The Most Tragic Tool Character, Second Male Lead

"Let's be clear first—I'm not refunding the commission fee."

In a small red sedan, the two of them, their wounds healed by Round Deer, chatted on and off.

"I know. The commission never specified how many Shikigami had to be tamed, so this doesn't count as a failed commission."

Eiji had no objections to that. He had even begun thinking about how he could tame Mahoraga next time.

If he could tame Mahoraga before entering Tokyo Jujutsu High, then at least until his third year, Eiji would be stronger than both Satoru Gojo and Suguru Geto.

As he thought, an image appeared in Eiji's mind.

A four-panel comic of Gojo Cat, still unable to use Reverse Cursed Technique: Red or Hollow Wicker: Purple, getting beaten by Mahoraga: confused cat, shocked cat, crying cat.

"Pfft."

Unable to hold it in, Eiji laughed out loud, an adorably innocent childlike expression appearing on his face.

"So you can make that kind of expression too."

"Huh? What do you mean?"

Eiji looked at Toji Fushiguro with a baffled expression. His mind was still full of the image of Gojo Cat with a pure white cat body and sunglasses, so for a moment, he thought Satoru Gojo had come to pick a fight again.

"No, nothing."

The first time Toji had met this brat, he had given off a maturity that did not match his age.

When Toji had just left the Zenin Family, everyone had been too afraid to approach him because of his fierce expression. Only this brat had inexplicably come over.

He had even said something like, "We're the same anyway, so let's look out for each other. If anyone bullies me later, remember to beat them up for me."

What a strange brat.

Later, after Toji met his lover, she would often ask, "Which one of you is the adult, and which one is the child?"

Perhaps he was tired. Eiji soon leaned back against the seat and fell asleep.

"Only looks like a brat at times like this."

Looking at the youthful face in the passenger seat, Toji silently slowed the car.

Toji remembered his lover saying that one had to move quietly after a child fell asleep. Loud noises would wake the child.

In the quiet atmosphere, time passed into the next day.

"An unfamiliar ceiling. I must have fallen asleep in Toji's car last night."

Rolling out of bed, Eiji looked around at his surroundings.

"It doesn't look like a hotel, so this must be Toji's home."

Thump.

"Ah!"

The sound of something colliding and a cry of pain came from next door. Eiji hesitated for a moment before deciding to see what had happened.

When he opened the door, two little figures came into view.

Megumi Fushiguro and Tsumiki Fushiguro?

Megumi was sitting on the floor, clutching his head with both hands, his face twisted in pain as though he had bumped into something. Beside him, Tsumiki crouched down and stroked him, murmuring, "There, there. It doesn't hurt."

"You're finally awake. The sun's already on your ass."

Toji's voice came from behind him.

"This is your home? You're not watching your two kids?"

Eiji turned and asked.

"No need. Their mom will take care of them."

With that, Toji took a beer from the refrigerator, opened it, and started watching TV.

Eiji's mouth twitched as he suppressed the urge to complain.

He felt that if Toji were the one raising Megumi, Megumi might not even live long enough for Satoru Gojo to find him.

As expected of the most tragic tool character, second male lead under Gege Akutami's pen.

Why call him a tool character? Because looking at the entire story, the purpose of Megumi Fushiguro's existence so far was to work for Sukuna.

This was obvious from comparing Gege Akutami's character designs. His designs for important characters were all very "perfect."

Take Suguru Geto, for example. He clearly had the template of a summoner, yet possessed top-tier hand-to-hand combat skills and could subdue a Curse User equally skilled in close combat in just two moves.

Moreover, Suguru Geto's Cursed Energy pool was especially massive. During the Night of a Hundred Demons, he released thousands of Cursed Spirits at once to attack two cities simultaneously.

Judging by the activation of his Technique, not only were his Cursed Spirits all instantly summoned without hand signs, but the story had never shown him running out of Cursed Energy.

In other words, his Cursed Energy output efficiency was extremely high.

Megumi Fushiguro, on the other hand, was a genius acknowledged by Gege Akutami in the story.

The Shikigami summons of the Ten Shadows Technique had startup time and required hand signs, and increasing the number of manifested Shikigami was difficult. Forget thousands like Suguru Geto—if he had not later been able to expand an incomplete Domain, summoning three to five of them could have cost Megumi his life.

His hand-to-hand combat was average, and during battle, summoning Shikigami a few times would often nearly drain his Cursed Energy.

