Jujutsu Kaisen: Yearning to Become an Immortal God

Kokichi Muta and Mahito both sincerely hoped to deepen their understanding of each other through this question-and-answer format. In their hearts, they were certain neither side would use leading language or obscure the facts during the exchange. They needed a trustworthy Gentleman's Agreement to understand and test one another.

Thus, their positions and intentions were perfectly aligned.

This was the most perfect Binding Vow, a "Binding Vow" with no cost. What Kenjaku said was both an additional explanation and a threat.

Only when both sides were sincere could the Binding Vow be perfect. If either side harbored ulterior motives, the vow would inflict unknown harm upon both parties. There was no need to mention Mahito's side; the only one who could have a problem was the other side.

Kokichi Muta understood the warning. The puppet's mouth opened, producing a metallic voice. "Strictly speaking, I'm the one asking for help. Of course I'll abide by the vow."

Mahito nodded lightly. "To show our sincerity, Muta-san, you may ask the first question." Snap.

Mahito snapped his fingers again.

Four more high-backed chairs appeared beside the white plastic table.

Jogo and Hanami naturally took two of them. Kinji Hakari hesitated for a moment before taking one.

Only after Kinji Hakari sat down did Kirara Hoshi take the last chair.

At that point, apart from Dagon, who was still playing beneath the sea, everyone on Mahito's side had taken a seat. They regarded Mahito as their spokesman. The full force of the King of Curses had appeared before Kokichi Muta, and he suddenly felt pressure rising in his heart.

Special Grade Curse User Suguru Geto.

The intelligent Special Grade Cursed Spirits Jogo, Hanami, and Dagon. The uncrowned Special Grade Sorcerer Kinji Hakari.

The rare spatial sorcerer Kirara Hoshi. And—

The King of Curses, Mahito.

It was no exaggeration to say that, aside from Satoru Gojo, no individual or force in the entire Jujutsu Society could withstand this lineup. Kokichi Muta quietly drew a breath and began the formal exchange.

"Then I'll get straight to the point." The metal-disc puppet spoke in a solemn metallic tone. He did not ask about curing his Heavenly Restriction, nor did he ask about the condition forbidding them from attacking his companions. He did not even ask about the Double Cursed Technique he had brought up earlier.

He asked, "King of Curses, what is your goal?"

Questions and Answers (Part One)

Just from hearing that first question, Mahito understood why Kokichi Muta in the original story knew so much. He even knew how Kenjaku's group should deal with the invincible Satoru Gojo, and after his death, he could still use contingencies to cause trouble for Kenjaku's group.

During their cooperation, there must have been a question-and-answer exchange similar to this one. Unlike the irritable version of him that first appeared in the original story, his intelligence was actually high, and his thinking was extremely thorough. His only flaw was probably being too impulsive. If he had endured during the original story, he certainly could have played a greater role.

Even now, his question was just as sharp and went straight to the heart of the matter. The correct answer was survival.

Mahito did not think he was safe now. Never mind Satoru Gojo far away; Kenjaku right before his eyes had not the slightest intention of letting Mahito off. On several occasions, Mahito could sense the surging malice within Kenjaku. It was not that Kenjaku truly wanted to kill Mahito, but that he simply had the urge to give it a try.

That thought alone was enough to make Kenjaku restless, eager to find an opening and test him.

Mahito would stake his life on it: if not for the Binding Vow, Kenjaku would definitely have acted against him. Even now that a Binding Vow existed between them, Kenjaku would definitely act the instant it ended.

It had nothing to do with the difference in their strength. Kenjaku simply wanted to do it.

With an ally like that urging him on from beside him, how could Mahito dare stop moving forward? He did not dare. Not at all. He could only run with all his might, keep running even if he coughed blood, until he attained true peace of mind.

"Peace of mind." Mahito rested a hand against the tower and spoke slowly but firmly.

He said, "Dio once said in JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, 'People live for peace of mind.'

"Whether one fights for fame and profit, dominates others, or earns money, it is all for peace of mind. Marriage and friendship are also for peace of mind. Even striving for peace is really just an excuse to seek one's own peace of mind.

"The statement is somewhat biased, but it strikes at the psychology of most living beings. It can be applied to all life existing in this world—

"Whether flowers, birds, fish, beasts, humans, or Cursed Spirits, peace of mind is the most fundamental pursuit of all living creatures.

"What I want now is eternal peace of mind. Whether it is power, influence, or ascension to godhood, I act for peace of mind."

