Jujutsu Kaisen: Nozomi no Sora

The conference room lights dimmed, and the projector shone a stark white light onto the whiteboard.

Xuan Yi stood in front of the screen.

"...Therefore, the essence of the 'death migration' is a ritual."

It uses the swimmers' magical power to transport the people of this country to the "other side" through barriers and the boundaries between them—like fish migrating.

Simply put, it involves a large number of sorcerers fighting each other, near-death experiences, and awakening their powers within a designated barrier, thereby causing the "evolution" of human sorcery. Sufficient sorcery power fills the barrier, completing the preparatory work for the assimilation of all humanity with the Heavenly Origin.

Yuuji Itadori frowned, his fists clenching unconsciously. "I understand all of this... but why does that guy have to do something so disgusting?"

"He wants to achieve the transformation of all humanity into a species capable of freely manipulating magical power," Genichi said, turning to look at Gojo Satoru beside him. "He wants to evolve humanity into a new species that can freely manipulate magical power, thereby breaking the existing balance of magical power."

Fushiguro Megumi stared at the rules and regulations projected on the screen, then suddenly asked, "You just said that refusing to participate would result in the removal of your spell... What does that mean?"

Shoko Ieiri leaned back in her chair and slowly replied, "If this also applies to contestants who are originally mages, then it shouldn't be a simple matter of using 'inaction transformation' to remove the spell. It's not 'banning,' but 'stripping,' so it's not 'binding.' In that case, it's forcibly causing some kind of irreversible effect on the brain."

"Yes." Xuan nodded. "If we follow the rules, if an ordinary person awakens a spell but doesn't participate, and is only stripped of the spell without any other impact, then they can choose not to participate. Therefore, the true meaning of stripping someone of a spell is—death."

The temperature in the conference room seemed to drop several degrees.

Yuuji Itadori swallowed hard, pointing to a line on the screen: "What about Rule Three? Once a non-swimmer enters the barrier, they become a swimmer... So what happens to ordinary people who were in the barrier from the start?"

"According to the information I have, there should have been at least one chance to leave," Xuan Yi explained. "Because the swimmer's 'voluntary entry' is the key condition for 'locking' the swimmer."

Upon hearing this, Ino Takuma immediately moved closer to Fushiguro Megumi, interjecting with a smug look, "That's actually a restraint! It's the balance of the barrier's increase and decrease!"

Fushiguro Megumi was somewhat speechless at this senior who was so enthusiastic about explaining things, and could only mumble two "uh-huhs".

Nanami Kento sighed softly: "Ino-kun, Fushiguro is very capable. He knows all of this. Don't put on airs like a senior."

"Ah... haha." Ino Takuma awkwardly shrank back.

Xuan Yi ignored this little interlude and continued, "By the way, Itajō. Although you haven't stepped into any barrier yet, you are already a Swimmer."

Hisahito Itadori froze, then pointed to himself: "Me?"

As the most important piece in the game, Tiger Staff had one of Sukuna's fingers sealed at birth, which was also the place marked by his curse power.

"Try summoning the little gold bug."

"Um... that... Xiao Jin?"

As soon as he finished speaking, a small, golden insect wearing a skull mask appeared out of thin air in front of Hadari, emitting a sharp sound.

"I am a little golden worm, a window for communication between swimmers and the migrating extinction!"

Yuujin Itadori squinted, looking at it with disgust: "What's going on? Why am I carrying such a strange thing on me..."

"This is probably due to the first Sukuna finger you swallowed earlier." Xuan Yi spoke slowly, but deliberately avoided some deeper truths. "Sukuna's finger is also one of the cursed objects marked by the Rokuro."

He didn't explain further.

There are some truths that Hadji shouldn't have known so early on.

Xuan paused for a moment, then moved the laser pointer back to the screen: "I must remind everyone that the game administrator is not Lu Suo, and the game management window 'Little Golden Bug' is not an administrator either."

