The Black Cloud

When Toji returned to the agency, he gave Ren a simple report.

Kappa had come for Ryomen Sukuna's finger. It claimed to serve Shuten-doji. It did not know the cave's location. The cave had no fixed entrance, or at least no entrance an expendable subordinate could describe.

After that, Toji took Megumi and Todo out to eat.

Ren listened without surprise. He picked up the phone and called Satoru Gojo directly.

This trouble had begun with the finger Geto had found and Gojo had brought to the higher-ups. Ren had no intention of shouldering the aftermath alone.

After the call ended, interest flickered in his pale eyes.

Shuten-doji had shown itself.

Then what about Nurarihyon?

Japanese folklore contained many famous monsters, but when Shuten-doji appeared, the Night Parade naturally followed in the mind. Shuten-doji was a leader among demons. Nurarihyon was remembered as the one who wandered through crowds as if he owned them.

Both were troublesome names.

Ren wondered how much of their old legends remained after they became imaginary cursed spirits.

His finger tapped the desk lightly. Yamata no Orochi appeared in miniature, coiled and obedient on the surface.

Even reduced to this size, the serpent's shape still carried pressure. It was hideous, majestic, and almost oddly cute because of the scale.

Ren looked at it for a moment, then smiled.

At the same time, Gojo was outside on a mission with Suguru Geto.

Calling it a mission was generous. Recently, cursed spirit incidents had become fewer, and even jujutsu sorcerers had gained rare breathing room. The two of them were dealing with a Grade 3 curse that Gojo barely considered worth turning his head for.

"Satoru," Geto asked after swallowing a black curse orb, "what happened? You looked gloomy after the call."

He wiped the corner of his mouth. The discomfort in his eyes returned almost immediately.

No matter how often he swallowed curses, the taste never became acceptable.

"Nothing major," Gojo said. "The finger you gave me last time seems to have been someone's treasure."

"The one from Yuki-onna?"

"That one."

Gojo looked up at the birds crossing the sky. A Grade 3 cursed spirit lunged at him from the side. He knocked it into a wall without looking.

For a curse at that level, even acknowledging it felt like effort.

Geto paused. The curse in the wall twitched, but he ignored it.

"Sorry. I caused trouble for you."

Gojo lowered his sunglasses and looked at Geto properly. Geto's strength had risen again during this period. Gojo was pleased for him, even if he would never say it seriously.

"Small thing," Gojo said. "If the problem reaches Ren's place, I can go there and help push it back."

He thought about it.

"Technically, I still count as one of his underpaid employees."

"Then maybe he will charge you for showing up," Geto said.

Gojo rubbed his chin as if weighing that possibility.

"If that happens, I will find an excuse not to go. I am unbeatable anyway."

Geto smiled at Gojo's casual arrogance.

Then the smile faded.

Unbeatable.

I want that too.

Time passed quickly.

Two months after the Kappa incident, the air began warming. The wind was still sharp, and the sun could not quite defeat it.

Toji sat across from Ren with his phone in hand. His brows were drawn down, his expression unusually serious. His fingers tapped the table now and then.

Ren rarely saw Toji frown over something unrelated to Megumi.

"What is it?"

"Look at this." Toji slid the phone across. "Japan has not been peaceful lately."

The message on the screen looked like a public request sent to sorcerers.

Help request: Yamaguchi. A black cloud has appeared in the sky above Yamaguchi, filled with dense cursed energy.

Wherever the cloud passes, cursed spirits beneath it vanish. Even Grade 2 cursed spirits in active combat disappeared on the spot after being covered by it.

The matter has been reported to Jujutsu Headquarters. Current analysis shows that the cloud is moving toward Tokyo. At its present route, it will reach the outer boundary in less than two months.

Sorcerers in all regions are asked to assist in investigating the truth of the black cloud.

For the world. For all of us.

Ren tossed the phone back.

"What? You want to protect world peace?"

Mockery lingered in his eyes.

Toji acted as if he had not heard it.

"I just think that cloud is coming for us."

He did not know what was hidden inside it, but the timing was too obvious. Kappa had come earlier. Now a cloud that swallowed cursed spirits was moving in a line toward Tokyo.

Shuten-doji.

Night Parade.

Toji's body began trembling slightly. It was not fear. His eyes fixed on his own hands, and bloodthirsty anticipation leaked from him.

"I have not had a proper fight in a while," he said. "If it really comes here, that is convenient."

"Then wait."

Ren waved lazily.

"If it is coming for us, it will arrive sooner or later. When it does, you can kill to your heart's content."

The probability was high, but that did not mean they needed to help Jujutsu Headquarters.

Everyone paid for their own choices.

Was that not fair?

At Jujutsu High, a meeting of the higher-ups was already underway.

Hideki Shimizu stood before the room.

"You have all seen the message. Think of a way to stop that cloud before it reaches Tokyo."

He paused.

"The authorities do not want another disaster here."

Shimizu handled communication between the jujutsu world and the government. He knew very clearly that this incident would not be small. In scale, it might rival the previous Night Parade.

If they handled it poorly, sorcerers would have a hard time maintaining their position in society.

After all, they had dealt with curses for years. No one had ever been able to give an exact answer to how vicious humans could become when frightened.

No one spoke.

Shimizu was used to that.

He looked toward the person he truly relied on.

"Satoru Gojo. Do you have a method?"

