"If one disregards the contradictions with reality and endangers their comrades in pursuit of their ideals, that can't be called idealism—it's just plain stupidity. Don't you agree, Yuji?"
Yuji opened his mouth.
He wanted to say that was true, and then he understood.
Yes, that was exactly right.
Earlier, when faced with the enemy's threat, he had wanted to exchange himself for the criminal hostages to fulfill his ideals.
That was the compromise he had made for his ideals.
But if he compromised, what about Megumi and Nobara?
Wouldn't they be put in danger?
Before, it was just criminals as hostages, so they could fight the enemy without hesitation. But if Yuji, their comrade, became a hostage, wouldn't they be forced to hold back, unable to fight properly?
If he endangered his comrades just to fulfill his ideals, how was that any different from the "stupidity" Roy had mentioned?
Yuji suddenly snapped back to reality.
At the time, he hadn't considered that at all!
Yuji took a deep breath and then raised a fist.
Thud!
Under Megumi and Nobara's stunned gazes, Yuji punched himself hard, staggering from the impact and seeing stars for a moment.
"I'm sorry! Megumi, Nobara, I wasn't thinking things through back then!"
Yuji immediately bowed at a perfect 90-degree angle, apologizing loudly.
The apology was so textbook-perfect that one might suspect he was a little too practiced at it.
But that earnest sincerity was one of Yuji's defining traits.
"As long as you realize it, I forgive you!"
Seeing this, Nobara cheerfully patted her chest and forgave him.
Oh no—she hadn't considered that situation at all either.
But if she admitted that now, wouldn't she look stupid?
Nobara's heart pounded nervously.
"I wasn't exactly calm back then either, so I share some blame."
Megumi rubbed his neck awkwardly, a hint of embarrassment flashing across his face.
"Anyway, we're all still immature. Let's skip the mutual apologies!"
Roy watched the scene with a satisfied smile.
The atmosphere among the three had improved significantly.
For my first time as a teacher, I'm doing pretty well, aren't I?
"Pathetic weaklings clinging together—how revolting."
At that moment, a thoroughly unpleasant voice rang out across the field.
A mouth full of sharp fangs suddenly appeared on Yuji's cheek.
The previously harmonious expressions on Megumi and Nobara's faces instantly changed.
One stared at Yuji with full vigilance while the other screamed "Disgusting! Disgusting! Disgusting!" with utter revulsion.
Yuji looked at them with a wounded expression.
"Sukuna, what's your reason for popping out this time?"
Roy glanced at the mouth on Yuji's face but couldn't even muster a shred of wariness, merely looking at him with disinterest.
"Don't play dumb with me!" Sukuna snorted coldly, his tone dripping with murderous intent. "Brat, how do you know my cursed technique?"
Sukuna's technique?
Does Roy-sensei know it too?
Wait, does he even know the technique of the legendary King of Curses, the strongest in history?
All three students—Yuji, Megumi, and Nobara—turned incredulous eyes toward Roy.
"Guess," Roy chuckled lightly, too lazy to explain to Sukuna.
"Alright, you three, get ready. We're heading back to Jujutsu High. All of you failed this time—prepare for intensified training as soon as we return!"
Megumi and Nobara's expressions instantly twisted in pain.
Roy's "training" couldn't even be called training—it was outright torture!
Who in their right mind trained for an entire day without rest?
"Got it!" Only Yuji responded energetically.
He still didn't understand what a "proper death" meant, but he had realized one thing—only by possessing enough strength could one earn the right to choose how to die properly.
Otherwise, not only would he fail to fulfill his ideal of saving others, but he might even drag his comrades down with him.
"Hmph!" Sukuna snorted and retreated back into Yuji's body.
Roy wasn't willing to explain, and there was nothing Sukuna could do about it—he only had the power of one finger right now.
Against Roy, he estimated he'd need at least fifteen fingers to stand a chance, and that was without factoring in Roy's bizarre ability to counter cursed techniques.
If that ability was taken into account, he might need all twenty fingers to crush him.
"But that brat Fushiguro... he's interesting!"
Sukuna's gaze gradually shifted from Roy, settling instead on Megumi Fushiguro.
The hidden depths of his scheming mind were as murky and terrifying as a bottomless swamp.
...
Jujutsu Headquarters.
In a dimly lit chamber, seven screens stood in solemn silence.
Roy lounged casually behind one of them, a bold smirk playing on his lips.
"So, have you decided who's taking the blame yet?"
The room, which had been filled with hysterical arguments for who knew how long, suddenly fell silent.
It was as if summer had abruptly turned to winter—the elders behind the screens shuddered involuntarily.
"W-well, this incident was merely a coincidence..."
"Y-yes! The mission was urgent—we had no choice but to send your students!"
