After training ended...
"I'll treat everyone to dinner!" Riko Amanai raised her right hand and made the announcement.
Everyone followed along, but the route started to seem a little off—and in the end, they found themselves walking straight into the school cafeteria.
Did this really count as treating them?
Wasn't this free?
Noticing their expressions, Riko Amanai quickly explained, "The VIP set still costs money!"
"It can't be that expensive, right?" Sōjun Minamoto looked puzzled. As a Special Grade sorcerer and a Supreme User, his VIP access meant everything was free.
"Heh... heh-heh. I've been a little short on money lately, so let's just make do for now," Riko Amanai said awkwardly. "Next time, when I've got the funds, I'll properly treat you guys—promise I'll make it worth your while."
She'd blurted it out without thinking, falling back into the habit of offering to treat people—completely forgetting she was currently broke.
Naturally, no one minded. It just confirmed what they already knew: she talked big but didn't have much to back it up.
When they walked in, they ran into a second-year trio and ended up sharing a table with them.
There weren't even enough Jujutsu High students to fill a full class. Bounty sorcerers rarely showed up in places like the cafeteria or the training grounds, so the few people around were usually familiar faces.
The two three-person squads paired off across the tables, leaving Sōjun Minamoto as the odd one out, sitting alone to the side.
The group didn't talk much during the meal.
A few who ate quickly just sat and waited for the others.
In the end, Sōjun Minamoto turned out to be the slowest.
"How'd you all end up together?" Satoru Gojo reached out with his chopsticks and snagged a piece of taiyaki from Sōjun's plate, popping it into his mouth in two bites.
"Training together. And I was giving them a bit of guidance," Sōjun Minamoto replied, raising an eyebrow. When Gojo reached for more, Sōjun shifted his bowl out of reach.
"You know, some people like to save their favorite part of the meal for last…"
"So?" Gojo's hand froze mid-motion.
"So you went straight for my favorite part. And you even tried to take another!"
Sweets were great for recharging mental energy, and Sōjun's meal portions were noticeably bigger than the others—intentionally so.
Usually, he ate alone and didn't expect to be dealing with "food theft." If he'd known, he would've just grabbed more.
"Tch. Stingy," Gojo muttered, setting down his chopsticks. "You don't even have a teaching license—what makes you qualified to teach anyone?"
"I can still pass along a few things," Sōjun said, finishing off his plate and making a small gesture with his thumb and forefinger.
"By the way, you free this afternoon?"
"Depends. What for?"
Sōjun caught the hint and locked eyes with Gojo, rephrasing his question. "I want to know more about the Six Eyes. Lately, my vision's gotten sharper, and honestly, the Six Eyes don't seem all that special."
"Hah?" Now it was Gojo's turn to raise an eyebrow. He stared straight back into Sōjun's eyes.
Starlight met blue.
"Sure. Just shoot me a message beforehand," he said.
Sōjun responded with an OK sign.
These past days had flown by in a blur of activity.
His many clones were operating in parallel—some staying behind, others heading out.
As the number of assimilated cursed energy sources grew, his overall cursed energy advanced by a level each day, constantly evolving.
The three external cursed energy sources had fully fused with his own. They no longer needed to be labeled "external"—they were indistinguishable from the original.
The clone stationed in the Medical Department was still gathering cursed energy sources as well.
Eventually, he planned to fuse another hundred thousand or so, light up every point in his body, and turn his flesh-and-blood body entirely into a cursed energy source.
At that point, his physical, spiritual, and cursed energy forms would become one—perfectly synchronized.
Just imagining it was overwhelming. He didn't dare dwell on it for long.
...
In the afternoon, Sōjun Minamoto messaged Satoru Gojo in advance. The two agreed to meet in a classroom.
When he arrived, the three second-years were already there. It was almost time for class.
"Any questions?" Satoru Gojo got straight to the point. "Information on the Six Eyes isn't exactly classified among the higher-ups, right?"
"Aren't you one of them?"
"Hm..." Sōjun paused, then said, "What I really want is your personal take on the Six Eyes."
"Of course, if it's inconvenient, forget I asked."
"It's not inconvenient at all," Satoru Gojo said, completely unfazed. He sat sideways on the edge of the desk, thought for a moment, then began, "You want my opinion, huh...
The so-called 'Six Eyes' are simply eyes that can perceive Cursed Energy in extraordinary detail. Even with my eyes covered, I can see clearly—like a high-resolution thermal camera. Except, while a thermal cam detects temperature, mine perceive Cursed Energy."
