A Deadlock

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Shibuya.

10:44 p.m.

Returning to the place of the incident, Itsuki hovered above the outermost barrier.

He had destroyed Jujutsu High, but he had not invaded the Tombs of the Star Corridor to meet Tengen.

He had only done it to draw Yuta away.

Kinji Hakari leaving on his own counted as good luck.

Itsuki had originally planned to crush that character directly when he returned.

If Hakari left early, that was fine too.

As long as he did not obstruct Itsuki's final goal...

Jujutsu High could live or die.

The main cast could live or die.

Even the lives of everyone in Japan could be irrelevant.

But Kenjaku and Sukuna had to die.

Cursed energy surged toward Itsuki's eyes.

The complex scarlet pattern in his right eye slowly rotated and changed.

Scarlet turned milky white, then shifted into an eerie deep purple surrounded by a faint glow.

His left eye was a red Mangekyo.

His right eye was a purple Rinnegan.

It made his already cold appearance look even more otherworldly.

Nearly ten years had passed.

After absorbing a vast amount of negative emotion, only one eye had transformed.

Itsuki could not exactly call himself disappointed or dissatisfied.

After all, the strange eye had no side effects and could be activated with cursed energy alone.

No matter how much the price had been, it was reasonable.

His cold gaze swept over the ink-black Curtain below. The Rinnegan's ocular power surpassed the Mangekyo's.

His sight pierced thick barriers, steel buildings, and several underground levels.

Yuta and Kinji Hakari had indeed left.

Kenjaku, Uraume, Mei Mei, and Ui Ui on the fifth basement level had also disappeared.

On the second basement level, Choso, who had escaped the battlefield first, was beating Yuji Itadori.

Those two complicated brothers, related through Kenjaku's blood and stranger ties...

Itsuki did not interfere.

Nanako and Mimiko, who held one of Sukuna's fingers, were temporarily safe.

Mahito wandered the fourth basement level, slaughtering humans for amusement while searching for his natural enemy.

And from another entrance, Aoi Todo in his Kyoto Jujutsu High uniform was about to reach the fifth basement level with a first-year beside him.

Piercing through layer after layer of obstruction, Itsuki took in everything within Shibuya.

"Then..."

"Next."

He slowly dropped into the Curtain from high above, and his figure vanished in an instant.

...

Third basement level.

Seeing that White Zetsu's smile did not look fake, Nanami temporarily let out a long breath.

Megumi dropped to the ground and gasped for air.

Maintaining that domain clash for so long had nearly squeezed every last drop of cursed energy out of him.

Sweat mixed with blood across his body.

Nanami pulled the tie from his neck and bound it tightly around the near-tearing wound on his upper arm.

Maki and Nobara only had light injuries. The special grade cursed spirit had not targeted them directly earlier.

After simple bandaging, the two girls temporarily became the team's main fighting strength.

"Hey, mama's boy."

Nobara, pretending to be calm, stepped forward and punched White Zetsu.

Seeing that he did not dodge and had no intention of getting angry, Nobara put one hand on her hip and returned to her usual big-sister attitude at school.

"Why did your boss seal that bastard Gojo?"

"Your boss is basically invincible already. Jujutsu High can call it a warrant all they want, but they can't actually do anything to you."

"With or without that white-haired bastard, isn't it all the same?"

To Nobara, who had grown up in a remote countryside, she did not possess an incredible technique or a prestigious family background.

She used the ordinary technique her grandmother taught her, and even she did not think she was all that impressive.

At first, she had only wanted to escape that countryside full of people who felt insane to her and see the glittering city.

She looked forward to a wonderful accidental reunion with Saori in Tokyo and waited for Fumi to leave the countryside so they could meet again in a big city.

Nobara had not joined Jujutsu High to exorcise curses because of lofty ideals.

She had never thought of herself as an ally of justice or a hero either.

Compared to Yuji, she leaned closer to Megumi, choosing whom she saved.

White Zetsu had once risked his life to save her.

Even after learning the truth that he could change bodies, after spending so much time together, Nobara had already accepted him in her heart as a companion.

Just as she had once told Yuji, someone as cold as her did not want too many seats in her heart.

Yuji and White Zetsu were the person and the spirit who had barged in carrying their own chairs.

The people Nobara cared about had not died yet.

So she thought things could still be saved. From the bottom of her heart, she did not want to fight White Zetsu to the death.

She had risked her life coming here because among the people she cared about was that idiot teacher, Satoru Gojo.

As for the innocent ordinary civilians...

Nobara pressed her lips tightly together and silently apologized in her heart.

Sitting against a pillar, Nanami checked his wound while recovering cursed energy.

He seemed to read something from Nobara's expression.

Sighing over her naive hope, Nanami shook his head slightly.

"Even if Itsuki were willing to release Satoru Gojo, Gojo would not let this end."

"He would only think about retaliation and how to kill Itsuki Zenin."

Nanami silently acknowledged the truth in his heart.

It was a deadlock with no easy answer.

...

White Zetsu slung an arm around Nobara's shoulders without much concern for boundaries and shook his head.

"Lady Thirteen, it isn't that I'm refusing to help you."

"Itsuki is stubborn enough to drag ten thousand bulls behind him."

White Zetsu patted Nobara's shoulder, his tone unusually earnest.

"Listen to Uncle Zetsu. Don't keep going down."

"You will die."

Negotiations had failed.

"Hmph."

Nobara threw off the hand on her shoulder, her expression darkening.

"Leave. I don't feel like exorcising you here."

She turned around after speaking and bit down hard on the corner of her lip.

"White Zetsu, go."

Maki leaned against the wall and lowered her head.

Their destination was the fifth basement level, where Kenjaku held the Prison Realm.

White Zetsu would never defy Itsuki and help save Satoru Gojo.

And they had no intention of tucking their tails and fleeing Japan either.

White Zetsu froze slightly, then abruptly turned his head and looked behind him.

"So you died too, Dagon..."

Inside the barrier, Dagon's presence had vanished completely.

But traces of Dagon's cursed energy still lingered in the wounds on the four sorcerers.

The air turned scorching hot, and the temperature began to climb.

Nanami and Megumi hurriedly rose.

The nerves that had relaxed for only a moment tightened again.

Far stronger than the cursed spirit from before.

That was Nanami's assessment of Jogo.

"Let us meet again in the wasteland a hundred years from now..."

Jogo stared at them, his bloodshot single eye filled with flaming killing intent.

White Zetsu's presence surprised him, but Jogo was still confident he could kill everyone here.

Nanami and Megumi saw White Zetsu's displeased expression, and pressure filled their hearts even further.

If even White Zetsu lacked confidence, they could only wait for death.

Volcano-head?

The entire underground area had long been under White Zetsu's surveillance. Jogo's appearance was not enough to change his expression.

What irritated him was losing another chance to show off.

"Uncle Zetsu wanted to educate you personally, but I doubt you have the guts to make a move now."

White Zetsu shook his head, sounding deeply regretful.

"Good."

Compared to Itsuki Zenin's cold indifference, White Zetsu's running mouth was much easier to anger.

Hell-tempered fire boiled in Jogo's palm as he leaned forward, ready to kill and vent his rage.

"Move."

A cold word devoid of emotion sounded from behind Jogo.

In an instant, the rage in Jogo's single eye turned into absolute terror.

He seemed to see Hanami and Dagon waving at him from the far shore.

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