Jujutsu Kaisen: Yearning to Become an Immortal God

This might seem strange, but this was the norm in the Jujutsu Society. Even sorcerers rarely possessed such a mature worldview.

Sorcerers extracted Cursed Energy from negative emotions, which meant they were inherently more prone to extremes than ordinary people. Sometimes, a single sentence or a brief stretch of harsh reality was enough to turn a guardian of the world into a madman bent on destroying it. That was what truly happened all the time in the Jujutsu Society.

Sorcerers were like that, and curses possessed emotions even more extreme than sorcerers. They ought to fall without limits; that was only common sense. But... Mahito's appearance had shattered that common sense.

Naobito Zenin suddenly thought of Satoru Gojo. He, too, was a man who had shattered common sense.

Sorcerers and curses had always accompanied one another, tangling together like a spiral. Ever since Satoru Gojo's birth, curses throughout the world had been growing stronger. And now, at this very moment, a curse shell that defied common sense had finally been born.

The Lord of Curses born from humanity's curse upon humanity—Mahito.

How could Naobito Zenin not believe in him? Believe in this Lord of Shell Spirits who transcended common sense?

Naobito Zenin relaxed. He poured the wine from his flask into another shallow sake bowl, then solemnly raised it and asked, "Then, are you interested in hearing this old drunkard's opinion?"

"I would be honored to listen." Mahito also raised his shallow sake bowl.

"You should always walk alone and trust no one. You should make friends everywhere and listen to their thoughts.

"You should work in human society and experience the hardest, most exhausting jobs.

"You should use the privilege gained from selling immortality to indulge yourself to the fullest, and experience the most depraved life human society has to offer. You should kill decisively. When facing those who disagree with you, do not try to persuade them—use the most extreme death to make them submit.

"You should distinguish right from wrong. When faced with different ideals and paths, do not rush to pass judgment. Listen more, watch more. Do not believe what others say; believe what they do.

"Do not become a sage ruler. No founding monarch has ever been a sage ruler. Become a tyrant!

"Let corpses pave the path beneath your feet, and let your terror rise above death itself!"

Naobito Zenin's voice was deep and powerful, like muffled thunder. By the end, he seemed like a god or demon, fierce as a calamity. Yet his next words carried the sorrow of a lover. Light as a spring breeze brushing willow leaves, he said:

"What is right, and what is wrong? That is a question stretching across all of human history. There is no need to distinguish it so clearly.

"For example, I despise the Zenin Clan's restraints on women, yet the history recorded by the Zenin Clan showed me that those very rules once gave women a guarantee of survival in ancient times.

"Would you dare say in ancient times that women should be equal to men? The whole world would pierce your heart with blades.

"Mahito, you are the most unusual Cursed Spirit since curses first came into being. You had mature ideas not long after your birth, and in such a short time, you even formed a complete worldview with its own logic. That is heaven's blessing upon you, but that blessing can also become a curse. Precisely because you are a born king, you struggle to understand the hearts of ordinary people.

"You must fully experience this world's turmoil, its rights and wrongs, everything this world contains. Only then can you keep walking, keep running.

"In the end, draw your own conclusion."

These words hardly sounded like something Naoya Zenin could say. In the original story, he had always come across as an unreliable drunkard. Even with his great strength, he was not someone who inspired respect.

He was an experienced sorcerer, but not a qualified clan head. That was the impression he gave in the original story, and it had also been Mahito's impression while fighting him. After all, he had been cruel enough to use the lives of his clansmen, including his own flesh and blood, to test Mahito's abilities. How could such a person possibly be a qualified clan head?

But now, his words flowed calmly, his voice carrying the weight of time. It was as though an ancient road had unfolded before Mahito.

In the past, he must have walked alone, because no one could understand his thoughts. He must have tried to share those thoughts with others, hoping to gain companions, yet when he looked around, there had been no response. When he finally climbed to the position of clan head, he must have discovered in despair that he could change nothing.

He clearly held the Zenin Clan's highest authority, yet he lived like a clay doll bound in chains. In the end, he could only fall into becoming a drunkard. Mahito suddenly remembered what he had once said to Maki Zenin.

Maki Zenin was a woman of the Zenin Clan. According to the rules, her fate had already been decided. But Maki Zenin refused to accept it. She wanted to change the clan, and so she declared loudly to Naobito Zenin, "I will become the head of the Zenin Clan!"

How had Naoya Zenin responded?

That drunkard had laughed heartily and said, "Sure. I'll prepare trials for you too. If you pass them, then you'll become the head of the Zenin Clan!"

And so Maki Zenin walked out through the gates of the Zenin Clan. To gain the strength to become its head, she became Satoru Gojo's student.

