Chapter 178: The Hardest Decision, the Alliance of Three
Boom!
A terrifying wave of Cursed Energy erupted from Satoru Gojo.
His Six Eyes, clear and vast as the sky, remained fixed on Suguru Geto. Anger, confusion, and something far more painful churned beneath their surface.
"I'll say it again."
Gojo's voice cracked through the empty shrine grounds like thunder.
"I refuse."
The air around him distorted beneath the force of his emotions.
He stepped forward, seized Geto by the collar, and lifted him off the ground.
"Suguru, have you lost your mind?"
His grip tightened.
"Do you even understand what you just proposed?"
"A fake defection? Becoming a wanted criminal? Drawing every higher up and that monster Kenjaku toward yourself?"
Gojo's voice rose with every word.
"Who do you think you are? Some kind of savior?"
Geto did not resist.
He simply allowed Gojo to hold him there, his expression calm.
The narrow eyes that usually carried a gentle smile had become deep and still. Beneath that calm, however, was a storm powerful enough to consume everything.
"Satoru, calm down."
Geto's voice was soft, but there was no hesitation in it.
"You know this is the safest option we have."
"Bullshit!"
Gojo's Cursed Energy surged again.
"I'm the strongest."
"No matter who appears or what kind of conspiracy they use, I can crush it with Cursed Technique Lapse: Blue and Cursed Technique Reversal: Red."
His gaze turned colder.
"If those rotten old men interfere, I'll kill them too."
"If the Three Great Families object, I'll erase the Zenin and Kamo Families along with them."
Yami watched Gojo's fury and released a quiet sigh.
He understood why Gojo was so angry.
It was not because Geto's plan was unreasonable.
It was because Suguru Geto was the one friend he could never replace.
In the original future, Geto's defection had become a wound that Gojo never truly healed from. That scar later became the fatal weakness Kenjaku exploited to seal him inside the Prison Realm.
This time, Geto had not turned against them.
But his plan would still force him to walk alone through endless darkness, carrying a name hated by the entire Jujutsu World.
How could Gojo accept that?
"Satoru."
Yami stepped forward and placed one hand on his arm.
"Let him go first."
He used no Cursed Energy.
Even so, the calm and expansive presence created by Sun Breathing passed through Gojo's violent aura like a warm current, gradually smoothing the chaotic flow of Cursed Energy around him.
Gojo gritted his teeth.
His chest rose and fell heavily.
After several seconds, he finally released Geto.
Then he turned toward Yami.
"Don't tell me you agree with this lunatic."
Yami met his angry gaze and nodded.
"Cruel as it is, Suguru is right."
Gojo stared at him.
"What?"
He pointed directly at Yami.
"Have both of you gone insane?"
Yami ignored the accusation and looked toward the distant festival grounds.
Lanterns still glowed between the trees. Faint laughter drifted up the mountain, mixed with the occasional burst of fireworks.
"Satoru, you are the strongest."
His voice remained calm.
"But being the strongest does not make you omnipotent."
Gojo's expression stiffened.
"Riko's situation."
"Haibara and Nanami's mission."
"The twins imprisoned in that village."
Yami looked back at him.
"Could your strength alone prevent any of those things from happening?"
The words struck Gojo harder than any attack.
His mouth opened.
No answer came.
He possessed enough power to destroy a country.
But he could not erase human malice.
He could not watch every mission, protect every student, or dismantle a system that had spent centuries learning how to survive by sacrificing others.
"The higher ups do not care about the lives of Jujutsu Sorcerers," Yami continued. "They care about preserving their authority."
"And Kenjaku has survived for a thousand years by hiding, waiting, and manipulating events from the shadows."
Yami turned fully toward Gojo.
"The enemy is hidden while we stand in the open."
"If you kill the higher ups now, the Jujutsu World will fall into chaos."
"Neutral sorcerers will not see you as a liberator. Many of them will see you as a tyrant more dangerous than any Curse User."
His eyes sharpened.
"You would trigger a civil war."
"And while everyone tears each other apart, Kenjaku only has to remain hidden and wait until both sides are weakened."
Silence settled over the shrine.
A firework burst in the distance, briefly illuminating the three of them beneath the moon.
"That is why someone has to enter the darkness willingly," Yami said.
"We need bait too dangerous for Kenjaku to ignore."
"Someone who can draw out the snakes hiding beneath this system, one by one."
The final echo of the firework faded.
Geto straightened his collar, which Gojo had left wrinkled, then stepped in front of him.
"Satoru."
His voice was quieter now.
"Do you remember what we promised?"
"We said we would change this terrible Jujutsu World."
"We said we would protect those who couldn't protect themselves."
Geto's gaze shifted toward the festival below.
"But under the current rules, Riko, Haibara, Nanami, Shoko, and everyone else we care about will keep being driven toward death."
His fingers curled around the bottle in his hand.
"When I saw Nanako and Mimiko locked inside that cage, being treated worse than animals, I wanted to kill every villager there."
His eyes darkened.
"For a moment, I truly believed they deserved it."
"But Yami stopped me."
Geto looked back at Gojo.
"If I had slaughtered that village, I would have become exactly what the higher ups and Kenjaku wanted."
