Chapter 65- Goals

After buying a new phone with the money she 'picked up', Sachiko tried to figure out the current situation in Japan. It had been three days since Shibuya incident, yet everyone was still talking about it as a tragic accident which killed hundreds of people. Sachiko wanted to laugh at their ignorance.

She also found out that the higher ups pretty much put a bounty on her, along with the declaration of her turning into a curse user and Gojo being exiled. She scoffed at the audacity.

Aren't they afraid that she's going to kill them?

Sachiko felt like she was being looked down. But again, *Sachiko probably had a tie to someone among the higher ups. Or Geto Suguru did. But, she wasn't clear on what happened to him in Shibuya. *Sachiko didn't mention him or the other special grade cursed spirits she was supposed to be working with.

Sachiko thought she was different from her other self, but even that thought started to change when she heard her mom's words. The what-ifs were suffocating her, making her extremely anxious about her mom's reaction when she learned what she did. At those moments, Sachiko could almost understood *Sachiko.

Why do you call them puppets ?

Because you control them.

They listen to you, they pamper you and agree your every decision.

Probably mom would listen if she was her puppet.

But, Sachiko pauses her thoughts.

That wouldn't make 'mom' the real 'mom', because she would had been strayed from the path she was going to take, forced to make different choices rather than what she would have wanted to choose.

Taking things or actions that make her 'her' away, it would make her a true puppet, not someone who she loves.

Sachiko smiled sadly, mom would probably not agree her actions anymore but she was still her mom and not a fake one.

It's probably not that bad. She told herself.

She just have to work on her cursed techniques to get stronger.

Then, she would get Satoru back.

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Nobara, Yuji and Junpei were discharged from Shoko after three days. With a lot of Jujutsu sorcerers injured, Shoko had to do more healing than she was used to. So, she couldn't heal everyone all the way, some she heal them almost completely, some she can only make sure they don't die. Or some, she would heal them partially and prevent sustaining permanent damage. She did what she could but still, the losses were way too much.

Jujutsu sorcerers are always short-staffed , now it became worse. So, when they were out of hospital, the three were pretty much sent to exorcise the curses which now ran amok in Tokyo, Kyoto and pretty much all of Japan. Megumi wasn't injured badly so he had to depart the next day for his own mission. Nanami, being a Grade 1 sorcerer, had even heavy responsibility so he was out, dealing with curses. It could be said that neither of the group had a chance to meet with each other and talk things out.

Yuji tried to focus on the curse in front of him, another special grade. If he had heard Ijichi right, special grade curses were appearing here and there in Tokyo ever since Gojo sensei got sealed and Nakamura disappeared. He didn't remember anything much from Shibuya after he was fed Sukuna fingers but strangely, he never heard Sukuna's voice since he woke up. It's like Sukuna's presence was barely there, unbothering him or mocking him like usual.

He was getting distracted. Yuji shook his head as he attempted to exorcise the curse. Even though it was a special grade, it was not that strong. So, Yuji managed to exorcise it eventually.

After completing the mission, Yuji took out his phone to call his three classmates, one less and he felt this sadness take over. His sensei is gone and their all-power classmate is nowhere to be seen.

He may not remember much but he knew she was the one who could save their sensei.

Megumi answered the phone after ringing for five times, a bit out of breath as he was most likely fighting with a curse.

Yuji asked him if it was okay to meet up after this. Megumi agreed and said he would call Nobara and Junpei. Yuji wondered if they could talk with Nanami too.

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Nanami made time to meet up with them. He saw the matter of Gojo getting sealed as a sign of doom coming to Japan and probably the whole world. The four classmates couldn't refute him on that. They were witnessing the surge of curses and curse users and it had been three days. To say they are not worried is going to be a lie.

They planned to meet at a small cafe in Shinjuku. As he waited for Yuji and the others, Nanami ordered a cup of americano and a baguette sandwich. As he bit into the sandwich, he was somehow reminded of the small bakery he used to visit when he was a salaryman. Now that the curses were everywhere, he wondered how civilians like the girl were doing. The curse that was on her shoulder was a low grade and didn't even do any real damage but the curses appearing in this three days, he couldn't say the same about them.

Gojo Satoru must be freed from prison realm. Or they will all be doomed. Nanami thought.

When the four classmates arrived, Nanami told them his sentiment. The four agreed.

"But how do we do that?" Yuji found himself asking.

The group went silent for a while, no one really knowing how to go about that.

"We need to find Nakamura." Megumi broke the silence after a while.

"I agree," Nobara said, "I think she is trying to free Gojo sensei on her own."

Junpei also agreed.

Nanami pursed his lips, trying to think. Before, he didn't suspect Sachiko to be the one behind Riko's incident. But when he saw her face in Shibuya, doubts started to spark in his mind. He didn't know what motives she could possibly have to do this, especially when Gojo even went as far as balantly disobeying the higher ups and hid her. That's what Nanami couldn't understand. How she acted as if she had a sudden realization and decided to free Gojo from prison realm was also a mystery. As much as she looked quite genuine, Nanami just had this feeling this has all been an act.

The priority should be freeing Gojo Satoru. If Nakamura wanted to free him, why couldn't they team up with her?

Nanami came to a decision.

"Alright. We should try to find her since we have the same motive for now."

Junpei pulled out his phone and said, "Well, I think we might need some means for that. I don't think we can just call her phone."

"Have you tried?" Nobara asked.

Junpei tapped the call button and they heard that the phone was switched off.

"Just great." Nobara gritted her teeth.

"How about cursed energy residuals?" Junpei suggested.

Nanami shook his head, "There was no cursed energy residual left in Shibuya when she disappeared. We can't find her using that method."

"Wait, she comes from a non-Jujutsu sorcerer family, right? What if we find her mom and ask her how to find her? Surely, she would contact her mom, right?" Junpei suggested again.

"Nakamura didn't tell us much about her mom. No, actually she didn't tell anything. If someone knew, it would be Gojo sensei, probably but..." Nobara didn't continue her sentence, she didn't need to.

Nanami could feel a migraine forming.

"Let's just do what we have to do and try to see how we can find her." Nanami told them.

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Okkotsu Yuta returned to Japan after learning about Shibuya incident. When he learned his senei had been sealed away in prison realm, he knew it was time to act according to his sensei's plan. So, he went back to Japan where the curses now freely roam.

He didn't expect to be apprehended by the higher-ups as soon as he arrived. He didn't expect that his sensei would also be regarded as an accomplice to Nakamura Sachiko and Geto Suguru who were the culprits to Shibuya incident and anyone who tried to free him would be considered a criminal.

He didn't know much about Nakamura Sachiko, only that she was one of the first year students and she possess extremely powerful cursed techniques which made her earn a place in special grade. Sensei once mentioned to him that she also had the potential to surpass him in the future. But, he had never met her so he couldn't actually tell what kind of person she is.

Although he might not know Nakamura well, he knew Geto Suguru a bit. He had fought with him once after all. He knew Geto couldn't possibly have worked with sensei.

And also, why would they seal him if he was an accomplice?

He knew it was bullsh*t as soon as he heard that verdict, it was just that he had to play along first.

So when the higher-ups decided that the suspension of Itadori Yuji's execution would be cancelled, he offered to do it instead.

The higher-ups, of course, did not believe him because of the tie he had to Gojo.

Yuta decided to take it out on curses roaming around in Tokyo.