Regardless of the method, it meant the peaceful campus life had been temporarily disrupted.
Sol wasn't surprised. With Gojo Satoru, his greatest supporter, absent, the rats lurking in the shadows were bound to make a move sooner or later. What he hadn't expected was how quickly they acted, or how cleverly they nearly bypassed Jujutsu High's barrier.
Sol closed his eyes.
His perception spread outward like an invisible web, silently sweeping across every corner of the dormitory grounds, inspecting every building and stretch of land.
He found them.
At the edge of his awareness, several faint cursed energy signatures, so well concealed they nearly blended into the environment, were scaling the steep cliff behind the school like geckos.
Their movements were light, their cursed energy compressed to the absolute minimum. Had Sol's senses not far surpassed those of ordinary sorcerers, they would have gone unnoticed.
Their objective was obvious.
Rather than approach through the heavily protected main entrance, they intended to infiltrate through the weaker rear section of the barrier.
Sol opened his eyes.
Then he vanished from the window without a sound.
The back mountain of Jujutsu High was shrouded in darkness.
Three slender curse users dressed in black slipped over the perimeter wall like ghosts, merging into the shadows.
Holding their breath, they carefully observed their surroundings.
"The barrier hasn't reacted," one whispered, unable to hide the satisfaction in his voice. "The barrier-breaking needle really works."
"Stay focused," the leader warned in a low voice. "The target is Sukuna's vessel. Locate him, confirm his position and defensive strength, then withdraw. Do not alert anyone."
The other two nodded.
Just as they prepared to move, all three suddenly froze.
A figure stood beneath the moonlight ahead of them.
At some point, he had appeared without making a single sound.
The dark blue Jujutsu High uniform, black hair, and crimson eyes seemed especially cold beneath the pale moonlight.
There were no footsteps.
No cursed energy fluctuations.
It was as though he had been standing there the entire time.
The three curse users felt their scalps go numb as cold sweat drenched their backs.
"Who are you?!" the leader shouted, dark cursed energy rapidly gathering in his hand.
Sol didn't answer.
He didn't even spare the forming technique a glance.
His gaze swept calmly across the three intruders.
"Who sent you?"
His voice was quiet, yet the pressure behind it caused all three men's hearts to tighten.
"Attack!" the leader screamed.
Their cover had already been blown. Fighting was their only option.
The cursed energy in his hand condensed into a sharp arrow and shot toward Sol's face.
At the same time, the other two burst forward from opposite sides, fists and legs wrapped in cursed energy as they launched a coordinated assault.
Sol simply tilted his head.
The cursed arrow grazed a strand of his hair before disappearing into the darkness behind him.
Simultaneously, he casually extended both hands.
The movement appeared effortless, yet he precisely caught the wrists of both attackers.
The two curse users felt as though iron clamps had locked around their arms.
A surge of pain shot through their bodies, instantly disrupting their cursed energy.
Panic flashed across their faces.
Before either could react, an overwhelming force erupted from Sol's grip.
He casually twisted his wrists.
Crack! Crack!
The sickening sound of shattering bones echoed through the forest.
The two curse users didn't even have time to scream.
Their bodies were hurled through the air as if struck by a speeding truck, smashing directly into one another.
Bang!
The collision shattered their skulls.
Blood sprayed across the ground as both bodies collapsed lifelessly.
The entire exchange lasted only an instant.
The leader had barely fired his cursed arrow before witnessing both companions die in a single brutal motion.
His pupils contracted.
Pure terror seized his heart.
Without hesitation, he turned and fled toward the darkness.
But after taking only one step, he froze.
Sol was already standing in front of him.
No one knew when he had moved.
Those crimson eyes remained calm and indifferent, as though he had merely swatted away two insects.
"Aaaah!"
The curse user screamed in terror.
Every ounce of cursed energy in his body erupted as he desperately lunged forward, attempting to force a path through.
Sol raised his right hand.
His index finger pointed directly at the charging curse user.
There was no dramatic buildup.
No surge of visible cursed energy.
Only a subtle distortion in the air before his fingertip.
Pfft!
A soft sound echoed.
The curse user's charge came to an abrupt stop.
A tiny hole appeared in the center of his forehead, piercing straight through his skull.
The terror and madness on his face froze in place.
His eyes quickly lost their light.
His body swayed once before collapsing heavily onto the ground.
Sol lowered his hand.
He didn't even glance at the three corpses.
Moonlight illuminated the silent clearing.
Only the faint scent of blood lingered in the night air.
Walking over to the leader's body, Sol crouched and searched through the man's belongings.
He soon found a small cursed tool resembling a specialized compass, along with a black jade talisman covered in intricate runes.
Residual spatial fluctuations and traces of barrier interference still lingered on the cursed tool.
It was clearly what had allowed them to infiltrate the school unnoticed.
As for the jade talisman, it carried a faint trace of cursed energy used for long-distance communication.
Sol picked it up and applied slight pressure with his fingers.
Snap.
The talisman shattered instantly.
An invisible stream of information attempted to disperse, but Sol's powerful mental energy seized it before it could escape.
Fragments of images and intentions flooded his mind.
Vague orders.
Interest in Jujutsu High's layout.
An obsession with Sukuna's vessel.
And behind it all, the shadow of a hidden manipulator whose presence felt as deep and unfathomable as an abyss.
There wasn't much information.
But it was enough.
Sol rose to his feet and casually crushed both the shattered talisman and the infiltration cursed tool into powder.
His gaze shifted toward the darkness beyond the school grounds.
Not a ripple stirred within his crimson eyes.
Eliminating these small fry was only the beginning.
Still, he wasn't in any hurry.
He had plenty of time to indulge in these childish games with the people hiding behind the curtain.