Chapter 189 : Old Man - 6
Itadori Yuji and Fushiguro Megumi looked stunned. Neither had expected to see the character they'd been discussing at this time and place!
"How is this possible......?!"
This was Tokyo Jujutsu High, a school guarded by Tengen with cursed energy barriers around the perimeter. It should be impossible for jujutsu sorcerers and cursed spirits to enter without permission and without triggering the alarm system.
Yet the black-haired youth had appeared like a shadow, descending with the moonlight and entering silently through the window.
Logically, when facing an unexpected intruder, they should quickly find a way to activate the alarm and notify others at the school.
But Jiang Lai was somewhat special.
On one hand, he didn't seem to have malicious intent.
On the other hand, even if they notified others at the school, there didn't seem to be anyone who could truly defeat the black-haired, brown-eyed special-grade cursed spirit before them.
......Perhaps Okkotsu-senpai could? But Okkotsu-senpai had been in a heavy mood recently and wasn't in great condition either.
Both had complex attitudes toward Jiang Lai himself. They didn't consider Jiang Lai to be a malicious enemy, and Jiang Lai had indeed never truly harmed them.
So at this moment, facing the powerful black-haired youth, although Itadori Yuji and Fushiguro Megumi were still instinctively tense, neither intended to escalate the noise or situation.
After their brief shock, they finally came to their senses and seemed to be brewing what to say.
Before them, Jiang Lai looked calm on the surface but was also slightly surprised by the current situation.
He had originally planned to silently sneak into Itadori's room to see if he could directly reverse that tower while he was asleep, not expecting Itadori Yuji to still be awake with Fushiguro Megumi in his dormitory.
Jiang Lai: "......" So lively.jpg
After thinking for a few seconds, he still decided to proceed with the infiltration as originally planned.
Tonight was the first night he and Gojo Satoru returned to Tokyo. After getting off the plane, Gojo Satoru, familiar with Tokyo's layout, directly teleported with Jiang Lai to the entrance of Tokyo Jujutsu High.
The first night when no one noticed their arrival was the most advantageous time for surprise action.
Gojo Satoru hadn't rushed into Tokyo Jujutsu High but waited in the forest outside.
Given the current situation, to avoid arousing the Supervisory Committee's suspicion, they needed to act separately as much as possible.
Jiang Lai indicated he would go in first to check on Itadori Yuji's [Correct and Reverse] Tower. If there were any accidents, Gojo Satoru could pretend to just happen to arrive and enter from outside to save the day.
When necessary, in front of a crowd with many eyes and ears, Jiang Lai could also pretend to put on a show with Gojo Satoru, exchanging a few moves.
The subsequent plan was for Jiang Lai to naturally withdraw, then switch to his Little Sheep disguise and rest at one of Gojo Satoru's private residences in the small town at the foot of the school mountain.
The next day, Gojo Satoru would bring him back to the school wearing his brown-haired teenager disguise.
This way, everything would perfectly align: Okkotsu Yuta took Little Sheep Weilai abroad for training, met Gojo Satoru, then handed the boy over to his original guardian Gojo Satoru. The idle strongest would train with the boy while Okkotsu, who received news, returned to handle the special-grade cursed spirit matter.
Because the overseas mission was complete and domestic situation was troublesome, Gojo Satoru didn't linger abroad long and also returned with Little Sheep.
After reaching Tokyo, Gojo Satoru keenly sensed unusual cursed energy fluctuations from the school's direction.
For safety, he temporarily left the middle school student at one of his private residences in the town at the foot of the school mountain while returning to school to resolve the trouble.
After resolving the incident on the first day, he would come back to bring the boy to school.
This way, in front of outsiders who didn't know the truth, the Little Sheep disguise and his true form would have no connection and no conflict!
Jiang Lai nodded with satisfaction.
As for the forum that believed Jiang Lai and Little Sheep had a superior-subordinate relationship, that was another perspective: roughly that after the [Crossroads] Tower, God Lai finally revealed to Gojo Satoru his non-amnesiac state. After the two recognized each other, they cooperated perfectly again.
Returning to Japan, God Lai couldn't conveniently appear in person, so after resolving key events, he sent the pig-eating-tiger Little Sheep to continue taking root at the school to observe developments.
In any case, the logic was all very smooth!
While the two high schoolers before him hesitated, Jiang Lai mentally reviewed the plan's outline again, silently marking some important details.
Fushiguro Megumi's eyes reflected the silent figure before him, the navy blue kimono hem gently swaying in the night wind.
Navy blue wasn't a particularly eye-catching color, yet it was especially attention-grabbing.
Under the moonlight, those brown eyes appeared even more gentle.
When the black-haired youth's eyes curved slightly, it was just like in long memories when he had smiled while taking that disheveled little boy's hand.
A thousand years ago, it had also been such a bright moonlit night when a confused lost child gained new life.
Those hands had led the boy all the way from wilderness to the capital, toward a completely new future.
Fusheguro Megumi inevitably saw distant yellowed scenes before his eyes. Those scenes overlapped with the figure before him, making him momentarily speechless.
The recovered Itadori Yuji unconsciously said: "You...... why are you here?"
