Chapter Text
Iori Utahime had never truly gotten close to her junior, Satoru Gojo. Gojo's lack of seriousness, especially towards the often serious Utahime, had led to a comradery devoid of true connection. Even when they were younger, Gojo, accompanied by his partner in crime, Suguru Geto, never seemed to take anything as more than an excuse to goof off. Back then, Utahime saw the two troublemakers as dimwitted, immature, and quite frankly too powerful for their own good. In return, the two boys, especially Gojo, saw Utahime as a boring, know-it-all killjoy who never took time to let her guard down.
While this perspective was often true for Gojo and Geto, Ieri Shoko, a student of the same year as the boys, was the sole member of their class that Utahime could truly connect to. Their relationship starting out as superficial as being the only two girls similar in age who were around "The Other Two Morons", as Utahime often called them, much to Shoko's amusement. She was closer to the two than Utahime was, but even Shoko had her limits to the rampant buffoonery often on display from her classmates. Their relationship only grew from there, finding a shared feeling of working in the background as both of their techniques, as helpful as they were, could only really be used feasibly in a support position. These assisting roles helped them grow a deeper understanding between themselves as they were sympathetic towards each other's positions.
On the cold, dry, afternoon of December 24th, Utahime thought of her upcoming role in the first strike against Ryomen Sukuna. She walked with the ever-stoic Principal Gakuganji behind the leader of the assault, the first combatant, and quite frankly, the best hope the sorcerers had of winning against the King of Curses. Satoru Gojo, dubbed the strongest sorcerer of his time, walked in front of the two with a frighteningly rare morose expression. "Sensei!" the young Itadori Yuji burst out, breaking the heavy silence in the packed room, "your cursed technique is in the way!" he proclaimed as he raised his hand to give Gojo good luck pat on the back. The strongest sorcerer of today chuckled as his usual grin found its way back onto his face. "Lay it on me!", he proclaimed as he lowered Infinity, the barrier he hadn't anxiously maintained like this since the mission to deliver Riko Amanai when he was a student. The now smiling group of sorcerers wished Gojo good luck with pats on the back and words of support as he walked towards the stairs to the roof. Unbeknownst to everyone in that room, this was the last time any of them would see Satoru Gojo in the flesh.
Continuing the walk to their vantage point, the trio found Kiyotaka Ichiji waiting for them in the stairwell. Ichiji pulled Gojo aside to share some information regarding the outcome of Gojo's actions during the Shibuya Incident, mostly regarding the non-sorcerers caught in the brief instance of Infinite Void on the subway platform. Utahime and Gakuganji proceeded towards the roof of the building, where they would prepare to begin the most decisive battle of their lives. As she reached the top of the steps, an overwhelming pressure constricted itself around Iori Utahime. Sweat ran down the back of her neck, the droplets running past the hairs that stood up straight the instant she stepped foot on the roof and into the cold winter air. Hands shaking, she looked towards Gakuganji see if it was just her nerves.
It was not her nerves.
Turning her head, she saw Gakuganji wrought with what was probably the most extreme expression Utahime had seen on his face in her time of being a jujutsu sorcerer. His jaw clenched, and his hands clenched even tighter around his guitar, his pupils constricted as he looked forward. She shifted her gaze towards a tall building that was roughly 20 blocks away, the one Gakuganji had been staring at. On the roof of this building was the source of this dread, this pressure, this feeling that had cut its way to the core of the two veteran sorcerers. On the roof of this building was Ryomen Sukuna, waiting for the fight Gojo had promised him after he had been unsealed from the Prison Realm.
Utahime, stricken with what can only be described as a piercing unease, found herself thinking of Shoko. "Surely she's preparing the medical chamber." Utahime thought as she defined the parameters for her technique's effective range. Her bare feet dragging across the rough concrete, preparing her technique as second nature, she continued thinking of the doctor, a friend that she had grown so close to over the years. "Is she as worried as I am?" Utahime pondered as Gakuganji tuned his guitar in preparation for his part. Utahime continued her train of thought; "She's definitely prepared herself for every possibility, but is she really ready for the worst?". Utahime pulled herself from thought as she and Gakuganji finished setting the stage, so to speak, as Gojo and Ichiji made their way onto the roof. Gojo walked up to the roof and stretched his arms above his head. "Alright then, shall we?" he stated plainly, as he walked onto this metaphorical stage in preparation for the performance of a lifetime.
Ichiji ignited his technique, in the finest hour that he never thought he would get. While simple, his ability to hide cursed energy signatures was quite practical in this scenario. The scenario being a first strike from Satoru Gojo, enhanced by Utahime, who's technique enhanced both the cursed energy levels and the output of all cursed techniques within her designated range, even including her own technique, to a smaller degree. Utahime began to chant under her breath and began the hand gestures used to enhance her technique as she put herself in motion to the rhythm given by Gakuganji. The music, the dancing, the hand signs, and the chanting all serving to enhance Utahime's technique beyond one hundred percent. In turn, this enhanced Gojo even further beyond his limit. "Nine Ropes." Gojo began to chant, putting his body in position, bending his knees and meshing his hands together at his side. "Polarized Light." Gojo continued, as Utahime kept pace with both her dancing and her chants. Gojo left nothing out, allowing his technique to reach it's peak while under Utahime's output boost. "Crow and Declaration." Gojo states as he summons forth an instance of his amplified cursed technique, Blue and an instance of it's reversed form, Red. "Between Front and Back." Gojo proclaims the last of his chants as Gakuganji's performance reached its crescendo, and Utahime continued to dance to its rhythm. Gojo crossed his left arm over his chest, and put his right hand forward, with his index and middle fingers held in place with his thumb. Blue and Red, now strengthened beyond their previous limits, smashed together to create one projectile. Satoru Gojo, the Strongest Sorcerer of Today, then spoke the last words that the other 3 sorcerers would ever hear from him in-person. "Imaginary Technique: Hollow Purple!" Gojo declared as he launched the massive sphere, enhanced to two hundred percent output by Utahime and Gakuganji, towards Sukuna in a preliminary strike. Hollow Purple roared across the city, and after it hit the building Sukuna was residing on, Gojo leapt down from where he stood, and swiftly flew down along the path of destruction left behind by his Imaginary Technique. Utahime checked her mobile phone, displaying Mei Mei's live broadcast of the event, and she saw the two men, each too powerful for their own good, meeting each other. She closed her eyes and let out a breath that had been held since Gojo launched the attack. Iori Utahime had done her part to put their first plan in motion. Now it was time to wait.