Chapter 89: Reversal

The gloomy sky was drizzling, and the air was filled with moisture. The heavy heat seemed to spread through the raindrops.

When they arrived at the movie theater where the incident had happened, the scene had already been cordoned off by the police, who were maintaining order. Several curious bystanders were watching with umbrellas.

Hayashizaki walked ahead, pushing through the crowd of onlookers. He lifted the police tape and entered, with Yukinoshita Yukino and Itadori Yuji following behind him.

A young police officer, who was in charge of maintaining order at the scene, tried to stop them, but after Hayashizaki gave him a casual glance, the officer froze in place, too scared to move.

Fortunately, an older officer pulled him back and whispered in his ear, "Don't worry about them. These people are responsible for handling cases beyond human capabilities."

"But..."

The young officer opened his mouth, wanting to say something more.

The older officer immediately glared at him and quietly warned, "No buts. This is an order from above."

His tone then turned serious. "If you want to stay in this line of work for a while, you need to understand what cases we, regular officers, can handle. This case is beyond what we can get involved in."

He had seen the crime scene of the three victims at the cinema. Even though he was experienced and considered himself a seasoned officer, the horrific sight had almost made him throw up the food from the night before.

Ignoring the two who were quietly whispering, Hayashizaki and the others entered the cinema.

The movie had long since stopped, and the bright lights allowed them to clearly see the untouched crime scene.

"That's awful..."

Itadori Yuji's pupils immediately shrank when he saw the three corpses slumped against the chairs. The scene reminded him of the image of Okazaki Sho's death from the juvenile detention center, but this was far worse.

There was no doubt about it—this was a wrongful death.

Not just Itadori Yuji, even Yukinoshita Yukino, who had assisted Hayashizaki with numerous curse-exorcising tasks, felt a wave of nausea upon seeing the inhuman state of the three.

"Are they the same person?"

She forced herself to suppress the discomfort in her stomach and asked.

"Yeah, the residual curse energy is the same."

Hayashizaki glanced over and immediately made the judgment. The souls of these three had been twisted toward curse energy, which was why they looked like this.

"There's also something here."

Yukinoshita Yukino noticed the curse energy residue leading to the staff entrance.

"Huh? What are you two talking about? Curse energy residue? I can't see anything."

Itadori Yuji looked confused, completely unable to follow their conversation.

"You can't see it?"

Hayashizaki was surprised. "Didn't Gojo teach you?"

"Well, he's that kind of person..."

Itadori Yuji awkwardly scratched his head.

"Seems like that guy really can't teach!"

Hayashizaki immediately laughed out loud. He remembered the time Gojo Satoru had mocked him at the orphanage, and now he finally had the chance to get back at him.

"Itadori, if you look closely, you'll spot the traces of the residue."

Seeing that Hayashizaki was too busy mocking Gojo Satoru, Yukinoshita Yukino decided to explain to Itadori Yuji, "The residue's scent is much weaker than the curse energy, so if you don't pay close attention, your brain will naturally ignore it."

"Oh, I see. I'll give it a try."

Itadori Yuji nodded and squinted his eyes, staring hard at the floor in front of him.

After a few seconds, a faint trace slowly appeared in his vision, curving toward the staff entrance.

He immediately shouted in excitement, "Oh! I see it! I see it!"

"Being able to see it is obvious. Don't get so excited over something so small."

Yukinoshita Yukino said in a calm tone.

"It seems like Yukinoshita is already used to this kind of thing."

The excitement in Itadori Yuji's voice cooled down a bit at her cold, wind-like tone. Curiously, he asked, "By the way, I don't think I've seen you at Jujutsu High."

"I'm just working with Hayashizaki-kun and Jujutsu High, so it makes sense you haven't seen me," the black-haired girl explained. 

"I'm a second-year student at Chiba Sobu High. As for Hayashizaki-kun… I guess you could call him a jobless wanderer." 

"I see."

Itadori Yuji finally understood. "Second-year, huh? So you're a senior. What grade of jujutsu sorcerer are you now, Yukinoshita-senpai?"

"According to what Hayashizaki said, it should be second grade, right?"

"That's amazing! Just like Fushiguro!"

Itadori Yuji exclaimed in awe.

"It doesn't really have much to do with me... Anyway, enough small talk, what should we do now?"

Yukinoshita Yukino's eyes dimmed for a moment, as if she didn't want to discuss this topic further. If her strength really was that strong, she wouldn't be so helpless against Ryoumen Sukuna.

"This filthy trace is too fake."

Hayashizaki spoke with a tone full of disgust, but still decided to follow the trail and see what the other side was up to. "Let's follow it."

"Oh, I'm in! I'm going all out!"

Itadori Yuji slammed his fist into his palm, full of enthusiasm.

"Be careful not to lose your cool just because you're fired up," Yukinoshita Yukino reminded him.

"No problem!"

The three of them followed the intentionally left traces, reaching the rooftop. Yukinoshita Yukino sensed two weak cursed energy reactions and immediately reported to Hayashizaki, "Hayashizaki, there are two weak cursed energy signals, it looks like they are... enemies?"

Where are they?

The black-haired girl looked confused, and Itadori Yuji turned around in surprise, "Huh? Where did Hayashizaki-sensei go? Wasn't he behind us just now?"

"Forget it, I've kind of gotten used to this..."

Yukinoshita Yukino sighed helplessly, then turned to face the enemies on the rooftop. "Let's take care of the enemies in front of us first."

"Alright!"

"I'll take care of this one!"

Itadori Yuji dropped his umbrella and charged toward a curse with a pitcher plant-shaped head hiding behind a water tank.

Yukinoshita Yukino also moved toward a curse that was crawling on the ground, twisting like a gecko.

Just as they were about to engage, Hayashizaki's voice suddenly came from above, "By the way, just a reminder, these two curses are humans transformed."

Both of them froze, then looked up to see Hayashizaki standing above them, holding a bucket of popcorn.

"Humans... you mean?"

Itadori Yuji's pupils suddenly shrank as he focused on the curse charging at him. 

Curses are... transformed from humans!?

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