New year

Months passed and now it's a new year—Gojo, Geto, Naoya, and Shoko graduated and are now second-year students.

In those months, Naoya didn't back down from training. With his new level of cursed energy control, he managed to make serious improvement to his technique.

And That's by Freezing Air Particles with Projection Sorcery.

Naoya's technique enforces his 24-FPS rule on anything he touches. By channelling cursed energy into the air, he could treat the surrounding air molecules as temporary "targets." The moment his hand connects, the cursed energy locks that portion of air in place for exactly one second—a frozen frame, unable to move or flow like normal.

He couldn't control or arrange the air in a specific pattern—it wasn't about shaping it. It was about stopping it. Locking its natural motion.

And then?

If he hits that frozen air-frame at the right moment, it shatters with explosive force—like breaking a pressurized glass bubble from the inside. Once the cursed energy hold wears off, the molecules violently snap back into motion.

Decompression. Shockwave. Cursed energy explosion.

The shockwave carries cursed energy too, so it damages both physically and spiritually. Raw force meets spiritual burn.

Of course, Naoya wanted the visual effect to be clean—just like Whitebeard's quake punches from One Piece. Jagged cracks spiderwebbing through space, that iconic "shattering air" look.

Limitations? Yeah, big energy cost. Freezing air particles at that scale drains cursed energy fast. That's why he never attempted it before.

But now, with his new cursed energy control?

He could do it without putting himself at a huge disadvantage.

…

"Hey Naoya, do you want to meet the new first years?" Gojo asked as he strolled into the classroom, sunglasses pushed up into his hair like he owned the place.

Naoya didn't even look up from where he was seated, one leg crossed over the other, arms draped lazily along the back of the chair.

"Why would I waste my time—as the next Zenin clan head—on meeting a bunch of commoners?" he said flatly. "Are you good in the head, Gojo?"

"That's an expected answer from him. Why bother asking, Gojo?" Geto said as he walked in behind.

Naoya turned his gaze to Geto with a crooked smirk.

"Breathing the same air as the likes of you commoners makes me sick to think about," he said mockingly, voice oozing with arrogance.

Geto scoffed. "Still the same insufferable bastard, I see."

Naoya shrugged. "What, you thought I'd change? 'New year, new me' type shit?"He chuckled, resting his chin on his hand. "Please. I'd rather die."

…

Days passed. After completing a few missions, the four of them were suddenly summoned by Yaga. His tone was serious—Mei Mei and Utahime had gone missing during a routine investigation and hadn't reported back for two days.

Without wasting time, Gojo, Geto, Naoya, and Shoko were sent to check it out.

As they climbed the hill, Gojo tilted his head toward the canopy above, eyes half-lidded behind his sunglasses looking at the forest around them.

"What if plants are actually farming us," he began, voice calm and speculative, "like... giving us oxygen until we die and decompose into fertilizer?"

He turned to the others. "Should we cut down all the plants before they get us first?"

Geto laughed. "Bro is onto something."

Naoya yawned, hands in his pockets. "Bro is on something."

Shoko remained silent, cigarette hanging from her lips.

"Two days, huh? Yeah… sounds about right," Naoya muttered under his breath.

"Huh?" Gojo turned his head.

"Nothing," Naoya replied, brushing past him with a faint smirk.

…

Soon enough, they arrived at the site. Or what was left of it.

Gojo, without hesitation, had activated Blue—sucking the air inward and causing the entire mansion to implode midair like a crumpled paper ball. Chunks of debris scattered across the sky.

"We came to save you, Utahimeee!" Gojo shouted dramatically, floating down as he spotted her pinned beneath a rock.

"Are you crying?"

Utahime's voice erupted in pure fury. "I'm not crying!" she barked.

"Be more polite!" she added, cheeks flushed from both embarrassment and rage.

Suddenly, Mei Mei's voice cut through the air—calm, composed, and unreadable.

"If I were crying… would you console me?"

She tilted her head, brushing dust from her shoulder.

"I'd certainly appreciate that," she added.

Gojo gave her a casual shrug, the grin never leaving his face.

"Nah, you wouldn't cry, Mei-san. You're strong."

"Is that so?" Mei Mei replied, eyes narrowing slightly with amusement.

Before Utahime could go on another rant, she suddenly pushed the stone off her and shouted,

 "Gojo! You listen here! I don't need your he—"

Her sentence was cut short as the ground beneath her cracked wide open and a monstrous cursed spirit burst out, shrieking as it lunged forward.

In a blink, Geto stepped in, hand already raised.

A massive, worm-like curse erupted in front of him, snapping its jaws around the spirit and swallowing it whole.

"Don't swallow it," Geto said flatly to the curse. "I'll absorb it later."

He glanced sideways at Gojo, a faint smirk tugging at his lips.

"Satoru, it's not good to pick on the weak."

Gojo gave a careless shrug, turning away.

"What kind of idiot picks on the strong?" he replied, grinning.

As the others kept chatting, Naoya's attention lingered on the now-dissolving cursed spirit. His eyes narrowed slightly as he studied the faint residual energy in the air

That thing… it was messing with time.

Mei Mei and Utahime had genuinely believed they'd only been trapped for thirty minutes, but in reality, they'd been gone for two whole days.

Hands tucked in his pockets, Naoya tilted his head, lost in thought.

could I have the ability to mess with time in my Domain?

even the name of my domain have Time in it.

His expression didn't change, still bored and unreadable, but his mind was racing now, ideas bubbling just under the surface.

Then, Mei Mei suddenly spoke, her voice casual, almost amused:

"So… what about the veil?" she asked, one eyebrow raised and a slight smile tugging at her lips.

The air went still.

Geto blinked.

Shoko blinked.

Gojo froze mid-step, sunglasses slipping a little down his nose.