"Boom!"
A terrifying surge of cursed energy erupted violently from Satoru Gojo's body!
His Six Eyes, clear as the blue sky, were fixed intensely on Suguru Geto. His gaze was filled with anger, confusion, and a deep, underlying pain.
"I'll say it one more time—I absolutely do not agree!"
Satoru's voice thundered like a lightning strike before the vacant shrine, and the surrounding air physically distorted from the sheer weight of his fluctuating emotions.
He took a sudden step forward, grabbed Suguru Geto by the collar, and hoisted him off the ground.
"Suguru! Have you lost your damn mind?!"
"Do you have any idea what kind of nonsense you're talking about?"
"A fake defection? Becoming a wanted criminal? Drawing all the attention of the higher-ups and that monster Kenjaku onto yourself?!"
"Who do you think you are? Some kind of savior?!"
Suguru didn't resist despite Satoru's near-total loss of control.
He simply looked at Satoru calmly, allowing the other man to hold him by the collar.
His narrow eyes, which usually held a hint of a gentle smile, were now as deep and dark as stagnant water—peaceful, yet harboring a storm capable of swallowing everything.
"Satoru, calm down."
Suguru's voice was soft, but it carried an unshakable resolve.
"You know very well that this is currently the only, and the safest, way."
"Bullshit!"
Satoru roared, his grip tightening.
"I'm the strongest! I don't care who they are or what they're plotting—if they show their faces, I'll use Blue and Red to crush them all into dust!"
"If those rotten oranges in the higher-ups try to stop me, I'll kill them too!"
"If the Big Three Families don't like it, I'll level the Zenin and Kamo houses while I'm at it!"
Watching Satoru's world-ending fury, Yoru sighed softly from the side.
He knew that Satoru wasn't angry because Suguru's plan was crazy.
It was because he cared too much about his only best friend.
In the original timeline, Suguru's defection was a wound that never healed for Satoru, and it was the fatal weakness that eventually led to his sealing in the Prison Realm.
Now, even though Suguru hadn't truly turned evil, this plan of a 'fake defection' still meant throwing himself into an endless abyss of darkness.
How could Satoru stand by and watch his best friend shoulder such a burden of sin?
"Satoru, let go."
Yoru stepped forward slowly and placed a hand on Satoru's arm.
There was no cursed energy, but the gentle and vast aura of Sun Breathing acted like a spring rain, instantly soothing the rampaging cursed energy within Satoru's body.
Satoru grit his teeth, his chest heaving violently, but he finally released his grip.
He turned his head and glared at Yoru.
"Yoru, don't tell me you agree with this lunatic's plan!"
Meeting Satoru's furious gaze, Yoru nodded slightly.
"As cruel as it sounds, Suguru is right."
"What did you say?!"
Satoru's eyes bugged out as he pointed a finger at Yoru's nose.
"Have you gone crazy too?!"
Ignoring Satoru's shock, Yoru turned to look at the distant Jujutsu High night festival, which was still brightly lit and filled with laughter.
"Satoru, you are indeed the strongest."
"But being the strongest doesn't make you omnipotent."
"The tragedy with Riko, the incident with Haibara, the abused twins in that remote village..."
"Can a single Hollow Purple solve those tragedies?"
Yoru's words struck Satoru's heart like a heavy hammer.
He opened his mouth to speak but found he couldn't formulate an argument.
It was true. He possessed the power to easily destroy a nation, yet he couldn't stop the malice in human hearts, nor could he change a jujutsu world that was rotten to the core.
"Those rotten oranges at the top don't care about the lives of sorcerers; they only care about their own power and interests."
"And that monster Kenjaku, who has lived for over a thousand years in the shadows, is the pinnacle of cunning and deceit."
Yoru turned back, his gaze sharp as he dissected the current deadlock.
"The enemy is in the shadows while we are in the light."
"If you simply kill the higher-ups, it will cause chaos throughout the jujutsu world and likely spark panic in the general public."
"When that happens, how will neutral sorcerers see you? They'll view you as a tyrant more terrifying than any curse!"
"That would effectively trigger a full-scale civil war within the jujutsu world."
"And Kenjaku would just hide in the dark and watch the show, waiting for us to kill each other until we're both exhausted, then he'd step in and take over everything with ease."
"So..." Yoru took a deep breath, his tone becoming incredibly solemn.
"We need someone to voluntarily step into that darkness."
"We need a bait large enough and dangerous enough to lure those hidden snakes out one by one!"
As Yoru's voice trailed off, a deathly silence fell over the area.
Only the occasional sound of fireworks exploding in the distance echoed through the night air.
Suguru Geto straightened his rumpled collar and walked up to Satoru.
He looked into Satoru's eyes, which were trembling with anger and pain, and a sudden, relieved smile touched the corners of his mouth.
"Satoru, remember the vow we made together?"
"We were going to change this shitty jujutsu world. We were going to protect those who couldn't protect themselves."
"But the current rules will only drive us—Riko, Haibara, Nanami, and everyone we cherish—into a dead end."
Suguru looked up at the bright, clear moon in the night sky.
"In that village, when I saw Nanako and Mimiko locked in a cage and treated like livestock by those ignorant villagers, I truly wanted to kill them all."
"But Yoru woke me up."
"If I had done that, I really would have become the madman that the higher-ups and Kenjaku want me to be."
