Chapter 43 : You cannot kill. You cannot kill
Upon hearing the news, several people hurried with swift strides toward the scene.
On the way, Ijichi Kiyotaka wiped his sweat while quickly filling them in: "Um, actually I don't know why they started fighting either... but I saw them from far away and quickly came to find people, since I couldn't stop them... I don't know if Night Moth-sensei is around, so I came to the closer infirmary first. Anyway, I'm very sorry..."
"You have nothing to apologize for." Geto Suguru still habitually comforted those around him, "You were already very timely."
Jiang Lai remained silent at his side, his mind still rapidly analyzing the situation.
Honestly, Gojo Satoru should have held back, right? Otherwise, how could they be "fighting"?
Compared to "fighting," "one-sided crushing" might be more appropriate. After all, Gojo Satoru was the strongest.
If he really treated Yuikawa Kurisu as an enemy, the other party probably wouldn't last more than a few seconds. One [Purple] and he'd turn straight to ash...
In any case, Gojo Satoru, who had just returned to school, currently shouldn't know the speculation behind Haibara's incident.
The current situation was likely that Yuikawa Kurisu had gone to provoke trouble again, and this time Gojo Satoru was in an extremely bad mood and no longer tolerant, directly resorting to violence.
Jiang Lai's thoughts flowed for a few seconds as he deduced the overall situation.
Yuikawa still had the identity of an underclassman as cover, plus this was inside Jujutsu High, so Gojo Satoru had restrained himself somewhat, simply using Limitless while beating him with physical combat.
However, there was still one problem. Jiang Lai continued thinking. Why did Yuikawa Kurisu want to provoke Gojo Satoru?
Because he didn't harvest enough emotional feedback from himself, so he simply went to provoke the strongest to make up for the missing satisfaction?
If that was the case, then Yuikawa's level was truly low, the type who would rage incompetently at the slightest dissatisfaction, only worthy of being placed in R-card tier, characterized by low-level methods but disgusting behavior.
Jiang Lai subconsciously classified this pervert in his mind.
If the opponent's level was higher, belonging to SR tier, then provoking Gojo Satoru might very well have another layer of hidden calculation.
Jiang Lai continued his analysis.
Regardless, Gojo Satoru's senior status was there. If he really beat Yuikawa Kurisu to serious injury or death, rumors would probably spread about Gojo being arrogant and domineering, disregarding fellow student relationships.
Perhaps Gojo Satoru himself didn't care what others said or thought, but in certain situations, public reputation was also an important element in strategic chess games.
Just like the Supervisory Committee they'd learned about, wrapped in a shell of good image while implementing various unknown plans beneath it.
In such situations, using pure force to resist would only make uninformed masses view the brave warrior fighting the evil dragon as a bully disrupting harmonious life.
After his thoughts made a full circle in his mind, Jiang Lai's final conclusion was: unclear about Yuikawa's strength and level, but this guy indeed had very effective abilities to disgust people.
They rushed all the way to the accident site Ijichi Kiyotaka had mentioned. From a distance, they could see the white-haired person pressing down and beating the light brown-haired youth.
Gojo Satoru had Limitless activated and was using pure physical combat, each punch landing with particularly realistic impact.
It must be said, this scene looked quite satisfying. Jiang Lai silently had this thought slide through his mind. Gojo, well done!!
Seeing this scene, Geto Suguru and Nanami Kento couldn't help but freeze for a second, but they also quickly moved to break up the fight.
Nanami Kento had just returned from a mission, his stamina hadn't recovered, and his spirit was exhausted from his friend's death, causing his movements to involuntarily stagger.
Geto Suguru supported him, turning his head to console: "I'll break up the fight, you rest here."
Just at this moment, Yuikawa Kurisu in the distance also noticed their arrival.
His reddish-brown eyes met Jiang Lai's gaze from afar, the depths showing some kind of twisted and growing interest.
