Jujutsu Kaisen: I have everything I need now!

Tokyo Higher Education Institute, conference room.

The atmosphere in the meeting room was extremely tense at that moment.

Shoko Ieiri held an unlit cigarette between her fingers, frowning as she looked at the data report in her hand. Yuta Otsuko leaned against the wall, his head bowed, his bangs obscuring his eyes. Nobara Kugisaki sat in a chair, clutching the nail she hadn't yet hammered in, her knuckles white.

Meanwhile, Hisahito Itadori was pacing back and forth in the room, his face filled with frustration.

"Damn it...damn it!!"

Tiger Stick slammed his fist into the wall, the powerful force of his body causing the reinforced wall to crack instantly.

"Quiet down," Shoko said coldly.

"But Fuhei..." Itachi turned around, his eyes red-rimmed, "He's still alive! He even remembers our names! But he..."

"But he wanted to kill us." Kugizaki's voice was a little hoarse. She raised her head, her usual arrogance completely gone, leaving only confusion. "That look in his eyes... it wasn't just a matter of being controlled. He was consciously watching himself turn into a monster."

The meeting room door was pushed open.

Zhenyi walked in, wearing a slightly dirty trench coat. Her complexion wasn't good either; the continuous high-intensity combat and long-distance march, despite the [Horse] talisman's power continuously healing her, had left her almost completely exhausted. But her back remained ramrod straight.

He followed silently behind her, and from behind, he saw what was happening in the meeting room, and a sense of crisis immediately rose in his heart.

"It seems the situation in Tokyo is worse than I imagined," Mayu said calmly, glancing around the room.

"Mai..." Maki wanted to say something, but was interrupted by Mai raising her hand.

"No need to explain, I've heard everything." Mai walked to an empty seat and sat down, leaning slightly to the left. "Fushiguro Megumi was parasitized by the mask and became 'Hunter General.' Moreover, because the power of shadows is the same as the ten types of shadow magic, the possessed Fushiguro is exceptionally powerful."

"Yes, things have gotten a little complicated."

Gojo Satoru pushed open the door and entered. He was wearing sunglasses, but everyone could tell that this strongest sorcerer was not in a good mood at the moment.

He walked to the front of the conference room, casually pulled over a chair, sat down, and crossed his legs.

"According to the information brought back by Yuta, that mask wasn't simply covering Megumi's face." Gojo Satoru held up a finger and gestured. "It's a 'fusion.' The power of the Shadow Kingdom and Megumi's shadow magic have undergone some kind of chemical reaction. The current Megumi is both Fushiguro Megumi and a general of the Shadow Legion. His soul is locked in the labyrinth constructed by that mask."

"Is there a way to separate them?" Yi Gu raised his head, his voice low.

"It's difficult," Gojo Satoru admitted. "Forced removal might tear Megumi's soul apart along with it. Unless..."

He paused for a moment, his gaze passing through his sunglasses as he looked at the air beside Zhenyi.

"Unless there is a power higher than that shadow kingdom that can break the mask's control from within or forcibly suppress its activity from the outside, causing it to fall off on its own."

All eyes turned to Zhenyi once again.

Zhenyi didn't speak; she was listening to the explanation of the new December.

"Rōsō made a brilliant move." Ōshū floated in mid-air, calmly analyzing the pained expression on Itō's face. "The Hunter's Mask's characteristic is 'split.' With the power I can currently unleash, it's unrealistic to expect to defeat him like I did against Sukuna. Right now, Fukuro is the heart of that mask. To save him, we must defeat him, perhaps even... kill him once."

"Can't you save him the same way you saved me?"

Zhenyi asked a question at the right time.

"It's difficult. If I mobilize too much of the talisman's power now, I'm afraid it will attract even stronger enemies."

Zhenyi nodded and relayed the message to the students at the vocational high school.

"Shuo said... if you want to save Fu Hei, you must be prepared to kill him."

These words were like a bucket of ice water, extinguishing the last glimmer of hope in Itsuji's eyes.

"Are you kidding me..." Itajiri crouched down, clutching his head. "Are we... going to kill our comrades again?"