"It was unavoidable. We're willing to offer compensation to those three students."
Only three of them kept trying to absolve themselves of responsibility.
These three had opposed Roy's entry into the Headquarters from the very beginning.
The other three remained silent throughout.
The three of them had intertwined interests with Roy, making it unwise to offend him at this moment—especially when he seemed to be simmering with barely concealed anger, which only made them more reluctant to provoke him.
There was no peaceful resolution to today's matter.
All three of them could see through it—Roy had clearly come here to stand up for his students, and he was determined to find a scapegoat.
They couldn't help but feel a sense of shared sorrow, unwilling to side with Roy, so they simply sat there with feigned indifference, pretending to remain uninvolved.
The three on the opposite side could see through it as well, but they refused to accept reality, stubbornly clinging to their defiance.
Within the Jujutsu High Command, there were broadly two factions.
One was the conservative faction.
The other was the reformist faction.
The conservative faction, as the name suggested, was a group of the most rigid, tradition-bound sorcerers who clung stubbornly to rules like "There must be no anomalies like Yuji Itadori among jujutsu sorcerers."
The reformists, on the other hand, believed that jujutsu sorcerers should keep up with the times, discarding outdated rules and ushering in a new era.
Between the two, the conservatives held overwhelming dominance.
Among the three opposing Roy, two were members of the conservative faction.
Add in Kyoto Jujutsu High's principal, Gakuganji Yoshinobu, and that made three high-ranking conservatives standing against him.
On his side, the three plus Yaga Masamichi consisted of two conservatives and two reformists.
"Do you think I came all the way here just to listen to your excuses?!"
Roy kicked over the window panel in front of him, his oppressive aura crashing over them like a tidal wave.
"You sent three first-year students to rescue people under the nose of a Special Grade curse, and coincidentally, all the Grade 1 sorcerers were out on missions? Who the hell do you take me for? Hand over one of you three, and I'll let this slide!"
Silence fell over the room.
Under the weight of Roy's presence, the three hiding behind the window panel shuddered, their anger mingling with an uncontrollable fear.
This guy was downright arrogant!
They had never agreed to let him join the High Command in the first place, and now, just a few months later, he was already gnawing away at it like termites!
But if he really decided to make a scene, they had no way to resist—with Gojo, Yuta, and Yuki all absent, there was no one left to keep him in check.
And this time, he did have the moral high ground.
Among the three, two exchanged glances, instantly recognizing the same ruthless resolve in each other's eyes.
Immediately, they both pointed their fingers at the third.
Of the three, he was the only reformist.
If someone had to be sacrificed, why not the one whose views clashed most with theirs?
Once the two made their decision, the third man had no room to argue. His face darkened with despair as he collapsed to the floor.
"This is way too inefficient!"
Roy muttered to himself as he stepped out of the High Command building.
Having to wait for them to slip up, and only being able to remove one at a time—this pace was far too slow.
He wasn't meant to stay in this world for long. He needed to find a way to legitimately purge the rest of them in a short time.
His goal was to rightfully seize control of the entire Japanese jujutsu world.
To achieve this goal, there must be a process that all sorcerers can acknowledge.
The mere reasoning that "since all the other higher-ups are dead, he's the only one left to become the leader" wasn't sufficient. After all, he was a foreign sorcerer, far less legitimate than someone like Yuta or Geto. If all the other higher-ups had died, it would most likely have been one of those two who returned to oversee the Jujutsu Headquarters.
"In that case, there's only one way."
Roy pondered for a long time, gradually clarifying a line of thought in his mind.
Given the current situation, achieving this goal would require some effort from Okita's side.
"Sensei."
Exiting the Jujutsu Headquarters building and approaching the car waiting in the parking lot, Roy spotted Megumi standing beside the vehicle, as if specifically waiting for his return.
Upon seeing Roy, Megumi greeted him first.
"Megumi, you haven't left yet?"
Roy opened the rear door and got in.
"There's something I wanted to ask you, sensei."
Megumi also opened the opposite door and sat inside.
Ijichi Kiyotaka glanced at the two through the rearview mirror, his gaze perfectly meeting Megumi's. Tactfully, he raised the partition, leaving the space to the two in the back seat.
"Go ahead. What is it that you had to avoid the others to ask me?"
Roy looked at Megumi with interest.
Ever since the incident at the juvenile detention center, he had sensed something off about Megumi's emotions. The boy must have wanted to ask back then but held back because of Yuji and Nobara's presence.
"Yes."
Megumi took a deep breath.
Unexpectedly, his breathing wasn't entirely steady, as if even his trachea was trembling.
Gritting his teeth, he forcibly suppressed the unease in his heart, forcing his expression to appear indifferent.
"Toji Fushiguro... I heard you call that man by that name. Is he... my father?"