Chapter 60: Yuji, Do You Want to Spar?
Yuji Itadori looked at Satoru Gojo in front of him, memories of the past constantly resurfacing.
It had been a full sixty-eight years since they last met.
And Satoru Gojo looked at Yuji Itadori, a hint of surprise in his eyes beneath the blindfold.
Young Itadori had previously said some strange things to him, but Satoru Gojo hadn't understood them at the time.
It wasn't until now that he realized what the other had said was true.
Even though Yuji Itadori possessed an appearance nearly identical to Young Itadori, an ordinary person seeing him would initially only think they looked similar, or that one of them was deliberately disguised as the other.
But at this very moment, Satoru Gojo was absolutely certain that the person in front of him was the real Yuji Itadori.
As a member of the Gojo Family, one of the Big Three Families, he possessed the Six Eyes. This was a special inherited trait of the Gojo Family, appearing only once every few hundred years. It allowed him to identify whether the other party was a jujutsu sorcerer, see through their cursed technique, and even directly track or predict the trajectory of cursed energy.
Through the abnormal cursed energy residue from the battle, Satoru Gojo could sense the presence of someone with the same cursed technique as Sukuna—no, even stronger than Sukuna. Not only did this person instantly kill the special grade cursed spirit, but in Satoru Gojo's eyes, they had even suppressed the Sukuna who possessed the power of two fingers.
At that time, a conjecture had formed in Satoru Gojo's mind that even he found hard to believe.
And now, this conjecture was confirmed.
"Shall we change locations to talk?"
Satoru Gojo wore a smile on his face and slightly raised his chin.
Yuji Itadori nodded.
Soon, Yuji Itadori and Satoru Gojo arrived at a familiar place. The surrounding walls were covered in talismans, with only a few candles providing faint illumination.
This was a secret space known only to the two of them and Principal Yaga Masamichi—and it was also the place where everything began for Yuji Itadori.
Yuji Itadori sat on a chair.
He remembered that the first time he came here, he had been tied up because he swallowed Sukuna's Finger.
"So Yuji, could you explain to me a little about what's going on?"
Satoru Gojo sat backward on a chair, resting his hands on the backrest. He looked nonchalant, and his upturned mouth seemed full of curiosity.
Yuji Itadori then told him everything regarding the Chat Group.
Upon hearing his explanation, Satoru Gojo's expression gradually grew serious; this was an existence that exceeded even his understanding.
"...Connecting people from different worlds together, rather than simple time travel? Hearing this is truly hard to believe, but it seems it must be true."
Although Satoru Gojo was somewhat surprised, he quickly accepted it all.
"You accepted it that fast, Gojo-sensei?"
"After all, just the fact that you appeared here can no longer be explained by ordinary jujutsu, right?" Satoru Gojo said with a smile.
"True."
"Even if it's a parallel world, you really are from the future, aren't you."
Right at that moment, Satoru Gojo seemed to think of something, leaning forward slightly. "Since you chose to come back, is it because something happened in the future?"
Satoru Gojo's smile slowly vanished, replaced by an incredibly serious expression.
Yuji Itadori fell silent; for a moment, he didn't know how to answer.
From Shibuya to the Culling Game, and then to Shinjuku... No matter what it was, it was hard for him to talk about.
Yuji Itadori's mouth opened slightly, but before he could make a sound, a meaningful smile appeared on Satoru Gojo's face once again:
"Just kidding! It would be too boring to know what happens in the future in advance! Of course, if it's something like lottery numbers, I wouldn't mind if you told me."
"Sensei, you don't need money either, do you?"
"That's true, but it feels like it would be a lot of fun to show off a winning lottery ticket in front of my students."
Looking at Satoru Gojo in front of him, who completely lacked the demeanor of a teacher, a slight feeling of relief arose in Yuji Itadori's heart.
"But Yuji, how far in the future are you from?"
Satoru Gojo's gaze pierced through his blindfold, landing on Yuji Itadori's face.
Although they shared an almost identical appearance, the scars on Yuji Itadori's face and his profound gaze were incredibly obvious in Satoru Gojo's eyes.
