The tentacles of the mapari trembled as they sucked in Mahito’s remaining body.
"Huaaahhh!!"
Clutching at the body that was slowly turning to smoke and being absorbed, Mahito rolled around on the floor.
Even rotting, he was still a special-grade. What a stubborn life.
Even at the moment of death, he was ugly enough to be worth watching.
'Well, he was always the type to take a beating real nicely.'
Either way, this was the end.
Just as Junpei was thinking he should finish absorbing everything and hurry off to save Gojo, a sudden ambush came flying in.
Maximum Output-
Vortex
A tightly compressed mass of curses let out a grotesque sound as it aimed for Junpei’s back.
Sssshhhk!
"!"
Junpei quickly raised the mapari to defend himself, then frowned at the sight of it being pushed back.
He had blocked it, but the force was no joke.
When he turned to deal with the nuisance, what he saw were the comrades he had left behind before fighting Mahito.
"Sorry, Junpei.... We got caught."
"......"
"Let go of me! Kamo Noritoshi!!"
"Nobara?"
Nobara, Yuji, Maki, and Choso were all floating there, neatly trapped by curses.
Between them, a long-haired man in monk’s robes walked out with measured steps.
"Guess it doesn’t work after all."
"....You."
"Try to understand. You and I just don’t mix well."
Junpei had heard from Mechamaru before their connection was cut off.
Long hair, monk’s robes, a scar on the forehead. There was no doubt it was Geto Suguru, the worst curse user alive.
Or something that had taken over his body.
"Geto!"
"Want me to save you, Mahito?"
The half-dead Mahito called out to Geto with a desperate expression.
The reason that bastard, who had never shown his face until now, had come here with hostages in tow was obvious.
Now that he could move the sealed Gojo, he was probably here to save Mahito while he was at it.
"Nice to meet you, Yoshino Junpei. This is our first time facing each other, right?"
"What do you want?"
"Simple. Hand that guy over to me. Then I’ll release your friends."
"Junpei, don’t listen to this guy...."
"Haha, don’t interrupt."
As the centipede curse holding Nobara brushed its tentacles near her neck, a red line appeared there.
At the sight of that, a vein bulged on Junpei’s forehead.
Geto chuckled as if amused, fiddling with the Prison Realm in his hand as he spoke.
"So? What’ll it be? If you hand over Mahito, I promise I’ll back off quietly."
"Why should I trust you?"
"How about a binding vow? That should put both of us at ease."
"What are the terms?"
"We exchange hostages, and neither side takes hostile action until we leave Shibuya."
"Set a precise deadline. I don’t like vague terms."
"You’re not easy to fool. I was planning to hide around Shibuya until I died, you know."
"......"
"I’m kidding. I’ve got a lot to do too."
If they fought now, he was sure he’d win. Geto looked strong enough, but he didn’t give off the same transcendent presence as Gojo Satoru or Sukuna.
And if that wasn’t the case, there’d be no need to take hostages in the first place.
He hated the idea of letting Mahito live, and he hated following this bastard’s lead even more, but he hated the thought of his comrades dying more than either of those.
"What time is it now?"
"11:10."
"Make it until 3 a.m."
"Hmm.... A little short, but fine."
"And leave Teacher Gojo here too."
"That won’t work. The numbers don’t add up."
Even from Geto’s side, this was a pretty big gamble.
The odds were slim, but if Yoshino Junpei lost his head and flipped the board over, hostages and all, then both his life and his plan could end right here.
And yet he had chosen to bargain with Junpei directly.
The other side didn’t know Mahito’s real value.
If they knew what he planned to do next, this would have been much harder to pull off, but with that information missing, Junpei was the one in a hurry.
"....No choice, then."
"Good thinking."
His prediction proved correct, and Yoshino Junpei agreed to the binding vow.
"The subjects are Mahito, Kugisaki Nobara, Itadori Yuji, Zenin Maki, and...you, what was your name again?"
"....Choso."
"Right. Including Choso, both sides will refrain from hostile acts until 3 a.m. tomorrow, after the exchange is complete."
"I’m glad we could make a satisfactory deal."
"Don’t spout that bullshit, you piece of trash. The moment 3 o’clock passes, I’m going to find you and kill you no matter what."
"Scary. Go easy on me for now."
Junpei glared as if he meant to kill him.
Geto smiled faintly.
Their hands clasped, and the contract was sealed.
-Creeeak...
Even then, Mahito, who had already regenerated one hand, was secretly crawling toward Junpei’s leg.
"Junpei! Behind you!"
"I know."
Of course it didn’t work.
Sshhk!
"Kyaaaah!!"
"My, my. You shouldn’t handle hostages so roughly."
"The exchange hasn’t happened yet. I’m not going to kill him, so mind your own business."
Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!
