Chapter 25: The Grief of the Crowd, A Perfect Performance
"Dead?"
Satoru Gojo stood at the entrance of the juvenile detention center, his voice unnaturally calm.
Rain soaked his blindfold and pressed it tightly against his face, outlining the shape of the eyes hidden beneath it in a way that felt strangely unsettling.
Kiyotaka Ijichi was kneeling in the mud with his forehead pressed hard to the ground, trembling so badly he looked as though he might fall apart at any second.
"Y yes..."
His voice shook violently.
"Ryomen Sukuna forcibly took control... then the Special Grade... Itadori-kun, in order to save the others..."
The rest dissolved into broken sobs.
Gojo said nothing.
He simply stepped forward and walked into the ruins.
With each step, the atmosphere grew heavier.
Rainwater evaporated within half a meter of his body, turning into drifting white mist. It was the unconscious operation of Infinity, but it also felt like something else entirely.
Rage.
The pure, silent rage of the strongest sorcerer of the modern era.
Soon, he saw them.
Megumi Fushiguro was leaning against a broken wall, his head lowered. His expression was hidden, but the fists clenched so tightly at his sides that his knuckles had gone white betrayed everything.
Nobara Kugisaki sat on the ground with her knees drawn up, face buried in her arms, shoulders trembling as she tried and failed to suppress her sobs.
And between them, laid carefully on a relatively clean slab of broken stone, was Yuji Itadori.
The massive hole in his chest looked grotesque beneath the rain.
Beside him stood Yami.
He looked terrible too.
Blood covered him from head to toe. His breathing was so weak it resembled a candle flame trembling on the verge of going out. Yet even now, his eyes remained sharp, and his body was still angled protectively toward Yuji's corpse as if he were on guard against something.
When Yami saw Gojo approach, the tension in his body eased by the slightest margin.
"Sensei..."
His voice was hoarse and ragged.
Gojo stopped in front of Yuji's body.
He looked down at the boy he had personally brought into Jujutsu High. The same boy who had laughed so stupidly, so brightly, and asked him to bring back souvenirs before he left.
Now he was cold.
Still.
Silent.
"Ha..."
Gojo laughed.
It was a short sound.
A cold sound.
Like wind blowing through a grave in midwinter.
"Good. Very good."
His head tilted slightly.
"A Special Grade mission."
"And they sent first years."
The smile on his lips did not reach his eyes.
"Those rotten oranges really have stopped pretending to value human life."
Boom!!!
An overwhelming surge of cursed energy exploded outward from Gojo.
The rain was blasted away in an instant, evaporating into a sky full of white mist. The ground cracked under the force. Pebbles rose from the earth and were crushed into powder by invisible pressure before they could even fall.
Ijichi was thrown flat to the ground by the shockwave, his eyes rolling back as he nearly lost consciousness again.
Even Megumi and Nobara felt their throats tighten as though a giant hand had wrapped around their necks.
Killing intent.
Real killing intent.
This was the first time the students had ever seen Satoru Gojo show such naked, unrestrained violence.
He truly wanted to kill.
To slaughter every old bastard sitting high above, sacrificing young sorcerers like disposable pieces on a board.
"Gojo-sensei."
Just as the atmosphere tightened to the breaking point, a weak but steady voice interrupted it.
Yami had somehow crossed the distance and reached Gojo's side.
With a bloodstained hand, he lightly caught the hem of Gojo's sleeve.
Gojo lowered his head slightly, his hidden gaze locking onto Yami through the soaked blindfold.
"Yami."
His voice was icy.
"You're going to stop me too?"
"No."
Yami shook his head.
Then he stepped closer and whispered a few quick words into Gojo's ear, low enough that only the two of them could hear.
"..."
Gojo's body stilled.
The terrifying cursed pressure that had been on the verge of crushing the entire area stopped at once.
Like a storm that had been frozen in place.
Then, slowly, it receded.
The killing intent drained away like an ebbing tide, leaving behind only a fathomless depth.
Gojo raised one hand and stroked his chin.
The cold line of his lips shifted.
The murderous smile gradually melted back into that familiar, careless grin.
"I see."
His tone lightened.
"That really is..."
The smile widened.
"Interesting."
In an instant, he had transformed back into the Satoru Gojo everyone knew. Casual. Lazy. Nonchalant.
But under that easygoing surface, there was still something chilling in his voice.
"Ijichi. Stop pretending to be dead and get up."
He kicked the auxiliary supervisor in the backside, jolting the poor man upright.
"G Gojo-sensei?!"
Ijichi scrambled to his feet in a panic.
"Take Yuji back."
Gojo bent down and lifted Yuji's body with insulting ease, as though the weight in his arms were nothing.
He did not look at Megumi or Nobara.
He simply waved a hand at them with his back turned.
"If they want to see the body, let them see it properly."
His voice fell cold again.
"I'll make sure those rotten oranges understand something very clearly."
He adjusted Yuji's body in his arms and began walking deeper into the rain.
"Touching my student comes with consequences."
Megumi watched his teacher's retreating figure, his expression complicated.
Then he slowly turned his gaze toward Yami.
Yami was leaning against the shattered wall now, eyes closed, as if he had already fallen asleep standing up from pure exhaustion.
But if one looked carefully, the corners of his lips were very slightly raised.
Megumi stared at him for a moment, then let out a silent breath.
Yami...
Your acting really is terrifying.
On the other side, Nobara, who knew absolutely nothing and still believed Yuji had truly died, finally broke completely.
"Waaaaah! That idiot!"
She burst into loud, heartbroken sobs, tears and rainwater streaming down her face.
"Why did he have to die?!"
Her cries echoed through the rainy night, raw and miserable.
And because of that, the carefully staged performance meant to fool the higher ups became even more convincing.
Even more perfect.
...
At the same time, inside a secret room used by the higher ups of the jujutsu world.
The space was dim, lit only by a few candles whose flames flickered uneasily across old wooden screens. Behind them sat several vague, aged silhouettes.
"Is it confirmed?"
An old voice broke the silence.
"It is confirmed."
Another answered from the shadows.
"The report from Ijichi states that the vessel of Ryomen Sukuna, Yuji Itadori, is dead."
There was a pause.
"Even the body was personally taken away by Satoru Gojo."
"Hehehe..."
A low, cracked laugh echoed in the room.
"Excellent."
"Wonderful."
"It is regrettable that a student with such outstanding potential had to be sacrificed..."
The voice dripped with false pity.
"But this was a necessary sacrifice for the stability of the jujutsu world."
Another elder spoke.
"And Gojo Satoru? How did he react?"
"I heard he was furious. He even assaulted Ijichi in his rage."
A dry, self satisfied chuckle followed.
"But what can he do? The mission procedures were all formally compliant. Even he can't publicly point out any fault."
The old men in the secret room raised their cups in celebration, savoring another political victory.
To them, this was nothing more than a trivial maneuver in the long history of power struggles.
A boy had died.
A dangerous vessel had been removed.
An inconvenience had been dealt with.
That was all.
What they did not know was that tonight, in the mud and blood beneath that rain, a seed had already been planted.
And that seed would one day grow into something vast enough to overturn the entire jujutsu world.
.....
[If you don't want to wait for the next update, read 10–50 chapters ahead on P@treon.]
[[email protected]/FanficLord03]
[One Piece, Naruto, Bleach, Soul Land, NBA, and more — all in one place.]