I asked Geto a favor and had Sukuna's fingers smuggled out in secret.
I kept them at home.
I hadn't originally meant to interfere like this, but...
The situation had changed, so my approach had to change with it.
'Seven for now.'
I looked at the row of red, grotesque fingers spread across the desk.
Every last one of them belonged to Sukuna.
The final villain of Jujutsu Kaisen. Sukuna had twenty fingers in total.
That left twelve.
Kenjaku had already fed one to Itadori Yuji.
Even if I couldn't secure all of them, a majority would do. As long as I got at least ten.
Enough to stop him from pulling any stupid tricks.
Huh... so that's Sukuna's finger?
Ibuki-douji asked as she wrapped herself around me from behind.
With her chest pressed tight against my back, all my worries just kind of melted away.
Yeah. Twelve left.
It's disgusting. Guess your Heian era had its share of freaks too.
This world probably had its own problems to deal with.
I nodded and sank into thought.
Whether we sealed Sukuna away or not was only the second issue.
What really mattered was figuring out where a fully manifested Sukuna ranked by Heroic Spirit standards.
His technique was straightforward, but the output was monstrous.
And his combat skill wasn't lacking either.
If I had to compare him to the game, maybe he'd be around a five-star... probably. Hard to say.
There were monsters even among the four-star Servants.
Starting with the poster girl Saber Alter, then Barghest, Baobhan Sith, and Lambda.
Then welfare units like Ishtar, Nitocris, XX, and the rest.
In pure technique, too.
And in firepower, there were plenty who wouldn't lose to Sukuna.
Still, some Servants had events where they became absurdly strong.
Nerofest had been the classic example.
'At the very least, he's an anti-army Noble Phantasm-class Servant. The real question is what tier inside that bracket he belongs to...'
All the Servants already knew the rough scale of combat strength.
I'd explained it to them in detail.
No matter how strong Sukuna was, he was still a character inside a setting.
Even when he got creative, his core methods of attack were limited.
Domain. Slashes. Fire. That forced skill, Fuga.
In close-quarters combat, it was probably safe to say he fell short of a Servant.
Master. Don't worry so much. One might be a little risky, but if two or more go at him together, there won't be a problem.
Right when I'd been weighing every angle,
Ibuki-douji leaned close and whispered into my ear.
Two or more together.
It was such a perfect answer there was nothing to argue with.
You're right. I guess I was overthinking it.
I let out a breath and cleared my head.
I'd already reached that conclusion a long time ago, but seeing the fingers in person had made me uneasy.
Still, I was fine now. Really.
'As for Itadori Yuji... should I go pick him up later?'
At the start of Jujutsu Kaisen,
Fushiguro Megumi and Itadori Yuji met because of the Sukuna finger left at the school.
After that, Itadori swallowed the finger.
That was what dragged him fully into the world of jujutsu.
But now, that whole incident was on the verge of being twisted out of shape.
The odds of them meeting would drop too.
So the question became when I should go find him.
That was the problem, but after thinking it over for a bit, I found my answer.
'I should probably go after Mahito first, before that bastard notices.'
If I went myself, there was a high chance I'd catch his eye.
And if that happened, innocent people would just get hurt for it.
In the end, sending one of the Servants looked like the best option.
Just like when I sent Shuten-douji to Kyoto.
'Who should I send?'
Ibuki-douji and Ushi-gozen were currently on rotation with me.
That meant I had to choose from the remaining four, but Shuten-douji should be excluded too.
I also had to leave out Maki and Mai's backup.
If I remembered right, this month's assignment was Koyanskaya of Light and Assassin.
Take those four out, and only two remained.
Koyanskaya of Darkness, Foreigner, and Minamoto-no-Raiko.
'Decided.'
After a brief moment of thought, I stepped out into the living room.
While I was at it, I should meet Megumi too and do a progress check.
Megumi was supposed to enroll at Tokyo Jujutsu High next year.
Which meant he was still a student.
And students didn't have time on weekdays.
So naturally, we ended up meeting on the weekend.
Oh. Been a while since the two of you showed up together.
