Sukuna clicked his tongue in disgust.
The audacity of this modern-era sorcerer!
And yet...
"Still, if this guy really can counter others' techniques while possessing such physical prowess... he's more troublesome than any sorcerer from the Heian era a thousand years ago!"
Even Sukuna found himself acknowledging the threat.
But what arose from this recognition wasn't fear or wariness. Though Sukuna guessed Roy could directly target techniques—an ability that would make him the natural enemy of all sorcerers, enough to make the jujutsu world tremble at his name—what surged within the King of Curses wasn't dread.
It was a whirlpool of ever-expanding excitement and exhilaration.
During the Heian era a millennium ago, among the elite of the Abe clan, there had been one sorcerer capable of directly countering others' techniques.
That one called himself Angel—possessing a technique that could nullify all techniques.
If struck by it, the sorcerer's technique would be forcibly terminated—since techniques are located in the brain, forcibly terminating one meant a part of the sorcerer's brain would be excised, almost certainly fatal, effectively an instant kill on the sorcerer. It was unbelievably powerful.
Yet even so.
That self-proclaimed angel was utterly annihilated by Sukuna, along with the elite forces of the Fujiwara clan and the remnants of the Sugawara faction.
"You, the one called Roy, must be the most delectable feast of this era! How amusing! Once I fully revive, you'll be my greatest adversary. I even feel a long-lost sense of purpose surging within me—I must have been resurrected in this era precisely to tear you to pieces!"
"Yeah, yeah, whatever you say."
Roy responded to Sukuna's battle-hungry words with utter disinterest.
Honestly, the brief skirmish with Sukuna earlier had left him somewhat disappointed, to the point where he couldn't even muster enthusiasm for Sukuna's full power.
If anything, he was probably more intrigued by Satoru Gojo at this point.
"What happened here?"
Ten minutes later, Megumi and Nobara arrived together. After hearing what had transpired from Yuji, Nobara gasped repeatedly.
"Sensei, these are for you."
Megumi took the opportunity to hand Roy two tickets.
"What's this?"
"That pink-haired girl gave them to me earlier. She just shoved them at me and left without a word. I have no idea what she was thinking, but thankfully the tickets explain it—apparently her band is holding a concert…"
Megumi massaged his temples with visible exasperation.
His dead-fish eyes made it abundantly clear he had zero interest in this so-called concert.
"I don't know anyone who'd want these, so you can have them, sensei. Or if you're not interested, give them to whoever or just throw them away."
Roy accepted the tickets with a peculiar expression.
If Bocchi-chan heard such heartless words, she'd probably crumble into dust on the spot.
But why would Bocchi-chan give tickets to Megumi?
That girl wasn't the type to approach someone just because they were good-looking—with her level of social anxiety, she'd more likely flee in terror from handsome guys like Megumi.
After all, handsome guys meant normies, the very embodiment of what socially anxious people feared most.
"All normies in the world should just die!"—when alone, the socially anxious Bocchi-chan would definitely scream something like this into her blankets.
"Alright, let's head back to school!"
Roy pocketed the two tickets and smiled at his three students.
"I've assessed your current skill levels. We'll start targeted training as soon as we return. And Kugisaki—about you rushing off to buy clothes after defeating a single Grade 4 curse—I'll be giving you proper punishment for that!"
"How did you know about that?!"
Nobara stared at Roy in horror, curling into herself.
She'd specifically left the clothes she bought at the store to avoid detection, planning to retrieve them later under the pretense of a stomachache.
"Does sensei have some kind of peeping ability? Ew, that's gross! You're not going to turn into some creepy voyeur, sneaking into girls' rooms at night to watch them bathe, are you?!"
"I have no such interests."
Roy's lips twitched as he shot her a sardonic glance with a forced smile.
"Besides, with a figure like yours, it's hardly worth peeping at."
"..."
Nobara's expression froze instantly, veins bulging one after another on her forehead as she gnashed her teeth with a ferocious glare.
If only she didn't know she was outmatched, Nobara would've pulled out her hammer right then to settle this.
What was wrong with her figure?!
Aside from not being tall enough, she was actually quite well-endowed!
"I think so too."
