Chapter 182: The Tremors of Jujutsu High, Principal Yaga's Heartache
Tokyo Jujutsu High, Principal's Office.
Sunlight streamed through the windows and fell across the desk, but it did nothing to dispel the oppressive atmosphere hanging over the room.
Masamichi Yaga sat motionless in his chair.
In his hand was a photograph that had been crumpled from how tightly he had gripped it.
It showed four young people standing together on a beach in Okinawa.
Satoru Gojo wore his usual arrogant grin as he tried to shove Suguru Geto into the water.
Geto looked irritated, but the smile at the corner of his mouth betrayed him.
Shoko Ieiri stood nearby smoking, watching the two make fools of themselves.
And off to the side stood Yami, holding a pitch black blade in his arms and looking at them with quiet amusement.
That photograph captured their youth at its brightest.
It was also one of the moments Yaga had been proudest to call himself their teacher.
Now, everything seemed to have fallen apart.
Drip.
A tear landed on Geto's smiling face in the photograph.
In only a few days, Yaga seemed to have aged ten years.
Deep exhaustion covered his once stern features.
More shocking still, his short black hair had turned almost completely white.
As principal, he was being crushed beneath pressure from the higher ups.
As their teacher, the pain was far worse.
His three most troublesome and talented students had once stood together at the peak of their generation.
Now, one had become a notorious Special Grade Curse User whose hands were supposedly stained with innocent blood.
Another had grown increasingly arrogant and openly hostile toward the higher ups.
And the third spent his days quietly moving pieces Yaga could not even begin to understand.
Bang!
Yaga slammed his fist into the desk.
A small woolen Cursed Corpse sitting near the edge bounced to the floor.
"Suguru…"
His voice cracked.
"Why did you have to do this?"
He covered his face with both hands.
At that moment, the office door opened quietly.
Yami stepped inside wearing a clean Jujutsu High uniform, Shiranui hanging at his waist.
The instant he saw Yaga's exhausted appearance, something tightened in his chest.
But he could not tell him everything.
Not yet.
Yaga was a good teacher and a good man, but he still stood within the existing system.
The more he knew, the more likely the higher ups or Kenjaku would notice something was wrong.
"Principal Yaga."
Yami walked over, picked up the fallen Cursed Corpse, and carefully placed it back on the desk.
Yaga raised his head.
His eyes were bloodshot.
"Yami."
He took a slow breath and forced himself to regain some composure.
"The higher ups are pressuring us again."
"They want Jujutsu High to fully cooperate in the hunt for Suguru."
His expression darkened.
"And because Satoru let him escape in Shinjuku, they're now questioning whether Satoru is involved as well."
Yaga leaned back heavily.
"This school is barely holding together."
Yami pulled out the chair opposite him and sat down.
"Then ignore their barking."
Yaga frowned.
Yami continued calmly.
"As long as Satoru remains here, the higher ups will not dare attack Jujutsu High directly."
There was no arrogance in his voice.
Only certainty.
Then Yami paused.
"As for Suguru…"
His expression became more serious.
"Principal, this world is not divided cleanly between black and white."
Yaga stared at him.
"What are you trying to say?"
Yami leaned slightly forward and lowered his voice.
"Suguru has reasons he cannot reveal."
Yaga's eyes widened.
"Some roads have to be walked by someone."
"And sometimes, someone has to enter the darkness so others can remain in the light."
Yami held his gaze.
"You only need to know one thing."
"Suguru never betrayed the promise we made."
Yaga froze.
For several seconds, he said nothing.
Then he stood so abruptly that his chair scraped backward.
He stared into Yami's eyes as though trying to find the slightest sign of deception.
There was none.
Yami's gaze was as steady as the blade at his waist.
Yaga had spent years as a Jujutsu Sorcerer.
Once the first shock passed, his instincts began working again.
He thought about everything that had happened.
Geto's abrupt change.
The strange circumstances surrounding his so called crimes.
Gojo's behavior during their confrontation in Shinjuku.
And now Yami's words.
Pieces that had seemed disconnected began fitting together.
"So that's it…"
Yaga slowly lowered himself back into his chair.
A long breath escaped him.
He did not ask for details.
Some secrets were safer left unknown.
If his students had already chosen their roles, then perhaps his responsibility was not to drag them back.
Perhaps it was to make sure they still had somewhere to return to.
