Sukuna's words gradually cooled the atmosphere of the scene. Just as the silence was about to stretch on, Gojo Satoru suddenly spoke:
"Last night, I went to deal with a particularly large special-grade cursed spirit. It was born locally from the legend of enemy princes who fell in love with each other and died together for their country during the Warring States period. But I only took care of the cursed spirit that was the princess."
Hearing this familiar story, Nishida Kagetatsu's memory was triggered, and Locke almost subconsciously said:
"The Grudge Ghost?"
"You really know it?"
Hearing the other party's reaction, Gojo Satoru's eyes instantly changed. Whether it was the words of Ryomen Sukuna or the grudge curse of the grudge ghost he had just eliminated, it all made him believe in Locke's identity.
Gojo Satoru's answer quickly calmed Locke, and although he was still puzzled, he answered as a matter of course:
"Nishida Kagetatsu once sealed them away, and they were sealed separately. Did you encounter the ghost?"
"Ghost? That must be it. I defeated her, and she cursed me like a long-tongued woman, saying I would be alone for the rest of my life or something like that, blah blah blah..."
Recalling the grudge ghost lover in Nishida Kagetatsu's memory, Locke nodded approvingly.
"Ha, that matches my impression of her."
From this moment on, Gojo Satoru had effectively confirmed Locke's identity. He also relaxed, thinking about another question—what did Locke's appearance mean for the jujutsu world?
A swordsman who wandered the world, sealing and eliminating many cursed spirits, including Ryomen Sukuna, was clearly on their side, and at first glance, he wasn't a stereotypical old antique.
At this moment, Gojo Satoru felt as if a thousand pounds had been lifted from his shoulders. He had always been the strongest, and had long become a well-known monster carrying everything.
And now, he vaguely felt that perhaps next time, he could shed this "curse" called being the strongest.
"Three months ago, cursed spirits across the country underwent a large-scale strengthening. The intensity was greater than when I was born. I also heard that Lord Tengen issued a statement that this fluctuation was very unusual."
Gojo Satoru's tone was calm, but a subtle suspicion hid in his eyes. He carefully hooked the blindfold with his fingertips, lowered it halfway, revealing a pair of clear, pale blue pupils. His gaze steadily fell on Locke as he slowly continued:
"And last night, cursed spirits across the country rioted en masse. Special-grade and first-grade cursed spirits appeared freely, perhaps exceeding the total of the last few decades. So I take the liberty of asking..."
"You... do you know what's happening?"
---
Tokyo, Jujutsu High School, Star Palace. The owner of the immortality technique, the keeper of the national barrier, an indispensable figure in the jujutsu world—the thousand-year-old woman, Tengen—was also, like the cursed spirits at this moment, being chased by a series of memories that originally did not exist.
As a major instigator of the original story, with techniques from the same period as Kenjaku, the relationship between Tengen and Kenjaku was also very delicate.
Their techniques allowed them to survive through endless time, but the difference was that Kenjaku did so by changing bodies, while Tengen was born immortal.
However, immortality did not mean eternal life. After reaching the limit of aging, Tengen's technique would cause her to evolve to a higher level and complete the concept of immortality.
As a result, Tengen had to find a Star Plasma Vessel to assimilate with, to avoid evolving to a higher level, becoming separated from humanity, and standing on the other side of humans.
Unfortunately, due to the failed assimilation twelve years ago, she was now aging very rapidly. Her body was evolving in a direction closer to a cursed spirit, and even gradually assimilating with heaven and earth.
This also gave her a deeper understanding of the changes in the world, and she also saw more things related to Nishida Kagetatsu.
Those terrifying giant monsters, alien creatures falling from the sky, world-destroying monsters, beings from other dimensions, and powerful sorcerers who had also been erased from existence.
Demon Head Kijuro.
As a sorcerer who had lived for a thousand years, her understanding of cursed techniques and this world surpassed that of everyone else, including Kenjaku.
Therefore, she wouldn't be like Sukuna, who relied solely on unfounded assumptions to determine the other party's identity and was sure that her guess was absolutely correct.
But as a thousand-year-old demoness, she found it hard to understand things beyond her perception, let alone guess that Locke was an impostor passing himself off as the real thing.
So she could only make a reasonable inference based on her own perception: by what means had a person with ancient knowledge of curses changed history and cognition?
She first considered Kenjaku, but quickly ruled out that possibility. Kenjaku alone couldn't do it, unless... she was also involved, plus some kind of super-spectacular cursed tool.
Yes, that was logical. She had sealed the relevant memories and erased the evidence of their existence together with Kenjaku.
Why do this? Perhaps it was related to the wishes of Nishida Kagetatsu himself. He was too strong—so powerful that the monsters fighting him in her memory were natural disasters that the jujutsu world could not handle.
When he was alive, it was fine. But what if, after his death, those powerful monsters born because of him were reborn?
It seemed that Gojo Satoru alone accounted for 70% of the power of the entire jujutsu world. Even if the world balanced humans and curses, the current cursed spirits would not be opponents of Gojo Satoru, even if combined.
The reason was also very simple: once quality exceeds a certain threshold, quantity becomes meaningless.
If the situation were reversed, wouldn't the whole world be destroyed?
And this was also the only reason Tengen expected that she was willing to participate in this. The more she thought about it, the more reasonable it seemed. She couldn't even wait to prove her guess.
If all this was true, then in this era when Nishida Kagetatsu was dead and his opponents were constantly returning, could Satoru Gojo defeat those terrifying monsters?
There was no doubt that the answer was no. She had to think about the future of humanity.
"Lord Tengen, Satoru Gojo wants to bring someone to see you. He said that person was once the reincarnation of an ancient demon-slaying swordsman named Nishida Kojūrō Kagetatsu."
Tengen: "?"
In an instant, all of Tengen's worries and anxieties vanished. The wrinkles on the cursed spirit's cerebral cortex seemed to have been smoothed out.
Dad, you're not dead?
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