Jujutsu Kaisen: Yearning to Become an Immortal God

Even if he could make contact, he wouldn't need Idle Transfiguration at all. One punch would kill the person outright, leaving Idle Transfiguration useless. Idle Transfiguration was by no means an invincible ability—Mahito had truly realized that during this battle.

So Mahito said, "I hope to receive guidance from an expert of the New Shadow Style. Of course, I'll pay the price. I wonder whether those of the New Shadow Style are interested in immortality? I can trade immortality for the complete transmission of the New Shadow Style."

In swordsmanship, complete transmission referred to certification that a student had mastered every technique of a school and passed all relevant tests.

Above that was "license and complete transmission," but that wasn't merely a matter of learning—it was a qualification. Mahito had no interest in that. He wanted to learn all of the New Shadow Style's techniques, so complete transmission was enough.

Incidentally, while the New Shadow Style used swords as its medium, it was actually a combination of swordsmanship and jujutsu. Any jujutsu sorcerer could learn it; it was a universal jujutsu technique. In the original work, neither Yuki Tsukumo, Aoi Todo, nor Ui Ui used swords, yet they could still use the New Shadow Style's Simple Domain. There was no downside to learning the New Shadow Style even without using a sword.

Kenjaku asked curiously, "You already have Tsukumogami Manipulation. As long as you keep training it, you can stand at the pinnacle of close-quarters combat even without learning these techniques. What made you decide to cultivate them?"

"I have a feeling... my growth is about to reach a bottleneck," Mahito said. "If I had enough time, of course I'd continue researching Idle Transfiguration. As for everything else, I would only need to understand enough to build up my knowledge. That might have been my normal path of growth."

At that, Mahito mocked himself. "Unfortunately, the world won't give me enough time... and neither will you, right?"

Kenjaku avoided Mahito's direct gaze and shrugged. "Mm. As it happens, I know the founder of the New Shadow Style. It'll take some time to find him, but I can guarantee it within a week. I can't guarantee your request will be fully met, since he's a strange fellow too, but I can introduce you to him—provided you guarantee both sides' safety."

Mahito remembered. Before the original work ended, there really had been such a scene—the head of the New Shadow Style had lived by absorbing his disciples' lifespans, waiting for the day the New Shadow Style would rule the world.

Mahito sighed sincerely. "I thought my immortality was precious, but if you really look for it, immortality seems never to have vanished from Jujutsu Society. Guan Yuan, you, the founder of the New Shadow Style... who knows if there are others. If there are, I wouldn't be surprised."

Kenjaku couldn't agree with that. He said seriously, "Mahito, don't belittle yourself. Jujutsu Society does indeed have all sorts of immortality. Whether it's mine, Tengen's, or the founder of the New Shadow Style's, all of them merely extend one's lifespan once certain conditions are met.

"But every one of our forms of immortality comes with immense restrictions and costs, without exception.

"Your immortality, however, is genuine—an existence as enduring as heaven and earth. As long as Cursed Energy continues circulating in this world, your immortality can continue forever. This is the most flawless immortality since the birth of Jujutsu Society. Any sorcerer pursuing that path couldn't possibly be uninterested in your immortality."

"Then I'm relieved," Mahito said. "I'll leave it to you, Teacher Kenjaku."

"The more you grow, the more reassured I am, because that means you'll become one of the trump cards to kill Satoru Gojo." Kenjaku smiled. "I'll do everything in my power to make this happen. It's all for—overturning modern Jujutsu Society and fulfilling our long-held wish."

The important part is your long-held wish, isn't it?

Mahito confirmed it once more. He absolutely couldn't lower his guard around this thousand-year-old curse user. The moment the contract was fulfilled would likely be the moment they turned against each other.

Mahito smiled as well. "Then I'll leave everything to you, Teacher Kenjaku." "Leave it to me, Mahito."

Kenjaku opened the door, and Mahito walked through it.

But Kenjaku didn't leave immediately. He glanced at the bald man lying on the ground and smiled.

"Hmm... I remember you're a barrier user too, aren't you? Perhaps you're still useful. I can't let you die here." With that, he opened another spatial door and tossed the bald man inside.

