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The atmosphere in the AMC Universal CityWalk cinema was a chaotic blend of laughter and high-stakes tension. On the screen, the music room scene reached its peak.
"This is so troublesome! We're in the middle of a lesson!" the music teacher barked, looking visibly displeased at the interruption.
"There's a situation... sorry about that," Leo Vance's Gojo said, scratching the back of his silver-haired head with a sheepish, flamboyant grin. He looked every bit the charming troublemaker.
But in the next heartbeat, the tone shifted. The teacher, rather than scolding him further, tore a scrap of paper from her notebook and shoved it into Gojo's hand, demanding his contact information.
The theater erupted in a wave of laughter.
[LMAO! Even the teacher isn't immune to the Six Eyes!]
[Gojo Satoru's passive ability: Instant Rizz.]
As the plot progressed, the comedy began to bleed into the high-octane action Leo Vance was known for. After Gojo successfully escorted Riko (Ava) out of the school, the assassins hired by the Time Vessel Association made their move.
A strange man with a bag over his head and a legion of clones surrounded the group. While Geto's guard, Kuroi, proved her strength by dismantling several attackers, Gojo faced the primary force.
The clones lunged, their punches swinging with lethal intent, but they stopped inches from Gojo's skin. It was as if they had hit an invisible, liquid wall.
"What's going on? Why can't we hit you?" the attacker shouted, sweat beading on his forehead.
Gojo Satoru adjusted his dark shades, looking bored. "It's called the Limitless. Have you heard of Achilles and the Tortoise? No? I guess reading is important after all."
With two casual, lightning-fast strikes, the clones were pulverized.
Gojo looked down at Riko, who was watching with wide, terrified eyes. He then turned back to the remaining clones, his expression sharpening. "This next bit is a little experimental. I don't want to get yelled at for overdoing it, but let's try the 'forward-spinning' technique."
He formed his hand into the shape of a gun, pointing his index finger at the horizon. "Protect your ears, kid."
"Cursed Technique Reversal: RED!"
A dark, ominous crimson light flickered at his fingertip, promising to erase everything in its path. The audience leaned forward, expecting a massive explosion. But the light sputtered and vanished like a damp firework.
"Failure!" Gojo muttered, clenching his fist. "Tch. I really thought I could pull it off today."
The audience realized a crucial detail: the Gojo Satoru of this era hadn't mastered the legendary "Red" or "Purple" yet. Even his "Infinity" was an active skill that required manual focus, not the effortless passive barrier of his adult self. He was powerful, yes, but he was still human and he was getting tired.
Under Gojo's suggestion, and to the chagrin of the higher-ups, the group decided to take Riko to Okinawa for a beach vacation. It was a short, happy respite before her scheduled assimilation with Master Tengen.
The "Healing" BGM Ao no Sumika [Where Our Blue Is] played softly in the background as the teenagers played in the surf.
The cinema audience, however, was focused on something else. When the camera panned to Leo Vance emerging from the ocean in casual swimwear, his red shirt open to reveal an eight-pack of abs sculpted like a Greek statue, the theater practically vibrated.
"Hiss!" Maya West sucked in a breath in the VIP row. "Leo's conditioning is... terrifying. I don't usually like the bodybuilder look, but that 'lean warrior' aesthetic is top-tier."
"Agreed!" Della Rose whispered, her eyes fixed on the screen. Even though she'd been on set, the cinematic lighting made the visual ten times more impactful.
Across the theater, male viewers like Julian Cross looked down at their own popcorn-fueled bellies with a sense of sudden, profound shame.
The beach arc also introduced young versions of Nanami and Haibara. Seeing the usually stern, corporate Nanami as a fresh-faced student with a quirky hairstyle had the fans stirring with excitement.
As the sun began to set, Robert Sterling's Suguru Geto approached Leo on the sand.
"Satoru... you haven't released your technique since we left Tokyo, have you?" Geto asked, his voice full of concern. "And you haven't slept. Is it really okay to push yourself this hard?"
Gojo punched Geto playfully in the chest. "It's fine! It was more exhausting when we stayed up all night playing Monopoly back at the dorms. Besides... you're here, aren't you?"
Geto offered a helpless, doting smile. The bond between them was so pure, so absolute, that the "GojoSugu" shippers in the theater were losing their minds.
[OH MY GOD! The way Geto looks at him!]
[They are the 'Twin Stars' of the Sorcerer world. Nothing can break them!]
[I'm calling it now: 'GojoSugu' is the only ship that matters.]
The scene shifted to an underwater aquarium. Riko stood before a massive tank, watching the beautiful, exotic fish swim in circles. The lighting was ethereal, blue and haunting.
"They're so beautiful," Riko whispered.
But the camera pulled back, showing the glass walls of the tank. The fish were beautiful, but they were trapped, isolated from the grandeur of the ocean they belonged to. It was a heart-wrenching metaphor for Riko's own existence as the "Star Plasma Body." From the day she was born, her fate had been a gilded cage.
The audience felt a wave of pity for the cheerful girl. She was in the prime of her youth, yet she was walking toward her own disappearance.
Day Three. The Return to Jujutsu High.
The group arrived at the foot of Mount Enzan, the entrance to the academy's sacred barrier.
"We're inside the barrier now," Geto said, his posture finally relaxing. "We're safe."
Riko leaned against a stone pillar, panting from the climb. "Finally... I think my legs are going to fall off."
"Gojo," Geto said, looking at his friend with a smile. "You really worked hard. Go get some sleep."
"Tch. Who wants to be a babysitter anyway?" Gojo said, his eyes bloodshot from three days of constant focus. He began to deactivate his Limitless, his shoulders slumping with relief. "I'm never doing this again!"
In the exact second the "Infinity" dropped...
Pfft!
The sound was wet and sharp. A long, jagged blade erupted through Gojo's chest from behind, the tip dripping with crimson blood.
"AH!"
The scream wasn't from the screen, it was from a girl in the front row of the theater. The shock was so sudden, so violent, that several people actually jumped in their seats.
Riko froze, her face a mask of absolute terror. Geto's eyes narrowed, his pupils shrinking to pinpricks. "Impossible... we're inside the barrier! Who are you?!"
Gojo Satoru looked down at the steel protruding from his sternum, his vision blurring. He slowly turned his head.
Standing behind him, looking bored and holding the hilt of the Inverted Spear of Heaven, was Andrew Stone's Toji Fushiguro.
"Sorry about that," Toji said, his voice a lethal, low-frequency rumble. "I've been waiting for you to get tired. Now... let's see if the 'Strongest' can die like anyone else."
The screen cut to black as a dissonant, terrifying chord rang through the theater. The summer was over. The tragedy had arrived.
If you're enjoying the story, consider dropping some Power Stones.