Chapter 116: Masamichi Yaga's Headache
"Satoru! You bastard, did you forget to put up the Curtain again?!"
The roar came before the car even stopped.
A black sedan screeched to a halt outside the abandoned building, its tires scraping harshly against the road. The rear door flew open, and a burly man with a buzz cut and dark sunglasses stepped out with the killing intent of a man who had spent far too many years cleaning up after problem children.
Masamichi Yaga.
Tokyo Jujutsu High's instructor.
And, more importantly, the unfortunate homeroom teacher of Satoru Gojo and Suguru Geto.
The Assistant Supervisor had already reported that the Curtain had gone down properly, but the moment Yaga saw the building in front of him, his blood pressure climbed several levels.
The unfinished structure looked as if it had been chewed up by a monster and spat back out. Several walls had collapsed. The windows were shattered. Half the support pillars were cracked, and the whole building leaned at a dangerous angle, as if one strong breeze could finish the demolition.
Yaga's jaw tightened.
"Are you two reincarnated demolition workers?" he barked. "Do you have any idea how loud that was? Even with a Curtain, half of Shibuya probably felt the vibration!"
Every day, he was either writing an apology letter or on his way to write one.
And this time, these two little disasters had done it near a busy commercial district.
A commercial district.
Yaga could already see the compensation forms piling up like curses in his future.
However, when he stormed into the site, ready to lecture the two of them until their ears bled, the scene waiting inside made him swallow the rest of his fury.
There was no desperate battlefield.
No injured students.
No grave aftermath of a hard-fought exorcism.
Instead, among the rubble and dust, there was a bizarre little picnic.
Satoru Gojo and Suguru Geto, two of the most promising young sorcerers in the entire country, were squatting on broken concrete blocks without the slightest dignity. Both of them were holding limited-edition kikufuku they had apparently bought from a convenience store, and Gojo had cream smeared near the corner of his mouth.
Sitting between them was a strange black-haired youth in an unfamiliar black uniform, a worn guitar bag resting beside him.
The three of them were chatting like they had known each other for years.
The stranger even handed Gojo a tissue.
"Wipe your mouth," Yami said calmly. "You're the heir of the Gojo Family. Looking like a messy cat ruins the image."
"Mind your business." Gojo took the tissue anyway, though he did not sound grateful. "This is called being relaxed and approachable. Besides, the edamame and fresh cream flavor is worth looking uncool for."
Geto sighed beside him.
"Satoru, don't eat so fast. You're going to choke."
Yaga adjusted his sunglasses.
He took one deep breath.
Then another.
"You three."
His voice dropped dangerously.
"What are you doing?"
The shout hit with enough force to rattle dust from the ceiling.
Gojo hiccuped.
"Cough, cough. Yaga-sensei!" He thumped his chest and turned around with an offended look. "Do you walk without making any sound? You scared me."
Yaga ignored him.
His gaze locked onto Yami.
Years of experience as a sorcerer made his instincts sharpen at once.
The young man had no Cursed Energy.
None at all.
To Yaga's senses, he was almost blank. Like an ordinary person who had wandered into the scene by mistake.
And yet, the pressure hanging around him was anything but ordinary.
It was faint, restrained, and quiet, but unmistakably dangerous. Like a sleeping beast that had chosen not to bare its fangs.
Who was he?
Why was he sitting with Satoru and Suguru as if he belonged there?
Yaga's right hand slowly moved toward the Cursed Corpse at his waist.
"Satoru. Suguru." His voice was low. "Who is this?"
Geto immediately stood and moved half a step in front of Yami.
"Yaga-sensei, please don't misunderstand. The Semi-Special Grade Cursed Spirit suddenly went berserk. Thanks to Mr. Yami's help, we were able to resolve the situation quickly."
"Yami?"
Yaga's frown deepened.
"No Cursed Energy at all, but he helped you fight a Semi-Special Grade?"
His tone turned sharper.
"Do you think I'm an idiot?"
In the world of jujutsu, the rule was ironclad.
Only curses could exorcise curses.