The Windmill Turns

Satoru Gojo lifted the black blindfold covering his eyes and opened his Six Eyes, carefully observing the enormous crater before him.

The Gojo Clan's Six Eyes weren't an Innate Technique, but a special talent inherited through the Gojo Clan bloodline. It manifested as a visual mutation and was essentially a hyper-perceptive organ, granting its bearer information-processing abilities far beyond ordinary humans and extreme precision in manipulating Cursed Energy.

Now, Satoru Gojo was using these unique eyes of Jujutsu Society to attempt to reconstruct the course of the battle at the Zenin Clan.

Suddenly, someone called out loudly from the distance. "Yo, Gojo. See anything?" Gojo didn't need to turn around; he knew who had arrived just from the voice.

He continued staring at the residual Cursed Energy with his Six Eyes while speaking casually.

"Never thought the famous Yuki Tsukumo would get summoned by the higher-ups too. Looks like those old men are genuinely scared this time."

"Fair enough. One of the Big Three Families that had existed in Jujutsu Society for a thousand years, with unquestionable top-tier foundations and strength, was wiped out in a single night... Well, not entirely. After all, the merciful King of Curses spared the Zenin Clan's elderly, weak, and young who had no fighting ability."

The newcomer heavily slapped Gojo on the back, then crouched down beside him.

Yuki Tsukumo was a stunning beauty. She was tall and voluptuous, with long blonde hair that nearly reached her hips. Her bangs were split down the middle, exposing her smooth forehead. A cheerful smile rested on her face, though her eyes were as cold as ice.

There were only three Special Grade Sorcerers in Jujutsu Society: Satoru Gojo, Yuta Okkotsu, and... Yuki Tsukumo. And now, Yuki Tsukumo and Satoru Gojo had both appeared here.

Just as Gojo said, this could only prove that the higher-ups were truly terrified—afraid that the legendary King of Curses would launch another surprise attack. Apart from the Gojo Clan gathered around Gojo, no remaining faction in Jujutsu Society dared claim they could hold on.

That was why they had urgently recalled Yuki Tsukumo from overseas. In fact, the last Special Grade Sorcerer, Yuta Okkotsu, had also been summoned back. He simply hadn't come here; instead, he had been assigned as a bodyguard to protect the higher-ups' "important figures."

Well, the higher-ups had originally wanted at least two Special Grade Sorcerers as bodyguards, leaving only one to deal with the Zenin Clan incident. Yuta Okkotsu was young and obediently listened. Yuki Tsukumo, on the other hand, immediately raised her middle finger and ran off to Gojo.

"I was shocked," Yuki Tsukumo said as she squatted beside Gojo, sensing the residual Cursed Energy within the crater. Her smile faded somewhat. "When I received the news that 'one of Jujutsu Society's Big Three Families, the Zenin Clan, had been destroyed by the legendary King of Curses,' I thought someone was joking with me. After confirming again and again that it wasn't a joke, I had no choice but to listen to those old men for once and come back obediently."

"Feeling the pressure?" Gojo teased.

"I sure as hell am." Yuki Tsukumo's smile finally vanished. "You know my ideal. I've always sought a way to eradicate Cursed Spirits. Once I realized I couldn't find the answer in Japan no matter what I did, I decisively traveled around the world to seek new possibilities.

"I thought nothing could happen in Japan with you here... but something really did happen. Even the King of Curses has appeared.

"Isn't that even more contrary to my ideal?" Yuki Tsukumo grumbled loudly.

Lord of Curses. Gojo mulled over that title.

He asked, "How much do you know about the Lord of Curses?"

"You're the one stationed in Japan, not me, yet you're asking someone who just came back?" Yuki Tsukumo snorted, then honestly answered, "It's said to be a Cursed Spirit that appeared not long ago, with enormous potential. It's the first intelligent Cursed Spirit to emerge since Cursed Spirits were born.

"It possesses sociality comparable to humans, understands how to cooperate with jujutsu sorcerers, and grows at an incomprehensible rate. It has already gathered a large number of Cursed Spirits and curse users around itself, including quite a few notorious figures. And...

