"Who, me?"
Tsukumo-san gave a slow, deliberate nod of her head.
"Yes. I'm technically supposed to be overseas right now—which is a royal pain—but when I heard there was a boy who was not only cute and handsome, but also poised to reach Special Grade any day now, I simply had to carve out the time to visit."
She scanned the three of us with a playful smirk before continuing.
"Well... that, and I heard the current first-year class is a 'Golden Generation.' A Limitless user with the Six Eyes, a Cursed Spirit Manipulation user from a non-sorcerer lineage, and even a student who can output the Reverse Cursed Technique. I wanted to see these faces for myself."
'I suppose that makes sense. Satoru and Suguru were already the "strongest" duo in the original timeline. Adding me to the mix is bound to draw even more scrutiny.'
Suguru, having processed her words, addressed Tsukumo-san directly.
"And what is your assessment? How do we first-years look to a Special Grade?"
Tsukumo-san's gaze drifted over me, Satoru, and Suguru. She toyed with her lip thoughtfully.
"Personally? I've taken quite a liking to Zenin-kun. He has such a charming face, and he's quite tall too."
"That is clearly not what I was asking," Suguru retorted immediately, his voice flat with disbelief.
"Oh? It wasn't? Tehe."
After letting out that bizarre little chirp, Tsukumo-san's expression shifted into something far more serious.
"There doesn't seem to be a massive gap in your respective levels. I caught a glimpse of you all earlier. If we're talking raw superiority, Zenin-kun here is the strongest. However, if one lacks a way to bypass the Limitless, Gojo-jou is more formidable than anyone else. Then again, if you lack a method to wipe out Geto-kun's vast legion of cursed spirits all at once, then he would be the strongest."
The logic seemed circular. I frowned, unable to let it slide.
"That explanation... essentially means you have no idea who is actually the strongest, doesn't it?"
"Touya. I don't understand a word she's saying either," Satoru added.
"Don't worry, Satoru. You're not the only one."
Watching our interaction, Tsukumo-san burst into a fit of laughter.
"Puhaha! You kids really are on the same wavelength. Hmm... alright. I'd wager that by the time you graduate from Jujutsu High, all three of you will be Special Grade."
Satoru and I both nodded at the assessment.
'I've already been given the word, and as for Satoru... well, she has more than enough confidence. She probably thinks: "If I'm not a Special Grade, then who is?"'
"Isn't that obvious, Tsukumo-san? There's no world where this Satoru Gojo isn't a Special Grade," Satoru declared, tilting her chin up and puffing out her chest.
I looked at her and sighed inwardly. 'Right on cue. She hasn't changed a bit.'
Unlike Satoru and me, Suguru let out a long, heavy breath of relief.
"That's a weight off my mind. Hearing it from a Special Grade sorcerer... that I'm not lagging that far behind these two... it's reassuring."
Tsukumo-san looked at Suguru, her eyes clouding with a brief moment of contemplation.
"Geto-kun... you'll need to push yourself even harder. It's true you've awakened an incredibly rare technique despite being from a non-sorcerer family. But these two? They come from the apex of jujutsu society. They've inherited the ultimate Innate Techniques of their respective clans."
Suguru fell silent, the words clearly striking a nerve. He bit his lip several times before finally speaking.
"I'm well aware. I know their talent better than anyone; I see it every day. Sometimes it's exhausting just trying to keep up... I feel like I'm barely treading in their shadows."
Suguru's voice held a fragile edge that made it difficult to find the right words of comfort. Satoru, however, lacked such hesitation. She spoke up with startling ease.
"Why do you even need to 'keep up'? The three of us are the strongest together. If even one of us is missing, we aren't the strongest anymore. There's no way we'd ever leave a comrade behind."
'...This girl. She actually knows how to say things like that?'
I was momentarily stunned by Satoru's unexpected sincerity, but I quickly followed her lead.
"She's right. If you fall behind, we'll just wait for you. Besides, how far behind could you possibly fall? There is no upper limit to your technique, Suguru. If you ever managed to command every Special Grade curse in existence, neither Tsukumo-san nor the two of us would find it easy to defeat you."
Suguru's eyes wavered, visibly moved by our words, before he quietly bowed his head. Tsukumo-san watched us, a wide grin spreading across her face.
"My, my... I knew you were in the spring of your youth, but I didn't expect such heartwarming sentiments. It's almost unfair. If the most talented kids are also this kind-hearted? Ahh~ why couldn't I have had a school life like this?"
