To overturn the current Jujutsu society, the first human they had to deal with was Satoru Gojo.
And to defeat Satoru Gojo, Kenjaku had proposed two options: First, the Special Grade Cursed Object, the Prison Realm. Second, the liberation of the King of Curses, Ryomen Sukuna.
But now, Mahito proposed a third option: "A Half-Cursed Spirit."
It was already the second week since Kenjaku had begun tutoring Mahito. Over these two weeks, Kenjaku had been forced to repeatedly shatter his own traditional understanding, confirming that the Cursed Spirit before him was indeed the most unique anomaly in the history of Jujutsu.
It wasn't a simple matter of strength or weakness. It was Mahito's way of thinking. As much as Kenjaku loathed to admit it, he had to recognize that Mahito's perception of the world verged on the divine.
For instance, right now, Mahito was speaking eloquently to Kenjaku, Jogo, and Hanami:
"Thanks to Kenjaku-sensei's guidance, I've completely figured out the difference between humans and Cursed Spirits. Naturally, it's not some superficial concept like humans having physical bodies to anchor them in this world while we manifest as Cursed Energy aggregates. No, it's about the deeper nature of our respective forms of existence."
He raised a single finger, speaking with undeniable arrogance.
"I can say with absolute certainty that our form of existence as Cursed Spirits unequivocally stands above humanity. The logic is simple. Humans must eat and sleep to grow. They must excrete and metabolize to purge toxins. But as long as we Cursed Spirits aren't killed by an equal or greater force, we are virtually immortal and indestructible. That alone proves our life tier is superior to humans."
Jogo's mouth curled into an uncontrollable grin. "But of course. If anything, *we* are the true humans."
Kenjaku didn't even listen to Jogo's self-aggrandizing boasting; he was paying close attention to Mahito's next, crucial point. Sure enough, Mahito ignored Jogo's remark and let out a very heavy sigh.
"But... that's only *half* the equation."
Hanami uttered a sound of questioning confusion.
Mahito exhaled slowly, as if venting a deep-seated frustration. "Judged by the standard of 'life forms,' we Cursed Spirits are incomplete."
Yes. Exactly. This was what terrified Kenjaku about Mahito. He was too rational, his perspective too elevated.
Forget Cursed Spirits—even Kenjaku, a Curse User who had lived for a millennium, hadn't realized the distinct difference between "form of existence" and "life form" over the past thousand years. Previously, when Jogo declared that Curses were the true humans, Kenjaku had secretly scoffed at it, only tolerating the nonsense because Jogo was a powerful asset he had recruited.
But Mahito was different. He had genuinely recognized the discrepancy between the two, summarizing the differences within two weeks and formulating a preliminary theory.
Kenjaku felt a chill crawl up his spine. He thought to himself that even without his help, as time passed—provided Mahito didn't die prematurely—this unique Cursed Spirit would inevitably ascend to the throne of godhood and look down upon the mortal dust.
The yin and yang of this world were balanced. The stronger Jujutsu Sorcerers became, the more intense the Curses grew in response.
With the awakening of Ryomen Sukuna in the modern era, with Tengen on the verge of evolving into a god, with the birth and growth of Satoru Gojo, and even Kenjaku's own relentless millennial machinations—the Jujutsu Sorcerers of this world had experienced a massive surge in power. And now, on the side of Curses, after accumulating mindless numbers for so long, they had finally welcomed their true King.
Mahito. Born just a month and a half ago. A literal candidate for godhood. Both in ideology and capability.
"We Cursed Spirits are not complete life forms. Our most fatal flaw is that we are single-track." Mahito pointed a finger at Jogo. "For example, Jogo. Let me ask you: Can you abandon your identity as the Curse of the Earth and change your ability into ice, water, or perhaps a raging storm?"
Jogo stared blankly. "H-How is that possible? I am the Curse of the Earth!"
Mahito spoke flatly. "But humans can."
Jogo's single eye widened. "Mahito, have you been studying under Kenjaku so much that you've gone crazy..."
"Humans *can* indeed do this," Kenjaku said slowly, taking a deep breath to suppress his internal shock and keep his tone level. "Among Jujutsu Sorcerers, there is a highly complex technique known as Cursed Technique Reversal. Depending on their Innate Technique, Sorcerers can use the principle of 'negative times negative equals positive' to reverse their technique into the exact opposite attribute."
Jogo looked back at Kenjaku, speaking in disbelief. "Reversing... one's own innate... ability?"
Mahito crossed his arms, his voice calm.
"Jogo, this is why I say our life form is incomplete. We Cursed Spirits are Curses formed from the negative emotions humans leak during their daily lives. That fact makes our existence undeniably superior to humanity.
