["Honestly, I think this mission might be a bit much for you, but Master Tengen requested you personally."]
[Yaga walked ahead of them, his tone measured and deliberate.]
[At the mention of Tengen's name, Gojo and Geto both sobered. The casual slouch left their postures.]
[You, on the other hand, already knew. The moment that name left Yaga's mouth, the pieces clicked into place. It was starting.]
[Yaga continued without looking back.]
["There are two objectives in this commission. The Star Plasma Vessel, a girl whose body is compatible with Master Tengen. You are to protect her, and to erase her."]
["Huh? Protect and erase the same person?"]
[Gojo's face said it all: Have you lost your mind?]
["That's correct."]
[Yaga answered without a flicker of humor, sliding open the classroom door and stepping inside.]
["So you've finally started talking nonsense. Dementia kicking in after all?"]
[Geto followed close behind, offering his own diagnosis before Gojo could pile on further.]
["Well, it is spring. He just landed the next principal's seat. The excitement's gone to his head."]
[You trailed in after them but didn't join the ribbing. Instead, you thought it through out loud.]
["I think what Sensei means is that the protection and erasure aren't simultaneous. So the actual order would be: protect the girl first, then erase her."]
[That pulled Geto back to seriousness. He dropped into a seat and faced Yaga directly.]
["Alright, jokes aside. Master Tengen's Cursed Technique is approaching its reset cycle, isn't it?"]
["Whether what you two said just now counts as a joke is for me to decide."]
[Clearly, the mission wasn't the only thing on Yaga's mind. The jabs had landed.]
[Before anyone could move on, an ill-timed voice cut through the room. Gojo, genuinely baffled.]
["So, uh... what's a Star Plasma Vessel?"]
[Silence. Every pair of eyes in the classroom swiveled toward him. The atmosphere practically screamed: You should really know this already.]
[But the mission was too important for pride. Yaga swallowed his exasperation and explained.]
["Master Tengen possesses the Cursed Technique of Immortality, but immortality does not mean eternal youth. Simple aging alone wouldn't pose a problem, but once it accumulates past a certain threshold, her technique begins to forcibly restructure her body."]
["Restructure?"]
["Evolution, in essence. At that stage, Master Tengen would transcend the boundaries of humanity entirely, ascending into a higher-dimensional existence."]
[Gojo looked, if anything, more confused about why this was a problem.]
["Whoa, evolution? That sounds pretty cool. What's wrong with that?"]
["Once that transformation begins, Master Tengen loses all sense of self," Geto said, picking up the thread. "She would no longer be the person she is now. The barriers protecting Jujutsu High's campuses, every stronghold across the jujutsu world, the vast majority of barrier techniques used by Assistant Managers... all of them are reinforced through her power. Without her cooperation, we'd barely be able to defend ourselves, let alone carry out missions."]
[You spoke up at the right moment.]
["Which means there's also the possibility that Master Tengen becomes an enemy of humanity. Isn't that right?"]
["Exactly. That's why, every five hundred years, Master Tengen undergoes assimilation with a Star Plasma Vessel. The process overwrites her physical information, renews the body entirely, and resets her technique back to its initial state. No evolution."]
[Gojo nodded with the gravity of someone who had just pieced together a grand mystery.]
["Got it. So ideally she'd evolve into MetalGreymon, but there's a risk she accidentally becomes SkullGreymon instead, so you just factory-reset her back to Koromon and start over. Right?"]
["That's a bizarre analogy." Yaga pinched the bridge of his nose. "But sure. Close enough."]
[With the briefing out of the way and Gojo more or less up to speed, Yaga crossed his arms over his chest.]
["The Star Plasma Vessel's location has been leaked. Two factions are currently trying to kill her. First: Q, a collective of Curse Users intent on destabilizing Master Tengen and overthrowing the current jujutsu order. Second: the Time Vessel Association, a sect within the Star Religious Group. They worship Master Tengen's purity and view the assimilation as a desecration."]
[Something nagged at you as the briefing continued. The intelligence Yaga had just laid out didn't quite match what you'd found when you researched this event after your last simulation.]
[The name that mattered most was missing. Toji Zenin, the man who had ultimately killed the Star Plasma Vessel, hadn't been mentioned at all.]
[If Yaga had pulled you onto this mission, there was no reason for him to withhold intel. Which left only one explanation: they didn't have that information yet.]
[You hadn't lived through this event firsthand during your previous simulation, so you couldn't be entirely certain. But you had no intention of revealing the simulation either. After a moment's thought, you framed it as a question.]
["Q I understand, but how exactly does the Star Religious Group plan to get involved? Do they have their own Curse Users?"]
["Most likely they're hiring mercenary Curse Users with their funds. The group doesn't count any sorcerers among its followers, but their financial resources are staggering."]
[You gave a small nod. It made sense. Unlike proper Jujutsu Sorcerers, who earned their pay through sanctioned missions and exorcisms, Curse Users without steady income had every reason to accept a well-funded contract.]
[And if your memory served, you'd learned during your first simulation inside the Zenin Clan that Toji's greatest vice was gambling. No wonder he'd taken a job like this.]
["Master Tengen will assimilate with the Star Plasma Vessel on the night of the full moon, two days from now. Until then, you will protect the girl and deliver her safely. If you fail, the consequences will ripple far beyond the jujutsu world and into ordinary society. Treat this accordingly."]
[Yaga's voice carried the weight of an order, not a request.]
[Gojo and Geto acknowledged the briefing and left. But Yaga held you back, waiting until the door closed before speaking again.]
["The truth is, Master Tengen didn't ask for you by name."]
[No surprise there. You let out a quiet, self-deprecating laugh.]
["I figured as much. Someone at my level has no business being mentioned alongside those two."]
["That's not it." He gripped your shoulder. "If anything, sending just the two of them is what worries me. Shoko doesn't have the combat ability for a mission of this scale, but you do. And you can use Reverse Cursed Technique, same as her. With you keeping an eye on them, I can actually breathe."]