The mountain path stretched beneath their feet, the stone steps polished smooth by years of use.
Satoru Gojo walked ahead, hands in his pockets, humming an off-key tune.
Yuji Itadori followed behind, his breathing a little quick from the climb, but more than that, he was nervous—the tension of an unknown jujutsu school, the anxiety of the Sukuna inside him, and the nervousness of meeting the principal.
Satoru Gojo could feel these emotions from the fluctuations in his cursed energy, like small ripples on the water. Very faint, very pure, nothing like a vessel containing a thousand-year-old curse inside his body.
Interesting.
He remembered the scene when he first saw Itadori yesterday at the Sugisawa Third Middle School playground. The pink-haired boy had swallowed Sukuna's finger—a finger that should have instantly overwhelmed the King of Curses' consciousness—but he had forcefully suppressed Sukuna. Although it was only one finger, the qualification of this "vessel" was already a miracle.
What made Satoru Gojo even more concerned was Sukuna's reaction.
The legendary King of Curses, the moment he took over Itadori's body, the first thing he saw wasn't him, the "strongest of this era," but Megumi Fushiguro—or rather, the Jade Dog at Megumi's feet.
That's when Sukuna asked that question.
"Zen'in Genji… has he awakened too?"
Satoru Gojo hadn't answered affirmatively at the time. But he knew the answer—from Suguru Geto's account at the dessert shop yesterday, Zen'in Genji was indeed awake and in Tokyo, possessing an ordinary girl named Eriri Sawamura.
The God of Curses from a thousand years ago and the King of Curses from a thousand years ago had awakened simultaneously in this era.
The world was becoming more and more lively.
"Gojo-sensei," Itadori's voice came from behind him, hesitant. "You just said… Sukuna is an existence that 'no one but Zen'in Genji' can surpass. Is this Zen'in Genji really that strong?"
Satoru Gojo didn't look back, just kept walking upward.
"Strong?" He repeated the word, a complex emotion in his voice. "Itadori, what do you think the concept of 'strong' means?"
"Um… being able to beat a lot of people?"
"That's combat, not strength," Satoru Gojo said. "Real 'strength' is the ability to change the rules, define an era, and make the entire world adjust its logic around your existence—Zen'in Genji was that kind of existence."
He paused and added, "And me, known as the 'strongest' of this era, I'm just at the top within the existing rules."
The words were spoken lightly, but Itadori could feel their weight. Suddenly, he remembered what Sukuna had said on the back of his hand—"A brat like you, who doesn't know his place, dares to judge Zen'in Genji?"
At the time, he had thought Sukuna was insane. But now, from Satoru Gojo's tone, he vaguely felt that "Zen'in Genji" might be some kind of… existence beyond common sense.
"Have you ever seen him?" Itadori couldn't help but ask.
"No," Satoru Gojo admitted frankly. "But I will soon. After all, he's awake, and that guy Geto must have already gone to see him. With Geto's personality, he'll definitely find a way to involve Zen'in Genji in his plans."
"Geto…?"
"Yeah, my only best friend," there was a rare warmth in Satoru Gojo's voice. "Even though the path he's on now is a little off, I'll still watch him. Whatever he wants to do, I'll applaud his success; if he fails, I'll clean up his mess."
It was said so matter-of-factly, as if it were just a formality—"having a close friend's back."
Itadori was stunned. He couldn't imagine what kind of friendship it was that made someone say something like, "I'll support you no matter what you want to do."
"You and Geto-san… your relationship is really good."
"Yeah, it is," Satoru Gojo corrected. "It still is. It's just… he has a path he wants to choose, and I have a responsibility I bear. But we're still close friends. That will never change."
He looked up at the simple torii gate at the end of the stone steps. The silhouette of the college loomed in the morning mist, like a sleeping ancient temple.
"Itadori," Satoru Gojo suddenly said, "do you know why the jujutsu world compares me to Zen'in Genji?"
"…Because you're both the 'strongest'?"
"No," Satoru Gojo smiled. There was self-mockery in that smile, and also a kind of understanding. "Because when they look at me, they see the shadow of Zen'in Genji—or rather, they want me to become the 'next Zen'in Genji.'"
