Chapter 192 : Life is Like Theater, It All Depends on Acting
Gojo Satoru waited quietly in the forest outside Tokyo Jujutsu High. When he sensed the cursed energy surging from inside, he leaped into the school barrier, casually removed his eye mask, and took in the ground scene from high above.
The area with the densest cursed energy was covered by a semi-transparent barrier, with dot-like human figures gradually gathering around the barrier's periphery.
Gojo Satoru only needed one glance, his excellent vision identifying exactly who they were.
Besides the students, at a slightly more distant position, there were also some theoretical instructors and administrative staff from within the school.
Gojo Satoru trusted his students, but other people in the school were hard to truly confirm as free from Supervisory Committee or higher-up informants.
According to Lai's plan, at this moment in front of everyone, he couldn't openly cooperate with the other.
He could only secretly take sides. Gojo Satoru's fingertips danced with cursed energy as he tilted his head slightly in thought.
Fortunately, he had now precisely mastered the application of his techniques and could achieve perfection in the details.
At this time, most people's attention was on the battle inside the barrier. Combined with Gojo Satoru restraining his own cursed energy, no one on the ground noticed the strongest floating high above.
Gojo Satoru's pure white eyelids drooped as his sky-blue pupils observed the cursed energy flow trends inside the barrier.
Among all the people at the scene, probably the least worried about the outcome was Gojo Satoru.
Because he understood Jiang Lai's strength and wisdom, knowing the other would never be tricked by that bratty little brother no matter what.
Ever since Jiang Lai had referred to Sukuna as "bratty little brother," the petty cat-natured Gojo Satoru had also happily used this term in his heart.
Besides, he was here as external support. Gojo Satoru's Six Eyes focused on the field.
Even if Ryomen Sukuna planned to launch a surprise attack during some opening, with himself here, he could perfectly prevent it. So Lai would definitely win.
Although Gojo Satoru wasn't clear about Ryomen Sukuna's one-minute [Enchain] limitation, based on the cursed energy fluctuation situation in the field, he perfectly deduced the early, middle, and late stages of both sides' battle.
After Malevolent Kitchen shattered with the flashing starlight, Gojo Satoru squinted and descended some distance from the air.
A very rapid domain battle. Gojo Satoru thought.
Lai was probably about to make his move with space-time reversal. That Sukuna guy might have some backup plan, so he needed to watch Sukuna closely.
Thinking this, Gojo Satoru gathered positive and negative cursed energy at his fingertips, preparing a [Purple] with just the right amount of power.
When the navy blue kimono figure approached Sukuna and Sukuna raised his fingertip, Gojo Satoru's Six Eyes quickly observed their next moves.
Gojo Satoru, predicting Sukuna's cursed energy direction, saw the other's purpose was to concentrate a compressed cursed blade for a surprise attack.
The navy blue figure, perhaps sensing Gojo Satoru's cursed energy from high above, didn't raise a spatial barrier for protection.
He seemed to pour all his cursed energy into mobilizing that space-time reversal mark, with even the outer semi-transparent protective dome dimming somewhat.
This was a kind of wholehearted trust, which was why he pressed forward without reservation, leaving all possible escape routes to Gojo Satoru.
......This behavior of entrusting escape routes to others was too dangerous. He'd have to talk to Lai about this afterward. Gojo Satoru's thoughts flowed in his heart. However, if the one being entrusted was himself, then everything would be fine!
The white-haired man's expression was confident and proud, his blue eyes concentrating as he fired that fingertip [Purple] at the predicted cursed blade trajectory!
The [Purple] like a miniature black hole penetrated the weakened protective dome, crashing in between the two combatants and perfectly offsetting the concentrated cursed blade, with the resulting shockwave instantly pulling apart their forms!
Gojo Satoru planned to use this shockwave to separate Jiang Lai and Sukuna, following their previous discussion by descending from heaven to halt this battle.
However, he wasn't aware that Sukuna's emergence this time relied on [Enchain], with a one-minute time limit.
At the moment of withdrawal and the sudden shockwave, Jiang Lai had already raised his spatial protection again, following the shockwave as he retreated some distance.
At the same time, he secretly waved a transparent spatial streak to protect the cherry-pink haired youth flying out in the other direction.
Jiang Lai had been mentally calculating the countdown all along.
He knew that just now the sixty seconds had elapsed, Ryomen Sukuna had returned to the body, and what would appear was Itadori Yuji.
It didn't matter if the bratty little brother got roughed up, he probably enjoyed it anyway. But the innocent good little brother needed protection to avoid accidental injury.
However, such protection couldn't be too conspicuous, so Jiang Lai only silently raised his hand to subtly adjust things from afar.
Probably only the special-grades present, Gojo Satoru and Okkotsu Yuta, could make out his action.
But they weren't aware of the one-minute [Enchain] substitution, and Jiang Lai couldn't explain why he knew about it.
He hoped they wouldn't misunderstand that he was instinctively protecting Sukuna. Jiang Lai thought silently. Otherwise, he'd have to dry heave along with Sukuna and dig out three castles with his toes.
Speaking of which, time to prepare for the follow-up performance. Jiang Lai immediately organized his thoughts.
