A few days later.
Tokyo — an airport that had long been reduced to scorched earth after the disaster.
The deafening roar of engines broke the dead silence. A military transport plane with moldering military insignia heavily hit the improvised runway with a screech of tires.
The wings kicked up wind like a giant wave crashing against the freshly paved ground. Charred gravel and floating dust instantly swirled upward.
The wind swept across the ravaged land, turning it into a raging sandstorm.
The hatch crashed down with a bang—the hiss of hydraulic valves hadn't even faded when Yuuta Okkotsu was already standing at the edge of the hatch. The wind lifted his disheveled hair, the hem of his clothes frantically fluttering, but he didn't move. His eyes pierced through the flying sand in the sky and firmly locked onto two figures standing quietly, also blindfolded, not far away.
"Gojo-sensei!"
The wind was still carrying cracked asphalt with sand and gravel. When he saw the familiar white-haired figure, his eyes instantly lit up, and the haze between his brows dissipated, blooming into a bright smile.
"You must be Mr. Nishida! When I first met him, I was Gojo-sensei's student, Yuuta Okkotsu! Hello, please take care of me!"
Locke had seen such a formal and almost restrained greeting countless times recently. He waved his hand indifferently and corrected in a flat tone:
"Hello, but don't call me Kagetatsu. I can be him, but I'm not him."
"Huh?"
This time, his acting directly stunned Yuuta Okkotsu. He looked up at Satoru Gojo with a confused expression, as if asking if he had made another mistake.
Seeing this, Gojo Satoru laughed back and forth, raised his hand and patted Okkotsu's tense shoulder, tilted his chin toward Locke to smooth things over, while hooking his arm with the other hand and turning, walking off the podium.
"Alright, alright, don't tease him. Let's go."
On the way to the temporary stronghold, Gojo Satoru finally showed a bit of playfulness and explained to Yuuta Okkotsu the ins and outs of Locke's reincarnation and the current clone of the world.
When the group entered the temporary stronghold in Tokyo and passed through the stream of people, Yuuta Okkotsu still couldn't suppress the doubt in his heart and quietly asked:
"Then why hide it? Are you afraid the government and the United Nations will be jealous?"
"That's just one of the reasons." Gojo Satoru waved his hand casually, not taking the so-called government seriously at all.
"Besides, if you really want to talk about jealousy, it's more about being afraid of his power. That guy is so strong he can't even be called a monster. You've seen it too, right? The monster that claimed it could devour the entire planet was crushed to ashes with a single move by him."
As his words fell, Okkotsu's thoughts instantly returned to the day before.
On the satellite video he had received from the form, the giant serpent, which had already condensed into a complete entity and completely separated from the concept of cursed spirits, tried its best to break through the atmosphere and escape the planet, but was killed on the spot by a single shot from Kagetatsu, still as clear as if it were right before him.
Recalling that scene again, he only sighed quietly in his heart—this was a power completely different from the same dimension as these sorcerers. No wonder it caused fear in the highest echelons of human authority.
Perhaps, in other words, the main weapon currently possessed by humanity was called Nishida Kagetatsu.
Perhaps only by using a nuclear bomb and fighting to the end could the slightest glimmer of possibility appear.
The three walked side by side down the narrow passage of the stronghold, while armed personnel, medical teams, and researchers around them hurried by.
Although the three's attire was particularly conspicuous on the solemn and ordinary base, those coming and going didn't even squint, as if they were transparent, not daring to cast even half a glance.
This was a common development area directly under the joint council. The level of secrecy and strategic importance was at the highest level. Ordinary personnel had to go through several verification steps just to be near the peripheral cordon. But the three simply passed through as if no one was around, and no one came forward to interrogate or stop them the entire way, as if entering an unoccupied zone.
Seeing that Okkotsu had doubts, Gojo Satoru also directly helped dispel them:
"It's because of religion."
"Huh?"
Seeing that Okkotsu was too confused, Gojo Satoru didn't keep him in suspense and gave an example.
"You might not know this, but when you just returned, compared to the now-exploded public opinion about sorcerers and cursed spirits, governments around the world were more worried about whether they would create a fanatical worship of Kagetatsu. After all, he's the one who killed Yagi Orochi with Susano'o."
After that, Gojo Satoru also elbowed Locke. Locke ignored him, just rolling his eyes.
After the reminder, Yuuta Okkotsu also reacted—if you put it that way, it really did fit the image of myths and legends. Plus, the other party was so powerful it was beyond imagination, so it was normal to consider him a god.
Wait a minute! The other party could still reincarnate! That's hard...
Seeing his student's reaction, Gojo Satoru also showed that he had actually done something:
"You see, even you almost believed it, let alone others."
At this moment, the three headed toward a tent in the center of the stronghold. Gojo Satoru and Locke simultaneously began to search for listening devices. After a while, they found over 160 and threw them out, much to the shocked eyes of Yuuta Okkotsu, who seemed long accustomed to it.
"Religious faith is necessary for existence, but for these people, they can tolerate a false religion, but they cannot tolerate a true 'god.'"
At this point, Yuuta Okkotsu fully understood. His entire body broke out in a sweat, realizing the seriousness of the problem. If it wasn't handled well, wouldn't this be...
Although Okkotsu was young, he also knew that people couldn't stay rational forever, let alone believe that everyone was clear-headed. The top brass of the jujutsu world had proven this—they were not only stupid but also bad.
"But don't worry. You don't think this situation will happen, at least not for now."
Gojo Satoru stretched, looked at his student sitting cross-legged, and said the purpose of calling him back.
"Because humanity still needs him to face possible future crises, opponents that humanity cannot defeat under any circumstances."
After these words, Gojo Satoru handed Yuuta Okkotsu a tablet, on which was recorded one of the electronic pages of the "Chronicles of the Pacified Demon Realm" forged by Demon Head Kijuro.
"In ancient times, there was a heavenly weapon that came from the outer void of the universe, crossed the stars, passed through dimensions, and descended to the earthly world. It was called Gilbaris, known as the 'Weapon of the Final Calamity.'"
"Its body was enough to cover the sky, its blade to tear the heavens. Wherever the billions of weapons it launched fled, all spiritual wisdom was cut off, cities lay in ruins, and all beings fell silent."
"This weapon was neither a demon nor a devil, but a supreme spiritual intelligence created by a sentient race of the astral world in the name of eliminating chaos, maintaining the idea of absolute peace, and carrying out the reality of exterminating all spirits."
"Fortunately, there were brave men who, with the help of Red Steel, overcame countless hardships and dangers, finally defeated the fierce blade of the enemy and pushed it back beyond the abyss."
"However, thousands of years have passed. An ominous star has appeared. This weapon will eventually come again when heaven and earth are turned upside down, and it will finally fall."
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