At Jujutsu High, Gojo Satoru, having vented his emotions, regained his usual unflappable demeanor.
"Itadori and Todo, take the wounded to Shoko for treatment."
Gojo Satoru had already confirmed that although they were heavily injured and out of commission, their lives weren't in immediate danger.
It was a good thing Itadori and Todo had held off the opponent. He hadn't expected the two of them to have a fighting chance against a Special Grade Cursed Spirit.
He just didn't understand why a Special Grade Cursed Spirit would attack the school. Was it trying to wipe out all the students from both Tokyo and Kyoto during the exchange event in one fell swoop?
Although Hanami had been completely powerless against him, that was only because he was the strongest.
If it had been serious about killing, no one at Jujutsu High could have beaten it with a Domain Expansion alone.
Since when did Cursed Spirits launch such premeditated attacks? Was someone pulling the strings from behind? A Curse User?
But dwelling on it now was pointless. He'd already eliminated the enemy; he'd just have to look for clues elsewhere.
What concerned Gojo Satoru more at the moment were those two who called themselves Kakashi's students, Sasuke and Naruto.
They possessed the same special Cursed Energy as Kakashi. As for Sasuke's ability to undergo that Cursed Spirit-like transformation, he would set that aside for now.
The existence of these two indicated that Kakashi's type of special Cursed Energy could likely be learned, probably a technique similar to the Reverse Cursed Technique.
As the strongest in the Jujutsu world, Gojo Satoru had his own unique understanding of Cursed Energy.
The biggest drawback of Cursed Energy at present was that the influence of negative emotions on people was too great—so great that you could hardly find any normal people in the entire Jujutsu world.
The combat power Kakashi had displayed was strong even among Grade 1 Sorcerers. He was very optimistic about this new power.
"Today has certainly been interesting."
Gojo Satoru muttered to himself. First, he'd met Kakashi and the others, then he'd met a 'Cursed Spirit' who claimed to want to learn about humanity, and finally, a Special Grade Cursed Spirit had attacked the school.
The upheavals of this single day surpassed those of the entire past year. So many variables made him feel that things were getting interesting.
The Jujutsu world was due for some changes. Those old fossils in the higher-ups should all 'retire'.
If it weren't for the lack of a worthy successor to entrust things to, Gojo Satoru would have cleaned out that bunch of old relics long ago.
Just as Gojo Satoru was pondering the future, the thousand-meter-wide crater created by his Hollow Technique: Purple began to recover, bit by bit.
The earth and plants grew as if on fast-forward before his eyes, filling in the void.
This was the power of Wood Style and Earth Style, the power of nature itself.
As the forest was restored, Gojo Satoru saw a familiar figure appear before him.
Not a legacy of the ninja world, this perfect Sage Mode brought no change in appearance. Hanami's form was identical to before, but in Gojo Satoru's eyes, it was as if it were a completely different person.
'Its aura is completely different, but its appearance is identical. Do Cursed Spirits have twins?'
Gojo Satoru felt no hostility from it, and most crucially, it had no Cursed Energy whatsoever!
Its Sage Chakra was mixed with one-third natural energy, with spiritual energy accounting for only another third, and it wasn't born from negative emotions. This was a massive departure from Cursed Energy.
No aura of a Cursed Spirit, and the energy within it wasn't Cursed Energy... What exactly was this thing in front of him?
He directly used the word 'thing' to describe it because he simply couldn't find any other term he knew.
Had the Special Grade Cursed Spirit he'd just killed been resurrected? But this thing didn't have any Cursed Energy.
The situation was so far beyond common sense that Gojo Satoru couldn't help but overthink it, but in doing so, he had accidentally stumbled upon a part of the truth.
"Hello, Gojo Satoru."
Hanami bowed slightly, its politeness impeccable.
"You're... the Special Grade Cursed Spirit? How did you end up like this?"
Gojo Satoru looked at it with a strange expression. He didn't even know its name, so he could only address it as such.
Why would a Cursed Spirit that was already dead seek him out, and with all of its Cursed Energy gone, no less?
Surely it wasn't that its soul had been exorcised and it had come to thank him, right?
Faced with Gojo Satoru's question, Hanami considered its words before speaking.
"My past, weaker self is already dead."
"I am no longer a Cursed Spirit. I am now an incarnation of nature."
Hanami didn't call itself a god. Its goal remained unchanged: to restore the environment.
Only now, it included humanity within the sphere of nature, which, as it turned out, left it with not much to do.
Hanami held little malice toward Gojo Satoru, the man who had nearly killed it. From a human perspective, he had done nothing wrong.
"You were... exorcised? No, have you achieved enlightenment?"
The corner of Gojo Satoru's mouth twitched, the absurdity of the situation striking him.
The Cursed Spirit he'd just obliterated had suddenly attained great enlightenment and become an 'awakened one.' Was this some kind of classical folktale?
"So what exactly happened to you? And what is this new power? Can you tell me in detail?"
Gojo Satoru sensed goodwill from it and decided to try and fish for information.
His intuition told him that someone was plotting something in the shadows, and he was completely unaware of it.
The special Cursed Energy from Kakashi's group and the power radiating from this Cursed Spirit before him were all things that had never appeared in the Jujutsu world.
Too many coincidences seemed intentional. Rather than believe it was an accident, Gojo Satoru preferred to think someone was pulling the strings behind the scenes.
Hanami, of course, wouldn't reveal anything about Schwarzer. Subconsciously, it rubbed the ring on its finger.
The ideals of the Celestial Organization and Schwarzer's actions made it feel like a storm was brewing.
Achieving peace would inevitably cause a massive upheaval to the existing system. After long consideration, it decided to offer a little help.
Besides, Schwarzer had said it could do whatever it wanted. Since Schwarzer hadn't stopped it, that meant tacit approval.
Because of Kenjaku's existence, it had a clear understanding of the Jujutsu world and knew the importance of Gojo Satoru, the strongest.
You could say the entire Jujutsu world would be finished sooner or later without that teacher of theirs. The old guard were all villains, and among the new generation, only Okkotsu had enough raw power.
Therefore...
"This is Sage Art energy. With it, you can overcome any sealing technique."
Hanami activated Sage Mode. After inheriting the power of the Divine Tree, it found it had learned many 'ninjutsu.'
This portion of Sage Art Chakra it separated could help Gojo Satoru break the seal of the Prison Realm.
Of course, if he was capable, it wasn't impossible for him to use it to activate Sage Mode himself, though no one in this world even knew what Sage Mode was.
One must act according to one's station. Hanami already saw itself as a guardian of humanity and nature, so naturally, it had to look out for its 'own people'.
As for Kenjaku and the Cursed Spirits? It could only wish them good luck.
Gojo Satoru could feel that this power was the polar opposite of Cursed Energy, even purer than the life force generated by the Reverse Cursed Technique.
Faced with this 'gift' from a stranger, Gojo Satoru thought for a moment before making his decision.
Disabling the Limitless technique that covered his body, Gojo Satoru chose to accept this power.
He wasn't one to back down easily. Even if it was a trap, it didn't matter. Because he was the strongest!
________________________________________
If you want more chapters, please consider supporting my page on Patreon. with 40 advanced chapters available on Patreon
patreon.com/Ms_Medusa