Chapter 167: Gears of Fate, the Ubusunagami Statue
Although Suguru Geto's state had temporarily stabilized under Yami's intervention, the already murky waters of the Jujutsu World began to churn with even deadlier undercurrents.
The changes caused by the Riko Amanai incident, along with Satoru Gojo's complete loss of restraint, had shaken too many things at once.
Inside a dim room that never saw daylight, several paper screens stood in silence.
Behind them sat the rotten oranges who held the highest authority in the Jujutsu World.
"Satoru Gojo's recent behavior has become increasingly reckless."
An aged, gloomy voice echoed through the room.
"He has even begun openly refusing certain missions we assign."
"After the assimilation failed, that brat received no punishment. Instead, he became even more arrogant after mastering Reverse Cursed Technique and Cursed Technique Reversal: Red."
"What infuriates me most is that man named Yami," another voice said angrily.
"His background is unknown. Not only did he survive the Sorcerer Killer, but he can even suppress a Special Grade with his aura. The Gojo Family now treats him as an honored guest and protects him with everything they have."
"Those two uncontrollable factors joining together are a great threat to us."
A short silence settled behind the screens.
These higher ups were used to treating everyone as pawns.
For the first time, they felt a deep sense of powerlessness and fear.
Because they had realized something.
Whether it was the awakened Satoru Gojo or the unfathomable Yami, both had already escaped their control.
In the face of absolute strength, the rules and schemes they took pride in were as fragile as paper.
"If we cannot move against them openly, then we will change the method."
The voice seated at the center lowered, carrying the cold, nauseating tone of a venomous snake.
"Doesn't Satoru Gojo call himself the strongest? Then give him the most dangerous and exhausting Special Grade missions. Send him across the entire country."
"Do not even give him time to sleep."
"As for Suguru Geto and the other students at Jujutsu High…"
The voice grew colder.
"Since they are the companions Satoru Gojo and Yami care about most, we will start with them."
"Assign them missions with vague intelligence, high danger levels, and impossible conditions."
"Continue weakening the people around Satoru Gojo. Continue wearing down their will with the blood of their companions."
"I want them to understand something."
A faint malice spread through the room.
"In this Jujutsu World, the price of defying the higher ups is watching the people around you die one after another."
The plan was set.
An invisible net began to fall quietly over the teachers and students of Tokyo Jujutsu High.
At Tokyo Jujutsu High, Kiyotaka Ijichi was still only a timid Assistant Supervisor intern.
He walked down the hallway, sweating heavily while clutching a thick stack of mission briefings in his arms.
"Ijichi."
A gentle voice sounded from around the corner.
Gentle, yet carrying pressure that could not be ignored.
Ijichi shuddered.
The documents in his arms nearly fell to the ground.
He hurriedly looked up and saw Yami leaning against the wall, casually toying with Shiranui while looking at him with a faint, mocking smile.
"Yami… Senior Yami!"
Ijichi bowed in a panic, cold sweat dripping from his forehead.
In this Jujutsu High, aside from Satoru Gojo, who teased him every day, the person Ijichi feared most was the monster standing in front of him.
Yami looked gentle most of the time.
But he was also the kind of person who would draw his blade and cut down a Special Grade without hesitation.
"Don't be nervous."
Yami reached out.
"I'm just checking what missions have come in lately."
Without giving Ijichi a chance to refuse, he took the whole stack of mission briefings from his arms.
Transparent World did not only allow Yami to see through the human body.
It had also sharpened his perception to an extreme degree.
Several days ago, he had already noticed that the higher ups' mission assignments had become abnormal.
Satoru Gojo had been sent to Hokkaido and Okinawa one after another. No one could even catch a glimpse of him.
Meanwhile, Suguru Geto and the first year students had begun receiving a large number of dangerous missions with severely incomplete information.
"These old rotten oranges really never change."
Yami scanned the briefings, his eyes growing colder.
"Grade 2 mission. Location, abandoned factory. Suspected unregistered Grade 1 Cursed Spirit."
He sneered.
"This is obviously a suicide mission, and they assigned it to two newly enrolled Jujutsu Sorcerers?"
Yami pulled out that briefing and tore it to pieces.
"Senior Yami!"
Ijichi's face turned pale with fright.
"This was issued by the higher ups…"
"Shut up."
Yami glanced at him coldly.
"If anything happens, I'll take responsibility."
Ijichi immediately closed his mouth.
"Go back and tell the idiot who issued this mission that I'm taking it."
Over the next half month, Yami became an absurdly efficient mission snatching machine.
Any dangerous mission the higher ups assigned to Suguru Geto or the first year students was forcibly intercepted through Ijichi.
Then Yami would take Shiranui and go alone.
Cursed Spirits that tried to ambush the students were burned to ash.
Curse Users hiding in the dark were cut down before they could even escape.
The higher ups' conspiracy was torn wide open by absolute violence.
But someone who walks by the river often will eventually get his shoes wet.
The higher ups soon realized what Yami was doing.
So they became more cautious.
More secretive.
They stopped sending missions through conventional channels. Instead, they used hidden insiders to pass instructions directly to the students, bypassing both Masamichi Yaga and Ijichi.
One afternoon, the sunlight was dazzling.
Yami had just finished intercepting another mission and returned to Jujutsu High with Shiranui at his side.
As he passed the faculty room, his sharp hearing caught a quiet conversation from inside.
Two unfamiliar Assistant Supervisors were whispering.
"Has the Grade 2 mission briefing regarding the Ubusunagami Statue been sent directly to those two first year students?"
"Don't worry. They confirmed receipt."
"The higher ups gave strict instructions. This intelligence must remain completely confidential. That man named Yami must not know."
The Ubusunagami Statue.
The moment those words entered his ears, Yami's pupils contracted sharply.
A violent killing intent erupted from him like a volcano.
The final straw that caused Suguru Geto to break completely in the original future.
The fatal mission that led to the death of the bright and cheerful Yu Haibara.
The mission that left Kento Nanami with a shadow he would carry for the rest of his life.
The gears of fate had not stopped.
Instead, they had begun turning again in an even more malicious direction.
Boom!
The wooden door of the faculty room was kicked into splinters by an overwhelming force.
Wood chips flew everywhere.
Yami walked in with Shiranui in hand, his face calm as water.
But that calm was colder than rage.
He looked like a god of death stepping out of the depths of hell.
In his pitch black eyes burned a fury terrifying enough to incinerate every last one of the higher ups.
The two Assistant Supervisors froze in place.
Their faces went pale.
Yami looked at them and spoke.
His voice was so cold it seemed to freeze the soul.
"Who are the executors?"
The reaper had called their names.
And that most desperate mission had already begun without them even knowing it.
....
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