---
On the day Satoru Gojo was born, the fortune-teller of the Gojo clan knelt on the ground.
"The Six Eyes… the true Six Eyes have been born!"
"A once-in-a-millennium divine child! This is the reenactment of Zen'in Genji!"
"The Gojo clan will be revived! No, the entire jujutsu world is about to welcome a new 'god'!"
Satoru Gojo didn't actually remember these shouts. He was still an infant, wrapped in a magnificent swaddling cloth, with a pair of pale blue eyes that could see through the flow of all cursed energy, quietly observing this strange world.
But he remembered the rumors he heard later.
—The birth of Satoru Gojo had broken the balance of the jujutsu world. To "test and balance" the Six Eyes, the cursed side would erupt on a large scale. Special-grade cursed spirits would appear frequently, and the world would descend into chaos.
—Satoru Gojo must become the "strongest," suppress the era, and protect humanity, just like Zen'in Genji a thousand years ago.
—Satoru Gojo is the "chosen one," destined to become a "god."
Fuck being chosen.
When Satoru Gojo was six years old, he used the Limitless technique for the first time to deflect the "teachings" of the clan elders. An old man had tried to use cursed energy to force him to kneel, to understand the "rules" and "the humility a divine child should have."
Then the old man flew back and crashed through three walls.
Satoru Gojo stood there, his pale blue eyes calmly watching the old man struggle to his feet in the dust and smoke, and said:
"I hate being forced to do things."
"When I want to save someone, I'll save them naturally."
"I don't want to be a god. That's too boring."
After that, no one in the Gojo clan dared to "teach" him. They switched to another approach—flattering him, like flattering a precious, fragile artifact, whispering in his ear:
"Master Satoru, you are the hope of the Gojo clan."
"Master Gojo, you are destined to become an existence surpassing Zen'in Genji."
"Master Gojo, please… lead the jujutsu world into a new era."
Boring.
It's all boring.
Satoru Gojo enrolled in the Tokyo Jujutsu High at sixteen simply because he was tired of staying at home. He wanted to see the outside world, to meet "ordinary people"—even though there were no truly "ordinary people" in his identity.
Then he met Suguru Geto.
A black-haired boy with a half-bun and a perpetually gentle smile. Geto's technique was "Cursed Spirit Manipulation," which allowed him to absorb cursed spirits and turn them into his own use—unlimited potential.
But what caught Satoru Gojo's attention wasn't the technique, but Geto's eyes.
In those slender, always slightly narrowed eyes, there was something Satoru Gojo had never seen in the Gojo clan—not admiration, not expectation, not calculation, but pure, equal "curiosity."
"Are you Satoru Gojo? The Six Eyes?" When Geto first saw him, he asked just like that, his tone as natural as asking, "Have you eaten?"
"So what?" Satoru Gojo raised an eyebrow, ready for the next phrase—"I've admired you for a long time" or "Please take care of me."
"No, it's nothing," Geto smiled and patted him on the shoulder. "I just thought you must eat a lot. Let's go. The cafeteria has strawberry cake today. If we're late, it'll sell out."
Just… like that?
Satoru Gojo was stunned for two seconds, then laughed.
A real laugh, not the sneer he reserved for the clan elders.
"Okay," he said. "But I'm having two servings."
"Fine, help yourself."
After that, they became partners, friends, and finally… best friends.
---
Suguru Geto was the most contradictory person Satoru Gojo had ever met.
On the surface, he was gentle and polite to everyone. But deep down, he had an almost paranoid "sense of justice"—sorcerers must protect non-sorcerers. It was an innate responsibility, the duty of the "strong" to the "weak."
"Geto, aren't you tired?" Satoru Gojo often asked him. "You want to save everyone you see, exorcise every cursed spirit you see. Do you think you're Superman?"
"I don't want to be Superman," Geto shook his head, his voice serious. "I just think… since I have this power, I should use it to do the right thing. Otherwise, what's the difference between having power and not?"
"The right thing?" Satoru Gojo snorted. "Who defines what's 'right'? The Jujutsu Headquarters? Those old men?"
