Inside a quiet café, Jinsuke sat across from a man who claimed to know Toji's whereabouts.
Shiu Kong blinked, startled for a moment as he took in the face opposite him.
"Toji? Wait—no, you're not him."
The resemblance had thrown him off for a second. The man's face was almost identical—same sharp lines, same piercing eyes—but the energy was different.
"I'm his brother," Jinsuke said with a polite smile. "Jinsuke Zenin. I'm looking for Toji. Do you know where he is right now?"
"Toji's brother? Huh, never heard him mention that before."
Still, Shiu didn't question it. That face was too similar to be coincidence.
"If you're looking for him, you might not have to wait long," he said, checking his watch. "Today's the last day of his mission. If all goes well, he'll come find me for the rest of his payment. And even if it goes south, he'll still report in."
He leaned back, taking a sip of his coffee. "If you're not in a rush, why don't you sit and have a—huh?"
Halfway through his sentence, he realized the seat across from him was empty.
"…Toji's brother, huh. Interesting."
Finishing the last of his coffee, Shiu stood and left. He had a bad feeling about this job. The Sorcerer Killer he'd worked with for years might finally be walking into a fight he couldn't win.
Still, that wasn't his problem. He was just a middleman.
Meanwhile, inside the barrier of Jujutsu High, two geniuses—Satoru Gojo and Suguru Geto—had successfully delivered the Star Plasma Vessel, Riko Amanai, to her destination.
The group finally relaxed. Within the school's barrier, no assassin would dare intrude, and any trace of a Jujutsu Sorcerer would be immediately detected.
"Man, finally here. I'm wiped. Never taking another babysitting mission again," Gojo groaned, stretching his arms above his head. His voice was light, but his face showed exhaustion—and a hint of something else.
Three sleepless nights had left him drained. The melancholy, though, came from knowing this cheerful girl would soon be gone—merged with an old immortal under the name of assimilation, but in truth… it was death.
"These past few days were the happiest of my life," Riko said softly, smiling up at them. "Thank you."
She didn't blame them. If anything, she was grateful. They'd given her something she'd never had before—a taste of friendship, of belonging. She'd thought she preferred solitude, but now she knew she'd just never been included.
"Don't thank me, kid. Makes me feel old."
Gojo smirked, though the slight upward twitch of his lips betrayed the pride in his voice.
Geto only smiled quietly beside him, eyes half-lidded in calm amusement.
Between them stood Kuroi, her face shadowed with reluctance. After looking after Riko for so long, it hurt to imagine letting her go.
Then—
Shing!
A flash of cold steel cut through the air.
The blade pierced straight through Gojo's torso, bursting from his chest in a slick spray of blood.
The café chatter, the sunlight—everything seemed to freeze.
"Gojo!" Geto's shout tore through the silence as his Cursed Energy flared, ripping open a black rift in the air. A massive Cursed Spirit lunged out, roaring toward the direction of the attack.
But Gojo didn't even flinch. He turned his head, almost curious, studying the man behind him.
"…Have we met?"
Toji Fushiguro smirked faintly. "Don't bother remembering. I'm not great with men's names anyway."
He yanked the blade free, blood glinting on its edge.
"Dodged the vitals, huh? Impressive. The Gojo Clan really does breed once-in-a-century prodigies."
"RRAAAH!"
The summoned Cursed Spirit lunged forward, jaws wide. It swallowed Toji whole in one bite.
"Get her to Tengen," Gojo ordered, voice steady. "I'll deal with him."
Geto hesitated only a moment before nodding. He grabbed Riko's hand and bolted toward the inner sanctum.
The Sorcerer Killer could handle himself. So could Satoru Gojo.
As soon as Geto disappeared, the air split again. The same massive blade that had skewered Gojo seconds earlier tore through the Cursed Spirit's stomach, shredding it from the inside out.
Toji emerged from the corpse, drenched in blood, a wide-bladed sword slung over his shoulder—and a faintly twitching Cursed Spirit coiled around him like a parasite.
He didn't bother hiding anything. Calmly, he laid out the entire plan.
He was the one who'd placed the bounty. The time limit was his idea too. It wasn't just to tire them out—it was to make Gojo relax, to make him drop his Limitless Cursed Technique when the job was done.
A perfect setup.
And because Toji had no Cursed Energy, the barrier around Jujutsu High never detected him.
He'd simply waited—patient, silent—until the moment Gojo's guard was down.
Geto didn't matter. The real prize was the Star Plasma Vessel.
"I see."
Gojo's lips curled into a grin. He spread his arms wide, energy spiraling into his palms.
"Then it's my turn."
A pulse of pressure exploded outward as his hands snapped together, condensing a swirling orb of gravity between them.
The blast ripped the ground apart, hurling Toji backward into a heap of shattered stone and smoke.
"Limitless: Blue," Gojo murmured.
But before he could follow up, his eyes narrowed.
That man… had no Cursed Energy. None.
And worse—he was fast.
So fast that Gojo's perception couldn't keep up. His senses lagged behind his eyes, the Limitless Technique failing to register movement that simply didn't exist on a Cursed Energy scale.
"You serious right now?" Gojo muttered. "What is that speed?"
He raised a hand. "Cursed Technique Amplification—Blue, maximum output!"
The blue-black orb in his palm expanded, devouring the air itself. Buildings imploded, the earth screamed, and everything within hundreds of meters vanished into nothingness.
The world around him fell silent.
Gojo focused, scanning the area. His target had no Cursed Energy, but there was a weak Cursed Spirit attached to him—a small, flickering signal.
That was enough.
Then—
Bzzz.
Tiny fly-like Cursed Spirits appeared, buzzing in swarms all around him.
"Tch."
Their interference scrambled his focus completely. He was about to unleash another Blue to erase them all when his expression froze.
He's not after me.
Gojo turned sharply—
"Heh. Finally using your technique to defend, huh?"
Toji appeared behind him, moving like a shadow splitting open the air. In his hand gleamed a short, reverse-edged blade. His muscles coiled tight—
Slash!
The blade flared with strange, cursed energy, tearing straight through the Limitless defense and plunging deep into Gojo's neck.
Toji twisted his arm, slicing downward, splitting Gojo's body nearly in half.
Then came the barrage.
Slash. Slash. Slash.
His movements blurred—an afterimage of pure violence—as he drove the blade through every part of Gojo's body in a storm of crimson arcs.
The final strike slammed into Gojo's skull.
Crack.
Gojo's bright blue eyes went dull. His body hit the ground with a sickening thud, lifeless and still.
Toji exhaled slowly, wiping his blade clean before sheathing it. Without a glance back, he walked deeper into Jujutsu High.
Cautious to the end, Gojo had been a nightmare to fight. Even Toji hadn't been sure he could win. But the plan had worked. One perfect, surgical strike.
Victory belonged to him.
A few minutes later, Jinsuke arrived—too late.
He stared down at Gojo's body, lying in a pool of blood, and rubbed his temples.
"You've got to be kidding me. He really went and died? That's just great."
With a sigh, he crouched, studying the body closely. He could feel it—something inside Gojo was shifting, pulsing, refusing to stay dead.
Yeah... he's already on his cheat-code arc.
Guys like him didn't die this early. Not until the finale.
"Guess I'll go handle this from another angle," Jinsuke muttered, cracking his neck as he turned toward the deeper halls of Jujutsu High.
And if things went south... he was ready to grab his younger brother and run for it.
Because whatever was about to awaken here, even he might not be able to handle the explosion that followed.