"You already have an idea of how the event works, don't you?"

Walking through Jujutsu High, Gojo asked Yuji, who was beside him, the boy looking around with mild interest.

"Nanami gave me a brief summary." Two months had passed, and Itadori had finally returned to school.

A lot had happened, making him feel as if much more time had passed since he had last set foot in the place.

He felt the need to familiarize himself with his surroundings again.

"That's good because I made sure to deliver the souvenirs in advance! So I brought you on short notice!"

Itadori blinked, narrowing his eyes as he turned to his teacher. "Wait, how long until the event starts?"

"30 minutes! So I think you'd better hurry up and meet the rest of the students!"

Itadori's eyes widened, and before Gojo could wave goodbye, the boy had disappeared, running at full speed as he tried to sense Megumi or Nobara's cursed energy.

'Got it!'

It didn't take long before he found them, a vein popping in his forehead when he realized they were gathered on the opposite side of the school.

'He brought me to the other side on purpose?! Idiot!'

Gojo, watching his student disappear, suddenly sneezed, which made him look around curiously.

"..."

"He's late."

On the school grounds, the students of Tokyo Jujutsu High were all gathered to come up with a plan to win the tournament.

While they waited for the only one of them who hadn't shown up yet, Maki was the one to declare that he was late.

"Do you think something happened?" Nobara asked Megumi, showing her concern as she sat watching the entrance.

"I can't say." Not knowing what could have happened, he simply stated his lack of knowledge.

"Ugh..." With a grunt, Maki sat down, resting her chin on her fist, clearly impatient. "What do you think we should do? With a new member, we need to change our strategies."

"Well, that will depend on what he can do," said Panda, hugging a support beam.

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"..."

"He's been training with Sensei for the past two months, so he's certainly stronger." Megumi, observing the two discuss how to incorporate Itadori into their plans, recalled what had happened during the boarding school incident.

Itadori was extraordinarily resilient, and even though he couldn't use cursed energy to strengthen his body, he had withstood countless attacks from a special-grade curse and even traded blows with it, though without damaging it.

Considering all this, Megumi confidently spoke his next words.

"But even before that, if everyone from Tokyo and Kyoto High fought without using cursed energy, I'm sure Itadori would win."

Maki, seeing Megumi say this with such confidence, cracked a small smile. Considering that he had faced Todo, it wasn't hard to believe. "Interesting."

!

As they were about to discuss how to include Itadori after Megumi's input, they turned toward the entrance when the sound of footsteps echoed.

"Sorry for the delay." Taking a deep breath, Itadori appeared, walking through the door with sweat dripping down his face as if he'd just run a marathon. "How long do we have before the tournament starts?"

"25 minutes," Panda said simply, causing Itadori to gape in disbelief.

"What? I got here so fast?! Damn, I should've saved my energy. Now I feel as sweaty as a pig." Moving through the group, Itadori sat down next to Nobara.

As he caught his breath, he didn't notice the wary looks from the second-year students.

Their cautious gazes were understandable—after all, he was the vessel for Sukuna, the most powerful curse to ever live.

It was only natural they felt suspicious of him. They didn't know when he might lose control.

"Hey, Itadori."

Itadori, still catching his breath, froze when he heard someone call his name. Turning, he saw Nobara beside him.

"I heard you and Fushiguro went out to eat a few days ago."

"..."

Sensing that the conversation had entered dangerous territory, Itadori remained silent.

'Why does this remind me of...'

"And you didn't even have the decency to invite me, did you?!"

'...that time I messed up, and my wife scolded me?'

Feeling the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end, Itadori gave a nervous smile, raising his hands in defense.

"Oh, you know how it is! Sensei told me not to invite more than one person at a time."

Gojo hadn't said anything of the sort, but Itadori needed an excuse to get out of this situation.

From the intense glare he was receiving, however, it seemed the excuse wasn't working.

"Next time, you'll pay for everything," Nobara declared, causing Itadori's eyes to widen as he remembered how much food she'd eaten during their first mission.

'I might go bankrupt at this rate.'

"..."

Watching the interaction between the two, the second-year students quickly realized that Itadori was definitely not a threat to them.

In fact, at that moment, Nobara seemed much more threatening.

"All right, since you're here, we can finally work out our plan." Maki spoke up, drawing everyone's attention. "So pay close attention!"

"Todo will surely come straight for us and try to crush us. He's a monster, and even if we face him together, we might still be annihilated. We were thinking of leaving Panda or Fushiguro to slow him down, but Itadori, that task is yours now."

"You don't have to beat him—just delay him."

"You can go all out!" Panda added with a nod.

Itadori nodded in agreement.

From what he'd heard, Todo was extremely strong. If it had been him a few days ago, Itadori might have had no hope of victory.

But now, that doubt was gone.

He was confident he could defeat him, and even after that, he’d still have enough energy left to deal with Hanami later.

But in any case, victory wasn't the goal. He just needed to hold out long enough for the curse attack to begin.

Then, he would use Todo's help to exorcize Hanami.

Letting her escape was out of the question.