"Go fetch it." Cyr tossed the fuzzy ball away and raised his hand toward Koen.
The once-mighty great yokai, in the shrine, had been staying in his little dog form—similar in size to the two cubs—but still better looking than both of them.
The stronger the canine yokai, the more beautiful they appeared.
But as a small, fluffy ball, the only compliment one could give him was "cute."
Out of pride as a great yokai, Koen merely sat and sulked, wagging his tail in irritation.
What did Cyr take him for? A pet? Did he think he was one of those two little cubs, interested in that kind of thing?
As a mature canine yokai hundreds of years old, he had never had the slightest interest in such nonsense.
"Dogs are cuter when they're lively." Cyr sighed and casually pulled out a larger yarn ball.
It was originally a toy prepared for Sora, but that tiger had grown so quickly.
"Go play." He tossed the ball up, and the large white tiger pounced on it without a second thought.
"You sure are relaxed." Gojo Haru descended from the sky and landed cleanly beside the boy, sitting down.
He'd just been summoned to a strategy discussion—a pre-battle meeting, essentially.
After all, now that Sukuna was heading for Kyoto, there was no way they could let him get inside. That guy ate people.
Sure, Cyr wasn't exactly a "good person" either, but at least his diet didn't include human flesh.
Fight Cyr, and worst case—you die.
Fight Sukuna, and you might die and get turned into a meal.
Who could accept that? It was inhuman!
Besides, they'd already gone through one incident with Cyr. The idea of a second person trying to overturn the rules triggered serious alarm bells.
So this time, everyone acted even more aggressively. After deliberation, they decided to pull out all the stops—lay traps starting far outside Kyoto's perimeter. The plan was to attack Sukuna the moment he got close, giving him no time to react.
A full-force ambush. Hit him hard and fast. Take him out on the spot.
The reason Gojo Haru had been called in was obvious—he was powerful. He could be a core force in the fight against Sukuna.
Though some believed that without the Six Eyes his strength might've diminished, he was still useful.
So even though everyone knew Gojo Haru had close ties to the so-called Gojo Mist, they didn't care. They summoned him anyway.
And if, thanks to him, they could somehow get that demigod from the shrine to join the battle against Sukuna—well, that would be even better.
Gojo Haru, already aware of how it would all end, calmly watched the crowd throw out ideas.
As for him? He had nothing to suggest. The outcome wasn't going to change. The people at that meeting were probably all going to die—maybe not all of them, but definitely some. The weaker ones wouldn't even go themselves—they'd just send subordinates to their deaths.
So no matter who asked for his opinion, Gojo Haru gave the same answer:
"I think what you're saying already sounds great. I have no other thoughts."
Someone even tried to subtly probe whether he could convince the human-shaped war machine at the shrine to get involved.
He just smiled and said:
"What do you think? Will he dig out my heart the same way he dug out my Six Eyes?"
At first, everyone thought the rumor that Gojo Haru had his Six Eyes dug out was absurd, but now Gojo Haru could even use that rumor to deflect others:
"What? You think that Cyr has any affection for me? If he did, my Six Eyes still would've been gouged out. So quit thinking—just work hard yourself."
From that point on, Gojo Haru completely lost any prominence in subsequent meetings—no one involved him in the conversation, and he stayed silent the whole time.
It wasn't until they'd gone over the plan and everyone left that he quietly made his exit. Any longer, and he might've slapped them all with a dose of reality, saying things like:
"All your scheming is useless—if your strength isn't enough, plots won't help."
He believed that if your power is strong enough, strategies don't matter—those who fall into traps simply aren't strong enough.
Later, Gojo Haru recapped those meeting suggestions to Cyr, almost chuckling, showing that detachment-from-it-all calm:
"So, you went along that day, too?" Cyr asked.
"Of course—I wasn't going to sit that out," Gojo Haru shrugged.
Cyr's tone grew subtle: "Even knowing it was walking to your death?"
He replied evenly: "I was simply heading toward an inevitable end. No need to fret."
He added with a warm smile: "I'm glad there's no aging waiting for me."
Gojo Haru never seemed to show any real negativity—Cyr had never seen him frown.
Softly, in a casual tone, Gojo Haru said:
"From now on, every time we meet might be the last."
Cyr rolled his eyes: "That sounds grim."
At that moment, they were sitting around enjoying hot pot, steam swirling. Kyoto nobles typically ate only two meatless meals a day—and Cyr refused to conform. He ate four meals: breakfast, lunch, dinner, and an afternoon tea.
Luckily, Gojo Haru wasn't conventional, and the two young girls were obedient, not spoiling his meal.
As for the canine yokai—they weren't human, so they broke human food etiquette without a second thought. No one minded Cyr's eating habits.
The three canines particularly loved it.
Sukuna arrived sooner than Kyoto expected, so Gojo Haru ended up leaving earlier than planned.
Cyr joked: "When you die, bury your body in this mountain—use it as energy for the barrier. Waste not, want not, right?"
Gojo Haru replied, helplessly: "I'm not dead yet."
Though mentally prepared for death, he thought: "Is it really right for Cyr to plan what to do with my corpse in front of me?"
Still, he laughed it off: "Sure—I'll ask Sukuna to kill me and bring my corpse to you."
Cyr replied with a casual wave: "I'll look forward to the helpful 'deliverer' Sukuna."
