Gojo Satoru tilted his head slightly.
"Can you return Yuta to me?"
It was an extremely unreasonable request, Gojo Satoru thought.
If it were Ryomen Sukuna, he would undoubtedly be laughing loudly right now. He would eat Yuta Okkotsu right in front of him and would even use Yuta without hesitation during the battle just to make Gojo Satoru feel heartache.
It wouldn't even be out of tactical necessity.
He would simply want Gojo Satoru to become angry, to experience unbearable pain, to regret everything, and to sink into despair.
If it were Ryomen Sukuna, he would definitely do exactly that.
He was that kind of person.
A King of Curses who radiated malice at all times, yearning to plunge the world into suffering.
But if it was Mahito...
Gojo Satoru looked at Mahito with a smile.
Mahito casually tossed the sphere containing Yuta's existence beside Gojo Satoru without the slightest hesitation.
As expected.
Gojo Satoru confirmed once again that Mahito really would do this.
"You'll be putting yourself at a disadvantage like this, Mahito," Gojo Satoru laughed.
"Then consider it the final generosity of the strong." Mahito smiled as well. "If I didn't do this, wouldn't it be too boring? Satoru, you are my only rival in this world. I don't want our battle to be tainted by any impurities. Our passion shouldn't be stained with pettiness and trickery, nor should our boiling blood be marked by anger and despair."
"How ridiculous—!"
A loud shout suddenly interrupted them.
It was Yuta Okkotsu.
He emerged once more from the sphere of Cursed Energy.
Although he looked disheveled, there wasn't the slightest trace of discouragement on his face.
Instead, his resolve had become firmer than ever.
He recalled everything he had experienced.
He recalled the first time he heard about the King of Curses.
He recalled the path Mahito had walked.
He recalled Gojo Satoru's evaluation of him.
And finally...
he recalled Gojo Satoru's final words.
This is my duty as the Strongest of the Modern Era.
"I am a Special Grade Sorcerer! I am humanity's last hope!" Yuta declared firmly. "Do you think that just because you let me go, I'll obediently retreat and watch you fight Teacher Gojo? Don't be ridiculous! I'll keep watching your every move. If Teacher Gojo is defeated, I'll continue using the Maximum Technique to reconstruct an Immortal Technique that can counter you. This time, I already know my reconstructed body can be absorbed by Cursed Spirit Manipulation. I'll specifically reinforce that weakness when I reconstruct it. You won't get another chance to absorb me!"
Yuta Okkotsu was completely serious.
He didn't interpret Mahito's mercy as kindness.
He only felt Mahito was doing something absurd.
What was he trying to do?
Some kind of honorable duel?
This was a racial war.
A battle to determine whether humanity could continue standing as the dominant species on this planet.
Things like honor and mercy should naturally give way to ruthlessness and shamelessness.
That was only common sense.
Yuta Okkotsu glanced at Gojo Satoru before swallowing the rest of his words.
"I won't catch Teacher Gojo's sentimental hero syndrome!"
Mahito mimicked Yuta's tone and laughed.
"That's what you wanted to say too, wasn't it?"
Yuta kept a straight face and remained silent.
Mahito glanced toward Gojo Satoru.
"You've raised quite the disciple."
Gojo Satoru wasn't embarrassed in the slightest.
Instead, he proudly declared,
"I am very proud."
"Aren't you going to lecture him?" Mahito asked.
"We have our path, and he has his own."
Gojo Satoru replied calmly,
"I won't interfere with my disciple's path, as long as he doesn't lose himself."
"Although we're appreciating each other at this moment, that doesn't change the fact that this is an extremely serious racial war. Both of us have reasons why we absolutely cannot lose. We choose honor, but I won't stop my disciple from choosing darkness."
"If, after I die, my disciple steps over my corpse to defeat you, I won't have any objections."
Yuta looked at Gojo Satoru emotionally.
"Teacher Gojo...!"
Gojo Satoru awkwardly rubbed his arm, looking as though he'd gotten goosebumps.