"I define it myself," Geto said. "I believe protecting the weak is right, so I do it. As for what others think… I don't care."
It was said frankly, and Satoru Gojo couldn't refute it.
Because he was the same kind of person—he only did what he thought was right and didn't care what others thought.
It's just that their definitions of "the right thing" were different.
Satoru Gojo believed that saving people should come from the heart, not from a sense of duty. When he wanted to save someone, he would naturally save them. If he didn't want to, no one should try to morally blackmail him.
Geto believed that saving people was a sorcerer's calling, a responsibility that came with power. Even if you resisted inside, even if you were exhausted, you still had to do it.
They often argued about this—on the training ground, on the way to missions, in izakayas late at night.
"Satoru, you're too stubborn!"
"Geto, you're too crazy!"
After arguing, they would go on another mission the next day—one using the Limitless technique to block a cursed spirit's attack, the other using Cursed Spirit Manipulation to absorb the cursed spirit's core, cooperating seamlessly.
Shoko Ieiri often complained: "You two just get along. You argue every day. Aren't you tired?"
"Who wants to get along with this blockhead?" Satoru Gojo sneered.
"I don't want to be paired with this delusional guy either," Geto snorted coldly.
Then they would look at each other and burst out laughing at the same time.
Those were the most carefree years of Satoru Gojo's life. At the Jujutsu High, there were no family expectations, no burden of being a "divine child"—only missions, training, battles, and a close friend who truly understood him.
Until the Star Plasma Vessel incident.
Riko Amanai. Fifteen years old. The chosen "Star Plasma Vessel," destined to assimilate with Master Tengen, renew Tengen's physical body, and maintain the barrier's operation.
Satoru Gojo and Suguru Geto received the mission: protect Riko Amanai and safely deliver her to Lord Tengen.
The mission itself wasn't simple. The difficulty was the indescribable feeling of suffocation that came when they met Riko Amanai.
The girl, knowing she was going to be "assimilated," that she was going to "disappear," still tried to smile and said, "This is my mission. I'm honored."
Her fingers trembled slightly when she said it.
Geto saw it. Satoru Gojo saw it too.
But everyone pretended not to notice, because it was a "mission," a "rule," the "operating logic of the jujutsu world."
Until the final step.
In the deepest part of the Star Palace, at the ritual site, Riko Amanai knelt down.
She lowered her head, her shoulders trembling, her voice so low it was almost inaudible:
"I… I don't want to disappear."
"I want to live… as Riko Amanai. Continue going to school, making friends, seeing scenery I've never seen before, and living until I'm very old…"
Tengen stood before her. The sorcerer who had lived for a thousand years had a face shrouded in a halo, his expression unreadable.
Satoru Gojo felt Geto's body tense beside him. He turned his head and saw his best friend's profile—those always gentle eyes now burning with fierce internal struggle.
"Geto," Satoru Gojo whispered. "What do you think?"
Geto was silent for a long time, then slowly said, as if each word was being pulled from his throat:
"…I don't know."
"But I do know," Satoru Gojo said, "that if I let her disappear here today, I'll have nightmares for the rest of my life."
Geto suddenly looked at him.
Satoru Gojo grinned widely, a smile filled with madness, determination, and a certain relief.
"So what are you going to do?" He asked.
Geto looked at him for three seconds, then smiled too.
"You already know."
They stepped forward side by side, stood in front of Riko Amanai, and faced Tengen.
It was the first time in his life Satoru Gojo felt a genuine crisis that he might die. Tengen's power was unfathomable. Even working with Geto, their chance of victory was no more than 30%.
But it didn't matter.
If a girl who wanted to live had to be sacrificed for the sake of so-called "rules," then that rule wasn't worth keeping.
But Tengen didn't fight.
He just quietly looked at them for a long time, then softly sighed:
"A thousand years ago, a troublesome friend told me: If you're tired of living, try a new way of life. Since even my own Six Eyes vessels are unwilling to help me, it's probably time for me to move toward a new 'self' as well."
He waved his hand and lifted the assimilation pact.
