[ACD.]
Getou Suguru wiped the sweat from his brow. He refused to overturn the common sense he had learned since entering the jujutsu world, and so he chose to believe that those with Heavenly Restriction were rare individuals—people blessed with good fortune and endowed with immense potential.
After all, he had never once encountered someone with zero cursed energy. What even was that supposed to be—stones by one's feet?
Ordinarily, only non-living things possessed zero cursed energy.
On the podium, the assistant supervisor overseeing the exam spoke up nervously,
"P-Please, students, do not look around."
Gojo Satoru, with his Six Eyes, could have seen the answers directly if he wanted to, but he stubbornly refused to do so. Instead, he leaned over like Ieiri Shoko, craning his head toward Getou Suguru's exam paper, as though answers copied this way would somehow taste sweeter.
The assistant supervisor's invigilation was a complete failure. The assistant supervisor was on the verge of tears and hurriedly sent a message to Asou Akiya outside the classroom, asking for help.
[Asou Akiya: Just forbid them from using their phones and from communicating verbally.]
[Asou Akiya: In every other respect, letting them copy won't help.]
[Asou Akiya: I believe the history papers they submit in the end won't be identical.]
The assistant supervisor was astonished.
He felt deeply relieved that before leaving, Asou-kun had confiscated the trio's phones, cutting off any chance for open discussion.
After looking over Getou Suguru's answers, Ieiri Shoko gave a casual flick of her pen and neatly filled in: [ACD.]
For questions she couldn't understand, copying Getou's answers was more than enough.
Gojo Satoru, after reading them, spun his pen once around his fingers, trying to catch a fleeting spark of inspiration in his mind.
"Heavenly Restriction? Akiya really knows how to make things difficult," he muttered. "I remember hearing those old geezers say that the Zen'in family once produced a Heavenly Restriction."
"B is zero cursed energy… I feel like I've seen someone with zero cursed energy somewhere before…"
Gojo Satoru tapped lightly against his own brow, then pinched his eyelids, as if interrogating his Six Eyes by force.
The Six Eyes offered no hint in response.
Relying purely on instinct, Gojo Satoru filled in his answer: [ABC.]
The essence of Heavenly Restriction lay in an innate, inborn "binding." The heavens abided by the law of equivalent exchange, and so, in Gojo Satoru's eyes, someone born with a Heavenly Restriction ought to be rare, possess zero cursed energy, and enjoy extraordinary luck.
A person with zero cursed energy.
Trading away the ability to see cursed spirits for their entire lifetime, in exchange for the trait of being lucky.
"Question two…" Getou Suguru read on, and instantly felt his scalp go numb.
[2]It is widely known that barrier techniques are easy to learn but difficult to master. In the thousand-year history of the jujutsu world, only two sorcerers have achieved the greatest accomplishments and earned the highest renown in the field of barrier techniques. They are collectively known as the "pinnacles of male and female barrier arts." One of them is Master Tengen. Please answer: what is the gender of Master Tengen, who is revered by the Japanese jujutsu world?
A. Male.
B. Female.
C. Genderless.
D. Intersex.
Getou Suguru: "We're done for! All we can do is guess blindly."
Gojo Satoru: "Getou, this wasn't in any of the materials we reviewed!"
Ieiri Shoko let out a long, helpless sigh. "Sigh…"
Information about Master Tengen was both extremely confidential and deeply venerated within the jujutsu world. As a result, even though Getou Suguru had deliberately studied material related to Master Tengen, he was now driven to despair by what should have been the simplest of all questions—a basic multiple-choice question about gender.
Clenching his teeth, Getou Suguru stared at the exam. Of the two barrier masters of different genders mentioned in the question, the only one he knew anything about was Master Tengen.
Since ancient times, the jujutsu world had upheld male superiority and female inferiority; female sorcerers had always found it difficult to stand on equal footing with male sorcerers.
Getou Suguru gambled and filled in his answer: [A.]
He bet that Master Tengen was male.
Gojo Satoru chewed on the end of his pen and made his own gamble: [C.]
That so-called Master Tengen had lived for so long—surely they must have turned into some genderless ancient monster by now.
Ieiri Shoko hesitated, then chose: [D.]
Since it was a blind guess anyway, why not try "intersex"? Given Asou Akiya's fondness for gossip and mischief, the more outrageous the answer, the more likely it was to be correct—right?
Deep beneath Tokyo Jujutsu High—the Tombs of the Star Corridor.
Tengen: "..."
Tengen froze in disbelief. "I'm male, genderless, intersex???"