The puppet face shifted atop the disc. Looking at the lineup around him, he asked, "You currently have six Special Grade combatants that I can see. Kirara Hoshi may not possess Special Grade combat strength, but with that unique Cursed Technique, even when facing a Special Grade combatant head-on, he would not lose in a short time. If used for support, he could even surpass Special Grade combat strength. With a lineup like this, you still cannot feel at ease?"

Mahito calmly asked in return, "If Satoru Gojo launched a surprise attack here, how many seconds do you think we would survive?"

Not how long they could survive, but how many seconds. That sentence alone revealed just how well Mahito understood Satoru Gojo.

Kokichi Muta sighed. "Less than one second... I understand what you mean. As long as Satoru Gojo remains alive, you cannot feel at ease. That is why you joined forces with Curse Users and built up your own faction."

Jogo could not hold back. "I know Satoru Gojo is strong, but everyone here combined can't even resist him for one second? Mahito, aren't you being a little too modest?"

Kokichi Muta's puppet face turned toward Jogo. "Do you have the ability to resist Satoru Gojo's Domain Expansion? You sound quite confident. What is his Domain Expansion? Why would we be killed in less than a second the moment he uses it?" Jogo asked. Kokichi Muta fell silent.

Mahito also felt a little embarrassed. He took off his sunglasses and handed them to Jogo. "Jogo, hold these for me."

The implication was obvious: stop interrupting. Jogo understood the hint. He endured it again and again, then finally swallowed his anger. Snatching the sunglasses, he sat in his chair with a sour expression and stopped making a sound.

Hanami comforted him for a few moments.

"My turn to ask a question." Mahito rose from the plastic high-backed chair, straightened his chest, and looked at the metal disc. "Kokichi Muta, why did you specifically investigate Ryomen Sukuna?"

Kokichi Muta did not avoid the question. "Because of you, King of Curses." "Me?" Mahito asked.

"A Cursed Spirit that formed a cooperative relationship with Curse Users—that is the label attached to you. Suguru Geto came to find me before that news spread. Once the news about you reached me, I became certain that Suguru Geto's partner had to be you. Then I began thinking about what you intended to do."

As he spoke, the puppet's mouth involuntarily opened and closed with clicking sounds, as though mocking himself.

He said, "There was hardly any need to think. I immediately realized that a cooperation between Cursed Spirits and Curse Users could only have one purpose: overturning the current Jujutsu Society.

"But if you want to overturn the current Jujutsu Society, there is one person you can never avoid." Satoru Gojo.

"You must deal with Satoru Gojo. Otherwise, overturning the current Jujutsu Society is impossible.

"Based on that, I noticed Ryomen Sukuna." The puppet's eyes rotated once before turning toward Mahito.

He said seriously, "Ryomen Sukuna was a real figure in Jujutsu Society history, and after his death, he left behind the Special Grade Cursed Object known as Sukuna's Fingers.

"A thousand years ago, he was known as the strongest sorcerer. Even after a thousand years, after Satoru Gojo was born, Ryomen Sukuna's strength was still acknowledged by Jujutsu Society. Many Jujutsu Society scholars even believed that Satoru Gojo might not be Ryomen Sukuna's match.

"Ryomen Sukuna is the genuine strongest sorcerer in history.

"To defeat Satoru Gojo, you need to find a way to revive Ryomen Sukuna. That was my conclusion." Mahito sincerely applauded. "Impressive."

Kokichi Muta's explanation made Mahito change his view of those rigid old fossils from the original story.

Whatever the upper echelons of Jujutsu Society originally intended, once those old fossils learned that Yuji Itadori could serve as Ryomen Sukuna's vessel, their first reaction was that even if he had only consumed a single finger, Yuji Itadori had to die with that fragment of Ryomen Sukuna's power. There was a clear and insightful reason for that behavior.

Everything was to prevent Ryomen Sukuna at his full strength from reappearing—even if there was only the slightest possibility, they would never allow the strongest in history to be revived and threaten the modern strongest, Satoru Gojo.

There was also a reason Satoru Gojo could confidently say, I'd win, when facing Ryomen Sukuna despite having no information.

Satoru Gojo had indeed fully understood Ryomen Sukuna. Based on that understanding and his assessment of his own power, he was confident he could defeat Ryomen Sukuna. That was why he could say, I'd win.

Unfortunately, Ryomen Sukuna pulled a sleight of hand. A single World-Cutting Slash cut Satoru Gojo at the waist, turning all his prior confidence into a joke.

