Tokyo Jujutsu High.
Akira had heard this name from Akemi Aki before.
There were only two Jujutsu schools in Japan. One was located in Kyoto, the former capital, while the other was in Tokyo, the current capital.
"Even if you already know a little, let me give you a brief introduction."
Satoru Gojo continued in his usual casual tone.
"Tokyo Jujutsu High is the most important institution under Jujutsu Society. Besides training Jujutsu Sorcerers, it also serves as their main base of operations. Teaching, mission assignments, and the management of techniques and cursed tools are all handled there. Basically, you can think of it as Konohagakure."
"And you still insist you're not Kakashi Hatake?"
Akira could not help interrupting.
Seriously, he was not trying to nitpick. Gojo was the one who kept bringing up Naruto. How could Akira resist making that comparison?
"I'm not, I didn't, and if you don't believe me, I can take off my blindfold right now. Besides, I'm neither a principal nor a Hokage. I'm just an ordinary public school teacher."
Gojo said this with an exaggeratedly modest tone, as though being an ordinary teacher was something he was terribly proud of.
"All right, can we stop talking about this? Please continue."
Akira quickly put an end to the topic before things went any further.
After all, there was probably only one person in the world who could make taking off a blindfold sound like taking off stockings.
And that person was Satoru Gojo.
"The benefits at Tokyo Jujutsu High are actually pretty good," Gojo continued, finally returning to the main subject.
"Tuition is completely free, and food and accommodation are provided. You can even choose from higher education credentials across Japan. There's also a large personal insurance policy, and you can designate the beneficiary yourself."
He raised a finger and continued listing the benefits.
"During the internship period, your basic salary is already comparable to the quasi-professional group of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department. Mission bonuses are calculated according to difficulty and paid immediately after completion."
"With your abilities, you'll definitely earn far more than you do writing Light Novels. Of course, I still recommend that you continue writing."
"Because income is proportional to risk?" Akira asked.
After all, there was no such thing as easy money in the Jujutsu world.
The generous salary sounded attractive, but every mission involved dealing with Cursed Spirits. Even an experienced Jujutsu Sorcerer could die if something unexpected happened.
Life money was never cheap.
"No."
Gojo suddenly folded his hands together. His previously playful voice became low and strangely magnetic.
"Because human dreams never stop."
"..."
Akira stared at him with undisguised disdain.
"So we've gone from Konoha to One Piece now?"
"All right, all right. I admit it. I am the strongest man in the world, white... hair."
Gojo made a slight pause before finishing his sentence, looking completely pleased with himself.
Akira raised both hands in surrender.
"I admit defeat. You're stronger than me."
"Oh?"
"It takes real skill to say something that embarrassing with a straight face."
"Well, that's because I really am the strongest."
"Yes, yes, I know."
Akira nodded helplessly. He had no intention of arguing with Gojo over something that was technically true.
"But there's one problem. Just because you're the strongest doesn't mean I am. The risks I'll face won't disappear simply because I become your student."
As he spoke, Akira rubbed his thumb against his index and middle fingers.
The meaning was obvious.
Money. Benefits. Conditions.
He wanted more.
"Oh, so you want to negotiate?"
Gojo scratched his white hair, looking slightly troubled.
"I'm not very good at that sort of thing. Why don't you just tell me what you want? As long as it's something I can provide, I'll do my best. Whether it's related to Jujutsu or something else, we can discuss it."
Gojo was being quite sincere.
A few days earlier, after listening to his students' report, he had already realized that this teenager was far from ordinary.
Now that he had met Akira in person, his evaluation had only increased.
Someone with such unusual abilities, along with the intelligence to make good use of them, was worth recruiting.
As for offering additional benefits, Gojo had no problem with that.
He had money, connections, and enough personal strength to ignore most objections. Spending a little more to recruit a promising student was hardly something he needed to worry about.
Unfortunately, Akira had no intention of naming his price first.
"The problem is, I don't even know what you have."
