Chapter 159 - This is What 'Trust' Should Look Like
It must be said that Masamichi Yaga's timing in entering the room was quite a coincidence.
He didn't arrive during Emiya's confrontation with Tengen, nor did he arrive after Emiya had resolved everything. He opened the door precisely the moment Emiya made his move.
So, when Masamichi Yaga rushed into the room shouting 'Tengen-sama,' he saw the barrier body of Tengen shattering and the Rule Breaker in Emiya's hand, which was just beginning to dissipate.
Ordinary sorcerers might not know what their revered Tengen-sama looks like, but wouldn't Masamichi Yaga, who has met the entity several times, know?
He usually saw Tengen in that barrier body form, so when he entered the room and clearly saw the situation before him, he immediately grasped the possible cause and effect.
It's true that for Emiya, who became a sorcerer barely two months ago, he certainly wouldn't harbor much awe for Tengen, the legend of the Jujutsu world; at most, he would regard the entity as an important ally.
And Tengen-sama's personality... frankly, the entity's way of handling problems still remains stuck in the ancient past, the era of calamity when almost all sorcerers revered it as a deity.
If the latter immediately stepped on the former's landmine, the scene before him—Emiya relentlessly chasing and beating Tengen-sama—might very well have occurred.
Regardless of right or wrong or respect, Tengen-sama's way of doing things is indeed unacceptable to many modern sorcerers.
For example, if he couldn't produce money, sorcerers like Mei Mei wouldn't spare him a glance, even if his lips were chapped from talking; this is completely different from the past era.
But even knowing that it would be better for Tengen to break free from that self-proclaimed 'deity' state, Masamichi Yaga himself didn't know how to implement such a thing... should he advise the entity to play with a mobile phone more and catch up with the times?
A thousand-year-old entity is in its prime for exploration; perhaps it should surf the internet more and study?
However, since the incident has already happened, dwelling on these matters is useless.
A rigid or traditional sorcerer, upon realizing what has happened before them, would instinctively shout in condemnation, then start pointing fingers at Emiya from the moral high ground.
In severe cases, they might even directly resort to violence, who knows?
Because for them, the seriousness of directly assaulting Tengen-sama is no less than someone preparing to betray the entire Jujutsu world. After all, the consequence of Tengen suffering an accident is that the defensive measures of the Jujutsu world would be severely damaged.
They might not fully understand the difference between the barrier body and the true body, only knowing that this must not happen.
Especially for those in the higher-ups, they would definitely sensationalize this matter, directly sentencing Emiya to imprisonment and a warrant, and even issuing a death penalty is not out of the question.
Well, given the continued influence of Gojo Satoru, they certainly wouldn't be so bold immediately, but it's enough to know how disgusting their potential actions are.
Masamichi Yaga, of course, equally respects Tengen-sama, who has dedicated a millennium to the Jujutsu world, but his first reaction upon seeing this scene was unrelated to all the above.
Masamichi Yaga only paused his gaze on Emiya for a moment before immediately turning his head to look at Ijichi, who was standing not far beside him.
He was the one who conveyed the message, so naturally, he couldn't escape coming here to check the situation.
At this moment, Ijichi was even trying to peek through the gap beneath Masamichi Yaga's bulky body to observe the situation inside, when he was suddenly stared at by the other party's death glare, breaking into a cold sweat.
"W-What is it... Principal Yaga?"
It's no exaggeration to say that none of the three people here were individuals he could provoke. To be more precise, even Fushiguro Tsumiki, lying on the sickbed, could probably be included.
To be honest, the formal benefits for Auxiliary Managers are not bad at all; otherwise, so many people wouldn't be willing to take on such a high-risk job. But it is an undeniable fact that they hold little status in the Jujutsu world.
Especially for someone like Ijichi, who is caught between the higher-ups and the Tokyo School, life is even harder. He often receives requests targeting this side. And they are always the kind that is procedurally sound, making it impossible to find fault but perfect for taking frustration out on him.
His intuition as a small player told him that he was in great danger just now, yet he couldn't figure out where he went wrong.
He only brought Emiya to visit a patient, inexplicably encountered Tengen-sama, and then, at Emiya's request, called Principal Yaga to resolve the situation... why does it seem like he's the problem again?!
"Nothing. I just wanted to say that the situation inside seems to be resolved.