The room fell into a deathly silence.

Just then, a piercing alarm broke the somber mood.

That was the highest level of special alert for colleges and universities.

Ijichi stumbled into the medical room, nearly dropping the tablet computer in her hand.

"No...something's wrong! Mr. Gojo! Everyone!"

Ijichi gasped for breath, his face ashen, as if he had seen something utterly terrifying.

"Shinjuku... there's a huge reaction of magical energy over Shinjuku! No, it's not magical energy... it's a reaction from shadows!"

Gojo Satoru raised an eyebrow: "Is it Fushiguro? Or Tosaku?"

"Neither!" Ijichi said, trembling as he projected the tablet screen onto the wall.

The scene depicts the bustling streets of Shinjuku.

But at this moment, it has become a pitch-black dead zone.

All the streetlights, neon lights, and car lights went out. And in the center of that darkness, there was a black creature no bigger than a palm.

It looks like a big-headed doll with legs, wearing a comical round mask with a disproportionately large mouth.

"What is this? A mascot?" Kugizaki frowned.

"Continue." Gojo Satoru's voice suddenly turned stern; he clearly realized that this was something extremely dangerous.

In the picture, the little monster opened its big mouth.

It neither ate people nor destroyed buildings.

It lay in the shadow of a building, feeding on it.

"Slurp—"

As if sucking on noodles, the building's enormous shadow cast on the ground was being sucked into its mouth like liquid.

As the shadow disappeared, a terrifying scene unfolded.

The building that lost its "shadow" began to collapse. Just as the shadow is the foundation of a building's existence, without the shadow, the object itself cannot stand in real space.

The little monster, after devouring the shadow of the entire building, instantly swelled up.

It went from being the size of a palm to being two meters tall.

It let out a burp, and its previously comical mask became somewhat grotesque. Then, it turned its head and looked at the larger shadow of the stadium next to it.

"This is... the Shadow Eater Clan." December recognized the thing.

In his memory, this was the most unique unit in the Shadow Legion. They weren't warriors, they were devourers. Before they matured, they were arguably the weakest shadow legion, but once they began to devour shadows and grow stronger, they would become incredibly terrifying.

"It's eating shadows," Ijichi's voice trembled with tears. "And...it's growing infinitely! The observer at 'The Window' reports that it's like a bottomless pit. As long as there are shadows, it can grow indefinitely! It's already ten meters tall, and it's still eating!"

"If we don't stop it..."

Gojo Satoru stared at the screen, his tone icy.

"As long as the sun is still there, as long as objects can still cast shadows, it can devour the earth."

"Let's go."

Otsuku Yuta stood up and gripped the hilt of his sword tightly.

"No," Zhenyi suddenly said.

She stood up and stood in front of Yi Gu.

"Senior Yuta, I understand your determination to turn the tide, but while your magical power is immense, you've never encountered a monster capable of devouring concepts before..."

Zhenyi pointed to the monster on the screen that had grown to the height of a five-story building.

"Are you going to your deaths in your current state?"

She glanced at the distraught Itadori and the dazed Kugizaki.

"The matter of Fuhei has already thrown you into disarray. Going to the battlefield with this mindset will only be a burden."

"Are you going alone?" Maki frowned. "That thing looks even more troublesome than a troll."

"Not just one person."

Inside the conference room, December Shuo watched the ever-expanding monster on the screen, a glint of excitement in his eyes. For him now, this single-target, gigantic enemy was simply the perfect target.

Moreover, now that I can use three kinds of talismans at the same time, and my power has been unleashed to three-tenths, this is an opportunity to test whether I can go further.

"Only magic can defeat magic. Since the shadow legion only appeared because of my karma..."

Mayi repeated Saku's words, her gaze sweeping over everyone present before finally settling on Gojo Satoru.

"Gojo-sensei, I'll leave the solution to Fushiguro to you clever folks to figure out."

She turned and walked toward the door, her boots tapping crisply on the floor.

"As for that glutton who only eats shadows..."

"Leave it to us."