Chapter 82 — The Menace of Ame-no-Sakahoko
Watching the dazed faces in the crowd, Kenjaku couldn't help but sneer. "Even the curses are smarter than you lot."
He was using those curses, yes, but he also admitted to himself that these particular ones were different from the ordinary kind.
"Give him back to us."
Two figures crouched in the crowd, their eyes fixed on Kenjaku.
"We made a deal: we'd do the work for you, and you'd return Lord Geto's body to us," one of them said.
"You can't keep treating Lord Geto's body like a toy," the other added. "We won't allow it."
The two women had been little girls rescued by Geto long ago; they'd followed him ever since and once belonged to his circle. After Geto's death, Kenjaku stole the body — and the girls struck a bargain with him: help him now, and when the job was done, give Geto's body back.
"Wake up, kids," Kenjaku said, tapping his own head with mock sympathy. "You should have made your binding terms a bit more airtight when you signed on with a sorcerer."
He was playing with them.
The girls' expressions didn't change, but their gazes grew colder; then they melted back into the crowd. "You'll regret this," one warned before they left.
Alone now, Kenjaku sat quietly in front of the Prison Realm. He wondered how many sorcerers would actually make it this far.
"Tch, conning little girls now? Classic thousand-year-old monster behavior — shameless," someone snorted.
Zen'in Shinsuke had arrived on the scene. He looked around at the crowd of blank-eyed onlookers and shook his head. Then he settled down near the small cube and glanced at the Prison Realm. "So Gojo, huh… you got what you deserved," he said, oddly amused by the sight of the great sorcerer sealed inside that tiny box.
Time inside the Prison Realm didn't pass the same way as real time; if someone didn't escape or decide to end it themselves, they could be trapped there forever. The thought was chilling.
Kenjaku caught Shinsuke's scent and turned his head. "You're one of the teachers from the school — Zen'in Shinsuke, right?" he asked.
Shinsuke nodded. "You're using Geto's body. I'm here for one reason: my niece has been marked as a vessel by you. Fix that."
Kenjaku frowned. "How do you know about the vessel?"
"You don't need to know where I heard it. Listen: can you restore my niece to normal? I don't have patience to waste here." Shinsuke cut him off, blunt and impatient. There were other curses outside waiting for him to exterminate.
Kenjaku smiled. "Interesting. Really interesting. No wonder Gojo placed so much faith in you. Seems I underestimated you at first."
Kenjaku smiled faintly. "About the vessel — regrettably, that's bound by covenants between those others and me. The pact is sealed; I can't change it."
"Cut the crap. Those bindings stopped meaning anything to you a long time ago. You really think Gojo and I are so gullible?"
Bindings can restrain the powerful — but Kenjaku, the ancient coin, has swapped bodies so many times that those constraints likely don't matter anymore.
At that, Kenjaku's smile vanished. "Alright. You're right: the old bindings don't work on me now. Still… the vessel has already been occupied. Their souls have entered the host; they simply haven't awakened yet. Even I can't fix that."
He spread his hands, an apologetic smirk on his face.
"Is that so?" Shinsuke Zen'in didn't know whether Kenjaku was telling the truth, but the other man's earlier casual attitude had put him on edge.
Inventory Curse's mouth opened, and a hilt spat out. Shinsuke wrapped his hand around it and drew a short, peculiar reverse-edged blade carved with spiraling curse inscriptions.
With a snap, he planted Ame-no-Sakahoko beside the Prison Realm and looked Kenjaku in the eye. "If you really can't do anything about it, then let Gojo out so he can talk with you himself. I'm sure he'd be happy to have a word."
Seeing the curse-tinged halo radiating from the blade, Kenjaku's face changed at once. "You actually have that cursed tool?"
He'd missed it — completely missed it. After all his planning, this was a blind spot. That a grade-special curse tool like Ame-no-Sakahoko existed and he had no intelligence on it was unacceptable. Shinsuke had clearly kept it well hidden, tucked away with the weapons cache and scarcely used — only once, against Gojo.
"So? Any solutions yet?" Shinsuke propped his chin on his hand, watching Kenjaku with keen interest.
After a moment of silence, Kenjaku spoke. "Like I said, the vessel already contains other souls; restoring the original personality outright is nearly impossible. But I can keep the body's original owner alive — not fully restored, but not dead."
"What do you mean?" Shinsuke frowned. Was Tsumiki truly beyond saving?
Kenjaku explained slowly. "Something like the relationship between Yuji Itadori and Sukuna: turn the occupied body into a shared vessel. Two souls cohabit — they alternate control. The usage frequency has to be negotiated between the souls themselves, but I can arrange for the original owner's soul to hold dominance."
"Of course," he added, "if the other spirit willingly gives up revival and chooses self-termination, the original owner could be restored completely. But I can't compel that. Who wants to die right after coming back?"
Shinsuke fell silent. He knew who the other soul inside Tsumiki's body was; getting that spirit to willingly self-destruct would be near-impossible.
"All right, let's proceed for now. After this is over, we'll set a time and meet." Shinsuke put Ame-no-Sakahoko away and rose to leave.
"Wait." Kenjaku stopped him with a smile. "We haven't sealed the binding yet. Don't treat me like those two foolish girls."
"Oh? Caught me," Shinsuke rapped his temple, feigning surprise. He'd intended to bluff his way through for now, free Gojo after Tsumiki was sorted out, and watch the sealed sorcerer crawl back and beg forgiveness.