Chapter 79 — The Grand Shibuya Stage Begins
Fushiguro Megumi left the dorm in silence, his expression thoughtful.
The words Zen'in Shinsuke had said to him earlier still echoed in his mind.
If he truly wanted to grow stronger, he needed more than practice — he needed transformation.
And transformations… only came through pressure.
---
"Riiing— riiing— riiing—"
He answered the call.
"This is Fushiguro."
"Ah, good, you picked up! Hey, Megumi — new mission!"
Itadori's cheerful voice crackled through the receiver.
"I got it," Megumi replied curtly, hanging up right after.
No hesitation.
Just like Gojo-sensei and his uncle had said — there'd be plenty of chances to grow stronger.
There was no need to rush.
---
Time passed quickly.
Months after the Exchange Event, the quiet before the storm finally broke.
The organization Gojo had been investigating for so long… was on the move again.
---
"Hello, is this Zen'in-sensei? Major incident. Please report to Shibuya immediately for standby."
"I understand."
At Toji's restaurant, Zen'in Shinsuke hung up the phone and slowly rose from his seat.
---
"Something happen in Shibuya?"
Behind the counter, Toji glanced at him while cleaning his knife.
"Yeah," Shinsuke replied, his tone casual but his grin faintly sharp. "Big event. They've sent in quite a few sorcerers already. Wanna come watch the fireworks?"
It wasn't every day the jujutsu world deployed everyone.
A full cast, all-star lineup.
It'd be a shame to miss the show.
Toji snorted, sliding the blade back into its sheath.
"No thanks. It's just more of that jujutsu world nonsense. The harder they fight, the better. Maybe they'll all wipe each other out."
He said it with the same indifference he always had toward the society that once rejected him.
Shinsuke chuckled. "You never change."
Toji's gaze softened slightly.
"Megumi's probably heading there too, right? …Don't let anything happen to him."
"Relax," Shinsuke said, waving a hand. "Megumi won't die. No matter what happens."
After all — even if he didn't protect the kid, Sukuna would.
---
"Oh, right. Lend me that thing."
"What thing?" Toji frowned.
"You know," Shinsuke said, making a vague grabbing motion. "The arsenal. You're not using it anyway — let me borrow it for a while. I'll give it back once this is over."
Toji narrowed his eyes.
"You really think it's that dangerous? You need the entire arsenal?"
He didn't like being without it. Those cursed tools were an extension of his instincts.
Shinsuke's tone grew impatient. "Just give it to me. I'm not joking around this time — it's about Tsumiki."
That made Toji pause.
"You found the one who cursed her?" he asked, suddenly serious. "Then maybe I should tag along."
He tried to sound nonchalant — but there was a glint in his eye.
Definitely not because he didn't want to hand over the arsenal.
Shinsuke rolled his eyes. "Whether you come or not, I'm taking the damn thing. Hand it over."
Toji's mouth twitched. "…You never shut up, do you?"
He reached into his bag and pulled out a small, orb-like cursed spirit, tossing it to Shinsuke.
"Fine. Take it. But it's only temporary. Hey, listen — he's your master for now, got it? But when it's over, you come straight back to me."
Shinsuke caught the inventory curse effortlessly, tossing it once in the air.
He couldn't help but smirk.
A full arsenal of overpowered cursed tools — now this was going to be fun.
"Alright then. I'm off."
He waved casually and stepped out the door.
Tonight was Halloween — and Shibuya, no doubt, would be crawling with monsters.
---
Not long after, Zen'in Shinsuke arrived at Shibuya Station's New South Exit, where Panda and Ino were already waiting.
"Zen'in-sensei, you made it."
Ino gave a curt nod, his expression grim.
"The situation's a mess. The enemy's barrier technique is… beyond anything we've seen."
"They're demanding to see Gojo-sensei specifically," Panda added. "Judging by how they've set things up, it's gotta be the same group that attacked the Exchange Event."
Shinsuke stuffed his hands into his pockets, eyes glinting with amusement.
"Oh? So they're picking a fight with Gojo, huh? What's HQ saying about that?"
After all, if their goal was to seal Gojo Satoru, it was only natural they'd call him out by name.
"The higher-ups want to keep casualties to a minimum," Ino explained calmly.
"The plan is to let Gojo handle the Shibuya situation alone."
He took a drag from his cigarette, the red ember glowing faintly in the dim streetlight.
"So far, we've got several teams on standby outside the curtain," he continued.
"There's us, Nanami's squad, the Zen'in family's team led by the old man, Amanai-sensei's group, and Miss Mei Mei's team. Everyone's stationed around the perimeter."
"Our job," Panda said, scratching the back of his head, "is to patch any leaks Gojo-sensei can't cover."
Shinsuke chuckled. "Patch leaks, huh? That's a hell of a leak to patch."
If — or rather, when — Gojo got sealed, everything else would fall on their shoulders.
---
Panda frowned. "But with Gojo-sensei's strength, how big of a 'leak' could there even be?"
"In normal circumstances, not much," Shinsuke replied. "But this time's different. The enemy called him out directly. Which means they've already dug the pit — and Gojo's going to walk right into it."
He smirked. "And the best part? He has to."
Ino nodded gravely. "Exactly. With so many civilians trapped inside, Gojo can't ignore it. And once he's inside, those same people will limit his options. He won't be able to go all-out."
That was the curse of being a jujutsu sorcerer — their duty was to protect humanity.
And when humanity was used as a shield, most sorcerers found themselves shackled.
---
Shinsuke sighed and crossed his arms. "Honestly, it's simple. Sacrifice a few civilians, stop worrying about collateral damage, and you can end this quickly. But Gojo's not the type to do that anymore."
Panda looked uneasy. "So… the higher-ups are basically sending him in alone so that by sacrificing some civilians, they can minimize our losses, huh?"
Ino exhaled a long stream of smoke. "Pretty much. It's not up to us anyway. And this isn't like the Night Parade of a Hundred Demons. That time, we saw it coming. This one hit us out of nowhere.
Given the circumstances, this might really be the only move that makes sense."
He tilted his head back, staring at the dark, cloudy sky.
"But… like Zen'in-sensei said, Gojo might end up fighting with one hand tied behind his back."
The silence that followed was heavy.
---
Panda tried to lighten the mood. "Hey, it's not that bad. I was monitoring the curtain earlier — the civilians are panicking, sure, but I haven't seen any curses or curse users going on a killing spree.
Right now, the only issue is that no one can get out."
"That's something," Ino admitted. Then he looked toward Shinsuke, lowering his voice slightly.
"Zen'in-sensei, I wasn't planning to go back in there… but when I did earlier, I found something I think you'll find very interesting."
Shinsuke's brow arched. "Oh?"
"At the Shibuya Hikarie building," Ino said, his tone dropping to a murmur. "Below it… there's a cluster of special grade curses. Not one or two — a whole group."
Even from outside the curtain, he could still feel the lingering residue of their cursed energy. It was suffocating — far beyond anything ordinary special grades could produce.
---
Shinsuke's lips curved slowly, his eyes glinting like a predator catching scent of prey.
"That so? …Sounds exciting."
He licked his lips absently, a faint spark of anticipation flickering behind his gaze.
Perfect.
If he played this right, this cluster of curses might be enough to push his Eighth Gate training to the halfway point.
And when "Geto Suguru" unleashed that massive swarm of curses later during the Culling Games…
he'd have all the fuel he needed to fully master the Eight Gates.
By then, even if the entire jujutsu world burned, he'd at least have the strength to stand on his own.