Just by hearing this first question, Mahito knew why Kokichi in the original work knew so much.
He even knew how Kenjaku's faction should deal with the invincible Gojo Satoru, and how even after death, he could use a contingency plan to obstruct Kenjaku's group.
During their collaboration, a similar question-and-answer session must have taken place.
Unlike his irritable appearance in the original work, his intelligence was actually very high, and his thinking was very comprehensive.
His only flaw was probably being overly impulsive.
If he had endured in the original work, he would certainly have played a greater role.
Even now, his question was equally sharp and straight to the core.
The correct answer is:
survival.
Mahito did not feel safe at all right now.
Leaving aside Gojo Satoru, who was far away, Kenjaku, who was close at hand, had no intention of letting Mahito go.
Several times, Mahito could feel the malice surging in Kenjaku's heart.
This wasn't because Kenjaku truly wanted to kill Mahito, but simply because Kenjaku had the thought of wanting to test him out.
Just this thought alone made Kenjaku eager to move, finding openings to probe.
Mahito would guarantee with his life that if it weren't for the Binding Vow, Kenjaku would certainly move against him.
Even though they had a Binding Vow now, the moment the Binding Vow ended, Kenjaku would definitely make a move.
This had nothing to do with the comparison of strength between the two parties; it was simply because Kenjaku wanted to do it.
With such an ally supervising him, how could Mahito dare to stop?
He dared not, absolutely not.
He could only run with all his might, continuing to run even if he coughed up blood, until he achieved true security.
"Peace of mind."
Mahito steepled his fingers, speaking slowly yet powerfully.
He said,
"Dio once said in JoJo: 'People live for peace of mind.'"
"Whether it is striving for fame and profit, dominating others, or earning money, it is all for peace of mind."
"Getting married or making friends is also for peace of mind."
"Striving for peace is actually just finding excuses for one's own peace of mind."
"These words are somewhat biased, but they strike at the psychology of most life forms."
"Everything that exists in the world can be included—"
"Whether it is flora, fauna, fish, or beasts; whether it is humans or Cursed Spirits."
"Peace of mind is the most fundamental pursuit of all living things."
"What I want now is eternal peace of mind."
"Whether it is power, influence, or ascending to godhood—I act for peace of mind."
The puppet face moved its disc, looking at the surrounding lineup, and asked,
"Right now, counting only those I see, you have six Special Grade combatants."
"Although Kirara Hoshi hasn't reached Special Grade combat power, due to her unique Cursed Technique, they wouldn't lose in a head-on fight against a Special Grade combatant for a short time, and if used for support, they can even surpass Special Grade combat power."
"Is a lineup like this still unable to give you peace of mind?"
Mahito countered flatly,
"If Gojo Satoru suddenly attacked us here, how many seconds do you think we would survive?"
It wasn't about how long they could survive, but how many seconds.
This sentence alone revealed how well Mahito understood Gojo Satoru.
Kokichi sighed.
"Less than one second... I understand what you mean."
"As long as Gojo Satoru is alive, you cannot rest easy."
"That is why you allied with Curse Users and built up this faction."
Jogo couldn't hold back.
"I know Gojo Satoru is strong, but everyone here combined can't resist him for one second? Mahito, aren't you being a little too modest?"
Kokichi's puppet face looked at Jogo and questioned,
"Are you saying you have the ability to resist Gojo Satoru's Domain Expansion?"
"Are you that confident?"
Jogo asked,
"What is his Domain Expansion?"
"Why will we be killed in less than a second just because he uses Domain Expansion?"
Kokichi was speechless for a moment.
Mahito also felt a bit embarrassed.
He took off his sunglasses and handed them to Jogo.
"Jogo, hold my sunglasses for me."
The implication was:
don't interrupt.
Jogo understood the hint.
He kept restraining himself, finally giving in, grabbing the sunglasses, and sitting silently in the chair with a sour face.
Hanami offered him a few words of comfort.
"It's my turn to ask a question."
Mahito rose from the plastic high-backed chair, stood tall, and looked at the metal disc.
"Kokichi, why did you specifically seek to learn about Ryomen Sukuna?"
Kokichi did not evade the question.
He said,
"Because of you, King of Curses."
"Me?" Mahito asked.
"A Cursed Spirit who formed a cooperative relationship with a Curse User—that is the label on you."
"Geto Suguru came to find me before this news spread."
"Once your involvement reached me, I became convinced that Geto Suguru's partner must be you."