Gojo sat upright for once. His sunglasses were already in his pocket, and thought moved behind his blue eyes.

The scale of this incident and the number of curses involved were unlike ordinary cases.

If the cloud gathered curses from across Japan and brought them all to Tokyo, how great would the disaster become?

"I do not have an answer yet," Gojo said. "I will go tomorrow and inspect it first. I need to observe the cloud's condition."

He leaned back slightly.

"But you should prepare defenses around Tokyo. Its route is still only an estimate. If it stops midway, any defense arranged here will become meaningless."

The higher-ups' expressions darkened.

Too many things had happened recently, and each one was larger than the last.

Worse, many of them seemed to begin after Gojo and Ren revealed themselves.

Several eyes drifted to Gojo.

Were those two reincarnated gods being punished for some mistake?

Gojo could not read minds, but he knew when a room was looking at him like that.

He did not care.

"You can keep discussing. I am going to see Ren Zenin."

Shimizu left the meeting room soon after.

Outside, the sky was clear. Birds crossed freely overhead.

He wondered whether the same sky would still be visible two months later.

Determination settled in his cloudy eyes.

He had to ask Tengen for help.

Not long after, Shimizu arrived at Tengen's residence again. This time he wasted no words and explained the situation directly.

"This incident is not small," Tengen said, "but I cannot expand my main barrier's range."

Shimizu stiffened.

"If I do that, civilians in the area may learn the existence of cursed spirits. I believe you understand why that result is unacceptable."

Three scrolls landed on the table.

"These contain a defensive barrier. Its range is wider than a Curtain, but it does not conceal vision. It will also require several Window teams to maintain. Take them and arrange the personnel properly."

Tengen's voice softened slightly.

"I do not want to see mass death either."

Shimizu stared at the scrolls. His body shook.

"Thank you, Lord Tengen. I will arrange it at once."

As he turned toward the door, Tengen let out a quiet laugh.

"Lord Tengen. How long has it been since someone used that title with such sincerity?"

Shimizu paused, but he did not stay.

He pushed the door open and left.

At the agency, Gojo opened Ren's office door as if it belonged to him. On the way in, he took a drink from the refrigerator and cracked it open.

"Ah, this place is comfortable," Gojo said. "Meetings with those people are so boring."

"You do not look bored."

"Cold as ever."

Gojo laughed, then straightened a little.

"You heard about the black cloud, right?"

"If you mean the cloud moving toward Tokyo, yes." Ren looked at him with narrow eyes. "What? Are you planning to become a savior?"

Gojo finished the drink in one go and crushed the can.

"The scale is too big. I am a Jujutsu High student, so I should investigate."

He chose his wording carefully. He did not say he was going as a sorcerer or as a member of the Big Three Sorcerer Families. Those words would have invited Ren to share the same duty.

Jujutsu High was Gojo's own position.

"Its final target is here, is it not?" Ren asked.

He was not surprised that Gojo wanted to help. Gojo had been changing. The boy was moving toward something more mature.

That did not mean he had become harmless.

"That is still only a guess," Gojo said. "There is no solid evidence. I will inspect its strength."

He removed his sunglasses.

"Besides, except for you, no one is more suited to that kind of work than me."

The Six Eyes could observe cursed energy with a precision most sorcerers could not imagine.

Ren gave no answer.

The room fell into a brief silence.

Then his eyes shifted.

"Hm?"

A red glint crossed his pale gaze.

"I did not expect a rat to dare appear in my office."

His palm struck the desk.

The desk remained intact, but the force traveled through it into the floor. The ground split open beneath them.

Gojo's eyes sharpened. That level of control over physical force was so fine it almost looked absurd.

A muffled voice came from below the floor.

"Ugly. Ugly. So ugly."

The sound was low and distorted, as if seven or eight people were shouting from inside the same sack.

The crack widened.

A huge cursed spirit rose from the floor, more than two meters tall. Its body was thick and stitched with patches like an old sweater sewn badly back together. A wound across its stomach had never healed. Pus dripped from it and hissed as it ate into the floor.

"Ugly. All of you are ugly."

It pointed at Ren and Gojo.

For the first time in their lives, both had been mocked as ugly by something uglier than either had words for.

Gojo looked at Ren.

"You or me?"

Ren gestured for him to handle it.

Gojo moved without argument. His kick cut through the cursed spirit.

Nothing happened.

His foot passed through as if the thing were a projection.

Ren opened a bag of chips and watched.

Gojo removed his sunglasses again. The Six Eyes focused.

"This one is strange."

"Ugly! Ugly!"

The cursed spirit charged like a lump of rotten flesh.

When it reached Gojo, Limitless stopped it in place.

Gojo touched it with one hand.

"There is contact?"

Then he kicked again.

His leg passed straight through the curse's belly.

It was the first time he had seen something like this.

"Ren," Gojo said, "you take it. My attacks are not landing."

Ren had already stood. A Grade 2 curse with an ability this bizarre was worth observing.

The cursed spirit's swollen face twisted with delight when it saw him approach.

"Ugly! Too ugly!"

It charged again, shaking the entire room.

Dust fell from the ceiling. The pus under its wound hissed against the floor.

Ren's expression finally showed interest.

x

x

x

If you're enjoying the story so far, consider supporting me on Patreon ❤️
You'll get weekly early access to chapters, along with some exclusive content:

https://www.patreon.com/cw/TheDevotedReader