Bang!
A withered, branch-like tendril suddenly shot forward without warning, stabbing deep into the bath before them.
Splash…
Moments later, ripples spread across the surface of the dark purple liquid.
A corpse pierced by the thin branch slowly rose from the pool and was dragged in front of the three men.
Mirai raised his eyes and examined the body.
At his side, faint fluctuations of cursed energy suddenly appeared in the empty air.
The branch connected to the void poured cursed energy into the corpse, causing it to emit a faint white glow.
One second.
Two seconds.
Three seconds.
Under Naobito's incredulous gaze, the heart inside the corpse's chest began to twitch faintly.
Thump… thump…
The heartbeat grew from weak to strong.
The bloated skin of the corpse gradually turned pale—
The same pale white as White Zetsu.
"Awake yet?" Mirai asked softly.
The shadows at his feet shifted, and a uniform—a black robe patterned with red clouds—appeared in front of the corpse.
"Hey, Mirai brat,"
The corpse slowly sat up and glared at him angrily.
"What the hell are you doing?"
"I was just about to go watch the show. Why did I suddenly pass out?"
The completely naked White Zetsu picked up the clothes and began putting them on.
"Poor No. 9527 of mine!"
"After finally getting used to that body for a while, you just went and ruined it."
After finishing dressing, White Zetsu scratched his head.
"By the way, what exactly did you shove into the God Tree?"
"My head still feels kinda dizzy."
After confirming that White Zetsu was fine, Mirai gave no reply.
Instead, he activated his Sharingan, inspecting the surrounding barriers to see if there were any traces of intrusion.
To White Zetsu, Mirai's silence—and even avoiding eye contact—was clearly the behavior of someone feeling guilty.
"So it really was you messing around!" White Zetsu grumbled through gritted teeth, holding his head.
His memory still stopped at the moment when he had been bragging with Maki on the training ground.
Then he saw smoke rising from the residential area of Jujutsu High where Mirai was.
Just as he was about to go watch the excitement, a chaotic torrent of information flooded his mind—
And then everything went black.
Mirai pursed his lips and remained silent again.
If anyone was to blame, it was Gojo Satoru.
That guy hadn't given him any time to warn anyone.
Inside the Unlimited Void domain, when Mirai transferred all the information into the God Tree, he already knew White Zetsu would collapse.
After all, White Zetsu's cursed energy and soul both originated from the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path.
That was also why Mirai tolerated White Zetsu so much—
Because control over the Demonic Statue always remained in his hands.
Which meant White Zetsu's life and death would always depend on a single thought from Mirai.
"Whatever."
Seeing Mirai ignore him, White Zetsu began looking around at their surroundings.
"Oh? Blondie, busy working?"
Shigemo Haruta continued hacking at cursed spirits with a foolish grin.
Hearing the voice, he turned his head and revealed a bright smile.
"Boss White Zetsu, long time no see."
Shigemo didn't find what had just happened strange at all.
After all, it wasn't the first time he'd seen it.
Turning to Naobito, who was still staring in shock, White Zetsu frowned.
"Hey, old man!"
"Don't think I didn't notice—you've been staring at me ever since I was naked!"
"What's the matter?"
"Did my charming body shock you?"
White Zetsu stretched his brand-new body and struck a series of exaggerated bodybuilding poses at Naobito.
"Look carefully. Learn properly."
"These are techniques I painstakingly learned from RbTV."
"You old man will need a few years of training to master them."
The shock faded from Naobito's face, replaced by a twitching expression.
"RbTV" referred to Japan's late-night paid television channels.
Judging from White Zetsu's poses…
It seemed that this strange cursed spirit had watched quite a few adult human reproduction programs on television.
"Enough, White Zetsu," Mirai called out.
"How is No.1 doing?"
"Did this incident affect it?"
White Zetsu stopped fooling around and closed his eyes for a moment, sensing something.
Then he shook his head.
"Relax. Everything's perfectly normal."
Smacking his lips, he walked to the edge of the bath.
"You've built quite the place here."
"The souls inside these bodies have all been completely driven out."
"When I take over them, it feels way smoother than before."
Mirai nodded and looked deeper into the bath.
His crimson gaze pierced through the thick rippling liquid.
Below the surface—
Aside from countless fragments of cursed spirit bodies…
At the bottom of the pool lay densely packed human corpses.
Some belonged to sorcerers.
Others belonged to specially trained non-sorcerer fighters.
About a hundred bodies rested there in silence.
Of course, these "non-sorcerers" were not ordinary civilians.
Some were members of the Zen'in clan's Kukurū unit, while others were unusual types among curse users.
After all, Mirai's bounty was still hanging high on the black market.
Sometimes Mirai would even order Jinichi to increase it.
Just to help White Zetsu stock up on spare bodies.
Staring at the hellish scene before him, a faint smile slowly appeared on Mirai's lips.
The creation of this bath…
He truly had to thank Uraume from the original manga.
The explanation of the ritual had been incredibly detailed.
What lay before them now was the Bath Ritual used by Ryomen Sukuna after taking over Megumi Fushiguro's body.
More precisely—
It was a "Demonization Ritual."
It suppressed the soul inside a body and forced it to sink permanently into darkness.
After the Demonic Statue evolved, the number of White Zetsu that could be created was no longer unlimited.
And their bodies couldn't be created from cursed energy alone.
Human corpses were the best medium for White Zetsu to experience the world.
At first, to strengthen White Zetsu's power, Mirai even tried using the fresh corpse of a Grade 1 sorcerer.
But the result was that White Zetsu's consciousness became entangled with the original soul remnants inside the body.
It couldn't fully control the body freely.
Sometimes the body would even "short-circuit."
And so—
The hell before them was born.
Mirai glanced at Shigemo, who seemed to be enjoying his work.
A faint trace of killing intent flashed in his eyes.
Originally, Shigemo had simply been captured by Zen'in Ju.
Mirai had planned to kill him immediately.
But after thinking about it, the man seemed quite suitable for this work—and surprisingly efficient.
And since that coat-rack-loving curse user had begged for his life…
Mirai decided to put him to temporary use.
"Where's Juzo?" Mirai asked lightly.
Shigemo lowered his head respectfully.
"Clan Head Mirai, Juzo is in his room forging cursed tools."
"Should I go call him out?"
"Just keep working," Mirai said.
"I'll go see him myself."
With that, Mirai turned and walked away from the bath, followed by White Zetsu and Naobito.
Only after their figures were completely swallowed by darkness did Shigemo finally raise his head and wipe the cold sweat from his face.
"Another peaceful day. Lucky."
Turning to the cursed spirits hanging nearby, he grinned.
"I still prefer hanging out with you little cuties. Much more comfortable."
Shigemo pressed half of his face against the cold body of a cursed spirit, his expression filled with pleasure.
The next second—
A silver blade flashed through the darkness.
Brilliant purple blood burst forth together with Shigemo's suppressed laughter.