Chapter 187: The World Moves Faster
My hand nearly slipped, almost dropping the bottle of water.
'What the hell? Kyoto Goodwill Event?? And I missed it this year? Well… it makes sense. I was gone after I killed Geto. Something like that did happen in the JJK Zero manga after Yuta fought Geto, but it was vague, barely even mentioned. Doesn't matter… the Kyoto Goodwill event is just a training camp, nothing more. But the real problem… it's happening again?
I'm pretty damn sure the next Kyoto Goodwill Event should happen next year. That's canon. So… something changed. What? Why would the jujutsu higher-ups push a second training camp—something normally done only once a year—into the same year? Twice?'
My thoughts flared like sparks on dry grass, catching, growing, until my head felt like fire.
Far away, in the shadowed silence of a dark council chamber…
An old voice echoed. "Are we certain this is the right thing to do?"
Another voice, calm and deliberate, replied. "The jujutsu world is too active. We must keep our students and schools just as active. More than ever."
"But," a third voice interjected sharply, "is this not dangerous? A show of power, yes, or a display meant to calm the instability… But won't it also appear as a declaration of war?"
Murmurs rippled through the chamber, arguments snapping like branches in a storm.
"Declaration of war? Ridiculous. Who would dare wage war against us?"
"It isn't that simple," another answered grimly. "The United Nations was already watching us before. But after what happened in Congo… they won't just sit quietly. They might act."
"What? The United Nations? Do you truly believe jujutsu would fall to the outside world?"
"Yes," came a steady, bitter response. "The outside world has numbers. They have science. They have weapons. Do not underestimate what they can bring against us. War is never the answer."
The debate cut off suddenly when another voice spoke, one colder, older, with an authority that weighed on every syllable.
"… Are you all forgetting something? You're panicking, fearing this may look like war. How amusing. Have you forgotten who caused the mess in Congo in the first place?"
The room froze.
One voice, hesitant, replied. "…Gojo. If Congo goes to the United Nations, if war begins… it will be Gojo's fault."
The silence thickened like a suffocating mist.
But the elder spoke again, slow and heavy with pride. "So what? If it is Gojo's fault, then he will bear the consequences. And I am confident he will win, as he always does."
Someone protested, voice trembling. "B-but Elder, how can you be so sure? Even Gojo… against all the United Nations combined?"
The elder cut through the doubt like a blade. "Have you not seen the destruction in Congo? That devastation was done by Gojo alone. Without the world even noticing until it was done. You underestimate him. I do not. He can do more, far more. We need not fear for now. We have the very peak of jujutsu on our side."
The chamber fell quiet once more, but the elder continued, his tone colder still.
"Even so… we shall not be careless. Call all the sorcerers. This show will be more than a display of power. Let it be a signal to the world. And let the spies of other nations watch."
His words lingered in the silence like iron chains, binding them all to his will.
Elsewhere…
A man in Buddhist robes walked slowly down a lonely path, his hood pulled low over his face. In his hands, he held a worn scroll of newspaper, the bold words clear under the torchlight.
Congo. Gojo.
His brow furrowed. His lips moved with a whisper.
"…Congo? How interesting. Gojo did that? Unexpected… Not like him at all. Has he changed after Geto's death? …This could become troublesome."
He tore the paper apart with deliberate slowness, the scraps carried away by the wind. His steps echoed as he disappeared into the night.
As Ren moved, the world moved… But something was different…
But this time… something shifted. The current of fate, the wheel of destiny—it turned faster. The world itself began to accelerate, as it truly realized the storm that is Ren Sato…