Chapter 135: The Shadow of Toji Fushiguro
Night fell over Okinawa once again.
The sea breeze carried a damp, salty heat, brushing past the hotel balcony and rattling the curtains in the dark.
Riko Amanai and Misato Kuroi were already asleep in the suite. After a full day at the aquarium and the beach, the two of them had finally relaxed enough to briefly forget the shadow of death hanging over them.
But for the Jujutsu Sorcerers responsible for their protection, the real test was only beginning.
Yami stood alone on the edge of the hotel rooftop.
The sea breeze stirred his short black hair. Below him, Okinawa's streets glowed with warm lights, tourists moving through them as if this were any ordinary summer night.
His eyes, however, were cold.
"Hiss…"
Yami raised a hand and pressed his fingers against his temple.
A sharp pain stabbed through his eyes like needles.
To guard against Toji Fushiguro's assassination attempt, he had kept Transparent World active at high intensity for far too long. Even with Tsugikuni Yoriichi's template, this level of perception consumed an enormous amount of mental energy.
His body could endure it.
His mind was beginning to feel the strain.
"My current synchronization still isn't enough to maintain Transparent World as naturally as breathing."
Yami lowered his hand.
If he could reach the realm where even fighting spirit and killing intent could be completely erased, or turn Transparent World into a passive state, he would not be forced into this kind of exhaustion.
But that required a higher synchronization rate.
And right now, no matter how far he extended his perception, he could not find that man.
"Toji Fushiguro…"
Yami silently repeated the name.
As someone who knew the original course of events, he understood better than anyone how terrifying Toji was.
The pinnacle of Heavenly Restriction.
A man who had traded every trace of Cursed Energy for a body that exceeded the limits of common sense.
Because he had no Cursed Energy, he could not be sensed by ordinary means.
Because his body had reached its absolute peak, his speed and strength were enough to crush most Jujutsu Sorcerers before they could even understand what had happened.
But Toji's true danger was not just his physical ability.
It was his patience.
His planning.
His cruelty.
In the original timeline, Toji had forced Gojo into exhaustion by posting a thirty-million-yen bounty on Riko. Countless Curse Users, bounty hunters, and small fry had thrown themselves at the escort team one after another, forcing Gojo to keep Limitless active and draining his attention over time.
Only when Gojo and Geto escorted Riko into the barrier at the Tomb of the Star Corridor, when they believed the mission was already over and their guard finally relaxed, did Toji strike.
One blade.
One moment.
That was all he needed.
"He should still be in Tokyo," Yami thought. "Or somewhere safe, watching coldly while those small fry die for him."
His eyes sharpened.
If he kept waiting in Okinawa, he would only fall deeper into Toji's rhythm. Worse, his own mental energy would be worn down by endless vigilance.
He had to break the stalemate.
Solve the problem at its source.
Yami's hand settled on Shiranui's hilt.
Before Toji could launch that final assassination, Yami would find him.
Then stop him.
Yami turned and left the rooftop.
A few minutes later, he arrived at the room where Satoru Gojo and Suguru Geto were staying.
Neither of them was asleep.
Gojo sat on the sofa with his sunglasses on, holding a controller as combo effects exploded across the television screen. Geto sat nearby, quietly wiping several Cursed Spirit orbs.
"Yo, Instructor Yami," Gojo said without looking away from the screen. "Was the rooftop breeze nice?"
Yami walked in front of them.
"I need to tell you both something."
His tone was serious enough that Geto immediately looked up.
"I'm leaving the team temporarily."
Game Over.
The red letters appeared across the television screen.
Gojo's hands stopped moving.
He turned his head slowly. His sunglasses slid slightly down the bridge of his nose, revealing confused blue eyes.
"Huh?"
Then his voice rose.
"You're running off now?"
Gojo stared at Yami as if he had suddenly grown a second head.
"Hey, hey, what kind of joke is this? We're heading back to Tokyo for the assimilation tomorrow, and you're leaving now?"
Geto stood as well, his brows furrowed.
"Instructor Yami, did something happen?"
His expression grew sharper.
"Did you discover an enemy dangerous enough to make you move personally?"
Geto knew Yami well enough by now.