Furthermore, from the very beginning, Satoru Gojo had noticed the position of Yuji Itadori's fingers... What kind of battles had this Yuji Itadori from the future experienced?
Through the Six Eyes, Satoru Gojo could sense that the Yuji Itadori before him was extremely strong.
Just the fact that he was able to defeat a two-finger Sukuna meant that there probably weren't many people in the current Jujutsu World who could do the same.
Yuji Itadori had already become someone capable of holding his own.
Satoru Gojo felt a trace of gratification in his heart—but beneath that gratification hid a trace of self-blame.
He didn't ask what happened in the future, but he had already guessed a little in his heart. Had the heavy burden fallen entirely on Yuji Itadori's shoulders?
"I feel like you have the vibe of an old grandpa now, Yuji." Satoru Gojo didn't voice his thoughts, merely teasing him with a smile.
"Ah, really?"
"Yeah, because you haven't really smiled since I saw you. In the past, you used to show an innocent smile whenever you encountered anything interesting."
"I can hardly remember that anymore. Putting it that way, theoretically speaking, I come from roughly sixty-eight years in the future."
"Wait a minute, wait a minute, sixty-eight years later?" Satoru Gojo was somewhat surprised; Yuji Itadori's appearance and facial features clearly hadn't changed at all. "Then aren't you... in your eighties now?"
"So Yuji really has become an old grandpa! But you can't tell from your appearance at all. If Nobara Kugisaki knew, she'd definitely give you a terrible scolding."
"I've already been scolded."
"My constitution is quite special to begin with, and coupled with Sukuna's Fingers, that's probably why I ended up looking like this."
"I see, I see. Sukuna can even be used as a skincare product. I wonder what would happen if I used his fingers to brew tea."
"You still like joking around so much, Sensei."
"I'm being very serious too, you know. Oh wait, I can't even be considered a teacher anymore, since Yuji is already an old grandpa, tsk tsk."
"Of course, there is one more thing I want to ask you—" And right at this moment, Satoru Gojo stood up from his chair.
His previously nonchalant aura completely disappeared, and his face revealed a rarely seen, somewhat serious expression. "Yuji, just what else do you want to do by coming to this past?"
"I came to help take care of the special grade cursed spirit at the Juvenile Detention Center."
"It's not just that, is it? I saw it just now. Yuji—the one who isn't a grandpa—there are no fingers left in his body. I could sense it. You used some method to separate Sukuna from him, didn't you."
Satoru Gojo stared intently at Yuji Itadori and said slowly, "I know you, Yuji. You aren't someone who would act for your own sake. Is it because Sukuna's Fingers caused some severe harm in the future?"
Yuji Itadori didn't answer immediately; he lowered his head slightly, thinking about how to begin.
If he revealed everything, it might cause a chain of butterfly effects—but his original purpose in coming to this world was to prevent those tragedies that had yet to happen.
What Yuji Itadori desired was precisely to lead this world onto a different worldline.
If possible, Yuji Itadori naturally wanted to solve all the problems by himself, so that he wouldn't drag anyone else into danger and trouble.
But Yuji Itadori was also aware that he couldn't do it alone.
The time he could spend in this world was limited, and even having experienced these events, it was impossible for Yuji Itadori to know every piece of information like the back of his hand.
But right now, Satoru Gojo could help him. He was the person he had once trusted the most, and Satoru Gojo could do many things that his other self couldn't.
"Yes, it's not just Sukuna's Fingers. A whole series of events will happen in the future."
Yuji Itadori looked up at Satoru Gojo. "And the reason I'm here now is to prevent those things from happening."
"I understand. What will happen next?"
"Gojo-sensei, in the future, a group composed of several special grade cursed spirits will appear. They originate from humanity's fear of the earth, the ocean, the forest—and humanity itself."
The moment he spoke these words, Yuji Itadori's brows furrowed slightly. "They are currently planning an operation to create a world populated only by cursed spirits."
"A world only of cursed spirits?"
Satoru Gojo's expression also grew increasingly serious. Someone else had once said something similar. To create a world only of jujutsu sorcerers.
