"So, to summarize—there were a total of five special-grade curses and cursed spirits. Three curses were defeated by Miss Makima, while the remaining two special-grade cursed spirits escaped due to a moment of carelessness?"
The monitoring room at Jujutsu High had been temporarily converted into a conference room. Aside from the students of the two Jujutsu High campuses, all other personnel were present.
Everyone listened quietly as Makima recounted the situation inside the barrier.
Of course, this was a revised version—one that omitted the part where Makima had subjugated the curses and cursed spirits.
According to Makima's account, after entering the barrier and defeating the three curses of the Death Painting Wombs: Nine Phases, successfully rescuing the two students, she rushed to another battlefield. However, her arrival caused Seele to let her guard down for an instant, allowing the two cursed spirits to seize the opportunity to escape and vanish without a trace.
"One of the two escaping cursed spirits possesses the ability to completely conceal both its own aura and that of its companions. Once it disappears from sight, it can no longer be sensed or distinguished by cursed energy. The reason those curse users and cursed spirits were able to infiltrate Jujutsu High's barrier this time was likely due to this ability."
"This operation was ultimately my fault for holding Miss Seele back, resulting in the two special-grade cursed spirits escaping. I will truthfully document the incident afterward and submit it to the Headquarters for archival."
Makima spoke with a solemn expression.
In response, the principals of both Jujutsu High schools, along with Gojo Satoru, Utahime Iori, and the others, all displayed different expressions.
"Miss Makima, you're being too harsh on yourself. The cursed spirits that attacked Jujutsu High this time were not only extremely powerful, but also possessed intelligence on par with humans—something unprecedented in prior jujutsu records. Moreover, one of them had an exceptionally strong concealment ability, capable of evading even Master Tengen's barrier. A momentary lapse under such circumstances was unavoidable."
Yaga Masamichi was the first to speak, his expression grave.
"Indeed. As members of the jujutsu world's upper echelon, our usual responsibilities lean more toward coordination and planning. With the sudden nature of this incident, the fact that Miss Makima was willing to personally enter the barrier to confront the cursed spirits and assist in rescuing the students is already commendable. How could we dare ask for more?"
Gakuganji Yoshinobu, principal of Kyoto Jujutsu High and the most senior sorcerer present, nodded in agreement. He knew very well that if someone else among the higher-ups had been involved instead of Makima, they wouldn't have offered help at all—let alone refrain from questioning Jujutsu High's security measures afterward.
"I also think a momentary oversight doesn't really prove anything."
Utahime Iori added cautiously.
"Heh. At the end of the day, neither Miss Seele nor Miss Makima did anything wrong. This was a premeditated surprise attack by curse users and cursed spirits. And among the attackers were not only ordinary curse users, but five special-grade curses and cursed spirits. With such a lineup, even just driving them back would be more than enough to silence any criticism."
"As for those rotten mandarins in the upper ranks—if they dare try to use this to assign blame, I wouldn't mind going to have a nice little 'chat' with them."
Gojo Satoru spoke last, his tone utterly carefree as he delivered what could only be described as blatantly heretical remarks—though he personally felt such a scenario was unlikely to occur anyway.
Given the usual conduct of the higher-ups, they likely wouldn't dare question Seele. The only person who might draw scrutiny was Miss Makima—but she herself was already one of the higher-ups, and she had just demonstrated strength far surpassing that of a Grade 1 sorcerer.
Single-handedly exorcising three special-grade curses without injury—combined with Makima's authority—meant that even if the higher-ups tried to make an issue of it, it would amount to nothing more than token criticism. Completely harmless.
"Still… being able to take down three special-grade curses in one go—Miss Makima's strength would qualify her as a special-grade sorcerer alongside Miss Seele and me, wouldn't it?"
Gojo asked with keen interest.
For someone like him—who had long sought to change the jujutsu world and overhaul its leadership—bringing An Xora and Seele into the jujutsu world had already been an unexpected delight. He never imagined that the preexisting higher-ups would also include someone like Makima: powerful, low-key, and completely unlike the rest.
With Seele and Makima, plus himself and Yuta Okkotsu—and once the current students of Jujutsu High matured enough to stand on their own—he could clean out the upper echelon with his own hands. Even if that meant retiring afterward, the jujutsu world's future under the leadership of the new generation would undoubtedly be bright.
Things were looking up. Everything was looking up.
The flourishing future of the jujutsu world was practically within reach.
Feeling that his years of effort had finally yielded hope, Gojo Satoru couldn't help but feel exceptionally refreshed.
"On par as special-grade? It's nothing more than a bit of trivial strength—hardly comparable to Miss Seele or Mr. Gojo."
Makima replied calmly.
"So you're saying that aside from Miss Seele and me, you wouldn't lose to anyone else?"
"I don't see it that way. But if Mr. Gojo insists on interpreting it like that, I have no objections."
If such words—showing complete disregard for everyone else—had come from any other sorcerer, they would have sounded unbearably arrogant.
But Makima had just proven herself by defeating three special-grade curses alone. With that level of strength, saying she could rival a special-grade sorcerer was hardly controversial.
After all, not every special-grade was Gojo Satoru—or Seele, who had defeated Gojo.
"I'll arrange for an investigation into the collusion between special-grade cursed spirits and curse users. In that regard, I'll need to trouble Mr. Gojo to lend his assistance."
After all, investigating special-grade cursed spirits required the involvement of special-grade sorcerers. Without sufficient strength, even if investigators uncovered something, they'd have little chance of returning alive.
"Leave it to me."
Gojo flashed an easygoing gesture of assurance. Conveniently enough, he hadn't gotten to fight at all during this attack, and he was holding back quite a bit of pent-up frustration.
"Then there shouldn't be anything left for Seele and me here. After the exchange event was attacked, it probably can't continue anyway. In that case, we'll take our leave first."
Placing a hand on Seele's shoulder, An Xora bid the others farewell, then left the conference room together with her.
He was in a hurry to go back and sort through the spoils—he didn't have the time to stay here listening to follow-up arrangements. That kind of work could be left to Makima; it had nothing to do with him or Seele.
The others in the conference room had no objections. After all, although An Xora and Seele had joined the jujutsu world, they didn't take orders from the higher-ups. Even if they chose to leave now, no one was in a position to say otherwise.
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