"Opposed, then."
Yamada nodded, raised his right hand, and a black flame flickered at his fingertip.
Amaterasu!
He flicked his finger and the black flame turned into a streak of light, instantly piercing through the paper screen and landing on the higher-up who had just spoken.
"AAAAAAAH!!!"
A shrill, agonizing scream instantly tore through the air of the hall.
The pitch-black flames burned wildly behind the screen. The unquenchable pain caused that higher-up to roll frantically on the floor.
After only ten or so seconds, the screaming stopped abruptly.
Behind the screen, only a pile of pitch-black ash remained.
The remaining higher-ups were scared out of their wits. They scrambled out from behind the screens, shrinking into a corner and trembling.
They were usually high and mighty, they had never seen such a person who would turn them to ash at the slightest disagreement.
Yamada sat in a chair, his fingers lightly tapping on the wooden armrest. The crisp tapping sound echoed in the deathly silent hall like a countdown from a Shinigami.
"I don't have the patience to wait for you to hold a meeting and discuss. I'm asking one last time."
Yamada leaned forward slightly, his deep black eyes staring at the elderly men behind the screen.
"Cancel the Star Plasma Vessel assimilation and give her her freedom. Does anyone else have an objection?"
"No... no objection!"
The elder sitting in the very center with the highest seniority couldn't withstand the terrifying psychological pressure and shouted out in a hoarse voice.
He scrambled out from behind the screen, his forehead pressed tightly against the cold floor, no longer daring to put on the airs of a high-ranking official.
"Master Tengen's assimilation... is nullified. We will immediately withdraw all surveillance and guards targeting Amanai Riko and announce to the public that the Star Plasma Vessel has died in an accident. From now on, no one will ever disturb her life again!"
The old man made his promises incoherently, fearing that if he were a second too slow, those black flames would fall upon his own head.
"Talk is cheap."
Yamada tilted his chin, gesturing toward Toji standing nearby.
Toji grinned, revealing a malicious smile. He strode forward, kicking and shattering the remaining paper screen, and pulled out a blank scroll from Jujutsu Headquarters and a brush from his robe, tossing them in front of the old man.
"Write it down. Stamp it with your Directors Office's Cursed Seal."
Toji crossed his arms, looking down at these power-holders who had once viewed him as the 'Zenin Clan failure,' his mood pleasant to the extreme.
"If you dare play any word games on the scroll, I'll crush your bones inch by inch and feed them to Cursed Spirits."
How could the high-ranking officials dare to resist?
With trembling hands, they quickly wrote down the official decree to abolish the Star Plasma Vessel project on the scroll, bit their fingers, and pressed down blood thumbprints containing a Cursed Energy Binding.
Once they violated this document bearing a Cursed Energy Binding, their Cursed Energy would go berserk and backfire on them.
Toji picked up the scroll, scanned it casually, and after confirming there were no errors, handed it to Yamada.
Yamada didn't even look at it, tossing the scroll to Suguru standing behind him.
"Keep it safe. This is your proof to report back to Yaga Masamichi. From now on, this girl is free."
Suguru scrambled to catch the heavy scroll. He looked down at the striking blood-colored seals upon it, and the fortress in the depths of his heart named 'Righteousness' underwent a violent shaking and reshaping at this moment.
He had always believed in the dogma that 'Jujutsu Sorcerers exist to protect non-sorcerers.'
But just a few hours ago, this noble righteousness had forced him to sacrifice the life of a fourteen-year-old girl in exchange for the so-called stability of the greater good. He had fallen into confusion and pain.
And now, Yamada, using the most crude and savage force, had trampled this set of hypocritical rules into pieces.
It turned out that so-called rules and destiny were as fragile as a piece of scrap paper in the face of absolute power.
As long as you were strong enough, you could establish your own justice and protect anyone you wanted to protect.
No compromise needed, no sacrifice required.
'Is this what a truly powerful person is?' Suguru gripped the scroll tightly, an unprecedentedly bright light flickering in his narrow eyes.
Riko clutched Misato's hand tightly, and as she looked at the document declaring her rebirth, large tears streamed from her eyes.
She finally didn't have to die. She could go to high school, go eat crepes in Harajuku with friends, and live a long and ordinary life as a normal person.
"Thank you... thank you!" Riko bowed deeply toward Yamada's back, sobbing uncontrollably.