An ordinary person without Cursed Energy could not even see Cursed Spirits, much less participate in a fight against one.
"Oh, come on, Yaga-sensei." Gojo popped another piece of kikufuku into his mouth and waved a hand. "You're being too old-fashioned."
Yaga's fist twitched.
Gojo pointed at Yami with the enthusiasm of a child showing off a new toy.
"This guy isn't ordinary. He's my newly recruited, wait, no, newly discovered Taijutsu genius."
"Recruited?" Geto repeated.
"Discovered sounds cooler."
"It sounds illegal."
"Details."
Gojo leaned closer to Yaga.
"You didn't see it. He used a random steel pipe like a bat and cracked that ugly curse's shell open. Pure physical power. No Cursed Energy. It was even more ridiculous than Heavenly Restriction."
At the phrase Heavenly Restriction, Yaga's expression shifted slightly.
For a moment, he thought of a certain man from the Zenin Family.
The one they called the Sorcerer Killer.
Could this youth be the same type of monster?
Yami rose slowly from the concrete block.
He did not react to Yaga's wariness with offense. If anything, his expression softened slightly.
He knew Masamichi Yaga.
Not this Yaga, not yet.
But he knew the man Yaga would become.
A teacher who truly cared for his students.
A man who, beneath his stern face and thunderous voice, treated the children under his care like family.
A good adult in a world that specialized in grinding good adults into dust.
"Nice to meet you, Yaga-sensei."
Yami bowed slightly, his tone calm and respectful without sounding submissive.
"My name is Yami. As Satoru said, I do not possess Cursed Energy."
Yaga's hand remained near the Cursed Corpse.
"But?"
"But exorcising Cursed Spirits does not necessarily require Cursed Energy."
The air fell quiet.
Yaga stared at him.
Yami smiled faintly.
"And I'm not some newly recruited lackey."
Gojo clicked his tongue. "Hey, I never said lackey."
"You thought it."
"I did not."
"You absolutely did."
Yami ignored him and continued.
"I am a passing Taijutsu teacher."
"A Taijutsu teacher?" Yaga repeated, as if the words had offended common sense.
Gojo immediately seized the chance.
"Exactly! He's arrogant as hell. He said he wants to teach us Taijutsu."
"I did say that."
"See?" Gojo pointed at him triumphantly. "Yaga-sensei, haven't you always complained that our fundamentals are sloppy? Perfect. Let's bring him to Jujutsu High as a sparring partner."
His smile turned bright and extremely suspicious.
"I want to keep him around and beat him slowly, no, I mean learn from him with an open heart."
"Satoru," Geto said.
"What?"
"At least pretend better."
"I am pretending very well."
Geto turned to Yaga.
"Yaga-sensei, Mr. Yami's breathing technique and power exertion method are genuinely unusual. If they can be integrated into jujutsu combat, they may improve our close-quarters ability significantly."
Yaga's headache intensified.
His two most troublesome students were arrogant enough to look down on half the Jujutsu World, yet here they were, speaking up for a stranger at the same time.
Had they been cursed?
Drugged?
Brainwashed by kikufuku?
Yaga rubbed his temples.
"Jujutsu High isn't a place where just anyone can come and go." His voice was heavy. "Especially not someone with an unknown background, no Cursed Energy, and abilities that don't fit any existing category."
His gaze hardened behind his sunglasses.
"If the higher-ups investigate this, it won't be easy to explain."
"The higher-ups?" Gojo scoffed. "Those rotten oranges can go peel themselves."
Yaga's fist finally came down on Gojo's head.
Bonk.
"Ow!"
"Show some respect when you talk about the people who sign our mission approvals!"
"They're still rotten!"
"That is not the point!"
Gojo rubbed his head and muttered, "With me here, do they even dare complain?"
Yaga inhaled slowly, suppressing the urge to hit him again.
Gojo, completely unaware of his own survival being negotiated by Yaga's patience, continued, "Anyway, just say yes or no. If you say no, I'll make a scene in your office every day."
"You already do that."
