On the mountainside far from the city, it was early morning.
In these remote, rocky mountains, someone had dug out a hot spring at some point. Mist curled around it, blending with the morning glow to create a hazy, dreamlike radiance.
Jogo was fully submerged in the hot spring, not even his neck visible above the water. The volcano atop his head bubbled and steamed.
"Ah, you're here. Good morning. How's the recovery going?"
The one who approached with such a lighthearted greeting was a man wearing a Geto-style kasaya, his long hair tied into a topknot with a trailing end that nearly touched the ground. His forehead bore a stitched-up scar, as if someone had once pried open his skull.
The man smiled warmly, greeting Jogo in the hot spring with familiarity.
"Suguru... Can't you tell just by looking? Do I seem fully recovered to you?"
Jogo rose from the water, his gaze icy and devoid of warmth—yet tinged with wariness.
"What do you want?"
"Hmm? Am I disliked now?"
Suguru Geto—or rather, Kenjaku wearing Suguru Geto's skin—tilted his head slightly, his smile not reaching his eyes.
"Don't forget, I was the one who saved you when you were on the brink of death. At the very least, you shouldn't be treating me like this—as if I were that guy."
"If I really thought you were that human, my attitude wouldn't be this mild."
Seeing the insincere smile on Suguru's face, Jogo snorted coldly, his vigilance unwavering—if anything, intensifying.
"It's true you saved us, but your technique is just as dangerous to us as that human's. Especially now, of all times!"
Suguru Geto's technique was Cursed Spirit Manipulation.
For cursed spirits like them, it was practically a natural nemesis. In their current weakened state, a single hit from his technique would mean becoming a puppet in his hands, with no hope of escape.
"Hahaha, I see. Your concern is understandable. But if I wanted to control you, I wouldn't have saved you last night. Capturing you then would've been the optimal choice, no?"
Kenjaku laughed heartily, waving off Jogo's worries as excessive.
His reasoning made sense, and Jogo knew it. That was precisely why he hadn't avoided Kenjaku entirely. But deep down, he still considered this man an outright menace, reeking of schemes and utterly untrustworthy.
"Fine, believe what you will. I came here to discuss something with you."
As he spoke, Kenjaku shook his head and glanced around.
"Where's Hanami?"
"Over here."
The one who answered was Hanami herself.
She emerged from the nearby forest, still speaking that incomprehensible language, yet the meaning of her words became instantly clear upon hearing them.
Given that she had remained hidden in the forest without showing herself until she spoke, it was likely she had deliberately avoided approaching him—planning to ambush and thwart his schemes if he made any aggressive moves.
Kenjaku saw through this but wasn't particularly bothered.
Even the hot-tempered Jogo had been wary of him, so it was only natural that Hanami, who was usually far more level-headed, would be even more cautious.
Like Jogo, Hanami's physical wounds had healed—the injuries stretching from her groin to her neck had vanished—but her energy remained depleted.
It would take several more days for her to fully recover to her peak condition.
"Cut to the chase. What do you want with us?"
Seeing Hanami step forward, Jogo felt slightly more confident and lowered his guard just a fraction, his voice cold as he addressed Kenjaku.
"Nothing much. I just wanted to discuss our next steps with you."
Noticing the mist swirling around them, Kenjaku seemed to act on a whim, removing his shoes and socks and dipping his rough, large feet into the hot spring.
"The current situation is far harsher than we imagined. Losing Mahito, in particular, must be a tremendous blow to you all. After all, he was the leader you chose to represent the cursed spirits, wasn't he?"
"Did you come here just to twist the knife?"
Jogo glared at Kenjaku with hostility.
Mahito had been the strongest among them—especially after his return following his disappearance.
Though his form had changed and his demeanor had grown more erratic, his power had surged dramatically, making him the undisputed strongest in their ranks.
Moreover, Mahito's innate potential far surpassed that of both Jogo and Hanami, which was why they had chosen him as the leader of the cursed spirits.
Yet, who could have predicted—
In just one battle last night, their strongest, Mahito, had been defeated by that human.
Even with Jogo and Hanami supporting him, the three special-grade cursed spirits unleashing their most devastating techniques—Maximum Techniques, Domains—they had still been utterly crushed, forced to flee with severe injuries.
As for their leader, Mahito, his current fate remained unknown.
"I believe Mahito is still alive."
Kenjaku's sudden declaration made both Jogo and Hanami stiffen.
"You're serious?"
"What's your proof?"
The two cursed spirits lost their composure, pressing him urgently.
"My proof is the fourteen semi-first-grade or higher cursed spirits I lost last night."
A shadow crossed Kenjaku's face.
"Fourteen semi-first-grade or higher cursed spirits—more than half of them were first-grade with innate techniques. In theory, if they were defeated, they should have been killed. But instead, they simply lost contact with me while still alive... I can't say for certain, but I suspect Mahito may have met the same fate as those cursed spirits."
As their master, though he couldn't share their senses, he could perceive their abnormal states—whether they were alive or dead was the most basic of connections.