"Don't start getting all emotional!"
"If you've chosen your own path, then walk it to the end."
"You may receive nothing but the contempt of others."
"But as long as you're convinced you're right, then don't pay attention to idle gossip."
"Use your original intentions to judge your actions."
"Use your own understanding to confirm your choices."
"And finally..."
"...use your own pain to experience everything along that path."
"Yes!"
Yuta Okkotsu answered through gritted teeth.
Mahito couldn't help letting out a quiet laugh.
He remembered Gojo Satoru and Yuta Okkotsu from the original manga.
Back then, Yuta had voluntarily proposed that, if Gojo Satoru were defeated, he would use Kenjaku's Brain Exchange Technique to take over Gojo's corpse and continue fighting Ryomen Sukuna.
The other Jujutsu Sorcerers all condemned Yuta's proposal.
Yuta shouted back with his emotions laid bare, saying that if victory required him to desecrate his teacher's corpse, then he was willing to bear that sin.
Among everyone present...
the only person who supported him...
was Gojo Satoru himself—
the very owner of the corpse that would be desecrated.
This moment...
felt exactly the same.
Mahito suddenly felt a familiar sensation.
Although the story had changed drastically, everyone had experienced different growth.
Gojo Satoru wielded Six Degrees East Crossing.
Ryomen Sukuna possessed a brand-new Binding Vow.
Even Yuta Okkotsu had obtained an Immortal Technique that never existed in the original work.
Yet...
their beliefs...
their personalities...
had never changed.
They were still themselves.
Emotion quietly welled up within Mahito's heart.
Only now did he truly realize...
these people were not merely characters living inside a manga.
They were living in reality.
And yet...
they also remained forever within that manga.
The characters inside the manga...
had now stepped beyond the pages...
and were standing before him.
Mahito recited softly,
"Do not seek beauty in battle. Do not seek virtue in death."
"Do not think only of your own life."
"If you wish to protect what must be protected, then strike down the enemy you must defeat—even from behind."
The poetic recitation drew both Gojo Satoru's and Yuta Okkotsu's attention.
Gojo Satoru spoke quietly.
"...From Bleach."
"Shin'ō Academy Textbook: Shinigami Essentials, New Edition."
Yuta looked back and forth between Gojo Satoru and Mahito in surprise.
"What's Bleach?"
Although Yuta was younger, he was far less familiar with popular culture.
As a Jujutsu Sorcerer who had spent most of his life being bullied and, after entering Jujutsu High, constantly rushing from mission to mission, he was naturally much less knowledgeable than Gojo Satoru.
Gojo immediately recognized Mahito's reference.
Yuta genuinely did not.
Mahito smiled.
"Satoru, do you mind if I teach your disciple something?"
Gojo Satoru extended one hand in a "please" gesture.
Mahito looked directly into Yuta Okkotsu's eyes.
"Okkotsu."
"Do you think the poem I just recited is correct?"
Do not seek beauty in battle...
Yuta instinctively glanced toward Gojo Satoru again.
Gojo stared back expressionlessly.
Yuta immediately looked back at Mahito.
"It's correct!"
Yuta answered loudly.
"As long as someone is confirmed to be an enemy, any means should be used."
"Victory should be achieved even if it's ugly."
"In the end, victory doesn't distinguish between honorable and dishonorable methods."
"As long as it's for victory, every means is justified."
"Because the victor is justice."
A faint smile appeared on Mahito's lips.
But only briefly.
He calmly asked,
"In that case..."
"If there were an innocent child standing before us right now..."
"...and you knew I wouldn't sacrifice myself to save that child, but I would genuinely feel sorrow over the child's death..."
"...would you kill that innocent child to destabilize me mentally and increase your chance of victory by even one percent?"
Yuta Okkotsu opened his mouth.
But no words came out.
He was, after all, a kind person.
He was willing to sacrifice himself for victory.
But sacrificing others...
That made him hesitate.
Just like in the original work.
