"Was it the Edo period, or the Keicho era? Well, I don't exactly remember the specific date."
Satoru Gojo tilted his head, beginning to unravel history in a bored, nonchalant voice.
"There was a head of the Gojo clan who possessed the Six Eyes and Limitless, just like me. And the opponent... Suguru, he was a shikigami user who might have been a bit like you. Not Cursed Spirit Manipulation, but the Ten Shadows Technique—he was the head of the Zenin clan who commanded ten shikigami through shadows."
"Shadow shikigami. Ho."
As Suguru Geto nodded with interest, Gojo continued.
"It was an exhibition match held before the Shogun of that era. Originally, it was supposed to be a heartwarming event to foster exchange and friendship between the Three Great Families, but at some point, it devolved into a life-or-death battle for pride and honor. Eventually, the Zenin head, driven into a corner, summoned the clan's secret trump card, Mahoraga... The result? Both the Gojo and Zenin heads died on the spot."
"A double suicide, then. By the way, Mahoraga? That sounds like a term you'd hear in Buddhism."
"Probably. I don't know for sure. Anyway, that thing floating above this guy's head right now is the Dharma Wheel that symbolizes that very Mahoraga."
Gojo pointed his finger at the top of my head. All three sets of eyes shifted toward me simultaneously.
Shoko Ieiri, who had been listening quietly, took the lollipop out of her mouth and muttered.
"Wow. You're walking around with something that terrifying and dangerous on your head?"
"Anyway, because of that incident, the families locked their gates and stopped direct intervention or exchange. Naturally, the relationship went to absolute shit. And so~ history lecture over!"
"...."
The legend of the man who killed a previous Gojo head, and the clan's secret history.
As the massive historical weight combined with the excessive curiosity of the three concentrated entirely on me, I felt like I was suffocating.
'Damn it, this is exactly why I hate bringing anything out in front of Blue-Eyes over there.'
I slowly backed away and deactivated the Dharma Wheel in the air.
"Ah~ I need a smoke. I'm stepping out for a bit."
"Huh? Me too, me too."
As I turned around to leave the field, Shoko quickly followed behind me.
"Agh! Just let me be alone! I want some solitude!"
"What's with you? Are you going through puberty?"
A chase ensued as I quickened my pace to escape in disgust, while Shoko giggled and pursued my back.
Meanwhile, two male students watched this childish scene from the middle of the field with blank expressions.
The faces of Satoru Gojo and Suguru Geto were filled with an inexplicable sense of deep regret and hollowness.
"Sigh...."
Gojo adjusted his sunglasses and let out a sigh that could have collapsed the earth.
"Ah, so annoying. Instead of wasting time talking about the heavy history of cursed techniques, I should've just grabbed them by the collar from the start and interrogated them about what their deal is."
Geto also touched his forehead as if in agreement, muttering bitterly.
"Watching them play like that... Honestly, it's an eyesore."
"Seriously. I came here to enjoy my youth, but some random guy is out here enjoying a 'youthful romance' instead."
Two weeks had flashed by since that hectic entrance ceremony and the first mission.
Slide—
Morning homeroom. Masamichi Yaga, the homeroom teacher, opened the front door of the first-year classroom and stood before the podium with his usual stern cough.
However, Yaga's expression was exceptionally strange today. He was trying his best to look serious and weighty, but the corners of his mouth kept twitching, uncontrollable rising upward.
"...Yaga-sensei."
Satoru Gojo, who was tilting his chair back, couldn't stand the teacher's incomprehensible state.
"Just what is so good this morning that you've been grinning since you walked in? Either hold it in or just laugh properly; pick one."
At the student's blunt reality check, Yaga coughed several more times before finally covering his mouth with his large hand.
"Ahem! I shall hide it no longer. The origin of the request falling to you all this time is... Kyoto."
"Kyoto?"
At my question, Yaga finally couldn't hold it in and broke into a triumphant smile.
"That's right. And it was none other than that stuck-up Principal Gakuganji of the Kyoto Jujutsu High himself who reached out to Tokyo High to request 'cooperation between sister schools.' Hehehe."
Tokyo High and Kyoto High had been rivals since their founding. Yaga looked immensely satisfied, imagining the humiliating moment when the conservative Gakuganji had to bow his head to the Tokyo side to ask for support.
"Hum, hum! Anyway! That's enough laughing. Now for the main point and the details of the request."
Yaga instantly wiped the smile off his face and lowered his voice.
"Immediately after the start of the new semester at Kyoto High, a certain second-year student vanished and went AWOL for two weeks. When they mobilized the Windows to track him down... believe it or not, this lunatic had turned into a Yakuza boss."
"A sorcerer becoming a Yakuza?"
Geto asked, sounding baffled. Yaga nodded.
"Yes. They say that in just two weeks, he crushed all the Yakuza organizations and biker gangs in the Kansai region with raw power and unified them. In the underworld, his alias is... the 'Gokudo Flower'."
"Pffft! Hahahahaha!!"
As soon as he heard that tacky, chuunibyou-tier nickname, Satoru Gojo burst into laughter, pounding on his desk.
"The Flower of the Yakuza? Gokudo Flower?! Ah, I'm dying! This is ridiculous! He gave himself a name like some grand king of the night, but when you think about it, he just used jujutsu to play bully and beat up non-sorcerer civilians who don't even have cursed energy!"