In this instant of brief eye contact, some intuition made Jiang Lai's heart inexplicably skip a beat.
He saw the light brown-haired boy's eyebrows curve up, and in the space of a breath, he turned his head and softly said something to Gojo Satoru...
Hearing Yuikawa Kurisu's words, Gojo Satoru's beautiful blue eyes widened for an instant, then his body suddenly emanated real, icy killing intent, like a piercing cold wind suddenly rising from snowy mountain scenery.
Some kind of aura storm belonging to the strongest surged up, his perfect face like that of a cold god. His fingers moved slightly, and surging cursed energy fluctuations immediately contracted and condensed!
But before Gojo Satoru could act, a long blade suddenly broke through the air, passing over the white-haired boy and directly piercing through the light brown-haired boy's neck!
"!?" Both Gojo Satoru nearby and Geto and others who had just turned to look from the distance were stunned in that instant.
Dark blue kimono sleeves fluttered as the black-haired youth expressionlessly gripped the blade handle, thrusting the sharp sword into Yuikawa Kurisu's neck.
An invisible barrier around his body blocked the spurting blood, not letting even a single drop of that crimson stain his clothes.
The light brown-haired boy's body stiffened for an instant, a trace of unexpected confusion flashing through his eyes, though it quickly gave way to bubble-like excitement.
With his throat pierced, he could only make gurgling sounds. With almost no strength as his life force drained in an instant, he still maintained eye contact with Jiang Lai and smiled silently.
The figure in dark blue remained calm and unruffled, giving no emotional feedback whatsoever, finally coldly withdrawing the long blade.
Having lost support, the light brown-haired boy's body fell straight backward.
Jiang Lai watched the demon dog Yuikawa Kurisu fall, his heart not as calm as his surface appearance suggested, thoughts surging like waves.
Just now, after the initial eye contact with Yuikawa Kurisu, Jiang Lai had intuitively sensed something was wrong. As a precaution, he had accelerated his steps and rushed forward.
Not knowing what Yuikawa Kurisu had said to Gojo Satoru, but the moment he sensed the strongest's surging killing intent, Jiang Lai's mind quickly formed a decision: Yuikawa absolutely could not be killed by Gojo!
In that split second, Jiang Lai constructed a sharp long blade in his hand, attached cursed energy to the blade surface, and before Gojo Satoru could act, he leaped forward and directly stabbed the light brown-haired boy through the neck!
Perhaps choosing a less fatal location would have achieved the same interrupting effect, but Jiang Lai ultimately chose the neck, which could kill with one strike.
Both the injured and the dead hold moral advantage. If that was the case, then choose a dead person who couldn't speak.
This would prevent Yuikawa Kurisu from continuing to cause trouble along this line, letting this performative emotional pervert have his stage. Also, a life for a life, this was what he owed Haibara.
Jiang Lai thought coldly.
Moreover, Gojo Satoru had wanted to kill this guy just now. For Gojo Satoru to bypass Yuikawa Kurisu's status as an underclassman and directly act, the other party must have suddenly said something extremely provocative. And it was something bad.
If he hadn't delivered the killing blow and Gojo Satoru couldn't resist adding another strike, then it would become Gojo Satoru's kill again.
But Yuikawa could not be killed by Gojo Satoru, absolutely not. Jiang Lai saw this very clearly. At this time, Gojo Satoru was still nominally his senior, and there were Geto Suguru and others behind him.
If Gojo Satoru had really acted, there would be trouble afterward. Perhaps not major trouble, but ant-like bites were also an annoying thing.
So he had delivered this final killing blow in Gojo Satoru's place.
Jiang Lai kept his gaze fixed on Yuikawa Kurisu before him, sensing and judging. In that brief time, the light brown-haired boy showed unexpected confusion, instinctive pain, unclear interest, and even a bit of regret.
But the one thing he didn't show was fear of death.