So this was the future of the jujutsu world? This was the "Six Eyes" cultivated by the Three Great Families? This was the historical knowledge of Tokyo Jujutsu High's first-year students? This was it? Since when had the level of education in the jujutsu world fallen so catastrophically low?!
At this very moment, Master Tengen—revered as a god by the Star Religious Group—felt her vision plunge into darkness.
She wanted to say something.
She was female.
A thousand years ago, back in the Heian era, she had been a genuine beauty—nothing like the form she bore now.
"Asou Akiya has quite an impressive breadth of knowledge—he even knows of Monk Genshin," Tengen nodded slightly at the content of the exam question, not considering it to be beyond the syllabus at all. These three students, exceptional in their own right, had every reason to learn the history of the jujutsu world. "The male jujutsu sorcerer who stood shoulder to shoulder with me was Monk Genshin. Hardly anyone remembers him now. When he was alive, he was known as a 'walking, humanoid barrier,' and after his death, his flesh and body were transformed into the special-grade cursed tool capable of sealing all things—the Prison Realm."
As a master of barrier techniques, Tengen knew of Monk Genshin and knew of the special-grade cursed tool known as the Prison Realm.
The Prison Realm was divided into two parts: an "Outer" and an "Inner."
She herself possessed the Inner Prison Realm, while the Outer Prison Realm had vanished without a trace many years ago.
Tengen's emotions rose and fell in turbulent waves. Wanting to see just how well they would score, she forced herself to keep watching.
If she didn't see them fail, it would hardly do justice to her current mood.
[3]The jujutsu world has a long-standing tradition of cremating corpses and does not favor burial. It is said that any jujutsu sorcerer who possesses an innate technique carries the potential to be turned into a cursed object after death. The question is: can the corpse of a sorcerer who possessed Reverse Cursed Technique be made into a cursed object?
A. Yes.
B. No.
C. There is no precedent; unknown.
D. Not disclosed; jujutsu world classified information.
Faced with this question, Getou Suguru froze in shock, while Ieiri Shoko felt a chill run down her spine.
Gojo Satoru crossed one leg over the other, casually swinging his foot, and without a second thought filled in his answer: [A.]
He knew it could be done.
Getou Suguru silently glanced at Gojo Satoru as he wrote, then looked back at the second multiple-choice question and reflected deeply. He really shouldn't underestimate the true weight carried by the Three Great Families—who would have thought that in this lifetime, he'd end up copying Gojo's answers?
Getou Suguru wrote down: [A.]
When Ieiri Shoko saw that Getou Suguru had already filled in his answer, her whole expression fell apart.
She rubbed her arms, brushing away the goosebumps that had risen on her skin, and made up her mind not to copy Getou's answer under any circumstances. She decisively wrote down: [B.]
No, it cannot be done!
She would rather her classmates blindly guess and get it wrong than accept that answer.
After all, Reverse Cursed Technique was an ability acquired after birth by jujutsu sorcerers; it was not an innate, inborn technique.
[4]One of the commonly accepted truths in the jujutsu world is that cursed spirits are born from the negative emotions of ordinary people, and that cursed spirits and jujutsu sorcerers exist in a kind of balance: the stronger cursed spirits become, the stronger jujutsu sorcerers grow—and conversely… the stronger jujutsu sorcerers become, the stronger cursed spirits will be. The question is: how many ways are there in this world to completely eradicate cursed spirits?
A. Turn all ordinary people into jujutsu sorcerers.
B. Eliminate all ordinary people.
C. Eliminate all jujutsu sorcerers.
D. A fantasy; there is no possibility of completely eradicating cursed spirits from the world.
"Completely eradicate cursed spirits?"
Getou Suguru felt his entire worldview take a violent hit.
That earthquake-like sensation… it was far too familiar. You again, Akiya!
The third multiple-choice question did not deliberately incite a confrontation of positions between ordinary people, jujutsu sorcerers, and cursed spirits. Instead, it simply asked the first-year students of Tokyo Jujutsu High: have you ever seriously thought about a solution to this problem?
Getou Suguru's answer was a resounding no. This was far beyond the syllabus—he was just a student who might already fail his history exam!
Unable to hold back, Getou Suguru whispered to the absentminded Gojo Satoru, "Which one are you choosing?"
The assistant supervisor gathered his courage and barked out, "No talking!"
Gojo Satoru shot him a cold glance. The supervisor immediately wilted. Propping his chin in both hands, Gojo Satoru drawled lazily, "I feel like picking D."
Ieiri Shoko said calmly, "I think A is the correct answer."
Getou Suguru's conscience ached; for a fleeting instant, he felt that A, B, and C all seemed correct.
