The next morning, bright and early.
Inumaki, Maki, Yuta, and Panda, three humans and one beast, walked side-by-side down the school path, casually chatting about the new teacher arriving today.
"You really have no idea who it is, Maki?" Panda asked with curiosity. "Gojo-sensei said it's someone you know."
Maki adjusted her glasses, her expression instantly turning cold. "If it's someone I know, then it must be a sorcerer from the Zenin clan."
The moment she said that, the air froze.
Yuta Okkotsu leaned toward Panda and whispered, "Did something happen with Maki-senpai?"
Covering his mouth with one hand, Panda softly explained, "The Zenin clan is one of the Big Three Families in the jujutsu world. Since Maki doesn't have any cursed energy, the sorcerers in her family don't treat her well."
"Well... not all of them," he added after a pause. "The clan head's actually pretty kind to her."
"Oh."
Yuta nodded slowly, finally beginning to understand why Maki had chosen to attend Jujutsu High.
Third floor corridor.
Gojo Satoru and Principal Yaga stood overlooking the students below, their expressions solemn.
"First Geto Suguru reappears out of nowhere, and now we have a newly appointed Zenin clan instructor?" Gojo muttered. "Trouble sure loves company..."
Yaga rubbed his chin thoughtfully, voice low and grim. "When Shoko first mentioned him, I thought I'd like to meet the guy. Who would've thought, ten years later, we'd end up working together at Jujutsu High."
"Life's funny like that," Gojo said with a wry smile, his hands behind his back.
But unlike Yaga, Gojo had no need for concern. His overwhelming strength gave him the confidence to face any threat head-on.
The next second, Gojo's brow furrowed. He looked skyward.
"Damn it."
Yaga's face changed instantly. He spun on his heel and dashed down the stairs, shouting as he ran, "All Grade 1 and above sorcerers, report to the school gate immediately!"
At that same moment, the four students leisurely strolling down the path halted in their tracks and looked up in unison.
A pure white bird with four wings was diving straight down from the sky toward Jujutsu High.
"Well, that's rare. A cursed spirit bold enough to waltz straight into a nest of sorcerers," Panda remarked, slipping on a pair of cursed technique gloves featuring a panda-face emblem.
Whoosh,
The enormous bird landed before them, kicking up a wild gust that sent leaves flying.
"It's been so long... and yet nothing's changed at all,"
A man dressed in a monk's robe with ink-black hair gazed at the school buildings in the distance, voice calm and nostalgic.
"Master Geto, this rundown place is really in Tokyo?" said Nanako, crawling out from the bird's beak, her voice shrill with disappointment.
Geto Suguru. Nanako. Mimiko.
And one more, a shirtless sorcerer with two pink hearts tattooed on his chest.
That made four humans total.
Plus a cursed spirit.
Maki raised her cursed tool spear with narrowed eyes. "Outsider sorcerers. You're trespassing. Get lost."
Inumaki yanked down the collar that usually covered his mouth. Cursed energy began to gather in the air.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Yuta Okkotsu."
"My name is Geto Suguru."
The instant Geto appeared before Yuta, the others' pupils widened in shock.
So fast,
They hadn't even had time to react.
Geto leaned in slightly, hands gently grasping Yuta's shoulders. His tone was sincere.
"You possess incredible power."
"I'm here to invite you to join us, to create a better world."
"Would you do that for me, Yuta-kun?"
"Do... do what, exactly?" Yuta asked, blinking blankly, overwhelmed.
Geto smiled, placing a hand on Yuta's shoulder.
"Help me wipe out every last ordinary human being."
"Create a world where only jujutsu sorcerers exist."
Wipe out humanity?
Was this guy serious?
Terrorist?
Comedian?
Panda, Maki, and the others stared at Geto like he'd lost his mind.
"Get away from my student."
A voice rang out behind them, familiar, steady, and unheard for ten years.
Geto turned and smiled warmly. "Gojo. Long time no see."
Gojo's face was still, but his tone dropped cold.
"Step away from my student... Suguru."
Geto's smile vanished. He took two steps back.
"No wonder this first-year class is so strong," he murmured. "They're your students."
"Special-grade sorcerer, Yuta Okkotsu."
"Cursed corpse mutation, Panda."
"Descendant of the Cursed Speech clan, Inumaki Toge."
"And finally..."
His eyes landed on Maki, and a sneer twisted the corner of his lips.
"The Zenin clan's shame. Maki Zenin."
"There's no place in my perfect world for a monkey like you."
"You bastard! You, "
Maki's retort was cut short by a sudden, booming voice.
"Hey! You, monk with the long hair and robe!"
"What kind of nonsense are you spouting?!"
Maki froze mid-rage and turned toward the source, a sleek sports car pulling up to the school gate.
"White Zetsu?!"
Maki stared in disbelief at the loudmouth standing on the passenger seat, looking smug as ever.
If he was here, then...
Sure enough, as the car rolled closer, the shadow sitting in the back, previously blocked by White Zetsu, became visible.
It was a face Maki knew well.
A cursed spirit?!
White Zetsu's cocky posture didn't just shock Geto and his crew, even the Jujutsu High faculty were left stunned.
Their cursed energy senses confirmed it, this pale figure in the red cloud–patterned robe...
Was only Grade 4.
At best, Grade 3.
Cursed spirits were ranked as follows: Non-Grade, Grade 4, Grade 3, Grade 2, Grade 1, and Special Grade.
In terms of power, White Zetsu was the kind of cursed spirit any of them could easily crush with one hand.
And yet...
This weak little cursed spirit could talk. Fluently.
Such high-level intelligence in a cursed spirit was unheard of.
"Hey! I'm talking to you, monk-boy!"
White Zetsu stood with one foot on the car door, looking down arrogantly.
"You've been staring at me this whole time. What? Awestruck by my divine beauty?"
Then, shifting his gaze to the spear-wielding girl, he grinned.
"Little Maki, long time no see. You leave for a few years and don't even visit your dear Uncle Zetsu."
Completely ignoring the stunned crowd, he leapt from the car and dove toward Maki with a giant grin.
"Don't be scared, Little Maki! Uncle's here to protect you!"
"If that bald monk tries anything, just tell that future brat to take care of him."
"Uncle???"
Inumaki, Yuta, and Panda all stared wide-eyed, glancing between Maki and White Zetsu.
A Grade 3 cursed spirit was Maki's uncle?
So then... was Maki...
A human?
Or a cursed spirit?
Their entire understanding of the world was rapidly crumbling, and just as quickly being rebuilt.
"Zetsu!!"
Maki shoved him away with a clenched jaw. "Enough already! Don't try to take advantage of me again!"
The whole "uncle" thing...
It went back years ago, when Maki had just started wearing the glasses that let her see cursed spirits.
She'd walked into a meeting room and seen White Zetsu beside her future brother figure.
He tricked her into calling him uncle on the spot.
She had only been eight years old at the time, and Zetsu was the very first cursed spirit she ever laid eyes on...
And cursed spirits couldn't talk, or so she thought.
Besides, no cursed spirit would be allowed that close to Future Big Bro...
So for a whole mix of reasons, Maki assumed this pale guy was just some weird human...
And casually called him Uncle.
The biggest reason, though?
Back then, when Zetsu looked at her...
There was no contempt in his eyes.
No mockery.
It wasn't until she took off her glasses and saw the empty air where he'd stood...
That Maki finally understood the true nature of cursed spirits.
And ever since, White Zetsu had never stopped calling himself "Uncle."
✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦
Support me by adding this fic into your library!
200 P.S = 1 Extra Chapter