When night completely enveloped Tokyo...
A black Jujutsu High vehicle, at a reckless speed that nearly stripped the rubber from its tires, came to a screeching halt in front of the Jujutsu High medical clinic after drifting wildly into place.
The car door was kicked open.
Masamichi Yaga rushed out, drenched in sweat. Behind him was Shoko Ieiri, who had already been notified and wore a solemn expression.
"Quick! Get them inside!"
Yaga roared, personally stepping forward to help the assistant supervisor carefully lift the three blood-stained figures from the back seat onto stretchers.
Inside the medical clinic.
The pungent smell of disinfectant mixed with the heavy scent of blood.
Looking at the three people lying on the hospital beds, even Shoko, who was used to life-and-death situations, couldn't help but gasp.
"This is beyond reckless!"
Shoko's brows knitted tightly as she looked at Yoru's pale face.
"Massive tearing of muscle fibers, severe high-temperature burn marks on internal organs, physical exhaustion..."
"No, that special energy in his body is completely depleted!"
"What on earth did he do?! For a normal person, this level of physical strain would have caused death ten times over!"
Yaga stood to the side, his fists clenched until they cracked, his eyes filled with self-reproach and anger.
"He... he ran from Tokyo to the deep mountains two hundred kilometers away in under half an hour."
Hearing this, Shoko's hand holding the scalpel jerked to a halt, and her eyes widened in disbelief.
Half an hour? Two hundred kilometers?
Is this something a human being can even do?!
"Stop talking, Shoko, and start the treatment!" Yaga urged.
"I know!"
Shoko took a deep breath, and her hands instantly glowed with the white light that represented life.
"Reverse Cursed Technique: Output!"
A massive amount of positive energy began to flow continuously into the three bodies, mending broken bones and healing torn wounds.
Time passed minute by minute.
Outside the corridor, there was a deathly silence.
It wasn't until the middle of the night that the lights in the clinic finally dimmed.
Shoko pushed the door open tiredly, wiping the sweat from her forehead.
"They're all alive. Although Haibara and Nanami's injuries were heavy, the Reverse Cursed Technique has already set their bones. They just need to rest for a few days. As for Yoru..."
Shoko sighed.
"His physical constitution is very unique. The Reverse Cursed Technique's effectiveness on him is significantly diminished."
"However, the self-healing ability within his body is astonishing. He is currently out of danger, but he needs a long sleep to recover."
Hearing those words, Yaga's heart finally returned to his chest.
"Thank you, Shoko."
In the ward, soft moonlight spilled through the window onto the white sheets.
Yoru slowly opened his eyes.
The intense pain coming from all over his body made him frown slightly.
'Ouch... I really overdid it this time. Even though the power from my synchronization is immense, a mortal body still has its limits.'
Yoru gave a bitter smile in his heart.
However, when he turned his head and saw the two teenage boys on the adjacent beds—covered in bandages but breathing steadily—a gratified arc couldn't help but form at the corner of his mouth.
'I finally... made it in time.'
The sunny and cheerful boy from the original story had not met his end here.
And the reliable adult who always muttered 'Jujutsu sorcerers are crap' had not lost his best friend.
"Instructor Yoru... are you awake?"
Just then, Yu Haibara's weak yet still vibrant voice came from beside him.
Even though this thick-headed boy had just walked back from the gates of hell, a bright smile still forced its way onto his face upon seeing Yoru wake up.
"Thank you, Instructor Yoru."
Yu Haibara tried to sit up, but was stopped by Yoru's gaze.
"Stay down. Don't move."
Yoru's voice was still somewhat raspy.
Haibara obediently lay back down. Looking at the ceiling, he said softly:
"Honestly, when I was surrounded by those bone spikes, I really thought I was a goner."
"But... I absolutely couldn't die there."
A flicker of determination that was completely inconsistent with his usual personality flashed in the boy's eyes.
"I still have to stop my sister from becoming a sorcerer."
"This world is too dangerous. Those people at the top... they're terrifying."
"I can't let my sister get dragged into this mire where she could be thrown away as a disposable pawn at any moment."
