44 Chapter 44

—In other news, earlier today at Tokyo's Ueno Zoo, an incident occurred where the enclosure fence for the elephants suddenly shook with a loud noise. The incident caused a commotion among visitors who were viewing the elephants at the time.

—The zoo authorities have explained the incident as resulting from the aging fence and a temporary disturbance by the elephants. The zoo has apologized and will be refunding the admission fees to visitors who were near the elephant enclosure at the time of the incident, and they plan to replace the fence as soon as possible...

Yaga Masamichi glanced at the TV set in the classroom before turning his head towards three students. One female student and two male students.

The female student, Ieiri Shoko, was looking at her nails with an indifferent expression. After all, she hadn't gone on a mission today and had stayed at Jujutsu High, so she had no reason to be scolded.

Yaga called out the names of the male students, one with white hair wearing sunglasses and the other with long forelocks hanging down.

"Satoru Gojo, Suguru Geto."

"Yes, teacher."

Suguru Geto sat up straight and responded politely, while Satoru Gojo, who had been lounging in his chair with his legs crossed, merely nodded his head.

Though his attitude was disrespectful, Yaga, knowing well that getting angry over every little thing would leave him without a stomach, chose to ignore it and continued.

"Congratulations on successfully completing the Grade 1 Curse extermination mission today."

"Thank you."

"What's this? Yaga-sensei is praising us too."

Not yet finished. Yaga thought to himself and continued his speech.

"But, having completed the mission successfully and on your way back to Jujutsu High, encountering a Grade 2 Curse and sending it flying to Ueno Zoo without even setting up a barrier, causing a commotion there, I wonder who could that be?"

"..."

"..."

"Confess."

Suguru Geto wore a troubled expression. Even though it was said that Satoru Gojo could be a bit crazy, it wasn't right to snitch on a classmate. Yet, he also didn't want to be mistakenly blamed and punished for something he hadn't done.

However, Yaga had already discerned the culprit from Geto's expression. Yaga turned his head towards Gojo, who was sitting in a slouchy posture.

"It's you, Satoru Gojo."

"Ah, really nitpicky. Anyway, most of the people at the zoo couldn't even see the curse... Ouch!"

Bang!

Yaga Masamichi's fist came crashing down on top of Satoru Gojo's head.

"You're writing the report yourself, Gojo."

"Uselessly strict hands..."

Yaga left the classroom, slamming the door behind him. Gojo whined.

"Shoko, heal me."

"No way. It's your fault, isn't it? Why don't you reverse the curse technique yourself?"

"If I could do that, why would I ask you? Ah, it hurts..."

With a large bump on his head, Gojo groaned in pain. Ieiri Shoko, lighting a cigarette, said,

"Anyway, if most were non-sorcerers, it means there were sorcerers too. Did a sorcerer happen to visit the zoo?"

"Yeah. Tiny though."

Like a fairy? Gojo gestured roughly to indicate the height. Ieiri exhaled smoke and asked,

"Heh, a kid? How old?"

"I don't know. Three years old?"

Satoru Gojo thought of the tennis ball-headed boy who had desperately hidden a child behind his back.

It was too bad for the tennis ball-headed kid, but despite hiding, it was clearly visible to the naked eye. If hiding behind the back made them invisible, then the Gojo family elders wouldn't have made such a fuss about producing a Six Eyes user for hundreds of years. Gojo smirked crookedly.

'It was a boy with spiky hair, definitely a sorcerer.'

The curse technique probably hadn't manifested yet due to his age.

"Shouldn't we inform Yaga-sensei if he's a sorcerer?"

"Not interested."

Gojo waved his hand dismissively at Geto's question. The sorcerer had a decent amount of cursed energy, but there were many like him. His curse technique hadn't manifested yet. Besides, it would be at least another 10 years before he could actively participate as a sorcerer.

Gojo leaned his chin on the desk.

"What I'm interested in is something else."

"Who? ...Ah, that person with no cursed energy?"

As Geto inquired, Gojo trailed off, saying well... He couldn't say he wasn't interested. It was unusual, after all.

'A non-sorcerer with maximized physical abilities instead of cursed energy, I've never heard or seen such a person.'

With absolutely no cursed energy, that gorilla-sized physique allowed him to move quickly without being detected.

'If he hadn't deliberately intervened, even I would have found it difficult to locate him.'

He felt like he had seen him somewhere before, but since he couldn't remember, he let it go.

"But what I'm most interested in is something else."

Though it was the first time seeing a non-sorcerer with maximized physical abilities, it was merely 'unusual,' not 'incomprehensible.' After all, he recognized his identity immediately upon seeing him.

But that tennis ball-headed kid was different.

'I can't figure it out.'

A kid with vivid green hair like a tennis ball, looking directly at him with ordinary gray eyes. Satoru Gojo couldn't quite grasp what that child was.

So, to learn more about him, Gojo took off his sunglasses that obscured his Six Eyes and observed the being fully.

He was a non-sorcerer.

To the Six Eyes, the child appeared no different from any ordinary non-sorcerer walking down the street. His cursed energy was exceptionally calm, but that was probably because he wasn't in any particularly negative emotional state when he met Gojo.

No talisman, no curse was visible. All that could be seen was the minimal amount of cursed energy present in every non-sorcerer. To Gojo, the child was just one among the countless non-sorcerers overflowing this earth. The Six Eyes gave him that information.

However, Satoru Gojo's intuition... no, his soul spoke differently.

'...Strong.'

This child is strong.

But no matter how much he observed, he couldn't articulate where that strength lay, nor why the child was strong.

'The same goes for the sword that guy had.'

To the Six Eyes, it appeared as an ordinary katana, not a cursed tool. Yet, from that sword, he felt the same aura as from the child.

Until now, Satoru Gojo never needed to ponder why any being was strong or weak. It was simply visible to the Six Eyes. But with the child and his sword, nothing was visible. There was only an intuition, uncertain of its truth.

For the first time in his life, Satoru Gojo encountered the unknown.

He wanted to know. That's why he asked, 'What are you?'

'If that non-sorcerer gorilla hadn't intervened, I might have gotten an answer.'

Suddenly infuriated, Satoru clenched his teeth. Then, he abruptly stood up and yelled.

"Who interrupts when someone is talking and runs away!"

Just let him be caught! Watching Satoru pacing around the classroom in a frenzy, Ieiri Shoko looked on with indifference.

"Why is he like that again?"

"...Well, it's Satoru, isn't it?"

"I'll find out! Just you watch!"

Geto glanced away from Gojo, who was throwing uppercuts at the air, and fixed his gaze back on his book.

Two months had passed since enrolling in Tokyo Jujutsu High and becoming a sorcerer, but adapting to the unique madness of his peer was still a work in progress. For now.

...

Five days later, at 4 AM.

"Hello?"

When Toji Zenin opened the door in response to the knock, there stood Satoru Gojo.