Chapter 19

"Good morning!"

On the morning of the exchange meeting, Gojo Satoru almost "slid" into the living room and shouted hello to the people inside.

"How did you sleep last night?"

Nanami Kento had just finished his morning overtime shift. The still-hot documents were neatly arranged in front of him, and he was holding a cup of steaming coffee in his hand. Dark circles were faintly visible under his eyes.

Yesterday he wanted to rest on the sofa for a while before washing up and going to bed, but he fell asleep unexpectedly. Now he has experienced the feeling of back pain in the elderly in advance. Right now he does not want to talk to the culprit who caused his miserable condition.

And opposite Nanami Kento, Yuji Itadori was sitting on the sofa with his buttocks pressed against the coffee table in a posture that only young people would dare to try.

The almost even heights on both sides made the boy fold himself in half, and it would be easy to strain the lumbar muscles once he was over 30 years old.

After hearing Gojo Satoru's voice, Yuji Itadori responded weakly, "I went to see a movie yesterday because I couldn't sleep, but the more I watched, the more I couldn't sleep..."

The young man squirmed, and Gojo Satoru saw that the dark circles under his eyes were even more serious than those of Nanami Kento.

"Staying up late is so painful—"

After a brief sob, Yuji Itadori suddenly jumped up from his original position with a vitality as if he had regained his vitality: "But I feel so excited when I think about seeing Fushiguro and the others again!"

Gojo Satoru gave a thumbs up: "Not bad, very energetic!"

"A 15 or 16-year-old won't die from a sudden death after staying up all night once or twice! Let's prepare a stunning debut that will make their jaws drop!"

"Just coming back from the dead is astonishing enough."

Nanami Kento couldn't help but accuse while holding his coffee: "And what are you talking about with a child..."

Gojo Satoru and Itadori Yuji were chattering for a long time. Half of the time, Nanami Kento was curious about how the other person could catch up with the conversation when the topics were all over the place, and the other half of the time, he simply couldn't understand what the two were talking about.

Nanami Kento gradually gave up thinking and enjoyed his coffee seriously. After watching the two people leave noisily, he drank the remaining coffee in the cup.

But when he put it down, he found that Gojo Satoru had reappeared beside him for some reason.

Nanami Ken's heart skipped a beat.

He feels that 99% of horror movies nowadays are not as scary as Gojo Satoru.

Gojo Satoru pointed to the document next to Nanami Kento: "About the background story of that cursed spirit."

The blond sorcerer frowned: "You don't want to hide it, do you?"

Currently, there are very few official records about this cursed spirit, which are basically derived from the observations of Nanami Kento and Gojo Satoru during their previous two meetings. The direction is not very obvious, and it does not seem to be anything special among the large number of special-grade cursed spirits that have suddenly appeared recently.

Considering that the story of the cursed spirit happened hundreds of years ago, it is normal that no one recognizes it now.

But when you consider its identity as a container, it becomes different.

The emergence of cursed spirits will definitely have a major impact that will cause the world of curses to rearrange all subsequent affairs.

"I knew this couldn't be kept secret for long."

Gojo Satoru explained, “But I want to observe other people’s attitudes first.”

Gojo Satoru was not just slacking off during the few days he was secretly in the country against orders. In addition to chatting with the scar-faced cursed spirit and spreading rumors everywhere, he was also secretly looking for traces of undercover agents.

If the true identity of the cursed spirit is revealed now, the upper echelons will be in chaos, but all the abnormal behaviors will be piled together and the actions of the traitor will not be so obvious.

Nanami Kento was silent for two seconds: "If that's the case, why did you leave that message to the top management?"

“Well…” Gojo Satoru said as if it was a matter of course, “I was really angry at the time.”

"... Never mind. It doesn't matter."

Nanami Kento thought about it and temporarily accepted this statement.

"I will tell them that my old injury has not healed yet, and due to the fatigue from traveling, the wound accidentally became infected and I have a high fever. The report may be postponed for another two days."

Gojo Satoru stroked his chin and said, "Aren't these two days the exchange meeting? I still want to see the students shed blood and tears. Why don't we just say one week?"

"Please don't push your luck."

Nanami Kento pushed up his glasses and said, "Many relevant people from both sides, including the principal, will be attending the exchange meeting. Please start from here."

"Do we start from here..."

Although the exchange meeting will indeed involve various relevant personnel from both schools, apart from the two principals and the teachers on both sides, the only others left are errand boys and students.

A thug is not even worthy of being an undercover agent, so the remaining options are...

Gojo Satoru rubbed his cheeks and said, "I really don't want to doubt my students."

“There’s nothing we can do about it.”

Nanami Kento said calmly but firmly: "The trust built through constant suspicion and subsequent verification is more worthy of being entrusted with one's life."

"...Humph, that's true." After two seconds of silence, Gojo Satoru smiled and said, "Then I'll leave."

"Have a nice trip."

