Chapter 153 – The Strongest Generation
"Uh…"
Okkotsu Kaguya froze for a moment at Ria's question.
As a jujutsu sorcerer, it honestly surprised him that someone could not know the difference between sorcerers and curse users.
"Yeah, actually, I'm curious too," Zen'in Kaon chimed in.
"What exactly is a curse user? Are they sorcerers who specialize in curse-type techniques or something?"
After all, no one had ever explained these things to her.
Okkotsu Kaguya smiled wryly and patiently explained to the two newcomers.
"Among non-sorcerers, there are good people and bad people. The relationship between sorcerers and curse users is basically the same."
"Think of curse users as bad people who can use jujutsu. That's all."
Gojo Kamui, who had been listening silently, finally spoke up, clearly losing patience.
"You'll understand all that stuff eventually. Let's focus on the mission first."
He only wanted to get this over with as quickly as possible.
"Kamui's right," Kaguya agreed.
"The later we arrive, the higher the chance innocent people get hurt."
At that moment, Ria spoke up calmly.
"For this mission, I won't provide any assistance. That's an order from above. I hope you understand."
"That's fine," Kaguya replied without hesitation.
"We're strong enough to handle it cleanly."
Kamui didn't even bother responding.
His figure blurred as he took off toward Shinjuku at high speed.
A mission like this didn't require multiple people—he alone was more than enough.
"Hey! Kamui, wait for us!"
Kaguya sighed helplessly.
"He's still as impatient as ever. All right, you two—let's go!"
With that, Kaguya also turned into a streak of afterimages and rushed forward.
Seeing this, Kaon's excitement surged. She kicked off the ground, grabbed Ria's hand, and dashed after them.
"Wait for us!"
Being dragged along caught Ria slightly off guard. She wanted to say she could keep up on her own, but seeing Kaon's sparkling excitement, she swallowed her words.
Fine, she thought.
They'd be together for years anyway. Building good relationships with her teammates would only help her integrate into human society—and gather more information.
---
Meanwhile…
Inside the Principal's Office at Jujutsu High.
Itadori Yuji stood across from Gojo Satoru.
"Gojo-sensei… is this really okay?"
Itadori was deeply concerned about this special-grade incident.
Fifty thousand extraterrestrials possessing power equivalent to jujutsu sorcerers—there was no way anyone could ignore that.
If they chose to invade Earth, it would mean nothing less than a catastrophic war.
"You saw their attitude during negotiations," Gojo replied calmly.
"For now, we can't determine their true intentions. And more importantly…"
"We don't know the full extent of their strength."
"You felt it back then too, didn't you?" Gojo continued.
"That individual's power was absolutely on par with a special-grade sorcerer."
"And we have no idea how many beings like that they have."
Gojo Satoru spoke calmly. There was no trace of fear toward the extraterrestrials in his eyes—if anything, he seemed intrigued.
Since they possessed cursed energy, perhaps studying these aliens could finally reveal the true origins of jujutsu itself.
"At the moment, they don't fully understand us either," Gojo continued.
"While their representative observes humanity, we'll have time to investigate them in return."
"If they really harbor hostile intentions toward Earth, we'll be able to prepare in advance."
Hearing this, Itadori Yuji nodded slowly.
Under the current circumstances, acting rashly would indeed be unwise.
If the aliens genuinely wished to coexist with humanity, he would actually welcome it. After all, their appearance was not drastically different from humans', and they wielded the same kind of power as jujutsu sorcerers.
If handled properly, their strength might even be used to keep cursed spirits permanently under control.
"Looks like investigating the aliens can only be entrusted to Fushiguro," Yuji muttered.
Given the nature of Fushiguro's technique, no one else was better suited for the job.
"Yuji," Gojo suddenly asked, shifting topics,
"this year's students are different from usual. How is it? Feeling any pressure?"
This incoming class might be the most outrageous one Tokyo Jujutsu High had seen since its founding.
Three children of special-grade sorcerers—plus an alien whose abilities were still unknown.
"What pressure could I possibly feel?" Yuji replied with a relaxed grin.
"You already know Kamui and Kaguya—both of them are basically quasi–special grade already, just one step away from the real thing."
"As for Zen'in-sensei's daughter… no need to guess. She's terrifyingly strong too. Honestly, this might end up being the easiest class I've ever taught."
Strong students meant less worry for the teacher—it was that simple.
"Hahaha," Gojo laughed.
"Don't say that too soon. Haven't you heard? The stronger someone is, the more trouble they cause."
"Uh…"
Yuji scratched his head awkwardly.
"Is that… personal experience talking, Gojo-sensei?"
"Oh? So now you're making fun of me?" Gojo grinned dangerously.
"Been a while since we sparred. I'm free today—how about a quick match?"
Ever since the Shinjuku battle eighteen years ago, he hadn't really fought seriously.
"Absolutely not!" Yuji waved his hands frantically.
"I still have things to do. If you're itching for a fight, go find Okkotsu-senpai—or better yet, go bother Zen'in-sensei."
With that, Yuji fled at full speed.
He had no intention of getting beaten up. Even though he had inherited the Death Painting Wombs and Sukuna's techniques, he was still a step behind Gojo.
After all, he lacked both the Six Eyes and Gojo's overwhelming cursed energy reserves—he only had techniques and brute strength.
Watching Yuji leave, Gojo shook his head with a smile.
"I'd love to fight that guy too… but unfortunately, he's busy honeymooning at his age."
Being a principal was exhausting. Not like that guy, who could just leave whenever he wanted without a shred of attachment to the jujutsu world.
---
"Achoo!"
Far away overseas, Zen'in Shinsuke suddenly sneezed.
"Did you catch a cold?" Tsukumo Yuki asked, puzzled.
Shinsuke waved it off.
"Probably my daughter thinking about me."
There was no way he'd catch a cold. If anything, someone had to be talking about him—and the only person he could think of was his daughter.
Surely it wasn't Gojo Satoru.
"Is that so?" Yuki said with mock jealousy.
"Looks like she favors her dad. She didn't think about me at all."
Then she frowned slightly.
"By the way, when you were on the phone with Gojo earlier, I overheard something about aliens. What's that about?"
"Yeah," Shinsuke replied casually.
"About fifty thousand aliens fled to Earth. They have the same kind of power as jujutsu sorcerers and want to coexist with humans."
He relayed everything he knew.
Yuki's eyes widened.
"That many? There are jujutsu users in space too?"
It sounded absurd.
"With numbers like that, if they turn hostile, they could be even more dangerous than Sukuna," she said seriously.
"If they make a move, the jujutsu world would be the first target. Will our daughter be safe?"
Her concern was understandable—fifty thousand sorcerer-level beings was no joke. Even throughout history, the total number of jujutsu sorcerers might not add up to that many.
"Relax," Shinsuke said calmly.
"If things go south, we'll head back to the jujutsu world ourselves."
"I won't let anything happen to our daughter."
If those aliens truly intended to harm Earth, then so be it.
They'd fight.