Chapter 8: Cursed Corpse Puppetry Sorcerer! To Prove I'm the All-Powerful Itadori!
"You're too slow, Satoru. You're eight minutes late…"
"And…"
"You've really outdone yourself!!"
"You don't know his abilities, character, background, how strong he is… and you just casually bring me someone to interview."
Inside the attic hall, candles were lined up, and the light was dim.
Up ahead sat a middle-aged man cross-legged.
He was carving, or rather, crafting some cute dolls.
[Principal: Masamichi Yaga]
He looked up.
"You didn't even bring a single hiring form."
"Alright, alright. You won't be disappointed. And scolding me like that doesn't suit a principal."
Gojo introduced them. "This is Principal Masamichi Yaga."
The principal swept his eyes over the two of them, his head starting to ache.
The first one was fine, Sukuna's vessel, he understood that.
The second…
was unclear.
Bringing someone in so casually, someone with an unknown background, just because he helped once?
"I'm Yuji Itadori. My type is Jennifer Lawrence. Nice to meet you!"
Young Yuji bowed first and introduced himself.
"Then I'll start with you. Why are you here…" Principal Yaga asked him just one question.
"An interview…" young Yuji said.
Yuji cut in. "What he wants to ask is, what will you do after you enter Jujutsu High."
"After you learn about curses and gain the ability to exorcise them, what will you do next."
"Why do you want to collect Sukuna's fingers."
"Incidents, accidents, illnesses—every day, people you don't know die. That's normal."
"If someone dies because of a curse, you can't stand by and do nothing."
"Then what about other kinds of deaths?"
Yuji looked at Masamichi Yaga. "Same old questions, right."
This man.
A Grade 1 jujutsu sorcerer.
He used to be the homeroom teacher for Gojo and the others, an educator with genuine passion.
Now he was the principal of Jujutsu High.
He was once targeted by the higher-ups as a Special Grade sorcerer because he created [Panda], but Yaga pretended it was an accidental creation and the matter was dropped.
Later, the higher-ups ordered him to reveal the true method of creation. When they got nothing, Yoshinobu Gakuganji carried out the execution under orders.
In simple terms, he was killed for refusing to tell the higher-ups how to do it.
Even if he had told them, he probably wouldn't have ended well.
The higher-ups…
Yuji looked at Yaga, who wore dark glasses.
Yaga felt that gaze and raised an eyebrow.
This guy's look is like he's looking at a dead man.
I'm very much alive.
Even with the hood on,
Yaga could somehow sense the emotion in his eyes.
It made Yaga uncomfortable.
Wait, that's not the point.
How does he know what I was going to ask?
Did Gojo tell him in advance?
"So what's your answer?" Yaga's expression didn't change.
Young Yuji was a little slow, then started answering. "It's a dying request. The details don't matter… Anyway, I just want to save people."
"A dying request. So you're only fighting curses because someone told you to?" the principal said.
He stood up, unsatisfied. "Fail."
He raised a hand, and a small green creature stood up.
"This is called a cursed corpse. I placed a curse on it."
As soon as he finished,
the cursed corpse tested young Yuji.
One punch sent young Yuji flying, and the two quickly began trading blows.
Yaga shifted his gaze to Yuji.
"Now it's your turn. You seem very familiar with this place, but I couldn't find you in the school records."
"Yuanzhi…"
"Grade 1 sorcerer level."
"Unwilling to show your face."
"I investigated your background and your name."
"Blank."
"Like you appeared out of thin air. And that name is fake too, isn't it. I could also guess you're a curse user."
"Or an infiltrator sent by someone."
Clearly, Yaga had done his homework.
"There aren't any curse users as strong as me," Yuji said, making Yaga feel like it was an outrageous claim. "I'm a student here, so I'm familiar."
"But I'm not from this era."
Hearing that weathered tone, Yaga went silent for a moment.
Not from this era… what does that mean, is he very old…
A former Jujutsu High student?
But Yaga searched his memory and found nothing. Could it be from even earlier?
Masamichi Yaga frowned.
"It's fine, Principal. I believe him," Gojo cut in.
"You believe him?"
Yaga changed the subject. "Then I'll ask you first. What are you here for."
"If I have to say it, I can get better information on curses here. I'll keep eliminating them until the end," Yuji said.
"If you were lacking in ability, you'd be here to hide from curses," Yaga added.
"You fail too."
He waved his hand.
Immediately, several doll-like cursed corpses were activated and stood up.
The next second,
they shot forward like meteors, flashing right up to Yuji.
On the other side, young Yuji was already struggling against a single cursed corpse. Seeing several rush out at once made his eyelids twitch.
Thankfully, he wasn't the one facing them.
How will Yuanzhi handle this?
Without thinking, he wondered, will he suppress them with pure martial skill?
But the next second,
everyone froze.
Five or six cursed corpses, the moment they came within a certain distance of Yuji, seemed to short-circuit and dropped out of the air.
They struggled a few times, then went completely still.
"This…" Yaga paused, then understood. "So you know cursed corpses well."
Using cursed energy to disrupt them, cutting the connection between their core and the cursed corpse body, returning them to a non-living state.
That kind of technique required extremely high cursed energy control. No ordinary young sorcerer could do it.
In Yaga's mind, the guess that he was a sorcerer from the past gained more weight.
"Low-grade cursed corpses. Nothing difficult," Yuji didn't continue.
Cursed corpses are non-living objects that can act on their own when infused with cursed energy. They have something like a human heart called a core. If the core is destroyed, they return to their original non-living form.
They can also bring back the dead.
Of course, it isn't true resurrection. It's just putting the dead person's information and traits into a cursed corpse.
In short,
Yuji could make them too.
Later Yuji had learned many more things.
"You do have ability," Yaga admitted. "What else can you do?"
"Make cursed tools," Yuji replied.
"Mhm."
Yaga nodded, not particularly surprised.
Many people could do that.
If you keep pouring cursed energy into a weapon over a long time, the weapon gradually mutates and becomes a cursed tool.
It takes a long time.
What Masamichi Yaga didn't know was that Yuji's method and efficiency for making cursed tools was many times faster than anyone else's.
He could do it on the spot.
Young Yuji burst out a wave of potential and finally subdued the cursed corpse.
But then,
his wrist started acting up, splitting open into a mouth.
"What else?" This time it was Sukuna asking, seeming interested.
At that moment, Yaga's gaze was also drawn to Sukuna.
"And also…"
Yuji raised a hand, grabbed Sukuna's mouth, and applied a little force.
A spray of blood shot from an artery.
The entire arm, fascia and flesh, splattered onto the floor.
He tore off young Yuji's whole arm.
"You brat…" Sukuna's unruly mouth cut off abruptly.
Yuji tossed the arm forward, and Principal Yaga caught it stiffly.
Before he could react,
Yuji waved again.
"I can also do this…"
The next second,
countless flesh buds grew.
A brand-new arm regenerated.
Before young Yuji even felt pain, he saw his arm was already restored. He clenched his fist, completely blank.
"Reverse Cursed Technique… and at a level that can heal others."
Yaga held the extra severed hand, his expression shifting.