"Satoru Gojo. So even if we work together, we wouldn't be able to kill him?" Jogo asked as Kenjaku smiled.
"You might be able to escape, but worst case, he'd exorcise you all before then."
"Instead of trying to kill him, maybe focus on sealing him."
"Seal him? How?" Jogo asked, confused.
"Use a special-grade cursed item, like the Prison Realm," Kenjaku said simply.
"Prison Realm! You truly have such a taboo item?!" Jogo asked, grinning with bubbling excitement.
"Calm down, Jogo. It's getting hot..." Kenjaku reminded him.
In the distance, the workers were staring at the lone man seated at that table. The dark, ominous feeling surrounding him made them all fearful of approaching him directly.
"Table five isn't ordering at all. Someone go and hurry him up," the manager said, but the employee next to him couldn't handle it.
"Sorry, boss. I quit," the man said, leaving the restaurant and not looking back before anything else could be said.
"Huh? W-wait a second!" the manager called after him, but the man was already gone.
A waitress nearby asked the manager, "Do you want me to go?" but the manager shook his head.
"It's fine."
Sweating bullets, the manager wondered if the A.C. unit was even working before he spoke to the man. "Excuse me, sir, are you ready to—" He was cut off as he instantly burst into flames before he could even realize it himself.
"I'd rather you not cause a commotion," Kenjaku said, looking at Jogo with a dead expression, his polite demeanor gone, showing a bit of his true colors.
"How about this?" Jogo smirked, raising two fingers as everyone else—excluding Kenjaku and the other curses—burst into flames, dying on the spot.
Kenjaku casually swiped the smoke out of his face as he sighed. "Glad I didn't choose an expensive restaurant."
"Geto, how strong am I in terms of Sukuna's fingers?" Jogo asked suddenly.
"Before today, I'd have said eight or even nine of them. However, after the data I've collected from Sukuna and Gojo's recent battle... I'd say about one finger, and that's being generous." Kenjaku was honest as Jogo grimaced, though the curse remained confident.
"And you say that because?"
"Well, I never imagined that with only the two fingers we've seen him consume, he'd even have a remote chance against Gojo—even if he did eventually run out of time. I even checked to make sure, and Gojo is still holding onto that third finger. I assumed he was going to feed it to Itadori, but he withheld it for some reason."
"Haha! Then maybe Sukuna really is the key to bringing about the age of curses. By the way, I feel you're underestimating me, Geto. I'll prove it by killing Gojo myself, and you can just give me the Prison Realm for my collection instead. Hahaha!" Jogo laughed with confidence.
'This idiot is going to get himself killed,' Kenjaku thought with a smile as he told Jogo to do as he pleased.
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"I'm sorry we couldn't save Tadashi's life..." Megumi bowed to the woman after handing her the name tag of her dead son from the detention center.
The woman was crying as she held the name tag close to her, choking out her words. "Please, don't apologize. I'm the only person who will grieve for him..."
After that, he went back to the Jujutsu High campus. That same burning desire to grow stronger was within him as he arrived to see Maki and Inumaki watching Panda chase Nobara.
"You're late, Megumi," Maki said, turning to him. "Where were you, anyway?"
"Does it matter?" He brushed her question off as he stopped beside them. "Zenin-senpai, as a jujutsu sorcerer, what kind of people do you want to save?"
"Huh? Oh, I don't think about that kind of stuff."
"I wasted my time by asking."
"What?"
"Fushiguro!" Nobara shouted as Panda picked her up and tossed her. "What are you doing conducting an interview over there! Trade places with me! This school uniform is a pain; I'm going to go buy a cute tracksuit!"
"What are those two doing?" Megumi questioned Maki.
"You guys are weak in close combat. First, try and win against me, then we'll talk..." Maki said, getting into a combat stance as Megumi deadpanned.
———————————————————
"Yuji, you're better than most at close combat, but after what you told me about that little deal with Sukuna, you need to learn cursed energy control more than ever," Gojo said with a smile. "You also need to learn a bit of jujutsu so you can bring out whatever that 'Soul Shrine' technique is that Sukuna was talking about."
"What about that whole Piercing Blood thing?" Yuji asked, tilting his head to the side.
"Well, I'm not sure when you'll find your... siblings? Let alone get the chance to consume them for Blood Manipulation. So for now, let's work with what you do have," Gojo said as he patted Yuji on the back.
"Let's do it, sensei! I want to become stronger so I can handle the burden of Sukuna on my own without endangering any more people!" Yuji said with conviction.
"Great. Now, look over there at those cans." Gojo gestured to a table with two soda cans. Immediately after Yuji looked, one can twisted rapidly into thin metal, and the other merely got dented and flew backward into the wall.
"This is with cursed energy," Gojo said, pointing at the dented can. "And this is a cursed technique," he added, pointing at the twisted can.
"Right... I don't get it at all." Yuji held his chin, staring hard at the cans.
"Okay, let's see. Think of cursed energy as electricity, and cursed techniques as electronics. It's difficult to use electricity by itself, but by channeling that electricity, you can power electronics to fit your needs," Gojo explained. "I only hit the dented can with cursed energy, but with my cursed technique, I twisted it completely."
"That means I really need to master that badass technique Sukuna told me about!" Yuji cheered.
"Well, at first, I honestly thought you'd be hard-pressed to gain a jujutsu technique. After all, you didn't originally even have cursed energy to use, so how would you have gotten one? But with everything Sukuna said—under oath of a binding vow, nonetheless—I'm not sure we can just focus on your physical attacks anymore," Gojo said. "Here, punch me in the hand."
Gojo held out an open hand.
"You sure? Don't blame me if you get hurt!" Yuji smiled and punched Gojo's hand full force, only for nothing to happen.
"I didn't feel any cursed energy..." Gojo said as Yuji deflated.
"I could have sworn I was using cursed energy in my punches against that cursed spirit at the detention center," Yuji said.
Gojo nodded. "Cursed energy is formed from negative emotions. You must have felt loads of fear, anger, and frustration when fighting that cursed spirit, right?"
"So, when using cursed energy, I've always gotta be mad!" Yuji slammed his fist into his palm. "Kinda like Fushiguro, right?"
He smiled, as elsewhere, Megumi's eye twitched in annoyance as if he felt someone talking about him.
"Nope. Every jujutsu sorcerer is trained to control their emotions so as to not leak cursed energy when fighting. There are tons of ways to train this, but you have a particularly tough method this time around due to the time crunch."
"Tough? Like what?" Yuji asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Watching movies!" Gojo cheered, as Yuji grew even more confused.
"Watching... movies?!"