White Zetsu in Five Pieces

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"Shoko Ieiri!"

Yaga gritted his teeth and felt exhaustion settle into his bones.

Sensing that he was about to lecture her, Shoko waved a hand.

"Don't get so angry. I asked Itsuki first."

Yaga paused, confused.

"Zenin-sensei... agreed?"

Shoko's expression stayed flat.

"No."

"He told me to ask White Zetsu directly."

Yaga tensed.

"So White Zetsu agreed?"

Shoko hesitated.

"Probably."

Probably?

Yaga, Maki, and the others went silent for a beat.

If Shoko had not treated Maki countless times after she entered Jujutsu High...

If White Zetsu's body had already dissolved into ash...

Maki would have started yelling by now.

"Can you explain what probably agreed means?"

Yaga forced the words through clenched teeth.

He could not find Gojo in the teaching building, and Gojo was not answering his phone.

He had a stomach full of anger and nowhere to put it, and now Shoko was doing this.

Yaga felt as if he might injure himself from holding it in.

Avoiding Yaga's furious gaze, Shoko said with rare guilt, "When I reached the training field, White Zetsu was already unconscious on the ground."

"I asked him before the operation."

She took a drag from her cigarette, eyes drifting.

"Since he didn't answer, I took it as consent."

"Shoko, you-"

Yaga rolled up his sleeves, looking ready to deliver a disciplinary punch.

Panda hurriedly grabbed him from behind.

"Principal, easy. Easy."

"The students are watching. Let's not solve everything with fists."

"We should call Zenin-sensei first and have him take a look."

When Yaga had been a teacher, he spent his days cleaning up after his students.

Now he was principal.

And still cleaning up after them.

Yaga shook off Panda's arms, glared at Shoko, then took out his phone and made the call.

Shoko's gaze swept over Maki and the others before settling on the pale body on the operating table.

Smoke curled from the cigarette between her fingers. For once, her expression was heavy.

"Principal Yaga. Shoko-san."

Itsuki walked into the infirmary and greeted them with a smile.

"Brother Itsuki, White Zetsu-"

Itsuki raised a hand toward Maki.

"I know. It's fine."

Looking at Yaga's uneasy expression, Itsuki smiled.

"Principal, don't worry about it. Think of it as the anesthesia Shoko-san administered before surgery."

"Shoko-san got what she wanted, and White Zetsu did not feel pain. That is fine."

Yaga stepped forward and patted Itsuki's shoulder, moved.

"You're being more understanding than I expected, Zenin-sensei."

Itsuki nodded with a gentle smile, then walked to the operating table.

Looking at White Zetsu, who had been cut into five pieces, Itsuki said nothing. He simply drew the damaged body into the Kamui Dimension.

"Principal Yaga, I may need to take leave for some time. I hope you can approve it."

As a Jujutsu High teacher, Itsuki's role was not limited to teaching students.

He was also expected to take missions and exorcise cursed spirits.

Yaga nodded.

"Of course. Zenin-sensei, return to the Zenin estate and recover properly. I will explain things to the higher-ups."

Staying inside Gojo's domain for nearly a minute without collapsing was already impressive to Yaga.

With White Zetsu also badly injured by Shoko, he had no reason to refuse.

"Then Principal Yaga, Shoko-san, I will leave first."

"Maki, remember to get along with your friends. As for White Zetsu, you don't need to worry."

Itsuki nodded kindly to everyone, then turned and left.

With his back to them, the smile on Itsuki's face vanished in an instant, replaced by cold indifference.

Shoko watched his back, her expression tightening.

Night.

The Zenin Clan's Cursed Warehouse.

The Cursed Warehouse had collapsed repeatedly over the years and had been expanded and reinforced several times.

Several years earlier, the three underground levels beneath it had already grown to rival the surface estate in size.

But the secrets hidden on the final two levels were unknown even to Naobito, the former clan head and the leading figure of the Hei.

The first level stored all of the Zenin Clan's cursed tools. It also served as the place where captured cursed spirits were delivered.

The remaining two levels were different.

Of the Zenin sorcerers, the only one still allowed to enter the last two levels was Hisashi Zenin, who had once been responsible for investigating curse users.

Hisashi, whose left arm Itsuki had destroyed in the meeting room, was still alive because his mission had succeeded.

Naobito studied the young man beside him with mixed feelings.

Over the past ten years, the Zenin Clan had suffered by far the highest losses among the Big Three Families.

Some died on exhausting missions. Some died under the boy's punishments.

Naobito did not regret handing the clan over to Itsuki.

He only worried.

When Itsuki finally stood at the top of the jujutsu world, how many members of the Zenin Clan would still be left?

They arrived before the entrance to the Cursed Warehouse. A black barrier wrapped the underground doorway completely.

Itsuki's black eyes changed into the shape of the Mangekyo Sharingan.

The terrifying cursed energy that flashed for a single instant made even Naobito's blood run cold, despite his strength as a Grade 1 sorcerer.

Soon, a door-shaped passage opened inside the black barrier.

On the other side stood Hisashi Zenin, left with only his right arm, bowing respectfully as he waited.

Itsuki stepped inside with an indifferent expression, scarlet eyes sweeping every part of the barrier.

That cold gaze seemed to pierce thick stone, cursed energy, underground entrances, everything that tried to hide from it.

The three of them entered the first-level room where cursed tools were stored. Itsuki looked at Hisashi and ordered, voice flat, "Take the Ten Shadows records to Jujutsu High tomorrow. Deliver them to Satoru Gojo personally."

"Also prepare sixty million yen in cash and hand it to Mei Mei from Jujutsu High."

"Yes."

Handing the Zenin Clan's treasured records to the rival Gojo Clan was absurd.

Hisashi accepted the order without hesitation.

After retrieving the Ten Shadows records from the cursed tool storage, Hisashi turned and left the barrier.

He still needed to find Jinichi outside and obtain the cash, then wait until morning to depart for Jujutsu High.

That speed of execution was not an exception.

After ten years, every Zenin sorcerer still alive had already been shaped into something that obeyed Itsuki.

"Old man. Come with me."

"From now on, you will be responsible for the work on the second underground level."

Itsuki spoke softly and walked to the entrance of the second underground level, tapping the black barrier over the door.

Inside the Cursed Warehouse, every underground level was wrapped in its own barrier.

The defenses were not especially strong. Their main function was to warn Itsuki.

After all, there were not many skilled barrier users in the Zenin Clan, or even in the entire jujutsu world.

The only ones worth remembering were Kenjaku and the immortal Tengen.

"Yeah, yeah."

"Coming, coming. Did the cursed spirits arrive this fast?"

As the barrier to the second underground level opened, a cheerful voice came from within.

A crooked blond ponytail.

Three pink-purple triangular marks beneath each eye.

The person who emerged was the curse user Haruta Shigemo.

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