The stress of being forced into a contract with Geto was taken out entirely on Mahito.
With one hand already cut off and now getting kicked to pieces for good measure, Mahito went limp and trembled.
"Take him."
Bang!
"Oh dear."
For one last bit of frustration, Junpei kicked the collapsed Mahito and sent him flying toward Geto.
Geto casually dodged the pitifully flailing Mahito and flicked his hand, recalling the curses.
"You should keep your promises."
"As if I’d say anything else...."
Nobara, Yuji, Choso, and Maki were freed.
Junpei rushed to them at once and started checking their condition first.
"Are you okay? He didn’t do anything weird to you, did he?"
"I’m fine. But the rescue team I called...."
"....They’re dead."
"Yeah."
If he’d known this would happen, he should’ve just stayed put until the end.
Even if he had, that sly bastard would have taken other people hostage, but regret was unavoidable.
Still.
It was a relief they were safe.
"Sorry. I dragged you into this."
"Don’t say that. It couldn’t be helped."
Nobara and Junpei hugged each other tightly.
To them, it was probably a very touching, heartwarming scene, but the people watching from the side felt differently.
Choso, crouched between the unconscious Maki and Yuji, turned his head away, while Geto watched the two with an intrigued expression.
"How long has it been since I last felt something like love?"
"You should stop butting in. Don’t you have anything to do? Are you bored?"
"I’m always bored. That’s why I do this."
Nodding, Geto strode over to Mahito.
By then, Mahito still hadn’t come to his senses.
"Geto....."
"What a mess. Looks like you got sucked dry. Your growth seems slower than I expected too....."
"You.... Don’t tell me....."
"At this rate, it’s only a half-success."
After circling Mahito and appraising him from every angle, Geto wore a sinister smile.
"Still, that doesn’t matter. Isn’t life more interesting when things don’t go exactly as planned?"
"U...uhh....."
Mahito’s body was slowly dragged toward Geto’s outstretched hand.
"What are you doing...!"
Before anyone could stop him, Mahito’s body went limp and was sucked into the palm of Geto’s hand.
Mahito, who had been screaming soundlessly, was soon completely broken down, leaving only a large blue orb behind.
And so the curse that had toyed with and mocked human lives met such a hollow end.
'What is he thinking? Wasn’t he trying to save Mahito?'
Junpei, stunned, looked back and forth between Geto and what had been Mahito in his hand.
He had clearly thought Mahito was being kept alive because he was needed for the plan ahead.
But to Junpei’s surprise, Geto had simply taken him in and absorbed him.
"What the hell are you?"
"I only said I needed him. I never said I’d keep him alive."
Geto, or rather Kenjaku, stroked the cursed spirit orb with satisfaction, and his eyes gleamed.
"Now then, shall we talk for a bit?"
About the world that lies ahead.
------------------------------------
"With no more interruptions, we can talk at our leisure. Thanks to all the hard work you did, it’ll take the others a while to get here."
"I don’t really want to hear it."
"Maybe it’s because I’ve lived so long, but I like talking. I’d really like the ones who’ll become the protagonists of this era to listen."
Whether Junpei’s group liked it or not, Kenjaku giggled and launched into his explanation.
"You know what a maximum technique is, right?"
"Maybe."
"I’ll take that as a yes and keep going. This body I’m using now. The maximum technique of curse spirit manipulation is Vortex. It gathers the curses it has swallowed into one mass and fires ultra-dense cursed energy at the target."
"So what."
"At first I thought it was nothing more than a mediocre technique for lumping together low-grade curses, but I was wrong. Vortex shows its true value when used with a curse of semi-grade 1 or higher."
Extraction of the technique.
At those words, Junpei felt a chill run down his spine.
He had overwhelmed Mahito through sheer skill difference, but Mahito’s technique was not something to underestimate.
A death touch with such vicious performance that anyone it touched could be retired in one hit. And now that had fallen into the enemy’s hands.
'Damn it, am I an idiot? I should’ve swallowed it the moment I saw it. I got cocky for no reason.'
"No need to be so on guard. Extracted techniques are one-use only. Besides, you can use it too, can’t you?"
"...."
"Anyway, Mahito’s Idle Transfiguration was absolutely necessary for my plan. There were similar techniques in the past, but I always ended up missing my chance."
"Just how old are you?"
Geto Suguru was twenty-eight, the same age as Teacher Gojo.
But the age he was talking about was probably the age of whoever was inside that body.
From his understanding of techniques to the fact that he had been lurking in the shadows all this time while devising such an outrageous plan, Junpei couldn’t even begin to guess how many years the old monster inside had lived.
Then Choso, who had been silent until now, spoke up.
"The one inside there is Kamo Noritoshi."
"The guy from Kyoto Jujutsu High who studies for the TOEIC?"
