Needless to say, everyone was deeply shocked when they heard Duanmu Huai's words.
Tengen, whom Duanmu Huai had pointed at, remained silent for a moment before speaking.
"I don't know what Kenjaku told you..."
"Kenjaku? Who's that?"
"The former Kamo Noritoshi, now residing inside Suguru Geto, the Curse Master you destroyed."
"?"
Duanmu Huai responded with another question mark, while Gojo Satoru's expression darkened slightly.
"So you knew all along that Geto was no longer himself? Why didn't you tell us?"
"...I couldn't interfere too much in the affairs of the living world."
Faced with Gojo Satoru's questioning, Tengen fell silent for a moment before answering.
"That's no excuse!"
"Fine, let's put that Geto person aside for now."
Duanmu Huai interrupted Gojo Satoru's questioning. The man was already dead, after all. Although he didn't know whom Tengen was referring to, he guessed it was the monk who had told him about Tengen's existence at the end. Judging from Tengen's reaction, it seemed quite familiar with him. But there was no point getting hung up on a dead man now.
"Let's look ahead instead. Do you have any objections to me cutting you down?"
"Whatever Kenjaku told you, that was..."
"Oh, he actually didn't tell me much."
Duanmu Huai interrupted Tengen's defense again.
"I don't need that idiot to figure things out. And believe me, I understand your current situation better than most of you do—perhaps even better than you do yourself. But the others don't seem to know much about it, so let's start from the beginning."
Duanmu Huai stared at Tengen before asking,
"First, answer me this. Is Japan the only place in the world with unusually large numbers of Curse Spirits and Curse Masters, while they're extremely rare elsewhere?"
"This..."
Everyone exchanged glances, and then Okkotsu Yuta nodded.