Listening to Haibara's words, Yoru fell silent.
He knew that while Haibara was optimistic, he was not stupid.
Anyone with eyes could see that such a massive error in mission intelligence was a calculated attempt by the higher-ups to have them eliminated!
"Haibara."
Kento Nanami, who had been lying on the other bed with his back to them, suddenly spoke. His voice was terrifyingly low, devoid of any emotion.
Nanami slowly sat up and tore off the bandages wrapped around his eyes.
He turned his head and looked at Yoru.
In those eyes, there was no longer the usual world-weary indifference.
Instead, there was only a flame that had been thoroughly ignited after experiencing despair!
Nanami rolled out of bed. Even though it strained his newly healed wounds, causing cold sweat to break out from the pain, he still stood perfectly straight.
Then, in that quiet ward, under Yu Haibara's astonished gaze...
Nanami bowed deeply to Yoru, who was leaning against the headboard!
"Thank you."
Those two words were as heavy as a thousand pounds.
"If it weren't for you, Haibara would have died there today."
"And I would have lived on like a coward, gasping for breath while burdened with a lifetime of guilt and disgust."
Nanami remained in his bowing position, his voice trembling slightly.
"I used to think being a jujutsu sorcerer was a crap profession."
"Facing disgusting curses every day for a meager salary, risking your life at any moment, all while being plotted against by those rotten oranges at the top."
"I even thought that after graduation, I'd just find some random company to work at as a salaryman and never touch this disgusting business again."
At this point, Nanami straightened his body.
He pushed up the goggles on the bridge of his nose, which had already developed cracks, and stared intently at Yoru.
"But when I saw you swing that blade... when I saw you collapse after giving everything to save us..."
"I changed my mind."
Nanami clenched his fists so hard that his nails dug deep into his palms.
"Running away changes nothing!"
"Since this world is rotten to the core, and since those higher-ups want our lives..."
"Then I'll just become stronger than them! Strong enough to trample that crap under my feet!"
In Nanami's eyes burned an unprecedented ambition and desire.
"Instructor Yoru."
"Please teach me... how to become as strong as you!"
"I don't want to see another comrade fall before my eyes ever again!"
Looking at Kento Nanami, who seemed to have completed his transformation overnight...
Yoru's lips slowly curled upward.
He knew that the office worker from the original story who always wanted to escape, only to be toyed with by fate in the end, had completely vanished at this moment.
Standing before him was a future pillar of strength who had truly awakened the heart of a powerhouse!
"Alright."
Yoru patted the edge of the bed, his gaze becoming equally sharp.
"Jujutsu sorcerers are indeed a crap profession."
"But as long as we're strong enough, we can flush that crap—along with the people who make it—straight down the sewer!"
In the ward, the gazes of the one adult and two youths met, reaching a silent understanding that required no words.
However, just as the bonds in the ward were growing deeper...
In another corner of Jujutsu High, a storm was brewing that was enough to overturn the heavens.
In the shadows at the end of the corridor.
Suguru Geto leaned quietly against the wall.
Half of his face was hidden in darkness, while the other half was illuminated by the pale moonlight.
He had just forced the full truth of the mission out of Ijichi.
He had also seen Yoru, Nanami, and Haibara covered in blood as they were carried into the clinic.
"Deliberately concealing information about a Semi-Special Grade Cursed Spirit..."
"Using the lives of first-year students to test our limits..."
Geto's fingertips dug deep into the wall, his nails carving deep gouges into the hard plaster.
Blood dripped from between his fingers, but he seemed completely oblivious to it.
In his narrow eyes, the madness and killing intent that Yoru had managed to suppress with the warmth of street food...
In this moment, it erupted uncontrollably like a volcanic explosion!
'Is the end of a sorcerer's road truly nothing but a mountain of corpses?'
'Those higher-ups who only hide behind the scenes and plot, those ungrateful monkeys who do nothing but spawn curses...'
Suguru Geto stood alone at the end of the corridor, his eyes dark and unreadable.
After experiencing an extreme internal struggle, the scales in his heart began a dangerous tilt once more!
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