Satoru put his hands in his pockets and let out a loud whistle. "Old man, your efficiency is way better than those old farts at the college who spend all day in meetings. I've decided, from now on, I'm unilaterally declaring you my idol."
Satoru laughed wildly and uninhibitedly.
He never liked these high-ranking officials to begin with. Seeing them suffer made him happier than eating ten Kikufuku in a row.
"Stop trying to act close."
Yamada stood up from his chair, his gaze once again sweeping over the high-ranking officials kneeling on the ground.
"Since I've solved your problem for you, show some sincerity as compensation."
The elder's body trembled as he carefully looked up. "What... what do you want? As long as Jujutsu Headquarters can provide it..."
"Prepare a top-tier private mansion for me in central Tokyo. Equip it with all living facilities and servants." Yamada's tone was flat, as if he were instructing his subordinates.
"In addition, give me a black card with no limit. I want to see the keys and the card in my hand before nightfall."
Although the system had given him ten million yen in startup capital, in a place like Tokyo where land was worth its weight in gold, that amount of money was clearly not enough to live comfortably.
Since these old geezers controlled all the Jujutsu resources and massive wealth in Japan, it would be a waste not to fleece them.
"Yes! Yes! We'll do it immediately!"
The high-ranking officials kowtowed repeatedly.
As long as this Shinigami didn't kill them, let alone one house, even if he wanted ten, they could get them together within half a day.
"Fushiguro, I'll leave the hand-over to you. If they dare to try and brush me off with inferior goods, just chop them up."
Yamada gave the instruction and turned to walk out of the hall.
"Don't worry, Boss, I'm best at this kind of thing."
Toji grinned, cracking his knuckles as he walked toward those few high-ranking officials to begin discussing the specific details of the 'compensation.'
The first rays of morning sunlight pierced through the barrier surrounding Jujutsu Headquarters, spilling onto the remains of the vermilion gates.
Yamada walked out of the hall and took a breath of the slightly cool morning air.
Satoru and Suguru followed him out, bringing Riko and Misato along.
"Old man, where do you plan to go next?" Satoru leaned in and asked, "Are you going to stay in Tokyo long-term?"
"Find a place to sleep."
Yamada looked at the white horizon. "Once those old men have the house ready, I'll stay there for a while. I'll occasionally go and clean up any idle Curse Users or Special Grade Cursed Spirits. Just think of it as a post-meal stroll."
He turned his head and looked at these two future pillars of the Jujutsu World.
"As for you two... your current strength is still too weak."
Yamada's words caused both Satoru and Suguru to freeze for a moment.
If it were yesterday, they certainly would have argued. But after witnessing Yamada's spatial and instant-kill methods that crushed everything, they knew deep down that they were indeed far behind.
"Don't think that just because you learned Reverse Cursed Technique, you can walk tall everywhere."
Yamada looked at Satoru. "Your Limitless still has a lot of room for development. Only when you can achieve twenty-four-hour fully automatic operation and control the compression and repulsion of space as you wish will you be considered barely qualified."
Next, he turned his gaze toward Suguru. "As for you, relying on devouring those low-level Cursed Spirits to stack numbers has too low a upper limit. Go catch a few Special Grade Cursed Spirits and extract their Cursed Techniques to use for yourself. You also need to strengthen your taijutsu. Relying too much on summons means death once someone gets close."
This incisive advice benefited the two greatly.
"Thank you for the guidance." Suguru nodded solemnly.
"Alright, take this girl and go. Arrange a new identity for her and don't let her get involved with the Jujutsu World again." Yamada waved his hand, signaling that they could beat it.
Satoru and Suguru didn't linger any longer. They summoned the Rainbow Dragon and flew into the sky with Riko and Misato, heading into the distance.
Watching the Rainbow Dragon disappear into the clouds, Yamada withdrew his gaze.
The Star Plasma Vessel incident had finally come to a complete close.
He had not only changed Riko's certain fate of death but also indirectly prevented the tragic route of Suguru turning toward darkness and defecting because of this incident.
At the same time, he had conveniently taken Toji under his command.
It could be said that all the regrets and tragic turning points left by the Hidden Inventory arc in the original series had been forcibly overturned by him with the most overbearing force.
Next, it would be time to wait for Kenjaku, that thousand-year-old brain hiding in the shadows, and those Special Grade Cursed Spirits lurking everywhere to take the initiative and show themselves.
***
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