"...?"
Yuji's pupils contracted slightly.
The young man stood at the edge of the roof looking down, and the black-haired man standing downstairs—looking at him with a smile—was the mastermind behind all of this.
...How is this possible?
He had originally thought this was purely a dream and a memory. If Kenjaku merely appeared at this specific point, it would be reasonable.
But why did the Kenjaku in this dream possess self-awareness?
Was this the effect of the cursed spirit's technique, or did Kenjaku... have another plan?
Yuji understood that the reason Kenjaku deliberately avoided exposing his actions and cursed energy residue in front of Jujutsu High was to use the body of "Suguru Geto" to seal Satoru Gojo in the Prison Realm during the Shibuya Incident.
But why did the Kenjaku before his eyes actively appear in front of him?
Could it be that the butterfly effect caused by his rebirth led Kenjaku to form a different plan?
"We finally meet, Yuji Itadori."
"Although I have been observing you for a long time, this should be your first time talking face-to-face with me like this."
Kenjaku spoke gently, his tone devoid of even the slightest hostility. He didn't seem like an enemy at all, but rather like a parent coming to pick up their child from school.
"..."
Yuji didn't answer. He leaped down from the high building, his feet smashing heavily onto the concrete ground.
BOOM—!
The ground cracked layer by layer. The young man stood less than ten meters away from Kenjaku.
"Who are you? What are you plotting?"
Yuji couldn't feel Kenjaku's cursed energy on this curse, so it was highly probable that Kenjaku didn't have the authority to control this curse remotely.
Even so, Yuji chose to pretend not to know the other's identity.
"Don't be nervous. The 'me' in this dream is just a 'replica' recreated based on this Special Grade curse's impression. The real me in reality won't have the memories of this place."
Kenjaku spread his hands, the sleeves of his kasaya swaying gently in the night wind.
"But this is just a dream. You can't hurt me, and I can't hurt you. In fact, when I caught this curse, I specifically tailored this dream for you. This is an opportunity for a 'conversation' I specially prepared for you. After all, with Satoru Gojo at Jujutsu High and your troublesome companions around, it would be hard for us to have some quiet alone time like this."
"Is that so?"
The moment his words fell, a layer of blood armor had already covered Yuji's right arm, and the young man sprinted forward fiercely.
"Black Flash!"
BANG!
A punch landed on Kenjaku's raised arm blocking the attack. Pitch-black lightning spread outward, and the concrete ground beneath the two of them sank in a circular shape! Cracks spread in all directions like a spider web. The streetlights on both sides snapped under the impact. The cars parked by the road in the distance of this dreamscape were overturned by the shockwave, their windows instantly shattered to pieces!
Kenjaku, having taken this blow, retreated backward, his feet gouging two trenches several meters long into the ground before he barely came to a halt.
"..."
Yuji retracted his fist. Although he now possessed formidable strength, he had only been training for less than six days, and he was still a ways off from being a Special Grade sorcerer.
Therefore, this punch didn't cause much damage to Kenjaku.
"...It really does hurt."
Kenjaku lowered his arm. The area struck by Yuji had already turned black. The man began to mutter to himself.
His tone was like evaluating the taste of a dish.
"I noticed it during the exchange event. You can control the frequency of your Black Flashes to a great extent, right?"
The wound on his arm quickly began to heal. The sleeve of his kasaya was torn to shreds, so Kenjaku casually ripped off the ragged cloth and tossed it aside.
"...You've been secretly observing me?"
Yuji narrowed his eyes.
"I told you—this is just a dream. Dreams are based on reality and won't deviate too far from the laws of reality. So, our strengths are replicated here."
Kenjaku closed his eyes and looked up at the sky.
It was noon now, and the sky was an endless blue.
"However, if it were the 'me' from the past, I certainly wouldn't have imagined that a sorcerer even stronger than the Gojo clan's Six Eyes was personally created by my own hands."
The man in the kasaya raised his arm, his palm open. The steam generated by the Reverse Cursed Technique rose into the air. Kenjaku's relaxed expression looked as if he was intoxicated by something.
He was savoring the punch from just now.
"...I don't understand what you're talking about at all."
Yuji said coldly.
"I'm just grumbling. Don't mind it too much."
Kenjaku opened his eyes and looked at Yuji again.
"After all, there are too few people in this world who speak my language. Having a belly full of ideas with no one to confide in is truly a lonely thing."