"But on the other hand, precisely *because* we are made from their negative emotions, we cannot escape the shadow of curses. We are forced to survive and act solely within the confines of our identity as a Curse.
"Except for Hanami, we can't even restrain our impulsive urge to slaughter humans!
"And even Hanami inherits a Curse's way of thinking—when it comes to saving nature, Hanami very naturally resorts to massacring humanity. True to our name, we are Curses. Just Curses.
"But humans are different. Just as you've said, Jogo, the baseline of humanity is lies and deceit. Yet, they are capable of overcoming, even conquering, that pitch-black reality to build new societies based on unity and order.
"Even regarding basic instincts like eating and sleeping, they can endure. People who willingly go on hunger strikes or work themselves to death from sleep deprivation are not uncommon in their society!"
Mahito turned to Jogo, staring at him intently. "Jogo, could you go your entire life without harming a human?"
Jogo desperately wanted to say *of course*, but right as the words reached his throat, a massive wave of panic suddenly seized him. His mind constantly replayed the moments he harmed humans—the burning crowds, the charred skin, the wailing silhouettes writhing in his flames. Just the thought of completely cutting himself off from those acts from this moment onward made him tremble slightly with dread.
He couldn't do it!
He couldn't stop killing. He couldn't stop burning them. Because he was the Curse of the Earth!
Mahito looked at Jogo, who opened his mouth to speak but found no words, and nodded gently.
"There's no need to feel terrified, Jogo." Mahito closed his eyes and sighed softly. "Because I can't do it either."
Jogo looked at Mahito in shock. "You... Mahito, you too...?"
"That's right. I'm ashamed, Jogo. I can't do it either." Mahito opened his eyes, raising his hands and staring at his palms. "The moment I was born, the second I laid eyes on a human, malice bubbled up uncontrollably in my heart. I wanted to kill them, harm them, deceive them. This is an urge stemming from my very instincts. I clearly have no survival-based need for it, but my instincts crave the wails and agony of humans, just like a human craves food and sleep."
Mahito paused, then spoke slowly.
"I cannot defy my instincts. I cannot suppress my murderous impulses. My constant warping of human minds merely temporarily dulls the starvation in my heart. I cannot break free from it."
Kenjaku nodded inwardly. It had only been two weeks, yet Mahito's theories were already touching upon the fundamental truths of a Cursed Spirit's composition.
Just as Mahito said, in terms of 'form of existence,' Cursed Spirits were far above humans. But in terms of 'life form,' they were incomplete.
A complete life form should possess positive and negative, yin and yang, black and white. Cursed Spirits had none of that.
Cursed Spirits only had the negative, the yin, the black.
Even if their 'existence' was a higher state, their 'life form' was worse than an animal's. That was the essence of a Cursed Spirit.
Mahito clenched his fists, looking at Jogo, Hanami, and Kenjaku. "Therefore, I am going to alter the structure of my body.
"I will shed my current 'life form' to obtain the 'yang,' the positive, the 'white.' To do this, the only method I can think of is to mimic the human life form and become a 'Half-Cursed Spirit.'
"Although this is backward compatible—and for a higher being, it could be considered a humiliation—compared to the incompleteness of my life form, such a slight humiliation means nothing to me."
Jogo and Hanami felt a deep sense of reverence.
Kenjaku also nodded silently. This was indeed the most direct way to transcend the limits of a Cursed Spirit. But there was one glaring issue.
"How do you plan to do this?" Kenjaku asked. "Incarnation for a Cursed Spirit? To my knowledge, aside from certain Cursed Spirits who *must* undergo Incarnation to exert their full strength, no other Cursed Spirit has ever actively pursued it. Forget doing it; they've never even entertained the thought."
This was the truth. In reality, Cursed Spirits simply had no need for Incarnation.
Incarnation was a term exclusively reserved for Cursed Objects.
And the composition of Cursed Objects was typically derived from the actions of a Jujutsu Sorcerer while they were alive. When a Cursed Spirit died, if it wasn't subjected to special processing, it would simply dissipate from the world entirely. It was virtually impossible for them to become Cursed Objects.
Mahito thought for a moment before speaking slowly. "I believe compatibility is crucial."
Kenjaku was taken aback. "Compatibility?"
"Let's continue using human Jujutsu Sorcerers as an example. If I were a Jujutsu Sorcerer, my Innate Technique would be the soul-modifying Idle Transfiguration. If I continued to grow, I would learn Cursed Technique Reversal. Let me ask you, Kenjaku, what do you think the Reversal of a soul-modifying technique would be?" Mahito asked.
This stumped Kenjaku. He frowned, pondering deeply for a moment before probing, "The opposite of the soul... would that be the flesh?"