He casually threw the question back to Gojo.
As the seller, revealing your price before knowing how much the buyer could afford was always a bad idea.
Akira remembered a story from his previous life.
A wealthy oil magnate from the Middle East once offered to pay membership dues to a political party.
The party officials discussed the matter for a long time. After gritting their teeth, they finally quoted what they believed was an outrageous amount.
One hundred million.
To their surprise, the magnate agreed immediately.
The officials were stunned.
Had they asked for too little?
After some hesitation, one of them hurriedly added that the amount was in US dollars.
Unexpectedly, the magnate became offended.
What did they mean by specifying US dollars? Were they looking down on him?
He always negotiated in dollars!
The magnate then increased the amount to one hundred and twenty million on his own initiative.
That day, the party officials discovered an entirely new world.
Akira had no desire to repeat their mistake.
Especially when the person sitting opposite him was Satoru Gojo, a man whose wealth and influence were difficult to estimate.
Unfortunately, Gojo really did seem terrible at negotiation.
He held his chin and thought for quite a while, apparently trying to figure out what he could offer.
Then his gaze suddenly fell on Pancham.
"Oh, right! We actually have some experience raising Panda."
Akira immediately understood what he meant.
Panda.
The second-year student at Tokyo Jujutsu High.
Although Panda looked like an ordinary panda at first glance, Akira knew his existence was far more complicated.
Of course, if they were talking about actual pandas, Akira was probably more experienced than Gojo.
After all, he had visited the giant panda breeding base in Sichuan during his previous life.
He had seen plenty of them.
Thinking of this, Akira reached out and poked Pancham's soft cheek.
"Hey, little guy. How about I take you to meet some other pandas?"
"Play! Play!"
Pancham immediately became excited, waving its little arms around.
For Pancham, the word "play" really did mean exactly that.
It wanted to play.
"All right, all right. If you want to play, then go play."
Akira rubbed its head with an amused expression.
Unlike the quiet and reserved Gardevoir, Pancham had always been lively and mischievous. It loved running around, picking fights, and getting into trouble.
A school filled with Jujutsu Sorcerers would actually be a good place for it.
At least Pancham would not have to worry so much about accidentally hurting ordinary people while playing.
More importantly, there was another panda there.
Perhaps the two would get along.
"Ari, are you really going?"
Akemi Aki, who had remained quiet throughout the discussion, finally spoke.
She had always allowed Akira to make his own decisions, and this time was no different.
However, her fingers had unconsciously tightened around the corner of her clothes.
It was clear that she had something on her mind.
Akira noticed her movement and gave a small nod.
"Mm."
In fact, he had already made his decision long ago.
Everything he had done during the negotiation was simply an attempt to secure as many benefits as possible.
Whether it was for financial reasons or the requirements of the System, entering Tokyo Jujutsu High was something he could not avoid.
And there was another reason.
One that mattered far more to him than tuition, salary, or access to Jujutsu resources.
"Actually, I'm not the only one going."
Akira turned toward Gojo.
"My mother is coming with me."
"Huh?"
"I want my mother to live at Tokyo Jujutsu High as well. That's my condition."
For a moment, Gojo simply stared at him.
Then he scratched his head.
"Wait, wait. You want to bring your mother to live at the school?"
"That's right."
"Well, that's a first. I've never even heard of someone making a request like that."
Gojo looked genuinely surprised.
He had expected Akira to ask for money, cursed tools, special training, or perhaps access to restricted Jujutsu techniques.
Those were all things he could understand.
But bringing his mother to live at the school?
What kind of admission condition was that?
Akira remained completely calm.
"It doesn't matter whether you've heard of it before. What matters is whether you agree."
"Ari..."
Akemi Aki looked at her son.
Only now did she fully understand what he had been planning.
He had never intended to leave her behind.
Even when negotiating with someone as powerful as Satoru Gojo, he had been thinking about her safety from the very beginning.
Gojo glanced between the mother and son.