"I'm regretting it a bit now. If I had kept you by my side and let you grow up under my influence, wouldn't my plan have already succeeded?"
Kenjaku let out a long sigh.
"Why exactly are you doing this?"
Yuji said expressionlessly.
Why is it like this? Kenjaku seems to have completely given up on hiding his identity.
Could it be that he has another way to seal Gojo-sensei?
Since that was the case, Yuji decided to drop the act.
"What are you referring to?"
Kenjaku spread his hands.
"Turning my biological mother, Kaori Itadori, into your test subject to give birth to me and make me Sukuna's vessel."
Yuji narrowed his eyes.
"You have stitches on your head too. So, from what you said just now, I deduced it. I know all of this, and I figured it out a long time ago."
"Every time you make a move, it perfectly coincides with a gap when Gojo-sensei is absent. You're deliberately avoiding him, and you've been observing me all along."
"But these aren't the things I really want to ask."
"What exactly is your goal? Why are you doing all this?"
Yuji and Kenjaku had very little interaction, and they knew very little about each other.
He voiced the question that had always puzzled him.
Hearing this, Kenjaku showed an appreciative smile on his face.
"To deduce the truth of the matter in just a few days—truly remarkable."
"But if I tell you, would you be willing to help me?" Kenjaku said.
Yuji replied coldly, "What do you think?"
Kenjaku shook his head.
"Then that settles it. You are a jujutsu sorcerer who upholds justice down to your bones. If you ask a wolf why it eats sheep, would the sheep understand if it told you?"
"I am not a sheep."
"Of course I know that," Kenjaku raised a hand toward Yuji. "Of course you are not a sheep. You are my son—the 'cage' I created to imprison Sukuna. You are the perfect masterpiece I prepared for a thousand years, personally created at the cost of taking over a woman's body."
"My most perfect masterpiece."
When Kenjaku uttered these words, there wasn't much showing off in his tone. Instead, it sounded more like stating a fact he genuinely believed from the bottom of his heart.
After all, Yuji's performance was indeed impeccable.
Kenjaku believed that, given time, Yuji would become the strongest person in history.
Yuji tilted his head. "When you say this, do you know how the Sukuna inside me is reacting?"
"...Hehe. What reaction could he have?"
Kenjaku remained unruffled.
"I made a Binding Vow with Sukuna, which means he is on my side. Although he has shown goodwill toward you, he will ultimately stand by me."
"...Are you really that confident?" Yuji asked.
"There will be no mistakes in my plan," Kenjaku said confidently.
"Let's put aside the nonsense about Sukuna for now. There's one thing I'm confused about. This giant baby is quite strong. You wouldn't waste such valuable combat power just to deal with me alone. What is your goal this time?" Yuji continued to ask.
Kenjaku's answer was unexpectedly straightforward. Facing his own son, he didn't seem to want to hide anything.
"I used an interesting experimental subject."
"I named it Shanmei. It's an artificial cursed spirit I created over a hundred years ago. Its cursed technique can squeeze dry the potential of other cursed spirits in a very short time, forcefully raising them to the Special Grade level."
"Therefore, I can create Special Grade curses at will to deal with you."
"The reinforced cursed spirits will quickly die off on their own. Although there are many flaws, it's quite handy for mass-producing disposable items."
Yuji narrowed his eyes upon hearing this, trying to catch any signs of lying in his expression. But Kenjaku's answer was extremely natural. He didn't intend to deceive Yuji at all.
"...Aren't you afraid of a backlash from the experimental subjects you create?"
Yuji asked in return. Judging from Kenjaku's description, this curse named Shanmei might not simply be meant to replace Hanami. It likely possessed strength comparable to Jogo's.
"What—are you worried about me?"
Kenjaku asked Yuji in return.
"No. I was just thinking that if someone like you lives a few more years, even the toilet cleaners in the jujutsu world will probably be Special Grade," Yuji said expressionlessly.
"That kind of situation would be very troublesome for me as a jujutsu sorcerer. So, the next time we meet, I will kill you."
"Pfft—hahahahaha."
Kenjaku was amused by Yuji's analogy.
"Interesting. You really are interesting. You can still maintain such a calm and composed demeanor in front of me?"
After laughing, Kenjaku wiped the tears from the corner of his eye, then unhurriedly stated.
"As a reward, I can give you one more piece of intel."
"This giant baby is just a disposable item. Having had all its potential squeezed dry, it will die at any moment. As long as you take your companions and leave now, you will all be safe."
