Tokyo Jujutsu High — Girls' Dormitory.
"You want to borrow my place to... experiment with the Reverse Cursed Technique?"
Ieiri Shoko stared blankly at Asou Akiya and Gojo Satoru, utterly confused by the purpose of their visit.
The three of them headed together toward the infirmary. As they walked, Akiya explained everything from the beginning. Only then did Ieiri Shoko finally understand what they were trying to do.
So they wanted her to act as their safety net—and, while they were at it, make use of a place where blood would be easy to clean up afterward.
Gojo Satoru possessed a surprisingly cautious attitude toward experimentation. He wanted to eliminate every possible oversight, unwilling to be caught off guard in the middle of a real fight ever again.
There were four vital points he intended to test.
His eyes, brain, heart and navel.
The most important of them was naturally his eyes—the peerless Six Eyes.
Yet the Six Eyes themselves did not contain power. They were the ultimate support ability, not the source of his strength. That meant they could safely be left until the very end.
The injuries that posed the greatest danger to him were his brain and his navel.
His cursed technique was engraved into his brain, while his navel served as the wellspring of his cursed energy.
Gojo Satoru could confidently declare that even without the Six Eyes, he would still be strong. Even stripped of his cursed technique, he would still be strong.
But there was one thing he could never claim:
That he would remain strong without cursed energy.
He was not blessed—or cursed—with a Heavenly Restriction. Nor had he spent years relentlessly honing pure hand-to-hand combat. At sixteen, his taijutsu alone was nowhere near Fushiguro Toji's level. Against the very strongest Grade 1 sorcerers, relying on physical skill alone would likely get him killed with ease.
As far as Gojo Satoru was concerned, his reserves of cursed energy were already excellent. In terms of importance, cursed energy ranked above both his cursed technique and even the Six Eyes.
After the three of them spent some time discussing medicine, jujutsu, and the mechanics of cursed techniques, Gojo Satoru settled on the safest testing sequence.
The correct order would be:
First, pierce the heart. (The resulting damage would have the least impact.)
Second, pierce the navel. (The injury would interfere with the flow of cursed energy.)
Third, pierce the brain. (The damage would deactivate the Limitless, so someone he trusted had to be present.)
Fourth, pierce the eyes. (The injury would temporarily blind one eye. They would need to account for how difficult—and how long—it would take to restore the Six Eyes, and above all, they couldn't let the Gojo Clan find out.)
Ieiri Shoko returned carrying a sterilized medical needle.
Its sharp tip gleamed with a cold light, enough to make anyone shudder.
It was the kind of needle normally used to kill laboratory mice.
Now, the one serving as the test subject is Gojo Satoru.
Ieiri Shoko politely asked, "Would you like some local anesthesia? It'll help with the pain."
Gojo Satoru immediately ducked behind Asou Akiya and exclaimed dramatically, "Shoko, your eyes are sparkling!"
Ieiri Shoko narrowed her eyes. "Not at all. It's just my first time participating in an experiment like this. I have to admire how far you two are willing to go. If I'd met Asou earlier, maybe I could've escaped my fate as everyone's healer."
Her casual remark struck Asou Akiya in the heart.
From Ieiri Shoko's perspective, perhaps Gojo Satoru giving up on healing others really was a fortunate thing.
It meant the burden of healing would rest entirely on one person's shoulders.
It had always been that way and it would continue to be that way.
How unfair.
There was no one who could help Ieiri Shoko escape the exhausting life of the support division.
Asou Akiya: "Shoko... I'm sorry..."
Ieiri Shoko waved him off. "Asou, you overthink everything. You should learn from Gojo's thick skin."
One likes overthink and the other likes to underthink.
Ieiri Shoko considered herself far less fragile than either of them imagined. Setting the long needle down on the table, she slipped into the role of the school physician.
"Gojo, disinfect your chest first. Apply the iodine properly, and don't cut corners."
As Gojo Satoru shrugged off his jacket, he said, "Shoko, turn around. No peeking at me."
Ieiri Shoko: ...
Asou Akiya fetched a pair of forceps, cotton balls, and a bottle of iodine, arranging them neatly on a clean tray for Gojo Satoru to use.
Gojo Satoru sat atop the operating table. With only a tight-fitting undershirt left on, the fabric outlined the lean, well-proportioned physique of a sixteen-year-old boy. Looking at both his male and female classmates, he treated them with equal suspicion.
"Asou, you too."
Asou Akiya: ...
Then how come you had no problem showing off your body at the beach!
The two who had turned their backs to him exchanged a glance. Failing to communicate through eye contact, they both quietly pulled out their phones.