When everyone else swarmed toward Sukuna like moths to a flame—casting spells and unleashing powers—Gojo Haru finally remembered his joke only after everyone else had fallen.
He reflected: What was the last thing I said to him before dying?
Considering Sukuna's superior body—four hands for hand signs (so much faster) and two mouths for chanting spells (even more efficient)—that looming confrontation looked epic.
Sukuna possessed a Reverse Cursed Technique—unless the injury was instantly fatal, he could recover almost immediately without a scratch. Gojo Haru, on the other hand, had the advantage of Limitless and Six Eyes, allowing efficient cursed energy usage with virtually no waste.
In the end, the battlefield held only two still standing: Gojo Haru and Sukuna.
Looking back… he realized he was practically unkillable.
So why had he been so certain he would die? Especially since Cyr had said he didn't know what Haru's fate would be?
Gojo Haru began to doubt.
The more he recalled it now, the more he felt Cyr's expression and tone had been laced with mockery. Had he been toyed with?
That brutal battle lasted for days and ended with Gojo Haru being the only one still alive and intact.
…
"I thought Sukuna had some way to break through my Limitless, just like you do. That's why I believed I'd die," Haru told Cyr back at the shrine.
"But he didn't. Otherwise, I wouldn't have made it back alive."
They were evenly matched—Sukuna was too resilient to kill, and Haru, thanks to Limitless, couldn't be touched.
In fact, Sukuna, appreciating a worthy opponent for once, chatted a lot during the fight. Surprisingly, he wasn't arrogant at all—quite the conversationalist.
"He can't bypass Limitless?" Cyr asked thoughtfully.
Oh, right—Sukuna didn't learn the space-cleaving slash until a thousand years later, after observing Mahoraga. So currently, he had no way to counter it.
"What a shame. Your corpse would've powered the barrier for quite some time," Cyr muttered with regret.
"Zen'in Shiro is dead," Haru said quietly.
Thanks to Limitless, he himself was unharmed. But Zen'in Shiro, one of the heads of the Big Three clans, had fallen to Sukuna.
Now, only Haru remained.
"…Want me to haul his body over here?" Cyr asked casually.
"The Zen'in clan would never agree," Haru laughed.
"Even if it's reduced to ashes, they wouldn't let it rest on someone else's land."
Cyr suddenly asked, "So… are most of Kyoto's capable fighters dead by now?"
He thought back—he'd personally killed a fair number… and Sukuna had done even more.
"...About nine out of ten," Haru sighed.
"No wonder sorcerers are in decline and onmyōji are extinct a thousand years later," Cyr concluded.
This generation's most talented fighters had been wiped out—and most of those were commoners, not from noble lineages.
The remaining clans, especially the Three Great Houses, would then have centuries to recover and tighten their grip. With fewer talented commoners and growing class rigidity, stagnation was inevitable.
Gojo Satoru's future isolation by the jujutsu higher-ups would make sense—he defied his class by elevating commoners, putting him at odds with the noble elite.
Even someone as powerful and well-born as he was would be cast out.
"The people in Kyoto probably already have a standard procedure for dealing with things like this," the white-haired boy said with derision.
"Probably," Gojo Haru replied, indifferent.
Sukuna, meanwhile, seemed satisfied. In the days that followed, he made no more moves. Even if someone wandered near, he wouldn't bother killing them.
He was like a lion too full to care about passing cats and dogs.
Meanwhile, Kyoto's aristocrats held a series of meetings, both large and small, with varying participants.
Eventually, they settled on a plan.
They decided to reuse the very proposal Cyr had once made—this time for Sukuna. That included things like building a shrine for him and offering sacrifices.
Even his cannibalism was to be legitimized. They'd frame it as part of the offering ritual.
Some gods take animals, others rice balls—and if Sukuna, a demon god, required humans, so be it.
Human sacrifice wasn't unheard of, after all.
They listed out various actions to show their "sincerity." As long as Sukuna didn't cause more trouble in Kyoto, they were willing to give him anything. Peaceful coexistence was the goal.
Now that the terms were set, someone needed to deliver them to Sukuna.
Given Gojo Haru's performance—he was the only one who fought Sukuna and walked away unharmed—they deemed him the perfect choice. Limitless, after all, was effective.
Sending anyone else might get them killed. But Haru could survive.
So, the decision was made quickly: let Haru go.
Without much hope, Gojo Haru took the offer and went to meet Sukuna.
"The emperor is willing to build you a shrine… and worship you…" he said, dryly.
"Same treatment as that so-called Moon God?" Sukuna asked, raising a brow.
"If you want," Haru replied, exasperated.
"No. I want a shrine better than his," Sukuna sneered.
"…Fine, I'll let them know. Anything else?" Haru asked.
"Tell that guy—once my shrine is built, I'll come find him," the pink-haired boy said with a smirk. "Don't forget he promised me a fight."
A tongue extended from the mouth on his stomach, and his grin widened.
"Anything else?" Haru asked again. Better to get all demands out now—he didn't want to be used as a delivery boy again just because of his Limitless.
"That's all. As long as it's better than his shrine," Sukuna said nonchalantly.
"And you—want to go another round?" His four red eyes gleamed as he looked at Haru.
For a moment, Gojo Haru felt a strange sense of déjà vu.
Four red eyes…
The first time he met Cyr, hadn't the boy also had four crimson eyes?
He'd been surprised back then too—red Six Eyes?
Was there… some kind of connection between the two?
°°°
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