Then Kokichi Muta asked, "My turn—how do you plan to defeat Satoru Gojo?" Mahito raised three fingers. "There are three methods. We will implement all three at the same time."

"There are actually three? And they can be carried out simultaneously?" Kokichi Muta's voice was clearly distorted, as if he wanted to laugh but could not, wanted to be serious but found it unbelievable.

Mahito lowered two fingers. "The first is sealing.

"We have a way to seal Satoru Gojo for at least a hundred years at a fixed time and place. The seal is not completely secure, but those hundred years would at least allow us to do anything we wanted without worrying about Satoru Gojo's threat."

"The Prison Realm! You intend to use the Prison Realm to seal Satoru Gojo!" Kokichi Muta blurted out. Mahito blinked twice. "You could even guess that?"

"There are only a few methods to deal with Satoru Gojo, and the Prison Realm is the most obvious among them. It is not strange that I know. But there is a problem: the Prison Realm's sealing conditions are extremely harsh. Once I found information on the Prison Realm, I immediately abandoned that possibility. How can you make Satoru Gojo fulfill the sealing conditions?" Kokichi Muta asked.

Mahito answered with silence.

Kokichi Muta knew he had not yet earned their trust, so he simply gave up. "My apologies. It is not my turn to ask questions yet. Please continue." Mahito raised his second finger. "The second is the Ryomen Sukuna you guessed. We have a way to revive Ryomen Sukuna and restore him to his peak—

"Of course, with Ryomen Sukuna's personality, he would never obey our orders. But as long as Ryomen Sukuna is revived, we can create a chaotic battle between Satoru Gojo and Ryomen Sukuna. Whether it is Satoru Gojo or Ryomen Sukuna, neither would allow the other to exist. That alone is enough."

Kokichi Muta gently shifted the metal disc as though nodding in acknowledgment.

He had guessed this himself. Otherwise, he would not have deliberately sought information on Ryomen Sukuna.

Mahito raised his third finger and smiled. "The third possibility is me." "You?" Kokichi Muta asked.

Mahito withdrew his fingers, his smile unchanged, and asked, "Muta-san, guess how old I am."

What a confident question. Kokichi Muta thought to himself. Then he considered it.

Mahito had appeared for the first time only recently, less than a month ago. Yet before that, Mahito must have spent a long time in human society, because when Kokichi Muta first learned of him, Mahito already had a clear understanding of inherited knowledge related to Cursed Energy. At the very least, someone must have taught him for a long time.

No, considering his comprehension ability, that "long time" should have been shorter than imagined.

Then he would judge based on the shortest possible amount of time.

Kokichi Muta cautiously said, "Five years. I judge that you were born five years ago."

Mahito was briefly speechless. "What a cautious judgment. I thought that based on my level and knowledge, you would at least say more than ten years."

"If you were human, ten years alone would already be enough," Kokichi Muta said. "Even Satoru Gojo, at ten years old, might not have reached your current level. Not to mention that at five, Satoru Gojo definitely was not as strong as you are now. If you were human, you would undoubtedly be a genius among geniuses. Even Satoru Gojo could only barely stand shoulder to shoulder with you—but you are not human."

Kokichi Muta said solemnly, "You are a Cursed Spirit.

"A Cursed Spirit's strength differs from that of humans. From the moment of birth, a Cursed Spirit's grade is already fixed.

"A Grade One Cursed Spirit is a Grade One Cursed Spirit, and a Special Grade Cursed Spirit is a Special Grade Cursed Spirit. A Cursed Spirit's grade is fixed from its birth. This is not because Cursed Spirits cannot grow stronger. On the contrary, immense curses constantly attract Cursed Spirits, and Cursed Spirits that devour immense curses transform into stronger ones. That is not uncommon.

"But the problem is—Cursed Spirits usually lack the capacity to think.

"Though they can speak human language, their intelligence is inferior even to a puppy's. Though they possess basic combat instincts, their adaptive intelligence is inferior even to a pack of wolves.

"You have escaped that concept.

"You are a Cursed Spirit, yet you possess considerable intelligence.

"You can learn, you can train, and you even have your own philosophical thoughts.

"Ideals, goals, emotions, influence—you lack none of them. You are growing at tremendous speed—

"—Five years. I judge that over these five years, you have gained power sufficient to surpass ordinary Special Grade Sorcerers. And you are still constantly growing. In the future, you will inevitably become even stronger, surpassing the level of ordinary Special Grade Sorcerers and reaching the realm where Satoru Gojo stands."