}+{
[Tokyo Jujutsu High's Melon-Eating Duo]
[Ieiri Shoko: He's still the same as ever. Has the young master's desensitization therapy still not ended?]
[Asou Akiya: He's faking it. Don't let Gojo fool you. He got over that ages ago. Getou can testify—he deliberately showed off his abs.]
[Ieiri Shoko: So even shyness can be genuine or fake?]
[Asou Akiya: Shoko's the only girl here. He's only just starting to become aware of the difference between men and women, so he doesn't see you as one of the guys anymore. He probably just doesn't want you thinking he's the sort of man who's too casual about these things.]
[Ieiri Shoko: Oh? So I'm not "one of the guys" anymore? Then what am I?]
[Asou Akiya: Uh... well...]
}+{
"Shoko is Shoko! The Shoko who's always so good to me! Don't go making things up, Akiya!"
Gojo Satoru's voice suddenly rang out from behind them.
"So good to you...?"
Ieiri Shoko sounded doubtful. Had she really treated Gojo Satoru that well? She didn't think so.
"You bring him candy and you heal his brain; letting him experience what it feels like to relax and be at ease. That's already more kindness than countless other people have ever shown him."
Asou Akiya lowered his voice as he explained. Ieiri Shoko clicked her tongue.
The candy was something she brought for herself—and because Asou Akiya had asked her to. As for healing Gojo Satoru's brain, that was even simpler, she is Tokyo Jujutsu High's medic. Gojo Satoru is surprisingly easy to satisfy.
Gojo Satoru, bare from the waist up, sat with one knee drawn up as he handled the disinfection himself. He even used the iodine to doodle something resembling a ball of yarn across his chest for his own amusement. Even then, he still didn't allow the other two to turn around.
Without a sound, the long needle flew into his palm.
He carefully coated it with another layer of iodine, sterilizing it a second time.
He positioned the needle over the left side of his chest, where his heart lay, adjusting the angle.
A faint wet shlk echoed through the room.
Asou Akiya and Ieiri Shoko's conversation came to an abrupt halt.
That was the sound of metal piercing flesh.
"Don't turn around."
Gojo Satoru's voice carried both amusement and unmistakable authority.
Fortunately, this time, the two of them obeyed.
Several seconds later, Gojo Satoru completed the test on his heart. The speed at which the Reverse Cursed Technique restored the damage was astonishing.
After waiting a while longer, Gojo Satoru drove the needle through his abdomen.
His back arched instinctively, and he suppressed a grimace.
This time, the healing became noticeably erratic. His cursed energy flickered on and off, nowhere near as swift as he had expected. Fortunately, the precision granted by the Six Eyes was still there. Even when the Reverse Cursed Technique was interrupted, he was able to resume it almost immediately.
Even so, it took nearly ten minutes before the damage around his navel was fully repaired.
It was hard to imagine what would happen if he suffered an abdominal wound in an actual battle and his flow of cursed energy was disrupted.
Escape?
Ten minutes would be far too long, and that was already the healing speed enhanced by the Binding Vow.
Not escape?
His taijutsu skills simply weren't enough to sustain him through an intense battle.
It looked like serious close-combat training would have to become a priority. Once he returns, he'd have the Gojo Clan hire masters from every major martial arts school they could find.
Gojo Satoru's combat instincts ensured that he would arrange the training himself without anyone having to remind him. He had never been the type to accept a disadvantage. Once he had fallen into a pit once, he would never fall into that same pit again for the rest of his life.
"Almost done..."
Blue light gathered in Gojo Satoru's hand—the power of Blue.
Using the Limitless, he isolated the blood from his body, then manipulated Blue's attractive force to steadily draw the blood away, guiding it in a smooth stream into the sink.
"Okay, that's two tests finished."
Once everything was cleaned up, Gojo Satoru turned on the faucet beside the operating table and washed his hands. He then pulled his black undershirt and white dress shirt back on, leaving the shirt untucked. The loose, casual look gave him the relaxed air of someone who had just finished exercising.
"How are the wounds healing?"
Asou Akiya quickly walked over. Mindful of Ieiri Shoko's presence, he first obtained Gojo Satoru's permission before stepping in front of him to block her view. He lifted only the hem of Gojo Satoru's shirt and glanced at his abdomen.
The white-haired boy proudly straightened his waist.
His small navel showed no trace of ever having been injured.
His abdominal muscles were as well-defined as ever.
And, once again, he was showing off those V-lines of his.
After finishing his inspection, Asou Akiya immediately let the shirt fall back into place, deciding he had worried for nothing.
