After bidding farewell to Suguru Geto and Shiko Mishima, Sōjun Minamoto returned to his dorm. All his clones out in the field stopped what they were doing and began making their way back from their respective locations, eventually merging into one.
His strength was steadily rising. While his body and soul had yet to reach their limits, the threshold for his Cursed Energy had already been broken. Every day, the returning clones brought back a significant number of Curses, and the sigils etched into him grew increasingly complete and intricate.
This signaled a boost in his Cursed Energy output. His next major goal was to engrave these black lines onto his eyeball, synchronizing them with his Inner Domain so they would mirror and reinforce each other.
But before that, he needed to enhance the mass of the other eyeball. It had to reach the equivalent of nine full applications of mass manipulation—amounting to 13.5 times the power of a nation.
As he had anticipated, the eyeball altered by Yuki Tsukumo's technique underwent dramatic internal changes. Its cellular structure became denser and more complex, with unique arrangements of repulsive and gravitational forces. Billions of cells interlocked, forming a dense and heavy core.
Sōjun Minamoto's task now was to reconstruct the other eyeballs in the same way and absorb a vast number of Curses to sustain this restructured constellation of power.
Mass alone didn't equate to strength, but the Star Eye's energy level and weight continued to grow, granting him capabilities like enhanced dynamic vision—and eventually, foresight into the future...
Unfortunately, he only had one Star Eye for now. The path ahead was still long.
Sōjun Minamoto reined in his thoughts. There was something more urgent at hand: his Special Grade promotion.
How does one get promoted to Special Grade? It's not like you can just go and destroy a country.
There are two steps.
First, he had to exorcise a Special Grade Cursed Spirit to prove his strength. If successful, he'd move on to the second step: a group of non–Special Grade sorcerers would evaluate him and draw lots to assign an additional task. Such was the limitation of the system.
Sōjun Minamoto was part of that system, so naturally, he had to follow its rules.
Truthfully, he didn't care much about the Special Grade title. He had nothing to prove. But with the title, he could finally solidify his position at Jujutsu High—and across the entire Jujutsu world.
Controlling the Jujutsu High Barrier alone wasn't enough. He needed to wipe out any lingering suspicion from the higher-ups that he was playing dirty.
That would save him a lot of headaches.
...
The next day.
Sōjun Minamoto got up early, refined his Cursed Energy, and cleared his mind. This routine had become second nature. Ever since breaking through the Cursed Energy ceiling, he'd found joy in training again—his growth no longer capped. That release after shaking off pent-up negativity felt especially rewarding. Honestly, he was a bit addicted to the feeling.
Like a gym rat on leg day—the moment you rise after maxing out on squats, the ache hits different. Not that he was a masochist.
He wasn't.
He submitted his application for promotion. His strength and contributions met all the criteria. The higher-ups may have wanted to block him, but they no longer had the means.
The additional Special Grade task was quickly arranged, set for three days later. His examiner? Yuki Tsukumo.
As the only openly recognized Special Grade sorcerer and the top figure in the Jujutsu world, her involvement in this promotion was a blatant and desperate move by the higher-ups to suppress him.
Sōjun Minamoto didn't care.
Once he passed this, no one could restrain him with authority. He'd become the Jujutsu world's sole Special Grade upper-echelon sorcerer—untouchable from both above and below. The top, and the strongest.
The higher-ups understood that, but they were already dancing to his tune, forced into reactive moves with no effective counter.
From his first kill, to seizing the Barrier's core, to now submitting this promotion request—it wasn't a perfect chain, but every blow came hard and fast. The higher-ups had no chance to catch their breath. They were stuck on the defensive.
...
Two days later.
Yuki Tsukumo returned to Tokyo Jujutsu High. She hadn't been gone long, and even though she was officially from the Kyoto branch, she'd been visiting Tokyo a little too often lately.
She headed straight for Sōjun Minamoto's place.
"...But when the Pharisees heard this, they said, "It is only by Beelzebul, the prince of demons, that this fellow drives out demons." Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them, "Every kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and every city or household divided against itself will not stand. If Satan drives out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then can his kingdom stand? And if I drive out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your people drive them out? So then, they will be your judges. But if it is by the Spirit of God that I drive out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.'"
"..."
Yuki Tsukumo pushed open the door and saw Sōjun Minamoto sitting cross-legged on the wooden floor. A Fly Head hovered before him, reciting... the Gospel of Matthew?
Having devoured many of its kind recently, the Fly Head had grown smarter. Its intelligence had clearly evolved—it could now speak fluently and understand most literal meanings.
"Aha, long time no see!" Yuki Tsukumo barged in without hesitation, greeting him cheerfully.
Sōjun Minamoto was at a loss. Call her polite, and she never knocks before entering someone's home. Call her rude, and she still says hi like everything's fine.
"It hasn't been that long. A month, maybe." Sōjun Minamoto smiled, his words laced with meaning. "How come you didn't say goodbye last time you left?"
Yuki Tsukumo scratched her head. "Heh... it was kind of urgent."
Suddenly, her expression shifted. She straightened up, narrowed her eyes, and locked onto him with sharp focus.
"Your Special Grade promotion task is to fight me. Let's get one thing straight—I won't be holding back. You'd better bring everything you've got. Special Grade isn't some playground game,"
She jabbed her thumb toward herself.
"It's earned through strength. If you don't get my recognition, you'll have to head back down and wait a few more years."
Truth be told, Yuki Tsukumo was already secretly impressed. When she first heard the news, she was shocked. This guy's growth was insane—was there no bottleneck for him? He had barely made Grade 1!
After returning to Jujutsu High, she'd received his profile. Not only did it detail his techniques and battle record, but it also outlined his growth trajectory. It was incredibly comprehensive—and dazzling.
"The old guard always gets replaced. It's just a matter of time," Sōjun Minamoto said calmly, spewing trash talk with a gentle smile.
That only irritated Yuki Tsukumo more. A vein popped at her temple.
"You calling me old?"
"Fine, fine! If I don't stomp you into the ground tomorrow, I'll write my surname backward."
?
Yuki Tsukumo didn't linger. After all, they had a match tomorrow, and what kind of examiner meets with the examinee right before the fight?
As she walked away, Sōjun Minamoto suddenly shouted after her, "You mean upside down or reversed?"
He caught a glimpse of her stumbling slightly before she picked up her pace.
That sealed it—she definitely wasn't confident.
Sōjun Minamoto clenched his fists with a grin.
The advantage was his.
He was going to win.
(30 Chapters Ahead)
p@treon com / PinkSnake