THE WHITE DRAGON┊ jujutsu kaisen

Chapter 44: Adagio of Life and Death

October 31st, 2018
An hour before the Incident.
In the Catacombs beneath Tokyo Jujutsu High

•

"You're the person who sent the letter?"

Following as instructed, Yuta had reported straight to the underground chamber beneath the school used for various situations. Most recently, the trial to discern Haku's temporary status and punishment after a disappointing withdrawal from an assigned mission they had received a few weeks ago. Now, just as it had been before, the chamber was dimly illuminated by candlelight, adding to the abysmal ambience, and crafted for excellent sound reverberation.

Yuta had arrived at an empty scene, but the sound of footsteps that drew nearer had made him turn to find a figure shrouded by a navy blue cloak. It was like a large, oppressing shadow steadily making its way towards him, but he stood his ground unafraid. Still some distance away from him, the door to the chamber creaked shut, closing with a finite thud drastically loud like the firing of a canon.

The figure removed the hood of the cloak and an elderly woman emerged, morbidly unsightly. With cavernous wrinkles and sinister hollowed eyes, she stared at Yuta and cracked a smile to reveal her crooked teeth, "And you're just as sharp as the reports say you are, Okkotsu, Yuta."

Everything about the woman told Yuta that he should be highly alert of everything pertaining to her. He narrowed his eyes, "Should I even trust you? The letter was addressed to be from Gojo Sensei pertaining to the matter that one of his newest students— Itadori, Yuuji is killing innocent lives. Yet, you're its sender."

"It is true that I sent the letter under Satoru's name, but that is because we had not been acquainted yet. I needed your trust first and foremost." Her voice croaked worse than a toad's.

"And you still don't have it. You lied to me," Yuta retorted crossly.

The woman's smile didn't reach her eyes even if the corners were turned upwards so much that the joker would have competition. Her face seemed to have been frozen in time for its lack of movement, "Only in name. The contents are most certainly valid. Right now Itadori is terrorizing the streets having lost control of the Special Grade Curse, Sukuna Ryomen, that dwelled within the confines of his body."

"I am aware that the student was the vessel for the curse, but I was told that Itadori had great control over it."

"But now the boy has fallen into the hands of an even more dangerous foe. Itadori is a threat— a weapon of mass destruction— in the wrong hands who aim to eradicate innocent civilians and all who are opposed to their totalitarian reform of the Jujutsu World."

Yuta's suspicions were only increasing, "Why was my return necessary? There are many capable sorcerers already in Japan who could have handled a rogue student." He had two highly adept individuals in his mind, but of the two he really only pictured Haku.

The woman began to pace the chamber's floor; her footsteps echoed with a solid thud. It was uncertain if she was deciding her next words carefully or pausing to unsettle Yuta even more. Either option, it was working. She spoke as if the matter were no more important than asking for a lunch preference, "Because beyond these walls there is a battle ensuing— surely in your short time here you were told of the Legend of the White Dragon?"

"Yes," Yuta answered hesitantly.

"This is the Battle of the Red Dawn. You are living to watch history in the making. Your choices today will greatly shape the future of tomorrow."