Jujutsu Kaisen: I Can Manipulate Time.

"Hello, first-year student at Tokyo Jujutsu High, Kamihara Hajime."

A man and a woman, who had come with Gojo Satoru, extended their hands and shook Hajime's.

"Hirakawa Kei."

"Suzuki Shiko."

Both wore suits and formal smiles. After the brief introductions, they stood inside the spacious dojo of Jujutsu High. Gojo Satoru clapped his hands. "Alright, let's begin."

Hirakawa Kei pulled out a plain notebook. "Hajime-kun, please explain your Technique in detail and demonstrate it. I'll record everything."

Hajime stepped into the center of the dojo. "No problem."

"My Technique is related to time. I call it 'Time Wheel.' It allows me to accelerate my own time. For example..."

He held up a card—a front-facing ID of Hirakawa Kei. The man looked shocked, patting his coat to find his ID gone. Just as quickly, he felt his pocket bulge again. The ID had returned, while Hajime hadn't paused his explanation.

"I won't demonstrate every offensive application—it's difficult to show here, and frankly, you wouldn't be able to track it. Next is Technique Reversal, which I learned from Gojo-sensei."

Hajime smiled brightly. "I call it 'Reversal.' Simply put, it reverses my own time."

He turned to Gojo Satoru. "Sensei, would you help with the demonstration?"

Gojo agreed with a shrug. Without delay, he raised his finger. A swirling red orb of cursed energy formed at the tip.

Cursed Technique Reversal: Red.

Even at low power, the surrounding air warped with the pressure. Kei and Shiko instinctively backed away.

"Gojo-san, please don't—"

Too late. Gojo flicked the orb forward. It slammed into Hajime's abdomen, punching a wide hole through it.

Looking down at the wound, Hajime grimaced. "Gojo-sensei, was that really necessary? Even cursed spirits don't hit me that hard."

Gojo scratched his head casually. "Don't be dramatic. That was low output. And this is the first time I've used a Technique on my own student. Count yourself honored."

As the two bantered, Hirakawa Kei blinked hard. Before his eyes, the gaping wound on Hajime's stomach vanished. His uniform returned to its pristine state.

"That wasn't an illusion," he murmured. "I'm a Grade 1 Sorcerer. Even if it was an illusion, it'd have to be an incredible one..."

But of course, Hajime wasn't deceiving them. In the Jujutsu world, sorcerers rarely concealed their Techniques. Revealing them under a Binding Vow increased the effectiveness of the Technique, an invaluable advantage in evenly matched battles.

Besides, while most people knew the general workings of a sorcerer's Technique, the truly lethal variations—their personal refinements—remained secret.

"A first-year Special Grade..." Hirakawa Kei noted silently. "The last one just lost that title not long ago..."

He asked, "Can your Technique be maintained like Gojo-san's?"

Hajime gave a sly smile. "Of course. I've designed it to trigger automatically. If I'm injured, the Technique instantly reverses time to restore my state before the damage."

He offered a demonstration next, dragging Gojo into a light spar.

Their movements dazzled. Blows landed with crushing speed, some areas of the dojo shattered and reformed in real-time as Hajime's Technique reset both damage and wounds. Hirakawa Kei and Suzuki Shiko watched wide-eyed, barely able to follow Hajime's movements. Only the flickering traces of his cursed energy gave hints to his location.

Despite Gojo's relaxed demeanor, the truth was clear: a first-year student was holding his own against the strongest Jujutsu Sorcerer.

If either of them tried to fight Hajime, they wouldn't last more than a few seconds.

"Alright, that's enough, don't you think?" Gojo said mid-swing, turning toward the observers.

Hirakawa Kei quickly closed his notebook. "Yes, Gojo-san. We've seen more than enough. Thank you for your time."

The two bowed and left.

Stretching his arms, Hajime turned to Gojo. "Sensei, I have a new move I want to test. Interested in helping?"

Gojo's smile disappeared. "Nope. I'm busy."

Then, as if remembering something, his grin returned. "Actually, there's a new mission that suits you. A Cursed Spirit swallowed one of Sukuna's fingers. It's currently classified as a Special Grade."

Hajime's expression darkened. "Sukuna… the King of Curses."

Ryomen Sukuna—his name echoed in both historical records and haunting legends.

A thousand years ago, during the golden age of Jujutsu, he had reigned supreme. Four arms, four eyes, and unmatched strength. It took the combined force of all sorcerers to bring him down. Even then, they only managed to split his essence into twenty fingers—Special Grade Cursed Objects that survived his death.

Later, he would be reborn through Itadori Yuji… though Hajime knew Sukuna wouldn't stay dormant forever.

"Exactly," Gojo confirmed. "Special Grade Cursed Spirits don't show up often. Perfect chance to try that new move of yours."

Hajime narrowed his eyes. "This isn't your mission that you're dumping on me, is it?"

Gojo didn't even flinch. "Nonsense. This is me being considerate."

"...Fine. I'll take it."

"Great! I'll register it right now."

Gojo strolled away, whistling.

---

The Mission Briefing

Later, outside the school, Hajime boarded a car. Ijichi Kiyotaka, as usual, was waiting.

"Oh? Ijichi-san, you're looking good today."

Ijichi chuckled. "A few days off did me good. I feel much more rested."

"Did you visit the city? Find any great restaurants?"

"I did, actually. There's a sushi place I want to take you to. Best sashimi I've ever had."

"Say no more. Send me the location later."

He took the mission file Ijichi handed over. Most of it was familiar, but now the details were clearer.

The Cursed Spirit was located in Ono Prison, a maximum-security facility. When discovered, over forty inmates and six guards were already dead. Several others had been injured.

The prison had since been evacuated. The source was a cursed Buddha statue used as a spiritual seal—standard practice for suppressing malevolent energy. But this statue had hidden something far worse inside: one of Sukuna's fingers.

At some point, the statue was broken, and a Cursed Spirit consumed the finger. The result: the Spirit was transformed into a Special Grade threat.

After a long drive away from the city, Hajime and Ijichi arrived on the prison grounds. The outer structure had been renovated, but the air was still heavy, as though resisting every breath.

Even under the sun, the place felt cold.

At the entrance, a sweating man in a prison guard uniform waited, clearly flustered.

"I'm Yamaguchi Takuya, the warden here," he greeted, bowing. "You must be the specialists from Jujutsu High?"

Ijichi showed his ID, but Hajime's eyes were already fixed on the towering gates of the prison.

---

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