Time passed quickly.
Summer was nearing its end.
Life at Tokyo Metropolitan Jujutsu Technical College seemed peaceful once again.
Yuji Itadori and Nobara Kugisaki trained relentlessly.
Megumi Fushiguro spent time walking with his Divine Dog shikigami.
And Satoru Gojo was—according to rumor—"away on business."
Which usually meant buying souvenirs.
Everything looked calm.
But beneath the surface—
Something far darker was moving.
Far from Tokyo.
At an abandoned seaside resort.
Once a luxury vacation destination—
Now it had become a sanctuary for cursed spirits.
Broken hotel balconies overlooked a grey ocean.
Salt wind howled through shattered windows.
On a beach chair, lazily stretched out as if enjoying sunshine that didn't exist—
Sat Mahito.
More stitches now covered his body.
Scars from the previous battle.
But instead of weakening him—
They signified evolution.
Mahito tilted his head lazily.
"Hey… Geto."
Across from him, beneath a beach parasol, sat the man wearing the body of Suguru Geto.
In truth—
The ancient sorcerer Kenjaku.
Mahito grinned.
"That Yagami Sora guy has been quiet lately."
"Did the higher-ups manage to leash him?"
Kenjaku calmly closed the book in his hands.
A book discussing the evolution of humanity.
"Leash him?"
He chuckled softly.
"Do you think ants can restrain an elephant?"
"He's quiet simply because the hunt hasn't begun."
"The higher-ups' pressure failed completely."
"He even threw their assigned missions in the trash."
Mahito's smile widened.
"How interesting."
"The stronger the soul…"
"…the more beautiful it becomes when twisted."
"I really want to touch his soul."
"Someone so cold and rational…"
"I wonder how it will look when it breaks."
From the sea—
Steam burst upward.
A massive cursed spirit rose from the water.
A volcanic head.
Molten heat spilling from its cracks.
Jogo.
"Don't underestimate him."
Jogo growled.
"His ability is abnormal."
"Hanami underestimated him… and died."
At the mention of Hanami, silence fell briefly.
Even cursed spirits felt the loss.
Kenjaku stood.
His gaze turned toward the dark horizon.
"The next time we meet him…"
"…will be in Shibuya."
Mahito's eyes gleamed.
Kenjaku continued calmly.
"The stage is already prepared."
"For Gojo Satoru."
"A perfect prison."
The Prison Realm.
Once Gojo was sealed—
The balance of the jujutsu world would collapse.
"A world without Gojo…"
Kenjaku smiled faintly.
"…will become our hunting ground."
"And Yagami Sora?"
Mahito asked.
Kenjaku's smile deepened.
"Humans always have limits."
"When everything they wish to protect collapses…"
"…how long can rationality survive?"
"No matter how calm he appears…"
"He is still human."
"And humans have weaknesses."
"Friends."
"Students."
"Daily life."
"All of them are chains."
Kenjaku's voice lowered.
"Let him despair."
"Let him rage."
"When his Black Wings finally emerge…"
"…he might become a curse more terrifying than any of us."
"And once that power loses control—"
"The first thing destroyed…"
"…will be the world he tried to protect."
Mahito laughed gleefully.
"A perfect script."
Tokyo Jujutsu High
On the training field—
Steel clashed.
Maki Zenin swung her longsword with explosive speed.
Her blade cut through the air like lightning.
But no matter how many times she attacked—
The sword always stopped exactly three centimeters from Yagami Sora's body.
An invisible barrier.
Unbreakable.
"Too straightforward."
Sora yawned.
Hands in his pockets.
"The transmission of force isn't linear."
"It fluctuates."
"You need to sense that flow."
"Stop fighting the wind."
"Become the wind."
"Easy for you to say!"
Maki shouted.
She unleashed another full-power strike.
Her muscles trembled under the effort.
"Not everyone has your ridiculous calculation ability!"
"We rely on training!"
"We fight with our bodies!"
Sora extended one finger.
He tapped the back of her blade.
Buzz.
A strange vibration traveled through the sword.
Through her arms.
Through her entire body.
Her grip failed.
The sword flew out of her hands—
Landing far away in the grass.
"Heavenly Restriction gave you extraordinary physical perception."
Sora said calmly.
"Your body already knows what to do."
"It's your mind that's slowing you down."
"You're thinking too much."
"The angle."
"The force."
"How to break my defense."
"All distractions."
He pointed at her chest.
"Feel gravity."
"Feel the wind."
"Feel your opponent's breathing."
"Let your muscles think."
"When your body moves before your brain…"
"…you win."
"In that moment you are not a swordsman."
"You are the sword itself."
Maki stared at her trembling hands.
Something clicked in her mind.
She had always relied on technique to compensate for lacking cursed energy.
But perhaps—
Her body itself was the true weapon.
"Alright."
Sora glanced at the sunset.
"That's enough training."
"I'm going to sleep."
"I might have a long dream tonight."
"A dream?"
Maki frowned.
"Yes."
Sora looked at the burning orange horizon.
"A dream about the past."
"And the future."
"I hope when I wake up…"
"…the world will still look like this."
He paused.
"Or better."
"A world without regrets."
"A world without those stupid tragedies."
He waved casually.
Then walked away.
For some reason—
Maki felt a strange loneliness watching his back.
Like a warrior heading alone toward a battlefield.
A war no one else even knew existed.
Even though he walked away lazily—
The place he was heading…
Felt impossibly far away.
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