"Generally, we say the soul resides within the flesh, but to me, that isn't the case at all. When I modify the soul, I can pull the flesh into new shapes along with it. I can even see the metabolic waste of the soul. This waste manifests as the various emotions of humans. Through the act of modifying the soul, I can adjust the intensity and amplitude of the soul's emotional emissions. This is the key to my ability to warp minds."
Mahito tapped his own eye, speaking flatly.
"Therefore, to me, the soul always stands above the flesh. The flesh is merely the soul's outer shell. As long as I will it, I can change it at any time."
Kenjaku understood Mahito's logic. In Mahito's eyes, the existence of the soul superseded the flesh, meaning the opposite of the soul definitely wasn't the body.
Kenjaku simply threw his hands up. "I apologize. I can't conceptualize it."
"You're too focused on the 'soul' itself. My ability is 'modifying the soul,' not the soul purely in a vacuum." Mahito exhaled slowly, voicing his ultimate ambition. "If I were a Sorcerer, then the Reversal of my technique—the opposite of 'modifying the soul'—would very likely be..."
He dropped a terrifying revelation. "...creating souls."
Kenjaku's pupils contracted violently. He finally understood why Mahito, having barely been born, dared to utter the arrogant ambition of becoming a god.
From his fundamental paradigm of thought, he had already positioned his capabilities within the realm of the divine!
No—it was precisely *because* he could think from the perspective of a god that an unprecedented Cursed Spirit ability like soul modification was born. And precisely because he possessed this unprecedented ability, he could deduce that if he continued to ascend, he would inevitably touch the domain of gods.
The Domain of Gods: Soul Creation!
Even Jogo and Hanami were stunned into silence.
Jogo couldn't help but ask, "Is that really possible? Creating souls? As long as you can use Cursed Technique Reversal, you can perform such a miracle?!"
"It wouldn't just be me. Jogo, Hanami, and of course, I haven't forgotten Dagon—it would be the same for all of you." Mahito stated with absolute certainty.
"Based on the principle of negative times negative equals positive in Cursed Technique Reversal, it is highly likely you all would gain an astonishing surge in power. This surge wouldn't just be a simple increase in raw strength; it would be an ascension of your life tier, the benefits reaped from completing your form of existence."
He wasn't spouting nonsense. There was actual theoretical grounding for this.
Although the 'Half-Cursed Spirit' was Mahito's theoretical concept, there was an existence in reality that closely resembled this hypothesis: The Cursed Womb: Death Paintings.
The incarnated hosts of the Cursed Womb: Death Paintings were born with the ability to continuously convert their own Cursed Energy into genuine physical blood, and their Innate Technique was the blood-manipulating Blood Manipulation.
Mahito suspected that the Cursed Technique Reversal of the Death Paintings was the very trait of their Cursed Energy: the creation of blood.
If this theory held true, as long as Mahito could become a Half-Cursed Spirit, his Cursed Technique Reversal would almost certainly be the creation of souls.
When that time came, Mahito would modify souls with his left hand and create souls with his right. *That* would be his complete self!
Kenjaku took a deep breath, speaking slowly.
"I can't say for certain. Such a thing as a 'Half-Cursed Spirit' has never existed in the entire history of Jujutsu. I cannot guarantee your theory will succeed... but judging solely from a theoretical standpoint, applying all my specialized knowledge, I can find no flaws. It is highly probable that this is true."
In other words, if Mahito truly became a Half-Cursed Spirit and gained access to Cursed Technique Reversal, he really *could* wield the power of Soul Creation!
Would the combined abilities of Soul Modification and Soul Creation be enough to rival Satoru Gojo's Six Eyes and Limitless? Kenjaku didn't know, but just contemplating the possibility made his scalp tingle with dread.
This was the realm of true genius. Compared to Ryomen Sukuna, Satoru Gojo, and Mahito, even a millennial Curse User like Kenjaku seemed hopelessly outshined.
Mahito nodded in satisfaction.
"Excellent. Since Kenjaku-sensei confirms the theory is sound, all that remains is figuring out how we execute it. Kenjaku-sensei, do you happen to have any Curse Users affiliated with 'creation' at your disposal? I'm in dire need of one."
Kenjaku thought about it carefully, then suddenly smiled. "As a matter of fact, I do."
Jogo, the most obsessed with growing stronger, immediately directed a burning, eager gaze at Kenjaku.
Kenjaku stroked his chin, grinning. "There is a famous dark craftsman among Curse Users named Juzo Kumiya. If my memory serves me right, his Innate Technique is Construction. This technique allows him to create items that do not naturally exist in this world."
Mahito broke into a bright, cheerful smile and asked, "Then, Kenjaku-sensei, could you bring him to me?"
Kenjaku exhaled slowly, flashing his customary, knowing smile.
"As you wish, Mahito."
[End of Volume 1.]