"Isayama-kun, you're here."
Kenmyo Isayama followed the Cursed Corpse created by Teacher Principal Yaga to the eighth floor of Jujutsu High's largest teaching building, inside a room resembling a shrine.
Pulling open the door and stepping into this secret room, Kenmyo Isayama was utterly stunned.
All he could see were burning candles!
The altar, composed of golden candlesticks, was filled with pale white candles. The air was thick with the smell of burning oil and grease. The walls were covered in vivid paintings of wide-eyed, furious "deities"—whether Raksasas or Asuras, it was impossible to tell—all lifelike, giving the entire room an indescribable sense of oppression.
"Seriously, what's with this setup?"
Kenmyo Isayama swallowed, feeling as if he were about to be judged.
Teacher Principal Yaga, standing amidst it all, had a very solemn expression as he systematically lit the candles one by one.
Noticing Kenmyo Isayama walk in, Teacher Principal Yaga stopped what he was doing and said to him,
"Let's talk in the preparation room next door."
Inside the preparation room next door, the surroundings were lined with various ancient exorcism artifacts, such as Demon-Subduing Pestles, Soul-Pacifying Bells, and Gohei. The items collected by Jujutsu High were undoubtedly the real deal.
Kenmyo Isayama noticed a transparent crystal box placed on the table, inside which lay a tattered, worn-out book.
It appeared to be extremely old; the characters on the dilapidated cover had been so eroded by time they were no longer visible. Furthermore, calling it a book was generous; it was more like a fragmented booklet composed of stacked, yellowed paper scraps.
The Cursed Energy flowing from it indicated that the book before Kenmyo Isayama was actually a book-shaped Cursed Tool, but why did it show signs of burning, water damage, and even tearing?
Yaga Masamichi carefully put on gloves and gently lifted the lid, handling the book with extreme caution, seemingly afraid of damaging it.
"This book is called the *heian almanac*. It is one of the few ancient texts passed down from the Heian-kyo Era a thousand years ago, and the copy kept at Jujutsu High is the last known original."
"The author is unknown. It records various events that occurred during the Heian-kyo Era, but most of the book's pages are missing, making interpretation difficult."
"The 'Ghost and God Chapter' within this book records the King of Curses from a thousand years ago, Ryomen Sukuna."
As Yaga Masamichi slowly turned the page, the book's surface projected an image before Kenmyo Isayama: a vaguely discernible, hideous monster with four arms and two heads. Ancient Sorcerers were shown being torn apart before it even appeared to move.
However, the image was very blurry and vanished in less than three seconds.
"Another section of the book records the strongest Cursed Spirit of that era, the lord of calamity, Nine-Tails—Tamamo-no-Mae."
Under the moonlight, a terrifying Cursed Spirit possessing monstrously evil Cursed Energy roared at the sky, radiating dreadful power. Its nine white tails, large enough to obscure the sun, caused massive waves and seismic shifts with every swing.
The image quality was similarly blurry, but Kenmyo Isayama found this familiar; it was similar to the vision he saw the last time he held the Killing Stone.
However, unlike the vision he had seen, the Nine-Tails recorded on the fragmented pages seemed healthier?
Kenmyo Isayama didn't know how to describe it. In comparison to the Nine-Tails he saw through the Killing Stone, the one in the ancient pages exuded the tyranny of a ruler over the world, while the former felt profoundly weak.
What exactly happened to cause such a drastic change in this top-tier terrifying Cursed Spirit?
Kenmyo Isayama was confused why he was being shown this, until Yaga Masamichi magnified a section of a previously recorded image of the Nine-Tails for him to see.
"Isayama-kun, don't you think the tattoo on your body looks somewhat like the pattern on the Nine-Tails' forehead?"
The complete pattern on the Nine-Tails' forehead was a closed symbol consisting of twelve interlocking, inverted comma-shaped magatama resembling cherry blossoms.
Although the symbol was incomplete when Kenmyo Isayama previously showed his tattoo, consisting only of a rough outline and a Single Magatama, it successfully jogged Yaga Masamichi's memory regarding this item.
Research into this book has been ongoing since its archaeological excavation in the early last century. It truly documents the two strongest monsters active a thousand years ago who left behind terrifying legends: one was "human," and the other was a "Cursed Spirit."
When Yaga Masamichi was young, he had seen the crest symbolizing the Nine-Tails in an illustration book, but he had dismissed it as just a story.
However, when Yaga Masamichi's authority level increased enough for him to learn about the existence of the *heian almanac*, he realized that monsters capable of causing natural disasters truly existed a thousand years ago.
Anything involving an existence from a thousand years ago must be approached with the utmost caution.
"This crest is called the Mark of Eternal Life, and it was also the symbol of an ancient Sorcerer organization active a thousand years ago called the 'Tendoshu'."
Yaga Masamichi shared the information he had found in another ancient document with Kenmyo Isayama.
These people viewed the lord of calamity, Nine-Tails, as a god, adopting the doctrine, "Taking life as the catalyst, and souls as the vessel, one gains eternal life." They performed atrocious blood sacrifices everywhere, causing widespread fear.
Following the disappearance of the Nine-Tails, the Tendoshu also vanished. They left behind a prophecy: "When the Flower of Blood and Reincarnation blooms, and the Path of Yin and Yang reverses, that will be the time of our Lord's return."
If the Tendoshu's deity, the Nine-Tails, were to return, it would mean the resurrection of the lord of calamity from a thousand years ago.
"Isayama-kun, you haven't shown this tattoo to anyone other than those two brats and me, have you?"
When Yaga Masamichi asked this, Kenmyo Isayama nodded.
Yaga Masamichi immediately breathed a sigh of relief.
The Killing Stone, along with various signs in the ancient documents, indicated that if the Nine-Tails truly resurrected, it would be the most horrifying catastrophe.
Given the personalities of the "Old Fogeys" in the Jujutsu Sorcerer Association, if they learned Kenmyo Isayama might be connected to the prophetic "Flower of Blood and Reincarnation" and the Nine-Tails' resurrection, there would only be one outcome: secret execution.
Some information cannot be looked up; if you search for it, someone specific will come looking for you. Yaga Masamichi was safe because the information he checked was located inside Jujutsu High. If he used the Jujutsu Sorcerer Association's internal network to search for sensitive data, even he would be audited.
Yaga Masamichi also suspected that Kenmyo Isayama's sudden massive increase in strength might be related to the Killing Stone; otherwise, it would be impossible for him to gain the power to easily exorcise a Grade 2 Cursed Spirit in such a short amount of time.
As far as he knew, the Jujutsu Sorcerer Association had conducted many dangerous experiments attempting to use the Killing Stone for military purposes, but all had failed without exception.
Having Kenmyo Isayama as a successful case would place him in an extremely dangerous situation—he would be captured and dissected for research.
The Jujutsu Sorcerer Association is perfectly capable of doing that.
Because of Yaga Masamichi's own research into Cursed Corpses, the Jujutsu Sorcerer Association was also "very interested."
Fortunately, Yaga Masamichi's investigation showed that the mark inscribed on Kenmyo Isayama had only just begun to manifest, meaning there was still a chance to remedy the situation.
Although Yaga Masamichi and Kenmyo Isayama did not share a master-disciple relationship, due to his friendship with Akutabe and in return for saving Nanami Kento, Yaga Masamichi would not betray him. Instead, he would use all his strength to exorcise the curse entrenched on Kenmyo Isayama and nip the danger in the bud!