At the open lot on the Gojo family grounds we used all the time, Zenin Toji waved with his usual easy grin.
You're right. Lately I've only been seeing you, Toji.
We drink sometimes too. Talk a little. Adult conversations are for adults, right? Isn't that how it goes?
Toji laughed and thumped the shoulder of the boy standing beside him.
Just going by height, Megumi was already nearly as tall as him.
Don't know.
Megumi frowned exactly the way he had in the original story.
Even the irritated look was the same.
More importantly, hyung, why are you here? You didn't come just to hang out, did you?
It sounded prickly at first glance, but there was warmth in it.
Even his voice carried a note of obedience.
I nodded as if to say of course not.
I had business.
Before that, how far have you gotten with the exorcisms?
The exorcisms? You kept telling me to stay on top of them, so I've exorcised everything except Mahoraga. Don't tell me...?
Megumi's eyes widened on the spot.
I'd already known he'd been working hard. His Cursed Energy reserves had grown, and the flow had become much smoother.
'Still, hearing it directly feels good.'
In Jujutsu Kaisen, he'd only managed up to Max Elephant, which had honestly been ridiculous...
But now things were different.
At this point, I could practically descend the mountain satisfied.
Yeah. Let's exorcise Mahoraga too.
Mahoraga? You're serious?
Toji's eyes went wide.
Of course I was serious.
Yes. The supreme shikigami no Ten Shadows Technique user has ever managed to exorcise. If he masters even that before entering school, he'll be set.
Set? That's putting it lightly. Back in the day, it was enough to drag both sides into mutual destruction during the imperial audience duel.
Toji folded his arms and muttered about old history.
Come to think of it, that setting did exist.
But if something goes wrong with Mahoraga...
It adapts to phenomena. In other words, it develops resistance to attacks. That's why we have Ibuki-douji and Ushi-gozen. The timing couldn't be better.
I smiled and pointed at the Servants standing behind me.
Only then did Megumi finally relax.
I know those two are strong, but is this really okay? Feels like I'd just be causing trouble.
The path that helps your family most is you getting stronger. Choso is protecting Sae and Tsumiki too, so don't worry about it.
Maybe it was some kind of corrective force, but Tsumiki had become Toji's adopted daughter.
Her mother cheating with another man,
then running away and abandoning young Tsumiki—that part of history had still come true exactly as before.
Young Tsumiki met Megumi.
Megumi asked for help for her, and the result was adoption.
Tsumiki and Sae both.
Choso alone wasn't enough to protect them, so I'd added manpower a long time ago.
The extra manpower was Nanami Kento.
And Haibara Yu, still alive and still moving.
Nanami owed us for saving his friend.
And Haibara had directly owed us his life, so he was cooperative.
For a while it looked like that would leave Choso with nothing to do, but...
He kept carrying out the same mission.
Using Eso or Kechizu would draw too much attention.
'Come to think of it, I don't think Cursed Spirits have ever come out aggressively in broad daylight.'
To begin with, Cursed Spirits were beings that stayed where they were born.
The Special Grade Cursed Spirit group were the exception.
All right. Enough small talk.
I sorted out my thoughts and turned around.
I'd brought Ijichi Kiyotaka along today as the Assistant Director to put up the curtain.
Ijichi, could you handle the curtain? Megumi could do it himself, but I'd rather save even a little of his Cursed Energy.
Ah, yes. Of course.
Ijichi flinched at the shoulders, then immediately cast the curtain.
A broad, heavy darkness enclosed the area around us.
That took care of the barrier.
We were far enough away too. If anything happened, we could join in immediately.
Normally, it would only mean something if Megumi exorcised Mahoraga by himself... but this is a method too. Don't worry about it too much.
I don't mind. More importantly, are you really sure this is okay?
It is. And I brought one more reinforcement at her own request.
I flicked my hand toward the distance.
Near the very edge of the curtain.
The figure standing there saw the gesture and immediately sprinted over.
The blurry silhouette sharpened into focus.
Maki?!
Megumi's eyes widened as the figure approached.
Fair enough. Anyone would be thrown off seeing Maki here.
