At this moment, if someone were to say things like "I'm invincible" or "I'll definitely win" and set up such flags, they'd be doomed to lose.
Roy had no intention of becoming a comic relief character by setting up such flags.
"We're here. That's Principal Yaga's office up ahead."
Leading Yuji to a small building, Roy pointed at the door as he introduced it.
"Yuji, even though you're already considered part of the jujutsu world, you still need to pass the principal's interview to officially enroll at Jujutsu High. If you fail, you'll have to go sweep streets as a jujutsu illiterate."
"That's way too harsh! Sweeping streets?"
"It's just a metaphor. No matter how down-and-out a jujutsu sorcerer gets, they wouldn't end up sweeping streets."
Roy waved his hand with a laugh, his expression saying "as if that would ever happen."
"But if you fail the principal's interview and can't learn Jujutsu High's foundational techniques, you might actually die someday."
"That's even worse than sweeping streets!"
Yuji couldn't help but voice his loud protest.
"Haha, such energy. That's what matters most."
Roy laughed and patted Yuji's shoulder, showing his approval.
But then his expression turned serious.
"Kid, I have full confidence in your willpower, but there's one thing I absolutely must warn you about. You mentioned earlier that you save people to fulfill your grandfather's dying wish, right?"
Megumi suddenly perked up his ears.
Was Roy-sensei going to bring this up too?
Of course, if he'd noticed it, there was no way Roy wouldn't have.
"Yeah, is there something wrong with that?"
Yuji looked at Roy in confusion.
Saving people was good, wasn't it?
What could possibly need warning about?
"Your grandfather's words themselves aren't wrong. The mistake lies with you for accepting them wholesale."
Roy tsked and shook his head, wagging a finger.
"Listen carefully—borrowed ideals won't take you far. Reality won't always accommodate you. There will come a day when things don't go as you wish, and that's when you'll start resenting the person who gave you those ideals. But by then, it'll be too late. You'll be like someone who can't swim struggling in the middle of the ocean—you'll just drown."
Megumi found himself nodding repeatedly.
This was exactly what he'd wanted to say.
But with Yuji having just lost his grandfather, pointing this out would have made him seem like the bad guy, so he'd kept it to himself.
"Is that so..."
Yuji blinked, looking partially understanding but still confused.
The young Itadori had one good quality—he didn't argue back.
When given advice, he'd first reflect on whether the criticism applied to him. If it did, he'd humbly accept it. If not, he'd just make a lighthearted comment. Having grown up with his grandfather under difficult circumstances, he'd matured early.
"The principal will explain the rest to you."
As he said this, Roy stretched with both arms raised, then pointed at Megumi.
"Megumi, I'll leave the rest to you. I have something to attend to. If Yuji fails the principal's interview, kick him out. If he passes, help him settle into the dorm and show him around the school."
"Understood."
Megumi nodded obediently.
"Do you have to be so violent about kicking me out?!"
Yuji Itadori protested loudly again.
Roy left behind a trail of hearty laughter before stepping away with deceptively slow yet swift strides, disappearing from the attic area.
...
Roy's own dormitory.
Upon returning to his room, Roy spotted a motionless brass bird perched by the window.
The brass bird was entirely crafted from metal, with miniature cameras for eyes. To avoid detection by Tengen's barrier, Roy had specifically designed this familiar from inorganic materials.
In this world, all living beings inherently possess some degree of cursed energy.
Humans have it, animals have it, even insects have it—the only difference lies in the amount each creature possesses.
However, while animals are one thing, even many humans cannot control their cursed energy, causing it to constantly leak out.
This leaked cursed energy, under the influence of negative emotions, coalesces into curses.
Thus, fundamentally, curses are aggregates of cursed energy that humans unconsciously release due to their negative emotions.
Certain barriers, like the ones surrounding Jujutsu High, can detect the movement of beings carrying cursed energy. If too many creatures were to frequently enter and exit Roy's room, it would inevitably draw Tengen's attention.
But things without cursed energy remain undetectable to the barrier—like tossing a pebble into water, causing no ripples.
Inorganic objects such as stones or metal contain no cursed energy. Familiars made from such materials would not attract Tengen's notice.
"This is Familiar No. 6."
Roy approached the window and picked up the brass bird familiar, spotting the number "6" etched beneath its wing. He nodded in understanding.
The brass bird's beak held a single strand of silver-white hair. To prevent it from falling, Roy had installed a small mechanism in the beak specifically designed to secure the hair for retrieval.
Roy opened the bird's beak and carefully removed the silver strand.
He pulled out his phone and checked the records to identify the person corresponding to No. 6.
"Number six is... Zenin Naobito. His technique is Projection Sorcery—dividing one second into 24 frames, fixing actions to achieve subsonic movement speed. Considered the fastest after Gojo Satoru."
Roy currently held a high-ranking position within the Jujutsu Headquarters.
Nearly every sorcerer's technique was registered in the Headquarters' archives.
Thus, by leveraging his authority, Roy could freely access records detailing the names and techniques of every sorcerer in Japan.
He had dispatched numerous brass bird familiars to infiltrate their homes, retrieving hairs from bedrooms or other personal spaces.
Through the DNA in these hairs, Roy could use his body-modification ability to simulate their lifeforms, construct genetic models, and even clone bodies identical to the original owners. This allowed him to analyze and decipher their innate techniques.
Roy opened the Imaginary Pocket and placed the strand of hair into a pre-labeled test tube before storing it inside.
A glance revealed dozens of numbered test tubes within the Imaginary Pocket, nearly half already filled with strands of hair of varying colors and lengths.
