Gojo Satoru instantly recalled his secret meeting.
Who betrayed me?
Who told you about the Six Degrees East Crossing?
The Tsukumogami Manipulation Technique wasn't particularly powerful.
In fact, throughout history, no famous Jujutsu Sorcerer had ever emerged from it.
If one wanted a technique that offered enormous personal enhancement, one should follow Ryomen Sukuna and choose the Ten Shadows Technique or the Copy Technique.
Or, since Gojo Satoru himself was present, simply choose Limitless.
Furthermore, Hiromi Higuruma's Executioner's Sword had become famous during these two months.
Its sure-kill reputation was known worldwide.
Even Mahoraga could be killed with a single strike.
Imprinting Higuruma's technique would have been an excellent choice.
No matter how one looked at it, the Tsukumogami Manipulation Technique wouldn't even rank among the options.
How, then, could Kenjaku accurately determine that this was the technique Gojo Satoru had chosen?
Unless—
Kenjaku knew about the Six Degrees East Crossing.
And also knew that Gojo Satoru had been searching for the feeling necessary to perform Fusion Black Flash.
Gojo Satoru's current abilities were:
Rikugan / Six Eyes.
Limitless.
The Tsukumogami Manipulation Technique.
And in his possession was the Six Degrees East Crossing.
He had already fulfilled all the requirements necessary to unleash Fusion Black Flash.
Now, he was merely waiting to surprise Mahito.
The current Gojo Satoru was no longer as arrogant as before.
He had already established an Information Lock.
Unless someone fought him personally or spent points to purchase his information after battle—just as Kokichi Muta had done regarding Ryomen Sukuna—his Tsukumogami Manipulation Technique should never have been exposed.
And Gojo Satoru had spent the entire Dream Walk Migration inside the Sakurajima Barrier, surrounded by his students and Kento Nanami.
Other than Ryomen Sukuna, Gojo Satoru had not fought anyone.
And when he fought Ryomen Sukuna...
He had not yet acquired the Tsukumogami Manipulation Technique.
His intel shouldn't have leaked... unless there's a traitor among them!
Kenjaku tried to maintain his composure, but as if possessed, he blurted out the secret:
"It's Miyuki."
Miyuki was startled and pointed at herself.
"Huh? Me?"
Gojo Satoru frowned.
"I trust Miyuki."
Kenjaku carefully sensed the strange compulsion he had just felt, glanced at Geto Suguru, and said helplessly:
"This has nothing to do with whether you trust her or not."
"Miyuki was transformed by Mahito long ago into his other half. In fact, Miyuki was Mahito's very first 'Half-Cursed Spirit' experimental subject. At that time, Miyuki was truly prepared to become Mahito's incarnation vessel."
"Miyuki's eyes are Mahito's eyes. Miyuki's knowledge is Mahito's knowledge. Miyuki's thoughts are Mahito's thoughts."
"Do you understand? Even if Miyuki herself doesn't know, as long as her eyes are on you, all your information naturally flows to Mahito. The more you trust Miyuki, the more information she learns from you."
"And Miyuki doesn't even need to contact Mahito."
"Gojo Satoru, you really should have listened to those Jujutsu higher-ups. If you had subjected Miyuki to Jujutsu execution the moment she was discovered..."
"But you didn't. You trusted Miyuki."
"And Miyuki indeed never contacted us, so you trusted her even more."
"But that is precisely why..."
"...your information continued to leak. Your arrogance allowed Mahito to grow into what he is today."
"It was you who created Mahito."
Gojo Satoru remained silent.
Miyuki looked left and right, shrank her head, and quietly stood up, wanting to leave.
Even she didn't know she had perfectly completed a spy mission in a way she never expected. Now that she had been exposed, she felt she had no right to continue sitting there, so she wanted to disappear quietly.
Itadori Yuji stood up immediately.
"This isn't Miyuki's fault!"
Kugisaki Nobara also grabbed Miyuki as she tried to leave.
"Wait, Miyuki! We all know you're innocent!"
No, I'm not innocent at all!
Miyuki was breaking out in a cold sweat.
Kusakabe Atsuya really wanted to scold these youngsters, but before he could speak, Gojo Satoru raised his hand.
"Let Miyuki stay."
"Now that Mahito has reached this stage, Miyuki is no longer useful to him, and our information is already known to Mahito anyway. It doesn't matter whether Miyuki stays here or not."
Kenjaku grinned.
"You really are broad-minded."
Gojo Satoru acted as if he hadn't heard.
He was the man who had watched Geto Suguru clearly walk down the path of betrayal and still hadn't pursued him back then. How could a man like him watch the innocent Miyuki be bullied?
Besides, he truly believed it.
Since the information had already leaked and Miyuki had never intentionally betrayed them, she could naturally still be trusted.
'Hah, isn't this just spying on each other? I even sent Utahime to investigate Kyoto Jujutsu High. This isn't a big deal at all.'
Gojo Satoru easily convinced himself and felt at ease.
