The first rays of dawn pierced through the thick, leaden clouds and fell upon the ruined streets of Shibuya.
Gone was the bustle of the morning rush.
Gone were the endless streams of commuters.
The city seemed to have lost its soul in the catastrophe of the previous night.
In their place stood enormous translucent black barriers looming over every district of Tokyo.
Piercing through the clouds like inverted bowls, they divided the city into isolated arenas of death.
The barriers of the Culling Game.
Chiyoda Ward.
On the rooftop terrace of a luxurious villa, Rin reclined in a leather lounge chair, a cup of freshly brewed black coffee in hand.
The morning breeze rustled his black shirt as his dark eyes calmly gazed at the towering black pillars in the distance.
"Boss, this really turned into a mess."
Toji pushed open the glass door and stepped onto the terrace carrying two cans of beer.
He tossed a neatly organized report onto the glass table.
"Shiu Kong just sent over the latest information. Before that nasty brain, Kenjaku, died last night, he activated ten barriers across Japan."
"Every ordinary civilian inside the barriers has a single opportunity to leave."
"But the people he marked beforehand, those who consumed Special Grade cursed objects, and those whose cursed techniques were forcibly awakened have all been designated as players."
"They have no choice but to kill each other inside the barriers."
Toji popped open a can and took a long swig.
"Five points for killing a sorcerer. One point for killing an ordinary person."
"Get one hundred points and you can add a new rule."
"And if your points don't change within nineteen days, your cursed technique will be stripped away and you'll die."
Rubbing the scar at the corner of his mouth, he sneered.
"What a simple and brutal bug cage."
"Even though you burned that Brain to ashes, the mess he left behind is enough to keep those old bastards in the jujutsu world occupied for a while."
"And bug cages are exactly what I want."
Rin set down his coffee.
His gaze fell upon the flesh-coloured cube covered in strange runes resting on the table.
The Prison Realm.
The strongest sorcerer of the modern era, Gojo Satoru, was currently imprisoned within that small box.
Shinobu Kochō, dressed in a white lab coat, emerged from the laboratory downstairs.
Holding a tablet-like scanner, she examined the Prison Realm twice and frowned slightly.
"The structure of this thing is extremely strange."
"The cursed energy circuits on the surface form a perfect closed loop."
"If it's forced open from the outside, the internal space could collapse."
"And whoever is sealed inside might be shredded by spatial turbulence."
Putting away the instrument, she looked toward Rin.
"How long are you planning to keep him inside?"
"That man may have a sharp tongue, but with him around, suppressing the ancient curse users awakened by the Culling Game would be much faster."
"No rush."
Rin tapped the cold surface of the Prison Realm with his fingers, producing a dull sound.
"Gojo's Limitless is useful."
"But these past few years have been too comfortable for him."
"So comfortable that he got easily tricked by that trash on the battlefield."
"Let him stay in that black box for a few days."
"He needs to reflect on that weakness."
Rin rose to his feet and walked to the edge of the terrace.
"Besides, once Gojo Satoru returns, which of those ancient monsters awakened by Kenjaku, or the Special Grade curses hiding in the shadows, would dare show themselves?"
A trace of madness appeared at the corners of his mouth.
"What I want..."
"Is for those arrogant ancient sorcerers to slaughter one another until their eyes turn red."
"I want the remaining fingers of Ryomen Sukuna to be gathered together by those self-righteous prey."
"And when the insects inside those ten barriers have grown fat enough..."
"I'll crush all ten jars at once."
That was the real reason Rin had allowed the Culling Game to proceed.
Tracking down hundreds of ancient sorcerers scattered across the country was far too troublesome.
It was better to let them devour one another and accumulate points for him.
Once the strongest "King of Insects" emerged, he would simply step in and harvest an enormous amount of Dimension Points.
...
Meanwhile.
Tokyo Jujutsu High School.
Underground morgue and temporary infirmary.
The room was thick with the pungent smell of disinfectant.
Shoko Ieiri's eyes were bloodshot from exhaustion.
Although Rin's Yang Release had saved Nanami and Naobito during the battle in Shibuya, countless assistant supervisors and lower-ranking sorcerers had still perished amidst the chaos.
Standing before the rows of bodies, Yuji, Megumi, and Nobara lowered their heads.
The atmosphere was suffocating.
"With Gojo-sensei sealed... Jujutsu Headquarters will definitely use this opportunity to make their move."
Megumi gritted his teeth so hard that his nails dug into his palms.
He recalled the unwavering figure of Rin carrying away the Prison Realm at Shibuya Station the previous night.
The gap was so overwhelming that it left no room for resistance.
"No matter what, the Culling Game is our top priority right now."
Megumi raised his head, his eyes filled with grim determination.
"Tsumiki suddenly fell into a coma last night. She's been dragged into the Culling Game and registered as a player."
"I have to enter the barrier, earn one hundred points, and add a rule allowing ordinary people to leave."
Tsumiki was his sister.
The most important person in his life.
To save her, even if a mountain of blades and a sea of flames lay ahead, he would still push forward.
Yuji suddenly stood up and slapped Megumi on the shoulder.
"Count me in, Fushiguro!"
"I've already swallowed fifteen fingers. Sukuna's power is terrifying, but I can suppress him now."
"We'll save Tsumiki-nee, and then we'll go to Chiyoda Ward and beg Mr. Rin to release Gojo-sensei!"
Nobara tightened her grip on her hammer.
"Stop talking like I'm not coming."
"There's no way I'm sitting this out."
Just as the three had made up their minds—
Click.
The heavy iron door of the infirmary opened.
A massive, oppressive, and blood-soaked aura of Special Grade cursed energy flooded the room.
Yuji and Megumi immediately stood back-to-back, their bodies tensing in preparation for battle.
From the shadows outside stepped a young man carrying a katana.
He wore a loose white uniform.
His shoulder-length black hair hung casually over his shoulders.
Dark circles surrounded his eyes, and his expression radiated exhaustion, yet the darkness within his pupils resembled an endless abyss.
Special Grade sorcerer.
Yuta Okkotsu.
After learning about the Night Parade of a Hundred Demons and the Shibuya Incident, the prodigy who had been overseas on a mission had rushed back to Japan overnight.
"Okkotsu-senpai?!"
Megumi recognized him, and the tension in his body eased slightly.
But the undisguised hostility radiating from Yuta caused his heart to tighten again.
Yuta's gaze passed over Megumi and locked directly onto Yuji.
"So you're Itadori Yuji."
His voice was low and hoarse.
Slowly, he drew the katana from his back.
___
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