You can think of it as—this is a system built into the game itself.

"The existence of rules six and seven would allow for the creation of new general rules, thereby affecting the game's mechanics. However, because of the existence of rule seven, rules cannot affect the continued operation of the Death Journey, so deleting other general rules using points is not feasible."

Yuujin Itadori looked up at the projection, his voice deep: "So, Article Eight... means forced murder?"

"Yes." Xuan Yi's voice was calm. "Because the initial rules only stipulated that killing others would cause a change in points. So this is inevitable until new rules are added."

Everyone fell silent.

The only sound in the air was the soft hum of the projector fan as everyone digested this suffocating piece of information.

After a moment, Yigu Yuta spoke first: "If we have enough points to increase the general rules, wouldn't there be a way to get those who accidentally get caught up in the game out? Or, to ensure their safety?"

Fukuro Megumi raised her head.

"Now that you mention it, I have an idea too. If we add a rule like 'points can be exchanged,' wouldn't that perfectly solve the problem with Article 8?"

"In principle, it is possible," Xuan Yi nodded and said. "The premise of formulating general rules is that they cannot affect the continuation of the game. Fu Hei's added conditions have perfectly avoided this minefield."

Yi Gu You Tai pondered for a moment and said, "In that case, we can only participate in this game to get enough points to add to the rules that are favorable to us."

"So this is our mission!"

Gojo Satoru clapped his hands, successfully attracting everyone's attention.

"That rope is supposed to make the swimmers kill each other within the barrier until none are left, right? I do have a plan—I'd like to ask for everyone's opinions."

Night Moth Masamichi looked up at him and said, "Speak, Satoru. It's rare for you to be so polite."

"My plan is—" Gojo Satoru grinned, "I'll be the first to enter the barrier, and within a week, I'll break through the 'Death Extinction Journey'!"

The moment those words were spoken, everyone in the room was stunned.

Night Moth Masamichi frowned deeply: "A week? Satoru, even for you, that's too unrealistic!"

"Although it's called 'breaking through,' it's not that exaggerated." Gojo Satoru waved his hand and sat back down at the table. "It's mainly just for show."

After all, there must be at least a hundred or so sorcerers who have undergone physical rebirth and those who have awakened in modern times. If so many people are hiding, I can't possibly catch them all. Besides, I can't possibly kill them all…”

Xuan Yi pondered for a moment: "Teacher, do you mean to kill the powerful figures within each barrier, thereby deterring the sorcerers within each barrier from making any rash moves and thus delaying the escalation of the situation?"

"Bingo!" Gojo Satoru snapped his fingers. "Since those ancient flesh-receiving sorcerers all signed contracts with Lusuo, they should have been prepared to be killed by someone stronger than them, right?"

If they want to die, then so be it. If they were modern people, we could scare them into not daring to move, and that would achieve our goal.

"During this period, I will prioritize getting two hundred points to establish two general rules." He held up two fingers. "First, all swimmers can freely enter and exit the barrier; second, points can be transferred between swimmers."

Fushiguro Megumi quickly followed her train of thought: "I see. In this way, we can ensure the survival of those modern swimmers while also preventing them from being restricted by the barrier."

"We definitely need to send people to control the area inside the barrier, but if they go in, they won't be able to get out, and we can't control the area outside the barrier." Gojo Satoru's expression was unusually serious. "After all, Tokyo right now... is already a living hell."

Xuan Yi's heart sank.

That was the result of Lu Suo unilaterally breaking the contracts with a large number of cursed spirits while activating "Death Annihilation Journey".

Because of the cursed spirits' attack, a large number of civilians have died, and Tokyo is about to enter a period of political vacuum.

"So this is the plan." Gojo Satoru looked around at everyone, his tone unusually serious. "Everyone, please take turns dealing with the cursed spirits outside the barrier."

Before I establish my first general rule—no one is allowed to enter the barrier!