Given that there were Zenin sisters and Naoya's cursed corpse inside the school who remembered the "mysterious great demon" accompanying Gojo at the school, they couldn't directly perform a script of not knowing each other, that would be too fake.
So after discussion, they decided to simply perform a script where Gojo Satoru remembered, Jiang Lai was semi-amnesiac, and they were ultimately old friends on opposing sides who had become strangers.
As for the Supervisory Committee's side, with the situation progressing to the later stages, the current Jiang Lai was no longer worried about them focusing extra attention on him.
After all, he already understood their patterns and trump cards quite well. Moreover, Jiang Lai's own power had recovered considerably, giving him sufficient self-protection ability.
Actually, he was hoping the Supervisory Committee would pay attention to and believe in his and Satoru's script, thereby enabling more private contact with the Supervisory Committee to glimpse more intelligence.
Logically, the Supervisory Committee should be quite interested in this kind of script......they seemed to really enjoy scenes of friends turning on each other and tormenting Gojo kitty.
They just wouldn't know that he, Satoru, Suguru and others had long united and were about to dig to their old nest. Jiang Lai thought secretly. By the time they became aware, it would probably be leaking everywhere already.
The dust and smoke stirred by the shockwave drifted, half-obscuring the scene before them. After a moment, the dust settled and dispersed, finally revealing things clearly.
The cherry-pink haired youth's upturned front hair fell softly, and the strange black markings on his body had long disappeared. He staggered a few times when landing, still looking somewhat bewildered.
After the shockwave's aftereffects dissipated, Jiang Lai waved his hand to dismiss the outer spatial barrier.
At this moment, Fushiguro Megumi and Kugisaki Nobara were the first to rush to the front, reaching Itadori Yuji's sides from left and right.
"Hey, Itadori?!" Kugisaki Nobara waved her hand in front of the dazed cherry-pink haired youth's eyes. "Have you come to your senses? Are you okay?"
"......" Fushiguro Megumi didn't speak, but he was also watching Itadori Yuji's expression.
Behind them, Okkotsu Yuta and the first and third-year students all stepped forward a few paces. While they were concerned about Itadori, they also noticed that unexpected [Purple] from before.
It was Gojo-sensei!
They looked up and saw that figure floating in mid-air.
Gojo Satoru didn't remain in the air for long. He soon landed gracefully, standing in the middle position between the students and Jiang Lai. Due to the earlier shockwave's influence, both sides happened to be positioned north and south.
Landing in the middle, Gojo Satoru immediately became the center of everyone's attention.
The white-haired man stood openly, nodding slightly as he spoke: "Hi, long time no see. Looks like I arrived at just the right time."
His tone was cheerful as he waved his black eye mask with one hand, the other inserted in his trouser pocket. "Very complete, and very lively, because a 'guest' has come."
That word "guest" seemed somewhat distant, even carrying a hint of targeting. The white-haired man slightly turned his body, his blue eyes glancing at the black-haired youth standing alone on the other side.
That navy blue figure didn't respond, only standing silently with some wariness appearing between his eyebrows.
It was the posture of strangers, but not entirely so. The atmosphere was somewhat heavy and strange.
Zenin Maki instinctively wanted to say something, and Zenin Mai also pressed her lips straight. However, just as Maki stepped forward one or two steps, she was pulled back by Okkotsu Yuta.
"......" Okkotsu Yuta didn't speak. He shook his head lightly, indicating she should leave the scene to them.
As someone in the know, Okkotsu Yuta knew the teacher and senior were currently performing a stranger act for the Supervisory Committee and higher-up informants to see. So he stopped Zenin Maki's action.
It seemed the Zenin sisters and his senior had history. However, now wasn't convenient for reminiscing and solving mysteries. That would have to wait until the very end.
Okkotsu Yuta sighed lightly in his heart. For secrecy, he also couldn't tell them the truth.
After being pulled back, Zenin Maki seemed to calm down after a moment and actively stepped back a little distance.
However, her gaze remained on the front, on that navy blue kimono figure.
The air was briefly quiet for a few seconds, with no one speaking.
After a moment, Gojo Satoru smiled and said: "For the students' sake, let's leave it at that. Aren't you going yet?"
Although it was said with a smile, his blue eyes were as indifferent as snow, containing no trace of mirth.
Fushiguro Megumi instinctively said: "He didn't harm us. Just now it was Sukuna—"
"I know he didn't attack you." Gojo Satoru's eyelids drooped slightly. "Otherwise my attitude wouldn't be like this."
"......"
"I don't know what you want to do now, but students are my bottom line." Gojo Satoru looked at the black-haired youth across from him, steadily dropping this line before his tone lifted: "Of course~ If you want to join this side, it's not impossible. Although the special-grade cursed spirit identity is troublesome, you seem to still have rationality, right?"
"......" The black-haired youth didn't respond. He just stepped back half a step again, looking like he had a tendency to leave.
Panda, hearing the strangeness behind these words, quietly turned his head to ask Zenin Maki beside him: "Wait, is this person a former acquaintance?"
Zenin Maki's lips curved slightly, her mood incredibly complex. She wanted a reunion, but not a reunion in this state.
After pausing briefly, Zenin Maki opened her lips with a somewhat roundabout reply: "......I hope it's not just 'former.'"