The plan was actually quite simple: use himself and the white-haired girl as bait to lure in the black-haired girl, then wait until both sides were exhausted before swooping in to capture them all.
Who knows, maybe he could even take the opportunity to turn the white-haired girl into a reserve vessel—after all, the white-haired girl's "Cursed Technique" was still quite useful.
But before that, they absolutely had to seal away that reckless troublemaker, Gojo Satoru. The reason this had to come first was… they were seriously short-handed.
The ones who should have been the main forces—Hanami and Jogo—were now, respectively, dead and captured.
Mahito hadn't experienced much combat either, and his control over his own technique was still at a crude stage.
So aside from the three brothers of the Cursed Womb, they really had no other combat power to speak of.
Even if they gathered all of them together, it still wouldn't be enough for Gojo Satoru to wipe out single-handedly.
That's exactly why they valued her so much—this so-called "Celestial Cursed Spirit."
The Herrscher of Sentience couldn't hold back a cold sneer.
Originally, her death could have been faked—after all, she wasn't the type to enjoy playing the wise mentor anyway.
But now that someone had set up such an obvious trap, if she just went back like nothing happened, how could she ever save face after being killed off like that?
At this point, she still had no idea that this seemingly straightforward Curse User had so many thoughts running through its mind.
After all, Curse Users weren't exactly the most intelligent beings to begin with. To have one as clever as Kenjaku was already a rare exception.
In his eyes, great power inevitably came with other flaws.
To him, the Herrscher of Sentience was precisely the type who, because of her overwhelming strength, acted without restraint and lacked any sense of caution.
And as it happened, what he excelled at was scheming against brutes who only had raw power to show for themselves.
The two exchanged a smile, each holding their own calculations close to heart.
--+--
Time passed steadily according to the plan.
With the exchange event already over, the students of Jujutsu High no longer had the luxury of idling around campus. Most of the time, they were tasked with missions assigned by the school.
Jujutsu sorcerers were perpetually understaffed, so even students were expected to fulfill the duties of a sorcerer—so long as they could fight and complete assignments.
Even Amber, who wasn't particularly well-liked by the upper echelons, was constantly entrusted with important tasks—or more accurately, ruthlessly exploited.
Because of this, Gojo Satoru found his load significantly lightened, freed from what used to be an endless hell of business trips.
Instead, it was Amber who was now constantly sent away on missions.
After all, while there were officially five Special Grade sorcerers, Suguru Geto had already defected, and Yuta Okkotsu was abroad, helping Gojo search for Black Ropes—or cursed tools similar to Black Ropes and the Inverted Spear of Heaven, which could neutralize cursed energy and disrupt techniques.
As for Yuki Tsukumo, forget about her—she was a total free spirit. She didn't take a salary from the higher-ups, nor did she have any intention of doing work for them.
Before Amber emerged, the only one who could actually be dispatched to exorcise curses was Gojo Satoru.
And Gojo was the type with a very strong sense of self, often clashing with the higher-ups. Even when he wasn't actively opposing them, he never hesitated to mouth off.
In contrast, this new Special Grade, who had initially been seen as a thorn in their side, had now become their most useful pawn.
Not only did she never talk back to them, she even went wherever they said curses appeared—just like an ordinary sorcerer.
Almost too obedient, really.
Unfortunately, that satisfying feeling of having a powerful piece to deploy at will lasted less than a week before Gojo Satoru put a forceful stop to it.
Gojo had no interest in letting his students be worked like dogs for the higher-ups.
Sending his student on non-stop missions without rest—were they trying to get her killed? Especially now, when there was likely a mole at Jujutsu High, possibly even connected to the cursed spirits.
Using that as an excuse, Gojo directly eliminated the few higher-ups who had been giving Amber orders, on the grounds that they were "likely the moles."
"Really now, Seele-chan, you shouldn't be so obedient to those rotten old geezers. They'll just take advantage of you~"
Having brought his dutiful student back from her mission, Gojo spoke with a tone of mild exasperation.
"It's not about obeying them… It's just that if I can exorcise more curses, then it's a good thing to do so."
Amber, for her part, didn't mind much. The higher-ups hadn't done anything to disgust her—they'd only tasked her with hunting curses.
Jujutsu sorcerers were short on hands, and many could die in the fight against curses.
That the higher-ups suddenly assigned so many exorcism missions was certainly a way to preserve their own forces, but Amber didn't really care about their petty schemes.
"Ahh, who knew having such an earnest student could also give a teacher a headache."
Gojo scratched his cheek, first marveling at his adorable student's dutifulness, then feeling a surge of responsibility. "But then, it's a teacher's job to protect their students. A little extra trouble isn't so bad~"
The situation was different now.
Before, he'd wanted to kill off some higher-ups but lacked a justifiable reason that would sit right morally. But now things had changed.
The collaboration between curse users and cursed spirits was one thing; it was also clear that some within the jujutsu world were colluding with curse users—after all, Jujutsu High's barrier wasn't something just any curse user could break.
Thus, he now had a pretext for branding people as "collaborators with curse users" and taking them out.
After all, he had Jogo in his custody. Even if he killed the wrong person, he could always claim that Jogo's intel had been false.
Besides, those who made it to the upper echelons were merely stubborn, not stupid. Everyone knew what Gojo was thinking—which was also why they no longer dared to boss him around like they used to.
Sure, Seele Vollerei was useful, but more importantly, they knew they couldn't keep Gojo in check anymore.
"Sorry, Seele won't overwork herself next time."
Amber knew Gojo was concerned about her, so she could only nod and apologize.
Besides, it wasn't just Gojo—Dark Amber had been growing more irritable these past few days, repeatedly threatening to go kill off a batch of higher-ups.
She'd even started questioning whether Fu Hua, who had been quietly observing without saying anything, actually cared about Amber at all.
But that was mostly just talk.
If Fu Hua truly didn't care, she wouldn't be guarding against her so fiercely.
Of course, Fu Hua wasn't indifferent. In fact, the jujutsu higher-ups reminded her of the leadership of the old organization, Fire Moth. They weren't just similar—they were practically identical.
Just as rigid, just as profit-obsessed, just as coldly pragmatic.
Only, unlike her own situation back then, Amber possessed the power to overturn everything, and she didn't have to face an apocalypse that couldn't be overcome by force alone.
Aside from matters concerning Amber's safety, Fu Hua didn't plan to interfere. She truly didn't believe she could do any better than Amber in this situation.
Things like "approval rating" might seem abstract, but through past conversations with the controlling consciousness and seeing how smoothly things progressed for Amber, the mechanism was actually quite clear.
While strength, appearance, and other factors were part of it, the most important aspect was personality.
The more others saw Amber as someone worth befriending and genuinely liked her, the higher the approval rating she could obtain.
And as it happened, the girl's personality was that of a very typical young girl—somewhat naively idealistic, gentle toward others, without ill intent, and always considerate of others' feelings, able to think from their perspective.
With a nature like that, it seemed almost natural for her to easily gain approval among the main cast.
Fu Hua felt that, in this regard, she was inferior to her disciple.
--+--
T/N: While I am an inexperienced Translator, I have a Patreon! While it may seem empty as of now, webnovel will get 3 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!
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If you guys wanna check it out.