Inside Tokyo Jujutsu High, in the infirmary.
Yuji's body lay on a bed, covered entirely by a white sheet.
Ijichi was still explaining to Gojo.
"At the time, I reminded them repeatedly that they absolutely must not fight a Special Grade. And because I was worried something might go wrong, I even contacted Zenin-sensei in advance."
"I just didn't expect…"
"It was intentional, wasn't it?" Gojo said, expression blank. "Since the higher-ups changed Yuji's execution to a suspended sentence, they needed a reason to pit him against a Special Grade."
"So he could die in a more 'respectable' way."
"Otherwise, why send three first-years instead of directly contacting Jinsuke for a Special Grade mission?"
Gojo exposed the higher-ups' intentions. Wasn't all of this just a convenient excuse to get rid of Sukuna? Even timing it for when he wasn't present.
"When the mission was assigned, we didn't know it would escalate to Special Grade. We only realized after arriving… that's why I took it upon myself to notify Zenin-sensei," Ijichi said, wiping sweat from his forehead.
The higher-ups indeed had no plans to involve Jinsuke at first. He had only stepped in because he sensed something was wrong. Fortunately so — otherwise more than one student might have died.
"Tch. Tracking down the culprit is too much trouble. I should just kill all the higher-ups," Gojo muttered, clearly irritated. This time, he was genuinely angry. He had high hopes for Yuji, yet the moment he left on a mission, the kid was sacrificed.
A Special Grade Cursed Womb appearing out of nowhere… it was obviously orchestrated. It might even have been staged by the higher-ups themselves.
"When did you start getting emotional?"
Shoko walked in wearing her lab coat, and beside her was Jinsuke.
Jinsuke idly toyed with the Sukuna Finger in his hand. Seeing Gojo's furious expression, he nodded approvingly.
"I think your idea sounds great. Go ahead and wipe out those old geezers. You have my full support."
Gojo's mood worsened instantly at the sight of Jinsuke."You were on-site and still managed to let Yuji die. Was that on purpose?"
"Hey now, you can't just say whatever pops into your head. I'm a responsible teacher who cares deeply about his students. How could I possibly stand by and let a student be killed by a curse?"
"But if Sukuna decides to off himself, I can't exactly stop him. Besides, if Ijichi had informed me sooner, none of this would've happened, right?"
Jinsuke shrugged helplessly.
"So it was Ijichi's fault?" Gojo's gaze shifted to Ijichi, who was sweating bullets.
"..."
Ijichi had no words.
"Alright, enough. The two of you are adults — stop bullying Ijichi. He's stuck in the middle and it's not easy for someone who doesn't fight," Shoko scolded.
Ijichi bowed gratefully to her. His role really was awkward: liaison work, setting up curtains, and little else.
"So this is Sukuna's vessel, huh? Dead as can be. I can dissect him freely now, right?" Shoko pulled off the sheet covering Itadori.
He lay naked on the table, a deep wound carved into his chest.
"Make sure to make good use of him. Don't waste the opportunity."
At this point, Gojo had no choice but to accept Yuji's death.
What he needed to do now was cleanse the rotten Jujutsu world.
Those above them—the higher-ups—were the greatest source of decay: a pack of fools who only cared about self-preservation. If the positions weren't hereditary, half these problems wouldn't exist.
Killing them would be easy. But replacing them wouldn't change anything, and doing it by force would never win the support of others.
So he would start with education—raising a generation of exceptional students who, once they matured, would make those old men obsolete.
Only then could he bring light back to the jujutsu world.
Seeing Gojo fall silent, Jinsuke assumed he was grieving deeply for Yuji and spoke up:
"Don't be so pessimistic. That kid might still come back to life."
"What do you mean?" Gojo turned to him.
"Think about it. Sukuna lives inside Yuji. If he wants to revive the kid, it'd be easy."
Under normal circumstances, If Yuji was dead, then that was that. Sukuna wouldn't necessarily save him.
But after interacting with Megumi… Sukuna might not want to disappear so easily.
After all, his beloved "nephew" had caught his interest.
"Sukuna? That guy being kindhearted?"
"Ha—!"
Just as Gojo voiced his doubt, Yuji — who was about to be dissected — suddenly sat straight up.
"Huh? I'm… completely naked."
Scratching his head as he looked at his state, he asked awkwardly,
"Uh… this is embarrassing. Who are you?"
Noticing there was a woman in the room too, Yuji wanted to die from shame.
"Damn it, I was so close!" Shoko sighed. She had almost gotten the chance to dissect Sukuna's vessel.
"Well, you were right after all," Gojo glanced at Jinsuke, then walked over and waved cheerfully.
"Yuji. Welcome back."
"Oh—yeah, I'm back!"
He had already forgotten why Sukuna decided to save him, but right now he had only one thought: It feels great to be alive.
"See? Told you. Since the kid's alive again, I'm heading out. Here, this is yours."
Jinsuke tossed the Sukuna Finger to Gojo. Whether they wanted Yuji to eat it or store it was their problem. He had no use for it — couldn't eat it like pickled chicken feet anyway.
Catching the finger, Gojo said, "Don't let anyone know Yuji is alive yet."
Hearing that, Jinsuke waved lazily without looking back. He couldn't care less.
"You're worried someone might target him?" Shoko asked, dark circles under her eyes.
"At least give him the bare minimum combat ability before the enemy moves again."
Gojo fully intended to train Yuji properly. As Sukuna's vessel, it was only natural he'd be targeted.
Yuji's potential was impressive. With proper training, he might become another Hakari or Yuta.
"Well, at least I don't need to rewrite my report now," Shoko said with some relief.
Meanwhile, outside—
Megumi and Nobara sat on the steps by the entrance, eyes vacant, clearly devastated by Yuji's death.
"What's with those faces? Megumi, yours looks even gloomier than usual. Are you in mourning or something?"
A short-haired girl with a stern expression stepped in front of them, a weapon bag slung over her back.
It was Maki, just returning from a mission.
"Zenin-senpai?" Megumi looked up at her.
"Don't call me by my family name, kid. It's Maki—just Maki!"
Behind her, Panda and Inumaki peeked nervously from behind a stone pillar, whispering:
"Maki… Maki… just say Maki…"
"What? I'm talking to them," Maki snapped, annoyed by their suspicious behavior.
"You really don't know why they're like this? A first-year actually died yesterday!" Panda said, sweating from stress.
"Bonito flakes," Inumaki nodded quickly.
"Hah!?" Maki's face froze, then she instantly rounded on the two of them. "Why didn't you tell me earlier!?"
"Do you know how heartless I must look right now!?"
"Ahem… you did look like a demon just now," Panda added quietly.
"Idiot! It's your fault for not warning me!" Maki shouted.