He clearly knew that genuinely killing Itadori Yuji would earn the trust of the higher-ups.
Yet he still chose not to truly kill Itadori Yuji.
For exactly the same reason.
Although Yuta didn't mind using ruthless or underhanded methods to achieve victory...
the bottom line in his heart had never changed.
He knew what could be done...
and what absolutely could not.
"How foolish!"
Mahito suddenly roared.
His voice exploded like thunder.
He shouted with overwhelming force,
"It is precisely because we stand at the pinnacle of this world that we must value our principles and convictions even more!"
"We must walk even more firmly upon the path that seeks beauty in battle!"
"A battle without honor must never be fought!"
"A reason that neither side can truly acknowledge must never be accepted!"
"Never use double standards! Never use violence to unilaterally bully others! Never be despicable! Never use conspiracies and schemes to manipulate others!
"Never allow self-indulgence and self-righteousness to dominate others! We should abide by most of the laws of this world, abide by most of the rules of this world, and respect everyone's freedom and rights! We must never destroy these beauties and emotions, and we must never yield to one-size-fits-all approaches or moral coercion!
"Let me say it again: we must find aesthetics in battle, and we must pursue virtue in death!
"Every time we take action, we must be thoughtful. Every time we use violence, we must have sound reasoning.
"We must become the pride of this world; we must preserve the only light of this world through true justice and fairness. We must become the torch!
"Because we are the strong! Because we are the sheltering trees!
"If even we, the pinnacles of power in this world, must rely on shamelessness and despicableness to fight, then the entire world will fall into the noble abyss of the truly despicable.
"Can you imagine it? Children would no longer be protected but become hostages. Teachers would no longer be respected but become corpses exploited for profit. Doctors would have no ethics and become zombies that respect only money.
"If killing one person grants power, then they will kill.
"If killing a million people makes one stronger, then they will kill a million people. If everyone in the world dies and one can become a god—"
Mahito stared at Yuta Okkotsu, questioning him with holy majesty.
"Then must I kill every human being in the world?!"
Yuta Okkotsu staggered backward repeatedly.
He suddenly recalled what Kenjaku had once said.
Kenjaku had said that what he truly wanted to carry out wasn't the Dream Walk Migration, but the Culling Game.
If the Culling Game had truly happened...
...what kind of tragedy would Japan have suffered?
The Culling Game would have unfolded in reality.
And the number of barriers in the Culling Game wasn't four, but ten, covering almost every major region of Japan.
One million...
Ten million...
Or...
Would the entirety of Japan's population have perished?
"I refuse to do that simply because I am good," Mahito said solemnly. "The morality in my heart does not permit it.
"Thus, the Cursed Spirits and Curse Users under my command understood my moral bottom line and worked tirelessly to prevent me from falling into the abyss. In the end, they created this brand-new barrier—the Dream Walk Migration.
"If I were evil, and as you said, sought neither beauty in battle nor virtue in death, then you wouldn't even have the qualification to stand before me.
"You would merely be forced to bear the consequences of my ascension without ever understanding what had happened.
"And if I became a god...
"...then at the very least, Japan would already have ceased to exist because of my recklessness.
"Do you understand?
"The weak may claim that despicableness is the passport of the despicable because they have no choice and no room to advance. They must protect themselves through every dark method, every conspiracy, and every scheme.
"But we are the strong.
"We must never do so.
"We are the examples that teach others that order and morality are the long-term path.
"We are the heavenly punishment that tells others whoever dares to be cruel will be punished.
"We must preserve the glory of battle.
"We must uphold the virtue of death.
"As the saying goes, 'Those above act, and those below follow.'
"Only when leaders conduct themselves this way will those beneath them understand the consequences, willingly maintain order, reject darkness, and honestly admit their mistakes instead of constantly making excuses.
"It will become harder for criminal organizations to gather.
"Those who use despicable means to accumulate wealth will hide in the sewers like rats, living in constant fear.
"This...
"...is our obligation!"
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Next Bonus Chapter at 700 Powerstones.