Confirmation – Chapter 143
It was evening now.
Four weeks and seven hours had passed since Ren Sato killed Suguru Geto.
The sun was setting across the Congo sky, warm gold bleeding into deep orange over the lake beside the mansion. And in the quiet of that slow dusk, Ren blinked. His body stilled. His hand gripped the couch's armrest tightly. And then… he smiled.
"…Ah," he muttered. "He got him now, huh? Fucking hell… Kenjaku."
The grin didn't fade. It wasn't joy—it was confirmation. Chilling. Calculated. A moment Ren had been quietly anticipating.
He felt it.
The cursed technique he had barely copied—Cursed Spirit Manipulation—was gone. Just like that. It had slipped away from inside him, like a cold flame finally snuffed out. And Ren's eyes narrowed as he leaned forward, piecing it all together.
'Ha. This means two things…'
The thoughts flowed sharp and focused, honed like a blade.
'First… something is really wrong with me. I'm not supposed to forget cursed techniques. Not even the ones I only copied briefly. But if I truly understand how my copy works… then this can only mean one thing: Kenjaku just took over Geto's body. He healed the hand. And with that—poof—I lost access to the cursed technique I copied from it.'
Ren's smile deepened, but there was tension behind it. He could feel his pulse pick up.
'I can't use Cursed Spirit Manipulation anymore… But the innate knowledge? It's still there. That part doesn't leave. The understanding lingers. Like it was burned into me permanently.'
He leaned back on the couch, resting his head against the soft fabric as the weight of the realization sank in.
'Hahaha… I don't even know if this is a buff or a nerf to my copy technique.'
He tapped his foot, thinking faster.
'Buff—because I now know Kenjaku has definitely taken over Geto's body. That's information I'd never have gotten this early in canon. No one even saw it happen in the manga. But now I know. I know the exact moment. Right now. And when I get Rika back in six months, Kenjaku… will be on my hit list.'
The thought made his eyes harden.
'If I take him out early… so many future problems just die with him. So many. That's why—that's why I told Rika to only eat Geto's hand. It was a test. A theory. And it worked.'
Ren sat up again, more alert now.
'So this also reveals something else about my copy technique—a weakness I didn't know I had. If Rika eats someone's hand and they have a cursed technique, I can copy that technique. But if that person somehow heals that hand—boom, I lose the cursed technique.'
His eyes narrowed as he recalled every past case.
'I've never run into this before because everyone I've taken techniques from was either dead or injured beyond healing. Like Inumaki. His cursed speech? Gone. There's no healing that. But Geto's case is weird because of Kenjaku. And Kenjaku knows the reverse cursed technique. So of course he healed the hand. Of course.'
He exhaled slowly.
'So this is the price of testing. The consequence of experimenting. But also… this is huge. After four weeks… Kenjaku finally made his move. Got his hands on Geto's body… faster than I expected. Honestly, I thought he'd take longer. The manga never explained how Kenjaku managed it either. How did he even retrieve Geto's body?'
Ren rubbed his chin, expression sharpening.
'Geto wasn't just anyone. Even dead, he was still Geto. Jujutsu society wouldn't have taken that lightly. They'd have locked that body up tight, same as Sukuna's fingers. So how…?'
He shook his head.
'Whatever. Doesn't matter. I'll find out later. After six months. When I get Rika back, I'll be ready to hunt. For now, I stay focused. There are higher-ups supposedly coming here. Let's calm down and prepare.'
Elsewhere…
In a cave not far from the edge of society, deep in shadows thick with ancient cursed energy, a man flexed his newly healed hand—flesh knitting back together with the glow of a reverse cursed technique. The skin rippled slightly as tendons settled beneath it. Fingers twitched and curled.
He looked like Suguru Geto—but the stitches on his forehead told another story.
Kenjaku.
He stared at the hand for a long moment.
"…Ren Sato," he muttered.
There was no hatred in his tone. Only curiosity. A glimmer of… fascination.
"How impressive."
His voice echoed faintly off the cavern walls.
"Never before have I seen someone use what—two? Three cursed techniques at once? How did he do it? How didn't his brain explode from handling so many?"
Kenjaku's brow furrowed slightly.
"Was it Rika…? Or something else?"
He trailed off, eyes scanning the air as if thinking through dozens of overlapping threads at once. Memories, intel, instinct. And then—he sighed.
"…But nothing too advanced. He didn't use a Domain Expansion. No Reverse Cursed Technique either. Still, impressive. A talent worth watching."
Kenjaku flexed his hand again.
His mouth twisted slightly.
"… Such a shame. Geto never studied Mahorage closely in the fight… what a waste."
The cave fell quiet again, the shadows curling tighter around the man who was no longer Geto—but something older, something stitched together from ambition and ruin.
And in the distance… the wind moved through the trees, cold and foreboding.