"At the end, Yuki Tsukumo paused before voicing the rest. "It possesses a form of immortality without side effects and actively sells it. As long as one pays a reasonable price, they can obtain it.

"For ordinary society, that price is money, connections, perhaps territory and such? As for Jujutsu Society... the Zenin Clan was the only one to contact it, and they ended up being wiped out."

Gojo said coldly, "No need to preserve the Zenin Clan's last shred of dignity. They looked down on the King of Curses and ordered it to hand over the Immortality Method, then demanded that it swear eternal loyalty to the Zenin Clan. So the King of Curses came alone and wiped out the Zenin Clan's elite in one go."

It was precisely because he knew all the information that Gojo said the King of Curses was "merciful." At least it had spared the Zenin Clan's elderly and weak. After suffering such humiliation, not to mention a Cursed Spirit born from negative emotions—even a jujutsu sorcerer who had originally been human, given the strength, would have slaughtered the Zenin Clan completely and spared not even a single branch family member.

That was also why Maki Zenin had faced almost no accountability after wiping out the Zenin Clan in the original work—this was tradition. It seemed cruel in modern society, but in Jujutsu Society, it was normal.

Compared with Jujutsu Society's traditional practices, the King of Curses' actions actually seemed more civilized.

How ironic.

Yuki Tsukumo sighed. "Sometimes, I really envy you. I've been unhappy with those old men for a long time too, but I only chose to run far away. You, however, stayed and actively cultivated students, openly preparing for reform.

"A wind is blowing through Jujutsu Society. Outstanding jujutsu sorcerers have emerged one after another recently, while the Cursed Spirits have also given birth to the first Lord of Curses in a thousand years. This massive storm is sweeping through all of Jujutsu Society at a furious pace and has begun affecting human society. I even believe that sooner or later, this storm will swallow the entire world—not just Japan."

Gojo put his blindfold back on, his expression unusually gloomy.

Yuki Tsukumo raised her hand and slapped Gojo's back again. "That's why I came, isn't it? Don't carry all the pressure so stubbornly. You still have some companions."

"Some, huh," Gojo sighed.

"Don't expect too much." Yuki Tsukumo smiled. "You've offended plenty of important people. Those people would love for you to die right now, but unfortunately, you're too hard to kill, and they can't do it. Now, though, the King of Curses is eyeing them and poses a genuine threat to their lives, so they have no choice but to rely on you."

Gojo let out an irritated breath.

"Back to business—what did your Six Eyes see?" Yuki Tsukumo asked.

"A massive creature flew through the sky. This serpent-like creature lowered its enormous head, opened its jaws, and unleashed some kind of Cursed Energy attack. One blow shattered the earth. As you can see, its direct strike range exceeded two kilometers, and its affected area exceeded ten. If you told me it was some new kind of nuclear bomb, I'd believe you." Gojo slowly exhaled.

"How does it compare to your Hollow Technique?" Yuki Tsukumo asked.

Normally, unless a Cursed Technique was enhanced through Domain Expansion, Cursed Technique Lapse and Cursed Technique Reversal were two entirely different methods of release. Mahito was the same; he couldn't use Cursed Technique Lapse and Cursed Technique Reversal simultaneously.

But Gojo's appearance had shattered that rule. He was the only jujutsu sorcerer in history capable of using Cursed Technique Lapse and Cursed Technique Reversal at the same time.

Even Ryomen Sukuna couldn't do that!

He had a signature move. It wasn't that he refused to teach it to others—no one else could learn it at all. He used Cursed Technique Lapse and Cursed Technique Reversal simultaneously, unleashing power far beyond common sense. He named this special technique Hollow Technique.

"In terms of wide-area destructive power, it's above my Hollow Technique." Gojo had his own pride and disdained lying, though he couldn't help adding, "But my Hollow Technique was never specialized in wide-area destruction. It's better at penetration and concentrated breakthroughs.

"If I used Hollow Technique to attack downward from the sky, it would only leave behind a passage straight to the earth's core instead of blasting out a crater."

