[The scene before him, drenched in the stench of blood and torn apart by visceral violence, hit Satoru Gojo harder than anything ever had.]

[Behind his sunglasses, those pale blue Six Eyes trembled faintly, dissecting every trace of the savage Cursed Energy still hanging in the air.]

[As the prodigy of the Gojo Clan, one of the Big Three Sorcerer Families, he’d witnessed countless grotesque Cursed Spirits. Death wasn’t new to him. But never before today, never before this moment, had the reality of sorcerers killing their own kind carved itself into his understanding with such frozen clarity.]

[Geto stood no better. His tall frame had locked rigid, eyes fixed on the two headless corpses bleeding out across the floor, each breath dragging heavier than the last.]

[Bewilderment gripped him, shading into something close to absurd fear. What kind of conviction, what possible reason, could transform the boy who smiled gently in the hallways and never lost his temper into someone capable of harvesting this many lives in a single day without so much as a flinch?]

[To Geto’s eyes, the moment you’d unleashed Blue and crushed those two skulls had contained zero hesitation, zero mercy. Killing, for you, looked no different than a butcher going through the motions at a market stall. Routine. Numb. Self-evident.]

[Yet you, standing at the center of it all, seemed either oblivious to the storm raging inside them or entirely indifferent.]

[You pulled your phone from your pocket with a calm expression and dialed the Assistant Manager on liaison duty.]

[When the call connected, your voice carried no inflection whatsoever, as though reporting something beneath mention.]

["Hello, this is Touma Hayase. There are two more Curse User bodies in the corridor at Renchoku Girls’ Junior High. Yes, already taken care of. Once you’re done cleaning up the hotel, send a team here as soon as possible. We can’t have ordinary students panicking. Thanks."]

[You ended the call without ceremony.]

[Compared to Gojo and Geto, both reeling from shock and spiraling into some private crisis of morality and self-doubt, Riko Amanai, the very eye of this assassination storm, was unexpectedly composed.]

[In the entire corridor, her emotional stability was second only to the Panda she clutched tight against her chest.]

[Because Riko understood her situation with perfect clarity. She was the prey these people would stop at nothing to slaughter.]

[Seconds ago she’d been pinned between two murderous Curse Users, staring down death, only to be wrenched back by Panda’s overwhelming strike. Adrenaline still sang through her veins, keeping her locked in a state of heightened alertness.]

[Looking at the mangled remains of the people who’d tried to take her life, something unprecedented happened inside her: not a single drop of pity formed.]

[Deep in her subconscious, she thought you’d done exactly right. Monsters who killed for money deserved exactly this kind of thunder. If the crushing worry over Misato Kuroi’s fate weren’t smothering every other emotion, she might have rushed forward to cheer you on.]

[Gojo finally surfaced from his stupor.]

[He took half a step forward, pinning you with an expression tangled beyond recognition. That face, usually wearing its carefree smirk, now held deep confusion, shock at what you’d done, the sting of being overridden and mocked to his face, and a fury he couldn’t put a name to.]

[All of it twisted together, and the Cursed Energy around him began to churn, restless and uncontrolled.]

[His jaw tightened. His voice dropped low.]

["Touma, what the hell is wrong with you today...? Do you even understand what you just did?!"]

[You paused mid-motion while pocketing your phone. Turning to face him, you wore an expression of genuine puzzlement, tilting your head slightly.]

["Wrong with me? I’m executing the mission to protect the Star Plasma Vessel flawlessly, aren’t I? I eliminated every threat that approached. And I don’t recall Teacher Yaga’s briefing including instructions to play house with hired killers."]

[Your logic was airtight, and you had neither the ability nor the intention to empathize with whatever "abnormality" they thought they were seeing.]

[Because the unshakable survival instinct forged across countless simulations had long since taken root in your mind. Curse Users with blood on their hands, people who crossed the line for profit, forfeited their right to exist the moment they stepped over it.]

[As a guardian, carrying out a Jujutsu Sorcerer’s duty and code by delivering death, that was the most reasonable and justified verdict this cruel world had to offer.]

[The temperature in the corridor plummeted.]

[A strange, taut energy circulated between the three of you. Gojo and Geto opened their mouths, groping for something from the realm of humanity and morality to counter your frozen logic.]

[But the words died before they could form. Their eyes drifted to the two pools of blood on the floor, and they found themselves unable to articulate what pale argument could condemn someone who had, by every objective measure, protected the mission target.]

[Off to the side, Riko wanted desperately to ask how they planned to rescue Misato Kuroi.]

[But the tension strung between the three of you, that atmosphere ready to ignite at the slightest spark, made her swallow hard. The courage to speak wouldn’t come.]

["RING RING RING...!"]

[In the suffocating silence, Riko’s phone screamed to life from her pocket.]

[Every pair of eyes snapped toward her. She flinched, fumbling the phone free. The screen displayed Misato Kuroi’s number.]

[The kidnappers, calling to negotiate a hostage exchange.]

[Riko’s hands shook as she answered. At Geto’s gesture, she switched to speaker.]

[A low male voice filtered through, distorted by a voice changer, dripping with arrogance.]

[No pleasantries. The demand was blunt: Riko was to proceed immediately to a designated location in Okinawa and exchange her own life as the Star Plasma Vessel for Misato Kuroi’s freedom.]

[Before anyone could respond, the line went dead.]

[A picture message followed. In the photo, Misato Kuroi sat bound to a chair in a dim room, a cloth gag stuffed in her mouth.]

[One small mercy eased the group’s tension: despite her disheveled state, there was no visible blood or injury. She wasn’t in immediate danger.]

["Clap! Clap!"]

