"Be careful," Kiyotaka Ijichi said as he watched the four of them walk away. Once they were out of sight, he raised his hand and made a gesture: "Lower the Curtain now. Emerge from darkness blacker still, purify that which is impure."
A black ripple appeared over the juvenile detention center, expanding rapidly as if enveloping the entire sky, and the surroundings darkened along with it.
"Whoa, it's gone dark!" Yuji Itadori, who had never seen anything like this, stared at the sky in amazement.
"This is a Curtain," Fushiguro said calmly, without showing any emotion. "Since the detention center is so close to residential areas, they've set up a barrier to hide us from view."
"Amazing," Yuji said, noticing that the sky had completely darkened along with the surroundings.
"You're so ignorant," Nobara Kugisaki sneered at Yuji, looking at him as if he were an idiot. "Are we really going to be okay working with a guy like this?"
"Let's stay focused," Hayashi said, looking at the group. He didn't want to outright say that there was a special-grade curse inside, as it would only increase the mental pressure on everyone.
Fushiguro nodded, bringing his palms together in a hand sign for a dog. "Shikigami, Jade Hound."
As soon as he finished speaking, a black shadow emerged from behind him, taking shape as a white hound. The moment it appeared, it howled toward the sky.
"Awooo~~~"
"The curse will alert us when it's near," Fushiguro said, his gaze fixed on the dark hallway entrance ahead.
"Got it, got it." Yuji grinned and crouched down in front of the Jade Hound, patting its smooth, white fur. "Good boy, we're counting on you."
"Fushiguro, this dog of yours seems more like a wolf," Hayashi said as he observed the Jade Hound up close, noticing that both its howl and appearance resembled a wolf.
"We can talk more once we're done. Let's focus," Fushiguro said seriously.
Hayashi shrugged. "Alright, let's head in."
The four of them pushed open the door and entered the building, but the interior was completely different from what they expected. Steel pipes crisscrossed everywhere, making it look more like a factory than a detention center.
"What's going on here? This should be a two-story dorm, right?" Yuji couldn't understand what he was seeing.
"Calm down, it's probably a complex layout," Nobara said, though in truth, she was feeling a little tense herself.
"No, that's not it," Fushiguro's face darkened. "This is a domain created by cursed energy. I've never seen one this large before."
"Something's wrong!" Fushiguro suddenly turned around, scanning the area. "Where's the door?"
Hayashi turned to look as well and saw that the door had disappeared. Behind them were only massive steel pipes.
"The door's gone…" Nobara and Yuji both looked baffled.
To someone who didn't know better, it might seem like they were trapped in a maze—like a ghost trick. It was eerie.
"Why is this happening? We just came through here, right?" Nobara asked, unable to make sense of the situation. This was the first time she'd encountered something like this, so she wasn't handling it much better than Yuji.
"Yeah, yeah," Yuji nodded in agreement.
"What should we do? What do we do now?" they both started to panic.
Hayashi, watching them, chuckled. "Are you guys nervous or just excited?"
It seemed like the two of them were getting so caught up in the situation that they were about to start singing.
"Don't worry, it remembers the scent of the entrance," Fushiguro said, referring to his Jade Hound.
"Oh wow, amazing!"
Nobara and Yuji quickly ran over to the Jade Hound, petting it and offering it treats. "Good boy, we'll give you some snacks later, all the snacks you want."
The Jade Hound wagged its tail happily, panting in response.
"Get serious, you two!" Fushiguro said, rolling his eyes. Despite the situation, they still found time to joke around.
However, Hayashi was the only one who seemed to know what they were really up against, so he couldn't bring himself to laugh.
"Come on, Fushiguro, Hayashi, we just need to rescue the survivors, right?" Nobara said, trying to hide her nerves. She noticed that Hayashi and Fushiguro seemed much calmer, though she suspected they were just faking it.
"Gotta say, Fushiguro, you're reliable. With you here, the survivors have a better chance of being saved, and so do we," Yuji smiled, giving him a compliment. "Right, Hayashi?"
"Yeah, let's get moving," Hayashi replied with a smile, walking ahead. Fushiguro seemed like he wanted to say something, but seeing Hayashi already moving, he quickly followed.
"Cursed energy release," Hayashi activated his cursed energy release, allowing him to sense everything within a 30-meter radius. So far, nothing seemed out of the ordinary.
Soon, the four of them reached a more open area where the lighting was less ominously red and somewhat dim instead.
"What the…" Yuji's eyes landed on several bodies slumped against the wall. One of them was reduced to nothing but bones, while another had been ripped in half—grisly, gruesome deaths.
"This is horrible," Yuji muttered as he walked closer, carefully adjusting the torn clothing on one of the half-bodies. The name "Masashi Okazaki" was clearly visible on the uniform, and Yuji immediately remembered the woman's words from earlier. This must be her son.
"I'm taking this body back with us," Yuji declared, his words confusing Nobara.
Yuji continued, "This was that woman's son."
"But…" Nobara hesitated, unsure if there was any point in taking the body back.
"You can still recognize his face. If there's no body, and we just tell her he's 'dead,' she'll never be able to accept it," Yuji explained, preparing to lift the body.
But Fushiguro quickly grabbed the back of Yuji's collar, pulling him back. "We still need to confirm the fate of the other two. Leave the body."
"Don't be ridiculous! The way back is gone—there's no way we'll have another chance to come back here!" Yuji argued. He felt it was necessary to take the body now, as they might not get another opportunity.
"I'm not saying we'll come back later. We were never here to save people in the first place, let alone retrieve bodies. I'm not wasting time on this," Fushiguro said, his voice growing louder. He didn't want to get distracted by the issue of retrieving corpses in the middle of such a dangerous situation.
"Not here to save people?" Yuji stood up, grabbing Fushiguro's collar. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"This is a juvenile detention center. Jujutsu sorcerers are briefed on all the details beforehand. 'Masashi Okazaki'—he was an unlicensed driver who hit a little girl on her way home from school. And it was the second time he'd driven without a license. You want to save people and guide them to a proper death, right? But what happens if the people you save end up killing others down the line?" Fushiguro explained.
Hayashi frowned as he approached Masashi Okazaki's corpse. It wasn't the body itself that bothered him—his experience at the crematorium had long since dulled those emotions.
What struck him as odd was the state of the bodies. They seemed to have been there for quite some time, far longer than just a day or two.