Kyoto. Outside the Fushiguro residence.
Ding-dong~
Carrying the Prison Realm, Mei Mei pressed the doorbell. She had tied back the hair that usually hung in front of her face.
"Oh? Mei! Are you here to see Mukuro? He hasn't come home for several days. Let me call him and ask him to come back!"
The one who opened the door was Onshin. When she recognized the visitor, a sweet smile appeared on her face and she quickly pulled Mei Mei into the house.
She knew both Mei Mei and Utahime. They were the only two female friends her younger brother had. Over the years, Megumi was almost an adult now and Mukuro was nearly thirty, yet he still hadn't dated anyone. As his sister-in-law, that worried her a little.
Surely Megumi's childhood joke wouldn't actually come true…
Now that a woman had finally come to the house looking for Mukuro, how could she not be excited?
"Um… about Fushiguro… he's here…"
Facing such an enthusiastic elder, Mei Mei rarely felt a little embarrassed. She lifted the Prison Realm and placed it in front of Onshin, then explained her purpose directly.
"This time I came because we hope Toji-san can use his Inverted Spear of Heaven to break this open."
But Onshin looked surprised when she heard that.
"Huh? But… he received a call from Mukuro not long ago. He already went to Tokyo."
* * *
Tokyo.
Outside the outermost curtain in Shibuya, the one that prevented ordinary people from entering.
Ino and Ebina had been locked in a stalemate when suddenly a man descended from the sky and interrupted their fight.
'This guy… could he be some famous sorcerer?!'
The fear felt like falling into an endless abyss, surging up like a tidal wave. Ino's breathing became uneven, sweat soaking his face beneath the mask, and even his technique began to falter.
No matter how lazy the man's expression looked… just from the way he stood, it was obvious.
He was absurdly strong.
Toji had arrived.
"You're being way too arrogant!"
Ebina's face twisted with anger.
Ever since becoming a curse user, who had ever dared call him trash? Not to mention that now, after two boosts from his jumping technique, his strength was no weaker than a grade 1 sorcerer.
He changed his plan. Since the masked sorcerer didn't dare leave the assistant manager's side anyway, he might as well kill this newcomer first.
That look in the man's eyes, like he was staring at an ant, made his blood boil.
Ebina bent his knees. The cursed energy in his calves compressed violently, like springs being wound tighter and tighter.
In the next moment, he kicked off the ground. Like an arrow released from a fully drawn bow, he shot forward with terrifying speed and force.
"Die!"
He threw out a punch.
"Hm?"
The man only looked at him with mild surprise. Only when Ebina had already rushed right in front of him did he finally raise his hand.
Then, a fist flashed past so fast it was almost impossible to see.
Boom!
With a deafening impact, the once-arrogant hooded curse user was slammed straight into the ground. His body embedded deep into the earth, completely motionless.
A clear fist mark remained on his temple.
"Eh?!"
Haruta's teeth chattered uncontrollably. He wanted to run, but his legs trembled so badly that no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't take a single step.
'Breathing… I'm allowed to breathe, right…?'
Watching a curse user stronger than himself unleash his technique at full power, only to be killed instantly, made him so terrified that even his breathing became cautious.
He was afraid that if he breathed too loudly, the man might notice him and kill him next.
'Where did this monster come from?! Was there someone like this in Tokyo?! Anyone… please save me!'
He could only stand there stupidly, silently praying that some other curse user would notice what was happening.
"As expected of Toji-san… still unimaginably powerful…"
Seeing the curse user's fate, Ijichi finally relaxed and revealed the man's identity.
As a junior who had studied at the Jujutsu High when the strongest sorcerers were still students, he had naturally met this man before.
Gojo wasn't here. Fushiguro-senpai wasn't here. Nanami-senpai was still inside trying to break the curtain.
And now, at last, someone strong enough to become the pillar of the situation had arrived. For Ijichi, whose nerves had been stretched to their limit, this was truly incredible news.
"Toji-san?! Could it be… that one?"
Hearing the name, Ino immediately took off his mask. His face was soaked with sweat. The tension from before vanished, replaced by shock and curiosity.
He had only heard this name from older sorcerers in the jujutsu world. A man who had already dominated the jujutsu world about twenty years ago.
In an era without special grade sorcerers, when grade 1 was the absolute peak, he had already stood at the very top of that level with only a few appearances.
The older brother of the current special grade sorcerer Mukuro Fushiguro. A man who reached the summit purely through physical prowess, whose mere presence radiated overwhelming pressure.
Toji Fushiguro.
Even now, in his forties, Toji's face showed almost no trace of time. Compared to his younger years, the only difference was a few strands of silver mixed into his black hair.
"That brat hasn't come back yet? He should've been faster than me."
Ignoring the curse user lying beneath him, his life or death unknown, Toji looked toward Ijichi and Ino.
He didn't really remember their names, but the former's distinctive outfit made it obvious he was an assistant manager.
"Fushiguro-senpai… he and Gojo-san have both been sealed! Please, Toji-san, we really need your help!"
Ijichi blurted out the entire situation in one breath.
'I see…'
No wonder Mukuro had called him out.
Toji recalled the phone call. His younger brother had apparently predicted that he might be restrained somehow, so he told him to head to Tokyo.
"But if it's a seal, that means they couldn't beat or kill him, right? Then we can leave that for now and clean up this mess first."
Toji curled his lips into a grin. His thinking was exactly the same as Megumi's earlier. Besides, even if they said he was sealed, who knew if that was actually true?
As the older brother, Toji understood his little brother's personality and abilities far better than anyone else.
"In theory… yes—"
"And even though I'm not short on money, I never work for free. Tell Tokyo Jujutsu High to settle my appearance fee afterward."
Ijichi had just begun to respond when Toji interrupted him without even listening.
The next second, he simply took one step forward… and appeared directly in front of Haruta.
"So, little guy… you had a hand in this too, didn't you?"
Under the moonlight, Toji said it with a smile. But the cold light in his eyes made the words far more terrifying.
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