Jujutsu Kaisen: Tragedy Life Simulator-Chapter 99 - Phantoms of the Past [bonus]

[Yuta’s grip tightened until his knuckles went white. Every instinct in his body told him to jump, to run, to fight. But Maki was right. If he went out there, he’d only make it worse.]

[He bit down so hard he tasted blood and forced himself to stay put.]

[Once they were sure Yuta wouldn’t move, Maki, Panda, and Toge shot off at once, three streaks cutting across the grounds toward that massive swirl of cursed energy.]

[They never found Suguru Geto.]

[He found them.]

[He was standing in the middle of the only path leading to the school buildings, already waiting.]

[Three first-years throwing themselves into a suicide charge to stop him. It didn’t surprise him at all.]

[His oversized monk’s robe shifted lightly in the evening wind. The left sleeve hung empty and flat. With his remaining hand, he casually stroked his chin. There was no obvious killing intent in his narrow eyes. Somehow that only made him worse. He looked almost feverishly pleased.]

["You came rushing back here, ready to risk your lives for Okkotsu. Correct?"]

[Geto looked at the three of them like he was admiring a painting.]

["Jujutsu sorcerers willing to sacrifice themselves for another sorcerer. Such noble compassion. Wonderful. Truly wonderful. The world I’ve dreamed of, a world without monkeys, where our kind help one another, it’s right here in front of me."]

["What the hell are you rambling about?"]

[Maki cut him off before he could enjoy himself any longer. She burst forward, crossing the gap in a blink as her naginata carved a cold arc straight for his throat.]

["That disgusting world of yours is never happening!"]

[Geto didn’t move.]

[Not even one step.]

[He barely glanced at the strike coming for his neck and answered in a flat, disinterested voice.]

["Oh. So the monkey without cursed energy is here too."]

[He moved before the last word finished leaving his mouth.]

[Even with Maki’s reflexes, she never saw the kick.]

[One second she was attacking. The next, it felt like a bullet train had plowed straight into her stomach.]

[Crack!]

[Bone broke.]

[The cursed energy packed into Geto’s leg turned the blow into a battering ram. Maki flew backward like she’d been fired from a cannon and crashed into Panda, who’d tried to catch her.]

[They hit the ground hard.]

[Blood poured from Maki’s nose and mouth, staining her uniform red.]

[Pain blanked out everything for a second. And lying there in her own blood, she finally understood just what kind of monster Hayase had been fighting on the verge of death.]

[Toge didn’t look at his teammates.]

[His instincts wouldn’t allow it.]

[The instant Geto’s kick left an opening, Toge acted.]

[He yanked down his collar and exposed the markings around his mouth. Every bit of cursed energy in his throat compressed into a single point, and he screamed:]

["Fall!"]

[Boom!]

[Cursed Speech slammed down like raw gravity.]

[The ground beneath Geto cratered and his body was forced hard into the earth. But using that technique on a Special Grade came with a brutal price. Blood burst from Toge’s mouth immediately. His throat felt like it had been ripped open from the inside. He dropped to one knee, completely spent.]

[And still...]

["Not bad."]

[Geto’s calm voice drifted up from the crater.]

[The attack hadn’t left so much as a scratch.]

[He leaped back out with easy grace. Behind him, black cursed energy surged like a tidal wave, and dozens of Cursed Spirits pushed their grotesque heads through it. Every last one of them carried pressure at least on the level of Semi-Grade 1.]

[Geto glanced once at his missing left arm and his expression cooled.]

[Jujutsu High had been ready for him. Which meant Satoru Gojo and Touma Hayase could arrive at any moment. Time to stop playing.]

[He gave up on restraint altogether and unleashed a flood of Semi-Grade 1 and Grade 1 Cursed Spirits. The swarm crashed over Panda, the last one still standing, and buried him under sheer numbers.]

[With only one arm left, close combat in a melee wasn’t his best option anymore.]

[So Geto simply stepped past the fallen first-years and turned toward the deeper campus.]

[Toward Yuta Okkotsu.]

[Then something changed.]

[ROARRR!]

[A savage howl exploded behind him.]

[Geto spun around.]

[A tall black shadow ripped onto the battlefield like a storm. In less than a heartbeat, three Semi-Grade 1 Cursed Spirits were torn apart. Precise enough to be ugly.]

[When the rush of motion stopped, the figure landed ten meters in front of Geto and planted itself squarely in his path.]

[A Cursed Corpse.]

[Black fur from head to toe. Maki’s dropped naginata clutched in both hands. Perfect stance.]

[A monkey.]

[The moment Geto saw it clearly, something rare happened.]

[His eyes went still.]

[Something old and sour surfaced from the very back of his memory. He stared at the monkey and spoke so softly it almost sounded unreal.]

["Wukong... is that you? It’s really been a long time."]

[His gaze turned distant.]

[The last time he’d seen it, it had just been made. Barely half a meter tall. Now it stood at full human height, radiating far more power than he’d expected.]

[His voice dropped even lower, carrying a bitter little smile.]

["So even you’ve grown up..."]

[Wukong had zero interest in nostalgia.]

[It let out a sharp shriek, gripped the naginata with both hands, spun it like a heavy staff, and whipped up a wall of black wind. Then it charged straight into Geto and his army of Cursed Spirits without the slightest bit of hesitation.]

[Watching that familiar but not-quite-familiar fighting style, the nostalgia in Geto’s eyes slowly cooled into something else.]

[Something sad.]

[He exhaled, raised his remaining hand, and prepared to tear apart this miserable ghost from his past.]

[Crack!]

[The Curtain covering the whole campus suddenly buckled overhead.]

[It had been solid as iron a second ago, but now something outside was pressing against it with overwhelming force. A single sharp fracture rang through the sky.]

[Then the whole thing shattered.]

[Black fragments drifted down.]

[Through that rain of broken pieces, a figure descended slowly from the sky.]

[Black Jujutsu High uniform. White blindfold. Cursed energy so massive it twisted the air around him and seemed to bend space itself.]

[Satoru Gojo.]

[He tilted his head, first glancing at the monkey Cursed Corpse, Touma Hayase’s creation, still ripping through Cursed Spirits below. Then he looked across at the man facing him. One arm gone. Posture still perfectly straight.]

[His oldest friend.]

[A smile touched Gojo’s lips.]

[Complicated. Sharp enough to cut.]

["This really does take me back, doesn’t it, Suguru?"]