"A broken Special Grade Sorcerer with nowhere left to return."
"So I decided to leave their rules behind before they could force me into that role."
His expression hardened.
"But this time, I will decide what that role means."
Geto placed both hands on Gojo's shoulders.
"You are the strongest."
"You need to remain inside Jujutsu High, where everyone can see you."
"As long as you are here, the higher ups will hesitate before moving against the students."
"The other sorcerers will still have someone they can depend on."
His grip tightened.
"You will be the sun that keeps them afraid."
Gojo's jaw tensed.
"And I will become the worst Curse User."
Geto's voice carried no fear.
"I will accept the infamy."
"I will become the greatest enemy of the Jujutsu World."
"I will draw every rumor, every scheme, and every trace of hatred toward myself."
A dangerous light entered his eyes.
"While they are watching me, you can remain here and protect Riko, Shoko, Senior Utahime, Haibara, Nanami, and the students who are still too young to survive this world alone."
"This is how we divide our roles."
"You remain in the light."
"I move through the darkness."
"And Yami…"
Geto glanced toward him.
"He is the variable who knows what may come and can move between both sides."
His voice rose with iron determination.
"The three of us can tear this rotten world apart and rebuild it."
Gojo fell silent.
His head lowered.
White hair obscured his eyes, hiding his expression from the other two.
His hands clenched so tightly that his nails broke the skin of his palms.
"Why?"
His voice came out hoarse.
"Why do you have to carry all of it alone?"
Geto's expression softened slightly.
"We are the strongest," Gojo said.
His voice trembled.
"Didn't we promise to change everything together?"
"If you do this, what happens afterward?"
"How are we supposed to eat ramen together?"
"Play games?"
"Make Utahime angry?"
Gojo raised his head.
A thin layer of moisture had gathered in those sky blue eyes.
For once, the arrogant Satoru Gojo looked less like the strongest sorcerer alive and more like a boy about to lose the person most important to him.
Geto felt a sharp pain in his chest.
But he knew he could not give in.
If he did, the future would only return to its original course.
Geto drew a slow breath, stepped forward, and wrapped his arms around Gojo.
"Satoru."
His voice was gentle.
"My youth had you."
"Shoko."
"Yami."
"Everyone."
A faint smile appeared on his face.
"That was already more than enough."
He closed his eyes.
"Let me walk the next road alone."
Gojo said nothing.
He only held Geto tightly, as though trying to pass every bit of his strength into him.
They remained like that for a long time.
Eventually, Gojo released him.
He stepped back and wiped his face carelessly with one hand.
When he looked up again, the Six Eyes had regained their usual sharpness.
But beneath that cold clarity was a dangerous resolve.
"Fine."
His voice was calm now.
Too calm.
"I agree."
Geto's shoulders loosened slightly.
"But listen carefully, Suguru."
Gojo stared directly into his eyes.
"If you die out there, I'll chase you all the way into hell."
"And when I drag you back, I'll beat you half to death myself."
Geto stared at him for a second.
Then he laughed.
A genuine laugh, free of tension.
"Don't worry."
He pushed his hair back and returned to his usual composed manner.
"I'm about to become the most infamous Curse User alive."
"I won't die easily."
Watching them finally reach an understanding, Yami felt the weight in his chest ease.
The original tragedy had been torn apart.
Suguru Geto was no longer a man driven into darkness by despair.
He had become someone who entered it willingly, fully aware of the cost.
Satoru Gojo was no longer a lonely strongest standing above everyone else.
He had comrades who would fight beside him, even from the shadows.
"Since it's settled, stop dragging this out."
Yami stepped between them.
He took three cans of iced soda from the system space and handed one to each of them.
Gojo looked at the can.
"You had those this whole time?"
Yami ignored him.
"To the alliance that's going to overturn the Jujutsu World."
He raised his drink.
"Cheers."
Clang!
The three cans struck together.
They drank.
Cold soda ran down their throats, the sharp carbonation burning faintly as if to seal the insane plan they had just made.
Then the three sat side by side on the shrine steps once more.
In the distance, the final fireworks bloomed across the night sky.
Brilliant.
Beautiful.
Brief.
But the bond between the three of them had already passed beyond positions, reputation, and even life and death.
It would remain like starlight in a world consumed by darkness.
No one knew how much time passed.
The fireworks eventually faded.
The lights below began to dim as Tokyo Jujutsu High settled into sleep.
Geto stood and brushed the dust from his clothes.
He looked at Gojo.
Then at Yami.
A bold smile appeared on his face.
"Well then."
He turned toward the stone path leading down the mountain.
"The show begins."
Suguru Geto walked away.
His silhouette disappeared into the darkness, carrying with it the promise of a storm powerful enough to shake the entire Jujutsu World.
Gojo watched until he could no longer see him.
Then the soda can in his hand crumpled.
His expression had become unreadable.
The following morning, sunlight entered Suguru Geto's empty dormitory.
His bed had been left perfectly neat.
Everything was arranged as though he had never lived there.
As though he had already traveled too far to return.
Their youth ended beneath those fading fireworks.
And from Tokyo Jujutsu High, a storm began to spread across the world.
....
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