"Haah, I'm getting a headache. I'm going out for a smoke."
Staring holes through the monitor had made my eyes feel like they were full of sand. I rubbed them as I walked out of the computer lab. Geto and Gojo gave me distracted nods.
"Whatever."
In the outdoor smoking area behind the school building.
Just as I pulled a cigarette out of my pocket and was about to light it, a familiar silhouette with a bob cut approached from the darkness.
"Got a light?"
It was Shoko. I blinked and pulled out my lighter.
"What? I thought you were in your dorm room."
"I felt stuffy too, so I came out for a walk."
Shoko leaned down to the flame in my hand and lit her cigarette. As she took a short drag, white smoke dispersed from between her lips.
"Phew..."
I took a deep drag and looked up at the night sky. My head was a complete mess.
"It's hard. Really hard. How are we supposed to predict where that crazy typhoon's going to manifest? It's not like Tokyo only has a handful of people living in it."
"..."
Shoko, who had been listening quietly to my complaining, flicked her ashes onto the ground and tossed out a casual remark.
"I only caught a bit of it when I was passing by earlier."
"Huh?"
"But don't you think you guys are trapping yourselves by focusing too much on words like 'typhoon' and 'people'?"
...Ah. This girl said she was out for a walk, but how long was she eavesdropping on our conversation in the computer lab?
I suppressed a dry laugh and looked at her. Shoko met my eyes and continued.
"Don't try to predict it from the perspective of a natural disaster. Why not try thinking instinctively, from the perspective of a Cursed Spirit?"
"The perspective of a Cursed Spirit..."
I kept the cigarette between my fingers and narrowed my eyes.
A Cursed Spirit's perspective. Their instincts. Their traits.
Wait a second.
Memories of my time locked in the Zenin Clan's Punishment Room flashed through my mind.
That dark, damp basement had been crawling with low-grade Cursed Spirits, Grade 2 and below, that the clan had captured. Yet, none of them dared to recklessly attack me. It was because they instinctively sensed the bloodthirsty Cursed Energy—rivaling a Grade 1 Sorcerer—radiating from my body and feared it.
That's right. Cursed Spirits don't rely on sight or hearing. They instinctively sense the flow of Cursed Energy with extreme sensitivity.
If that was the case.
This Special Grade Cursed Spirit causing the typhoon might not be picking its targets by visually counting heads in populated areas.
Non-sorcerers are constantly leaking trace amounts of Cursed Energy. In urban centers where hundreds, thousands, or tens of thousands of people gather, those trace amounts of Cursed Energy clump together to form a thick density.
Even in the original manga, didn't they say rural areas had fewer Cursed Spirits and curses compared to the cities?
Could it be...!
A realization struck my brain like a bolt of lightning.
The spirit moves in the semicircular trajectory of a typhoon, but the criteria for selecting a target isn't the population count. It's looking down at Tokyo from the sky, sensing the density of Cursed Energy emitted by humans, and striking the thickest point. Like a missile being guided toward the largest, brightest blip on a dark radar screen.
In that moment—
"Holy crap, I've got it!"
"Hmm?"
"The number of people doesn't matter!"
I shouted, unable to contain my excitement.
"What if we head to an empty lot or the outskirts of Tokyo and unleash our massive Cursed Energy to the limit? What if we artificially create a dense concentration of energy? We can drop a massive 'blip' of energy far greater than the scattered trace amounts of the civilians in downtown Tokyo and jam the Cursed Spirit's radar!"
The bastard won't go for the city center full of non-sorcerers. It'll be automatically lured straight to where we are—the place where overwhelming Cursed Energy is radiating from.
"It'll take the bait!"
"Oh?"
Shoko raised an eyebrow, looking intrigued by my perfect logic.
I dropped my half-finished cigarette, crushed it with my foot, then lunged forward and grabbed Shoko's hands.
"Aha! I finally understand! Thanks, Shoko! You're a genius!!"
"Uh, hey. Hold on..."
Shoko's eyes widened at the sudden skinship, but the moment I finished my joyous thank you, I let go of her hands and started sprinting toward the computer lab.
"Gojo!! Geto!! Pack your stuff before Yaga-sensei gets here!! I found a way, you bastards!!"
I slammed the computer lab doors open and burst inside. Gojo and Geto, who were still glaring at their monitors, looked up in shock.
