JJK: Chapter 73

"That’s roughly the situation," Shin Shuichi explained to Satoru Gojo, summarizing the prison incident. "Like what happened at Satozakura High, the victims were completely drained of blood. This confirms that the same group is responsible."

Shin’s calm demeanor belied the gravity of his report. "The estimated death toll is over 700—higher than last time."

"If this is part of some ritual, it’s terrifying," Shin continued. "And I have a feeling... this isn’t the end. It’s just the beginning."

Satoru Gojo rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "No surprises here. Sorcerers also infiltrated the school. It’s still unclear how they learned its location, but they were weaklings. Taking them down didn’t take much effort. They’re being interrogated as we speak."

"Sensei," Shin began, recounting the details about the cat cursed spirit. "That cursed spirit was unusual. It inflicted pure soul damage and had been fused with a human body. The technique used was remarkably similar to those developed by the Central Bureau."

Gojo didn’t doubt Shin’s observations. His expression grew serious as he shifted in his seat. "I’ll go handle it. As stubborn and foolish as those old men are, could they really be this stupid? Either way, they owe us an explanation."

Gojo leaned back, his characteristic lightheartedness returning. "Leave dealing with those fossils to me. You young people should focus on enjoying your youth. Oh, by the way, this year’s individual competition is going to be decided by lottery—my suggestion. I want to see a baseball game for a change. You should join in!"

"A lottery?" Shin asked skeptically.

Gojo flashed a dazzling grin before walking away. Shin immediately understood what would happen—Gojo likely rigged the lottery so every draw pointed to the same outcome. It was just like him.

---

The first team event of the exchange meeting unfolded exactly as Shin had predicted, ending with Megumi Fushiguro clinching the victory.

Meanwhile, Yuji Itadori "unintentionally" became Aoi Todo’s best friend, and the upcoming individual event had already been replaced with a baseball game, set to take place in two days.

As for the sorcerers who infiltrated Jujutsu High, their interrogation revealed little. They admitted to being hired to invade the school but didn’t know by whom. By the time they realized they were up against none other than Satoru Gojo, it was far too late.

Overall, the school suffered no losses. In fact, a few of the invading sorcerers were taken down by the students themselves. While a few of the cursed spirits released during the attack were destroyed, the incident had little lasting impact.

Gojo’s meeting with the higher-ups was swift. His triumphant expression upon return told Shin everything he needed to know: Gojo had the upper hand.

Even if the higher-ups weren’t directly involved, the technology used in the attacks—seemingly exclusive to the Central Bureau—had now fallen into enemy hands, leading to catastrophic loss of life. There was no avoiding accountability.

Shin wasn’t concerned with how much Gojo forced the higher-ups to concede. His focus remained on the purpose behind the massive blood loss caused by the two recent massacres.

"If they were trying to resurrect Sukuna," Shin mused, "they would need to go through Yuji Itadori. So this must be unrelated to Sukuna."

Reflecting on past events, such as the Bone Curse and the Cat Curse, Shin hypothesized that Mahito’s faction was leveraging a similar technique.

"If this continues," Shin concluded, "their goal might be to resurrect a curse tied to the legendary sword,
Murakumo. Considering the myths surrounding that sword, this is no trivial matter."

He elaborated on his suspicions to Gojo. Instead of surprise, Gojo revealed that he had already suspected as much. Despite scouring the Gojo clan’s ancient texts, he found no records of the Kusanagi, Yamata no Orochi, or the mythical god Susanoo.

Though the Gojo family’s lineage dates back to the Heian era, much of its heritage had been lost over the centuries. Any records pertaining to these legends were either incomplete or nonexistent.

Gojo even enlisted the Central Bureau to have the Zen’in and Kamo clans search their archives, but their efforts yielded nothing. It was as if the legends were purely mythical with no historical foundation.

"What about Master Tengen?" Shin asked. "Would he know anything about the sword?"

Satoru Gojo shrugged. "I asked, but Tengen doesn’t know much about it either. According to him, he has no memory of encountering a curse like Yamata no Orochi. As for cursed objects, he mentioned that he rarely interacted with the outside world in the past, so he’s not very familiar with them either."

Shin Shuichi sighed in frustration. "That leaves us on the defensive again. These curses are such a pain—like rats in the sewer. They pop out to disgust you and then scurry back into the shadows before you can catch them."

Gojo laughed. "We’ll catch them slipping sooner or later."

He assured Shin that he would continue looking into the matter and made it clear that tracking down Mahito and his faction remained a top priority. As expected, after the Neko incident, the curses disappeared without a trace.

One of the biggest challenges for Jujutsu sorcerers was the lack of people capable of locating cursed spirits. Few sorcerers possessed the necessary skills, and they couldn’t conduct nationwide searches efficiently. The Windows assigned to monitor different areas were limited in strength, making it nearly impossible for them to handle intelligent, elusive, special-grade curses.

For now, Shin shifted his focus to the upcoming individual battle event. Sure enough, during the preparation meeting, Principal Masamichi Yaga and Utahime Iori gave Shin strange looks as they revealed the lottery results. The drawn slips of paper simply read: Baseball Match.

Thus, the traditional one-on-one sparring event was replaced with a lively baseball game under the sun. Fortunately, Jujutsu High had plenty of space for a field, and the necessary equipment was already on hand. Everything was ready—except...

"You don’t know how to play baseball?"

Maki Zen’in stared at Shin in disbelief. He returned her look with equal confusion. "Isn’t it just about hitting the ball as hard as you can?"