Most, most, most importantly, there was Mahoraga. Gege Akutami had made Mahoraga the strongest Shikigami of the Ten Shadows Technique, and Mahoraga certainly lived up to that evaluation.

But this Shikigami had been prepared for Sukuna.

Why?

Because Gege Akutami had not left any means within the Ten Shadows Technique to tame Mahoraga at all.

For example, when introducing Mai Zenin's Construction Cursed Technique, Gege Akutami stated that the Construction Cursed Technique was one of the Techniques with the lowest Cursed Energy conversion efficiency.

In other words, while others could spend 10 points of Cursed Energy to deal 10 points of damage, the Construction Cursed Technique could only deal 1 point of damage for the same 10 points.

Among the Ten Shadows Technique's Shikigami, Piercing Bull was almost the strongest attacker when its charge landed.

Yet under those circumstances, Sukuna, whose Cursed Energy far surpassed Yorozu's, summoned Piercing Bull and struck Yorozu's Insect Armor, only shattering part of it. Yorozu was not even seriously injured.

If even Piercing Bull's attack was like that, how strong could the attacks of other Shikigami on the same level, such as Max Elephant, Tiger Funeral, Ferocious Dog, Great Serpent, and Nue, possibly be?

But if the story's development had Sukuna tame Mahoraga, then everything made sense.

Gege Akutami did not care whether Megumi Fushiguro, this "second male lead," could tame Mahoraga. Mahoraga had been prepared from the beginning for Sukuna, the King of Curses with a powerful second Technique.

As for why?

Naturally, it was because of Satoru Gojo.

As mentioned earlier, Gege Akutami liked to make the characters he liked perfect.

Satoru Gojo was a perfect character who combined overwhelming stats with overwhelming mechanics.

So perfect that even the equally perfect Sukuna had to give everything he had to defeat him.

But that would not do.

Satoru Gojo was not the protagonist.

Sukuna, the Great Demon King villain, had to be defeated by the protagonist.

But Sukuna also could not reveal the trump card Gege Akutami had given him too early in his battle with Satoru Gojo. Otherwise, even if the protagonist won later, it would not mean much. All the glory would go to Satoru Gojo.

Troubled, Gege Akutami slapped his forehead. Sukuna could possess people, couldn't he? Why not give the second male lead a Shikigami capable of overturning Satoru Gojo, then let Sukuna take it?

That would both justify Satoru Gojo's defeat and give the protagonist's side a boost later. Killing two birds with one stone.

Thus Mahoraga was born. This strongest Shikigami, said to rival the Six Eyes, whose greatest use before Sukuna's arrival was self-destruction with others, was designed.

Gege Akutami did not care whether the Ten Shadows Technique's Shikigami were balanced, or whether taming each Shikigami would make its user stronger.

Because Sukuna would handle it, the Shikigami of the Ten Shadows Technique were designed far more carelessly. Tiger Funeral's only appearance was even on Crocodile Spit's chest.

At the same time, Megumi Fushiguro was exploited to the utmost by Sukuna—or rather, by Gege Akutami.

His body successfully delivered Mahoraga, the Shikigami capable of defeating Satoru Gojo, to Sukuna. His soul successfully helped Sukuna withstand Infinite Void's massive information attack.

He also kept Satoru Gojo from delivering a killing blow at the crucial moment.

That was right. Satoru Gojo held back.

After successfully using Infinite Void to shut down Sukuna's brain, Satoru Gojo could have directly destroyed Sukuna's brain and killed him. But in order to rescue Megumi Fushiguro, Satoru Gojo chose to attack Sukuna's chest instead.

At the time, Satoru Gojo said something: "It's not over yet. At the very least, I have to destroy his heart, liver, and lungs too. I have to bring him closer to death than Yuji was at the Juvenile Detention Center."

Note that he said closer.

Satoru Gojo's goal was to push Sukuna to his limits physically and mentally at the same time, allowing Megumi Fushiguro's consciousness to gain the upper hand.

Even against the strongest in history, Satoru Gojo bound his own hands and fought Sukuna in a battle with unequal odds, all on the premise of saving Megumi Fushiguro.

But unfortunately, just as Satoru Gojo had said, he could only save those who were prepared to be saved.

When Sukuna used Megumi Fushiguro's body to kill Tsumiki Fushiguro, Megumi Fushiguro's soul had already collapsed. That had doomed Satoru Gojo's defeat.