Chapter 166: The Invincible [Hermit Purple]
Tokyo Metropolitan Curse Technical High School.
As one of only two schools in Japan dedicated to training jujutsu sorcerers, it was, as always, remarkably empty. Despite Japan's high population, the actual number of sorcerers was quite small. Naturally, the number of eligible students followed suit.
Furthermore, Japan's feudal-like social structure—where upward mobility was completely blocked—combined with the rampant growth of various cults- created a perfect storm. Under the world-building rules of Jujutsu Kaisen, where Cursed Spirits are the accumulation of human negative emotions, the number of curses was inversely proportional to the number of sorcerers. There were far too many of them.
Consequently, because there were never enough sorcerers to go around, students didn't wait until graduation to start working. Their education consisted of immediate "internships," throwing them into the dangerous work of exorcism.
This was why Emiya Shirou, upon arriving here, was able to simply pick a room to stay in while waiting for Okkotsu Yuta's return.
And now...
Knock, knock, knock.
"You're slow, Gojo."
Hearing the knock, Emiya Shirou—who had spent his recent time cooped up in his room researching technical data by projecting Gojo's blindfold to replicate Cursed Energy mechanics—stopped his work. He opened the door, but he didn't first look at Gojo Satoru, who was still dressed in head-to-toe black with his signature blindfold and gravity-defying white hair.
Instead, he looked at the black-haired boy standing beside Gojo. He looked somewhat introverted and was a face Shirou hadn't seen yet at the school.
"Is this him? Okkotsu Yuta?
To be honest, Gojo, you took so long to bring him here that I thought you were planning to break our contract."
"That really hurts," Gojo said with a look of mock heartbreak. "In your eyes, Emiya, am I really the type of person who breaks his word?"
Shirou finally took a long, hard look at Gojo before nodding.
"Yes. Yes, you are."
Though Shirou hadn't left his room much since arriving at Jujutsu High, this was the first time he had seen Gojo since their battle.
"After all, you're a busy man, Gojo. Busy is good, busy is productive..."
"Cough, cough! Who do you think caused all this!?" Faced with Shirou's motherly nagging, Gojo coughed a few times before shooting back. "Because of your information, I've been busy non-stop until now!
Especially that Cursed Tool you used before. A bunch of people are eyeing it now; even the higher-ups on our side are starting to get greedy.
Considering I've been handling all this trouble for you, shouldn't you show a little appreciation and give me some more intel?"
Gojo finally revealed his true motive. There was no helping it; Mahito and his group had moved fast. Using the network of curse users left behind by Kenjaku, they had quickly spread the news.
Ordinary curse users weren't an issue. Even if they targeted him, Gojo could turn their ambushes into a one-sided massacre without taking a scratch. Unless he encountered a very specific counter-ability, the [Limitless] remained supreme and invincible in both low-level and high-level play.
But while Gojo could ignore the curse users lining up to die, he couldn't easily ignore the higher-ups. They knew more than the average curse user—specifically, that Gojo had returned with two strangers, Emiya Shirou and Itadori Yuji, just before the news broke.
Once they realized Shirou might possess a tool even more powerful than the [Prison Realm], it was inevitable they would demand he hand over his [Pseudo-Gáe Bolg] for "safekeeping," citing it as a weapon of mass destruction.
Thus, Gojo had spent his recent days arguing—both with logic and with physical force—to keep the higher-ups away from Shirou.
This wasn't because Gojo was worried about Shirou's safety. In fact, having seen Shirou's strength, he was more worried that Shirou would simply kill all the higher-ups.
Though Gojo despised them and intended to eventually replace the old guard with his own students, that was a plan for the future. For now, with sorcerers being so scarce and curses becoming increasingly active, he preferred to maintain the current order. A rotten order was better than no order at all.
To this, Emiya Shirou feigned ignorance. "Gojo, if I remember correctly, our Binding Vow was that I provide info on Kenjaku and help you retrieve Suguru Geto's body.
In exchange, you were to introduce me to Okkotsu Yuta so I could observe his technique and Domain. I've more than fulfilled my half, yet you haven't completed yours until just now."
"Uh, well, about that..." Gojo's excuse fell flat. Regardless of the reason, the fact remained that he hadn't fulfilled his end of the vow until this moment.
"But we're friends who fought together, aren't we?"
Just before Gojo could look too disappointed, Shirou spoke up. "Actually, besides Okkotsu Yuta's technique, I'm also curious about someone else's technique here at the school. If you let me see it, I might just give you some intel on the Four Disaster Curses—the masterminds behind the recent events."
With that, Shirou flicked a photograph into Gojo's hand. It was a spirit photography print showing Mahito and the others seemingly in conversation with some unknown individuals.
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