Chapter 57

Toji ran like lightning and caught Zoro as he collapsed in his arms.

Holding the body soaked in blood and poison, Toji's heart sank with a thud. It felt as if the blood running through his body turned into ice water, chilling him to the core instantly.

The last image of Chie, covered in blood, overlapped with the current state of Zoro, causing Toji's entire body to shiver.

No.

It can't be.

You have to open your eyes, Zoro.

"Please take care of Zoro and Megumi."

...I, as a father, don't have the strength to endure this a second time.

"Uncle—!!!"

Tsumiki's scream brought Toji back to his senses slightly. Tsumiki grabbed Toji's face with both hands and, with tears streaming down her face, shouted as loudly as she had ever since meeting Toji.

"We need to go to the hospital now!!!"

Those words brought some sense back to Toji.

Zoro was a mess of wounds, had lost a lot of blood, and was invaded by the curse's poison, but... he was still breathing, and his heart was still beating.

He was still alive.

Toji untied Zoro's belt and tied it tightly around the biggest wound on his stomach to stop the bleeding.

Thud.

During the process, a finger that had been inside Zoro's belt fell out. Seeing it, Toji's eyes widened before turning cold as the north wind in midwinter.

Toji carelessly stuffed the finger into his pants pocket and touched Zoro's cheek. The red poison of the curse spreading through his veins was visible even from the outside.

A simple wound might have been one thing, but the curse's poison was beyond the help of non-sorcerer medicine. Both magical and medical treatments were necessary.

He took out his cellphone from his pocket. Toji dialed the number as fast as he could, trying not to break the keypad with his strength. He called Gojo Satoru's number, which he had saved never believing he would actually need to use it.

Fortunately, Gojo answered after two rings. As soon as he did, Toji blurted out.

"Do you know a reverse curse technician?"

"...Toji? Hey, why are you calling all of a sudden—"

"Know one or not. Just get to the point!!!"

Gojo immediately responded to Toji's desperate demand.

"My classmate is a reverse curse technician! She's currently in Tokyo!"

"Tokyo?"

"What else, Kyoto?"

He had to go there. Toji, with one arm holding Zoro and the other arm squeezing Tsumiki and Megumi to his side, secured the cellphone on his shoulder.

The realization that Zoro had not wanted to go to the sorcerer's school came belatedly to mind, but Toji was unyielding.

'Later.'

He could accept any backlash from Zoro later. After Zoro was energetic enough to get really angry and healthy enough to swing his sword.

He would gladly accept resentment, reprimand, disappointment, hatred, whatever it might be.

But now, they had to go. To Tokyo.

"Give me the location."

"You're coming? You said before you wouldn't—"

"Just the location!"

Gojo quickly recited the address, prompted by Toji's barking voice. Toji's mind immediately pinpointed the location on the mental map of Tokyo he had memorized. It was in a rare mountainous area within Tokyo.

Going by vehicle would be too slow. Toji disappeared from the spot before the sound of his step could even settle.

...

"...Hmm, I didn't expect it to fail."

Or, was it a success?

Alive or dead. A woman with short hair and a scar stitched across her forehead tilted her head in thought.

"If I had confirmed him being loaded into the ambulance, I would have known for sure."

Even if he was alive, if he was transported to a non-sorcerer hospital, it would be easy to intervene.

She stood on the rooftop of a building opposite the department store, twirling a strand of her hair as she looked down at the department store surrounded by police and ambulances.

"Zenin Zoro."

The woman murmured the name of the child she was looking for. However, no matter how much she enhanced her vision with her powers, she couldn't find the green-haired boy among the people.

'Either he died without leaving a body, or Zenin Toji took him somewhere out of sight for treatment.'

The former would be preferable, but unfortunately, the latter seemed more likely.

'If it's the latter, he must have gone to the Tokyo Metropolitan Curse Technical College.'

With Tengen's barrier and Gojo Satoru there, along with a very rare reverse curse technician among the sorcerers.

Upon reaching that conclusion, she neatly gave up on tracking them down. It wasn't the time to intervene there. Not yet.

