I'm not going to be an Spirit! (Translate)

Satoru Gojo paused at the door for a few seconds.

After briefly organizing his thoughts, he knocked on the door. Receiving no response, he pushed open the door to the hospital room and walked in.

"Gojo-sensei?"

On the hospital bed, Tokisaki Kurumi seemed a bit surprised to see Satoru Gojo appear there, momentarily unable to react.

"Yo, I've heard everything. You all went through a lot this time."

Gojo didn't stand on ceremony. He directly pulled up a stool and sat next to the bed, speaking casually, "You don't need to worry about Fushiguro and Itadori. Although there were some unexpected incidents, they're both safe."

"Is that so? That's really good to hear."

Tokisaki Kurumi let out a breath of relief, then asked with a hint of puzzlement, "Then, Gojo-sensei, why did you come to see me?"

"Can't I just come to visit my cute student?"

"You're joking," Tokisaki Kurumi shook her head. "Someone as busy as Gojo-sensei, even if you wanted to take the time to visit, I'm afraid it'd be quite difficult."

"I'm not that busy," Gojo shrugged. "But you guessed right. I didn't come here just to visit."

As he spoke, he leaned forward slightly, taking on a more serious demeanor.

He was never someone who liked beating around the bush.

So, he didn't intend to test her, but rather chose to ask directly.

"What exactly is your relationship with Nightmare?"

Upon hearing Gojo question, Tokisaki Kurumi expression froze on her face.

And that reaction happened to confirm Gojo suspicion.

There really was some kind of connection between Tokisaki Kurumi and Nightmare.

In fact, before coming here, he was already 99% certain of his guess.

This visit was simply to confirm things face-to-face with the person involved.

"Why is Gojo-sensei suddenly asking this kind of question?"

After a moment of silence, Tokisaki Kurumi still tried her best to maintain a calm demeanor, as if she didn't understand the question just asked.

"Because I just encountered Nightmare."

Seeing that Tokisaki Kurumi was still trying to hide it, Gojo told her exactly what had happened earlier in full detail.

As she listened to Gojo account, Tokisaki Kurumi expression gradually darkened.

By the time he finished speaking, she was already lightly biting her lip, as if she'd been caught doing something guilty.

"My Six Eyes can distinguish the cursed energy of different people. In my eyes, yours and Nightmare cursed energy are nearly identical," Gojo said plainly. "So, the moment Nightmare proposed that deal, I immediately thought of you."

"Are you… treating me as Nightmare accomplice and locking me up to interrogate for information?" Tokisaki Kurumi lowered her eyes. "Or are you planning to hand me over to Nightmare?"

"Yare yare… It's been over a week since I brought you here. Do I really not have even a shred of trust in your heart?"

Gojo helplessly spread out his hands. He seemed to realize the pressure he was putting on her was too much, so he adjusted his posture to look less serious: "Although it's true that I made a deal with Nightmare, our relationship is still one of enemies. There's no way I would do anything to please Nightmare."

"But the binding…"

"Don't worry, there's no specific time limit in that binding, so it's basically a constraint with no binding power at all." Gojo narrowed his eyes slightly. "But still, I'm curious why Nightmare didn't point out that loophole… Anyway, you don't have to worry. I'm not going to torture you, nor hand you over to Nightmare."

Hearing Gojo assurance, the anxious expression on Tokisaki Kurumi face finally faded.

And after explaining the situation and his stance, Gojo didn't continue to press her with questions.

Because whether to speak or not depended entirely on Tokisaki Kurumi herself.

Just like he said, he had no intention of using force.

"I… do indeed have a deep connection with Nightmare."

After what seemed like an intense internal struggle, Tokisaki Kurumi finally spoke, "But please don't misunderstand, I'm not Nightmare accomplice—at least… not anymore."

"So you were in the past?"

"Yes. But we went our separate ways later."

Tokisaki Kurumi slowly removed the eyepatch from her left eye.

When Gojo saw the eye hidden underneath, his pupils shrank slightly.

