An indescribable warmth and attraction emanated from the open train door.
There seemed to be endless youth, noisy daily life, and peaceful times free from worries of separation and death.
Should he go back?
Back to a place where nothing had happened yet, where everyone was still there.
Toho Hiroshi's heartstrings were deeply touched; he almost took a step to follow that golden phantom.
But, he wasn't even from this world.
Does it even matter if he exists or not?
...In the real world, on the scorched battlefield.
"Hey! Bastard! Don't just die on me!"
Gojo Satoru knelt on the ground, tightly gripping Toho Hiroshi's cold hand, his voice trembling in a way he himself didn't notice. His Rikugan stared intently at Toho Hiroshi's pale, lifeless face.
"Toho..."
Geto Suguru stood beside him, looking complexly at his friend, whose life force was as faint as a candle in the wind. A thousand words choked in his throat, ultimately turning into a low whisper.
Ieiri Shoko bit her lower lip, her hands continuously emitting the soft glow of Reverse Cursed Technique, but her ability primarily acted on the physical body. For a state of complete life force exhaustion and a soul almost detached from the body, its effect was negligible.
Tears silently streamed down her dust-streaked cheeks. She whispered, "Liar... you promised to come back alive..."
Just then—
Buzz... a faint but strange resonance sounded from the back of almost everyone present's hand.
It was the Eight Thousand Spears Cursed Technique mark, which Toho Hiroshi had secretly left on them to protect them, and which they had long forgotten or paid no attention to!
Yuta Okkotsu was the first to react. He suddenly raised his hand and saw the red mark on the back of his hand emitting a faint glow.
"This mark, it's absorbing my Cursed Energy?"
He was astonished to find that the Cursed Energy within him was uncontrollably, steadily flowing into that mark.
Immediately after were Fushiguro Megumi, Yuji Itadori, Nobara Kugisaki, Maki Zen'in, Toge Inumaki, Panda, Aoi Todo, Yuki Tsukumo, Kenjaku, Kashimo Hajime, Uro Heiko... everyone who had been revived by Toho Hiroshi and had his mark left on the back of their hand felt the same pull.
The marks seemed to transform into tiny whirlpools, greedily yet orderly drawing their Cursed Energy.
"This is..."
Gojo Satoru's Rikugan instantly saw through the essence. "He's drawing our Cursed Energy in reverse through the marks? No, not drawing, we're actively supplying it! These marks have become conduits!"
Yes, the Eight Thousand Spears was originally a Cursed Technique of sharing and connection.
Previously, Toho Hiroshi used it to transmit power and information to everyone, but now, at the moment his own power was completely exhausted and his soul was about to dissipate, these marks triggered a reverse mechanism, becoming lifelines connecting him to those he had revived.
"He's trying to save himself this way?"
Geto Suguru immediately understood.
"No!"
Gojo Satoru's Rikugan saw deeper. "Not entirely self-preservation! It's instinct; his body and soul, on the brink of death, unconsciously grasped these deepest 'connections' with him!"
"He's relying on everyone's Cursed Energy to forcibly maintain his last shred of life!"
Without hesitation, without needing discussion.
Everyone whose hand marks lit up made the same choice at this moment.
They closed their eyes, no longer resisting the suction, but instead actively and unreservedly channeled their newly recovered, even unstable, Cursed Energy through the ancient marks, continuously sending it towards the figure lying on the ground.
Yuta Okkotsu's almost infinite Cursed Energy flowed like an opened floodgate, Yuji Itadori's tenacious life force mixed with Cursed Energy surged out, and Fushiguro Megumi's refined shadow Cursed Energy.
Nobara Kugisaki's power with resonance properties, Maki's pure physical energy from her Heavenly Restriction.
Toge Inumaki's Cursed Speech Cursed Energy, Panda's Cursed Energy core, Aoi Todo's vast Cursed Energy, Yuki Tsukumo's profound reserves, Kenjaku's Cursed Energy with an ancient aura... countless streams of Cursed Energy, varying in color and nature, converged on Toho Hiroshi through thousands of invisible Eight Thousand Spears connections, transcending space.
Like myriad streams flowing into a parched ocean.
This magnificent scene was like a relay of life, a collective effort by those he had saved to retain their savior.
Ieiri Shoko felt a faint warmth begin to reappear in Toho Hiroshi's cold body beneath her hands, and his almost stopped heartbeat seemed to struggle and beat extremely weakly.
She suddenly looked up, her eyes blazing with incredulous light, and she pushed her Reverse Cursed Technique even harder, guiding the surging life force from everyone to repair his battered body and soul.
"It's working! Keep going! Don't stop!"
She shouted in a hoarse voice.
Gojo Satoru tightly held Toho Hiroshi's hand, pouring his vast, ocean-like Cursed Energy into him without reservation.
Geto Suguru also crouched down, placing his hand on Toho Hiroshi's shoulder, and the refined Cursed Energy of a Special Grade Sorcerer slowly flowed in... The illusion of the subway station, like a reflection in water, began to shake violently and blur.
The train door leading "back to Jujutsu High," the warm light, Gojo Satoru's outstretched hand, Geto Suguru and Shoko's smiles, Nanami and Yu Haibara's figures were all gradually receding, becoming transparent.
Toho Hiroshi felt a powerful and warm force surge from countless directions, pulling his soul, forcibly dragging him back from the edge of this peaceful return to a reality full of pain, yet also full of bonds.
He took one last look at the beautiful phantom that was about to disappear, a complex trace of attachment flashing in his eyes, but more than that, it was a clear choice.
He slowly, firmly, took a step back.
Deciding to head north—
...In the real world.
Under everyone's expectant gaze, Toho Hiroshi's long, thick eyelashes trembled violently a few times. Then, his Rinnegan, containing deep ripples, slowly and with difficulty, opened a slit.
His vision was blurry at first, then gradually focused.
He saw Gojo Satoru kneeling beside him, his face tense; he saw Geto Suguru with a complex expression; he saw Ieiri Shoko, teary-eyed but still fully deploying her Reverse Cursed Technique.
He also saw all the familiar faces gathered around him, the light of the marks on the backs of their hands slowly dimming, each looking at him with concern, fatigue, yet also hope.
He felt the life force and Cursed Energy, though weak, truly flowing within him, a convergence of everyone's power.
So, it wasn't the end after all.
He opened his mouth, his throat too dry to utter a full sound, only managing a very faint, almost inaudible whisper, "You guys..."
Gojo Satoru let out a long, long sigh, as if expelling all his lingering fear and tension. He readjusted his crooked blindfold and vigorously ruffled Toho Hiroshi's hair, his tone returning to its usual cadence, but with a hint of undetectable hoarseness: "Bastard, you almost scared me to death!"
Geto Suguru also sighed in relief, a genuine, relieved smile appearing on his face.
Shoko finally couldn't hold herself up and collapsed to the ground, wiping away tears as she playfully scolded, "He's truly a troublesome guy."
The relief of surviving a disaster, and the unbreakable bonds forged through shared life and death, permeated among the survivors.
The lingering glow of the setting sun finally pierced through the long-standing gloom covering the sky, casting golden light upon this ravaged yet resilient land.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
If you like the story please give it some power stones and reviews. And if you want to read 40+ advance chapters or just want to support me please join my patreon at [email protected]/Translatingfanfics