Sōjun Minamoto pulled up a chair and sat beside him, propping his chin on his hand, leaning against the far side of the desk. He looked intrigued.
"So it's based on Cursed Energy? Then what happens if your vision is blocked by something with no Cursed Energy? Like your sunglasses or that blindfold you wear all the time—those aren't cursed. Wouldn't that affect your vision?"
Is it really just for the aesthetic?
"Nope. Anything or anyone with Cursed Energy—be it a person or a curse—naturally leaves traces of it in their surroundings. I can track them by the residuals or by the flow of their energy."
Gojo explained it casually, as if it were second nature. He'd long since adapted to a way of seeing that went beyond normal human perception, distinguishing people and objects by their Cursed Energy alone.
"If I don't keep my eyes covered, my brain stays in a constant state of alertness. It actually gets pretty exhausting," he added.
So... the blindfold also served to limit the Six Eyes' passive perception, reducing sensory overload and helping avoid mental fatigue?
Sōjun Minamoto fell into thought.
...
Meanwhile, in the dorm's living room, a different Sōjun Minamoto sat cross-legged on the couch.
The eye Yuki Tsukumo had modified with a technique was with this clone.
He was currently reconstructing his other eyeballs to match that enhanced level.
He was no longer the same as before—not the Grade 1 sorcerer whose Cursed Energy had once hit a wall and who struggled to contain even a full dose of Special Grade Cursed Energy.
Now, his power had reached a level where even the mass of the Star Eyes was something he could handle with ease.
The cursed sigils etched across his body were also being imprinted onto the eye.
Once complete, the eye's nature would fundamentally change, imbued with incredible power. Combined with his Cursed Energy... it would be beyond comprehension.
This was the only eye of its kind in the jujutsu world, unmatched in history, and likely to remain so in the future.
Sōjun Minamoto was genuinely looking forward to putting it up against the Six Eyes.
To be honest, he'd never really cared much about the Six Eyes. But now that his own development had reached this point, there was only one reference point left worth comparing to.
Back in the classroom, he studied Satoru Gojo's eyes carefully...
And suddenly remembered the time when Toji Fushiguro had successfully ambushed him.
Toji, who had no Cursed Energy at all and an in-depth understanding of the Six Eyes, made sure to avoid any residual traces in the air. With no people or cursed objects around, the cursed presence was so faint it was nearly nonexistent—just enough to slip past the Six Eyes' perception.
Conditions like that were almost impossible to replicate, but it still revealed a flaw.
The Six Eyes weren't perfect.
And they never could be.
They weren't what Sōjun envisioned for his Star Eyes.
What he wanted was a naked eye ability that could match the once-every-400-years Six Eyes—equal in capability, existing in the same era.
His brow twitched slightly. At the edge of one eyebrow, near the bridge of his nose, a tiny black pinhole appeared.
It was an organ he had designed, modeled after the pit organs of snakes. Its purpose: temperature detection—though slightly different from how snakes sensed their environment.
Sōjun Minamoto closed his eyes.
He could "see" even the smallest variations in ambient temperature—down to thousandths of a degree Celsius. Any nearby object that differed even slightly from the temperature at the pinhole would trigger a response.
The sensitivity was astounding.
Then he channeled Cursed Energy to enhance the effect. The image in his mind sharpened—like jumping from ultra-high definition to Blu-ray quality.
The difference was clear.
This heat-sensing organ, powerful on its own, became nearly omniscient when combined with Cursed Energy. Anything around him—whether warm or cold—could be detected, as long as it differed from the controlled temperature of the pinhole.
And that temperature?
Under perfect control, it could be adjusted at will.
Which meant... this sight had no blind spots.
It was far superior to the Six Eyes, at least as Satoru Gojo had described them.
He also thought about the Six Eyes' famed control over Cursed Energy.
But in that respect, he didn't lose out either. His command over his own energy was flawless—precision that rivaled, perhaps even exceeded, what the Six Eyes offered.
The only area where the Star Eyes fell slightly short was in perceiving external Cursed Energy. It wasn't quite as refined, so it lost out in terms of fine observation.
But the Star Eyes had many strengths the Six Eyes didn't.
Ultra-long range vision, dynamic focus, expansive field of view...
Sōjun Minamoto could even pull out an eyeball and chuck it like a weapon.
Could the Six Eyes do that?
Absolutely not.
Once he engraved the assimilated techniques onto the eye and linked them with the celestial imagery of his inner world...
The Star Eyes would evolve again.
And with it, his Domain would approach completion.
(40 Chapters Ahead)
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