9:40 a.m. West Tokyo City, Eishu Juvenile Detention Center. Overcast, turning to light rain.
Ijichi had already brought Yuji Itadori and Megumi Fushiguro to the mission site.
After getting out of the car, they saw Rika Orimoto in her Support uniform and Yuta Okkotsu in a white jacket.
The two stood at the entrance of the detention center, holding hands and talking quietly.
Ijichi walked over, nodded to Yuta Okkotsu first, then turned to Rika Orimoto.
"Support Orimoto, what's the situation?"
Rika Orimoto wore a gentle smile.
"Ijichi-sensei, the facility has been sealed off. All residents within a 500-meter radius have been evacuated.
Five inmates serving time here were locked inside Dormitory 2 together with the Cursed Womb.
Yuta confirmed it as soon as he arrived…"
She hesitated, unsure whether to continue, when a middle-aged woman's anxious voice suddenly rang out from near the guards.
"Tadashi! Is my son Tadashi okay?"
Yuta Okkotsu, who had remained silent until now, darkened further. Yuji Itadori beside him looked just as troubled.
Ijichi stepped forward, subtly blocking Yuji Itadori as he spoke in a low voice.
"A guardian here for a visit."
Rika Orimoto gave Yuta Okkotsu's hand a gentle squeeze before stepping forward to face the victim's family.
"Please go home. Someone poisoned the facility. That's all we're able to disclose at the moment…"
Yuji Itadori clenched his fists and looked at Yuta Okkotsu.
"Okkotsu-senpai, let's go save them!"
"Okay."
...
After the assistant manager lowered the Curtain, they immediately headed for Dormitory 2 of the Eishu Juvenile Detention Center.
Megumi Fushiguro felt a trace of doubt. Compared to Yuji Itadori, he understood Yuta Okkotsu better.
If this were truly a rescue mission, with Okkotsu-senpai's personality, he wouldn't be standing here waiting for them...
And there was Okkotsu-senpai's expression. It was still that familiar, slightly melancholic gentleness, but beneath it, he was clearly angry.
"Okkotsu-senpai…"
"Sorry.
I didn't scare you two just now, did I?"
As if to reassure his juniors, Yuta Okkotsu turned back with a softened smile at Megumi Fushiguro and Yuji Itadori.
"No matter how many times I face them, Cursed Spirits that exist purely to kill are truly vile.
Fushiguro, you were right. Everyone inside is already dead. This mission is now purely an exorcism."
"What?"
Yuji Itadori froze on the spot.
So from the very beginning, there had never been any chance of saving the victims here.
That was unbearably cruel for the family they had just seen.
"Actually, the people here might not necessarily need saving…"
Megumi Fushiguro's words made Yuji Itadori frown.
"What do you mean?"
"This is a juvenile detention center. The people inside all have their own problems, one way or another."
"You can't put it like that."
Yuta Okkotsu cut in.
"As long as someone is alive, there's a chance to change. Once they're dead, there's nothing left."
In silence, the three of them pushed open the dormitory door and stepped inside.
What greeted them wasn't the sight of a normal living area, but a chaotic tangle of steel pipes twisted and intertwined in every direction.
"What's going on? Wasn't this supposed to be a two-story dorm?"
Yuta Okkotsu glanced at Yuji Itadori, who had just regained his footing, and gave a faint smile.
"This is an Innate Domain created with Cursed Energy. Judging by its scale, it's not far from becoming a true Domain."
Yuji nodded. There were a lot of technical terms, but this clearly wasn't the time to ask.
"Huh? The door's gone!"
Megumi Fushiguro let out a quiet sigh at Yuji Itadori's shout.
"I should've summoned Divine Dogs earlier. They might've remembered the way back."
"No need to panic."
Yuta Okkotsu shook his head.
"We'll just exorcise the Cursed Spirit soon enough. If you want to leave now, I can send you out."
The three of them continued forward until they reached an area that looked like a reservoir.
Three bodies lay inside. The one on the left was so mangled it was unrecognizable. The one on the right had been crushed into a ball. The one in the middle still had a face, but only its upper half remained.
