The crimson light of Red faded away and the world fell silent once more.
Natsume stood calmly in the middle of the purified ruins. The air was as fresh as the sky after rain, scrubbed clean of every trace of filth and curse. Yet in his eyes, the end of one battle usually meant the beginning of another problem.
His pale blue Six Eyes did not relax for a moment. At terrifying precision, they parsed every faint, almost invisible wisp of cursed energy that still lingered in the space around him.
Very soon, he caught it.
That familiar, greasy thread of cursed residue, steeped in malice and mocking playfulness. It slithered through the air like a viper lurking just beneath the surface of dark water. The main body had long since fled, but it still left behind a scent, the distinct "smell" of the same curse user.
From the "Hasshaku-sama" that attacked Sawamura Eriri, to the artificially birthed "mother of curses" in this shrine... both pointed straight at the same hand behind the scenes.
It seemed he had turned this entire region into a breeding ground for curses.
Natsume analysed quietly in his heart.
If I do not drag him out soon, the peaceful daily life I want will only drift further and further away.
Just as he was about to expand his search range and trace that faint residue back to its source...
Clap, clap, clap.
A light, almost frivolous applause rang out behind him, from the direction of the rotten torii gate.
"Impressive, really impressive."
A figure had appeared there at some unknown point. Leaning against the decayed wood, he spoke in a tone like a connoisseur admiring a painting.
"Your control over Blue's gravity is so smooth, and your use of Red's repulsive force is refined to the extreme. Yuu, your understanding of Limitless keeps surprising your teacher."
He was a man whose height bordered on absurd, with wild white hair shining in the sunlight. He wore a fitted black Tokyo Jujutsu High uniform, but his upper face was entirely covered by a black blindfold, leaving only a straight nose and lips that always seemed to curve in a playful smile.
His appearance came with no warning at all. It was as if he had been standing there from the very beginning, or as if he had simply stepped out of the seams between spaces.
The Hōzuki sisters jumped at the sudden intrusion. Yashiro instinctively tightened her grip on the crowbar and shifted into a guarded stance.
Natsume, however, did not even bother turning around. His expression did not show the slightest surprise.
He only let out a soft, helpless sigh.
"Gojo-sensei."
He called the newcomer's name in a tone that sounded faintly tired.
As a nominally enrolled student of Tokyo Jujutsu High, Natsume could not be more familiar with the man in front of him.
The strongest modern sorcerer. The acknowledged ceiling of power in the Jujutsu world... Gojo Satoru.
Also, at least on paper, his "teacher."
Natsume understood very well. To completely cleanse the shrine, he had just used both Blue and Red in succession. The resulting surge of cursed energy was like a searchlight in a dark night. To someone who also had Six Eyes, it was impossible to miss.
In the end, he had still attracted the most troublesome person possible.
Gojo took a few lazy strides, his long legs eating up tens of meters in an instant. In the blink of an eye he was standing right in front of Natsume. He bent down so low that the blindfolded face was almost pressed to Natsume's, and asked in a tone dripping with curiosity.
"So, Yuu, have you had enough of your little 'ordinary person experience game' yet?"
He straightened up, lifted a finger, and wagged it lightly.
"There are mountains of missions waiting for you back at the school, you know. So end this boring vacation of yours and come back with me right now."
His voice sounded like he was "discussing" things, but the attitude was pure order.
"I refuse."
Natsume's answer was so crisp that even the air seemed to freeze.
He did not even look at Gojo's face. Turning away, he said quietly, "Gojo-sensei, I am pretty sure I already said this clearly. I did not come to Sobu High on vacation. I transferred here. I am very satisfied with my current life. I have no intention of going back."
Toward this bottomless "teacher," Natsume did not feel the slightest respect. He knew all too well what kind of man hid behind that lazy, carefree mask. And he had read more than enough posts and stories online about Gojo's various disasters. Staying around someone like that was the fastest way to have his life swallowed by endless trouble.
"Huh?"
Gojo seemed genuinely taken aback by how blunt the rejection was. The brows hidden under the blindfold practically twitched.
"Satisfied? With this kindergarten life of playing house with normal people every day? Yuu, are you sure your brain is working properly?"
The smile drained a little from his lips. His tone sharpened.
"Do not joke around. You know better than anyone that the 'windows' have been detecting cursed energy residue at abnormal levels. Across the whole country, the number of special grade curses being born has already blown past previous years combined. The Jujutsu world is critically short on manpower. Every special grade sorcerer is crucial. Someone at your level has no right to sit here and enjoy some fake peaceful daily life."
"That is Tokyo Jujutsu High's problem. It has nothing to do with me."
Natsume's answer stayed cool.
"You..."
Gojo almost looked amused by his attitude. He circled Natsume once, as if trying to spot a crack somewhere.
"I really do not get you. You have the same Six Eyes as me, the same Limitless, and your control over Limitless at your age is even more polished than mine was. With talent like yours, you should be standing at the very peak of the Jujutsu world. Why are you so obsessed with this fragile, boring 'everyday life'?"
Natsume did not respond immediately.
He lifted his gaze past Gojo's shoulder, toward the distant outline of the city.
There were tsundere heiresses clumsily trying to show their gratitude, airheaded girls who were finally smiling because they had found something to rely on, lonely children who had at last found companions, and an ice queen who had just escaped a curse and now faced the future in confusion.
Those were what he should be dealing with.
Maybe...
He dropped his gaze back and met the invisible stare behind Gojo's blindfold.
"Maybe it is precisely because I have seen the 'peak' too clearly," he said, calm as ever, "that I have learned to long for the view at the foot of the mountain."
The world of sorcerers was anything but peaceful. And ever since he met Itadori, Gojo would eventually fixate on taking on Ryomen Sukuna at full strength.
The thought alone made Natsume sigh in quiet exasperation.
He was exhausted with that endless loop of battles in his past life, all for some so-called "greater good." Exorcise one curse and another appeared. Save one group and another group fell into danger. That road was paved with blood and sacrifice and had no visible end.
This time, he wanted to live for himself.
To use these eyes to see the sights he wanted to see. To use these hands to protect only the people he wanted to protect.
"Still makes no sense to me."
Gojo seemed to give up on persuading him. He shrugged, slipping back into that flippant posture.
"Whatever. You are as stubborn as ever. Just remember this. Things are going to get rough. Do not overplay your little everyday-life act and wind up dead, my adorable student."
With that, his body vanished as suddenly as it had appeared, leaving nothing behind but his fading voice in the air.
Only when that suffocating pressure of immense cursed energy finally disappeared did the Hōzuki sisters feel like they could breathe again. Both of them sucked in lungful after lungful of air.
"T-teacher..." Eiko's face was ghost-pale, her voice shaking. "That man just now... who was he?"
"Just a troublesome guy," Natsume replied.
He stared at the spot where Gojo had vanished. Deep in those pale blue eyes, a faint trace of heaviness flashed by.
He knew that with Gojo Satoru's appearance, the countdown on his hard-won peaceful life had already begun.