Summer, 2006.
Shibuya Crossing.
The traffic light emitted a monotonous ticking sound.
Carrying a slightly worn black guitar case, Yoru walked aimlessly along the asphalt road, following the surging crowd.
Heat waves rolled off the pavement.
The cicadas' chirping served as an unending background noise, its rasping buzz grating on the nerves.
Standing on the crowded streets of Shibuya, Yoru stared in a daze at the flip phone he had just purchased from a convenience store.
The time displayed on the screen caused his heart—one that had endured countless life-and-death battles—to skip a beat.
"Heisei 18..."
"It really is 2006."
He took a deep breath.
Although he had already confirmed through an old man's words in a secluded alley and the system's prompts that he had traveled twelve years back in time.
Yet, standing on this bustling street free from the rampages of Cursed Spirits, smoke, and ruins...
The intense sense of unreality still felt like a lifetime ago. There was no smell of burnt caramel like during the Shibuya Incident of 2018.
Only the aroma of takoyaki mixed with the scent of car exhaust.
This was the smell of peace.
The scent of a time before all the tragedies began.
"Since I'm back."
Yoru looked up, an invisible fire igniting within his dark eyes.
"Then I'll break every single one of those damn tragedies!"
He thought of the white-haired man sealed within the Prison Realm in 2018.
He remembered Megumi Fushiguro's despair during the Culling Game for his sister, Junpei being turned into a monster by Mahito, and Kento Nanami's tragic death in Shibuya.
Those regrets were like thorns buried deep in his heart.
He touched the guitar case on his back; it didn't contain a guitar.
Instead, it held a discarded steel pipe he'd found by the roadside, haphazardly wrapped in newspaper.
It couldn't be helped.
The Special Grade Cursed Tool [SHIRANUI] had been left behind in the ruins of 2018.
Aside from his tempered swordsmanship and breathing techniques, he currently had nothing.
"Still, this is enough."
A slight smile tugged at the corner of Yoru's mouth.
Yoriichi Tsugikuni's strength never came from his blade.
It came from the man who wielded it.
He set off, following his memory toward the place where key figures might appear.
Since the system had issued the mission [REWRITE THE ENDING OF THE HIDDEN INVENTORY ARC], the first step was naturally to find the core figures of the incident.
Though his Transparent World couldn't be kept active for long due to the side effects of time travel, his razor-sharp perception still allowed him to clearly capture every anomaly in his surroundings.
Suddenly, an incredibly arrogant and unbridled surge of cursed energy erupted.
Like a depth charge dropped into a calm lake, it crashed into his field of perception.
That cursed energy was powerful, domineering, and carried a suffocating pressure, just like...
The midday sun.
"Found you."
Yoru stopped abruptly and turned toward a high-end dessert shop on the corner.
A long line stretched out from the shop's entrance.
At the very end of the line, a tall teenager in a black Jujutsu High uniform was boredly kicking a pebble at his feet.
He wore a pair of small, round sunglasses.
His snow-white hair shimmered under the sunlight.
Though his face still held a trace of boyish youth, the 'I'm the strongest' arrogance was already etched into his very bones.
Satoru Gojo.
Satoru Gojo from his Jujutsu High days!
Standing beside him was a black-haired boy with a topknot and a strange fringe.
Suguru Geto.
A gentle smile sat on his face as he held two bottles of Ramune, chatting with Gojo.
"Satoru, stop complaining. The Kikufuku here is a limited edition."
"Hah? I'm the strongest. Why do I have to wait in line like a regular person? Suguru, let's just teleport inside and grab them!"
"No, that would cause a scene. We have to follow the rules of non-sorcerer society."
"Tch. Rules exist to be broken, right?"
Listening to this familiar banter and seeing those two figures still standing side by side...
Yoru's eyes felt a slight heat. This was...
The youth that could never be reclaimed.
And the starting point of all the lingering regrets.
He took a deep breath, calming his surging emotions.
Then, he walked toward them.
One step, two steps.
As the distance closed, Gojo seemed to sense something.
The white-haired teen in sunglasses whipped his head around.
Those azure Six Eyes locked onto Yoru with pinpoint accuracy through the lenses.
Their gazes collided, and the air seemed to freeze.
Gojo frowned slightly.
Because through his Six Eyes, the guy with the guitar case was...
A transparent man with zero cursed energy?
No. Wait.
He had no cursed energy, but this physique...
It was like a prehistoric beast draped in human skin!
The muscle density, bone strength, the explosive force of his blood flow...
Everything about him was insanely strong!
"Hey."
Gojo was the first to speak.
He pulled down his sunglasses, revealing his breathtaking azure eyes, and scanned Yoru from head to toe.
"You've been staring at me for a while, haven't you?"
"You wanna fight?"
Geto also turned around, looking warily at this stranger who had suddenly approached.
"Satoru, don't be so rude."
Yoru stopped three paces away from them.
He looked at the Gojo before him—the one who hadn't yet become a blindfolded weirdo, the one who still had that punchable face.
He couldn't help but chuckle.
That smile contained the joy of reunion, and...
"Long time no see."
The words slipped out of Yoru's mouth.
"Gojo-sensei."
As the words fell, the entire street seemed to go silent for a second.
Gojo froze, Geto froze, and even the bystanders in line shot them weird looks.
Gojo pointed at his own nose, his face a mask of disbelief.
"Hah?"
"Who are you calling 'Sensei'?"
"I'm only sixteen! I'm an invincible high school student in the prime of my youth!"
"You..."
"Is your brain broken?"
Yoru didn't explain.
He knew the current Gojo would never believe he was from the future.
He just watched the two of them silently, his eyes clear and firm.
"Sorry, force of habit."
"But..."
Before Yoru could finish.
Something changed!
Deep within the commercial street, inside a derelict building.
A nauseating, terrifying aura suddenly exploded!
BOOM!
The ground trembled.
The previously clear sky was instantly doused in ink, turning gloomy.
A Curtain!
A Curse User or a high-level Cursed Spirit had lowered a Curtain here!
And judging by the concentration of cursed energy...
"Semi-Special Grade?!"
Geto's expression shifted instantly.
"Satoru! It's the mission target!"
"Tch, talk about bad timing."
Gojo spat in annoyance, but the playfulness in his eyes vanished, replaced by the thrill of battle.
"Suguru, let's go!"
The two were about to rush toward the derelict building.
But a figure was faster than them!
Whoosh—
A gust of wind whipped up.
Gojo felt his vision blur.
The weirdo with the guitar case had already vanished from the spot!
"So fast!"
Gojo's pupils constricted.
"No residual dregs of cursed energy! Purely physical explosive speed?!"
"Hey! It's dangerous over there!"
Geto shouted instinctively, but Yoru's figure had already plunged into the descending Curtain.
In the air.
Only his lingering words remained.
"As a student..."
"I can't just stand by when someone is in danger."
Gojo watched the back disappearing into the darkness, a manic grin slowly spreading across his face.
"Interesting."
"Really interesting!"
"Suguru, let's go too!"
"Let's see what that weirdo has to back up calling me 'Sensei'!"
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