"Then, I pondered what you intended to do."
As he spoke, the puppet face's mouth couldn't help but open and close with a grinding, clattering sound.
That seemed to be self-mockery.
He said,
"It didn't require much thought at all."
"I immediately realized: is there any reason for the cooperation between Cursed Spirits and Curse Users other than overthrowing the current jujutsu world?"
"But if you want to overthrow the current jujutsu world, there is one person you absolutely cannot avoid."
"Gojo Satoru."
"You must deal with Gojo Satoru, otherwise overthrowing the current jujutsu world is impossible."
"Based on this, I paid attention to Ryomen Sukuna."
The puppet face's eyes rotated once, looking toward Mahito.
He said seriously,
"Ryomen Sukuna is a real figure from the history of the jujutsu world, and after his death, he left behind the Special Grade cursed object, Ryomen Sukuna's fingers."
"A thousand years ago, he was known as the strongest sorcerer."
"Even a thousand years later, after Gojo Satoru was born, Ryomen Sukuna's strength is still recognized by the jujutsu world."
"There are even many scholars who believe that even Gojo Satoru is no match for Ryomen Sukuna."
"Ryomen Sukuna is the genuine strongest sorcerer in history."
"If you want to defeat Gojo Satoru, you must find a way to resurrect Ryomen Sukuna."
"That was my idea."
Impressive.
Mahito sighed with genuine admiration.
Kokichi's explanation changed Mahito's view of the conservative old fogeys in the original work.
Regardless of the initial thoughts of the higher-ups, the first reaction of those old fogeys upon learning about Itadori Yuji, a potential vessel for Ryomen Sukuna, was to ensure Yuji died while carrying fragments of Ryomen Sukuna's power, even if it was just one finger.
This action now had a clear and insightful rationale.
Everything was done to prevent the reappearance of Ryomen Sukuna in his prime.
Even if by chance Ryomen Sukuna was resurrected, they would absolutely not allow this strongest in history to threaten the modern strongest.
The reason why Gojo Satoru, despite having no prior intelligence, still faced Ryomen Sukuna with full confidence and said "I will win" also became clear.
Gojo Satoru had indeed thoroughly understood Ryomen Sukuna, and based on that understanding and a measure of his own strength, he was confident he could defeat him.
That was why he said it.
Next, Kokichi asked,
"It's my turn—how do you plan to defeat Gojo Satoru?"
Mahito held up three fingers.
"There are three methods, and we choose to implement all three concurrently."
"There are actually three methods?"
"And they can be implemented simultaneously?"
Kokichi's voice was clearly distorted, as if he wanted to laugh but couldn't, or wanted to be serious but found it unbelievable.
Mahito lowered two fingers.
"The first method is the seal."
"We have a way to seal Gojo Satoru for at least a hundred years at a fixed time and fixed location."
"The seal isn't completely reliable, but at least this century will allow us to do anything we want without worrying about the threat from Gojo Satoru."
"Prison Realm!"
"You want to use the Prison Realm to seal Gojo Satoru!"
Kokichi blurted out.
Mahito blinked twice.
"You can even guess that?"
"To deal with Gojo Satoru, there are only a few methods, and Prison Realm is the most obvious among them, so it's not strange that I know about it."
"But there's a problem here."
"The conditions for the Prison Realm's seal are extremely stringent."
"When I found the information on Prison Realm, I immediately abandoned this possibility."
"How can you make Gojo Satoru meet the sealing conditions?"
Kokichi asked.
Mahito remained silent.
Kokichi knew he hadn't earned their trust yet, so he gave up.
"My apologies. Now is not the time for me to ask questions."
"Please continue."
Mahito extended a second finger.
"The second method is the Ryomen Sukuna you guessed."
"We have a way to revive Ryomen Sukuna and restore him..."
"...to his peak period."
"Given Ryomen Sukuna's nature, he certainly won't obey our commands."
"But as long as Ryomen Sukuna is resurrected, it will create a chaotic battle between Gojo Satoru and Ryomen Sukuna."
"Because neither Gojo Satoru nor Ryomen Sukuna will tolerate the existence of the other."
"That alone is enough."
Kokichi gently moved the metal disc he controlled, as if nodding in acknowledgement.
He had already guessed this point himself.
Otherwise, he wouldn't have specifically sought out information on Ryomen Sukuna.
Mahito extended a third finger and smiled.
"The third situation is me."
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