"I mean, you’re not wrong... but seriously? You don’t know the rules at all?"

Maki, Panda, and the others were already suited up in full gear, warming up for the match. However, Maki quickly realized that Shin didn’t understand even the basics of the game.

"Don’t worry, Maki-senpai! I know how to play. I can teach him the rules," Yuji Itadori offered enthusiastically. While he wasn’t particularly passionate about baseball in school, he at least understood the game well enough to help.

After a quick rundown of the rules from Yuji, Shin confidently stepped onto the field. "Got it. I thought it’d be harder. So, all I need to do is hit the ball so they can’t catch it, or throw it so they miss? Easy."

"This guy…" Maki muttered under her breath as the group began their warm-up session.

To keep the game fair, it was decided that no cursed techniques or energy could be used. Otherwise, the match might devolve into something closer to deathmatch baseball. However, even without cursed energy, Maki and Yuji’s physical prowess alone made them forces to be reckoned with.

---

"Yahoo!"

Shin swung the bat, leaving only a blur in the air as the baseball soared high into the sky, finally landing beyond the chain-link fence. His exceptional dynamic vision made tracking the ball’s trajectory effortless, and his sheer physical strength—honed through years of training—allowed him to launch it with terrifying power even without cursed energy.

"Good hit! Score!" Yuji cheered, his voice brimming with excitement.

On the opposing team, Maki narrowed her eyes and smirked. "Again!"

Resting the bat on his shoulder, Shin smiled broadly. "Sure, but the result won’t change. I told you, this game is simple: hit the ball, throw the ball—nothing to it."

Before he could finish boasting, the sharp whistle of the wind cut through his words. The next pitch from Maki was so fast it looked like the ball had flattened mid-air. Thankfully, Shin was prepared. His bat swung with a piercing sound, sending the ball flying again.

"Phew. That was close. This bat’s pretty sturdy, huh?"

For a moment, Shin thought the bat might snap in half under the impact. But it held firm, surviving the challenge unscathed.

"Alright!" he exclaimed with renewed enthusiasm.

At the edge of the field, Gojo Satoru appeared, sunglasses glinting, wearing a white shirt. Utahime, dressed in a baseball uniform, followed, leading the Kyoto students.

The two acted as referees. To compensate for Shin joining the Tokyo team, Kyoto was allowed one player to use their cursed technique.

"What? You can do that?" Shin exclaimed.

Maki confidently swung her bat, only for the ball to curve mid-air, narrowly missing her bat and landing neatly in Noritoshi Kamo’s teammate’s glove.

"Blood Manipulation."

Maki gritted her teeth but could say nothing. They had agreed to let Kyoto use one cursed technique. Initially, they expected Mai to use her technique for aerial advantage. Instead, Kyoto had Kamo pitch, using blood manipulation to control the ball’s trajectory.

The match turned into a tight back-and-forth. Kyoto relied on Kamo’s technique and Aoi Todo’s brute force, while Tokyo had Yuji, Maki, and Shin to keep things competitive. Amid the cheers, shouts, and umpiring calls, the game headed toward its conclusion.

---

Elsewhere, Jogo stared at a blood pool rippling before him. Suspended above it, tangled in grotesque appendages, was a sword barely grazing the surface.

"How much longer until the conditions are met?" Jogo asked.

Suguru Geto, smiling with satisfaction, replied,
"Three or four more times. But we’ll need to slow things down. This technique is fascinating. Let’s use these inferior products to gather what we need first."

Jogo shifted topics.
"And Sukuna? What about the fingers Jujutsu High holds? If they keep some and fail to gather all twenty, we can’t revive his full power."

Geto crouched, dipping a finger into the blood pool. The droplet, gleaming like a ruby, reflected his face.

"Don’t worry. Sending those weaklings was just a test. Even if Jujutsu High hoards a few fingers, we’ll handle it later. When chaos strikes, they’ll be too distracted to guard them properly."

"And the strongest... how many places can he protect at once?" Geto mused, flicking the blood from his finger.

Turning serious, Geto added,
"Don’t show yourselves unnecessarily, Jogo. Pointless deaths are foolish."

Jogo exhaled smoke and sparks, retorting,
"I fear no death, but I’m not stupid enough to die needlessly. Against that brat, our techniques are powerless."

Geto’s smile grew unsettling. "Really?"

Jogo’s grin twisted into something feral.
"Do you think we’re fighting alongside you to grow stronger? Even if it means death, as long as curses can live as ‘humans’ in this world, it doesn’t have to be me laughing a century from now."

"Good resolve. Let’s shake this stagnant jujutsu world with a little surprise."

---

Saitama City, Urame East Middle School.
From June to September, in Morioka, Yokohama, and Nagoya, three victims died under identical circumstances. Property management reports showed that prior to their deaths, they had complained about malfunctioning automatic doors—complaints none of their neighbors shared.

Beyond their similar deaths, an investigation revealed a shared connection: all three attended Urame East Middle School.

This mission, assigned to the first-years, marked an implicit acknowledgment of Yuji Itadori’s existence within Jujutsu High. Shin Shuichi and Satoru Gojo, frustrated by the enemy’s inactivity, sent the first-years to investigate under assistant supervisor Akari Nitta’s guidance.

For Shin and Megumi Fushiguro, the assignment hit close to home. They had attended Urami East Middle School themselves, and even now, Tsumiki lay in a coma—a stark reminder of the school’s grim history.