Masamichi Yaga's level of jujutsu was beyond doubt. The discipline he studied, Puppet Cursed Technique, originated in the Heian period. It developed from the practice of imbuing objects with Cursed Energy to make them move, eventually branching into countless specialized applications.
Masamichi Yaga was the undisputed master of puppet sorcery in the modern era.
Whether his classes were interesting, however, Akira Zenin had no idea. During one lecture, he heard Masamichi Yaga say, "A student's duty is to read and to learn how to exorcise curses."
After that, Akira adopted the same approach he used at home: You teach your class, I'll sleep. We won't interfere with each other.
With only four students in the classroom, Akira Zenin's behavior was impossible to miss, but Masamichi Yaga didn't make an issue of it.
Leaving aside the fact that Satoru Gojo had already said Akira was sent to school mainly to keep him away from the influence of his clan's upper ranks, as a direct descendant of one of the Three Great Families, Akira should already be familiar with most of the basics of the jujutsu world.
And although Akira Zenin was the heir to the Ten Shadows Technique, the Zenin Clan was nothing like the Gojo Clan, where Satoru Gojo alone dominated everything. In the Zenin family, there were countless high-ranking figures eager to make use of him. Constant open and covert infighting like that was bound to be mentally exhausting.
On top of that, Akira Zenin's performance during Q&A sessions in other standard classes was unexpectedly solid. So it was fine to let him rest.
And just like that, time flew by. More than three months had passed since Akira Zenin enrolled.
During that time, one of Akira Zenin's most frequent activities was laying out a mattress in front of the training grounds and watching Suguru Geto and Satoru Gojo fight hand-to-hand, both of them under strict orders not to use any techniques.
The three of them also took turns doing routine "street sweeps," meaning scheduled patrols to clear out Cursed Spirits. Generally speaking, nearly all jujutsu sorcerers were assigned specific areas to manage, and this was part of the daily work dispatched by Jujutsu High.
Since all three of them were far above average in strength, and Suguru Geto also needed to stock up on one-time-use Cursed Spirits, they proactively volunteered to go out and "grind experience."
That day, Satoru Gojo and Akira Zenin were about to head out with Suguru Geto to collect squid Cursed Spirits to use as "bullets" when Masamichi Yaga suddenly called out to them.
"There's a mission that may need to be assigned to you."
Satoru Gojo sounded a little impatient.
"Ah~ Don't tell me it's another Fly Head cleanup? Though, I guess that's fine. We were heading out anyway to help Geto gather some disposable Cursed Spirits."
Masamichi Yaga shook his head.
"This incident is urgent. The target has already caused over a hundred deaths. Two Grade 2 Jujutsu Sorcerers sent as backup have lost contact.
The Cursed Spirit has been registered. For now, it's designated as: Special Grade Cursed Spirit—Skeleton Woman."
"Special Grade?"
The moment he heard the mission's classification, Satoru Gojo's face lit up. He immediately grabbed Akira Zenin with his left hand and Suguru Geto with his right, then bolted straight out of the school gates.
"What are we waiting for? I can't wait!"
Masamichi Yaga stood there holding a notebook with the mission address written inside, watching the three of them vanish without a trace, and fell silent.
"…I'll just contact them by phone later."
...
Among Tokyo's twenty-three wards, Adachi Ward ranked third in terms of area and had a sizeable population. As for notoriety, Adachi Ward was actually more well-known than its neighboring Kita Ward, largely because of its disorderly reputation. After all, when most Tokyo residents thought of Kita Ward, their only impression was usually, "From the name, it sounds like it's somewhere north of Tokyo?"
Disorder naturally bred underworld culture. Walking through Adachi Ward, it wasn't unusual to occasionally spot openly displayed yakuza elements.
Sachi Kusayama and Monzen Keiji, two underlings, were watching a restaurant called "Shinkawa Aji."
"Business looks pretty good. Seems like charging only 20,000 a month for protection is a bit low."
Monzen Keiji scratched his ear when he heard that.
"Protection money? Don't forget what we're here for."
"Of course I remember. It's the usual story, right? Gambling debt with high-interest loans. We finally tracked the guy down in that slum over in Sanya. After a beating, he personally told us to come here to collect. But legally, that man doesn't seem to have any connection to this place anymore. Can we really get anything out of them?"
Behind them, the underlings Yoshimoto and Kazuhiro rolled up the newspapers in their hands and smacked Sachi Kusayama on the head.
"What are you talking about? Remember who you are! What you're describing, chasing down legal family members for repayment, is a judicial process. That's how the police operate. Our organization is different. We follow a related-party compensation system. We don't need legal consent."
The two underlings quickly agreed.
Sachi Kusayama asked again,
"But there has to be a method, right? That guy's relationship with his family is terrible. Using him to threaten that mother and daughter won't work, will it?"
Yoshimoto and Kazuhiro stroked their chins and nodded. For someone who hadn't even finished junior high, being asked to think up strategies beyond throwing punches was really a bit much.
"Looks like we'll have to use force."
"Force?"
Sachi Kusayama felt a flicker of unease.
"Are you sure this is really okay?"
They were called underlings and underling heads, but in reality, they were just street thugs with a bit of backing. They had set up loan shark traps and used brute force before, but only after receiving direct orders from higher-ups. Acting like this, based solely on their own boss's decision, was a first.
Kazuhiro narrowed his eyes.
"Didn't you say it's just a widow and her child? What kind of tactics do you even need for targets like that? Got any photos? Let me see."
"Tsk, tsk. With looks like this, whether we send her to the higher-ups or shove her into a movie, she could make tens of millions. And if the higher-ups are happy, do you really think our cut will be small? Even if something goes wrong, we can pull you back out."
Sachi Kusayama and Monzen Keiji nodded hard, vicious light flashing in their eyes.
"Big brother, we're with you!"
...
"Bang!"
The restaurant door was kicked open violently. Startled customers inside reacted with practiced efficiency, quickly setting down their food and leaving in a hurry.
A middle-aged man in a suit sitting near the entrance pulled out his phone to call the police, only for Sachi Kusayama to press a dagger against his throat.
"Don't get involved."
Sachi Kusayama glanced at the employee badge the man hadn't taken off.
"IM Interior. Got it? Now get out while I'm still feeling generous."
As the tall brute pulled the dagger away, the middle-aged man fled the restaurant at full speed.
Hearing the noise, Niikawa Masami came out from the kitchen, spatula in hand.
"What do you think you're doing?"
Kazuhiro stepped out from behind the underlings, squinting as he looked her up and down.
"Madam, your hairstyle is a bit… dangerous."
Niikawa Masami gestured for her daughter behind her to go inside and call the police, then faced the three burly men on her own.
"If this is about security fees, we already paid last month. We even paid double!"
Kazuhiro put on what he clearly thought was a gentle smile.
"Madam, we're a short-cycle, high-turnover enterprise. Our organization focuses on industry-leading strategies, zeroing in on core pain points, and achieving rapid value conversion through swift and precise action."
"In other words, there's no advance payment. You just get more attentive service for that one month."