The hospital room was quiet.
Only the slow beeping of the heart monitor echoed in the background.
Yuji sat beside the bed, his eyes on the frail old man lying in front of him.
Wasuke Itadori.
His grandfather.
The man who had raised him.
For seventy years, Yuji had carried the memory of this moment, the final days of the man who had been his only family.
And now…
He was here again.
Alive.
Breathing.
Yuji clenched his hands slightly.
He had once thought this was impossible.
But the glowing countdown still hovered faintly in the corner of his vision.
179 Days
19 Hours
41 Minutes
17 Seconds
The timer continued to fall.
Yuji did not yet understand why he had been sent back.
But he knew one thing for sure.
This chance would not come again.
Across the room, Wasuke watched him closely.
The old man's sharp eyes narrowed slightly.
"You've been staring at me for a while now, kid," he said.
"Do I know you?"
Yuji smiled faintly.
"Not yet."
Wasuke snorted.
"What kind of answer is that?"
Yuji leaned back a bit in the chair.
For a moment, neither of them spoke.
Then Wasuke sighed.
"You've got strange eyes."
Yuji blinked.
"Eyes?"
The old man nodded.
"Yeah."
He stared directly at Yuji.
"Eyes of someone who has lived too long."
Yuji froze.
For a moment, it felt as if his grandfather could see straight through him.
But then Wasuke simply turned his head toward the window.
"Hmph. Probably just my imagination."
Yuji chuckled quietly.
Even now, his grandfather was still the same stubborn old man.
Suddenly, the door opened.
Nurse Sajisawa stepped inside.
"Mr. Itadori, visiting hours are almost—"
She stopped mid-sentence.
Her eyes widened slightly.
"You're still here?"
Yuji stood up calmly.
"I was just leaving."
The nurse hesitated.
Something about the young man felt strange.
He looked young.
Yet his presence carried an unusual weight.
Before she could ask anything else, Yuji walked past her and stepped into the hallway.
The hospital corridor was bright and busy.
Patients moved slowly.
Doctors hurried between rooms.
Everything felt painfully ordinary.
Yuji stopped near a window.
Outside, the evening sun was beginning to set.
Then the countdown suddenly flickered again.
179 Days
18 Hours
03 Minutes
51 Seconds
Yuji frowned.
The number had dropped faster than before.
His gaze sharpened.
"So it's true…"
That strange feeling from earlier returned to his mind.
The more he interfered with the past…
The faster the countdown would move.
Yuji exhaled slowly.
"So changing history has a cost."
That meant he needed to be careful.
He couldn't simply rush in and change everything.
If the timer reached zero too soon…
Whatever was coming might arrive before he was ready.
Yuji shoved his hands into his pockets and began walking down the hallway.
For now, he needed information.
He needed to confirm one thing.
Was this really the same world he remembered?
Or was it something else entirely?
Because if the future had already started changing…
Then even Yuji Itadori, the strongest sorcerer of the modern era, could not predict what would happen next.
Behind him, inside the hospital room—
Teenage Yuji suddenly paused.
For a brief moment…
He felt something strange.
As if someone very familiar had been standing nearby.
But when he looked toward the hallway—
No one was there.
He scratched his head.
"Huh… weird."