Gojo wasn't lying. His Hollow Technique truly wasn't especially impressive in raw destructive power. In the original work, when he fought Ryomen Sukuna one-on-one, he fired a Hollow Technique blast from two kilometers away at Sukuna's location, yet that blast only destroyed half a building.

In exchange, Ryomen Sukuna, who had taken the hit directly, nearly lost half his life. Sukuna even stated that if he hadn't prepared defenses at the most critical moment, he might have been gravely wounded to the point of death.

That was Ryomen Sukuna at his peak.

Before Ryomen Sukuna had reached his peak, he fought Jogo. At the time, Jogo had dropped a gigantic Meteor fifty meters in diameter, with enough destructive force to nearly destroy the entire Shibuya district. Yet despite that enormous destructive power, Ryomen Sukuna casually sliced it apart with a single Cursed Technique and wasn't injured at all.

The contrast was far too stark.

"Looks like even the famed 'strongest of the modern era' is feeling pressure. Normally, you wouldn't argue about this at all. You'd only sneer disdainfully, too lazy even to refute it." Yuki Tsukumo teased.

Gojo shrugged without explaining himself.

After teasing him, Yuki Tsukumo resumed thinking. "Wasn't the King of Curses' ability supposed to let humans evolve? Did it alter itself too, becoming the massive creature you described?"

"That should be it." Gojo nodded thoughtfully. "What do you think it was?" Yuki Tsukumo asked.

"A dragon," Gojo said quietly. "It was a dragon. The highest-grade dragon-type Cursed Spirit. Suguru once had such a Cursed Spirit. He named it Rainbow Dragon. Though it wasn't a Special Grade Cursed Spirit, it was still the strongest shield in his arsenal.

"A Special Grade dragon-type Cursed Spirit has never been born in this country—because that would no longer be a Cursed Spirit. That would be a god, a dragon god." Yuki Tsukumo fell silent, unconsciously breaking out in a cold sweat.

Gojo asked, "What did you find in the Zenin Clan ruins?"

"Slash marks—perfect arcs that only an exceptional swordsman could produce." Yuki Tsukumo said, "I checked the Kukuru Unit members. Every one of their corpses had those perfect slash marks, as if a sword saint had casually swung a blade, the tip lightly grazing the Kukuru Unit's vital points. Every Kukuru Unit member fell like straw.

"It felt like I was watching a spectacular samurai film: a rainy night, kimonos, katana... and naturally, a vicious villain."

"The King of Curses was honing itself," Gojo said slowly. "It was seeking a higher level of Cursed Energy flow... Black Flash. It wanted to enter the Black Flash state."

Yuki Tsukumo nodded lightly. "I can already imagine the King of Curses' condition.

"It wasn't an ordinary Cursed Spirit. It had its own thoughts, ideals, even its own sense of honor. It was humiliated, and although it knew the Zenin Clan was one of Jujutsu Society's Big Three Families, it still came."

Yuki Tsukumo imagined the battle that night. It had clearly been a cruel massacre of an entire family, yet in a daze, she felt as though she had entered an ancient road of the Heian Era: one person, one sword, a lone dragon in the night.

"It announced itself at the Zenin Clan gates, holding a sword in its hand.

"It first fought its enemies with that sword. During the battle, its swordsmanship became increasingly refined. At first, it used the blade to cut people in half—fierce and brutal. But afterward, it became more and more proficient at killing. Gradually, it stopped directly cutting people down. It avoided everyone's weapons and killed only with the sword tip, strolling through the rainy night.

"Then it entered the Zenin Clan gates and endured Hei's fierce assault. By then, it could no longer win through swordsmanship alone, so it used its Cursed Technique.

"My eyes couldn't tell what Cursed Technique it was. It didn't deliberately erase the residual Cursed Energy from the battlefield, but the interwoven jujutsu was too chaotic for me to distinguish.

"But one could imagine it was an earth-shaking jujutsu battle. Too much residual Cursed Energy had tangled together, impossible to separate. The Zenin Clan estate became ruins during that jujutsu battle, as it and Hei fought with everything they had.