In addition, there were numerous glass jars containing the transformed flesh of Grade 1 or higher cursed spirits—roughly counting, there were over thirty of them.
These were the fruits of Roy's labor over the past two months.
"Over these last two months, through analyzing cursed spirits and humans with innate techniques, I've discovered that the organ responsible for wielding cursed techniques in the human body is located within the brain—specifically, around the prefrontal cortex of the right hemisphere."
Roy sat down on the edge of the bed, frowning as he sank into deep thought.
"This complicates things."
"While I can create the corresponding organ in the brain, the brain's domain isn't something I dare tamper with lightly. One wrong move, and I could end up brain-dead. At that point, even if I still had the ability to modify my body, there'd be no saving me."
"Moreover, even if I successfully create the organ corresponding to a cursed technique and gain access to it, activating the technique would mean activating the brain. But the human brain has its limits—it can handle one technique, maybe two at a stretch. Three or more, and the brain would likely overload and burn out..."
This was a limitation even Roy couldn't escape.
Assuming he succeeded in bestowing himself with cursed techniques, even if his brain was more resilient than other sorcerers', he could only safely grant himself two or three techniques at most. Any more, and his brain would collapse under the strain.
Two or three techniques were already formidable.
Hadn't they all seen it? Even a thousand-year-old monster like Kenjaku could only wield two or three techniques at a time.
The techniques permanently embedded in his body were limited to Brain Transplant, Cursed Spirit Manipulation, and Anti-Gravity System—Body Swapping being his own innate technique, Cursed Spirit Manipulation belonging to his current vessel, Suguru Geto, and Anti-Gravity System inherited from his previous vessel, Kaori Itadori. As for techniques like Idle Transfiguration, he could only use them once by absorbing Mahito.
Such feats were already considered godlike—no modern sorcerer could match them.
But Roy's ambitions ran deeper.
Two or three techniques weren't enough for him. He wanted more.
To put it simply—
His collector's itch had flared up.
Or, if you preferred, his firepower deficiency anxiety had kicked in.
But to freely wield an unlimited variety of techniques, to collect and use them all at will—under normal circumstances, that was impossible.
"However, there are always exceptions."
Roy's gaze shifted to the second name on his phone's list.
Yuta Okkotsu.
A restless gleam flickered in Roy's eyes.
Yuta Okkotsu's technique was "Copy"—the ability to mimic and store others' techniques, then deploy them as needed.
But there was a catch.
He could only use the copied techniques for a limited five-minute window after connecting with his shikigami, Rika Orimoto—Rika was his externalized technique. Without Rika, he couldn't copy at all.
If Roy wanted to collect and wield as many techniques as possible, Yuta Okkotsu and Rika Orimoto were unavoidable hurdles.
"Of course, I'm not a blond bastard—I wouldn't pull any NTR shenanigans on pure love warriors."
Roy muttered this to himself.
He conveniently forgot about his past attempt to "steal" Jeanne from Uemon Ji.
However.
Yuta Okkotsu's cursed technique was quite intriguing to him.
"If I use Yuta Okkotsu's Copy technique as a foundation, I should be able to collect and use other cursed techniques without limit. But I don't have a shikigami like Rika, so I can't use Copy, and there's also a time constraint... Wait, if I don't have one, couldn't I just make one?"
Roy's eyes lit up.
A thought struck him, and excitement gradually filled his gaze.
That's right—just because he didn't have a shikigami didn't mean there weren't powerful shikigami he could use!
There was one right here!
The ultimate shikigami!
"If I make that shikigami my own the same way Yuta Okkotsu did, I can turn it into my external cursed technique. Then it'll work...!"
The only issue was that this operation would consume two technique slots.
But if this plan succeeded, he could obtain a Copy technique even stronger than Yuta Okkotsu's!
Of course, that was only if the plan worked.
If it turned out to be useless, he'd just have to sigh in resignation.
Still, given Roy's abilities, he could at least secure three cursed techniques—that much was certain.
"Too bad Satoru Gojo's been gone for a while. His room's been cleaned multiple times—not a single strand of hair left."
Roy couldn't help but feel disappointed when he thought about how Test Tube No. 1 was still empty.
Shortly after joining Jujutsu High, he had tried searching for Gojo's hair, but by then, Gojo had already been missing for nearly a month. His room had been thoroughly cleaned, leaving nothing behind.
If he could've found Gojo's hair, his third technique could've been Limitless—assuming his plan succeeded.
But without Gojo's hair, his third technique would have to be chosen from the remaining options.
Gojo might seem flashy, but he was actually quite cautious. After Toji Fushiguro stabbed him with the Inverted Spear of Heaven, he sealed it away. When the Black Rope disrupted his technique, he destroyed it.
Plus, he hadn't been injured in years and probably never underwent medical exams, so there likely weren't any blood samples stored in hospitals or elsewhere.
Limitless was probably out of the question.
"Still, Sukuna's Cleave is something I can count on."
Roy glanced at his imaginary pocket.
Inside one of the glass containers was a crimson finger.
Identical to the one Yuji Itadori swallowed—the only difference being that it wasn't from the same hand.
He had found it during a mission in the past two months. Since it wasn't part of the mission requirements, he quietly kept it for research.
"Just how many surprises can this world offer? I can't wait to find out!"
With this eager thought, Roy got up from his bed and, in high spirits, returned to his experiments.
Fortunately.
He already had Yuta Okkotsu's hair.
Whether his plan would work or not—he could proceed straight to the testing phase!