Chapter 23: Gojo Satoru Wants a Spar
"Kenjaku?"
At that name, Tengen's eyes flickered with surprise. She looked up at the rude young man before her.
"You know of Kenjaku? That's not a name one stumbles across by chance. How did you learn of his existence?"
Setting down her teapot, her expression grew solemn.
"Maybe I just did my homework thoroughly," Zen'in Shinsuke shrugged, then casually grabbed the teapot himself and poured a cup of tea.
"Doesn't matter how I know. What matters is—you fix my niece first." He tapped his knuckles against the table to remind her.
Tengen shook her head. "If it's Kenjaku's doing, then there's nothing I can do. You'd need to seek him out directly. Perhaps he's the only one who can undo it. But… heed my warning: that man harbors ambitions vast and terrifying. He's extremely dangerous. Be cautious."
Shinsuke sipped the tea, eyes narrowing. "So… where is he?"
If he could find Kenjaku, he wouldn't have come here in the first place. By this time, Itadori's mother should already have disappeared without a trace. Otherwise, tracking Kenjaku would have been far simpler.
"You think I'm omniscient?" Tengen snapped. "How should I know where he is?"
Kenjaku had lived for over a thousand years, her eternal adversary—sometimes a man, sometimes a woman. If she could locate him so easily, their war would have ended long ago.
"So this trip was a waste of time, huh?" Shinsuke muttered. He had assumed that after centuries of clashing, Tengen would know Kenjaku's whereabouts like the back of her hand. Clearly, expecting a shut-in old hag to be useful had been foolish.
"Not entirely wasted—you did at least drink tea brewed by me," Tengen said smoothly.
Few who had tasted her tea could still boast of being alive.
"Oh, then I should feel honored," Shinsuke smirked.
His gaze sharpened. "Tell me—what are you now? Human? Curse?"
Tengen's form was already far removed from humanity. If she counted as a curse, she'd surely be at special grade.
"You can think of me as half-human, half-curse. In a few years, I'll become a curse entirely. When that time comes… if you still haven't found Kenjaku, you can come back to me. He will."
Her implication was clear: once her transformation was complete, Kenjaku would come for her—because his thousand-year plan required her powers.
Shinsuke snorted. "So you want me as your free bodyguard? Dream on. I'm out."
Without another word, he got up and left, helping himself to the unopened packet of tea leaves on the table as he went.
The tea of an ancient fossil who'd lived a millennium wasn't half bad.
Tengen said nothing, but her stiff face twitched.
That brat… he knows too much.
They had never met before, yet he acted as though they were old acquaintances—and he knew things he shouldn't. If not for prior reports from the Jujutsu higher-ups, she might have suspected he was as ancient as she was.
Leaving the Tombs of the Star Corridor, Shinsuke crossed paths with Gojo Satoru, returning from an exorcism.
By now, Gojo was already acknowledged as the strongest modern sorcerer.
His eyes bound in white cloth, Gojo still radiated effortless dominance.
Shinsuke chuckled. "What kind of curse needs the 'strongest sorcerer' himself to deal with?"
"Oh? You here for a mission too?" Gojo tilted his head. Though blindfolded, his perception was crystal clear. His gaze fell on Shinsuke emerging from the school's inner sanctum, a half-open bag of tea in hand.
"I don't take anything below Grade 1. Just came to visit an old fossil." Shinsuke waved him off casually.
"You're a weird one," Gojo remarked dryly.
Though both were instructors at Jujutsu High, they'd never been close—but technically, Shinsuke had become a teacher first, making him Gojo's senior.
"By the way," Gojo's tone shifted as he unwrapped the blindfold, revealing eyes that gleamed like stars, "Amanai once said Geto became a curse user because of you. That true?"
He had recently picked up traces of Geto Suguru during a mission, which reminded him of Amanai's offhand comment from years back. And now, here was the man himself.
"You really think that's possible?" Shinsuke sighed. Some grudges never died.
"You're right," Gojo conceded after a pause. "Geto isn't the type to have his ideals flipped by just a few words."
In Gojo Satoru's eyes, Suguru Geto had always been someone who protected the weak. Ironically, it was Gojo himself who never cared much for them.
And yet, now their personalities had completely reversed.
"Come to think of it," Gojo said, his gaze locking onto Zen'in Shinsuke's eyes, "we've both been teaching at Jujutsu High, but we've never actually sparred, have we? How about a little match?"
The glint in his eyes made it clear this wasn't just a casual suggestion—he had a purpose. He'd long been curious about Shinsuke's true strength. Surely, this man was far stronger than the one who had once tried to assassinate Amanai Riko. That calm, unshaken gaze of his… it carried too much weight to be ordinary.
"Gojo brat, are you joking with me?" Shinsuke looked at him in disbelief.
"The strongest sorcerer of the modern age, challenging a guy who doesn't even use cursed techniques? You running a fever?"
For a moment, he even wondered if the higher-ups had sent Gojo to test him—but knowing Gojo's personality, that seemed impossible.
"Don't say things like 'ordinary guy.' Someone might take offense," Gojo said lightly, forming a sword-finger stance in front of him. His eyes shimmered with light. "It's just a friendly spar between teachers. No need to be so uptight."
In truth, there were very few people left who could stir his fighting spirit.
"Here I come."
Gojo's warning came a split-second before his entire figure vanished, reappearing behind Shinsuke. His hand formed a gun-like shape, and at his fingertip a crimson glow condensed—a repulsive force brimming with destructive power.
"What a ridiculous kid."
Gojo's eyes narrowed sharply—but the figure before him was already gone. From behind came a low growl.
Boom!!
A massive fist smashed into Gojo's head, launching him across the ground. The sheer force split the earth beneath them as if an earthquake had struck.
Still holding the bag of tea leaves in one hand, Shinsuke glanced at his fist. "Barehanded, huh? How the hell am I supposed to fight like this? Didn't even bring a weapon…"
"Your strength… your speed… far beyond that guy's," Gojo said as he walked back unscathed. Shinsuke's strike had slammed into his Infinity, leaving him unharmed—but Gojo was astonished by the man's raw physicality.
Since becoming the strongest sorcerer, all of Gojo's abilities—speed, offense, defense—had skyrocketed. He could even teleport across long distances, yet Shinsuke's speed had still caught him off guard.
"…What a shame." Gojo sighed, a trace of melancholy in his voice. "If only you had cursed energy. Then maybe I wouldn't feel so alone in this era."
"You really are an impolite junior," Shinsuke muttered, shaking his head.
He'd just been called rude by Tengen, and now Gojo had made him feel the same way. Next time he saw that old hag, maybe he'd give her a little more face.