Until tonight, Okita had no idea what Kenjaku had been busy with—she only knew he had secretly collected Sukuna's fingers. Little did she know he had also gathered and incarnated so many ancient sorcerers!
However, the truth was that the number of ancient sorcerers gathered here wasn't as large as one might think.
The binding vows between the ancient sorcerers and Kenjaku were limited—they hadn't sold themselves to him but were merely working for him temporarily. Once their tasks were complete, they would regain their freedom.
Kenjaku had collected so many ancient sorcerers for a purpose, of course. He couldn't expend all his binding vows here, so he had only brought a fraction of them—just one-tenth of the total.
But the top-tier experts among them, like Ryu Ishigori and Dhruv Lakdawalla, had all been brought without exception.
The goal was self-evident: to completely tie Roy down!
That's right—just to tie him down.
Kenjaku hadn't even dared to hope that these people could defeat Roy.
If they could keep Roy occupied, they would have fulfilled their mission.
Once Kenjaku achieved his goal, as long as these individuals were still alive, they could immediately regain their freedom.
It was an incredibly lenient binding vow!
"That guy who played with shikigami... is he dead?"
Jogo leaped out, his single eye scanning the basement behind Roy, his expression darkening further.
Four special-grade sorcerers working together, and yet Roy had still found an opening to break through one of them.
That old man was truly useless!
"Hey there, pretty boy—what flavor of cursed energy is that?"
A man with a pompadour jumped down from a distant high-rise, landing on the street.
Roy watched as the blue-purple crystalline armor formed from cursed energy condensed around his body, his expression grave, as if he had seen some unimaginable monster.
Choso subtly shifted his steps, moving behind a nearby building while glaring at Roy in the center of the field, his teeth grinding in frustration.
His attacks couldn't even scratch this guy!
He was outright ignored!
Choso felt an unprecedented humiliation, the bitterness in his heart making him nearly gnash his teeth to pieces.
"This is compressed cursed energy."
Roy withdrew his gaze from the distance and turned to face Jogo and Ryu Ishigori before him.
Occasionally, his eyes flickered subtly, sweeping over Choso hiding in the shadows.
His "Perception" could amplify his five senses to their limits, extending into the surrounding space. Any movement nearby would never escape the search of his "Perception."
"When cursed energy is compressed, it forms something like this armor—infinitely close to a solid state of cursed energy."
Roy raised his hand and suddenly clenched his fist.
The air exploded instantly, the sound of the detonation putting everyone on high alert.
"Hahaha! Compressed cursed energy? Unheard of! Truly unprecedented!"
Ryu Ishigori remained wary of Roy but couldn't help bursting into laughter.
It was like the thrill of a hunter spotting prey—no malice, just pure exhilaration.
"Compressed cursed energy? Can cursed energy even be compressed?"
Jogo, however, couldn't laugh at all upon hearing this. He only felt a surge of indignation.
At this point, this guy still had cards up his sleeve?
Just where was his limit?!
"I've always believed that life is like tasting desserts!"
Ryu Ishigori let out a hearty laugh, unrestrained in his joy.
"As time progresses, new desserts will always emerge. I could never be satisfied with just one lifetime—how could a single lifetime be enough to taste all the new desserts? That's why I made a contract with Kenjaku!"
"Now, it seems that decision couldn't have been more correct! You, Roy, are the newest, sweetest dessert of this era! I must savor you!"
Ryu Ishigori's eyes gleamed with excitement, his entire body brimming with fighting spirit.
Unlike Jogo and Choso, who wanted nothing more than to kill him, Ryu Ishigori simply wanted to battle him—to taste the most delicious "dessert" of this era.
"Oh? I don't mind granting your wish."
Roy curled his lips into a smile, one filled with hidden meaning.
"Provided you don't end up running away in terror from the power of my compressed cursed energy!"
"You think I'd run away?"
Hanami's lips twisted into a grin, as if provoked by his words, his face suddenly radiating wild arrogance.
