Kagura Shin calmed his breathing and looked at Satoru Gojo, who was watching from the side, asking with his eyes whether they should continue. He felt Megumi Fushiguro wasn't in good condition one of his arms was broken, and one of his shikigami had been destroyed.
Unexpectedly, Satoru Gojo was still looking up at the sky. Kagura Shin had no choice but to take out his Fishing Rod again, hook Megumi over, and punch him in the stomach. The pain made Megumi crouch down, clutching his abdomen with his one good arm. Kagura Shin held an Iron Sword to his neck and said:
"It's over you lose... But Gojo-sensei, do we really have to decide a winner? Couldn't we have stopped earlier? Everyone already knows the outcome in their hearts."
Satoru Gojo hopped over and rubbed Kagura Shin's head.
"It's all because of you. Didn't I tell you to fight seriously just now? You only needed to use your real strength to strike Megumi hard once—make him realize how weak he is. That would have achieved the purpose of this match."
"But your playful performance would make Megumi misjudge his own strength, so I had to extend the fight."
"But... didn't you say at the beginning it was for us to get to know each other...?"
"Ah! Of course, that was part of it too!"
Megumi Fushiguro raised his head with difficulty and asked:
"Then, Gojo-sensei... I've already realized my weakness. Can you send me for treatment now? My whole body hurts."
Satoru Gojo: ✧｡٩(ˊᗜˋ)و✧*｡ "I forgot!"
In the end, Megumi's injuries didn't require Shoko Ieiri's treatment. Kagura Shin gave him two Grilled Pork Chops to eat, and after a short while, he had completely recovered.
...
Megumi Fushiguro's arrival meant that the story was about to begin, but Kagura Shin had already forgotten which high school Itadori attended, so he could only wait patiently.
However, after Megumi arrived the time Kagura Shin spent being beaten up by Satoru Gojo grew shorter and shorter. After all, while bullying students is fun, one eventually gets bored.
Satoru Gojo: cat shrug.jpg
A few days later, both Megumi Fushiguro and Kagura Shin received their student IDs. Along with them came a pile of missions involving Grade 2 and Grade 3 Cursed Spirits, which Satoru Gojo had "generously" provided, claiming it was for training.
Kagura Shin: "Grade 2 Jujutsu Sorcerer? I thought I'd start from Grade 4. Megumi, what about yours?"
As he spoke, he glanced at Megumi Fushiguro's student ID—it was also Grade 2.
Grade 2 is usually the highest initial rank, since becoming a Grade 1 Jujutsu Sorcerer requires a recommendation from a Grade 1 or Special Grade Sorcerer.
Of course, for exceptional individuals like Yuta Okkotsu, whose initial strength is overwhelming, they can be directly designated as Special Grade. But Kagura Shin was still far from that level.
For the remaining half of the summer break, Satoru Gojo seemed quite busy. As school approached, the accumulated negative emotions of students appeared to give rise to many troublesome Cursed Spirits, requiring him to travel constantly. Kagura Shin and Megumi Fushiguro were no exception they traveled around completing many missions originally assigned to Satoru Gojo.
Kagura Shin actually enjoyed it, as his experience bar was increasing rapidly. A Grade 3 Cursed Spirit could raise his level by two, while a Grade 2 could raise it by three to five levels. He and Megumi even defeated a Quasi-Grade 1 Cursed Spirit, which raised his level by seven at once.
After more than half a month of exorcising Cursed Spirits, Kagura Shin leveled up 60 times. He also unlocked many special items. Combined with crafting their derivatives, fewer than 50 items remained locked—most of them being relatively unimportant blocks or derivatives from the Nether or The End.
The current Kagura Shin was frighteningly powerful.
However, all items required accumulation. For example, consumables like Enchanted Golden Apples could only be crafted at a rate of eight or nine per day—still too few. But there was no helping it; while Cursed Energy was abundant, the process was simply too time-consuming.
Still, Kagura Shin had a faint premonition that once he unlocked all items, there might be a huge surprise waiting for him.
Although he wanted to eliminate a few more Cursed Spirits to complete his item encyclopedia, Satoru Gojo suddenly called and told the two of them to retrieve a Special Grade Cursed Object. The moment Kagura Shin heard those words, it was as if a switch had been flipped—he became visibly excited.
Megumi Fushiguro could only sigh helplessly.
...
By the time the two arrived at the location mentioned in Satoru Gojo's message—a Stevenson screen Megumi Fushiguro couldn't help but complain:
"Leaving such an important Special Grade Cursed Object inside a Stevenson screen... isn't that just careless? Well, at least it makes retrieval easier."
As he spoke, he opened the Stevenson screen to retrieve the object, while Kagura Shin stood nearby with his hands in his pockets, watching. After all, he already knew it was empty.
Sure enough, as soon as Megumi Fushiguro opened it, he exclaimed:
"Huh? It's empty! Where's the cursed object? Did it fall? It's not on the ground either... It's gone!"
"Calm down, Megumi. Call Gojo-sensei first."
"Ring ring~ Hello? What, the Special Grade Cursed Object is missing? Did it go out for a walk at night?"
"But if you can't find it, you and Shin don't need to come back to Jujutsu High. That's it, bye."
Satoru Gojo spoke calmly, yet his words sent a chill down their spines. Megumi Fushiguro took several deep breaths, focused Cursed Energy into his eyes, carefully examined the residual traces, and led Kagura Shin along the trail—all the way to the gate of a high school.
"Miyagi Prefecture Sugisawa Third High School... It seems the cursed object was probably taken by some curious students. Then there's no need to worry. Megumi, you know this—Special Grade Cursed Objects are usually sealed. Ordinary people with little to no Cursed Energy can't break those seals."
Megumi Fushiguro knew that was generally true but this was no ordinary Special Grade Cursed Object.
What they had come to retrieve was one of the fingers of Ryomen Sukuna—the King of Curses.
Moreover, Kagura Shin's assumption relied on the seal still being intact.
Although the reason for retrieving it now was that the seal had weakened over time and needed reinforcement, if the higher-ups had done their job properly, the seal should still be effective.
But there was always uncertainty.
What if the timing provided by the higher-ups was wrong?
What if... the person who obtained the cursed object just happened to possess Cursed Energy?