In her left eye was a miniature golden clock.

Such a unique eye—Gojo had only ever seen it on one person: Nightmare.

As expected, Tokisaki Kurumi and Nightmare must share some kind of blood relation.

That clock-like eye was clearly something similar to his Six Eyes—an inherited trait unique to a specific family.

A long silence once again filled the air.

Gojo and Tokisaki Kurumi looked at each other for a long while, and then Gojo suddenly twitched the corner of his mouth, as if realizing something.

"Hey hey, you're not seriously going to give me just that little bit of intel, are you?" Gojo asked incredulously. "What exactly is your relationship with Nightmare? What is Nightmare ability? At least tell me those things!"

"I'm truly sorry, Gojo-sensei. I'm still not sure whether I should completely trust you," Tokisaki Kurumi sighed slightly. "Besides, even if you knew Nightmare ability, what good would it do?"

"Of course it would give me the upper hand the next time I fight her!"

"Forgive my rudeness, Gojo-sensei. Even if you knew her technique and made full preparations in advance, you wouldn't be able to defeat her," Tokisaki Kurumi said seriously. "Not only would you fail to defeat her, but you'd also drag me down with you."

"Drag you down?"

Gojo furrowed his brows.

But he quickly understood what Tokisaki Kurumi meant.

Although he still didn't know the exact nature of her relationship with Nightmare, since she had admitted that they used to cooperate, it was clear she had a deep understanding of Nightmare abilities.

In fact, she might very well be the only person in the world who truly understood Nightmare.

So if Gojo learned about Nightmare abilities from Tokisaki Kurumi and made targeted preparations, once he fought her, Nightmare would surely realize that he'd had contact with Tokisaki Kurumi.

After that, all she would need to do was slightly investigate Gojo recent movements and the people he'd interacted with, and she'd be able to figure out Tokisaki Kurumi location.

"So that's it… That's why she didn't care about the loophole in the binding."

Gojo muttered to himself.

Now that he understood Nightmare intent, he also understood why Tokisaki Kurumi didn't want to share more information with him.

The more he knew, the more quickly he would be exposed.

If that's the case, then remaining ignorant from the start was the only way to ensure that Nightmare wouldn't realize Gojo had interacted with Tokisaki Kurumi.

Besides… just as Kurumi said she didn't fully trust Gojo—how could Gojo fully trust her?

In his heart, Satoru Gojo suspected that Tokisaki Kurumi might be a spy sent by Nightmare. The purpose behind Nightmare proposed deal might have merely been to throw out a smokescreen that would prevent him from seeing the truth—this possibility had always existed.

Even if Tokisaki Kurumi had laid out all the intelligence about Nightmare clearly, he still wouldn't dare to believe it completely.

If Tokisaki Kurumi truly was a spy sent by Nightmare, then there must be some fatal flaw in the information she provided.

And if Satoru Gojo based his battle strategy on that information, he—who was already not in a position of advantage—might fall into ruin due to that fatal mistake.

At that point, no one in the Jujutsu world would be able to suppress Nightmare anymore.

Ever since he had nearly fallen into Nightmare trap, he had raised his guard against this woman to the extreme. Anything or anyone involved with her, he would view with the most pessimistic outlook possible.

So, if Tokisaki Kurumi didn't want to say anything, then so be it.

"Although I've heard that she's been active again recently, I didn't expect her to meet you so quickly," Tokisaki Kurumi said with a hint of concern. "For now, I think I'll stay away from school. It's possible that Nightmare already has spies lurking around the school. If I'm discovered, it would be bad."

"No worries. I know a jujutsu sorcerer who makes human-skin masks. I'll take you to see him later."

Though he harbored suspicions about Tokisaki Kurumi internally, Satoru Gojo didn't show it on the surface. He continued treating her as a student. "His human-skin masks are incredibly realistic—there's no unnatural feeling when worn. I promise that even if Nightmare saw you, as long as you don't expose yourself, she wouldn't recognize you."