"So, I've decided to step outside these rules and use my own way to tear this invisible net apart."
Suguru turned his head, his deep gaze flickering with a mix of madness and clarity never seen before.
"You are the strongest, so you must stay at Jujutsu High, in the light."
"As long as you are here, the higher-ups won't dare to make a move, and sorcerers from other schools will have a pillar to lean on."
"You are the sun that holds everything at bay."
Suguru stepped forward and placed his hands on Satoru's shoulders.
"And I will become the ultimate evil."
"I will bear all the infamy and become the number one enemy of the entire jujutsu world."
"I will draw all the hatred, all the schemes, and all the attention onto myself alone!"
"Only then can you all comfortably set your pieces within the school—to secretly protect Riko, Shoko, Utahime, and the juniors who haven't grown up yet."
Suguru's voice rose, filled with an absolute, cutting finality.
"Satoru, this is the perfect division of labor."
"You in the light, and me in the dark."
"Add to that Yoru, the variable who can see the future and connect the past to the present."
"The three of us will definitely turn this rotten world completely upside down!"
Listening to Suguru's near-insane yet logically sound plan, Satoru fell silent.
He lowered his head, his white hair obscuring his eyes, making it impossible to read his expression.
His fists were clenched so tightly that his nails dug deep into his palms, drawing thin trickles of blood.
"Why..."
Satoru's voice was hoarse, carrying a hint of uncontrollable trembling.
"Why do you have to be the one to carry all the sin?!"
"Suguru... we're the strongest!"
"Didn't we agree to turn this world upside down together?!"
"If you do this, how are we supposed to go eat ramen together? How can we play games or mess with Utahime?!"
Satoru snapped his head up, and a layer of mist actually formed in his sky-blue eyes.
The Satoru Gojo of the original story—arrogant and seemingly without a single weakness—now looked like a child about to lose his favorite toy, his face full of helplessness and grief.
Suguru felt a sharp pang of pain in his heart seeing Satoru like this.
But he knew he couldn't soften his heart now.
If he didn't take this step, the tragedies of the future would repeat themselves.
Suguru took a deep breath, suppressed his swirling emotions, and stepped forward to give Satoru a heavy, firm embrace.
"Satoru."
Suguru's voice sounded in Satoru's ear, tender yet resolute.
"My youth—having you, Shoko, Yoru, and everyone..."
"It's already been more than perfect."
"Let me walk the rest of this path alone."
Satoru didn't say a word. He just hugged Suguru back with everything he had, as if trying to transfer all of his strength to the other man.
A long time passed.
Satoru finally, slowly, let go.
He took a step back, head down, and roughly wiped his face.
When he looked up again, his Six Eyes had returned to their usual sharp, cold brilliance.
However, deep within that coldness, there was an extra hint of madness and determination that made one's heart skip a beat.
"Fine."
Satoru's voice was incredibly calm, yet it contained a power capable of tearing the sky asunder.
"I promise you."
"But you listen to me, Suguru."
Satoru stared Suguru in the eye, emphasizing every single word.
"If you dare die out there, I don't care if I have to chase you to hell—I'll drag you back just to beat the hell out of you!"
Hearing this awkward yet absolutely confident declaration, Suguru finally couldn't help but laugh out loud.
"Don't worry."
Suguru straightened his hair, returning to his usual confident and composed self.
"I'm going to be the man known as the most evil curse user. Do you really think I'll die that easily?"
Seeing the two finally reach an agreement, Yoru finally felt the weight lift from his heart.
He knew that from this moment on, the despairing fate of the original story had been completely rewritten.
Suguru was no longer a tragic villain driven to a dead end, but a dark walker who had voluntarily plunged into the abyss.
Satoru was no longer the lonely 'strongest,' but a man who had comrades he could support from the shadows.
"Since it's decided, let's stop wasting time."
Yoru walked between the two of them and pulled three ice-cold cans of soda from his system space, handing one to each.
"To celebrate this secret alliance that's going to flip the jujutsu world on its head..."
"Cheers."
"Clink!"
The three cans collided heavily in mid-air with a crisp snap.
The cold soda slid down their throats, the stinging carbonation bubbling in their stomachs as if providing a grand send-off for this world-shaking plot.
The three of them sat side by side on the stone steps of the shrine, silently watching the last few fireworks bloom in the distant night sky.
The fireworks were brilliant, but ultimately fleeting.
But the bond between the three of them—spanning across life, death, and opposing sides—would become an eternal starlight in this dark world.
A long time later.
The fireworks in the sky finally faded completely, and Jujutsu High gradually fell into the quiet of sleep.
Suguru stood up and brushed the dust off his pants.
He turned to look at Satoru, then at Yoru, a wild and unbridled smile crossing his face.
"Well then, let the show begin."
Suguru turned and strode down the mountain.
His silhouette merged into the thick darkness of the night, yet he seemed to carry with him a terrifying storm capable of sweeping through the entire world.
Watching the direction where Suguru had disappeared, Satoru crushed the soda can in his hand, his gaze terrifyingly deep.
The next day.
When the first light of dawn shone into the empty dormitory, Suguru Geto's bed was neatly made, as if he had never left—and yet, as if he had already traveled a thousand miles.
Their youth had reached its final period with those brilliant fireworks.
And a storm powerful enough to overturn the entire world was quietly sweeping out from Jujutsu High as its center.