"From the looks of it, it's just an extra layer of armor—nothing impressive in terms of presence! My cursed energy cannon loves guys who specialize in defense! I'll blast you into oblivion!"
"Hah, so my presence doesn't impress you?"
Roy couldn't help but laugh at his words.
"Let me give you a friendly reminder—after compressing cursed energy, my presence might not change, but both my defense and attack power are more than doubled!"
"Boom!"
In an instant, Roy's figure vanished from his original position.
A moment later, the sound of air being shattered by his movement finally reached Jogo and Ryu Ishigori's ears.
Both of them were simultaneously startled, their hairs standing on end.
Their hearts even skipped a beat in that moment, a wave of terror washing over them.
But Roy wasn't targeting them.
"Let's start with you exiting the stage first!"
With the boost of compressed cursed energy, Roy arrived before Choso—who was hiding behind a building—at a speed surpassing that of sound.
Before Choso could react, Roy's figure was already reflected in his pupils, his fist raised high, condensed blue-purple cursed energy swirling around it like a solar flare.
"BOOOOOOOOOOM——————!"
The flare erupted violently.
A rainbow-like aurora flashed before his eyes.
In that instant, Choso felt his consciousness stretching infinitely.
Before he could even register the pain, his vision blurred as his body was sent flying like a hypersonic missile. He crashed through the skyscraper behind him—and didn't stop there. He smashed through five buildings in total, flying hundreds of meters before finally slamming into the ground and coming to a stop.
Lying in the dust-filled ruins, Choso's face was dazed.
After the tremendous impact, excruciating pain wracked his entire body. Every inch of him ached, as if all 200-plus bones had been shattered in that single blow.
Unconsciously, he looked down.
A massive hole had been torn through the center of his chest, front to back. His entire body was covered in fissures.
"No wonder I can't feel my heartbeat…"
He had reinforced his entire body with cursed energy and wrapped himself in armor of hardened blood. In terms of defense, he far surpassed Jogo and Hanami. Yet he had still been reduced to this state by a single punch.
"...Forgive me, little brothers... Big brother was useless... couldn't avenge you... I'll join you now..."
His consciousness began to rust.
With that thought, Choso's mind plunged into darkness.
His already flickering life force was completely extinguished.
His corpse lay at the end of the road, blood pooling beneath him, spreading in all directions.
"Whoa! Scared the hell outta me!"
Yuji emerged from the side of the road, staring wide-eyed at the body on the ground.
"Thought it was an enemy attack when something suddenly crashed down, but turns out it was just someone getting launched here... Wait, where the hell was this guy even thrown from? Without those little yellow birds broadcasting stuff, I've got no clue what's happening elsewhere!"
Under Yaga's orders, he and the others—Fushiguro included—had come here to evacuate civilians.
Luckily, they hadn't run into any of those bizarre sorcerers along the way and had managed to save quite a few people.
He wondered how Fushiguro and the others were doing.
Had they encountered any of those strange sorcerers?
"Hope they didn't run into any of those weirdos!"
Yuji clapped his hands together in prayer.
Only then did he realize it looked like he was offering a blessing for the corpse on the ground.
"Don't know about them, but you definitely just did!"
At that moment, an oddly exhilarated voice suddenly rang in Yuji's ears.
"Who's there?!"
Yuji reacted instantly, spinning around with a tense expression, ready to fight.
"Frost Calm: Frozen Ice!"
In an instant, a violent surge of freezing air rushed at him like a storm.
The frigid current, relentless as a waterfall, gave Yuji no time to react. His entire body was encased in ice—only his head remained exposed.
Yuji's expression twisted as he struggled with all his might, but the ice didn't budge an inch.
"I was just about to go looking for you, but here you are, coming to me on your own. How delightfully convenient!"
As he spoke, a monk with a bobbed haircut emerged from the shadows, his still-youthful face wearing a cruel yet gleeful smile.
"Who... are you?!"
"A mere vessel like you isn't worthy of knowing my name. But I'm in a good mood today, so I'll tell you. I'm Ryoumen Sukuna's most loyal servant—Uraume!"
