"Assimilation doesn't mean death. Master Tengen is me, and I am Master Tengen!" Amanai Riko had always told herself that, comforting her anxious heart. But now that the moment of assimilation truly approached, an unfamiliar irritation washed over her.
"Riko? Riko?" someone called.
"Hmm?" Riko blinked awake, her eyes focusing on her teacher and classmates peering down with puzzled expressions.
"I'm so sorry, teacher!" she said hastily.
Her teacher gently placed a hand on her forehead. "Are you sick?"
Riko forced an awkward laugh. "Nothing, I zoned out. Something happened at home."
"I see," her teacher said kindly, stroking her hair. "You seem off today. Are you sure everything's fine at home?"
Riko quickly brightened. "Absolutely fine. Don't worry!"
---
Meanwhile, Shion Gojo lay on a lounge chair under the clear sky, yawning as he watched the drifting clouds.
"How boring," he muttered.
Satoru Gojo, sitting nearby, flicked his brother's forehead lightly and said, "Boring just means nothing's happening, which is good."
"Good, huh?" Shion's face dropped. "Do you really think it's good for Master Tengen to merge with Riko Amanai?"
"What's wrong with that? You've only met her once, and you're already reluctant to let her go?" Satoru teased with a grin.
Shion's expression turned serious. "No, it's just… that kind of thing is hard to accept."
Geto Suguru, standing nearby, spoke calm and measured. "Master Tengen's Immortality technique is crucial. Master Tengen arranges and strengthens nearly all barriers in the jujutsu world, a role crucial to society's stability."
"If Master Tengen's evolution goes wrong and the barriers collapse, chaos will follow everywhere."
"Assimilating the Star Plasma Vessel is also for the greater good," Geto continued.
Shion huffed. "I hate big reasons and lofty principles!"
"What does Tengen's safety or the stability of jujutsu society have to do with Riko?" Shion demanded. "She's just a girl. Why must she bear all of this for some supposed greater good?"
"Bro, what do you think?" Satoru asked, suddenly curious.
Shion froze, sitting up abruptly from the chair. "Hey! You don't think the same as Geto, do you? That's not like you!"
Geto looked at Shion with calm eyes, waiting for his answer.
Shion hesitated, then surprisingly said, "Reverse Cursed Technique is a bit hard. Think I should try it… like, to commit suicide?" he added in a weird attempt at a joke.
"…Wait!"
Geto's expression turned serious. "Satoru! Shion! Riko's in danger. Hurry to her school! Two cursed spirits I sent were already exorcised!"
Immediately, everyone moved.
Geto headed toward the site where the cursed spirits had disappeared.
Shion and Satoru sprinted toward Riko's school.
Kuroi Miri, who had been following them, was suddenly scooped up by Shion.
"Huh?" she gasped.
Shion said gently as he carried her, "Leave Kuroi with me, I'll leave Riko to you" he said to Satoru.
"Satoru, you go first!" Kuroi urged.
Satoru nodded, then used Instant Movement to vanish toward the school immediately.
Kuroi lowered her head, feeling clutchingly like a burden.
---
Elsewhere, Geto Suguru reached a long, dim corridor following cursed energy traces — but a figure blocked his path.
"Let me introduce myself," the man said with a calm smile, "Nakamura Kenji."
He held a talisman in his hand, cursed energy dripping to the floor like dark water, forming a spreading shadow.
From the shadow, two cursed spirits crawled forth.
Geto watched with mild interest. "A technique that manipulates cursed spirits… that's the same category as mine," he murmured. His own cursed spirit manipulation was among the rarest of innate techniques, allowing him to absorb exorcised cursed spirits and summon them at will.
He didn't need hand signs or tools — two powerful cursed spirits emerged from the darkness with a single thought from him.
Kenji's eyelids twitched, unfazed.
Cursed Spirit Manipulation was legendary in its strength, but what he truly excelled at was hand‑to‑hand combat — something many sorcerers who relied on spirit summoning struggled with.
His plan was simple: summon a few cursed spirits to create the illusion that he lacked close‑combat skill, then surprise Geto up close.
Confident, Kenji thought, Everything is under control. The advantage is mine.
Then Geto struck.
A massive sand worm — a cursed spirit from Geto's arsenal — filled the corridor, its toxic maw snapping toward Kenji.
Bang!
At first it seemed the fight was over already.
Geto relaxed for a moment. "Handled. Time to rendezvous with Satoru and Shion."
Suddenly, the upper right window shattered.
Kenji had used the sand worm's charge to smash through it, then re‑entered through the shards of glass, holding a short blade ready for a fatal strike.
But Geto anticipated it.
With a swift dodge and lightning reflexes, he bent away, a Cursed Tool materializing in his hand.
"That's… yūun!" Kenji gasped, astonished to be facing such a legendary tool mid‑fight.
Geto merely chuckled. "Lucky you — this is its first real battle."
With a graceful step, he appeared beside Kenji, wielding his three‑staff like a dancer commanding the wind.
Kenji blinked once, then suddenly called out with a pained shout, "Taisuke! Taisuke… it's you!"
In his imagination, a yellow Shiba Inu — loyal and comforting — vanished into shadows, replaced in an instant by the spiraling motion of the staff striking with deafening force.
---