"What is it?! What did you find?"
"I figured out the method."
I panted heavily, bracing my hands against their desks.
"I just talked to Shoko, and we were making a huge mistake. We were so focused on things like 'typhoons' and 'population' that we were thinking purely like non-sorcerers. We completely ignored its instincts as a Cursed Spirit."
"A Cursed Spirit's instinct...?"
Geto's eyes narrowed. I quickly continued.
"Locating it first is impossible anyway. Instead, we're going to lure it to us."
"No, wait, how the hell? How do you lure a typhoon?"
As Gojo asked with an absurd look, I grinned at them and briefed them on the insane plan.
"We get Yaga-sensei and line up all those Cursed Corpse dolls he makes in the gym stands. And Suguru, you have those Grade 4 or lower swarm-type curses from your Cursed Spirit Manipulation, right? Release every single one of those little sardine-clump things in the gym too."
Geto's eyes slowly widened as he realized my intent.
"We're going to artificially create the densest mass of Cursed Energy in all of Tokyo to jam its radar and lure it in. Besides, our combined Cursed Energy levels are top-class in the jujutsu world, right? Relatively speaking, the center of the gym where the three of us are standing will become a deeper, darker center of Cursed Energy than anywhere else in Tokyo tonight!"
Faced with my flawless logic, Gojo and Geto wore blank expressions.
I slammed the desk and shouted.
"You bastards! Get ready now! There's no time!"
"...But wait a second."
In the midst of the urgency, Gojo lowered his sunglasses slightly and stared at me with an incredibly suspicious gaze.
"When did you have time to have a private conversation outside with Shoko..."
"Hey! That's not what's important right now!"
"Okay, okay! I get it! Stop yelling!"
Just as I was about to scream and grab him by the collar—
Rattle—
"Eat something while you work."
Yaga, our homeroom teacher, entered the computer lab holding plastic bags filled with late-night snacks and refreshments. As if we had coordinated it, the three of us lunged at Yaga-sensei like hungry beasts.
"Hey, Yaga-sensei!! Please lend us every single one of those Cursed Corpse dolls in your room!!"
"And contact the Assistant Directors right now! Tell them to cast a Veil with a 1km radius around the school gym to block all entry!!"
Faced with the momentum of three problem children suddenly lunging at him and barking outrageous demands, Yaga was so bewildered he nearly dropped the bags of snacks.
One hour later, the Tokyo Jujutsu High gym.
The interior of the vast gym had been transformed into a bizarre demon's den.
In the spectator stands, dozens—no, hundreds—of wool Cursed Corpse dolls made by Yaga-sensei sat in rows, staring down at us with expressionless faces. And behind our backs, thousands of low-grade Cursed Spirits that Geto had vomited out were clumped together like a black cloud of bees, buzzing and radiating hair-raising Cursed Energy.
Add to that the heavy, Special Grade-level Cursed Energy radiating from me, Gojo, and Geto.
Right now, this place was an overwhelming lighthouse of Cursed Energy, burning brighter than anything else within a dozens-of-kilometers radius.
"...Will this really work?"
Geto asked in a tense voice, cold sweat dripping down his face. I gripped the hilt of the Cursed Blade Muramasa at my waist and answered.
"I can't guarantee it. But it's definitely the only option we have right now."
Holding our breath, we watched the silent gym floor.
One minute. Three minutes. Five minutes passed.
And then.
Rumble, rumble—!!!
Creeeeeak—crack!
Suddenly, the solid wooden floor of the gym beneath our feet began to scream and twist.
"It's here!"
The moment Gojo shouted—
Just like the survivor's testimony, a pitch-black whirlwind erupted explosively from the floor.
VROOOOOOOOOM—!!
An overwhelming storm surged upward with enough force to punch through the gym ceiling.
Lured by the massive density of Cursed Energy we had emitted, the spirit had finally changed its target from downtown Tokyo to the middle of the Jujutsu High gym and descended upon us.
At the center of the raging tornado.
From within the shroud of black wind, a voice so arrogant and magnificent it set our teeth on edge echoed throughout the entire gym.
Foolish humans...
Inside the eye of the storm, a Cursed Spirit with the form of a giant snake-man adorned with bizarre feathered ornaments slowly revealed its hideous majesty.
Tremble before me, for I am the Wind God, Quetzalcoatl...!