After a long while, Masamichi finally spoke, his voice still deep, but seemingly with less of the initial scrutiny and more of an indefinable quality, "An interesting answer. Curiosity, the exploration of truth, and vigilance for one's own safety... these motives aren't exactly common among Jujutsu Sorcerers."
He didn't offer an immediate evaluation.
"However, it's not enough." Yaga's voice echoed in the room filled with plushies, carrying a weathered hardness.
"The self-preservation, revenge, and curiosity you speak of... these are just motives, the triggers for stepping into this world. But a true Jujutsu Sorcerer needs more than that. You don't yet have the resolve to stake your life, struggle for survival in despair, and still choose to move forward when facing a Cursed Spirit."
"Resolve?" Eriri repeated subconsciously, the word sounding distant and heavy.
"Correct." Masamichi slowly stood up, his burly frame bringing an even greater sense of pressure.
"Becoming a Jujutsu Sorcerer means stepping onto a path where there is no life without regret. You will see death that is more common and more cruel—ordinary people, even low-grade Jujutsu Sorcerers, wiped away silently like weeds by curses, dying without value and without anyone knowing. When you know this fact and find that you possess the meager power to change it, what will arise in your hearts?"
His sharp gaze swept over the three. "Will you turn a blind eye and continue to look out only for yourselves? Or will you be tormented by the guilt and powerlessness of 'knowing you could have done something'?"
"But if you choose to step forward, what you must carry is the risk that you yourself might become one of those nameless corpses in the next second. Kindness and power, on the path of a Jujutsu Sorcerer, often mean more pain and loss. What we call Jujutsu Sorcerers are, more often than not, a trade where you watch 'good people' constantly get hurt and die."
"Do you have the mental preparation for that? Or do you only intend to learn enough to protect yourselves and then turn a deaf ear to the screams outside the walls?"
This naked and cruel interrogation caused even Megumi's calm face to show a slight ripple, and Eriri bit her lip hard.
Utaha felt her throat go dry. The scene Yaga described wasn't fiction, but the blood-soaked reality of this dark world.
She thought of the Cursed Spirit Sukuna had easily crushed before—behind those spirits, were there also unknown souls who had been killed by them?
All three were good people, so they would naturally face the dilemma Masamichi described.
Just then, a sudden change occurred.
Beside Masamichi, a green-skinned Kappa-styled plushie with a plate on its head that had been sitting quietly suddenly had a strange red light flash in its button eyes.
Its body, filled with soft fabric and cotton, moved without warning. With a speed and ferocity completely at odds with its cute appearance, it lunged from the table like a cannonball, shooting straight at Utaha, who was standing at the front.
"Huh?!" Eriri let out a short cry of surprise.
"!" Megumi's pupils shrank slightly.
'So they actually move."'
The thought only had time to flash through Utaha's mind as the Kappa plushie, carrying an ominous surge of Cursed Energy, was already right before her eyes. Its open mouth revealed "teeth" filled with cotton, aiming for her face.
Her physical instinct made Utaha want to retreat or block, but her reaction speed was far slower than this sudden attack from the Cursed Corpse.
However, at that critical moment—
Utaha's hands, as if possessing a will of their own, suddenly rose with speed and precision far exceeding her usual physical limits. Her left hand firmly and accurately grabbed its round body the instant the Kappa Cursed Corpse was about to hit the tip of her nose. The powerful impact caused Utaha's arm to shake slightly, but the hand gripping the Cursed Corpse remained motionless.
It was Sukuna!
In that instant, he had taken over control of Utaha's hands. But strangely, his signature mouths and eyes didn't appear on Utaha's cheeks, as if he had only precisely funneled his consciousness into the nerve endings of her arms to perform a swift, silent intervention.
Then, an even more stunning scene occurred. The left hand holding the Kappa Cursed Corpse swept downward, while the right hand, like a basketball player, coordinated with the left's movement.
Smack!
It slammed the still-struggling Kappa Cursed Corpse, which was trying to bite, onto the solid floor.
Thud!
The Cursed Corpse hit the ground but it was clearly no ordinary doll, it wasn't damaged by the single strike. Instead, it struggled even more violently, its Cursed Energy fluctuations becoming increasingly frantic.
Sukuna seemed to find it amusing. Controlling Utaha's hands, he held the Kappa Cursed Corpse and began to dribble it on the floor like a real basketball, hit after hit, neither too light nor too heavy.
Thud... Thud... Thud...
The rhythmic sound of the dribbling echoed in the silent Principal's office.
Each time the Kappa Cursed Corpse bounced off the floor, it was caught firmly by the other hand and slammed down again.
All its struggles and attacks appeared laughable and futile in the hands of the girl, which seemed slender yet contained absolute power and control.
The scene was bizarre beyond words—a fierce Cursed Corpse was actually being used as a stress-relief toy.
Satoru whistled from the side, his face practically saying "I'm just here for the show."
Masamichi's gaze behind his sunglasses focused sharply on Utaha, especially on her hands. He could feel that the precision and power of Cursed Energy control that erupted in that instant was definitely not something Utaha herself could possess.
It was Sukuna.
But he could actually control specific limbs so finely without revealing other features?
This level of control, as well as that ease and even playful attitude...
"Did you see that?" Masamichi's deep voice rang out again, breaking the bizarre "dribbling" sound.
His gaze swept over the shaken Eriri and the alert Megumi, finally landing on Utaha.
"This is the gap in power, and the most realistic reaction when facing a sudden threat. Without preparation, without resolve, in the face of true danger, even self-preservation can be a pipe dream—if not for that tenant inside you who just happened to control your hands."
"And after possessing power..."
He looked at the Kappa Cursed Corpse that was being used as a ball representing a "threat," his tone deep.
"Is it like this, treating it as a toy to be played with at will, or realizing that every such toy could represent the despair and death of ordinary people, and thus bearing that weight? This resolve is the key that distinguishes a 'person with power' from a 'Jujutsu Sorcerer'."
Following his words, Utaha felt her hands lighten as control quietly returned and she subconsciously let go.
Clatter!
The Kappa Cursed Corpse fell to the ground, rolled twice, the red light in its eyes extinguished, and it turned back into an ordinary, slightly crumpled plushie, just a bit dusty.
The room was dead silent.
Utaha looked at her hands that had just easily subdued the Cursed Corpse. There was no joy in her heart, only a cold chill.
She had borrowed Sukuna's power, but this power did not belong to her. And the question Masamichi posed, about "resolve" and "guilt," weighed heavily on her heart, as well as on Eriri's and Megumi's.