[While the others stared at the photo, each lost in their own thoughts, you raised both hands and struck your palms together twice.]

[The sharp crack echoed through the corridor, shattering the stalemate, dragging every gaze from the screen to you.]

[You adjusted your glasses and spoke with eyes restored to absolute calm and clarity, processing the situation with rapid efficiency.]

["Focus up. While Riko was on the phone, I already messaged the Windows intelligence network to run a reverse trace on that call’s signal and last known coordinates. That leaves us two problems: first, how to handle the hostage exchange in Okinawa; second, how to bring Riko safely back to Jujutsu High and complete the escort mission."]

[Gojo stared at you, brow furrowed deep. He had to admit that outside the question of how you dealt with Curse Users, you remained the same sharp, reliable partner you’d always been. Your analytical instincts still cut straight to the core of every problem.]

[He forced down the nausea churning in his gut over the killings, drew a long breath, and redirected his focus to the mission.]

[Arms folded across his chest, he laid out his tactical assessment.]

["Since they were stupid enough to make demands, this actually simplifies things. We hold all the leverage because Riko is with us. Once the Windows network gives us concrete intel, we set up a full ambush at the exchange point in Okinawa. Everything falls into our hands. We rescue Kuroi, then follow the original plan and bring Riko straight into Jujutsu High’s barrier. As for the kidnappers, we have Shoko throw together a decoy double to lead them off."]

[Riko’s face drained of color as she listened to Gojo’s seemingly bulletproof textbook plan. She clutched Panda tighter, words tumbling out before she could stop them.]

["Wait..."]

[But before the full word left her lips, you stepped forward, expressionless, cutting in ahead of her with a tone of absolute, unquestionable certainty.]

["Hold on. I don’t agree with this plan."]

[Gojo and Geto turned simultaneously, staring at you in disbelief.]

[Geto, silent for a long while, knit his brows tight and spoke up, confusion written across his face.]

["Satoru’s plan is logically sound, isn’t it? It ensures Kuroi’s safety and completes the mission. What exactly are you objecting to, Touma?"]

[You shook your head, gaze passing over Gojo and Geto in turn before settling on Riko. Your voice was still as a dead lake.]

["Of course there’s a problem. Because the foundational logic of Satoru’s plan is built on "the premise that Riko Amanai must be delivered to Master Tengen for complete assimilation and sacrifice" as an irreversible given."]

[Gojo’s brow twisted into a knot. He shot back, voice rising.]

["And what’s wrong with that?! Assimilating the Star Plasma Vessel is the entire point of this mission! Touma, did killing all those people scramble your brain?!"]

[His anger didn’t make you yield an inch.]

[You raised a hand, lightly adjusted the light reflecting off your lenses, and spoke with deliberate weight on every syllable, delivering your verdict.]

["First, I fundamentally reject the practice of forcibly binding an innocent person’s life to Master Tengen’s personal evolution problem and sacrificing them for it. So from the very beginning, I never intended to send Riko Amanai back to Jujutsu High for so-called assimilation."]

["What?!"]

[Gojo froze as if struck by lightning, his narrow eyes blown wide.]

[He couldn’t believe his own ears. The same person who’d been ruthlessly adhering to a Jujutsu Sorcerer’s duty to eliminate threats one second ago, killing Curse Users without blinking, was now... invoking humanitarian grounds to openly defy the highest-priority directive from the upper echelons of the entire jujutsu world?!]

[You ignored his shock and continued laying out your chillingly meticulous plan, point by point.]

["However, I don’t intend to announce this decision to protect the Star Plasma Vessel before the mission concludes.

If word gets out too early that Riko survived and refused assimilation, I’m concerned that Jujutsu High or Tengen’s side may have something like a ’backup Star Plasma Vessel’ waiting in the wings.

In that case, we’d save Riko only to shove another innocent person onto that execution platform in her place."]

[Geto sucked in a sharp breath. He stared at you, stunned. It had never occurred to him that the seemingly easygoing boy beside him not only dared to defy fate itself, but had already thought through the political chess and cascading consequences to this terrifying depth.]

[His throat dry, he managed to ask.]

["Touma... what exactly are you trying to do?"]

[You met his eyes directly. Behind those black pupils burned an absolute will that commanded something close to awe.]

["My reason is simple. I can’t stand by and watch a living, breathing person full of hope for the future be erased before my eyes for some hollow justification. And if I’m going to pull her off this damned track of fate, I absolutely cannot let my actions create a vacancy that gets filled by someone else’s life."]

[A strange, dissonant feeling rose simultaneously in both Gojo and Geto.]

[How is this guy’s brain wired? Living, breathing Curse Users, he grinds into dust like taking out the trash without a second thought. But this Star Plasma Vessel, he treasures her to the point of declaring war against the entire jujutsu establishment?]

[Yet facing the crushing pressure radiating off you, those objections stayed safely inside their heads. Neither dared voice them.]

[You didn’t pause. The mad script continued.]

["So here’s the plan. During the rescue operation in Okinawa, the identity of ’Riko Amanai’ will die on an Okinawan beach, in full view of every assassin, Curse User, and intelligence network watching. That ends the bounty. Permanently."]

["As for the crisis the higher-ups fear, the so-called ’Tengen rampage’ that hasn’t actually occurred once in all the long centuries past, if it does materialize, I will personally find a solution and deal with it."]

[Gojo and Geto turned to each other involuntarily, exchanging a long look. In each other’s eyes they found the same undisguised shock and alarm.]

[Neither had imagined that this straightforward escort mission could have its trajectory wrenched so violently, so unreasonably, into waters this deep.]

---

Join my Patreon for early access to Chapters: patreon.com/rivyura

Next Target 1000PS :)