Jiang Lai's heart sank slightly. Regardless, the other party's performance didn't seem like a permanent farewell... Could there be some backup plan?
As the light brown-haired figure fell into a pool of blood, the several people behind also reached the scene.
The changes in these few moments were too sudden. Geto Suguru and others only mechanically moved forward, their expressions still in a blank state of shock.
The air was silent for a second.
Breaking the quiet was Gojo Satoru, who removed his sunglasses and glared at the person on the ground, then glanced at Jiang Lai beside him, humming: "The final blow should have been mine. Why did you suddenly interfere?"
"You cannot kill." Jiang Lai replied lightly, loosening his grip and deconstructing the cursed energy-infused long blade.
"Why? I can control my cursed energy well, I don't need to use big moves that would damage the ground." Gojo Satoru responded.
"You cannot kill." Jiang Lai repeated.
Geto Suguru opened his mouth, still somewhat dazed: "...Wait, why did we suddenly have to kill him?"
"He asked for it." Gojo Satoru's voice rose, his eyebrows still carrying unsubsided anger, "Initially, he was the one who attacked me first, but I just thought he was purely having an episode and figured beating him up as a lesson would be enough... The decision to kill came later, when this guy personally admitted to deliberately causing Haibara's death."
Hearing this, Jiang Lai was somewhat surprised. He knew that Yuikawa Kurisu must have said something bad just now for Gojo Satoru to suddenly surge with killing intent, but he hadn't expected Yuikawa to so directly reveal that he had killed Haibara.
After they parted earlier, Yuikawa Kurisu shouldn't have known that he had recorded audio, but he definitely knew that he had seen through him. Jiang Lai thought. So, had he simply given up on Jujutsu High as a "playground"?
If so, he should have deliberately provoked Gojo Satoru, and after everyone had gathered at the end, softly revealed the truth to Gojo, guiding the strongest to kill him... It was just that there was an accident at the end, with the dark blue figure intervening to strike first.
Jiang Lai's eyes darkened. This guy, if he wasn't aiming for a thrilling finale performance, then he really had a backup plan. These were all part of a targeted scheme.
His gaze fell on the corpse on the ground, trying to discern something.
Meanwhile, hearing Gojo Satoru's words, Geto Suguru and others all shuddered in disbelief, but their expressions remained confused.
Because all of this had happened too quickly and unbelievably. In less than half a day, everything had taken a sharp turn downward.
Although Geto Suguru trusted Gojo Satoru 100%, and Nanami Kento and Ijichi Kiyotaka likewise believed their senior, they hadn't personally heard Yuikawa Kurisu speak, witnessing only the light brown-haired boy's sudden death.
It could only be said that fortunately, there was the recording that Jiang Lai had played earlier, giving them some advance psychological preparation.
In everyone's silence, Gojo Satoru raised his eyebrows: "What? You don't believe me?"
"...No." Geto Suguru came to his senses, taking a deep breath, his fingers curling slightly, his voice carrying some difficulty, "But, this, somewhat... wasn't that too quick to act?"
"How is it quick? He attacked me first." Gojo Satoru raised his face, "I initially held back from reflexive technique attacks, that was already showing mercy."
"...He attacked you first?" Geto Suguru looked somewhat confused and bewildered. He believed what Gojo Satoru said, but couldn't make sense of the logic behind this incident.
The shy light brown-haired boy from their impressions suddenly doing such things would surprise anyone.
Nanami Kento lowered his eyes to stare at his classmate on the ground, his chest rising and falling several times, his voice striving for calm: "...Gojo-senpai, what exactly did he say about Haibara's matter?"
"Ah, he directly said it was deliberate, and also said it was a pity you were still alive." Gojo Satoru clenched his fist, "I got really fired up at that moment."
"..." Nanami Kento didn't speak, his head half-lowered, his expression still dazed.
Ijichi Kiyotaka tremblingly raised his hand, asking from the side: "Um, um, this, the current situation, shouldn't we tell Night Moth-sensei?"