When she walked out of the Zenin Clan, Naobito Zenin behind her was still laughing. His laughter echoed through the grounds, as if he had seen a praying mantis in the middle of the road raising its scythe-like arms to face an oncoming carriage.

When Mahito had read the original story, he thought it had been the old drunkard's loud mockery. But what if he had meant it sincerely? Mahito could not help smiling as he said loudly, "Thank you for your guidance! I will remember it!"

Naobito Zenin's sake bowl lightly clinked against Mahito's, and cherry blossoms floating in the wine drifted freely.

In an instant, every blossom on the cherry tree was scattered by a fierce wind. Countless petals swept across the entire world. Naobito Zenin and Mahito simultaneously drained their shallow sake bowls in one gulp. By the time they set them down, a curtain formed by the excessive petals had already obscured them from one another.

Naobito Zenin simply remained seated where he was, laughing as he spoke his final farewell.

He said, "Hey, Mahito. Go change the world!

"Bring your greatest kindness and benevolence. Bring your greatest wickedness and evil. Bring your inborn arrogance and unruliness!

"Bring a world-shaking storm to this rotten Jujutsu Society!"

The powerful wind blew Mahito's long hair into the air. Countless cherry blossoms covered his vision. Naobito Zenin vanished amid his laughter and the scattering petals. Mahito looked up at the cherry tree, only to find that it had disappeared at some point as well. In the end, the entire space was swept into the endless Soul River.

Mahito smiled. "How elegant, old man." Naobito Zenin was dead.

A Scheming Heart

Mahito awoke from his daze. He licked his lips, as though the lingering wine still remained on his tongue. He looked around. Because of his decisive battle with Naoya Zenin, the entire world seemed to have become ruins. Residual force filled the area, while the dark clouds that had formed a thunderstorm vanished completely, allowing moonlight to spill unhindered across the earth.

Because he had used Black Flash, Mahito was now filled with a sense of omnipotence. Just as Kento Nanami had said:

Cursed Energy that usually required deliberate control now flowed as naturally as breathing. Conclusions that he could never reach even after racking his brain now came to him the moment he thought about them. Things that had once been impossible became perfectly solvable as long as he had a rough theory.

All sorcerers pursued Black Flash. At this moment, Mahito deeply understood why.

Because he had transformed into a Dragon using Maximum: Advent, he was completely naked. He began walking with his bare body exposed. Cursed Energy flowed naturally through him, and his perception nearly stretched tens of thousands of meters away. Even without the Six Eyes, he could still see through the flow of Cursed Energy in all things. Yet now, he retracted all his senses completely, as though a flat sheet of paper were being folded over and over, endlessly accumulating until everything condensed within his body.

Then, he began forming hand seals in the easiest, yet most solemn, manner possible.

—Reverse Cursed Technique. —Soul Creation.

—Simulated Soul: Juzo Kumiya.

—Construction. Technique Release.

A huge egg enveloped Mahito. As he was wrapped within it, Mahito closed his mismatched eyes.

Kenjaku had once told Mahito that the human body was an extraordinarily mysterious structure. To create a Vessel perfectly compatible with oneself, there was no method other than using an "embryo."

Even with Kenjaku's millennia of knowledge, creating such a body required becoming a mother and personally giving birth through a womb.

But Mahito was different from Kenjaku. What was mysterious to Kenjaku was entirely different to Mahito. Mahito himself was humanity's curse upon humanity. He had been born with the ability to control human bodily structures, and his soul-altering ability was founded upon that very trait.

And now, empowered by Black Flash, his talent bloomed and bore fruit.

A person suddenly sprang out of the egg. He was a tall, bald man, naked from head to toe, with clearly defined muscles and a physique as robust as a beast. His eyes were tightly closed. After being ejected from the egg, he fell to his knees and pitched face-first onto the ground.

He was the Construction Vessel Kenjaku had found for Mahito, but Mahito no longer needed this defective Vessel.

The egg slowly disappeared, and Mahito appeared where he stood, naked from head to toe. He opened his eyes, his mismatched pupils glowing faintly beneath the night sky like flickering stars. He glanced at Juzo Kumiya, and a piece of cloth drifted down from the sky, covering Juzo Kumiya's body.

Mahito stepped forward. As he did, a pair of white socks appeared on his feet. By the time his foot touched the ground, wooden sandals had appeared beneath them. With a casual wave as he walked, a kimono and hakama appeared on his body.

A haori appeared in his hand. He put it on, then raised a hand again, and a conical hat appeared in his grasp. He placed it on his head.

Reverse Cursed Technique: Soul Creation. Construction.

His technique flowed smoothly and clearly. Though he had not formed any hand seals, the objects he constructed were flawless. Suddenly, a voice sounded beside him. "My, what a mess you made. Mahito, did you have fun?"

