The Kamo Family, his most useful chess piece, was destroyed.
This was a terrible situation for Kenjaku.
Although the Kamo Family did not provide him with much direct power, and he often had to change identities to protect them, it provided him with almost all non-combat assistance, such as funds, intelligence, and manpower.
Most of the time, these fragmented forms of support were actually more important than raw power.
After all, apart from the few individuals standing at the very top, Kenjaku's power was already sufficient for him to run rampant in this world.
But he had not expected Eichi to actually dare to act against the Kamo Family, one of The Big Three Families standing at the pinnacle of the jujutsu world.
Thinking of this, Kenjaku's gaze flickered to Abe no Seimei beside him.
Back then, Abe no Seimei had also been subjected to furious retaliation after his death and erased from jujutsu history because he slaughtered high-ranking officials.
However, it was clear that Abe no Seimei, who was already arrogant and looked down on everything at the time, did not, like Eichi, rally enough people to share the benefits before acting.
"What's wrong?"
Abe no Seimei was currently replenishing the shikigami that had fallen during the Exchange Event attack.
As long as Abe no Seimei remained, these shikigami would not be completely annihilated.
"Just thinking about future plans."
Kenjaku sat sideways on a reddish-brown sofa.
He rested an arm on the armrest, propping his cheek with his fist.
"How do you feel about them?"
Kenjaku smiled as he looked at Abe no Seimei.
"They are indeed enemies worth being wary of."
Abe no Seimei replied while meticulously drawing Cursed Energy patterns.
Although this Exchange Event attack plan had been Kenjaku's suggestion, the main executor was Abe no Seimei.
Because Abe no Seimei was a very confident, even somewhat conceited, person.
This confidence stemmed from his power, as well as his past experience and accumulation.
Given enough time, he alone was an army. He alone could initiate a Night Parade of a Hundred Demons against the former jujutsu world.
But even Sukuna could not overcome time, and Abe no Seimei's power would also weaken with the passage of time.
For this reason, Abe no Seimei wanted to create an immortal body for himself and achieve rebirth within this body, advancing toward a higher rank of life.
Once the evolution was complete, Abe no Seimei would use absolute power to create his ideal world.
And Satoru and Eichi were the biggest obstacles in his path.
Therefore, after being released from the seal, he wanted to personally understand the true power of Satoru and Eichi, whom Kenjaku and the Cursed Spirits had praised to the heavens.
If Eichi and Satoru's power was merely exaggerated by these people, Abe no Seimei could conveniently deal with them during the operation.
If their power was truly strong, then he could see it with his own eyes.
"What do you plan to do next?"
Kenjaku asked the question he was most concerned about.
"First, restore my power to complete the evolution, and then crush the current jujutsu world."
"Are you confident you can defeat them?"
A curious look appeared in Kenjaku's eyes.
If Abe no Seimei still dared to say this after personally witnessing the power of Satoru and Eichi, it proved that he definitely had a trump card that could threaten the two of them.
"No matter what kind of person, there will always be weaknesses, and my shikigami are endless and ever-changing.
Given enough time and accumulation, they will clear all obstacles for me."
Whether it was Satoru, Mahoraga, Eichi, or those Heroic Spirits, Abe no Seimei had already seen them and had initial countermeasures.
What he needed to do now was perfect this plan to achieve the maximum chance of victory.
For this, he needed a sufficient number of powerful shikigami.
Especially shikigami capable of Domain Expansion.
Even Abe no Seimei himself did not create many such shikigami during his lifetime, so he now had to accumulate them.
Accumulate them until his shikigami were enough to shake the two of them.
"But we don't have that much time."
Kenjaku murmured softly.
Abe no Seimei could wait.
Because Abe no Seimei's goal did not require Tengen to achieve.
But Kenjaku could not.
Kenjaku wanted to achieve his goal, to witness the possibilities of Cursed Energy that even he could not control.
To do this, he had to seize and control Tengen before it completed its evolution.
Therefore, Kenjaku could not agree to Abe no Seimei's slow and steady plan.
"Your shikigami are indeed strong, but can they compare to Heroic Spirits?"
Kenjaku's words made Abe no Seimei's movements pause for an instant.
Seeing Abe no Seimei's reaction, Kenjaku's lips curved into an arc.
"If the enemy were only Satoru, I would not object to your plan, because his power has already reached its peak, and he will hardly get any stronger in the future.
But not now, because there is another existence of the same type as you, Azuma Eichi."
Kenjaku sat up straight, looking at Abe no Seimei with a serious expression.
"Do you know? It took Azuma Eichi a very long time to summon his first Heroic Spirit, at least seven years, but it only took one or two years to summon the second Heroic Spirit."
Kenjaku's fingers changed continuously as he spoke.
"And according to intelligence, what he needs to summon Heroic Spirits are the same kind of Imaginary Cursed Spirits born from ordinary people's imagined ideas of Heroic Spirits."
"Now the times have changed. Information spreads much more easily than before, and collecting Imaginary Heroic Spirits will also become faster and faster. This means that one day, his speed of increasing Heroic Spirits will surpass your speed of increasing shikigami, and then..."
Kenjaku did not continue, but this information was enough.
Abe no Seimei's expression became somewhat serious.
If what Kenjaku said was true, then the longer they dragged it out, the more disadvantageous it would be for them.
"But he will die one day. As long as Azuma Eichi dies, those Heroic Spirits will naturally not be a problem."
Abe no Seimei's words came from his own personal experience.
His shikigami army, which had dominated the world during his lifetime, fell apart because of his departure.
"What if he turns himself into a Heroic Spirit?"
Kenjaku's words silenced Abe no Seimei.
In the era he lived in, such things were not recognized by mainstream values, so he did not think Eichi would do that.
But just a few days ago, he had personally seen Eichi use Heroic Spirit possession.
"Then what do you mean?"
Hearing Abe no Seimei's words, Kenjaku finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Although the destruction of the Kamo Family made Kenjaku lose most of his avenues for obtaining information, Abe no Seimei had even fewer ways to get intelligence.
Therefore, the information gap became Kenjaku's best weapon to make Abe no Seimei cooperate with him.
"Let's share information first. We must familiarize ourselves with and unite all the power we can gather to have a chance to defeat the current jujutsu world."
Kenjaku smiled and extended his hand to Abe no Seimei.
Looking at the hand placed before him, Abe no Seimei's eyes narrowed slightly.
He knew that Kenjaku definitely had his own plans, but he also had to admit that he truly needed his power now.
As for later...
Their two hands clasped together.
(To be continued.)