"Then I'll make a bigger scene."
"Do you hear yourself?"
"I hear genius."
Yaga closed his eyes.
His students were going to kill him one day.
Not curses.
Not curse users.
His students.
He looked at Yami again.
The youth remained calm through all of it. Gojo's nonsense, Geto's persuasion, Yaga's suspicion, none of it seemed to shake him.
That calmness bothered Yaga more than any amount of arrogance would have.
It was not the composure of someone pretending to be mature.
It was the stillness of someone who had already seen too much.
A gaze like that did not belong to an ordinary teenager.
Finally, Yaga spoke.
"Since Satoru and Suguru both recommend you, I can take you back to Jujutsu High."
Gojo grinned.
"But!"
Yaga's voice cut through the air.
"I will test you myself."
The grin on Gojo's face widened. Geto's expression turned slightly helpless.
Yaga pointed at Yami.
"If you cannot prove that you are qualified to stay at Jujutsu High, I will throw you out personally."
Yami nodded with a faint smile.
"That's fair."
A test.
Of all things, Yami feared tests the least.
Back in 2018, he had already slapped the higher-ups so hard with his performance that their swollen faces could have been used as emergency cushions.
Compared to that, earning Masamichi Yaga's approval sounded almost pleasant.
Almost.
"Get in the car," Yaga said, turning around irritably.
The four of them climbed into the black sedan.
The Assistant Supervisor in the driver's seat stiffened the moment Gojo sat down.
"Relax," Gojo said cheerfully. "I won't break the car."
The Assistant Supervisor did not look reassured.
Geto sat beside him with practiced dignity.
Yami took the window seat, watching the streets of Shibuya slide past.
The car left the commercial district and gradually entered the quieter mountain road leading to Tokyo Jujutsu High.
Trees blurred beyond the glass. Sunlight flickered through the leaves in broken golden lines.
Yami leaned back slightly.
Then the system's voice rang in his mind.
[Ding!]
[Congratulations, Host. You have successfully made contact with key figure: Masamichi Yaga.]
[Phase One of Main Quest: Integrate into Jujutsu High has been activated.]
[Current progress: 10%.]
[Host, please completely win over Masamichi Yaga in the upcoming test and obtain a legal identity at Jujutsu High.]
Yami's eyes lowered.
Jujutsu High.
In 2018, it had been a battlefield, a shelter, a school, and a cage all at once.
In 2006, it was still the place where everything began.
Youth.
Laughter.
Shoko Ieiri's cigarette smoke.
Gojo and Geto's reckless confidence.
Tengen.
The Star Plasma Vessel.
Amanai Riko.
The roots of every tragedy waiting to bloom.
And now, he was about to step into that stagnant pond as an impossible foreign object.
A variable.
The car slowed near the school's barrier.
After Yaga's identity was verified, the gate opened.
The moment Yami stepped through the boundary of Tokyo Jujutsu High, something changed.
Hum.
It was faint.
So faint that even most sorcerers would have missed it.
But the entire Cursed Energy network beneath Jujutsu High shivered, like a sleeping creature had sensed something that should not exist.
Gojo paused.
His Six Eyes narrowed.
Geto frowned slightly.
Yaga also stopped for half a second, though he seemed unable to identify the source.
Deep within the Tombs of the Star Corridor, in a place far removed from sunlight, Tengen slowly opened clouded eyes.
"This feeling…"
A voice, old and distant, echoed in the darkness.
"It is not Cursed Energy."
A pause.
"Nor is it Heavenly Restriction."
Those ancient eyes stared toward the surface, as if trying to see through layers of earth, barriers, and fate.
"What strange thing has slipped into this world?"
Meanwhile, Yami acted as if nothing had happened.
Under Yaga's watchful gaze, he followed the group toward the underground training ground.
Gojo walked beside him, hands in his pockets and anticipation written all over his face.
Geto remained quiet, but his curiosity was obvious.
Yaga's expression was stern enough to make weaker students confess crimes they had not committed.
Yami only smiled.
The show had just begun.
.....
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