"It ultimately defeated Hei and stepped into the Zenin Clan's main residence, where the Zenin Clan head, Naobito Zenin, was waiting for it." Yuki Tsukumo came back to herself and pointed at the massive crater. Then she concluded:

"Their battle began at the Zenin Clan's main residence and continued all the way here, where the victor was decided."

Gojo imagined that battle. The King of Curses had been alone, but there had been no fear in its heart. It began fighting outside the Zenin Clan gates, advancing step by step through frontal assault until it reached the Zenin Clan head.

Gojo couldn't help saying, "What a tough guy. It feels like I've returned to the era when samurai wandered everywhere. Back then, samurai valued honor more than life. If someone humiliated them, even if they had only one person and one sword, they'd risk their lives for revenge."

"I feel the same... The one who taught it must have been an ancient sorcerer. A modern person couldn't possibly act like that." Yuki Tsukumo nodded in agreement, then asked, "Do you have any leads on sorcerers who lived from ancient times into the modern era?"

Gojo shrugged. "I only know of one person."

"Guan Yuan?" Yuki Tsukumo asked. "Guan Yuan." Gojo nodded.

Yuki Tsukumo irritably scratched her head. "Then that lead is cut off. With the clues we have now, we can't apply to see Tengen. Rather, after this incident, those old men have raised Tengen's protection level even higher."

"Don't you have a special relationship with Tengen? Can't they make an exception?" Gojo asked.

Yuki Tsukumo sighed deeply. "Precisely because we have a special relationship, they can't make an exception. Those old men have always suspected that I might intend Tengen harm, and I can't even refute them... I really have acted excessively a few times."

Gojo sneered loudly. "Then be even more excessive! Break into Guan Yuan's barrier right now and curse Tengen out. I swear Guan Yuan will definitely see you."

Yuki Tsukumo pursed her lips and didn't argue.

She had always been lawless. Before Gojo, she had been the only Special Grade Sorcerer of the modern era; her strength and status were beyond question. She had spent years overseas, ignoring the orders of Jujutsu Society's higher-ups. If this incident hadn't been so serious, she wouldn't even have bothered returning.

Being a little more excessive was nothing new to her.

She simply accepted Gojo's suggestion. "No problem. I'll go bother Guan Yuan. Aside from Guan Yuan, do you have any other leads?" Gojo thought for a moment before slowly saying, "Seeing Guan Yuan would be best, but even if we can't, we can ask around elsewhere."

Yuki Tsukumo immediately understood. "You mean those curse users?"

"One of my students hangs around curse users every day. Of course, he isn't a curse user—he just uses them to make money." Gojo smiled. "Before this, even I couldn't contact him. But things are different now. Since something this serious has happened, I can use it as an excuse to contact him. Those old men won't be able to say anything."

Yuki Tsukumo's mouth twitched. "Your connections really are something." Gojo grinned proudly. "Hahaha, who do you think I am?"

"Good. We finally have a useful lead in this mess." Yuki Tsukumo slammed her fists together. "Then contact him quickly. Solve this as soon as possible... otherwise, there may not be enough time."

"Not enough time?" Gojo raised a brow.

"Don't tell me you haven't noticed." Yuki Tsukumo said gravely, "This Lord of Shell Spirits is growing at high speed, and there's no end in sight. Before entering the Zenin Clan gates, it only used swords. At first it wasn't proficient, but the more it used them, the more skilled it became. By the end, it might not have been a sword saint, but it was undeniably a swordmaster. How much time had passed? It learned far too quickly in battle!

"Then, after entering the Zenin Clan gates and fighting Hei with Cursed Techniques, it almost abandoned the swordsmanship it had just mastered and began fighting with Cursed Techniques. Put nicely, it was expanding its methods. Put harshly, it simply had no combat style of its own and was just fighting chaotically."

Yuki Tsukumo's hand moved unconsciously, as though mimicking the path of a descending sword. "It was still feeling its way forward and actively searching for a fighting style that suited it.

"In the end, its battle with Naobito Zenin became even more direct. It transformed into a dragon, soared freely above this land, and killed Naobito Zenin."