Yuji, completely oblivious to Nobara's murderous expression, quickly raised his hand in agreement with Roy.
"Nobara's figure really isn't great, is it? Not tall, and her butt's small too."
"You little brat, I'm gonna rip that mouth of yours apart today!"
***
Roy took these three students very seriously.
After returning to Jujutsu High, he immediately formulated training plans tailored to their current abilities.
Yuji's training was the most basic. Given his complete inability to use cursed energy, Roy designed foundational exercises to master its fundamentals. Nobara's abilities were more balanced but unremarkable in any area, requiring comprehensive baseline improvement.
Megumi had the toughest regimen. His physical stamina was weak, demanding targeted conditioning, while his technique showed immense potential—its development needed to progress simultaneously.
Nightfall.
Roy emerged from a Tokyo mobile carrier's store.
Surveying the passing crowds, he turned into a narrow alley between buildings. After setting up soundproofing and repellant barriers around the area, Roy inserted the newly purchased SIM card into Susaka's phone. Opening his imaginary pocket, he retrieved the girl clad in a pale blue haori.
As the girl emerged from the imaginary space, their mental connection reestablished. Her eyelashes fluttered briefly before revealing agate-like gray-green eyes.
For just an instant, vivid light sparkled in her pupils.
Her catlike eyes darted about eagerly until they landed on Roy, whereupon she suddenly stiffened, her expression blanking back into the vacant stare of an executioner.
Roy, preoccupied with operating Susaka's phone, missed this transformation.
He dialed a number and handed the phone to Okita.
"Hello, who's this?"
The call connected quickly, revealing a voice both deep and magnetic—far removed from the numbness of corporate drones, carrying instead an air of refined composure.
"Are you the one who posted about capturing first-year Jujutsu High students on the dark web?"
Under Roy's control, Okita initiated the conversation in an icy tone.
Before Susaka died, he'd revealed the dark web task on Roy's demand. After noting the contact number, Roy immediately acquired a burner phone to make contact.
To avoid exposure, he'd specifically instructed Okita to pose as a curse user.
"Hmm, that would be me. Interested in the job?"
The voice responded with amused interest, laughter threading through the words.
"I warmly welcome your willingness to join. The more people we have, the more assured I feel. Please don't worry about payment. Currently, there are three first-year students at Jujutsu High. Whoever among you captures any one of them will receive full payment on the spot."
His meaning was crystal clear.
As curse users, they had three potential targets to choose from. There was no need to compete over specific individuals—capturing any one of them would earn them the mission's reward.
This guy's goal wasn't to kill Yuji Itadori and the others, but to capture them alive. Moreover, the targets weren't fixed—his words were full of inducement, hoping they wouldn't fight over the bounty but instead focus their efforts on capturing the students alive.
"Before that, I have some questions I'd like to ask in person."
Okita's tone was as cold as ever, as if she had no emotions at all—like an artificially created simulated personality—making it difficult to discern the deeper meaning behind her words.
"Hmm? On the dark web, to protect clients, mercenaries are never allowed to meet the employer face-to-face. Didn't you know that?"
The voice on the other end carried a hint of confusion, as if questioning her professionalism.
All mercenaries on the dark web were undoubtedly curse users.
But the employers might not be—they were likely real-world industrialists or politicians who posted tasks on the dark web to eliminate rival companies or political opponents. Exposing themselves was out of the question; once exposed, it would cause serious social repercussions.
Moreover, if ordinary employers met curse users in person, and it led to incidents like robbery or extortion, the dark web's reputation would be ruined.
Such incidents had happened before, and since then, the dark web had established the rule that mercenaries and employers must never meet.
But judging by the tone of the person on the phone, he was merely puzzled.
There was no wariness or fear in his voice.
This suggested that even if he did meet a curse user, he wouldn't be afraid—he had the confidence to face them directly?
Roy was still debating whether to use the excuse "I'm actually a rookie" or "I'm certain I can complete this mission, but I must meet you first" when suddenly, the tone on the other end relaxed.
"Actually, that's fine. I have an even bigger task at hand that I'd like to discuss in detail with all of you curse users. Let's set a time and meet together!"