On the way to the Jujutsu High School, Yuji Itadori was squatting in the box early - he was going to jump out of the box as a "surprise" later.

By the way, because the box is too big to fit in an ordinary car, Gojo Satoru (through Ijichi) got a pickup truck from somewhere, and now the box and the cart are placed in the trunk behind the pickup truck.

Yuji Itadori was locked in a small, enclosed space with his knees hugged. Outside was the hustle and bustle of traffic, making people feel as if they were locked in the trunk of a car.

Yuji Itadori quietly opened a gap and wanted to get some fresh air, only to find that a familiar person had been sitting next to him since he had no idea when.

"Gojo-sensei!"

Yuji Itadori screamed in surprise subconsciously.

The other party turned his head to look at him and asked, "What's wrong?"

Yuji Itadori shook his head: "No, it just suddenly occurred to me that why should I just put the box in the back? Why should I be in the box myself?"

"well--"

This 28-year-old adult male skillfully draws out the ending syllable.

"What's the point of that? It's a rare opportunity to ride in a pickup truck, and if you just sit in the seat like a normal person, what's the difference between that and a car?"

Yuji Itadori followed the other party's train of thought and thought there was nothing wrong with it: "That's true."

So the two of them really chose the dangerous and uncomfortable trunk instead of normal seats, which was completely unnecessary.

Yuji Itadori was holding up the lid, with only his eyes exposed to observe the outside. The scenery on both sides quickly receded, and the inverted scene made everything look very subtly different from the usual impression.

It seems like everything has changed, yet it seems like nothing has changed.

It feels a bit like my life recently.

Itadori Yuji was rarely sentimental: "Gojo-sensei."

"Um?"

The strong wind was whistling in their ears, people on the street were pointing at them, and Yuji Itadori's excellent hearing could occasionally catch words like "call the police", "mental hospital", and "run away" from the sound of the wind.

"Will they be happy to see me?"

But this couldn't stop the sense of matter-of-factness in Gojo Satoru's voice.

Gojo Satoru leaned his weight to the side, half of his body resting on the lid of the box, and answered firmly, "Of course!"

The boy's eyes lit up again because of the resolute tone.

"oh!"

Yuji Itadori was instantly revived with full health, and regardless of the subtle pain from the severe blow to his head, he held up the lid with both hands and excitedly suggested to the man beside him: "Come to think of it, it's not easy to ride in a pickup truck, I want to try what it feels like to lie on the roof like in the movies!"

"Not bad! Very thoughtful!"

But the countless lessons learned through blood and tears in the past, including the time when Ichichi was driving a pickup truck and suddenly heard footsteps overhead that absolutely shouldn't have existed, can prove this.

Gojo Satoru is indeed not very reliable when it comes to small matters.

As agreed, he made a surprise appearance and jumped out of the box while shouting slogans. He maintained a stiff pose and was pushed around in front of people he knew and didn't know like an exhibit.

It was still a less popular exhibit because no one paid any attention to it.

Just when Yuji Itadori was about to quietly retract the box and put the lid back on, someone suddenly kicked the cart under his feet.

"Hello!"

He turned around and saw Fushiguro with a sullen face and Norose with tears in the corners of her eyes.

*

On a deserted beach, with several parasols placed there, a man with seams on his head and wearing a cassock that was totally incompatible with the scorching sun was trying hard to recall something.

"An unknown cursed spirit that was - or may even be - a vessel?"

The man shook his head: "I haven't heard of it. Do you have more detailed information?"

The real person standing next to him was standing with his hands on his hips, raising his eyebrows and asking, "Is the container not enough? Do you know a lot of containers?"

"No." The other party denied slowly, "The only one I know is Sukuna."

The real person looked at the other person twice, not knowing whether he believed it or not: "Is that so?"

The cursers and cursed spirits formed an alliance not long ago.

Both sides have their own thoughts and cannot be said to trust each other. They just cooperate reluctantly when their interests align.

The two sides have two goals in cooperation: to seal Gojo Satoru and to capture Ryomen Sukuna.

However, due to the emergence of an unknown third party, the original plan may have to be adjusted.

The real person did not pursue the matter any further: "Sukuna has already seen it, and it is indeed worth making a plan for it."

When fighting with Yuji Itadori, Masato once faced Ryomen Sukuna because of the expansion of his domain.

Although the opponent's current curse power is even lower than that of the leaky pot, the sense of oppression it brings is completely different, allowing people to get a glimpse of the tip of the iceberg of the King of Curses in his heyday.

That's why the real person agreed to withstand the pressure of Gojo Satoru's presence and take advantage of the crowded exchange meeting today to sneak into the Jujutsu High School and steal the finger of Ryomen Sukuna that was kept there.

“But there’s another one I’m curious about.”

When the curser looked at her, Zhenrensi did not hide her anticipation at all, like a child encountering a new toy.

Even if the first encounter is not satisfactory, the real person will only become more courageous after setbacks.

“If I come across it, I’ll definitely take a good look at it.”

“The look of its soul.”