"Take her away," Tengen said. "As for me… it's time to try a new form."
Silence fell over the ritual site. Riko Amanai looked up, her face streaked with tears, her eyes filled with an incredible hope.
Satoru Gojo and Suguru Geto looked at each other, both seeing the same emotion in each other's eyes—
Victory.
Not a victory in battle, but a victory in some more important "choice."
But the price of that victory soon became apparent.
Riko Amanai survived as an ordinary person, but the higher-ups of the jujutsu world were furious. Satoru Gojo and Suguru Geto were severely reprimanded, their mission ratings were reduced to the minimum, and all their bonuses for the next six months were deducted.
But none of that mattered.
What mattered was that Suguru Geto had changed.
From that day on, he began to think more deeply about "a sorcerer's duty," "how to completely solve the problem of cursed spirits," and "what's wrong with this world's logic."
He read many books, researched many documents, and even secretly contacted Yuki Tsukumo, a special-grade sorcerer operating abroad.
Then he proposed an idea that made Satoru Gojo's heart sink—
The "Heavenly Restriction Plan."
"Make all of humanity achieve a state of Heavenly Restriction, no longer produce cursed energy, and destroy cursed spirits at their root."
When Geto said this, his eyes lit up remarkably—it was the excitement of finding the "ultimate answer."
Satoru Gojo only felt a chill down his spine.
Because he knew Geto too well. Once this best friend decided a certain path was right, he would walk it to the end without hesitation, even if the road was full of thorns, even if it hurt himself or others.
"Geto," Satoru Gojo had said then, "you know how that sounds."
"Like heresy, I know," Geto admitted frankly. "But it's the only possible cure. Satoru, think about it. If we keep going like this, we'll always just be 'cleanup crew,' always passively exorcising cursed spirits after they appear, never able to save everyone…"
"This isn't something you can decide alone!" Satoru Gojo rarely raised his voice. "Evolve all of humanity? How do you do that? Who defines the criteria for 'evolution'? What if it doesn't work? What if people die in the process?!"
Geto was silent.
But the light in his eyes didn't go out. It sank deeper, becoming something more determined and more dangerous.
After that, Geto graduated from the college, left the institution, and founded the Star Religious Group. He attracted followers with gentle teachings, secretly used cursed energy to heal ordinary people wounded by cursed spirits, and simultaneously… continued researching his "Heavenly Restriction Plan."
Satoru Gojo didn't stop him.
Not because he didn't want to, but because he couldn't.
Because he knew that Geto had chosen a path of no return. Forcibly stopping him would only turn his best friend against him.
So Satoru Gojo chose another path—
Become the "strongest."
Strong enough that whether Geto's plan succeeded or failed, he could cover for his best friend.
Strong enough that even if the whole world turned against Geto, he could stand beside his best friend and say, "No one touches him while I'm here."
Strong enough… to tell Geto, "Whatever you want to do, I'll see it through to the end with you."
This was Satoru Gojo's tenderness and stubbornness.
---
"Gojo-sensei, we're here."
Itadori's voice brought Satoru Gojo back from his memories.
The setting sun bathed the Tokyo Jujutsu High in golden afterglow.
And somewhere deep within the college, Satoru Gojo walked toward the dormitory with Itadori, the usual cynical smile on his face.
But inside him, something heavy was fermenting.
Zen'in Genji had awakened.
Sukuna had awakened.
Geto's plan continued.
And this young man named Yuji Itadori, with a thousand-year-old curse sleeping inside his body, had an incredible purity in his eyes.
"This is interesting," Satoru Gojo muttered to himself, his pale blue eyes gleaming with excitement in the sunset.
"This era is getting more and more interesting."
"Let me see…"
"How lively it can get."
He looked up at the silhouette of Tokyo in the distance, the corners of his lips curving into a roguish arc.
"Geto, Zen'in Genji, Sukuna…"
"Whatever you want to do, I'll see it through to the end with you."
"Because—"
"I'm the strongest of this era."
The setting sun stretched his shadow long.
And deep within the shadow, a consciousness, heavier than a curse and softer than a curse, spread silently.