Mahito did not turn around. He knew who had arrived. "Teacher Kenjaku, it has been a while," he said.

"What do you mean, 'it has been a while'? We have been apart for less than three hours." Kenjaku smiled. "You wiped out the Zenin Clan in only three hours. The Jujutsu Society is surely about to suffer a massive earthquake, isn't it? Are you ready to face Satoru Gojo head-on, Mahito?"

"Only three hours? I thought three years had passed." Mahito looked somewhat dazed.

He switched from Soul Creation to Tsukumogami Manipulation again. A silver gleam appeared in the night sky. He raised his right hand, and Mirokuji Kirigiri flew over from afar, obediently landing in his hand.

He held Mist Cutter horizontally before him. A distinct crack marred the blade that had once been so alluring. He gently blew on it and activated Construction at the same time, but the crack did not heal as he had hoped.

"This was struck head-on by Black Flash, wasn't it?" Kenjaku understood the situation after one glance. "Black Flash is a phenomenon formed from a double strike of physical force and Cursed Energy. Aside from its extraordinary destructive power, it leaves behind terrifying residual Cursed Energy that makes wounds difficult to heal.

"Let alone Mirokuji Kirigiri, an ancient blade without self-healing capabilities—even a sorcerer skilled in Reverse Cursed Technique would find it difficult to regenerate after taking a direct Black Flash."

"Is there any way to fix it?" Mahito asked.

"If we can find a Construction sorcerer with exquisite skill, it might be restored." Kenjaku examined Mist Cutter and pondered. "But that will be difficult. At the very least, the Construction sorcerer lying at your feet is far from capable."

Kenjaku was referring to Juzo Kumiya. Yet even after mentioning him, Kenjaku did not spare the man a glance, as if he were no more than air.

Kenjaku continued:

"Tsukumogami are not merely Cursed Tools. They truly possess life, and sometimes Tsukumogami can even become Cursed Spirits. They are an extremely special form of life with many mysteries yet to be answered. I know there is little chance, but I still have to ask—if you are willing, I can find another excellent Tsukumogami vessel for you."

"No. I am very satisfied with Mirokuji Kirigiri." Mahito refused.

Kenjaku was not surprised in the slightest. If Mahito had not truly loved it, then even with Tsukumogami Manipulation, he could not have nurtured it into a Tsukumogami in such a short time. That favoritism was precisely one of the important reasons Tsukumogami came into being.

"Then there is nothing we can do for now... No, perhaps there is." Kenjaku seemed to think of something. "What?" Mahito asked.

"I know an ancient sorcerer. She has begun awakening through people of the modern era. However, her Vessel is not yet prepared, so it will take some time. Perhaps we can ask her for help in the future. Of course, she has a rather strange temperament, so you may need to pay a certain price." Kenjaku said.

Mahito actually knew who she was: the ancient sorcerer Yorozu. In the original story, she was the strongest Construction sorcerer. In terms of mastery over Construction, she was unquestionably the strongest in the world.

"I will prepare the price." Mahito gently stroked Mirokuji Kirigiri. Mist Cutter responded with a soft hum. He placed it at his waist, and a sheath appeared around the blade. The sheath and hilt touched lightly, producing a crisp sound.

Kenjaku looked around, then suddenly asked, "There are still people in the Zenin Clan's underground area. Shall we kill them all?"

Mahito said flatly, "And completely break with the Jujutsu Society? Let Satoru Gojo mobilize everything to hunt us down, leaving us endlessly passive?"

"Mahito, you are still too naïve." Kenjaku said coldly. "Do you think Satoru Gojo will not come looking for us just because you spare those people? Do you remember what I just told you?

"You wiped out the elite forces of the Zenin Clan, one of the Big Three Families. This is an extremely serious matter. Satoru Gojo will certainly search for you by every possible means and do everything he can to kill you.

"Whether you kill those people in the underground area or not makes no difference now. Killing them will only strengthen your resolve. So why not kill them?"

Mahito slowly turned to look at Kenjaku. "You seem very eager for me to kill those people."

"I am merely reminding you not to be soft-hearted." Kenjaku said seriously. "Whether you are willing to admit it or not, the fact that you are a curse will not change. Since you are a curse, if you wish to grow stronger, you must act according to the ways of curses. Otherwise, you will only grow further and further from power."

What Kenjaku said was true, and Mahito had to admit it.

This was also why curse users hated Satoru Gojo so deeply. Curse users and Cursed Spirits had extremely similar ecologies. If they did not live as they pleased, their Cursed Energy would gradually decline along with their spirit, until it eventually dissipated.

For curse users, killing and harming others increased their strength. Living as they pleased allowed their Cursed Energy to rise faster. Curses were the same. But that was not the only way.