He could say with confidence that those cursed spirits had lost contact with him while still alive.
In such a case, there were only two possibilities.
One possibility was that the human possessed a cursed technique similar to Cursed Spirit Manipulation, allowing him to wrest control of the cursed spirits from their current master.
But under normal circumstances, forcibly taking control of a cursed spirit that already had an owner was nearly impossible. As a user of Cursed Spirit Manipulation, Kenjaku knew this all too well. Even if he possessed the strength of a Special Grade and the opponent's cursed spirit was nothing more than an insignificant Grade Four, if that Grade Four spirit had an owner, he couldn't forcibly subjugate it. He would first have to kill the owner before claiming it—this knowledge was ingrained in his very being.
Another possibility was that the human had an extraordinarily high mastery of barrier techniques, capable of instantly severing the connection between a cursed spirit and its master.
But barrier techniques were different from innate techniques—proficiency in them could only be achieved through accumulated experience. A true master of barrier techniques would have to be an ancient monster who had lived for an exceedingly long time.
Kenjaku had lived for over a thousand years and was himself the pinnacle of barrier technique mastery. If such a master existed, he would surely know about them.
Of course, there was an even more absurd possibility—that the opponent's cursed technique far surpassed his own Cursed Spirit Manipulation in terms of controlling cursed spirits!
But in his thousand years of existence, he had never heard of such an innate technique.
If such a technique truly existed, he wouldn't have taken over Geto Suguru's body—he would have taken that human's instead.
"Did you engage him in direct combat? Did you figure out what his innate technique is?"
"It seems to be inducing cognitive illusions in his opponents..."
"Right. I thought my attack had landed on him, but from the start, I hadn't even aimed at him. I thought I dodged his strike, only to be kicked away the next moment."
"That's strange."
The smile on Kenjaku's face gradually faded, replaced by an expression of deep confusion.
"I thought he might possess a cursed technique for controlling spirits that even I wasn't aware of. Could it be that I was wrong, and he's actually a master of barrier techniques...?"
Surely, it couldn't be that he possessed both techniques simultaneously?
While not impossible, the conditions for that were exceedingly harsh—
Jogo and Hanami exchanged glances, equally troubled by the situation.
That human from last night was like a figure shrouded in thick fog—nothing about him could be clearly discerned. Where had such a person come from? And what were his true intentions?
"Regardless, we must rescue Mahito as soon as possible. We can investigate the specifics of that human later. For now, the key is figuring out how to make contact with him."
Unable to determine which possibility was true, Kenjaku suppressed his confusion for the time being and laid out his current plan to Jogo and Hanami.
"Contact? How? Who's going to do it?"
"We've already made an enemy of him. In his eyes, we're likely already adversaries."
Jogo and Hanami shook their heads in unison.
If they met again, there was an eighty percent chance that human would cut them down on sight.
Given the vast difference in strength, even if they guarded against his cognitive disruption technique, the two of them together might not last twenty moves.
There was no way they would willingly approach him—that would be no different from seeking death.
If they were to make contact, they'd need to ensure at least some degree of safety first.
"I already have plans in that regard."
As he spoke, Kenjaku's face once again broke into a smile.
"Rejoice, there's good news. That human isn't Japanese—he's an overseas sorcerer with no ties to Japan's jujutsu society and no shared interests. This can be exploited. If handled well, it might even be possible to turn him into an ally!"
After all, there was precedent with this body cooperating with foreign sorcerers before.
And overseas sorcerers wouldn't side with Japan's jujutsu society—it all came down to interests. With enough benefits offered, that human could surely be drawn to their side.
With that lineup, they'd stand a fighting chance even against Gojo Satoru!
"As for making contact, I'll send someone. You just need to wait here for results and recover your strength in the meantime."
Kenjaku lifted his foot from the hot spring, letting it air-dry as if preparing to leave once it was dry.
"Cooperating with a human..."
Though it seemed like a solid plan, Jogo didn't immediately agree. He frowned, his face twisting with clear distaste.
"What's wrong?"
Kenjaku glanced at him with a smile.
"Our ideal is to overturn the current hierarchy between humans and curses, to make superior lifeforms—us curses—the new 'humans'! And yet you want me to work with a human?"
Jogo's displeasure was evident, his rejection of the proposal plain.
Hearing this, Kenjaku nodded understandingly, his smile unwavering.
"So that's your ideal? How noble. I won't comment, but aren't you already cooperating with me, a human? If you draw such rigid lines, you'll never achieve anything great."
"..."
"Or is it that you're worried about losing control?"
Seeing Jogo's dark expression and silence, Kenjaku immediately understood.
"Ah, I see. With your strongest comrade, Mahito, gone, and that man's power far surpassing yours, you're afraid that once everything succeeds, he might turn on you, take everything for himself, and you'd have no way to stop him."
"Geto Suguru, your words are as sharp as ever. No wonder you and Gojo Satoru parted ways."