With light steps, Uraume gracefully approached Yuji Itadori.
Ignoring the grim expression on Yuji's face, Uraume took the bag slung over their shoulder and opened it.
Waves of cursed energy, identical in nature, were released from within, each radiating power comparable to that of a Special Grade cursed object.
Yuji's expression darkened instantly.
He recognized this cursed energy—it was exactly the same as Sukuna's within him!
A terrible premonition surged in his heart. He quickly looked down and saw Uraume pulling out numerous crimson fingers from the bag.
At least fifteen by rough estimate!
These people—could they be planning to—?!
"My, my, you beat me to finding Yuji Itadori?"
A gentle voice chimed in.
Yuji couldn't even turn his head to see who it was.
Fortunately, the speaker moved into his line of sight, examining him thoroughly from all angles before breaking into a warm smile.
"My, how you've grown over the years!"
"...And who are you?"
Yuji's face was tense, his mood utterly foul.
He had a vague idea of their intentions, and the weight in his heart was unbearable. He almost wished he could die right now, but his frozen body denied him even that option.
"The name of this body is Suguru Geto, but that's irrelevant. I've used far too many bodies over time. You may call me by my true name—Kenjaku."
Kenjaku smiled at Yuji.
Was it just his imagination, or did Yuji detect a hint of fondness in that gaze?
"Choso... is already dead, hm? It's rare for brothers to reunite like this. Did he speak to you before he died?"
Kenjaku glanced down at Choso's frozen corpse, his expression unreadably calm.
"What are you talking about?"
Yuji's face twisted in confusion.
He understood each word individually, but together they made no sense.
"Didn't I say? I've changed bodies many times. My technique allows me to transfer my brain into other people. Over a century ago, I took over Noritoshi Kamo's body and used his bloodline to create the Death Painting Wombs. Choso was the eldest—my son, so to speak."
Watching Yuji's bewildered expression, Kenjaku's grin widened.
Malice oozed from his face like a demon tempting souls, his next words poised to corrupt.
"Over a decade ago, to create a vessel for Sukuna, I transferred into a woman's body and personally gave birth to a child."
"That woman's name was Kaori Itadori. The son she bore was named Yuji Itadori."
"Do you remember? Though you were young at the time, your mother had the exact same suture line on her forehead as this one."
Kenjaku pointed at the stitched scar across his own forehead.
All traces of his gentle demeanor vanished as he laughed wildly, exuding pure malice like a true villain.
Yuji's pupils dilated slowly, shock and disbelief trembling within them.
Seeing this reaction, Kenjaku delivered the final blow with a smile.
"It's only natural they'd be identical—because we're the same person. In other words, I am your mother. I was the one who gave birth to you!"
Which meant Choso was technically Yuji's elder brother.
The Bad Paintings and Blood Paintings he and Nobara had killed earlier were also his siblings.
"You bastard—mmph!"
Yuji's eyes nearly bulged from their sockets with rage.
But before his furious shout could fully form, Uraume clamped a hand over his mouth.
Uraume produced Sukuna's fingers one by one from a bag, forcibly stuffing them into Yuji's mouth and making him swallow.
"How tasteless, Kenjaku."
Uraume shot Kenjaku a look brimming with undisguised disdain.
"Hahaha! Breaking Yuji Itadori's spirit helps prolong Sukuna's manifestation time, doesn't it?"
Kenjaku laughed cheerfully, utterly unfazed.
"Even if it means exploiting the son you personally gave birth to?"
"What are you talking about?"
Kenjaku smirked dismissively, though his eyes remained cold as ice.
"A son is just a tool. As long as he serves his purpose, the birth wasn't wasted."
"BOOOOM—!!!"
Suddenly, an overwhelming surge of cursed energy erupted, shattering physical constraints as it roared skyward like a tidal wave.
"Yuji Itadori" effortlessly broke free from the encasing ice.
He raised his head, dark markings spreading across his body as his lips twisted into a vicious grin brimming with boundless cruelty. Murderous intent radiated outward.