Deep within Tokyo Jujutsu High, Eichi walked along the Way leading to the Tombs of the Star.
According to Masamichi, if Tengen wanted to see you, finding her was simple.
You just had to go to the only mobile building deep within Tokyo Jujutsu High.
Push the door open, take the elevator down, then walk to the base of the giant tree. There, a door would appear.
If you opened that door and saw Tengen, it meant she was willing to meet you. If not, it meant she wasn't.
If Tengen didn't want to see you, it didn't matter how long you searched. It would be pointless.
Barrier Techniques in Jujutsu Kaisen were incredibly mysterious. Depending on the technique and binding used, they could produce a variety of miraculous effects.
From the simplest type, which blocked ordinary people outside a curtain from seeing what was inside, to the barrier used in the Kyoto Sister School Exchange Event that only blocked Satoru, and even more complex ones that interfered with time and space.
For example, the barrier inside the Cursed Spirit that trapped Mei Mei and Utahime for an hour, while two days passed outside.
So, if Tengen didn't wish to be found, almost no one could locate her within the countless layers of barriers in the Tombs of the Star.
Unless their Barrier Techniques rivaled hers—such as Kenjaku.
As he pushed open the door, a twisted jungle appeared before Eichi.
Here, none of the trees grew straight.
Instead, they twisted like serpents entangled with each other.
Or perhaps like braids unraveling into directions that never ended.
Even more unsettling, there wasn't a single leaf in this forest.
The countless warped trees, like withered branches that still lived, stretched toward the sky like the claws of a devil.
"Why would a 'great, righteous, and revered' figure of the Jujutsu World live somewhere that looks like the Demon Realm?"
Eichi was speechless.
Shouldn't good people live in normal places?
Someone like Tengen—shouldn't she be in a palace, a shrine, a garden, or maybe a quiet wooden cottage?
Why was she competing with the Demon King for who had the more ominous lair?
Seriously, good and evil were getting harder to distinguish these days.
Finishing his muttering, Eichi walked straight toward the elevator.
Clang. Clang.
The old elevator emitted loud crashes.
The sound alone made Eichi wonder if it might collapse at any moment.
"Does no one maintain this place?"
Just how socially anxious was Tengen? Couldn't she hire someone to regularly clean and repair the facilities?
Reaching the base of the giant tree, he opened a door. After walking down a long corridor, Eichi stepped into a pure white space.
At the center of that space stood a massive thumb-like figure with four eyes.
That's right, it was a thumb.
Tengen's attire was extremely crude.
The first time Eichi saw her, he even wondered if she had cut five holes into a burlap sack and crawled inside.
Normal clothing had sleeves and pant legs, making it easy to identify limbs.
Tengen's outfit, however, did not. Like a sack with holes, her hands and feet simply stuck out, and there was no visible outline of a human figure.
At the moment, Tengen had her arms crossed in front of her.
She looked like a thick, round-headed cylinder.
"What is it, scion of the Zen'in clan?"
Tengen looked curiously at Eichi, who had been staring at her since he entered.
"Nothing. I just heard that Lord Tengen was once a beautiful woman in a kimono. This form is a bit..."
Eichi tactfully commented on her appearance.
"Heh, I may live forever, but I can't avoid aging. You'll look like this too after 500 years."
Tengen responded with a chuckle.
For a moment, Eichi felt like she really was just a kind old person.
"That honestly sounds terrifying. But I'm a man, so I probably won't end up like that."
"That mindset will serve you well. It's good for longevity."
"I'll take that as a blessing."
"You're welcome. I heard those kids say you came to report something important. What is it?"
At her prompt, Eichi didn't waste time. He reached into his shadow and pulled out the investigation report prepared by Jujutsu Headquarters.
Tengen began reviewing it seriously.
Meanwhile, Eichi quietly examined the barrier around her.
Sure enough, this wasn't her real body, but one she created through Barrier Techniques.
The purpose of this body was to gather her consciousness, which would otherwise be dispersed across the world, and prevent it from dissipating.
Tengen's true body was likely still in an evolutionary state, sealed within the giant tree at the center of the Tombs of the Star.
"Ability to control powerful Cursed Spirits, multiple Cursed Objects, gravity Technique, a stitched forehead, open Domain…"
Tengen's gaze lingered especially long on the note about the stitched forehead before concluding:
"There's only one person capable of this: the sorcerer who has lived for a thousand years—Kenjaku."
"That Buddhist artifact said to represent compassion and salvation?"
Eichi followed her line of thought.
"Exactly."
"Why did she attack the Star Plasma Vessel? Do you have some old grudge with her?"
"That ties into the goal of the child, Kenjaku."
That child? Tengen's seniority really must be higher than Kenjaku's.
Eichi's shadow condensed into a small table and chairs in front of them. He also brought out tea and snacks.
The two sat across from one another.
"Kenjaku's objective is to forcibly evolve all humans in Japan, and her method is to assimilate them with me."
"Assimilation like the Star Plasma Vessel?"
"Yes, but there's a key difference. Ordinary people don't have high compatibility with me. If I assimilated with them, their will would interfere with mine. If I assimilated with the entire population, that immense malice, once unleashed, would instantly engulf the world."
"I see."
Eichi understood now.
In the world of Jujutsu Kaisen, whether it was Incarnation or other forms of possession, the Soul of the body's original owner never completely vanished.
That's why Suguru could resist Kenjaku when Satoru called to him, and why Sukuna had to destroy Megumi's Soul by using Megumi's own power to kill Tsumiki.
Even after Sukuna took Megumi's body, he couldn't erase his Soul entirely.
Let alone Tengen.
Plus, this world was dominated by curses. Kenjaku aimed to create the ultimate Cursed Spirit, composed of the Cursed Energy of 100 million people.
'I wonder if that 100-million-person amalgamated Cursed Spirit would be stronger than All the World's Evils from the Holy Grail.'
Although All the World's Evils in the Type-Moon Holy Grail is said to be the malice of all mankind, it's more like a concept materialized by the Holy Grail itself.
It's the result of Angra Mainyu wishing to bear humanity's evils, and the Grail responding by manifesting that concept.
Its power depends on the Holy Grail that materializes it.
'Considering the power scaling of both worlds, All the World's Evils should be stronger. I never saw that 100-million-person Cursed Spirit in my previous life. I wonder if Gege has written it yet, or if the story will end after the fight with Sukuna.'
(To be continued.)