Yeah, Megumi. Long time no see. I heard you're exorcising something like Mahoraga. Sounds fun, doesn't it?
Maki grinned and swung the sword in her hand.
It was a replica of the Soul-Liberation Blade, a cursed tool Mai had copied for her.
Originally, Mai would create that cursed tool and die...
But now things were stable enough.
Someday, she'd probably be able to make Special Grade cursed tools like Playful Cloud or the Inverted Spear of Heaven too.
Fun isn't the word I'd use. You're helping too, Maki?
Yeah. Your brother told me, and it sounded interesting. You don't get many chances to properly throw down with something like Mahoraga, right?
Are you a battle maniac?
I'm building real combat experience. That's mandatory if you're going to live as a Jujutsu Sorcerer.
Maki gave a crooked smile and looked at Toji.
You're fine with it too, right, Toji?
Me? Sure. Though I don't know if it's really okay for a brat to jump into a stage like this. Boss made the call, so I won't bother objecting.
If it gets dangerous, I'll bolt fast. If I get hurt, I'm getting forcibly locked up.
If she got seriously injured, confinement.
I'd already warned her in no uncertain terms to forget about leaving the house for a while if that happened.
Maki brought that up while loosening her body.
Had I been too quick to allow this?
'Still, it's true that varied experience helps.'
You never knew what kind of Curse would crawl out next.
Taking that into account, this exorcism ritual would teach her a lot.
I steadied myself for a moment.
I was ready.
We'll stay back. If outsiders interfere, the exorcism ritual itself will fail.
Me, Ibuki-douji, and Ushi-gozen.
None of us had Cursed Energy, but we also weren't judged as inanimate objects.
So we had to keep our distance.
Only if it looked like Megumi was about to fail the Mahoraga exorcism would we step in.
By contrast, Heavenly Restriction was treated by jujutsu as the same as an inanimate object.
Which meant taking part in the exorcism ritual caused no issue at all.
If anything, it was like setting up auto-hunting and leaving the user to farm on their own.
Ijichi. Let's move back.
Yes.
Together with Ijichi, we withdrew to the edge of the curtain.
Now it began.
Inhale...
Megumi drew in a breath and steadied it.
He calmed his mind.
The exorcism of Mahoraga.
The timing was abrupt, and the whole thing had started out of nowhere, so it was disorienting, but...
The stage had been set. He intended to see it through.
'I'm shaking off the disgrace of being called a Mahoraga summoning machine. From here on out, I'm the real Mahoraga owner.'
For an instant, a memory that did not exist flashed through Megumi's mind.
It was gone as quickly as it came.
'What the hell was I just thinking?'
Momentarily thrown, Megumi still took his stance.
It was the shape modeled after a bull's head.
Piercing Ox.
Megumi's shadow writhed, and the bull-shaped shikigami burst out.
A shikigami whose destructive power increased exponentially with the distance of its charge.
Piercing Ox, which could only move in a straight line.
Megumi gave it an order.
He sent it toward the western edge of the curtain.
Kadoc, Ijichi, and the Servants were standing to the east.
So they wouldn't interfere.
Ready?
Toji released the storage Cursed Spirit.
He pulled out the Soul-Liberation Blade from within it, gripped it, and asked.
The effect of the Inverted Spear of Heaven was the forced nullification of techniques.
Useful as that was, it would ruin the exorcism ritual itself.
Which meant I hadn't really needed to come here in person.
I was only here because I was worried and wanted precautions in place.
We're really starting, so brace yourselves.
Megumi thrust one clenched fist forward.
It was the posture used to summon Mahoraga.
With this treasure, I summon...
The incantation that called forth the shikigami.
As the sorcerer's will took shape, wolf howls rang out in every direction.
In front of Megumi,
alongside several pairs of wolf statues, a bizarre form emerged.
Wings where its eyes should have been.
A white humanoid figure, with a blade wrapped around one arm.
The [Eight-Handled Sword Divergent Sila Divine General Mahoraga].
The strongest shikigami of the [Ten Shadows Technique] bared its fangs.
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