October 17, 2018, 7:00 PM, Shibuya.
A curtain descended, centered around the Tokyo Department Store's East Tower, with a radius of roughly 400 meters.
Shibuya at dusk was at its peak hour.
The outer perimeter of the barrier was already packed with a frantic crowd.
People slammed their fists against it, threw their bodies at the invisible wall, desperately trying to break through, but it was utterly futile.
Even more people were shouting, screaming for Satoru Gojo and Seele Vollerei to be brought to them.
They had no idea what those names meant, who these people were.
They were just driven by a pervasive, unknown rumor: if these two didn't show up, they'd be trapped here forever. Panic fueled their incessant cries.
The number of civilians caught up in this was massive. Every jujutsu sorcerer within Tokyo had been mobilized, with reinforcements already on their way.
Gojo, who had been in Shinjuku, received the news almost immediately.
His good mood, planning for a lavish party, evaporated instantly, his face darkening.
It wasn't just Gojo. Yaga had also alerted everyone at Jujutsu High. Gathered together, they hadn't expected trouble from curse users today of all days, and certainly not on such a large scale.
With Gojo and Amber's speed, the two of them quickly arrived at a bridge just outside the curtain's edge.
Ijichi, who had been waiting for them, immediately began his report.
"This curtain specifically targets non-sorcerers. You can enter, but not leave. However, all jujutsu sorcerers, including assistant supervisors, can pass through freely. Electronic signals are jammed inside; communication devices are useless."
"That said, an assistant supervisor already did a quick sweep inside. The ground level seems safe for now. The perpetrators aren't on a killing spree. While the crowd is in a panic, there are no signs of cursed spirits or curse users actively moving among them."
Gojo chuckled. "No way ordinary people would know both mine and Seele-chan's names at the same time. This is a setup, a trap specifically to lure us in. That means these hostages won't be harmed before we enter. At least, not seriously."
Amber's mood was foul.
She'd been on guard against a Shibuya incident, but she distinctly remembered it was supposed to happen on October 31st, Halloween.
"The higher-ups have ordered Special Grade Sorcerer Satoru Gojo and Special Grade Sorcerer Seele Vollerei to take full responsibility for resolving this attack," Ijichi said, pausing to adjust his glasses with a slightly trembling hand before continuing.
"And they demand you both prove your allegiances."
"Oh? And what's that supposed to mean?" Gojo's tone this time was distinctly laced with killing intent.
"They know this is an attack targeting me and Seele-chan, yet they deliberately send us in alone?"
Ijichi knew the order was strange, but the higher-ups had their reasons.
"Just half an hour ago... the cursed energy signature of the Special Grade Cursed Spirit, Jogo, vanished from the Gojo estate. But there were no casualties, and the estate's barriers showed no damage. So..."
Now Gojo understood.
So they were treating him as an unstable element. Not that he wasn't, of course.
He'd used Jogo's 'testimony' as a pretext to deal with several higher-ups recently.
They could just as easily turn that around and accuse him of raising cursed spirits for his own power, claiming there never was a mole, that it was all Gojo's scheme to destabilize the jujutsu world.
They'd really found the perfect timing.
Logically, even if the higher-ups could use this argument to attack Gojo, they wouldn't. They weren't stupid.
Anyone who made that accusation would find Gojo on their doorstep that very night, 'dealt with' under the pretext of being the mole trying to cover their tracks with slander.
But the current situation was different. These curse users were clearly targeting Gojo. If Gojo died here, there'd be no fear of future retaliation.
And if Gojo was gone, and they lacked sufficient power? Well, there were still Yuki Tsukumo and Yuta Okkotsu.
You didn't work while Gojo was around? Fine. Now that he's gone, you'll have to step up.
Compared to Gojo—who had become an immovable nail in the jujutsu world, a veritable Damocles' sword hanging over their heads—no matter how strong he was, how much stability he brought, his absence was preferable in their eyes.
After all, in Gojo's eyes, they were just a bunch of 'stubborn old fools.'
And if the curse users failed to kill Gojo, if he wiped them out instead, the higher-ups could just say, 'Excellent, you've proven your loyalty,' and use that as their exit strategy.
A win-win for them, no matter the outcome.
That's why Gojo said the timing was just too perfect for the higher-ups.
The curse users' obvious trap and Jogo's mysterious rescue coinciding gave them a risk-free chance to mess with him.
'What a brilliant calculation on their part.'
Gojo's smile had turned ice-cold. Even with his eyes, the most expressive part of him, hidden behind the blindfold, the sheer killing intent radiating from him was palpable.
"Gojo-sensei..." Amber didn't know all the intricate details, but she could tell Gojo was in a foul mood.
She spoke softly, trying to soothe him. "We just need to stick together later. Let's finish this quickly and go back to the others."
Her own mood was poor, but it wasn't fear of Gojo being sealed.
In the original story, dealing with the Prison Realm was a huge ordeal, but for her, it wasn't that troublesome. She could just quantum-slice a gap in it. No big deal.
The real reason for Amber's bad mood was the masses of innocent people in danger inside that barrier.
It wasn't that she didn't want to just tear the curtain down; she couldn't.
This curtain imposed no restrictions on sorcerers entering or leaving, which paradoxically made it impossible to destroy. She couldn't even get a proper 'grip' on it.
Gojo, too, suppressed his disgust and frustration at the higher-ups' shameless, results-oriented maneuvering.
As his student said, rather than dwelling on all that, it was better to resolve this situation quickly. He'd have plenty of time for settling scores later.
Thinking this, he took a deep breath and let a smile return to his face. "You're right. But if we're sticking together, we need to go in and assess the actual situation. If the enemies aren't all grouped up, we'd be wasting our firepower."
Amber considered this and agreed with the plan. After all, even if Gojo did get sealed, she could always break him out.
"Seele understands."
She nodded, and the two of them leaped down from the bridge, stepping into the curtain.
At the same moment, somewhere in the shadows, a smile crept onto a face. Everything was proceeding according to plan.
The moment the two of them stepped into this barrier, half the game was already won.
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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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