"That is true."
Yaga cut through Gojo's laughter and spoke seriously.
"A sorcerer seizing control of a non-sorcerer group requires very little effort. However, the problem is that his actions aren't just at the level of a neighborhood thug. Reports state that including the low-level grunts, his faction currently exceeds 10,000 members."
"10,000 people...."
Deep wrinkles formed on Geto's brow.
"Furthermore, what's even more alarming is their recent business trend. Using their funds, they've been exponentially increasing the number of net cafes in the city. They've mobilized the computers and anonymous internet bulletin boards in those net cafes to slander influential politicians who stand in their way and incite public opinion."
At Yaga's explanation, the relaxed atmosphere in the classroom turned ice-cold.
Even Gojo, who was usually playful, realized the severity of the situation. He pushed up his shades and transitioned into a focused listening posture.
"A violent organization has gained control over both jujutsu and internet public opinion."
This was no longer just a headache within the jujutsu society; it meant there was a massive negative impact on the foundations of civilian society and the fundamental rule of maintaining the secrecy of the jujutsu world.
Yaga slammed his attendance book shut, finishing the briefing.
"And this coming Saturday. We have a report from the Windows that a large number of high-ranking Yakuza executives from across Kansai will gather in one place for what they're calling a 'General Assembly.'"
"Do not underestimate them just because they are non-sorcerers. They have numbers, firearms, and a fallen sorcerer leading them. This is not a matter to be taken lightly. Dismissed."
Inside the Shinkansen train, racing fiercely from Tokyo Station toward Kyoto.
We occupied an entire four-person seating area facing each other, eating the lunch boxes we had bought.
"But Shoko, you're a surprise. You're a non-combatant, rear-line support—weren't you left off the mobilization list this time?"
When I asked while cracking open a can of cola, Shoko, who was leaning against the window, replied indifferently.
"Well, even if it's Yakuza instead of cursed spirits this time, there are civilians involved in the tens of thousands."
"I guess the higher-ups forcibly stuffed me in as a sort of medical unit concept."
"Kuh, as expected of our Jujutsu High's walking heal pack!"
Shoko chuckled and popped a piece of tamagoyaki from her lunch box into her mouth.
I grumbled while watching the scenery blur past the window.
"Unbelievable. It hasn't even been that long since I ran away from Kyoto to Tokyo because I didn't want to deal with the clan elders' nagging, and now they're telling me to go back down to Kyoto. This is one hell of a business trip."
"If you're going to make jujutsu your lifelong career, get used to these grueling out-of-office assignments and business trips quickly."
Geto, sitting opposite me, advised in a mature voice before continuing.
"Besides, I went there once on a trip before, but I came straight back to Tokyo empty-handed."
"Huh? You went to Kyoto? When?"
"Maybe a week before enrollment. I heard a Special Grade Cursed Spirit that enforced bizarre rules had appeared at some subway exit in Kyoto city, so I went all the way down there to consume it."
Geto licked his lips as if in regret.
"But before I could even arrive, someone had exorcised the thing without a trace. Only a tiny bit of Cursed Residue was left behind."
"...Uh?"
The moment I heard that, a familiar place and incident flashed through my mind like a lightning bolt. I put down my lunch box and asked cautiously.
"Um.... By any chance, Karasuma Line, Exit 4?"
"Huh? I think that was it. There was police tape everywhere."
Geto's eyes widened. I let out a hollow laugh and touched my forehead.
"Ah, damn. That was me."
"What?"
"That urban legend spirit that put up police tape and blocked the way! That damn thing had been nesting on the subway stairs for three years. I went to the bakery in front of the station to buy bread once, got caught in its domain, ruined all my bread, and almost died! After that, through blood, sweat, and tears, I finally finished it off about a week before enrollment."
At my passionate explanation, Geto's jaw dropped.
The mysterious powerhouse who had slaughtered a Special Grade spirit without a trace just one step ahead of him... it turned out to be the classmate currently stuffing his face with a lunch box right in front of him, Hachiro Zenin.
"Heh...."
Geto let out a chuckle as if the whole thing was absurd.
"If our timing had been just a little different, we might have met in front of that subway station before the entrance ceremony."
"True. Sorry for making you travel all that way from Tokyo for nothing."
"No. Thanks to that, I realized I have such an interesting guy as a classmate."
It was a heartwarming moment as Geto and I shared smiles over our strange past connection.
Suddenly—!
Satoru Gojo, who had been quietly eating dessert in the seat next to us, suddenly poked his head between us with his sunglasses perched on the tip of his nose and a look of pure dissatisfaction.
"Hey!!"
"Shit, you scared me!"
Gojo pouted as much as possible and shouted irritably.
"Talking about old stories only you guys know! Making secrets between yourselves without me?! Just what is it! Tell me too!!"
"No, I mean, you just heard the whole thing."
"You literally just heard it, what else is there to tell? Are you deaf?"
He began to whine and throw a fit, suffering from a childish sense of exclusion because he couldn't join the conversation. Shoko, looking like she was used to this, put her earphones in and turned her head away.
The Shinkansen, carrying the rowdy and exhausting classmates, charged fiercely toward Kyoto, where a bloody storm of Yakuza was about to break.
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