"Why won't you behave?"
Mirai slowly walked up to the group, smiling as he looked down at Haruta, who was sprawled on the ground.
"S-s-sorry…"
In that instant, tears streamed down Haruta's face.
Mirai crouched down slowly, a hint of curiosity in his tone.
"Don't you enjoy the feeling of torture and killing?"
"I've already granted you twenty hours a day to indulge in it, and I even cover your food and lodging."
"For you, this place should practically be paradise."
"I truly don't understand—why are you so determined to escape?"
"Sorry… sorry…"
Haruta trembled violently, keeping his head pressed to the ground, repeating his apology over and over.
"Ju, you'll take over the bathhouse work from now on."
Hearing this, Zenin Ju, who stood nearby, nodded and walked straight toward the bathhouse.
"Well, there you go. Even the job you liked has been taken away."
Mirai sighed, shaking his head.
"Wait!"
"Master! My lord!"
"Please, give me one more chance—I'll work properly, I swear!"
Haruta pointed at Zenin Ju's back, his eyes filled with venom.
"My lord, that guy only has one hand—there's no way he's faster than me at dissection!"
"From now on, I'll work twenty-three hours a day! I won't make mistakes again!"
Haruta lifted his head, pleading desperately.
Even while trembling in fear, he forced a tearful smile toward Mirai.
"…Hmm."
Mirai slowly extended one hand toward Haruta's chest, asking softly with a faint smile:
"Twenty-three hours a day…"
"Wouldn't that be a bit too exhausting?"
Haruta watched helplessly as Mirai's intangible hand passed through his chest—yet he didn't dare move.
Tears burst forth like a broken dam, his voice growing increasingly frantic.
"No! Not at all!"
"If you're not satisfied, I can work twenty-four hours a day!"
The teardrops fell straight through Mirai's arm and hit the ground.
In the silent underground second floor, the pounding of Haruta's heart grew louder and clearer.
Staring into those calm, blood-red eyes, Haruta's fingers slowly twitched upward.
A cursed tool, floating silently in the air, shot straight toward Mirai's head.
Clang!
Naobito's flash-like blade strike shattered Haruta's last hope.
"Y—"
Bang!
Haruta froze mid-sentence. The malice in his eyes was swallowed by complete darkness.
Taking out a pure white handkerchief from the Kamui space, Mirai wiped the blood from his hands and murmured:
"If it weren't for that White Zetsu guy taking an interest in your body, I might've tried experiencing the pleasure of torturing humans myself."
The dull sound of Haruta's heart being crushed still echoed in the air.
Juzo swallowed hard, cold sweat pouring down his face.
When Mirai's blood-red gaze swept over him, Juzo immediately dropped to his knees with a thud.
Looking at the red-cloud black robe Juzo wore, Mirai spoke calmly:
"Is White Zetsu's cursed tool finished?"
"Y-yes."
Still kneeling, Juzo explained:
"It can withstand attacks from Grade 2 cursed spirits or sorcerers. Against Grade 1, it can also hold for quite some time."
"As per your instructions, I also added a function to conceal one's presence."
As he spoke, he carefully observed Mirai.
It was precisely because of that concealment effect that he had extinguished all the candlelight during the earlier battle.
He just hadn't expected the one-armed sorcerer's attacks to all be area-of-effect.
"Alright."
Mirai nodded and said lightly:
"When you get back, clean your uniform. As for crippling yourself—I'll let it slide this time."
"Thank you, my lord! Thank you!"
Juzo let out a long breath of relief.
"I'll work honestly from now on—forge day and night without complaint!"
"Get lost."
Juzo hurriedly stood up, then immediately dropped back down again.
Meeting Mirai's indifferent gaze, he awkwardly explained:
"I knelt too hard just now… my kneecap's shattered…"
After speaking, he supported himself with both hands and crawled away in a dark, eerie manner—like a cursed spirit disappearing into the shadows.
Mirai then looked toward the last person curled up in the corner and narrowed his eyes.
"Get back. This is your last chance."
"If it happens again, you'll be moving into the bathhouse."
The figure stiffened briefly, then quickly retreated into the darkness, iron chains clanking around their ankles.
Seven Days Later — Tokyo Jujutsu High, Classroom
Panda glanced at the strange cursed spirit beside him and asked curiously:
"White Zetsu, where's Mirai-sensei?"
"He's been back at the school for days—why do you look like you don't have any classes at all?"
White Zetsu, who was fooling around with Maki, froze for a moment, then waved his hand in exasperation.
"That guy's been holed up in his dorm reading every day since he got back—honestly, he acts more like a student than I do."
Maki rolled her eyes and mocked:
"Even someone as strong as Mirai is still studying, while you—a mere Grade 4 cursed spirit—spend all day clowning around and bragging."
"What's wrong with Grade 4?!"
"Did being Grade 4 eat your rice or something?!"
White Zetsu exploded, jumping as he snapped back.
Pointing at Yuta, who was watching nearby, he said indignantly:
"Isn't Yuta also Grade 4 right now? Why don't you criticize him instead?!"
Maki replied:
"Didn't you hear what Blindfold Guy said?"
"Yuta's grade dropped because he broke his curse. In a few months, he'll be back to Special Grade."
"Can you even compare to that?"
White Zetsu bared his teeth and laughed in anger.
"Hmph, Maki—just you wait!"
"In at most a year, I'll become Special Grade too. Then I'll show you who the real king is!"
Maki adjusted her glasses, amused.
"Stop bragging."
"If you keep this up, you might become the first student in Jujutsu High history to repeat a year~"
Because White Zetsu was a cursed spirit, the school hadn't issued him an official sorcerer certification.
But whether it was ranking up or graduating, the bare minimum requirement was to independently kill a Grade 3 cursed spirit.
And for such a simple requirement, Maki clearly didn't believe White Zetsu could do it.
"Repeat a year?"
"You underestimate me."
White Zetsu snorted confidently.
"As long as I want to, I can skip grades and become your senior anytime."
"Huh?"
It sounded like bragging, but Yuta was still fooled by White Zetsu's sincere expression.
"Can you really skip grades at Jujutsu High?"
Then… should he ask Gojo-sensei to cancel his Special Grade evaluation?
Yuta didn't want to graduate so quickly and be separated from Maki and the others.
"Don't listen to White Zetsu's nonsense," Panda said firmly.
"In all these years, I've never seen anyone skip grades or graduate early."
"Even someone as strong as Gojo-sensei stayed in school for the full three years."
"No, no, no!"
White Zetsu wagged his finger and grinned confidently at everyone.
"When you're out here, connections matter."
"I'll just talk to Mirai later—skipping grades is nothing."
Heh…
Everyone looked at his confident expression, already too used to feeling secondhand embarrassment for him.
"He's beyond saving. Just accept repeating a year."
Maki crossed her legs, completely certain.
"Just wait and call me 'senior.'"
"Repeating? Impossible!"
White Zetsu shot back confidently.
Half a Year Later
"Hello, classmate. I'm Itadori Yuji, a new first-year student at Jujutsu High."
White Zetsu stared blankly at the pink-haired boy in front of him, falling into deep thought.
Next chapter: Beginning of Itadori Yuji's main storyline.