Suguru eventually looked up, but he seemed dazed, staring blankly at the sky. Giving him some space to process, I turned back to Tsukumo-san.
"Now that I think about it, Tsukumo-san, you're also an alumna of Jujutsu High, right?"
"Yeah. Well... technically. But I never really clicked with this place. Every time I come back, the atmosphere feels suffocating. Looking at you kids makes it a bit more bearable, though."
Satoru chimed in. "What do you mean by not 'clicking' with the school?"
"To be precise, I don't click with the Higher-Ups. Watching the way they operate makes me want to vomit. Besides, I'm not the type to be tied down to one place. That's why I spend my time traveling overseas for my research. They arbitrarily slapped a 'Special Grade' label on me and expected me to work for their benefit? There's no end to their self-centeredness."
"Haha... I see."
'Truly, not a single person has a good thing to say about the Higher-Ups. Just what kind of mess are they running behind the scenes?'
Satoru nodded in agreement.
"We feel the same. The Higher-Ups are trash. They never do their jobs properly."
Tsukumo-san let out a soft chuckle. "Is that so? Jujutsu sorcerers might all be a little crazy, but we've got nothing on those fossils. Since we've come this far, how about a little extra-curricular lesson?"
With that, she began her explanation.
"You all know how cursed spirits are born, right?"
Suguru answered as if it were common knowledge. "They are born from the accumulation of negative human emotions."
"Precisely. But there's one more detail. Cursed spirits don't originate from sorcerers. Curses are formed when non-sorcerers—who don't know how to handle cursed energy—let their negative emotions leak out into the world. So, that would mean..."
Satoru cut in. "It means if non-sorcerers didn't exist, cursed spirits wouldn't appear?"
"Exactly. But how do you plan on getting rid of non-sorcerers?" I added, interjected into Satoru's line of thought. Tsukumo-san clapped her hands together.
"That is exactly what I'm researching. More specifically, 'how can we create a world where cursed spirits don't manifest.' I haven't reached the answer yet, though."
Suguru, who had been listening intently, finally spoke. "Eliminating non-sorcerers... No one could be crazy enough to actually think of killing every non-sorcerer on the planet. Right?"
I glanced at Suguru briefly. 'To hear those words coming from your mouth...'
Suguru tilted his head, sensing my gaze. "Did you say something?"
"Oh, nothing. I just meant that you're right, of course."
Satoru crossed her arms, looking indifferent. "I don't care how many curses show up. We'll just win regardless."
Suguru looked ready to scold her, but he stopped when Tsukumo-san spoke again.
"Haha! Your confidence is incredible. I don't hate that. Let's end the talk here. Since I've bothered to drop by Jujutsu High, I'd like to have a little go with you kids."
"A spar?"
"More like... swapping a single blow. Gojo-jou, you're fine; I haven't figured out a way through your Limitless yet."
"In that case, I'll pass as well," Suguru added politely. "I haven't developed a single-strike offensive powerful enough for this yet."
With Suguru's refusal, Tsukumo-san turned her eyes to the last one remaining: me.
"And you, Zenin-kun? Won't you play?"
'A spar with a Special Grade. There's no better way to gauge exactly where I stand.'
"Alright. Just one blow, right?"
"Yes. Just one exchange."
'In that case... let's try out Kyoraisho.'
"Please, you take the first move."
I checked the state of the Kyoraisho resting within my shadows. 'It's recovered maybe 10%. I wonder if that'll be enough.'
Tsukumo-san's eyes widened in surprise for a moment before she erupted into another laugh.
"Pfft... Hahaha! You might be the only person in this world who would offer the first move to a Special Grade. Here I come!"
Tsukumo-san lunged toward me without any overt sign of an activated technique, her fist flying toward me. However, I couldn't be sure what hidden power lay behind that strike. I focused my mind entirely on manifesting the mirror of Kyoraisho. It required at least twice the concentration needed for Nue or Round Deer, making it an uphill battle.
"Not going to block? You'll die, Zenin-kun!"
Despite her warning, she didn't slow down at all. If anything, the grin on her face was becoming a little terrifying. Just as her fist was about to make contact, a small, intricate mirror materialized right in front of me. Tsukumo-san's expression flickered with bewilderment for a fraction of a second—and then the cursed energy packed into her punch was reflected directly back at her.
"Wait, what...?"
By the time the reflection finished, Tsukumo-san's arm was a ruined mess. The flesh had been shredded and torn beyond recognition, blood splattering onto the ground.
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