The Ripening (
Summary
The preparations for Kenjaku's plans are nearly complete and Maki delivers the bad news about Tengen and Tsukumo to her allies. The group tries to focus on saving Tsumiki Fushiguro but their misfortune reaches further than expected.
Plot Details
The "preparation" for the merger moves forward. Japan crossing over to the other side...!?
As the Culling Game colonies activate one after the other and the pre-prep for the merger concludes, some civilians notice a change in the air while others are completely oblivious. On November 16th at noon, Maki successfully rendezvous with Yuji and Megumi. She informs them that Yuki and Choso were defeated by Kenjaku, who successfully seized Tengen. Yuji and Megumi are shocked as they listen to Maki reveal all of this unfortunate information in such a calm matter. Megumi especially notices how much Maki has changed since they were last together a few days ago.
Yuji asks why the merger hasn't started but nobody can come up with a concrete reason. The Angel believes sorcerers can resist the merger with cursed energy and Maki reveals that some civilians were affected, as they made the news. With no way to know for sure, Yuji suggests they simply focus on rescuing Tsumiki. He asks why their senpai haven't added the rules and Maki explains that the rules never forbid entering and exiting the colonies or the disruption of communication. These might be side effects of the barriers, meaning adding the rules to change them could be completely ineffective. They prioritize saving Tsumiki and all the group's collective points are transferred to Megumi.
Megumi adds a new rule allowing players to leave the Culling Game.
Kogane denies allowing a rule to allow players to exit the Culling Game for no cost, which Megumi expected. He follows up by requesting a rule that allows someone outside the colonies to substitute for a player who wants to leave. This is denied as well, surprising Megumi, but Kogane gives them a suggestion. A player can leave the game by expending one hundred points to invite a new player into the colony as a substitute. Yuji is fine with this as they have plenty of points but Megumi tries to argue the logic behind how that would go against the rules for long-lasting effects. However, Kogane doesn't negotiate with him any further. Left without a choice, Megumi officially adds the eleventh rule to the game and then asks Maki to bring Tsumiki into the colony.
Suddenly adding another rule!? Who is she really?
Confused, Yuji asks why they don't transfer the points to Tsumiki while she's outside the colony. Megumi points out that could possibly breach the rules if she never declares participation and she could die right away from cursed technique removal. Maki and Kiyotaka Ijichi bring Tsumiki to the colony at 3 P.M. the same day. Maki asks if Ijichi is sure about becoming a player and the manager assures Maki he can handle himself. When they were students, Gojo originally told Ijichi to quit being a jujutsu sorcerer in a very rude manner. In the present day, Ijichi realizes now that likely ended up saving his life. Tsumiki happens to be able to stroll right into the colony and directly to Yuji and Megumi's location. Yuji, Hana, and Tsumiki introduce themselves to one another but Megumi wants to move quickly.
Megumi transfers one hundred points to Tsumiki and tells her to use it to leave the Culling Game. However, instead, she suddenly tells Kogane to add a rule allowing entry and exit into the colonies. Deeply shocked and confused, Megumi asks this imposter who she really is.
Character in Order of Appearances
- Maki Zenin
- Megumi Fushiguro
- Yuji Itadori
- Hana Kurusu
- Tengen (Mentioned)
- Kirara Hoshi
- Choso
- Fumihiko Takaba
- Ui Ui
- Mei Mei (Mentioned)
- Hiromi Higuruma
- Hajime Kashimo
- Rin Amai
- Noritoshi Kamo
- Iori Hazenoki
- Kinji Hakari
- Kiyotaka Ijichi
- Tsumiki Fushiguro
- Satoru Gojo (Flashback)
Battles & Events
Locations
Jujutsu
Trivia
- The man from the second page is the waiter who quit his job in Chapter 12.