He was not the type to flee before a fight.
"Something like that."
Yami did not explain everything.
"I have a personal matter to handle. It concerns whether this mission succeeds or fails."
He looked at them.
"I'll leave Riko and Kuroi to you two."
"Tch."
Gojo clicked his tongue and pushed his sunglasses back into place.
"Mysterious as always. Fine, go. With me, the strongest, here, it doesn't matter how many small fry come. They're just delivering themselves."
His grin returned, arrogant and absolute.
"I can escort them back to Jujutsu High by myself."
Gojo had every reason to be confident.
He was Satoru Gojo.
But Yami did not feel reassured.
In the original timeline, that very confidence had been one of the reasons tragedy struck.
Riko died.
Gojo's throat was pierced.
Geto was pushed toward despair.
Yami stepped in front of Gojo and placed a hand firmly on his shoulder.
"Satoru. Suguru."
Both of them looked at him.
"No matter what happens, no matter how safe you think you are, remember this."
His eyes were cold and stern.
"Until Riko is inside the barrier of the Tomb of the Star Corridor, do not turn off your Cursed Technique."
Gojo's expression shifted slightly.
"Not even for a second," Yami said.
For once, Gojo did not immediately joke.
The pressure in Yami's red eyes was too clear, too heavy.
Then Gojo waved a hand, as if trying to shake off the discomfort in his chest.
"Got it, got it. You're so nagging. Like an old mother."
Geto nodded seriously.
"Don't worry, Instructor Yami. We'll protect Riko with our lives."
Yami looked at them for a moment longer.
Then he turned and left.
He had to move quickly.
According to what he remembered, there were only a few places Toji Fushiguro was likely to appear at this time.
Underground casinos.
Horse racing tracks.
Places thick with smoke, money, and rotten luck.
That man wasted everything on gambling and women. If he was waiting for the net to close, he would most likely be somewhere like that.
Under the cover of night, Yami left the Okinawa hotel alone and boarded a private plane back to Tokyo.
Through the window, he watched the endless darkness beyond the clouds.
His gaze grew colder.
He had already twisted fate away from its original path, but the knot of death was still wrapped tightly around Satoru Gojo, Suguru Geto, and Riko Amanai.
"Toji Fushiguro…"
His fingers rested against Shiranui.
"You venomous snake hiding in the gutter."
"It's time to come out and face the sun."
Far away in Tokyo, inside an underground horse racing track, the air was thick with cigarette smoke and stale alcohol.
A large screen showed the final stretch of a race.
Men shouted. Betting slips flew. The floor was littered with crushed cans, cigarette ash, and disappointment.
In the middle of it all, a muscular man with a scar at the corner of his mouth sat with a bored expression, watching the screen as if nothing in the world had ever truly interested him.
Toji Fushiguro held several losing betting slips between his fingers.
He crumpled them into a ball and tossed them onto the floor.
"Lost again."
He yawned, eyes dull with pure indifference.
Then his phone vibrated.
A message from Kong Shiu appeared on the screen.
[The eyes in Okinawa were wiped out. That monster with the black blade is too troublesome. More than half the bounty hunters have already withdrawn.]
Toji read the message.
He did not look worried.
Instead, the scar at the corner of his mouth lifted into a bloodthirsty smile.
"Wiped out, huh?"
He stood and rolled his neck. His bones cracked with a dull, unpleasant sound.
"So that freak named Yami is sharper than I thought."
His smile deepened.
"But it doesn't matter."
He slipped the phone back into his pocket.
"If he took the initiative to leave their side…"
Then the two young masters who had grown up too protected would be left for him to slaughter.
Toji turned his head toward the entrance of the horse racing track.
A dangerous hunter's light flashed in his eyes.
He knew it.
That red-eyed monster would find his way here soon.
Whether Yami's departure was a brilliant move to break the deadlock or a fatal mistake that played directly into Toji's hands…
The answer would come soon enough.
At that moment, the line between hunter and prey began to blur.
.....
https://discord.gg/KvMN2CFsMR
[If you don't want to wait for the next update, read 50 chapters ahead on P@treon.]
[[email protected]/FanficLord03]