The sun rose and the moon set, summer faded and autumn arrived.
Time within the Miniature Divine Realm seemed to have fallen into a kind of stagnant ease, while the outside world of Tokyo was undergoing earth-shattering changes with the shifting seasons.
Before anyone realized it, the calendar had turned to the end of October 2018.
In a luxury villa in Chiyoda Ward, Tokyo.
Toji was wearing an oversized gray hoodie, sitting cross-legged on the living room's wool carpet, carefully wiping the Inverted Spear of Heaven in his hands with a piece of deerskin.
Under his care, the blade of this Special Grade Cursed Tool glinted with a chilling, eerie light.
On the television, news teasers for the upcoming Halloween were playing, and young people on the streets of Shibuya had already begun preparing for various costume parades and parties.
Click.
Accompanied by the sound of spatial distortion, Yamada walked out of the divine realm, dressed in casual loungewear.
"Boss." Toji didn't even look up, continuing to wipe the blade.
Yamada walked to the sofa and sat down, casually picking up a summary report from the coffee table and flipping through it.
"How is the situation outside?"
"It's a total mess."
Toji sneered, sliding the Inverted Spear of Heaven back into the holster at his waist.
"That acquaintance of yours, Satoru, has been acting like a madman these past few months. He's been training those first and second-year students at Jujutsu High to death. Word is, my idiot son has already been drilled into Ieiri Shoko's emergency room several times."
Mentioning Megumi, although Toji's tone was full of disdain, Yamada keenly captured a flash of complex emotion in his eyes.
Over the past few months, although Toji appeared indifferent to his son's fate on the surface, in reality, he had used the unlimited black card Yamada gave him to secretly resolve quite a few black-market assassination contracts targeting Megumi.
Once, a few blind overseas Curse Users even attempted to kidnap Megumi to threaten Satoru, but before they could even touch the outskirts of Jujutsu High, they were intercepted by Toji and shredded into meat paste with the Chain of a Thousand Miles.
The fatherly love of the Sorcerer Killer was rough and awkward.
"Besides Jujutsu High, what about the higher-ups and the Three Big Families?"
Yamada put down the document and took a sip of the now-cold coffee on the table.
"They're all quiet."
Toji grinned, revealing his stark white teeth. "Ever since you burned those old stubborn geezers among the higher-ups and took a trip to the Zenin Clan, these guys, who are usually so arrogant, don't even dare to fart now."
"That old drunkard, Zenin Naobito, issued a gag order, strictly forbidding any clan members from provoking this villa."
"Now, both the underworld and the legitimate world know that a Shinigami who cannot be provoked lives in Chiyoda Ward."
Absolute force brought absolute authority.
This was the peace and quiet Yamada wanted.
"However..."
Toji changed the subject, his eyes becoming sharp. "As for that guy with the stitches on his forehead you asked me to investigate, he finally showed his tail recently."
Yamada's fingers, which were tapping his knee, paused slightly as he looked up at Toji.
"The intelligence network from Kong Shiu sent news yesterday."
Toji sat up straight and said in a deep voice, "In the last month, a mysterious leader has appeared in the underground Curse User circle. He offered extremely high stakes, recruiting those heinous Curse Users everywhere."
"Moreover, someone once saw a figure wearing a robe and having stitches on his forehead near an abandoned temple on the outskirts of Kyoto."
"Robe, stitches."
A cold smile curled the corners of Yamada's lips.
Kenjaku.
This thousand-year-old fox who had stolen Suguru's body, after lying dormant for a full half-year, could finally no longer hold back and began to close the net on his grand conspiracy.
"There's one more thing."
Toji stood up and walked to the floor-to-ceiling window, looking at the gray sky outside.
"In the last few days, the flow of Cursed Energy under Shibuya Ward has been very strange. The 'Window' observers reported that a large number of unidentified Semi-Grade 1 and Grade 1 Cursed Spirits are gathering toward the subway facilities in Shibuya."
"Moreover, they discovered traces of extremely complex barrier techniques being set up in the surrounding area."
Toji turned his head and looked at Yamada. "Boss, they seem to be planning a big operation in Shibuya on Halloween. The target is, nine times out of ten, Satoru."
Halloween. Shibuya.
Hearing these two words, Yamada stood up.
The half-year of leisurely daily life had finally come to an end. The "Shibuya Incident," the most tragic event in the original series and known as the watershed of the Jujutsu World, had opened its final curtain under Kenjaku's meticulous planning.
To stall Satoru, he spared no effort in utilizing all the Special Grade Cursed Spirits and even prepared a game-breaking sealing Cursed Tool like the Prison Realm.
This was a guaranteed kill game that Kenjaku considered perfect.
"October 31st."
Yamada glanced at the wall calendar, there were less than three days left until Halloween.
"Boss, do you need me to go ahead and twist that stitched-face's head off?"
Toji touched the Inverted Spear of Heaven at his waist, a flash of bloodthirsty light in his eyes.
"No need. They worked hard for half a year to build the stage and invited so many actors. If I kill the director before the show starts, how boring would that be?"
"Let them cause trouble."
Yamada turned around, pulled his trench coat off the coat rack, and draped it over his shoulders.
"When they raise the barrier in Shibuya, and when they think they have sealed Satoru and believe victory is within their grasp..."
"That is when we enter."
"I will let them see with their own eyes how ridiculous and vulnerable their so-called guaranteed kill game, which they painstakingly laid out, is in the face of true power."