair, he carried no weapon, but his body was strong. Last was a man my age with a smirk on his face and dyed-blonde hair.
They were the three highest-ranking members of the Zenin clan now that Naobito was dead. Zenin Ogi, the brother of Naobito, had the technique Blazing Courage and used it with his katana and the secret clan art Falling Blossom Emotion to create deadly flame attacks. Zenin Jinichi was Toji's brother and had the technique Missile Fists, allowing him to form large fists of cursed energy and launch them like missiles. Lastly, Zenin Naoya was Naobito's son. He had inherited his Projection Sorcery he also looked up to Toji and admired his strength despite the lack of cursed energy.
Behind them and to their sides were a large number of other figures, likely members of the Zenin clan's military units, the Hei and Kukuru. Whatever they planned, they were serious about it, given the amount of firepower they brought with them. Just then, Ogi began speaking, his creaking voice carrying across the street.
"Gojo Satoshi, for crimes against Jujutsu society and the murder of our former clan head, Zenin Naobito, you have been sentenced to death! Accept your punishment, and we shall leave your students to be judged by the proper authorities!" He called out, causing the members around him to assume a fighting stance—all except for Naoya, who seemed almost annoyed at being here at all.
"This seems a little excessive, don't you think?" I called out to them, tightening the grip on my cursed tool.
"Cease your insolence, you fool! Your crimes are obvious, and your resistance shall only cause further suffering! Surrender now!" Ogi yelled once more.
'These guys don't know when to quit,' I thought to myself. I had wanted to avoid this, but it seems the world decided I don't get what I want. Now I'm going to have to kill a whole clan.
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Sorry for the late update, but I was hanging out with my family because of the holiday. Not a big chapter, mostly set up for the big fight next time, so see you next week.
If you enjoyed, please leave power stones or comments.