Knowing Sukuna's purpose, he had indeed been thinking of finding a way to notify the other person as soon as possible, but hadn't expected it to be this fast, with the other appearing in his dormitory the moment his words fell!
Jiang Lai looked calm as he replied gently: "Came to take a look."
Came to take a look? It sounded like a tourist without purpose visiting late at night. Such a casual response and tone made it impossible to distinguish truth from falsehood.
Itadori Yuji opened his mouth slightly, unsure whether he should pursue the question.
Before he could say anything, Jiang Lai looked up slightly and asked with a smile first: "So, were you just talking about me?" The topic returned to the beginning.
Itadori Yuji paused.
Although he didn't understand the black-haired youth's purpose for being here, at least his inner thoughts were very clear: he should speak up first.
So Itadori Yuji's golden-orange eyes focused on Jiang Lai as he said directly: "That Sukuna guy seems to want to attack you. I'll try my best to control him! But please try to stay away from me."
Bratty little brother? Jiang Lai's eyebrows raised slightly in his heart. What was wrong with him?
When lightly landing outside the window earlier, Jiang Lai had only heard the last few fragments of their conversation. So he wasn't clear on Sukuna's purpose.
At this time, the previously silent Fushiguro Megumi finally spoke: "...... He wants to devour you. Please be careful."
At this moment, Fushiguro Megumi's inner emotions had calmed considerably.
He no longer urgently wanted to call out his own name like last time, nor did he intend to actively mention events from a thousand years ago. He only said what should be said now.
Excessive emotions shouldn't become others' burden of confusion. Because of this, when the past was still sealed, Fushiguro Megumi chose to be a taciturn observer.
Hearing Fushiguro Megumi's supplementary reply, Jiang Lai paused slightly and immediately understood the meaning of this [devour]: it was literal gnawing and eating.
From a thousand years ago to a thousand years later, even though Jiang Lai himself had "amnesia" and didn't remember the past, and Sukuna himself was locked in Itadori's prison, that guy still couldn't forget about his piece of meat.
Jiang Lai couldn't help but silently complain: In a certain sense, Sukuna was also a very persistent food lover...... probably.
Regarding this matter, both Itadori Yuji and Fushiguro Megumi's expressions were very serious, their eyes staring straight at Jiang Lai with looks of wanting to say something but not knowing what to say.
Being watched by two pairs of small animal-like eyes, Jiang Lai couldn't help but curve his lips. Then he nodded calmly and answered: "Alright, I understand."
After pausing for a few seconds, he added matter-of-factly: "Coincidentally, part of what I meant by [came to take a look] was to come see him."
The half-breath Itadori Yuji had just released immediately got caught again. Fushiguro Megumi also looked surprised, his brows slightly furrowed.
The cherry-pink haired youth's eyes widened: "You're looking for Sukuna?"
"Yes." Jiang Lai nodded affirmatively. "I have business with him."
This wasn't really a spur-of-the-moment decision.
Jiang Lai and Gojo Satoru had planned possible routes for Ryomen Sukuna to emerge.
The space-time reversal mark was inside Itadori Yuji's body, but Ryomen Sukuna was also inside Itadori Yuji's body. Who knew if Sukuna would interfere for lack of anything better to do during the reversal.
So the safest approach was to let Ryomen Sukuna come out, let his attention focus on fighting, then surprise him with the reversal.
Incidentally, there was good reason to let Sukuna come out. Jiang Lai planned to use searching for fragments as the surface excuse.
At Riko Middle School, Ryomen Sukuna had swallowed the light green divine fragment in front of Jiang Lai, Mahito, Itadori Yuji, and Nanami Kento.
At that time, Jiang Lai hadn't experienced the Thousand Year journey and was still playing a deeply amnesiac and confused character in front of others.
Now the situation could be slightly changed to a semi-amnesiac state where he had hazily remembered something: that's why he came looking for Sukuna who had taken the fragment.
Jiang Lai: Logic checks out!.jpg
"Ryomen Sukuna stole something from me. I came to get it back." Jiang Lai smiled slightly, saying matter-of-factly: "So, could you trouble yourself to let him out?"
This attitude and request left Itadori Yuji somewhat at a loss.
Fushiguro Megumi's lips moved as he spoke: "...... Itadori has already consumed 15 fingers. Sukuna's strength won't be easy to deal with. Please be cautious."
His tone was calm: "This is inside the school. The destruction from battle would also be very troublesome."
"Don't worry." Jiang Lai's eyes curved. "I'll put up spatial barriers to confine the battle area. I'll only do what I need to do and won't affect the surroundings."
Jiang Lai only explained the latter half and didn't comment on the 15 fingers mentioned earlier. This was naturally to keep his strength secret and not give any opportunity for judgment.
Ryomen Sukuna was likely listening.
Sure enough, the moment Jiang Lai's words fell, a large mouth appeared on Itadori Yuji's cheek. Ryomen Sukuna's voice was strange: "I haven't even looked for you yet, and you've come delivering yourself to my door again!"
He laughed heartily with malice: "What, are you here to repay the meal you owe me?"
"Don't be so overly familiar with your words." Jiang Lai shook his sleeves, his demeanor calm. His eyelids lifted slightly: "Even if you have delusions, don't project them onto me."