"Let's take him to Shoko first. We'll explain to Night Moth-sensei later about this situation." Geto Suguru exhaled, pausing for a second before saying quietly, "...Satoru, actually we should have listened to his final words, we shouldn't have acted directly."
"Hah? He already did something like murdering a classmate, and you're still protecting him?" Gojo Satoru raised his eyebrows and voice.
Geto Suguru sighed: "No. I mean, we should have at least gone through the procedures, doing it directly like this..."
"Anyway, if there's trouble I'll take responsibility myself." Gojo Satoru pursed his lips, putting both hands behind his head, "I just couldn't stand him anymore, so I directly killed..."
"The final blow wasn't from Satoru, I did it, you all saw it too, and the cursed energy residue can prove it." Jiang Lai interrupted at this point, his brown eyes blinking slightly, "Sorry, I don't really understand the procedures, so I acted a bit directly."
Everyone was stunned for a few seconds.
Gojo Satoru's beautiful blue eyes widened as he said: "Hey hey, you don't need to take responsibility for me, this kind of thing should naturally still be me..."
"I'm not under the jujutsu world's jurisdiction." Jiang Lai placed one hand against his chin, "They also have no authority to judge me." He smiled slightly, finalizing the decision, "So let's end things this way. After all, it's a fact that I killed him, isn't it?"
The black-haired, brown-eyed person slightly lifted the book in his hand, pointing toward the corpse on the ground, continuing: "Should we take this to Ieiri-san for disposal?"
…
A student death on campus was definitely a major incident. When Night Moth-sensei learned of this, he felt his head grow a whole size bigger.
After hearing the whole story, Night Moth-sensei couldn't help but fall silent.
He knew that Gojo Satoru was naturally free-spirited and arrogant, and would never lie about such matters, so Yuikawa Kurisu had probably really said those words.
But they had no evidence proving that Haibara's death was directly related to Yuikawa Kurisu, and they also hadn't recorded Yuikawa Kurisu's final confession about harming his classmate. Therefore, this incident essentially only had Gojo Satoru as a witness.
It could only be said that fortunately the final blow wasn't delivered by Gojo Satoru, otherwise it would be even harder to explain clearly, and those higher-ups would definitely think it was Gojo Satoru's rebellious nature acting up.
Moreover, if it was a campus student brawl resulting in death, it would be a vicious incident regardless.
Nanami Kento had received quite a shock today and took his leave early to rest. First-year Ijichi Kiyotaka was the same, he looked even more severely shaken, his fingers trembling.
After Geto Suguru, Gojo Satoru, Jiang Lai and others left Night Moth-sensei's office, they went to Ieiri Shoko's infirmary.
Generally speaking, jujutsu sorcerer corpses needed to be recovered and processed. Ieiri Shoko had already completed the basic cleanup, tagged the corpse, and written the contents in the record book.
She said: "Alright, I've simply cleaned up the blood traces, you can look. That final strike used cursed energy wrapped around the attack, right? Then it won't turn into a cursed spirit."
Jiang Lai stared at the body lying on the examination table, various thoughts emerging in his mind.
What exactly was the opponent's backup plan? Obviously, he wasn't afraid of death, so logically he wouldn't die so easily.
Could it be feigned death? Would he bounce back to life later? Jiang Lai narrowed his eyes, internally complaining. Wouldn't that be horror movie plot development.
Geto Suguru's gaze fell on the light brown-haired boy, and inexplicably, his body suddenly shuddered, as if he had suddenly seen something unexpected.
Jiang Lai keenly noticed the motion of the boy with the bun hairstyle, glancing at him from the corner of his eye, noting that his gaze was focused on Yuikawa Kurisu's forehead.
So Jiang Lai followed Geto Suguru's line of sight, also looking toward Yuikawa Kurisu's forehead area.
But there was clearly nothing there.