Chapter 50 : 2007-2017
Gojo Satoru also widened his blue eyes, making a sound: "Hah?"
"...Although this incident sounds somewhat unbelievable, it did happen." Yaga Masamichi rubbed one temple with his hand, "That guy Suguru didn't come back this time, did he."
"According to the jujutsu world's judgment on this matter, Suguru's actions are defined as [defection], and henceforth Suguru's identity will become that of a wanted [curse user]."
"...What kind of joke is this?!" Gojo Satoru clenched his fists, "This is too arbitrary! Just deciding about him like this—"
"Satoru." Yaga Masamichi's expression was serious, "The death of an entire village's villagers torn apart by cursed spirits is absolutely not a small matter. Such cruel acts are sufficient to define the crime."
Before Gojo Satoru could speak again, Jiang Lai spoke first: "Suguru-kun did indeed leave Jujutsu High. However, this village incident wasn't necessarily done by him."
The calm words slightly settled the agitated atmosphere at the scene.
He continued: "I was also present at the village incident. When Suguru-kun left, he no longer had any intention of massacring the village. Even if he had a cruel murderous heart, it would be impossible for him to specifically spare those few main culprits at the police station."
These words made sense. Yaga Masamichi fell silent for a moment, then said: "However, according to the judgment of the person in charge from the jujutsu world, the villagers were killed by cursed spirits, and there are traces of Suguru's cursed energy at the scene..."
"The village mission was executed by Suguru, and he exorcised cursed spirits there at the time. It's reasonable for some cursed energy residue to remain at the scene." Jiang Lai narrated calmly.
After a pause, he lightly added: "Or from another perspective, it's possible that the person in charge from the jujutsu world lied."
"As for cursed spirit manipulation, currently the only known person is indeed Suguru-kun." Jiang Lai said, "However, the cursed spirits that massacred the village might not have been controlled by a curse user."
These two statements made the scene quiet again.
These speculations were fact-based analyses that didn't explicitly point out any conspiracy behind them.
But if these words were correct, then what lay behind was a chilling truth: why would cursed spirits and some people from the jujutsu world's higher-ups work together to create such a deceptive result?
Yaga Masamichi couldn't speak for a moment, since these things sounded too incredible. Cursed spirits and jujutsu world humans should be in a life-or-death adversarial relationship. Logically, these behaviors made no sense.
Gojo Satoru made a heavy "tsk" sound, raising his head and voice: "Whatever the situation is! In any case, Suguru is being framed, right! Those rotten oranges or whatever else want to pin this on him??"
"..." Jiang Lai slightly lowered his eyes, then raised them again, "These are just some of my theories. I'm not clear about what the specific facts are."
The statement just now was Jiang Lai's analysis based on his understanding of Geto Suguru's state of mind at the time, intelligence about the Supervisory Committee, and other information.
However, he couldn't be 100% certain about the true culprit of the village incident.
"In any case, find Suguru and have a good talk with him!" Gojo Satoru's eyebrows rose high, his demeanor unrestrained, "Won't the truth come out then? Or I'll go have a nice chat with those rotten oranges first."
"..." Yaga Masamichi exhaled, shaking his head: "No, Satoru. The jujutsu world's judgment won't change because of personal emotions. That won't work."
"What do you mean personal emotions? They're clearly the ones disregarding the truth!"
The white-haired boy squeezed the broken sunglasses in his hand even more deformed, and after letting go, the fragments clattered to the ground.
He raised his chin, his blue eyes glancing at the person beside him: "Let's go, Lai. Let's drag that guy Suguru back."
Jiang Lai paused: "Do you know where he is?"
"No." Gojo Satoru's reply came without a moment's hesitation, his tone still that arrogantly raised intonation, "But it doesn't matter. My eyes are very good. As long as I scan through crowds, I can tell if Suguru is there or not."
While walking outward, he tossed out words: "Night Moth-sensei, you go tell those rotten oranges that once I bring Suguru back, we'll properly define what exactly this incident is about."
Yaga Masamichi turned around, looking at Gojo Satoru who was about to leave: "Wait. The higher-ups' decision isn't something anyone can shake—"
The white-haired boy stopped, half-turning his face. Sunlight streaming through the corridor entrance fell on his pure white lashes. Those sky-blue eyes seemed somewhat cold:
"Tell those rotten oranges clearly, don't randomly slap the label of [curse user] on people. Otherwise, I might go bang on tables, and if they don't value their lives, they shouldn't provoke me."
Yaga Masamichi frowned slightly. He knew these events had brought huge shock to his student. Not everyone could immediately accept the sudden defection and departure of their close friend.
Gojo Satoru didn't have many friends to begin with. Geto Suguru could be said to be the youthful close friend who had the deepest influence on Gojo Satoru and the best relationship with him.
The current Gojo Satoru was obviously in emotions mixing confusion and anger, so Yaga Masamichi didn't try to persuade him much, only sighing:
"...Go then. When you come back, stop being willful, Satoru."
Gojo Satoru put both hands in his pockets, acting as if he couldn't hear, or rather, he was just too focused on verifying certain things and thus ignored other voices around him.
