Hidden Inventory

Ten years earlier, Satoru Gojo and Suguru Geto are still second-years at Jujutsu High when the school tasks them with guarding the girl deemed a flawless fit for the Star Plasma Vessel. The chapter rewinds to that era to establish the pair's bond and their opposing views on what a sorcerer owes the world.

In Hamamatsu City, grade 1 Mei Mei and grade 2 Utahime probe a haunted mansion and become trapped inside a space-folding barrier that loops endlessly. After covering fifteen kilometers without spotting a single marker they had dropped, the two work out what is happening; the spongy, impenetrable walls absorb every blow. Utahime suggests they separate and move erratically to slip free, then strike or summon aid. Before they can act, Cursed Technique Lapse: Blue rips the house apart, and Satoru saunters up to a recovering Utahime, asking if she has been crying. As she bristles, a towering curse looms behind her, only for an even bigger spirit summoned by Suguru to swallow it; he orders his curse to hold off so he can assimilate the prey later, then chides Satoru for bullying someone weak. Satoru retorts that Suguru is the one teasing her without noticing.

Their classmate Shoko Ieiri shows up, delighting Utahime, and it emerges that the time-warping barrier was rare enough to warrant student investigation despite a grade 1 being present. Mei Mei's question about a missing curtain reveals the students never raised one.

When the explosion that leveled the mansion hits the news, the trio's teacher questions them. Masamichi Yaga, who holds grade 1 and instructs the first-years, gets quick answers: Shoko and Suguru pin the missing curtain and the abandoned assistant manager on Satoru. Satoru dismisses curtains as useless since civilians cannot perceive curses anyway, while Suguru counters that concealing sorcery shields ordinary people and grants them peace of mind. Satoru disdains such righteous notions and Geto bristles; their argument flares until Shoko flees and Yaga returns. He then hands them a joint mission straight from Master Tengen: escort the girl who perfectly matches Tengen, the Star Plasma Vessel, to him and erase her. The chapter, which featured the series' debut character poll, was adapted as the twenty-fifth anime episode.