As soon as Suguru Geto heard the news, he rushed over without stopping.
And right away, he ran into Baobhan Sith, who was casually munching on an apple.
"Rushing like that—you might just keel over from lack of oxygen."
Baobhan Sith blocked his path, speaking in an almost indifferent tone. "I've already settled your friend down. He's injured but stable. With your friend who uses that Reverse Cursed Technique, his physical wounds should heal quickly. But he's exhausted, and the doctor's orders are that he needs plenty of rest."
"Really, you should be grateful I brought him back alive at all. If you insist on barging in and disturbing him, though, I won't stop you."
With that, she took another bite of her apple, while Suguru leaned over, hands on his knees, catching his breath.
Through the window, Suguru could see Haibara inside, alive but clearly worn out. While his expression remained composed, he couldn't help but feel immense relief.
He snuck a glance at Baobhan Sith's profile.
So… she'd saved them again?
"Thank you…"
"It was nothing. I wasn't doing it for you anyway."
Baobhan Sith took another bite of her apple, hiding the faint upward curl of her lips.
"Hey, have you ever seen an octopus spit ink?"
The question came out of nowhere, making Suguru blink. But with all her help lately, Suguru was starting to trust Baobhan Sith, so he reflexively answered.
"I think… yes? Actually, I did see one at the aquarium last time I went with Gojo and Riko."
"Right now, you look like an octopus that's expelled all its ink and is running on empty. What's going on?" She tossed the apple core around in her hand, scanning the area for a trash can.
Suguru hesitated, then forced a small smile, his eyes narrowed. "Nothing really. I probably just ate something bad—my stomach hasn't been the best."
As soon as he said it, Baobhan Sith turned and looked at him, her gaze narrowed in a way that made a chill run down his spine, as if she could peer right through him, straight to his soul.
"Odd. I've taken out nearly a hundred cursed spirits over these past days, yet…"
She trailed off, murmuring to herself, her expression contemplative.
"Hmm? Did you say something?"
"Nope, you misheard."
Even Suguru wasn't sure if he'd heard her right.
She's killed… nearly a hundred cursed spirits?!
But why? Or rather, for what reason?
"Oh, that reminds me…"
Baobhan Sith interrupted his thoughts, pulling out a small pouch and opening it in front of him.
When Suguru saw what lay inside, the sheer malevolence radiating from the objects made the hairs on his arms stand on end. He instinctively took a step back.
"Ah, seeing your reaction, I guess I don't need to waste my breath explaining."
Taking a deep breath to steady his racing heart, Suguru forced himself to look away from the pouch's contents and up at her face, which wore a slightly mocking smile.
"A special-grade cursed object. Sukuna's fingers," he murmured, his voice darkening.
Sukuna—the King of Curses from a thousand years ago.
Back in the golden age of the jujutsu world, countless sorcerers had tried to take him down, all to no avail. Even after his death, his twenty fingers became special-grade cursed objects, drawing cursed spirits like moths to a flame. Even a thousand years later, sorcerers continued to fear the ghost of Sukuna.
Suguru knew Jujutsu High had secured a few of these fingers as highly dangerous cursed objects.
Though weaker cursed spirits wouldn't dare approach them, the fingers could sometimes be used to ward off curses. But to more powerful cursed spirits, they were an unparalleled delicacy.
Just one of these fingers could elevate a cursed spirit to first-grade or even special-grade. And here, Baobhan Sith had three.
Suguru was aware of the fingers kept under lock and key at Jujutsu High, but he couldn't be certain if they had as many as she now held in her hand.
"Where did you get these?"
Her timing meant…
"The same place where I found your friend. The opponent was quite the interesting character." She closed the pouch, glancing down with a smirk. "It even had its own domain."
"A… domain…"
That was a technique even he and Gojo hadn't mastered.
Special-grade—it was certainly special-grade.
Suguru's chest tightened. If Baobhan Sith hadn't shown up there, Haibara… his ever-cheerful junior… would have undoubtedly died!
But this wasn't over. To extract Haibara and eliminate the curse, they would need to send more sorcerers. And this wasn't just any cursed spirit—it was a special-grade curse with a domain. Whoever took on this mission would be marching to their deaths.
Only after enough had died would the higher-ups recognize the curse as a special-grade threat, and send their own special-grade and domain-capable first-grade sorcerers.
Sure, the curse would eventually be dealt with. But those sorcerers… they would have died for nothing.
"Why… the report said it was just a second-grade cursed spirit…"
Otherwise, there was no way this mission would have fallen to someone like Haibara.
"That curse won't leave the shrine, but for three fingers to gather in one place is very peculiar," Baobhan Sith muttered, lightly tapping the floor with her heel. A cold smile spread across her face. "I think I have a pretty good idea who's behind this."
Suguru's pupils contracted, the gentle light in his eyes now clouded with malice.
Then, he felt a hand on his shoulder. The turbulent emotions were immediately quelled, and Baobhan Sith's expression was unreadable.
"If you want to know who nearly got your friend killed, I'm still investigating. But if it's who I suspect, then based on what I know about them, your friend was likely collateral damage. The real targets… were probably you and Gojo."
Baobhan Sith noticed the slight tremor in Suguru's breathing. Where he couldn't see, her expression shifted into a victorious smirk.
To her, Suguru's so-called 'ideals'—that non-sorcerers should be eradicated to prevent the birth of cursed spirits—was misguided. Just like a starving person can only think about food, while those with full bellies can turn their thoughts to wealth, women, and amusement.
So how to keep Suguru from pursuing his empty ideals?
Easy. Give him an enemy. One conniving and dangerous enough to make him wary, someone who'd target his friends.
Once he's fighting a battle for his friends' safety, would he really turn against Jujutsu High and his old comrades?
In ancient times, there was a similar principle: How do you keep two countries from going to war?
Answer: Give them a common enemy.
It wasn't like she was lying to him. Everything she'd said was the truth. Kenjaku really did plan to possess Suguru's body and use him as a pawn. And to avoid Gojo's interference, he even intended to seal him away.
I'm an honest person, you know. I never lie.
Somewhere out there, she imagined Kenjaku sneezing from all the times she'd cursed his name.
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