After saying that, Kenjaku threw another question at Yuji.
"What do you plan to choose? Yuji Itadori."
"...Do you think I'll just run away like this?" Yuji countered.
"Isn't running away the safest method? It fits your personality of risking everything for your comrades," Kenjaku said unhurriedly, crossing his arms.
"I won't run away. I will kill this so-called 'test subject' of yours with my own hands. This is my personal decision. Its sins are far too grave."
Yuji's eyes grew cold.
If it were any other time, he might really have done as Kenjaku said: taken his comrades and fled immediately, waiting for the giant baby to die on its own.
But now was different.
He had watched this giant baby's memories and understood its sins in life.
Yuji would personally put an end to these sins and send this giant baby to hell.
What's more, both emotionally and logically, it was impossible for him to lose to this giant baby.
Kenjaku grinned. "Using all the remaining lifespan and future potential as a Binding Vow in exchange for a brief burst of power for one night."
As he spoke, he opened one hand, his voice growing slightly louder.
"The power of cursed spirits stems from human negative emotions! The more evil and ugly a person is in life, the stronger the cursed spirit they turn into after death! Just like this giant baby here."
"The strength of this curse has surpassed Dagon, and its total cursed energy can even barely reach Jogo's level."
"You defeated Jogo earlier by relying on Sukuna's power. Now, facing this curse, how will you respond?"
Yuji replied coldly. "You're so noisy and annoying. I said—I won't rely on Sukuna's power. I will kill it with my own hands."
"Then let me wait and see, Yuji Itadori."
Kenjaku lowered his arm, his face regaining that gentle and refined smile.
"I have always believed that giving birth to you was the most correct decision I've ever made. You will become the center of the storm."
"Don't disappoint me too much, my child."
In reality, at the school.
The central area of the campus had completely turned into ruins, and the baby—tens of meters long—was still crying in place.
The several clones had been killed off by Choso and the other three, leaving only one.
But this final clone had two of Sukuna's fingers providing cursed energy support. Its strength far exceeded the other ordinary clones—even reaching the level of the Four Disaster Curses.
BANG—!
Choso was punched in the cheek by the charging clone. Before the blood could act as a cushion, the black-haired man was sent flying by the punch and crashed into the wall of a school building in the distance.
BOOM—!
A cloud of thick smoke rose.
Seizing the opening, Kento Nanami leaped into the air, gripping his blunt blade with both hands, and slashed down at the clone!
CLANG—!
However, the clone was faster than Kento Nanami. The blunt blade—originally aimed at its head—struck heavily against the clone's raised arm blocking the attack. A piercing sound echoed, as if the short sword had struck steel.
Kento Nanami's pupils contracted slightly.
His full-power strike as a Grade 1 sorcerer was actually caught single-handedly.
Before Kento Nanami could adjust his posture, the clone had already smashed a fist into his face.
BANG—!
Like Choso, his vision blurred, and he was sent flying backward.
BOOM—!
"..."
Megumi crouched on the road not far away. His body was already covered in wounds caused by the clone's sharp claws.
Damn it. Not only Yoshino, but even my cursed energy has already...
The black-haired boy raised his hand and wiped the nosebleed flowing from his nostrils.
Choso's Piercing Blood deals negligible damage to it, and Nanami-san can't break through its defense at all. Two Grade 1 sorcerers can't do anything against this guy...
We are in huge... trouble.
The reason Yoshino and I didn't fall into the dream is probably because that baby curse wants to concentrate the power of its technique on Itadori alone.
So Itadori probably won't be able to break free from the dream's effects anytime soon. The only ones who can fight right now are the four of us.
Megumi gritted his teeth, enduring the pain and thinking hard.
We must work together to defeat this clone before we have a chance to exorcise the baby curse, and create an opening for Itadori...
"But how is that even possible!"
Megumi clenched his fist and slammed it into the ground.
BANG!
This guy is unreasonably strong. Choso and Nanami-san can't handle him, and even Yoshino is practically out of combat.
Megumi glanced at Junpei not far away, who—like him—was injured and kneeling on the ground. His cursed energy was nearly depleted, and he had already dispelled his shikigami.
Is it really my only option to use that move?
The thought of summoning Mahoraga flashed through his mind.
<><><><><><>
Read Advanced Chapters on : patreon.com/Kaizo247
~ Every 150 PS = Bonus Chapter!
~ Push the Story forward with your [Power Stones]