He even comforted Miyuki:
"Don't feel any psychological pressure, Miyuki. We still trust you."
No, don't be like this! I'm really not innocent!
Miyuki was drenched in sweat.
"Let's end the small talk here."
Seeing Miyuki's uneasy expression, Gojo Satoru changed the subject and said seriously:
"Suguru said earlier that you claim our defeat is certain. What do you mean?"
"Is it simply because my information has completely leaked? Even if all my information is exposed, battles between Jujutsu Sorcerers are full of uncertainty."
"The battle between Mahito and me is still winnable. That's not enough to guarantee my defeat."
"How do you all view Mahito's Apotheosis Ritual?" Kenjaku asked.
Yaga Masamichi answered:
"Through a Binding Vow. A massive Binding Vow capable of affecting the entire planet."
"After the Apotheosis Ritual, Mahito will wish to become a god. At that time, the Mahito who fulfills the Binding Vow will be elevated to the position of a deity by the vow itself."
Kenjaku laughed.
"You certainly understand the details."
"However, you underestimate our methods."
Ieiri Shoko frowned.
"What do you mean?"
"If I'm not mistaken, your plan to stop Mahito's ascension is to defeat him over and over again during the Dream Walk Migration, correct?" Kenjaku asked.
"We know it's difficult, because Mahito is also continuously growing stronger."
"But theoretically, as long as we can do that, Mahito can never become a god."
Gojo Satoru said in a low voice:
"I don't care about the future."
"As long as I'm alive, I will fight Mahito to the end."
"This is my responsibility as a human."
"If I had hands, I'd applaud you."
Kenjaku shook his brain and grinned.
"Unfortunately, you're all wrong."
"The moment the Dream Walk Migration was established, Mahito had already become a god."
Everyone froze.
Gojo Satoru stood up.
"What did you say?"
Kenjaku withdrew his smile and said calmly:
"The current Mahito is already a god."
"Why haven't you realized it?"
"A so-called god is a transcendent higher-dimensional existence with the characteristic of 'Once Attained, Eternally Attained.'"
"Why did Tengen choose to abandon the Star Plasma Vessel after Amanai Riko died?"
"Because Tengen also understood this principle."
"After the fusion with the Star Plasma Vessel failed, Tengen immediately realized that becoming a god had become inevitable."
"The current Mahito is the same."
"The moment the Dream Walk Migration truly began and wasn't stopped instantly, 'God Mahito' already came into existence."
Kenjaku said meaningfully:
"You have already failed."
"This isn't the present continuous tense. It's the present perfect tense."
"The current Mahito is merely going through the motions because all the procedures have already been completed."
"Now, Mahito only needs to sit there casually and wait for you to come to him."
"Your boiling blood, your unwavering will, and all your efforts are merely decorations for Mahito's ascension."
"They are tiny ripples in the river of destiny."
"Insignificant and meaningless."
"Just like..."
"...me back then."
Kenjaku sighed.
Back then, Kenjaku had made countless efforts to prevent the fusion between Tengen and the Star Plasma Vessel.
These included killing newborn Six Eyes users, intercepting Star Plasma Vessels, and manipulating events from the shadows.
But all his efforts had been meaningless.
Every single time, the Six Eyes would successfully deliver the Star Plasma Vessel to Tengen as scheduled.
He had personally experienced the power of destiny.
That was why he eventually gave up.
It wasn't until Heavenly Restriction truly killed the Star Plasma Vessel and prevented Tengen's fusion that he enthusiastically resumed his plans.
Before that, it had felt as though his spirit had already died.
Just like...
...the current atmosphere.
Everyone in the meeting room sat blankly in their seats, completely silent.
Author's Note
Regarding the issue not explained in the previous chapter:
Sorry about that. I didn't explain it clearly enough. My sleep schedule has been severely reversed this month. In fact, I just woke up now, which is also why my updates have been unstable and some explanations were left incomplete.
Regarding why Kenjaku wanted to kill the Star Plasma Vessel, the original work states:
Kenjaku needed Tengen to enter a "curse-like" state.
A Tengen who had absorbed a Star Plasma Vessel would still be regarded as human rather than "curse-like."
Kenjaku's ultimate goal was the super-redundant assimilation of all Japanese people with Tengen.
Tengen's Star Plasma Vessel, Amanai Riko, was killed by the Heavenly Restriction user with zero Cursed Energy, causing Tengen to believe that becoming a god could no longer be stopped and allowing himself to evolve further.
It was during this process of giving up resistance that Tengen entered the "curse-like" state.
This was exactly what Kenjaku had hoped for.
The original work explicitly states that Kenjaku had attempted many times to make Tengen enter this state but failed.
The appearance of the Heavenly Restriction user was completely outside Kenjaku's expectations. Kenjaku truly had no involvement in Amanai Riko's death.
Only after this event occurred and Tengen entered the "curse-like" state did Kenjaku truly begin to act.
(T/N: I didn't want to add this Author's note but I realized it's better if I left it. A lot of you didn't read the manga.)
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