(Pov Kenjaku)
To think that after so long, my children would be brought into this world. The nine cursed womb death paintings, created by me to serve as powerful assets for the merger, were meant to strengthen my plans. Yet this had failed, each weaker than the last, and none matching my strength, but their creation taught me one thing: I couldn't intentionally craft something greater than myself.
I had realized that to create something greater than ever before, truly, I couldn't be in control. The idea was thrilling. Now, my first children would become useful once again as my need for additional allies had grown. The death of Jogo and Hanami had been a great annoyance, both having been part of the plan to seal Gojo Satoru.
Gojo Satoshi was proving to be an issue I had anticipated him getting in the way, but to this degree was unexpected. It was almost as if he knew something about my plan after all, he had recognized me in our first encounter. He was one of the more intriguing people I had met, and the only one with such a constitution. Of course, before him, there was Fushiguro Toji, but I never had the chance to study him before his death.
Though I likely wouldn't get the chance to study this one either, Sukuna wasn't known for leaving much behind, after all.
(Pov Satoshi)
I was not looking forward to this mission. Now that the goodwill event had ended, the first years were back to going on missions, and this one would be annoying. This would be a mission that challenged all of my students.
There had been a string of curse-related murders recently, and they had to investigate and exorcise the curse responsible, but what they didn't know was the other issues waiting for them. For one, hiding near the curse responsible was another finger bearer, even stronger than the first one, and the two death womb paintings, Eso and Kechizu, would try to kill Yuji and Nobara.
It wasn't the worst. On further consideration, during this mission, Megumi would be able to look past his mental limitations and unlock his domain, even though it was incomplete. I had been trying to encourage him not rely on the Mahoraga suicide move, but he needed real stakes to unlock his potential. Once that happened, I could definitely keep that flame lit and keep him from falling back on his bad habits.
The deaths of the brothers profoundly affected Yuji and Nobara, as they would be the first people they would kill, even in self-defense. They are also technically Yuji's older brothers, and if I can make them realize that, perhaps we can get Choso to join us early, which would be a significant advantage.
Actually doing that would be a difficult challenge, though Choso only recognized Yuji as his brother when he almost killed him, and his ability to sense his brothers was activated. The question was, did the others also have this ability to sense their brother's blood? If they did, hopefully Yuji wouldn't need to nearly die for it to activate.
There was also the added variable of Junpei, who would be joining them for the first time. Who would he help, and what impact would that have, as honestly, whichever fight he joins ends faster? Even without training, Junpei had shown some promising strength, and his control of cursed energy had shot up after his black flash during the fight with Hanami.
Both he and Yuji had grown massively in recent weeks, and their own growth had been helping the other two grow as well through frequent forced sparing. By making them duel each other, it not only helped them gain combat experience but also improved their teamwork, as they gained a deeper understanding of their teammates' strengths and weaknesses.
I'm having Yuji learn from Maki, as they share similar physiques, and I wouldn't be surprised if Yuji had a minor Heavenly Restriction before eating that finger. Mai is also helping Nobara with techniques involving external objects, which could be crucial for their growth and the upcoming battles.
Unfortunately, Yuta wasn't here at the moment, so I had Megumi and Junpei train their shikigami together, as they were the only students here who used them. Occasionally, we got Toge and Panda involved as well, but they had less specific skills, and it's hard to teach when you can't say words.
It would have to be enough; I was confident in my students, and if things went badly, I could jump in. I couldn't let them know that, though, or else they might get too complacent in their fights and lose when I'm not there.
The time had finally arrived, a few days later, when I got the message from Yaga that a series of murders needed investigating. So off they went, accompanied by one of our assistant managers, Nitta Akari. I also took a mission that just so happened to take me near the Yasohachi bridge, where the curse and finger bearer were hiding.
While they didn't know it yet, the victims had all gone under the bridge and later been found unconscious near the bridge. Another factor was that Megumi's sister Tsumiki had also been found unconscious near the bridge, so there was an extra sense of urgency for him.
She was yet another issue for later, as Kenjaku had chosen him to become the body for the Heian-era sorcerer Yorozu. She was a complete nut who was desperate to show Sukuna love, and as a way to destroy Megumi's will, he would kill her.
I had originally planned to use the Soul Split Katana early and keep Yorozu from incarnating, but things were more complicated than that. It seems that until the incarnation happens, the other soul is hidden too deep to separate, at least with something like the SSK. I had an understanding of the soul, which is why Mahito couldn't kill me, but the SSK wasn't a scalpel, and using it to separate something so hard to notice would cause too much damage.
So I had to wait until Yorozu incarnated and her soul showed itself, then I could separate the two and save Tsumiki. It wasn't just about saving her, either. If Sukuna gains Megumi, preventing him from killing her keeps Megumi from sinking deeper into despair, making the potential fight easier.
I was suddenly drawn out of my thoughts when I heard sounds of fighting coming from below. I looked down and saw Yuji and Nobara facing Eso and Kechizu. Right on time, and given I couldn't see Junpei, he had likely stayed with Megumi, so I wasn't worried about them.
Now, how do I keep these four from killing each other?