Scheme

At the same garden Kenjaku and Uraume were, they continued with their planning.

"First thing we need to do, is test a little something." Kenjaku stated. "You see since we will soon have a mole, we need to assure their cooperation with a pact. But since Arai is capable of seeing said pacts, then our plan may be revealed. So we need to see the limits of his technique, does it require physical contact or is it just with his eyes? If he can see with his eyes then is it less effective than with physical contact? Things like that need to be answered."

"And we plan on doing that with the mole?"

"Kokichi Muta or Mechamaru as he prefers. And yeah he's doing the job for us."

"But how can we trust him, he can just tell everyone our plan."

"He won't since we can help him with his situation. His Heavenly Pact is restricting his everyday life, no legs, skin so fragile it burns from moonlight and having to constantly strap himself to a machine. It's no wonder he wants our help. With Mahito's Idle Transfiguration, it should be an easy wrap though that would make it so his heavenly pact is obsolete. Anyway leave that part to me and Mahito, all we need is to avoid contact between him and Arai so that he doesn't discover anything. Then we're good."

"Hm... that's not a bad plan since we will let the cursed spirits run havoc in the exchange event Arai will most likely not put his focus on him."

"Oho! Is that praise I'm hearing? Sukuna! Your dear Uraume is changing his loyalty to me!"

"YOU DARE SAY SUCH NONSENSE!"

"Sukuna, your concubine is getting a little angsty~. Sheesh, can't take a joke at all. No wonder he's stuck in my son's body. He's probably already looking for a fresher one. Nobody likes used goods."

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"Hm, seems like Maki was the superior one." Utahime commented.

"Well obviously my students will beat yours, I mean they take after their teachers, right?" Gojo shrugged with a silly grin.

"Gojo, respect your seniors!"

"No need to respect the weak."

While Gojo and Utahime were arguing, Arai slumped back on his chair but deep down in his heart he was satisfied with their performance. They had both grown unbelievably more than before and although he had trained them, seeing them before against one another with no restrictions was what truly made him enjoy.

Of course, he had known the outcome of said battle from the start. Mai was more of a supporter than the main star of a show and she knew that. All of the weapons that were used were created by her [Creation Technique]. This battle was just for her to show everyone that she wasn't a nobody standing behind her sister's shadow.

Either way, he was happy with the results.

"What got you smiling about? The game ain't over yet." Utahime said. Witnessing her student get beaten made her more competitive but she held it in maintaining the grace of a teacher.

"But my purpose for coming here has, I only came to watch this duel."

"Oh why not stay a bit longer, Isao. We rarely see each other nowadays."

"There's no money to gain in this Mei."

"Oh but there is, see the more people I screen to the more I get. If you leave that means I'll need less screens to display the image to and that means less money."

"And here I thought you finally broke out of that mindset." Arai sighed in exasperation and sat down.

"Heh, she'd never do that." Gojo chuckled.

Arai who sat back down continued watching the game. Taking a day or two to relax and watch people battle for recognition wasn't so bad.

Battles went on as Maki went on to fight Miwa from Kyoto absolutely being a one-sided defeat to Miwa.

Todo and Itadori continued their odd bonding session.

Nobara and Momo ended with Nobara's victory.

And Panda vs Mechamaru ended with Panda's victory.

Honestly it seemed like it would be an overwhelming victory to the Tokyo team as only Todo and Noritoshi from the Kamo clan were left in the Kyoto team while the Tokyo team had lost no members.

It was a battle that already had its victor.

Tokyo had already won.

"Well seeing Maki fight Todo will certainly be interesting." Arai muttered to no one in particular.

"Brute against brute? Well we'd have to add Panda and Itadori in the mix and make it a free for all. Now that'd be a show worth watching." Gojo said laidback as he always was.

"Careful who you're calling brute, that's my daughter you are talking about."

"And my student."

"A horrible teacher shouldn't teach in the first place." Arai rebutted.

"Well the talented can't view the world the same way you do."

The two were now glaring daggers at one another yet both their eyes were not visible to anyone in the room. Everyone in the room felt this and quietly decided to not speak letting the pair resolve their difference on their own.

Though that situation would never come to pass.