Gojo Satoru, his hands still damp with droplets of water, casually rubbed them against Asou Akiya's face.
"The Binding Vow's effects have been partially confirmed. Both vital areas healed perfectly, so stop worrying. Once we finish the last two tests, we can head back."
He never mentioned the difficulties he had encountered during the healing process.
The only things he ever spoke aloud were the objective facts.
Asou Akiya knew full well that this was simply the kind of person Gojo Satoru was.
Even so, he couldn't stop himself from feeling anxious.
"Do you need to rest? Should we wait until tomorrow before continuing?"
"No."
Seeing how frightened Asou Akiya was by the sight of blood, Gojo Satoru gave up on using the long needle altogether. Instead, he flicked Akiya on the forehead. He deliberately controlled the force, but it was still enough to make Akiya stumble back a step.
"Let's just begin."
The next instant, Gojo Satoru's eyes became slightly bloodshot. He remained standing, but the light in his gaze dimmed ever so slightly.
"@#￥%%——"
Gojo Satoru repaired his brain with the Reverse Cursed Technique, then cupped both sides of his head, still left with a fleeting sense of disorientation.
When it came to damaging his own brain, he was practically an expert after years of practice.
Using cursed energy, he destroyed the brain's language center, throwing his speech and language processing into chaos, before rapidly healing the damage.
"Whoa... that feels so weird."
Asou Akiya hurried over to support him. Clutching Akiya's collar, Gojo Satoru rattled off a torrent of incomprehensible words before finally asking, "Akiya—am I talking normally now?"
"...Yeah. You sound pretty normal."
Ieiri Shoko glanced at Asou Akiya, thinking to herself, You call that normal?
Afraid Gojo Satoru wouldn't believe him, Asou Akiya swallowed the countless remarks he wanted to make and repeated Gojo Satoru's tongue twister from memory. "The Gojo Clan's orange tree is covered with rotten oranges, old oranges, and little oranges. The rotten oranges have spoiled completely inside—you feel sick just smelling them. The old oranges are all shriveled and ugly, and they're nearly rotten too. The little oranges look bright and glossy on the outside, and from a distance they smell sweet and fresh, but after a while, their fragrance fades away..."
Gojo Satoru nodded with complete seriousness. "Akiya repeated it perfectly. That proves my brain's working normally again."
Asou Akiya sighed, unable to hide his worry. "I know you want to finish all the experiments in one go. Now there's only your eyes left... I don't think I can bear to watch, and I don't want to distract you, either. Shoko and I will wait outside, all right?"
Gojo Satoru immediately abandoned any desire to keep talking. "Sure."
Asou Akiya led Ieiri Shoko out, leaving the infirmary to Gojo Satoru alone.
With no one watching, Gojo Satoru condensed cursed energy at the tip of his finger, shaping it into a razor-sharp blade, and swiftly sliced into the outer corner of his left eye.
This was an experiment, not an exercise in self-harm.
Only an idiot would stab straight through the center of the eye.
Even so, the Six Eyes were the most precious and the most sensitive organs in Gojo Satoru's body. The moment his cornea was cut, vision in his left eye vanished completely.
His heightened sensitivity made the reaction impossible to suppress.
A single tear, tinged with blood, slipped from the corner of his eye.
Covering his injured left eye, he instinctively let out a muffled whimper.
At the same time, the flood of information pouring in from every direction diminished by more than half.
[...Huh? It hurts a little... but it also feels kind of good. What's with that?]
Gojo Satoru stopped healing.
With one eye blind, a dangerous thought quietly surfaced in his mind.
His brain longed for rest.
What if I just gouge out my eyeball and take two days off?
The Six Eyes were an inherited trait unique to the Gojo Clan. Even if someone else transplanted his eyes into themselves, they would never gain the same ability.
And they could never be switched off, only on.
From the moment Gojo Satoru was born, the Six Eyes had steadily expanded the scope of what he perceived. As they matured, his headaches only grew worse. Every day, he was forced to process an overwhelming flood of meaningless information, and he had long since grown sick of the mechanical routine.
Now, with one eye blinded, the desire of someone who had finally experienced partial darkness flooded into a brain that had only moments ago spiraled out of control.
On the verge of madness, he almost wanted to laugh.
He had actually found a way to relax and all he had to do was gouge out his own eye!
"Akiya!"
Gojo Satoru instinctively called for Asou Akiya.
The Gojo Clan would never allow something this insane.
The only person whose judgment he trusted was Akiya's.
Outside the door, Asou Akiya immediately realized something was wrong from the tone of his voice.
