Kenjaku watched with narrowed eyes as Hijiri Shunta walked dejectedly into the spatial portal.
Kenjaku hadn't lied to him; he had set the portal's destination to Tokyo so he could attack Jujutsu High.
Of course, Hijiri Shunta used to be a loser.
Kenjaku only required him to launch a sneak attack if possible; even attracting a bit of attention without a clear opportunity would count as a successful mission.
But now it was different. Kenjaku had decided to put some pressure on him and assign him more important tasks.
He must be very happy himself, right? After all, hadn't he claimed to be invincible?
Since he was invincible, he could go and clash with the truly invincible Gojo Satoru.
Kenjaku was looking forward to the collision between the two.
"Hmm, am I late? It's a pity I didn't see Mahito's Idle Transfiguration."
Suddenly, a voice rang out. A Cursed Spirit appeared on the shore.
An old man's voice, an old floral kimono, and a head like an erupting volcano—Jogo was walking slowly from the shore toward them.
He... was followed by two new Cursed Spirits, one behind him and one at his side.
Mahito looked on with interest.
This was a Cursed Spirit with a strange atmosphere.
She was pale all over, her bare upper body covered in black patterns. These patterns slowly expanded along the spirit's muscles like living branches.
Two black lines extended down from her eye sockets, but what grew from her eye sockets were not eyeballs, but branches—branches like deer antlers.
She wrapped her left arm in white cloth, showing only her sturdy right arm. Her fingers were pitch black, like the claws of some beast.
As she walked barefoot toward them, even though Mahito saw her, he could hardly feel the Cursed Spirit's Cursed Energy.
If judged solely by the ability to hide energy, she was even better at it than the thousand-year Curse User, Kenjaku.
"—"
She made a sound. Although no one knew what she was saying, the meaning appeared in everyone's minds. She was introducing herself.
Hanami, a Special Grade Cursed Spirit, an Intelligent Cursed Spirit, a Curse born from humanity's fear of the forest.
Mahito broke into a wide grin and opened his arms to welcome her arrival.
No, "he" wasn't the right word. Although the overall image was closer to a twisted aberration, her motherly, gentle personality and soft tone made "she" more appropriate.
"Hanami, it's our first meeting. Thank you for coming. I've been looking forward to meeting you for a long time."
Mahito meant these words sincerely.
To him, Hanami was the most special Cursed Spirit in this world.
Although she was still classified as a spirit, she was closer to an elemental spirit than a typical Cursed Spirit; she had almost none of the obvious malice found in other Cursed Spirits.
All Cursed Spirits possess an instinct to kill.
Even Mahito, a visitor from another world, couldn't completely control his instinct to harm people.
Other Cursed Spirits were even less worth mentioning.
To them—yes, "it" rather than "them"—some low-level Cursed Spirits that relied solely on instinct without any logical thinking, even if ranked as Special Grade by Sorcerers, could never be compared to Intelligent Cursed Spirits like Mahito and Jogo.
But Hanami was different.
She didn't even have the intention to harm people. Her every thought and action had only one goal—to protect nature.
And the reason she killed wasn't out of instinct, but from rational thought: her reason for hating humans was the belief that nature and humans could not coexist.
To protect all things, humans must be eliminated.
This was just too special—so special that Mahito couldn't wait to study her seriously!
Perhaps Hanami's existence could allow Mahito to break through to a new realm.
He had expectations for this. To some extent, Hanami was an indispensable research project for whether he could advance to the next level.
Naturally, he would treat Hanami with special regard.
Thump—
The Cursed Spirit at Jogo's side jumped up as they approached Mahito, landing in Mahito's arms.
He widened his eyes, looking at the Cursed Spirit, whose mouth was mumbling something unknown.
It was a strangely shaped Cursed Spirit that looked very weak.
He was only the size of a child, wearing a white dango-like outfit, with a red octopus face and a pair of large, watery eyes.
His mouth was always mumbling something, but listening closely, it sounded like simple chewing.
"Dagon, don't do such dangerous things, really," Jogo complained.
He was a Curse born from humanity's fear of the ocean.
Like Jogo, Hanami, and Mahito, because the ocean has always been feared by humans, he received an excessive amount of Cursed Energy, resulting in an Intelligent Special Grade Cursed Spirit.
Mahito wasn't as interested in him as he was in Hanami, but that didn't mean Dagon had no research value.
On the contrary, Dagon was the only Special Grade Cursed Spirit who could constantly maintain a Cursed Womb state.
He would only grow when he himself wished to. This was also his unique trait.
It's just that compared to Hanami, Dagon's uniqueness wasn't as prominent.
Mahito opened his arms and easily caught the little thing.
He looked at this tiny Cursed Spirit with interest.