The "ordinary Special Grade Sorcerer," Kinji Hakari, clicked his tongue furiously.

Damn it! Since when have Special Grade Sorcerers been divided into ordinary and extraordinary? I actually became background scenery one day! Mahito applauded in admiration. "Excellent. Your judgment is truly outstanding. It makes me want to take you under my command." Kokichi Muta said calmly, "It seems my judgment was not wrong."

Though the voice coming from the metal disc was calm, Kokichi Muta was secretly shocked. He had gained the power of a Special Grade Sorcerer within five years of being born. That news alone was enough to shake him. What kind of joke is this? That is a Special Grade Sorcerer! An unquestionable one-man army, equivalent to an entire nation!

Though he spoke of ordinary Special Grade Sorcerers, in truth, what sorcerer who reached Special Grade could possibly be called ordinary?

Every single one of them was a monster who might not even be human.

The world's strongest Cursed Spirit might be right before my eyes. Kokichi Muta quietly drew a breath. But he had drawn it too soon.

Mahito's lips curved upward into a faint smile.

"One and a half months," he said. "Counting from my birth until today, I have only lived for one and a half months. Forty-five days. By human age, that makes me a one-month-old infant, doesn't it?"

"You're lying." Kokichi Muta thought he had said those words himself, but he quickly realized it was not his voice. It was Kinji Hakari.

The "ordinary Special Grade Sorcerer," Kinji Hakari, wore an expression of utter disbelief.

He roared at Mahito like Misaka Mikoto roaring at Kamijo Toma, "You're telling me that in one and a half months, including that hazy period right after birth, you grew to the point where you could beat me down without even using your trump cards!? You fucking liar!"

Clearly, this ordinary Special Grade Sorcerer had been completely broken.

It was like a poor student scoring sixty points, asking a top student how they did. The top student painfully replied that they had not done well, making the poor student smug—only for the poor student to learn that the top student scored one hundred and nine points on a one-hundred-point paper with ten bonus points. The top student's "not doing well" meant they had failed to get full marks on one of the bonus points.

Anyone would break down in that situation!

Kokichi Muta keenly caught the meaning behind Kinji Hakari's words, and his voice became distorted as well.

"What does 'defeated you without using his trump cards' mean? The King of Curses did not even use his full strength when fighting you?"

"With room to spare," Kinji Hakari said. He calmed down, covering his forehead. "I really did not lose unfairly. I thought I lost because I was countered. Only now do I realize that the one who fought me was still an infant. I truly have no face left to show."

Kokichi Muta was utterly shaken, speechless.

"Looks like you understand my confidence now." Mahito smiled. "As time passes, my talent will continue to grow. I do not know whether my future self can become invincible in this era like Satoru Gojo, but at the very least, I am confident I can stand as his equal. Therefore—

"There is no need to seal Satoru Gojo or release Ryomen Sukuna at all. We only need to wait for me to continue growing, and the plan can be realized."

Those truly were three highly convincing possibilities. Kokichi Muta sighed inwardly again. As expected of a group ambitious enough to overturn the current Jujutsu Society—they were terrifyingly mature in every aspect.

"If that is the case, there is no need for you to rush into confronting Satoru Gojo now. You only need to lie low and wait for the King of Curses' talent to bear fruit. Why are you in such a hurry to overturn the current Jujutsu Society?" Kokichi Muta asked.

"If you are willing to become my subordinate, I will tell you the answer," Mahito said.

Kokichi Muta sighed. "I overstepped. It is your turn to ask questions." Mahito asked eagerly, "What do you think of Cursed Spirits?"

Kokichi Muta was not surprised by the question, because Mahito had just said that he wanted Kokichi Muta to join him—not as a partner, but as a subordinate.

Kokichi Muta was very confident in himself. Though reaching Satoru Gojo's level might be difficult, he was confident that he could at least grow into an ordinary Special Grade Sorcerer. In fact, his confidence was not baseless. During Kokichi Muta's final battle in the original story, Kenjaku had personally said—

Though only temporarily, in terms of output alone, Kokichi Muta had already reached the minimum standard of a Special Grade.

At that time, he had merely been a student at Kyoto Jujutsu High.

It was no exaggeration to say that even without experiencing a life-or-death battle, merely growing normally would have allowed Kokichi Muta to reach the rank of Special Grade Sorcerer.

"No offense intended." Kokichi Muta spoke as tactfully as possible. "To me, Cursed Spirits are parasites of this world. I cannot understand the meaning of existence for things that cannot interact with society at all and bring only destruction."