Mahito said calmly, "I am very displeased with you right now, Teacher Kenjaku. Are you saying that I can ignore the effects of our Binding Vow and attack you? Even if I know violating it would be serious, it does not matter as long as killing you makes me feel good right now?"

Kenjaku fell silent. Suddenly, an instinctive sense of danger crashed into him. Immense pressure silently filled his world, as though he had unknowingly gone from open ground into the deep sea. The sudden pressure nearly forced him to his knees.

Mahito had grown stronger again... Stronger to a horrifying degree!

Kenjaku raised his hands in surrender. "Sorry. I was only concerned about the speed at which you are growing stronger, because you will soon have to face Satoru Gojo. I would not dare entertain thoughts of betrayal. You know our Binding Vow requires both sides to abide by it."

"Being indecisive and overly sentimental does indeed go against a curse's instincts, and it will affect the curse. But if it is all for a greater benefit, then I can endure it—and turn the humiliation I endure into an even deeper curse." Mahito suddenly curled his lips into a smile. "That is something the Zenin Clan's head taught me. I learned it from him, and I was just about to put it into practice."

Kenjaku asked curiously, "What did he do?"

"He allowed his clansmen to be slaughtered by me while he sat in the reception hall of the Zenin residence, observing my information through shikigami. I killed every member of the Kukuru Unit first, then every member of the Hei."

Mahito slowly recalled the recent battle and said:

"I threw the captain of the Hei before him. That was his son. He was grief-stricken, yet smiling. He told me that the more outstanding a sorcerer was, the more they could turn that resentment and fear into Cursed Energy, erupting with power beyond common sense. And he truly did it."

Kenjaku sucked in a breath and sighed. "No wonder Mirokuji Kirigiri bears traces of Black Flash on its blade. He must have landed it. Ruthless. Truly ruthless. As expected of the Zenin Clan's head. Even I have to admire someone insane enough to go that far."

A madman admired even by this thousand-year madman—if Naobito Zenin knew in the afterlife, he would surely laugh loudly as well, Mahito thought aimlessly.

Then he said, "Kenjaku, can you introduce me to other teachers?"

Kenjaku paused. "Why have you suddenly gotten that idea?"

"I need deeper training. What I have now is not enough." Mahito said, "During this battle, I realized that I truly lack combat experience. My intentions were predicted repeatedly, and it left me in a very passive position.

"Also, I want to learn some swordsmanship. I possess the finest blade in the world, but I do not possess the skill she deserves.

"I also have enormous shortcomings in practical jujutsu combat. I clearly hold so many techniques, but much of the time, I cannot combine them properly.

"Now that I think about it, I made quite a few mistakes in this battle.

"There were many techniques I did not even use. It was not because I forgot them, but because I did not have time to use them in those circumstances.

"For example, Boogie Woogie. Aside from using it for the first surprise attack, I never used it again. I thought its spatial displacement ability would shine in a melee, but when it came time to use it, I suddenly realized I had no idea when to use it.

"The main reason was that I could not give up deliberately taking damage to use Love Rendezvous to record the residual Cursed Energy of others just for the sake of using spatial displacement. Boogie Woogie could only give me an advantage, while Love Rendezvous could directly decide the outcome.

"And then there is Luck Storage and Probability Manipulation. That combination should be very strong, but in an intense fight, I simply do not have time to use it. It drags down my rhythm too much.

"I need to sort things out. I need a plan."

As he spoke, Mahito sank into thought again. "Perhaps I really should settle down for a while and refine my combat system. I believed my current methods were already abundant, but these abundant methods are always scattered and disjointed. I have not fully utilized these abilities properly. Right, there simply has not been enough time."

This was Mahito's true thought. Although he had appeared to hold a massive advantage during the battle with the Zenin Clan, that was because he possessed Idle Transfiguration, which could grant him endless revival. It just so happened that no one in the Zenin Clan had a means of directly attacking the soul. Therefore, it did not matter how recklessly he fought; naturally, he could battle without fear.

But what if he encountered attacks that could strike his soul in the future?

Not to mention anything else, the protagonist group alone had two people capable of attacking souls: Yuji Itadori and Nobara Kugisaki could both do it. Moreover, when Mahito fought Kokichi Muta in the original story, Kokichi Muta had also found a fairly universal method of countering Idle Transfiguration.

Not to mention that any outstanding sorcerer would possess some passive ability to protect their soul. His Idle Transfiguration would only become increasingly restricted on future battlefields.

Take this battle against the Zenin Clan, for example. Aside from using Idle Transfiguration for regeneration, he had barely used it on anyone else. Was that because he did not want to? No. It was because everyone knew he possessed an ability that could alter souls through touch alone, so they were all extremely careful to guard against that move, and thus