It was hard to imagine that such a small and delicate Cursed Spirit could transform into the Curse of the great sea.
He hadn't fully grown yet, and Jogo and Hanami were both taking careful care of him.
Now, he welcomed a new family member—Mahito.
"You must be Dagon. Jogo told me about you. Please take care of me, too." Mahito was all smiles.
Jogo walked slowly to Mahito and Kenjaku's side, glanced at Dagon who was squirming in Mahito's arms, and didn't mind.
He saw the beaming Mahito and asked with interest:
"Judging by your look, was the experiment a success?"
The experiment Jogo spoke of was the strengthening of the Curse User.
Mahito kept poking Dagon with his finger, as if teasing a kitten. He was enjoying himself, like a child who had found a fun toy.
He replied casually, "It was very successful. Moreover, I've understood quite a few problems."
Kenjaku chimed in from the side, "The Curse User I brought was indeed strengthened by Mahito's ability. Although I don't know the exact degree of the boost, according to the Curse User himself, he was strengthened about tenfold. However, I don't think it's that exaggerated."
Mahito said indifferently, "It really isn't that exaggerated. At most, it's about three times. This is only because this Curse User was extremely weak to begin with, so he could be strengthened to this extent. If it were a Curse User who was already very strong, it would be impossible to strengthen them this much all at once."
To be precise, Mahito still hadn't figured out what a powerful Jujutsu Sorcerer was really like.
The reason Yoshino Junpei was strengthened so much was that the direction of Yoshino Junpei's transformation wasn't toward a Sorcerer at all—but toward a Cursed Spirit.
He was a Cursed Spirit himself, so he naturally knew exactly how to transform Yoshino Junpei into a Cursed Spirit.
But Hijiri Shunta was different.
Hijiri Shunta was a pure Sorcerer. Mahito didn't want to waste such a subject, so the direction of transformation was toward that of a traditional Jujutsu Sorcerer—including, of course, strengthening the output speed and intensity of his negative emotions.
This was probably the reason he had suddenly become so arrogant.
From this perspective, all powerful Jujutsu Sorcerers are bound to be arrogant, without exception.
It's just that with Gojo Satoru standing there, all Jujutsu Sorcerers can clearly recognize that they are far inferior to him.
Thus, Jujutsu Sorcerers are very self-aware; even if they are incredibly arrogant, they can still view themselves rationally.
In a way, Gojo Satoru indeed served as a stabilizing force.
It's hard to imagine what kind of chaos the entire Jujutsu world would fall into if Gojo Satoru were to suddenly die.
Jogo marveled, "That's truly impressive. I never imagined Idle Transfiguration could possess such power. Now, when the time comes to attack the Jujutsu world, even those trashy Curse Users will be able to serve as sufficient combat strength."
Kenjaku squinted his eyes, his face still full of smiles, as he shook his head slightly. "They certainly have a role to play—at least a small one."
Jogo glanced at him, sounding somewhat impatient. "Are you still going to talk to me about Gojo Satoru? Is that guy really that strong?"
Kenjaku wiped away his smile, his expression turning serious.
His gaze swept around. Currently before him were:
The Curse manifested from humanity's fear of the earth: Special Grade Cursed Spirit, Intelligent Cursed Spirit, Jogo.
The Curse manifested from humanity's fear of the forest: Special Grade Cursed Spirit, Intelligent Cursed Spirit, Hanami.
The Curse manifested from humanity's fear of the ocean: Special Grade Cursed Spirit, Intelligent Cursed Spirit, Dagon.
And finally, the last puzzle piece—
The Curse manifested from humanity's fear of humanity itself: Special Grade Cursed Spirit, Intelligent Cursed Spirit, the most unique Cursed Spirit whose wish is to become the god of both humans and Cursed Spirits—Mahito.
It could be said without exaggeration that if this lineup still couldn't overturn the Jujutsu world, then this era belonging to Gojo Satoru could never be overturned.
Therefore, now was the best opportunity.
Kenjaku knew he had to show true sincerity—the specific plan for how exactly to overturn the Jujutsu world.
Kenjaku tucked his hands into his long sleeves and said with a smile, "Well then, let's talk about how we're going to overturn the Jujutsu world."
This sentence made all the Cursed Spirits turn serious—correction, except for little Dagon, who remained carefree in Mahito's arms.
He seemed to particularly enjoy Mahito's stroking, to the point where he rarely even came down.
Jogo was the most interested in this topic and spoke first. "Can you finally say it? Does this mean you believe all the pieces to overturn the Jujutsu world have been gathered? As expected, is it because Mahito's ability has greatly enhanced our combat power?"
Kenjaku stroked his chin and nodded with a smile. "That's part of the reason."