"Thank you, Gojo-sensei."

"You're welcome," Gojo replied. "But just to confirm one more thing—the so-called 'compressed jujutsu,' that's not your real technique, is it?"

"No, it's not," Tokisaki Kurumi shook her head. "My abilities are somewhat similar to Nightmare, but I'm not strong enough. Though I inherited the technique, I can only use an insignificant part of it."

On this point, she wasn't lying.

After all, the clone came from the main body in a past timeline—it was still the same person.

She could still summon the shadow manipulation, the City of Devoured Time, and the two flintlock pistols.

The only difference from the main body was that the clone could not use Zafkiel.

However, it wasn't that they didn't possess Zafkiel—they simply couldn't use it.

In the Date A Live movie, a clone who accidentally arrived in the neighboring world obtained the authority to use Zafkiel.

Because the spiritual energy in that world was abundant, a clone that lacked the energy to summon Zafkiel in the original world finally qualified to use it.

"You're doing the right thing—continue presenting the compressed technique as your real technique in front of others."

Satoru Gojo had no doubts.

Inheriting a technique but lacking the qualifications to use it—this was all too common in the Gojo family.

Many of the family members actually possessed the Limitless Technique, but at best, they could only serve as support and supervision—they were completely incapable of fighting cursed spirits.

Because in order to use the Limitless Technique, one must not only inherit the Limitless itself but also possess the Six Eyes, a hereditary trait.

"All right. I've asked everything I needed. You go ahead and rest."

Satoru Gojo stood up and turned to leave.

But suddenly, as if he remembered something, his footsteps paused.

"By the way, did you know that in two weeks, we'll be having a goodwill event with our sister school, Kyoto Jujutsu High?"

"This is the first I've heard."

"Kyoto is sending six students from their first and second years, so we're planning to send six as well," Gojo said. "Originally, since I thought you were a newbie in the jujutsu world who could only exorcise cursed spirits but not fight people, I was going to have you as a reserve. But now it seems like you're perfectly suited to participate along with the others."

"In that case, whose position will I be taking?"

"Itadori," Gojo replied. "You were sent into a juvenile detention center that held a special-grade cursed spirit in a rescue mission—that was part of a conspiracy by the Top Brass in the jujutsu world. They didn't want Itadori, the vessel of Sukuna, to survive. They wanted to kill him using others' hands. But this time, they failed. I suspect they might try something again during the goodwill event."

"Understood. I'll take Itadori place."

"If you perform outstandingly in this goodwill event, the Top Brass might invest more resources in you to accelerate your growth. You might even make some friends from Kyoto."

Before leaving, Satoru Gojo gave her a smile.

"Do your best. I have high hopes for you."

"What kind of joke is this?!"

At the same time, he completely lost the mood to celebrate with champagne.

Just having one Satoru Gojo in this era was enough of a headache.

To ensure his ultimate goal could proceed smoothly, he had created two different plans to eliminate this massive obstacle.

One was to use the special-grade cursed object Prison Realm to seal Satoru Gojo within it.

The other was to revive Ryomen Sukuna, the King of Curses, and have this strongest in history kill the strongest of the present.

But now, besides Satoru Gojo, there was another troublemaker just as problematic.

The undying Nightmare!

Worse yet—

Not only had Satoru Gojo and Nightmare not perished together, they had even made a private agreement, entering a temporary period of non-aggression.

"This won't do. Even if I manage to take care of Satoru Gojo, Nightmare existence will still cause massive interference to my plans."

His expression twisted viciously as he growled, "I must come up with a new plan and eliminate them both at the same time!"

Should he use Prison Realm on Tokisaki Kurumi?

No—Sukuna was still too uncontrollable. Unless absolutely necessary, he didn't want to activate that backup plan.

Prison Realm should still be reserved for Satoru Gojo.

"As for Nightmare..."

A glimmer of cunning flashed in his eyes, as if he had thought of something.

"Perhaps… it's time to let those people make their move?"