"What is this?" Utahime's words took the twos attention as they saw the talisman displaying on the wall covered in red flames.

"Did the Tokyo team exorcise all cursed spirits already?" She and everyone in the room was stunned.

"The crows didn't manage to catch anything."

The color red would indicate that the Tokyo team had exorcised all cursed spirits in the field including the supposed second grade boss one at the same time. But to them it felt unnatural, the occurrence of that happening was near zero.

"I want to say that the great Gojo's students have done all of this but..."

"It burns red when its unregistered cursed energy due to Maki's involvement, right?" Arai cut off Gojo as he focused his attention on the cameras trying to figure out what was happening.

"An outside interference?" Utahime asked.

"Must be." Mei said.

"Whether it came from outside or inside, this is still an unexpected welcome." Gakuganji was grim as he realized all his planning to kill Itadori had failed with this.

As the group of teachers and principals made their plan, Arai still sat there pondering. Attacking at this time when students were away from the teachers. It was way too convenient to be called a coincidence. Not only that but they attacked after a while not when the game had just started which made it so that most students were fatigued and injured.

It was fishy since no one from the outside couldn't have known about things happening inside Jujutsu Tech. Either the enemy somehow came upon this bit of info or-

'There's a mole that's been giving info.' Arai concluded and he began thinking about Gakuganji. 'Is it him? Maybe but not likely, he does hate Gojo and wants to kill Sukuna's vessel but gathering a full scale invasion on us. That sounds a bit too much even for him, I even have an informant in the higher-ups now and heard nothing of this. He isn't likely to do anything without others say in this first so he's not it.'

"What are you going to do, Isao?" Principal Yaga said getting Arai's attention.

"I'll go help them. I don't want to sit here doing nothing." Arai said before standing up and going with Utahime, Gakuganji and Gojo.

"Let's go gramps, time for your daily walk to the park." Gojo mocked the old man earning a growl from him.

As the group of four made their way outside, they could see a curtain being placed in a dome covering the entire forest where the students were.

"Gojo, go first before the curtain is placed!" Utahime shouted concerned about the students.

"No can do."

"What?!"

"The curtain's effect is already placed down, all we're seeing is the visual effect. Smart." Gojo commented impressed.

Arai squinted his eyes as he saw something else being formed in the sky. "Wait, there's another veil being placed."

The four arrived at the veil and stopped. Gojo walked up to the veil. "Well it doesn't matter. All we have to do is break it." He raised his hand and was about to make contact with the veil.

"Hm?"

"What is it?" Arai asked.

Gojo seemed confused as he looked down to his hands. "It's a veil but why can my hand go through."

"He's right, I'm able to pass through without any resistance." Utahime said as she herself put her hands through the veil.

"We may not know the purpose of the veil but the students safety takes precaution. Let's go inside." Gakuganji said as he passed through the veil.

Arai seeing this walked to the veil and was about to walk inside but then felt resistance. His hand was shocked by cursed energy rejecting him as he reeled his arm back to see the smoke on his hands.

"What the hell..." Arai muttered.

"You can't pass through?" Utahime walked over to him in surprise.

"I can't, the veil is rejecting my presence."

Gojo who was on the side smirked with a knowing look.

"I see."

"Did you figure something out, Gojo?"

"Yeah, just go ahead and break the barrier. I have to break another too."

Gojo went inside the barrier where Gakuganji was waiting for them. In front of him was another veil looking exactly like the one outside.

"What took so long?"

"The barrier is stopping Isao from entering and if my hunch is right..."

Gojo walked over to the new barrier and placed his hands. Though this time, he felt resistance and was pushed back having smoke appear where his hands touched the barrier.

Gojo smiled and looked at the two Kyoto members.

"Looks like these barriers were placed to stop both me and Isao from entering at the costs of letting everyone and thing be able to pass freely."

Utahime's eyes widened as the realization settled in. 'If that was true then not only did the skill of this sorcerer in barriers had to be extraordinary but they'd have to have intel on both Isao and Gojo.'

Gojo looked back to the barrier and shooed them away. "You two go on ahead, I don't know what their plan is but... if we lose even one person then we're the ones who lose."

The two looked back to one another and nodded. They had to stop whatever malevolent plan was in the works. That is if they wanted their students to be safe.