Two days later, in the Jujutsu High dorms.
Sunlight slanted in through the half-open floor-to-ceiling window, drawing a ruler-straight line across the floor and dividing the room into light and shadow.
Tiny motes of dust floated along the edge of the sunlight, slowly spinning in the air.
A set of black sword racks had been mounted into the wooden wall beside the computer desk, firmly fixed in place with expansion bolts.
A long katana rested horizontally on the rack.
Its sheath was entirely matte black and looked utterly ordinary.
The only thing that drew the eye was a strip of white cloth wrapped around the area near the hilt.
The loose end of the cloth hung down, occasionally stirred by a stray breeze entering the room.
After taking this sword from Kuroki, Jin had specifically bought a rack so he could display it on the wall of his dorm.
He casually took the katana down, gripped the hilt, and slowly drew it.
The bright blade reflected Jin’s face.
There were a few tiny chips along the edge.
Under the sunlight, fine sawtooth-shaped shadows were cast across his cheek.
It was a secondhand sword, after all.
A little wear was perfectly normal.
Jin personally had no experience using a katana.
Or rather, he probably had no experience fighting with any kind of blade at all.
Normally, greater reach meant greater strength.
Using a weapon was obviously better than fighting barehanded.
But that principle didn’t really apply to Jin.
A body capable of elementalization meant his fighting style was destined to be extremely flexible and ever-changing.
Compared to a body whose shape could be altered freely, a sword could actually become an inconvenience in battle.
On top of that, he had no foundation in swordsmanship, and learning it would take a fair amount of effort.
For Jin, this sword was destined to be little more than a toy for bullying weaklings or a decoration for his room.
Still, there was a saying: enough raw power could make even a brick fly.
And as it happened, Jin wasn’t exactly lacking in strength.
Holding the katana horizontally in front of himself, Jin slowly exhaled.
Dense blackness spread from his palm, flowing along the hilt and gradually covering the blade.
In only a moment, the bright steel had turned completely black.
By tempering a blade with Armament Haki over a long period of time, it was possible to permanently turn the blade black and forge a true Black Blade.
Jin took a stance and began swinging the katana around the room.
He didn’t intend to invest too much time into it, but who didn’t have a swordsman’s dream somewhere in their heart?
He might as well enjoy the novelty first.
There weren’t many sword users at Jujutsu High.
Off the top of his head, there were probably only Yuta Okkotsu, Kusakabe, Maki Zenin, and Kasumi Miwa.
The long blade sliced through the air with repeated low whistles.
Just as Jin was thoroughly enjoying himself—
Knock, knock, knock.
A short burst of knocking pulled him back to reality.
Jin sheathed the sword, casually tossed it onto the bed, and crossed the room in a few steps.
His fingers closed around the handle.
With a click, he pulled the door open.
Megumi’s expressionless face appeared in front of him, covered in gauze and adhesive bandages.
His left hand was tucked into his pocket while his right held a white paper bag.
Jin looked at the medical supplies plastered across Megumi’s face and raised an eyebrow in surprise.
“Megumi, your injuries still haven’t healed?”
Megumi glanced at Jin’s arms, which had already completely recovered, and sighed before helplessly complaining,
“Not everyone has your freakish recovery ability.”
Jin stepped aside and tilted his head toward the room.
“Want to come in and sit?”
Megumi stood in the doorway and glanced past Jin’s shoulder into the room, but quickly withdrew his gaze.
“No.”
He lifted the bag and held it out to Jin.
“Gojo-sensei asked me to give you your Jujutsu High uniform.”
The paper rustled softly.
Inside was a neatly folded dark-colored uniform.
“That was pretty fast.
Wonder what mine looks like.”
A trace of anticipation appeared on Jin’s face as he took the bag.
He pulled out the garment lying on top, then casually set the paper bag on a nearby shelf.
After shaking it open, he found a short, broad, open-front jacket with only two buttons near the collar.
There was a slanted pocket on each side, and the tailoring was clean and sharp.
He was already inside his dorm, so Jin hadn’t been wearing anything on his upper body.
He slipped on the jacket and moved his arms around to test the fit.
“Fits pretty well.
This design is convenient too.
Not bad, not bad.”
He shoved both hands into the side pockets, rolled his shoulders downward, and looked at Megumi.
“What do you think, Megumi?”
Megumi pulled his gaze away from the window and looked Jin over in the uniform before nodding.
“It suits you.”
He paused, his eyes lingering on the large stretch of sharply defined eight-pack abs exposed by the open jacket.
“But wear something underneath it.
If you go outside like that, people are definitely going to stare.”
Jin lowered his head and looked at his open collar.
“Is it really that exaggerated?”
Not intending to continue the topic, Megumi put both hands in his pockets and raised his dark-blue eyes toward Jin.
“By the way, Gojo-sensei and I are going to Sendai this afternoon to pick up Itadori.
Want to come?”
Jin still had both hands in his pockets.
His fingers tapped twice against the fabric before he shook his head.
“No.
I’ve got something to deal with.
I’m busy for now.”
Megumi didn’t ask any further.
He gave a quiet acknowledgment, turned, and started walking down the corridor, raising a hand behind himself in farewell.
Watching Megumi leave, Jin took the uniform pants out of the bag and looked them over.
Unlike the specially customized jacket, the pants were completely ordinary.
They were standard straight-leg trousers, similar to the kind Gojo wore.
Jin leaned against the doorframe and looked out the window, a thoughtful expression appearing on his face.
He had obtained one Low-Interest Loan Opportunity from messing with Sukuna before.
He had no idea whether he’d receive similar rewards in the future, so he needed to make good use of this opportunity.
As for knowledge about Binding Vows, he had originally planned to ask Gojo for advice.
But after thinking about it, with Gojo’s terrifying strength…
The only Binding Vow that man had probably made in his entire life was revealing one’s hand.
And even that vow hadn’t necessarily been made voluntarily.
It was simply that the Six Eyes and Limitless had been inherited for so long that practically any sorcerer from a proper background already knew the relevant information.
As a result, the conditions for the vow were effectively fulfilled passively.
Jin pulled out his phone and opened his contacts, slowly sliding his finger across the screen.
His contact list was rather empty.
At the moment, there were only four names.
[Gojo-sensei, Jailbird Megumi, Ijichi, Nanami-san]
His finger stopped over Nanami’s name.
He murmured quietly,
“Binding Vows…”