Yuji Itadori felt the weight of being a Jujutsu Sorcerer settle on him again.
Death was real. And it was terrifyingly cheap.
He walked over in silence to the body whose face was still visible and checked the name tag on its clothes.
"Let's take this one back…"
Before Megumi Fushiguro could respond, Yuta Okkotsu nodded.
"Okay. But we'll leave it here for now. Once the mission's over, we'll come back for it. At least that way we can give the family some closure."
"Yeah."
While they were talking, Yuta Okkotsu suddenly reached out and grabbed a blue arm.
It belonged to a humanoid Cursed Spirit with four vertical black markings on its face. Its eyes sat high near its forehead, and its entire body was a sickly blue.
Yuta Okkotsu exerted force instantly and hurled it aside.
"To be honest, I was going to finish it quickly."
He caught the Cursed Spirit's arm again as it rushed in for another sneak attack and slammed it hard against a distant concrete wall.
"But Gojo-sensei told me to teach you something 'fun.' And I happened to perfect this not long ago…"
As he spoke, Yuta Okkotsu turned toward the Cursed Spirit. One hand clenched into a fist, the other opened with fingers aligned, palm facing inward, the back of his hand outward. His gaze sharpened.
"Domain Expansion—"
Two massive cross-shaped stones slowly rose beneath Yuta Okkotsu and the Cursed Spirit. The ground beneath them bristled with countless blades.
"[Authentic Mutual Love]."
"Ahhh? What?! What is this?!"
The Cursed Spirit shrieked, darting its gaze around in panic. The sudden shift in surroundings startled it, and the sharp spike in Cursed Energy density made it visibly uncomfortable.
"What is this?"
Yuji Itadori raised a hand.
"This is Okkotsu-senpai's Domain."
Megumi Fushiguro sighed again. Just what exactly was Gojo-sensei trying to have Okkotsu-senpai teach them?
"It's an Innate Domain constructed with Cursed Energy and infused with a technique. You can think of it as the complete version of that steel jungle outside."
"I feel like I kind of get it… but also not at all…"
Yuji Itadori nodded, resting his chin in his hand as he tried to process it.
Seeing that no one attacked after bringing it here, the Cursed Spirit grew bold again. It raised its arm and formed a Cursed Energy blast, firing it straight at them.
"Sigh…"
Yuta Okkotsu lifted a hand and casually blocked the attack.
"I'm teaching my juniors. Could you not interrupt?"
Cursed markings appeared at the corners of his mouth as he turned toward the charging Cursed Spirit.
The Cursed Spirit had no idea it was about to face the anger of a Special Grade Jujutsu Sorcerer.
"Kneel."
Its knees slammed to the ground against its will.
The markings around Yuta Okkotsu's mouth faded. As he walked toward the immobilized Cursed Spirit, he continued explaining to the two behind him.
"Fushiguro explained it well earlier, so I'll add on.
Domain Expansion consumes a lot of Cursed Energy, but it comes with significant advantages.
First, your overall state is enhanced within the environment.
Second, any technique imbued into the Domain gains guaranteed hit."
As he spoke, Yuta Okkotsu pulled a sword from the ground.
"Ah, this one…"
"My Domain allows me to choose one stored copied technique as the guaranteed-hit effect. This time, I chose Cursed Speech.
The other techniques are randomly assigned to the blades within the Domain. When I pick one up, I can use the technique attached to it.
But I don't know which one it is until I draw it."
By the time he finished speaking, Yuta Okkotsu was already in front of the Cursed Spirit. He drove the sword straight into its chest.
The Cursed Spirit's shadow on the ground instantly formed three blades, stabbing up from behind and splitting it cleanly into four pieces.
"It's Akira-sensei's Ten Shadow Technique. I can't summon Shikigami with it…
But he did teach me a few ways to use it."
As the lesson ended, the Cursed Spirit dissipated and the Domain collapsed.
A deep crimson, shriveled finger dropped to the ground. Yuta Okkotsu walked over and placed it into a box.
"And that's another recovery mission taken care of."