Although Akira had presented the request quite casually, Gojo could tell that there was something more behind it.
After thinking for a moment, he asked, "Can you tell me why?"
"No."
Akira shook his head without hesitation.
"We're bound by strict agreements, so there are certain things we can't disclose. If you want to know the details, you'll have to investigate them yourself."
"That's rather troublesome."
"There's one thing I can tell you, though."
Akira looked directly at Gojo.
"If you agree to my condition, you might face considerable pressure in the future. Depending on how things develop, it could even put you in a difficult position."
He had no intention of hiding that possibility.
Even if he could not reveal the details of the binding agreements, he could at least warn Gojo that accepting his request might cause trouble.
Of course, Akira also knew what kind of person he was dealing with.
And just as expected...
"Oh?"
Gojo's interest immediately increased.
Although Akira had not explained the situation, the words "strict agreements" and "considerable pressure" were already enough to give him a few ideas.
There were only so many organizations in the Jujutsu world capable of imposing such restrictions.
And considering Akira's abilities and family background, Gojo could already guess where he should start investigating.
His confident smile returned.
"That makes things even more interesting."
Gojo leaned back casually.
"Pressure? That's nothing. There are people trying to pressure me every single day, and it never works."
He spoke as though he were discussing something completely ordinary.
"If they have a problem with my decision, they can come fight me."
Akira's eyes brightened slightly.
There it was.
That was exactly what he had been waiting to hear.
"That's true. I doubt anyone would be foolish enough to make an enemy out of you."
He nodded in agreement.
And he meant every word.
After all, Akira had already considered the situation carefully.
If he wanted to operate openly in the Jujutsu world, it was only a matter of time before the Kamo Clan noticed his existence.
He had left the clan, but that did not mean the clan would ignore him forever.
Especially once they discovered that he possessed abilities they had never seen before.
Akira was not particularly afraid of the Kamo Clan.
However, not being afraid of something did not mean he wanted to deal with it.
The Kamo Clan was one of the three great Jujutsu families, with a long history and considerable influence.
Fighting such an old and powerful clan was troublesome enough on its own.
What made things worse was that those people were not necessarily willing to confront their enemies openly.
They were far more likely to use their connections, influence, and various secret methods to interfere from behind the scenes.
Akira might be able to protect himself, but what about Akemi Aki?
His mother had already suffered enough because of that family.
He had no intention of allowing the same thing to happen again.
Besides, even if he could handle the Kamo Clan's schemes, he still had to consider his mother's feelings.
After all, her relationship with the clan was complicated, especially when Noritoshi Kamo was involved.
A direct conflict would only make things more difficult for her.
Therefore, Akira had come up with a much simpler solution.
Find himself a backer.
And not just any backer.
He needed someone powerful enough to withstand pressure from the Kamo Clan, someone whose existence alone would force them to think twice before making a move.
Looking across the entire Jujutsu world, there was probably no one more suitable than Satoru Gojo.
First, there was his personal strength.
The title of the strongest Jujutsu Sorcerer was not something he had given himself without reason.
Second, there was the Gojo family standing behind him.
As one of the three great Jujutsu families, its influence was no weaker than that of the Kamo Clan.
And third, perhaps most importantly, there was Gojo's personality.
This man had a long history of protecting people whom the traditional Jujutsu authorities wanted to control or eliminate.
Akira knew of at least four such people, all of whom had eventually become Gojo's students.
And those were merely the ones he knew by name.
There were certainly others whose stories had never been mentioned.
In other words, Gojo already had plenty of experience dealing with exactly this kind of trouble.
He was powerful, influential, and perfectly willing to offend the higher-ups when he disagreed with them.
As long as Akira and Akemi Aki were under his protection, the Kamo Clan would have to consider the consequences before trying anything.
And if they really insisted on causing trouble?
Well, Satoru Gojo had already given his answer.
If they had a problem, they could come fight him.
For Akira, that was more than enough.