He walked out several steps with his long legs, then stopped and looked back: "You're not coming with me, Lai?"
"..." Jiang Lai's form remained in place, not moving.
He wasn't unwilling to search for Geto Suguru with Gojo Satoru and clarify the truth of the facts. It was just that right now, he had habitually glanced at his phone.
The clear countdown on it indicated that he wouldn't stay here much longer. In more than ten minutes, he would have to leave again.
A sudden departure in the middle would obviously cause more troublesome misunderstandings. So Jiang Lai didn't agree to Gojo Satoru's request.
But at this moment, he also didn't know what excuse would be appropriate to refuse.
For a moment, there was only silence at the scene.
"..." The white-haired boy pressed his perfectly shaped lips straight, then dropped another sentence in a stiff tone, "Whatever you want."
He withdrew his gaze and strode directly away, his back carrying some temper.
Yaga Masamichi watched Gojo Satoru's quickly disappearing figure and sighed again.
Jiang Lai held his book in his hands, paused, then handed the small bag of black sesame cookies he hadn't been able to deliver to the person beside him: "Principal, this is what Suguru left for Satoru and Shoko. Please help deliver it later."
Yaga Masamichi was stunned for two seconds before reaching out to accept it: "Alright."
He nodded and looked at Jiang Lai.
As a mature person who had experienced countless things and struggled in the jujutsu world for many years, Yaga Masamichi could sense Jiang Lai's uniqueness in their several encounters.
After all, no one could enter and leave Jujutsu High's barriers so casually, possessing strength while remaining unnamed in jujutsu world files, maintaining mysterious and unknown elegance.
However, he ultimately didn't ask much, only saying with somber gravity, nodding: "...Thank you for always taking care of them."
Hearing this, Jiang Lai blinked and smiled warmly: "It's nothing. I also really like these children. Youth is always beautiful and precious."
After this simple conversation ended, the two fell silent again.
Jiang Lai estimated the time in his heart. When it was almost time to leave, he stepped outward, speaking in low, gentle tones: "In any case, let's leave it at this for now. I need to leave for a while."
"Do you need me to pass along any message to Satoru?" Yaga Masamichi asked.
A message? What should he say? Countless thoughts and words gathered in Jiang Lai's mind and throat.
But ultimately, he only smiled gently and said: "Then tell him 'see you next time.'"
Rather than saying many warning words, personal experience would leave a deeper impression. Jiang Lai didn't want to leave too much interference that would distract Gojo Satoru's attention.
So his thoughts flowed, and he swallowed all those words, simply leaving such a straightforward phrase.
Simple but sincere.
Jiang Lai finally waved goodbye to Yaga Masamichi. His dark blue sleeves fluttered and flew, and in the radiant light, he merged and disappeared.
Time was up.
…
Jiang Lai opened his eyes to see a wall before him.
The red brick wall bore the mottled traces of time, and the ground was littered with messy objects. In Japan, such dirty and chaotic alleys weren't commonly seen.
The scattered objects on the ground were covered with shoe prints, like things left behind after a chaotic mass evacuation.
He turned his head to look outside the alley. The street outside this narrow alley was relatively quiet, with the road surface cracked and damaged, as if it had just experienced a fierce battle.
In the distance, continuous sounds of combat could still be heard. Winter wind howled past, shaking withered treetops.
It was winter now, there were large amounts of cursed energy fluctuations in the air, the scene had experienced crowd evacuation, and there were battle sounds in the distance.
Connecting these clues together, Jiang Lai immediately made a judgment: the current timeline was most likely the Night Parade of a Hundred Demons incident of 2017.
From 2007 to 2017, ten years had already passed. Each time he switched time and space, he was generally given a period for self-adjustment. This time was no exception.
The current Jiang Lai had many questions echoing in his mind:
What exactly was the truth behind the village incident back then? Did Gojo Satoru find Geto Suguru, and what did they say after he found him?
What did Satoru think about his own departure that year? Did Nanako and Mimiko ultimately attend Jujutsu High together with Maki and Mai?
Besides that, he also wanted to learn more intelligence about the Supervisory Committee. The prophecy from back then, what those people were looking for, Yuikawa Kurisu's aftermath, these mysteries still hadn't been revealed.
He hoped the manga had properly depicted all of these.
Jiang Lai listened to the movements around him, his fingers flipping to set up simple cursed technique code traps nearby as a kind of alarm, preventing sudden sneak attacks.
He wasn't in a hurry to go out and investigate. Being too hasty wasn't advisable. Better to first fully grasp all currently known information, so he could be prepared when meeting relevant people later.
The winter cold wind lifted the hem of Jiang Lai's dark blue clothing. Logically, wearing this outfit should make him feel cold. But Jiang Lai didn't have any particular sensation.
As an [Existence], integrated with nature, not needing to specially adjust clothing, he naturally breathed with spring, summer, autumn, and winter.
Jiang Lai skillfully opened his phone and clicked into the official website for the new Jujutsu Kaisen series.
His warm brown eyes lowered as he looked directly, planning to understand the situations of people and things over the past ten years from the intelligence in the several manga chapters updated on the official website.