Hanami made a soft sound, advising Jogo to be more patient.
Jogo said impatiently, "Ah, you're just so indirect! Hanami too, stop always telling me to be patient! I've already been very patient!"
Kenjaku laughed twice, his slightly squinted eyes opening a fraction to reveal eyeballs as black as an abyss.
"Then, let me confirm our Binding Vow one last time. Although our ultimate goals differ, our interests at this stage are aligned—to overturn the current Jujutsu world. Before this goal is achieved, we must not betray each other in any form."
Jogo was about to speak, but his eyes caught Mahito's thoughtful face, and he immediately changed his tune: "I'll listen to Mahito."
Hanami also made a soft sound, indicating she would also follow Mahito's lead.
Dagon made some gurgling sounds, looking like he had already become Mahito's little fanboy.
Kenjaku's mouth quirked down as he sighed helplessly. "Honestly, even though Mahito-san was the last to join, he seems to be the king most supported by the Cursed Spirits—no, allow me to correct myself—the future God."
Jogo said flatly, "That's because I realized my previous thoughts were too naive. After hearing Mahito's ideals, I've recognized my own mistakes. Mahito is different; he's smart, and his ambition is unrivaled. I will follow him."
These words were Jogo's sincere feelings because before this, he truly wanted to exterminate all of humanity.
Previously, Jogo always believed that humanity's core was formed from lies, and any positive emotions or actions they displayed on the surface must have an underlying reason.
Because of this, human negative emotions—hatred and murderous intent—were a layer of reality that could never be escaped, and from those, Cursed Spirits were born.
Through this logic, Jogo concluded that Cursed Spirits were the pure, true humans, while humans were all fakes and defective products that should be eliminated.
This idea—well, one can only say Jogo's self-awareness was quite accurate.
These thoughts were indeed too immature, the kind of ideas born from a 'syndrome' that human children unconsciously contract when they just start middle school, possessing a certain beauty of innocence and childishness.
The biggest logical flaw was that even he knew Cursed Spirits were brewed from human Curses.
If humanity were truly exterminated, wouldn't Cursed Spirits also go extinct? What future for Cursed Spirits would be left to talk about? You'd be killing off the very root of your future.
Before this, Jogo had never doubted his ideals until he heard Mahito's, which made him realize the logical error.
The reason he followed Mahito so willingly had nothing to do with power; it was entirely because their intelligence levels were not in the same league.
Jogo might lack a brain, but he had self-awareness and knew to listen to someone who had one.
Thus, he firmly supported Mahito, even if the current Mahito was inferior to him in terms of power; he never minded.
Hanami sighed softly without making a sound.
Her thoughts were even more extreme than Jogo's.
Unlike Jogo's innocence and childishness, her ideas were carefully considered; she believed only the extermination of humanity could restore nature.
In this pursuit, she believed it would be worth it even if she had to sacrifice herself.
If sacrificing only herself could trade for the restoration of nature, she certainly wouldn't begrudge her life.
But if that sacrifice included Jogo, Dagon, and even the Mahito she had just met, she fell into hesitation and was at a loss.
Exterminating humanity was equivalent to exterminating Cursed Spirits.
In other words, if she truly wiped out all humans, her family would be wiped out along with them.
The conflict between her ideal of protecting nature and the reality of her family left her completely unsure of what to do now.
This was also the reason she had hurried over after learning of Mahito's existence: she hoped to use Mahito's wisdom to find a way to have both.
Or even more extreme—to help Mahito ascend to godhood and use the power of a god to solve this problem.
As for Dagon—
He—he—
Well, he didn't have much in the way of thoughts.
Sensing Jogo and Hanami's thoughts, Kenjaku knew clearly who the primary target for establishing the Binding Vow was. He turned his gaze toward Mahito.
"Then, Mahito-san, do you have any questions regarding the Binding Vow I've proposed?"
Mahito didn't speak directly but gently set Dagon down before looking directly at Kenjaku with his heterochromatic eyes.
Kenjaku remembered that as long as Mahito's eyes looked directly at someone, that person couldn't lie, and even leading rhetoric would be seen through; he was truly the nemesis of old foxes.
And now, those heterochromatic eyes were aimed directly at Kenjaku.
Mahito suddenly asked an unrelated question.
"You keep emphasizing to us how formidable Gojo Satoru is and want us to find a way to deal with him."
"I have a question—theoretically, we Cursed Spirits have no lifespan limit, and no matter how powerful a human is, if their Innate Technique isn't suitable, they cannot extend their lifespan."
"Since overturning the Jujutsu world at this stage is very difficult because of Gojo Satoru—"
He asked:
"—why don't we just wait for Gojo Satoru to die of old age before we act?"