"Who the hell is that? I’m talking about a sorcerer from 150 years ago."
"Ah, the worst sorcerer..."
"He had a stitched scar on his forehead back then too. If he’s been swapping bodies by some means, then he must be at least 400 years old."
Even under Choso’s hostile glare, Kenjaku only shrugged.
"Kamo Noritoshi is just one of many names. Call me whatever you want."
"Then I’ll call you Bongtta."
"Hey, Bongtta. Continue what you were saying."
"....Just call me Kenjaku."
That was probably his real name.
For the first time, Bongtta—or rather Kenjaku—failed to keep his expression in check and cleared his throat awkwardly before continuing.
"At some point, I wanted to create a new possibility."
Curses. Sorcerers. Non-sorcerers. These are all just forms of cursed energy that humans possess.
But is that really all there is?
I thought human possibility was greater than that.
"At one point, I even tried to give birth to it myself."
Kenjaku’s gaze turned toward Choso, who was grinding his teeth.
After glancing over him, Kenjaku let out a hollow sigh.
"But it didn’t work. Anything born from me never escaped the bounds of my own possibility."
The answer always shines black in the middle of chaos.
What I should have created wasn’t a child, but chaos that had slipped from my hands.
"The extraction of the technique is already complete."
Though the technique’s precision hadn’t grown enough, and though what remained after being absorbed by you was only a half-finished version.
Idle Transfiguration.
Kenjaku’s hand slammed down onto the ground, and a seal was engraved there.
Junpei and Nobara had seen that shape before.
"Remote activation of the technique!"
"That was definitely on Tsumiki...."
"Too bad. Yorozu was one of the actors I had carefully selected."
Well, that’s fine.
If she became nourishment for the possibility called 'you,' then that was enough.
"So it was you. You were the one handing out cursed objects and mass-producing incarnated bodies...!"
"Yes. I did it all for this moment."
"What did you do...?!"
"I remotely used Idle Transfiguration on two types of non-sorcerers I had marked."
Kenjaku’s fingers pointed in turn at Yuji and Junpei.
"One who swallowed a cursed object, like Itadori Yuji. One who has a technique like Yoshino Junpei, but whose brain structure is that of a non-sorcerer. The former gained the toughness of a vessel, and the latter gained the means to wield a technique. They’ll fight each other to deepen their understanding of cursed energy."
Cough!
Kenjaku suddenly spat up blood.
It was clear he had suffered serious internal injuries.
"Ah, don’t mind that. It’s just the rebound from breaking a vow."
"What...?"
"The cursed objects I distributed were the end results of sorcerers I had diligently contracted with over the past thousand years. I discarded all but a few worth keeping an eye on. This is the price I’m paying."
"......"
"I’ve been watching you. Starting from a non-sorcerer, and before long reaching a level equal to Gojo Satoru... Looking back, it’s an absurd growth rate."
Your technique is also very impressive.
Absorbing curses, huh.
Even your ancestors couldn’t do that.
At those words, Junpei’s brows twitched.
"What?"
"That’s why I focused on the incarnated type rather than the awakened type. Sorcerers who incarnate never really stray far from the possibilities they had in life. But among 500 non-sorcerers who awakened techniques, couldn’t there be at least one jackpot like you?"
"......"
"I just wanted to see it. The humans of this country moving on to a new stage. And the products of possibility that might go in any direction along the way...."
The moment Yoshino Junpei was reborn as the Sea God, Kenjaku had no choice but to revise the plan he had originally set.
If he gathered cursed energy, it was obvious it would all be stolen by Yoshino Junpei.
And above all, the biggest reason was that his interest had shifted elsewhere.
He drastically reduced the scale and execution phase, and even changed the final objective.
"Yoshino Junpei, what did you become a sorcerer for?"
"To devour things."
"Good. I hope the other 500 Yoshino Junpeis can give a similar answer."
Black smoke began rising around Kenjaku’s coughing body.
At the same time, Junpei and Nobara sensed footsteps approaching their position.
"Looks like more interruptions have arrived. That’s enough talking."
"Wait!"
"I’m looking forward to you all."
Leaving behind those who tried to grab him, Kenjaku closed his eyes within the pouring darkness.
'A shame things got twisted... but this has its own kind of fun.'
A hundred million curses were no longer in his eyes at all.
What he wanted was only one thing.
The golden age of jujutsu, the return of the Heian era. The countless dramas and upheavals of society that would bloom within it.
"Do you hear me, Sukuna? The age of curses is coming, a thousand years of fierce struggle and shifting alliances!"
Life is struggle.
Fragrant flowers bloom in the harshest environments.
Even if that were not so, who could deny the beauty of the process?
Evolution or revolution.
Through this, humanity would take one more step forward.
And so begins the Culling Game, where they curse each other to death.
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