Jujutsu Kaisen: Nozomi no Sora

In the dark and damp underground pipes, only the sound of footsteps echoed.

Rime dragged the cursed spirit, frozen into an ice sculpture, behind her, walking expressionlessly through the rusted metal corridor.

She stopped in front of an iron gate at the end of the road.

There was no lock on the door; pressing the handle caused the iron gate to open with a click.

A sea breeze swept over me.

The space behind the door is much more spacious than the outside.

Azure sky, dazzling sunlight, long stretches of sandy beach and boundless ocean.

Lu Suo was lying on a beach chair, his upper body wrapped in bandages, but he was still leisurely sunbathing.

On another beach chair next to him, a fleshy ball covered in stitches sat quietly. The eyes embedded in the ball moved slightly, and their gaze shifted as Rime arrived.

"You've worked hard." Lu Suo turned his head, a familiar smile playing on his lips. "You've arrived earlier than I expected."

Rime casually tossed the frozen, ice-sculpted cursed spirit aside, her gaze falling on the fleshy ball, her brow furrowing slightly.

"Has that guy not recovered yet?"

"I really didn't expect that the seal on that brat would be so troublesome." Lu Suo sighed softly, raising his hand to shield his eyes from the glaring sunlight. "As long as the seal remains, the True Man's curse power will flow into that kid's body continuously."

Although I tried many methods... none of them worked.

Rime glanced coldly at the real person: "Then it's useless, isn't it? We might as well just absorb it."

"What are you talking about?" Lu Suo feigned surprise, his eyes widening, his tone reproachful. "How could you lay a hand on such a young child?"

The sea behind them suddenly churned.

The Thangka, still in its cursed embryonic state, was half-submerged on the surface of the sea, its two enormous eyes fixed motionlessly on the two people on the beach, its swollen outline faintly visible beneath the water.

Rime sneered, a chill spreading from her body: "So, releasing so many cursed spirits in Tokyo to cover your tracks, and even having Lord Sukuna fight that Gojo Satoru... was all just to provide cover for you so you could bring this piece of trash back?"

The air instantly dropped to freezing point.

Before Rime's frost could descend, the sea suddenly exploded! Countless schools of fish with sharp teeth burst from the water like arrows, tearing and biting at Rime frantically—

boom.

A giant, gate-shaped magical spirit appeared out of thin air, blocking the entire school of fish.

Lu Suo remained lying on the beach chair, without even changing his posture, only slightly raising a finger.

"Calm down, Tuogen." His voice was gentle, yet carried an undeniable air of authority. "Now is not the time for infighting."

The water surface churned violently. Tuogen's body rapidly expanded in the cursed power, instantly growing into the complete form of a top-tier cursed spirit, and the shadow lurking in the water also gradually grew larger.

Bubbles rose from underwater, making a gurgling sound.

"I must protect the real person. Louhu and Hanamichi are both dead..." Tagore's voice came from underwater, "I will personally kill Gojo Satoru, who killed them!"

Lu Su gave a wry smile, ignoring its extreme remarks, and turned to look at Li Mei.

"As you can see, everyone's emotions are unstable right now. I understand why you're angry... but could you please calm down and let me finish what I have to say?"

Rime showed no intention of continuing the attack, simply looking at him expressionlessly, waiting for what he would say next.

Lu Suo revealed a satisfied smile.

"Before entering the Kyoto barrier, I released hundreds of cursed spirits into Shibuya, using them as expendable pawns to restrain the sorcerers at Tokyo High School."

The purpose of having the Panxing Sect spread the false news of Sukuna's unsealing was also to attract Gojo Satoru's attention, making him hesitant to act rashly and unable to focus on the Kyoto barrier.

He raised his hand, and an ancient jade fragment gleamed faintly in the sunlight.

"Based on my understanding of Gojo Satoru, he won't set off immediately unless he himself senses the curse power of Sukuna."

So, he needs a few old guys to keep him company.

Those powerful figures from hundreds of years ago... were a bunch of madmen who fought for the sake of fighting. Even if I didn't give the order, they would still come to Gojo Satoru on their own.

As I expected, thanks to them, I was able to successfully infiltrate that old bastard Tianyuan's barrier.

Rime's gaze grew even colder: "In that case, isn't it even less necessary for Lord Sukuna to take action?"

Lu Suo sighed softly, as if he had heard some troublesome problem.

"That decision was made so that you could reunite with your Lord Sukuna as soon as possible."

Honestly... they can't even understand my good intentions.

"What do you mean?"

"I believe that on the day Hisahito Itadori was resurrected, Sukuna must have made some kind of agreement with him, which is why he was willing to lie low. Although I don't know the specifics, it must have been beneficial to him. I made Gojo Satoru keep an eye on Sukuna's movements at all times, which was indeed taking advantage of him... I'm sorry about that."

Lu Suo's tone was so sincere it was almost hypocritical.

"However, I broke the bond with him from a thousand years ago so that he would realize his situation. And just in case, I had Wan send his finger over as soon as I got it, and I also kindly reminded him about Gojo Satoru, didn't I?"

and……"

He paused, lowering his voice slightly.

"I actually planned to complete the sealing of Gojo Satoru that very night."

Rime's pupils contracted slightly: "...What?"

"Do you remember our original plan? To use those four barriers to distract Kyoto College. Those guys would try their best to break the barriers to prevent the college from becoming an isolated island."

Rime, you keep watch outside to see if any sorcerers leave the "tent," while I'll infiltrate the High School's barrier and retrieve the items.

Although a lot of effort was put into the vocational college, there was still that old man at Leyan Temple and that puppeteer who should have been killed earlier...

Fortunately, I completed the task on time.

Lu Suo shrugged, the wound under the bandage seemed to make him a little uncomfortable.

"Actually, I didn't tell you about the rest of the plan. I planned to go to Saitama to seal Gojo Satoru after leaving the vocational high school."

"..."

"Don't be surprised." Lu Suo smiled. "Do you still remember the sealing conditions of 'Prison Gate'?"

The goal is to keep Gojo Satoru within the four-meter effective radius of the seal for one minute. This minute can also be a minute within his mind.

With Sukuna restraining it, doing this shouldn't be difficult, after all—

I was planning to let Louhu and the others take over.

And then…”

After he finished speaking, he slumped back onto the beach chair like a deflated balloon.

"Our entire plan was ruined by a brat."

"That brat named 'Genichi Nishio'?" Rime said coldly, "Why didn't you just kill him back then?"

"I admit I underestimated my opponent." Lu Su gave a helpless bitter smile. "After all, there's no need to reveal all your cards from the start, is there?"

However, I got a little impatient with those strange spells, and ended up getting hit by the Dog Roll family's curse...

I really have no other ideas.

He tilted his head and looked at the fleshy ball covered in stitches on the beach.

"Fortunately, we didn't kill him outright back then, otherwise, given his current state, it would probably take a long time to activate 'Death Annihilation Journey'..."

Rime was silent for a moment, then said in a cold voice, "Do you want me to bring him back?"

"Gojo Satoru rescued him." Tosaku waved his hand, looking at Rimei with a half-smile. "If you go... are you capable of fighting against that Gojo Satoru?"

Rime did not answer.

Lu Suo withdrew his gaze and looked at the azure sea. The smile on his lips gradually widened, and his voice drifted over.

"Don't worry, I already thought of a more interesting way."