Gojo Satoru snorted. "This is a problem that's plagued the jujutsu world for a thousand years. I don't believe Akiya actually knows the answer—it's that simple."
With a swift motion, Gojo Satoru scribbled down his choice: [D.]
Ieiri Shoko quickly filled in her answer: [A.]
Getou Suguru hesitated, torn and deeply conflicted. He reread the question with a furrowed brow, carefully confirming that this was not a multiple-choice question.
Letting out a quiet sigh, Getou Suguru finally wrote: [A.]
Because he remembered that jujutsu sorcerers do not give rise to cursed spirits, and if all ordinary people were to become jujutsu sorcerers, it would mean that the very soil in which cursed spirits are born would vanish from the world.
If everyone were a jujutsu sorcerer, then everything would be all right.
After finishing the question, an extreme yet strangely tender wish surfaced in Getou Suguru's mind.
"Question five…" Getou Suguru's faint smile froze on his face.
[5]One of the widely accepted tenets of the jujutsu world is that the negative emotions of jujutsu sorcerers do not give rise to cursed spirits, and that sorcerers are the natural nemesis of cursed spirits. Is this statement absolute? (This question allows multiple answers.)
A. The negative emotions of jujutsu sorcerers will absolutely never give rise to cursed spirits.
B. Under specific conditions, when a jujutsu sorcerer curses another person, cursed spirits may be born.
C. Under specific conditions, a jujutsu sorcerer may transform into a cursed spirit while still alive.
D. Under specific conditions, a jujutsu sorcerer may become a cursed spirit after death.
Getou Suguru went rigid with shock, sitting stiffly in his seat. "I'm not seeing things, am I? This one's multiple choice?"
Help me!
The significance of a multiple-choice question was a hundred times more terrifying than a single-choice one.
What did this mean? It meant that Asou Akiya was rejecting one of the foundational pieces of common knowledge in the jujutsu world laid out in Question Four: not only could ordinary people give rise to cursed spirits, but jujutsu sorcerers could produce cursed spirits as well. Everyone—every single one of them—could be one of the culprits responsible for bringing curses into existence.
At that very moment, Getou Suguru in the classroom fell silent.
And deep within the Tombs of the Star Corridor, Tengen also fell silent.
Tengen gazed at her increasingly inhuman appearance and let out a quiet sigh.
A hidden worry.
Under certain conditions, she had a premonition that if she continued to evolve… she might one day remain alive only to become an existence akin to a cursed spirit herself.
Tengen murmured, "The true answers to this question are B, C, and D.
B has occurred in history—when a jujutsu sorcerer, on the brink of death, places a curse upon another, it is possible for a cursed spirit to be born.
D refers to a jujutsu sorcerer killed by an ordinary person; if that sorcerer dies harboring resentment, they may also transform into a cursed spirit after death.
"And as for C…" Tengen hesitated, lost in thought. "It's the answer I cannot state with absolute certainty, yet the one I feel is most likely true."
After seeing the answers submitted by the three students, Tengen's emotions grew complicated.
Getou Suguru: [A, D]
Gojo Satoru: [B, D]
Ieiri Shoko: [B, D]
Not a single person had submitted the same answers as Tengen. Tengen smiled faintly, feeling an overwhelming sense of joy at their innocence.
Then, as a thought struck her, Tengen began to ponder whether there had ever been any cases in history of a jujutsu sorcerer remaining alive and transforming into a cursed spirit.
Wait.
It seemed… there was one?
Kenjaku???
[6]Below, which of the following actions committed by a jujutsu sorcerer would be sentenced with death by the jujutsu world? (This question is multiple choice.)
A. Murdering ordinary people.
B. Murdering a jujutsu sorcerer.
C. Killing someone in a moment of impulsive rage.
D. Being forced to swallow a special-grade cursed object.
Getou Suguru: [A, B, C.]
Gojo Satoru: [A, B, D.]
Ieiri Shoko: [A, B.]
Although the assistant supervisor had no idea what the actual question was, from the podium it was clear at a glance that everyone's answers were different.
The assistant supervisor had only one thought echoing endlessly in his head:
This question is incredible—there's no way anyone can copy off each other.
Reality proved one thing beyond doubt: so-called "common sense" had a decisive influence on examinations.
Some chose many options, some chose few, and some chose neither too many nor too few—yet every student present, without exception, was staring down the very real possibility of failing the course.
—
Author's note:
Everyone is welcome to try their hand at the "Jujutsu Kaisen–Version History Exam." Once Asou Akiya reveals the answers later on, all shall be made clear.
After the three of them finished answering the questions, even their future lives felt a little easier somehow—haha.