"His life line is strong."

The woman stated plainly.

It was purely by chance that she learned about Zenin Zoro while keeping an eye on Gojo Satoru's movements. Initially, she was curious about what aspect drew Gojo Satoru's interest, and after some investigation, she intended to eliminate him.

'A non-sorcerer, not even a mighty curse user, attracting Gojo Satoru's interest because of his strength.'

Despite some interest, such a thing was unnecessary for her plans. It would only be a hindrance.

"Still, that was quite impressive earlier."

She was honestly a bit surprised when Zoro looked directly at her location earlier.

'I intentionally maintained the body of 'Itadori Kaori', close to a non-sorcerer, and stayed far away, thinking he wouldn't notice if it was a strong body.'

Yet he noticed. It was indeed a remarkable talent.

She had spread sage powder in advance to conceal her presence, but judging the risk too high to approach any closer, she immediately moved to this place, the rooftop of the building next to the department store. Therefore, she didn't see how Zoro fought with the curse.

She only knew that a special grade curse had been exorcised. Whether Zoro did it alone or with the help of other sorcerers or Zenin Toji was unclear.

'I lured a Grade 1 curse user with Sukuna's finger secretly smuggled in to create a special grade curse, aiming for a definitive kill.'

The outcome was disappointing. She had hoped to at least cripple him.

"Well... Still, understanding his strength isn't a total loss."

To think that someone his age could already exorcise a special grade curse was beyond imagination. In another 10 years, he might become a formidable force comparable to the future Gojo Satoru.

"So, it rots but it's still Zenin?"

Born to a non-sorcerer, a thousand demon queller with no cursed energy or techniques, yet capable of confronting a special grade curse. Indeed, it was peculiar. She didn't understand why everyone born into the Zenin family, the most technique-obsessed among the Gojo clan, turned out like that.

'Or, is it because he's a Zenin that something like that was born?'

She hadn't paid much attention, thinking the clan was on its decline, but now she thought she should plant someone there. She became interested in the genetic traits of the Zenin family.

"With a change of body, should I marry into the Zenin family?"

'Would another like him be born?'

Musing over a thought that would horrify others so casually, she refreshed her mind.

"Well, the talk of Zenin Zoro becoming as strong as Gojo Satoru is a story for when he's grown up another 10 years."

There are plenty of ways to trample an unfinished sprout. If it can't be trampled, waiting another 100 years is also fine.

Of course, since this waiting isn't just for a year or two, her wish was to see the end within 20 years. It was somewhat unsettling for her when obstacles appeared just as she felt she was about to achieve her goal.

'If Zenin Zoro is alive, Zenin Toji probably won't touch the growth vessel.'

She needed to think about how to involve Zenin Toji. As an entity outside the cause and effect of sorcery, he must be made to interfere with the growth vessel integration event happening next year.

The woman stretched thoroughly and massaged various parts of her body.

"It's about time to dispose of 'Itadori Kaori.'"

The 'vessel' had grown quite a bit, and there wouldn't be any need to approach Zoro for a while. There was no reason to maintain this body any longer.

"Maybe I should lay low for a while."

After all, releasing a special grade curse in the Tokyo department store was such an outrageous act that even the laziest higher-ups would make some effort to look for the perpetrator.

'The thousand demon queller's cursed energy must be quite stirred up by now.'

It was best to keep a low profile for a while. It was too risky to confront Zenin Toji in this body. It might not be a bad idea to leave the country for a few months.

"Not much longer now."

She murmured softly.

A thousand years. It's been a thousand years. She had been chasing her dream for a millennium. If she missed this opportunity, who knows when another like it would come around.

Drrrring.

She took out her cellphone, which was ringing loudly. The screen displayed the name 'Itadori Jin'. His wife's lover must be worried about Itadori Kaori, who said she was going shopping and hadn't returned.

The woman looked at the phone for a moment, then, with a disinterested expression, crushed it with a curse technique.

Now that 'Itadori Kaori' had outlived her usefulness, there was no reason to answer Itadori Jin's call.

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