Except, such similar words were coming from the mouths of cursed spirits? There were hardly any cursed spirits capable of communicating with humans, right?
"They have two goals. One is to liberate Sukuna—they have secretly collected a large number of Sukuna's Fingers. If they force my other self to swallow them all at once within a short period of time, his consciousness will temporarily be controlled by Sukuna..."
Yuji Itadori pursed his lips. He could not forget what Sukuna had done after taking control of his body. The massacre in Shibuya.
"As for their other goal, it is to seal you, Gojo-sensei."
"Seal me? Are a mere few cursed spirits really capable of pulling that off?"
Satoru Gojo waved his hand with a smile. But after seeing the unwavering expression on Yuji Itadori's face, he seemed to realize something: "Wait a minute, they didn't actually succeed, did they?"
Satoru Gojo was somewhat astonished; a few special grade cursed spirits alone could absolutely not accomplish something like that.
"They have other collaborators."
Yuji Itadori didn't continue speaking. He knew the mastermind behind all this—Kenjaku—had possessed the corpse of Geto Suguru, and Yuji Itadori had heard that Geto Suguru was once Satoru Gojo's best friend, and had also been killed by the latter's own hands.
There was no need for him to make Satoru Gojo kill his best friend again. The one to finish all this had to be himself.
"What happened after that."
"Many people died, Gojo-sensei."
Yuji Itadori's tone sounded like a sigh. Satoru Gojo was sealed, Nanami Kento sacrificed himself... Afterward, even Yaga Masamichi was held accountable by the higher-ups of the Jujutsu World.
Yuji Itadori pondered for a moment on how to express it, but eventually revealed most of the events of the future.
"To think... such things actually happened?"
Satoru Gojo took a deep breath, his expression looking somewhat complex. These matters had truly exceeded his imagination. But coming from the mouth of a Yuji Itadori from the future, it was an indisputable fact. If it were a lie, it couldn't possibly be this detailed.
"So, does your other self know about this?"
"I haven't told him yet, because right now... he still can't change anything." Yuji Itadori shook his head.
"I understand. Then what do you need me to do now?"
"First is to investigate the whereabouts of those cursed spirits. I'm not sure where they hide before the incident breaks out, but I do know that not long from now, in a certain movie theater, one of the cursed spirits will make a move."
Yuji Itadori knew clearly that this was the beginning of all the tragedy. It was Mahito's doing.
"And as for that cursed spirit, I must personally exorcise him. I said before, no matter where he is, no matter how many times he reincarnates, I will kill him."
"Yeah, I'll investigate these matters."
"Aside from that, regarding the matters related to Sukuna's Fingers, I will find a way to purify them."
Yuji Itadori paused for a moment, then continued, "As for matters concerning me, the fact that my other self has no fingers in his body—as well as the events that happen in the future, please do not tell anyone else, Gojo-sensei."
"Don't worry, rest assured!"
"Also, there is one more thing I need your help with, Gojo-sensei." Yuji Itadori leaned forward as well, resting his hands on his legs.
"Say it! It is a student's wish after all, even if you've become an old grandpa."
"I want you to help me take something out of Jujutsu High, Gojo-sensei—no, not one, but nine."
"What?"
"Cursed Womb: Death Paintings."
"Oh? Why do you want those?"
"Because among them is my very important big brother."
The smile on Satoru Gojo's face froze for a few seconds, as if trying to understand the meaning behind these words. Cursed Womb: Death Paintings, big brother? Forget it, he wouldn't think about it for now.
After all, too many unexplainable things had already happened by now.
"Those are forbidden items within Jujutsu High, you know. Taking them out will be quite troublesome~"
"For you, Gojo-sensei, it should be a breeze."
"That goes without saying, of course. After all, your sensei here is the strongest~"
After saying these words, however, the corners of Satoru Gojo's mouth turned up again. "But I have a tiny wish of my own that I want fulfilled too."
"What is it?"
"Yuji, do you want the two of us to spar for a bit~"
Satoru Gojo's smile widened.