"Shoko, stay here. If anything happens, I'll call for you."
Ieiri Shoko nodded without hesitation. She had no desire to find out what was happening inside. If anything, she felt a chill run down her spine. Gojo was eccentric enough on a normal day; once he was injured, he was even more prone to acting completely unhinged.
Asou Akiya pushed open the door, locked it behind him, and hurried over to Gojo Satoru.
The first thing he saw was Gojo Satoru standing there with his left eye tightly shut.
A crimson trail of blood-stained tears still marked his cheek, conjuring images of something cruel and horrifying.
And yet...
He was smiling.
With a frightening expression and an utterly unapologetic tone, Gojo Satoru complained almost like a spoiled child.
"This feels so good—even better than healing my brain. Everything my eyes see finally feels normal again. Please don't tip off the Gojo Clan, just let me rest like this for two days."
"You want to rest for two days?" Asou Akiya murmured.
"Yeah."
Asou Akiya took out a wet wipe and gently wiped the blood from Gojo Satoru's cheek.
"Your head must be exhausted and your eye must hurt a lot too. You've worked hard."
Then he asked, "Can you still use your cursed technique?"
Gojo Satoru answered with his usual carefree grin, "I can't use it as perfectly as before, but I can still manage well enough. Hehe... even with just one eye, I can still use it!"
Asou Akiya answered gently, though with obvious reluctance. "I'm sorry, but no."
Gojo Satoru asked with innocent curiosity, "Why not?"
Asou Akiya had to live up to the trust Gojo Satoru had placed in him. He also had to remain true to the caution he had maintained ever since enrolling at Jujutsu High.
Speaking calmly and rationally, he said, "Because I can't protect you with my own strength. The only thing I can do is help shorten the time it takes for you to become stronger. That's why I want you to protect yourself perfectly—to never have to rely on anyone else's strength."
At some point, Gojo Satoru had reopened his left eye.
The iris, which had briefly lost its misty whiteness and sky-like brilliance, gradually regained its radiance.
"Akiya, the way you think... it's completely like a jujutsu sorcerer's. Honestly, I don't think you could've possibly grown up in an ordinary family. If you had a cursed technique, then with willpower as ridiculously strong as yours, you might even have a chance of reaching Domain Expansion."
"...Thanks for the compliment."
Asou Akiya's words of thanks tasted more bitter than swallowing coptis root whole.
Only after lingering on the bitterness for a while did the faintest trace of sweetness emerge.
Gojo Satoru's nerves still hadn't fully settled. As he focused on healing his eye, he absentmindedly blurted out whatever came to mind.
"What I mean is, if you ever figure out a way to get yourself a cursed technique, I'm all for it. Your ideas are usually even crazier than mine anyway. From what I've heard, Domain Expansion is all about pursuing your deepest obsession and having the spirit of the strong... Um... I don't think I was insulting you? There's no reason for you to feel inferior."
A thought that Asou Akiya had long since abandoned was abruptly rekindled by Gojo Satoru's incoherent rambling.
A cursed technique...?
Gojo Satoru actually supported him obtaining one?
Gojo Satoru believed his strength of will was enough to qualify for Domain Expansion?
If he gained a cursed technique... and then learned Domain Expansion...
Could he reach Special Grade?
Or at least Grade 1?
...No, he'd probably be the type to burn through all his cursed energy in a single second. His enemy would probably die laughing at how quickly he ran out.
Asou Akiya sat down nearby in a daze, completely lost in thought.
Five minutes later, Gojo Satoru had returned to normal.
The first thing he saw was an utterly dejected Asou Akiya.
Gojo Satoru quietly wandered over in front of him.
No reaction.
He bounced around for a while before finally crouching in front of Asou Akiya.
Tilting his head back, he peered up at the lost expression on Asou Akiya's face, then raised his phone and snapped a picture.
The light reflected in the Six Eyes drifted like wandering fireflies, yet even that gentle glow was unable to dispel the shadow hanging over Asou Akiya.
"Akiya~ What's wrong? Why do you look like someone scooped your brain out?"
"..."
"Akiya~ Aren't my eyes pretty? They're all healed now!"
"..."
"Akiya~ What are you thinking about?"
"..."
How nice it would be to be an idiot.
Asou Akiya wished he weren't the type to overthink everything.
But the most famously airheaded, gluttonous, and straightforward "idiots" at Tokyo Jujutsu High all had cursed techniques.
The reality of the jujutsu world had made one thing painfully clear to him.
The Special Grade Cursed Spirit, Mahito, capable of granting people cursed techniques, was the embodiment of every ordinary person's deepest desire.