You probably have a lot of documents left unfinished, don't you? Hurry up and go."
Given Tengen-sama's personality, the likelihood of him proactively disclosing the situation today is very small, but there is another witness here.
So, what is the safest choice to make?
For a moment, Masamichi Yaga genuinely considered that idea. But unfortunately, he is absolutely not that kind of person, nor could he do such a thing.
He knows that Emiya, currently in the room, also has this personality; he is someone who would rather bear the trouble himself than wantonly harm others.
Let it be. Ijichi hasn't witnessed the entire scene anyway. Even if the higher-ups learned what he saw today, the situation wouldn't worsen significantly.
"Yes, Principal Yaga!"
Ijichi immediately stomped his feet to attention, then decisively turned and left the nearby area. His movements and gaze were even more resolute than when he sometimes had to drop his pants.
He didn't know what happened here, but he knew that if he dared to stay any longer, someone would really be in trouble soon.
Watching Ijichi completely disappear from sight, Masamichi Yaga turned to enter the room, walking behind Emiya, who was standing by the sickbed.
"What happened here?"
This is the trust that Tengen completely scorned. Masamichi Yaga did not fully trust the fragmented scene he witnessed, but was able to remain composed enough to ask for an explanation at such a time.
It is because he trusts that Emiya would never do anything wrong that he can maintain his current calmness.
"Referring to what? Tengen, Tsumiki, or something else?"
"..."
"It sounds quite complicated?"
Instead of rushing, Masamichi Yaga, having received such a reply, pulled up the only undamaged chair and sat quietly by the bed, watching the unconscious Fushiguro Tsumiki.
"Then the most important thing right now should be, how is she?"
No matter when or where, no amount of complicated nonsense matters more than a single life.
"I removed the curse attached to her, but the truly dangerous thing is not the curse, but the Special Grade Cursed Object that was simultaneously stored inside her body.
The original function of that curse, apart from causing unconsciousness and providing a location, was mainly to suppress the Cursed Energy flow of the Cursed Object. But in the current situation... do you have a good method to remove the Cursed Object?"
Most people's bodies do not meet the conditions for becoming an Incarnation vessel. Combined with Kenjaku's emphasis on Idle Transfiguration, it is not difficult to guess what goal his actions are intended to achieve.
Relying solely on those few cursed spirits would indeed make it difficult to disrupt the situation in the Jujutsu world, but if he could truly resurrect enough ancient sorcerers using Cursed Objects and Idle Transfiguration, the current state of affairs would be hard to predict.
It goes without saying that that fellow wouldn't resurrect any sorcerers who leaned toward the orderly side; there would only be the kind that would make Emiya realize that Tengen was actually quite easy to talk to.
But the problem lies here: no one knows how many Special Grade Cursed Objects Kenjaku collected during the millennium, or whose bodies they are currently placed in.
Perhaps they are all in a state of unconsciousness like Fushiguro Tsumiki, which would make the investigation easier. But if their consciousness hasn't been suppressed, where should one even begin to look for non-sorcerers filling the streets?
"A Cursed Object implanted in her body?!
It's temporarily impossible. Cursed Objects are merely the physical manifestation of a curse. When they mix with a human body, they revert to a state close to their original formlessness.
If the fusion of a Cursed Object and the body could be easily undone artificially, the higher-ups wouldn't have had to mandate the execution of Yuji Itadori."
Imagine if Sukuna's fingers genuinely remained physical entities after Yuji ate them. Wouldn't Yuji Itadori be literally stuffed to death after eating twenty fingers?
Furthermore, Gojo Satoru's reprieve, which involves waiting until Yuji eats all the fingers, would be meaningless, as those fingers could still be surgically removed from his stomach after Yuji died.
Wouldn't that make Yuji Itadori the biological father of Ryomen Sukuna?
"A curse clinging to the body..."
If it were a curse of magical power, Rule Breaker could easily remove it.
But the versions Emiya modified only have an effect when they physically touch the Cursed Technique's entity, making it difficult to undo something so ephemeral.
Yet, if he delays any further, Emiya is afraid that Kenjaku might have already taken action the moment the curse was removed.
Whether Fushiguro Tsumiki's body collapses due to the Cursed Object or the Cursed Object fully matches the body to become an Incarnation vessel, neither is clearly a good outcome.
"...Does it have to be this method for now?
Simulated Creation, Trace..."
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