"I understand."
When Yaga looked up again, some of his old strength had returned.
"I'll deal with the higher ups."
His voice was firm.
"But remember this."
"No matter what happens…"
"Tokyo Jujutsu High will always be your home."
Yami was silent for a moment.
Then he gave a small nod.
After leaving the principal's office, he headed directly toward the underground training grounds.
Geto's departure had not only shaken Yaga.
For the younger students, it had been devastating.
Especially Kento Nanami and Yu Haibara.
Boom!
A heavy impact echoed through the underground chamber.
Nanami was drenched in sweat.
His eyes were bloodshot as he swung his blunt sword again and again at the reinforced training target in front of him.
No precision.
No restraint.
He was not training.
He was venting.
Anger.
Confusion.
Helplessness.
Why?
Why would someone as kind as Suguru Geto become a murderer?
They had survived that mountain mission.
Haibara was alive.
Yami had saved them.
So why did it still feel like nothing had changed?
"Nanami! Stop!"
Haibara rushed toward him.
"That's enough!"
The unstable Cursed Energy rolling off Nanami struck him before he could get close.
Haibara was thrown backward.
Nanami did not even notice.
He raised his weapon again.
Then a hand caught the blade.
The strike stopped dead.
Nanami's eyes widened.
Yami stood in front of him.
He had used no Cursed Energy.
Only physical strength.
"Yami sensei!"
Haibara scrambled back to his feet.
Nanami remained frozen, breathing heavily.
His grip trembled around the sword.
"Yami sensei…"
His voice cracked.
"What are we supposed to do?"
He looked up.
Pain and confusion filled his eyes.
"Did Senior Geto really become that kind of person?"
Yami looked at both boys.
He remembered their original futures.
One dead far too young.
The other carrying that death for years.
He slowly released Nanami's sword.
The weapon fell to the floor.
"Nanami. Haibara."
Both boys looked at him.
"Do you honestly believe Suguru is the kind of man who would slaughter innocent people just because he hates non sorcerers?"
Neither answered immediately.
Memories surfaced instead.
Geto helping them during missions.
Geto giving advice.
Geto protecting others despite being injured himself.
Haibara's eyes filled with tears.
"No."
His answer came immediately.
"Absolutely not!"
Nanami said nothing.
But some of the confusion in his expression began to disappear.
"Then trust him."
Yami placed a hand on each of their shoulders.
"Suguru has not changed."
Their eyes widened.
"He is carrying out an extremely dangerous mission that only he can complete."
Haibara stopped breathing for a second.
"A mission…?"
Yami nodded.
"He left the light behind."
"And chose to walk through the darkness himself."
Nanami stared at him.
Pieces were beginning to connect.
"So the defection…"
Yami did not answer directly.
Instead, his expression hardened.
"That is enough."
He stepped back.
"Put away the tears."
"And stop wasting your strength like this."
Nanami's jaw tightened.
"What you need right now is not to beat a training dummy until you collapse."
Yami's voice sharpened.
"You need to become stronger."
"Strong enough to survive what is coming."
"Strong enough that when Suguru finally needs help, you are not the ones being protected."
The two boys stood motionless.
"Become strong enough to stand behind him."
Yami turned away.
"And wait for the day he comes back."
Silence filled the training ground.
Then Nanami bent down and picked up his sword.
The hopelessness in his eyes was gone.
Something harder had replaced it.
Resolve.
"I understand."
He adjusted his glasses.
"I'll become stronger."
His grip tightened around the weapon.
"Strong enough that when Senior Geto comes back…"
A grim look crossed his face.
"I can beat some sense into him myself."
Haibara wiped his eyes and nodded fiercely.
Yami glanced back at them and gave a small nod of approval.
The grief caused by Suguru Geto's supposed defection still hung over Tokyo Jujutsu High.
But it no longer threatened to tear the school apart.
Instead, it became fuel.
A reason to train.
A reason to survive.
A reason to become stronger.
Even so, one problem remained.
Geto's departure had left a massive gap in Jujutsu High's highest level combat power.
And if the future still contained the catastrophes connected to Kenjaku and Sukuna, what they currently possessed was nowhere near enough.
Yami raised his head.
His gaze turned toward Kyoto.
"It's time."
His hand rested lightly against Shiranui.
"Time to bring that little girl out of her prison."
....
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