Kenjaku clapped his hands.
"Alright, let's move on to the next step of our plan."
"Starting off with a big move, I see." Fushiguro Toji let out a low chuckle.
Kenjaku held up one finger.
"First: we are going to test Gojo Satoru's strength. This will naturally be Fushiguro Toji-san's responsibility. We will do our best to assist you. At the same time, Mahito will bring all the first-generation Cursed Spirits to follow you. You only need to keep yourself hidden and wait for the battle between Mahito and Gojo Satoru to begin before preparing a sneak attack."
Mahito smiled.
"Don't worry about me. It doesn't matter even if I die here; I will return from the Yellow Springs. So, just focus on grasping the best possible timing."
"Of course, if you judge that there is no good opportunity throughout the entire battle, even if I die, I permit you to retreat quietly."
"As the name suggests, this is just a probing attack, not a total offensive."
Fushiguro Toji nodded.
Kenjaku held up a second finger and continued:
"The second team will be led by me. Mahito will send a clone to follow me. I will lead Young Miss Fushiguro and Ashiya-san to break into Tengen's shrine, the Star Corridor, and attempt a direct attack on Tengen. Of course, I don't harbor the delusion of killing Tengen directly, but it will be worth it as long as we can bring out one or two Special Grade cursed objects from the Star Corridor."
"Hakari-san is still at Tokyo Jujutsu High and hasn't left yet. We might be able to get his help. However, considering Hakari-san's feelings for Tokyo Jujutsu High, he might just remain neutral. I haven't included him in my plan."
Tsumiki Fushiguro spoke calmly:
"I'm only going to see Megumi; he's, my responsibility. If he happens to not be there, I won't take action."
"So, Megumi really was taken to Tokyo Jujutsu High by Gojo Satoru," Fushiguro Toji remarked. "Is this... a family reunion?"
"I imagine you're the only one Megumi has absolutely no interest in seeing," Tsumiki Fushiguro said as a statement of fact, without sarcasm.
"I suppose so, ha-ha."
Fushiguro Toji licked his lips and asked, "The timing?"
"In one week," Mahito laughed. "In one week... let's go and clash with the strongest force in the Jujutsu World and its most central shrine."
…
One week later.
Gojo Satoru stepped out of the car and stood by the roadside, looking down.
It was a field of flowers. Even though it wasn't the season for blooming, countless flowers were competing to blossom. As the mountain wind blew, countless petals drifted into the air.
The kidnapped Utahime Iori was there, tied to a chair with a seal over her mouth. Countless flowers fluttered around her. At this moment, the famous Ghost Miko displayed an unprecedented fragility and delicate beauty.
Standing beside her were two "people."
No need to use the Six Eyes to analyze; with just one glance, Gojo Satoru could confirm that one of them was an Intelligent Cursed Spirit. Although this Cursed Spirit had humanoid limbs, its head lacked human features. It had a head resembling a volcano, with a single large eye stretching across the upper half of its face, and it was hunched over like an old man.
In terms of being conspicuous, this Cursed Spirit's terrifying face and the Cursed Energy radiating like heat waves at all times were enough to overshadow the "person" beside him. However, Gojo Satoru only spared him a glance before focusing all his attention on the "person" next to him.
It was an elegant man whose attire perfectly matched Gojo Satoru's image of a master swordsman. He wore a haori over a kimono and hakama, with white socks and wooden clogs on his feet. On his back was a sword of incredible length. His hands hung naturally, emerging from wide sleeves, slightly curved and in a state of extreme relaxation.
He wore a bamboo hat, with sun and moon ornaments hanging from the brim. Half of his face was covered by the hat, but a faint glint of heterochromia flickered in the darkness beneath it.
Unlike the volcano-head beside him, almost no Cursed Energy could be detected around his body. All the Cursed Energy flowed quietly within him. Gojo Satoru's Six Eyes could clearly see this slowly moving power. The Cursed Energy flowed from his abdomen to his limbs and back again, an uninterrupted flow that seemed to follow a natural cycle.
Just by seeing such a smooth cycle of Cursed Energy, Gojo Satoru judged that this guy was terrifyingly strong.
"King of Curses, Mahito," Gojo Satoru said in a low voice. "I finally get to meet you."
As soon as he finished speaking, the King of Curses suddenly looked up, and the heterochromia hidden under the hat was finally revealed to Gojo Satoru. The King of Curses broke into a smile and nodded slightly toward Gojo Satoru.
At this moment, the King of Curses stood in the center of the flower field in a relaxed posture, dressed in swordsman's attire. The mountain wind never ceased, blowing petals from the field onto him. He stood there like a painting, looking up across the vast distance to meet Gojo Satoru's gaze, his smile like that of one awaiting a dear friend from afar.
Even with Gojo Satoru's temperament, he couldn't help but genuinely remark:
"How elegant."
"Gojo-kun, is it okay to stop here?"
The driver's side window of the car was rolled down, revealing the weathered face of a middle-aged man. He wore flat-framed glasses, his face marked by the trials of time.
"It will be very dangerous further ahead."
"I understand," the man said. "I will wait for you here."
"Are you sure? Even here might be dangerous," Gojo Satoru said candidly. "Don't be fooled by the fact that he still looks human; if he gets serious, he could destroy all the surrounding mountains in an instant. In terms of destructive power, he's comparable to the nuclear weapons dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Tsutomu Yamaguchi survived those two atomic bombs, but if this guy goes crazy, Tsutomu Yamaguchi definitely wouldn't survive."
Tsutomu Yamaguchi was a survivor of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. He was an ordinary person. The man understood Gojo Satoru's meaning: although he wasn't an ordinary person, he was practically the same as one. If he continued to stay here, it would be equivalent to personally experiencing what Tsutomu Yamaguchi went through.
"You'll always need a ride home," the man said, "and I am your driver."
"Retreat another five kilometers. This range really isn't safe right now," Gojo Satoru said with a smile. "Also, Ijichi, that line scores very high."
The most terrifying nuclear bomb has a lethal radius of fifty-five kilometers; that is the most fearsome nuclear bomb ever created by man, known as the Tsar Bomba. Gojo Satoru judged that even if the Lord of Curses truly had nuclear-level power, it wouldn't necessarily affect areas five kilometers away.
Ijichi hesitated, but finally swallowed his worried words and instead smiled.
"Gojo-kun, I wish you success in battle."
Gojo Satoru pointed his thumb at himself and gave a fearless smile, asking back decisively:
"—Who do you think I am?"
Gojo Satoru suddenly expanded his Cursed Energy perception. In an instant, his perception covered the mountains, with a diameter of over ten kilometers! But this was far from his limit. His body hadn't seen real action for far too long. Even though his heart was already filled with anticipation for the battle with the King of Curses, the Cursed Energy cycle within his body had not yet reached perfection.
Ijichi didn't even feel the wind on his face. Gojo Satoru, who had just been looking down with his back to him, had already vanished with only his voice left in the wind.
"I'm the strongest!"
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