Jujutsu Kaisen: Yearning to Become an Immortal God

After a while, a voice came from the phone. "So the King of Curses' master really is Ashiya Sadatsuna?" Yuki Tsukumo said coldly, "That should have been your responsibility."

"I have been monitoring every millennium-old sorcerer in Japan. Ashiya Sadatsuna is merely one of them, and he is not even the strongest. On the contrary, he is extremely honest. He is the only millennium-old sorcerer who voluntarily exposed his life to me. I am certain that he merely wishes to live quietly. So long as nothing happens to Jujutsu Society, he will never act," the voice said slowly.

"But now something has happened." Yuki Tsukumo sighed. "The King of Curses appeared out of nowhere, and its debut battle was the destruction of the Zenin Clan." "Yes," the voice said calmly. "That is why I immediately sent you to find him."

Yuki Tsukumo said irritably, "But it was still too late! The moment you learned that an intelligent cursed spirit had appeared, you should have immediately tracked down every millennium-old sorcerer you knew! Then have Satoru Gojo visit them one by one! That would count as an actual crisis warning."

"I cannot do that." The voice sighed again. "Why?" Yuki Tsukumo demanded angrily. "Because I am Tengen," the voice said.

Yuki Tsukumo fell silent. Only after a long while did she ask helplessly:

"Fine. Because you are Tengen, unless something beyond your control happens, you are not allowed to interfere with Jujutsu Society. You must remain above it all and be a happy puppet! I said this long ago: if you truly cared about Jujutsu Society, you should not have let Jujutsu Headquarters make such a mess."

"I am already over a thousand years old, child," Guan Yuan said gently. "My thoughts and my methods have long ceased to suit this era. You think the modern Jujutsu Headquarters is antiquated, but if I truly replaced Jujutsu Headquarters as you suggest, you would only think they were doing a decent job after all."

"Your stepping down and yielding power is what reduced Jujutsu Headquarters to its current state," Yuki Tsukumo said coldly.

"Didn't a Satoru Gojo appear?" Tengen smiled. "I believe he will eventually change Jujutsu Headquarters. Just as Jujutsu Headquarters bound me here in the name of righteousness back then, Satoru Gojo will always carve out a broad road of his own... That is humanity."

Fine. If that is how deeply you understand righteousness, I have nothing to say. Yuki Tsukumo rubbed her temples and sighed helplessly. After a while, she asked, "What do we do now? We have lost the trail." Yes, when Tengen learned that Mahito had an antiquated master, she immediately thought of Ashiya Sadatsuna.

It was not that Tengen had failed to consider Kenjaku. Rather, Kenjaku and Ashiya Sadatsuna were two entirely different people. Mahito showed none of Kenjaku's despicability or ruthlessness. Instead, everything about him revealed a samurai's clarity and righteousness. Guan Yuan possessed records on every immortal in Japan, so after carefully questioning Yuki Tsukumo and Satoru Gojo for information, she immediately identified Ashiya Sadatsuna.

Only Ashiya Sadatsuna cared so deeply about so-called righteousness. It had to be him.

If Mahito had been taught by another immortal, he would never have spared even the old and weak members of the Zenin Clan. Nor would he have loudly announced his own name before battle. Such behavior, like something from a samurai movie, was something only Ashiya Sadatsuna could have taught.

As for the possibility that this had been the intelligent cursed spirit's own will? Tengen had not considered it, nor had Yuki Tsukumo or Satoru Gojo.

What a joke! As a cursed spirit born from curses, it could never have held tolerant thoughts toward humans from the beginning!

Forget cursed spirits. Just look at how low some people's standards could sink in reality, and you could imagine how evil and arrogant an unrestrained bastard could be. Thus, from the very beginning, everyone in Jujutsu Society believed that the Lord of Curses' personality had been shaped by his master's teachings.

"Don't you have the phone number of Gojo's student?" Tengen said slowly. "I remember that you called him before contacting me. Has he called back?"

"No. I called him before contacting you, about half an hour ago." Yuki Tsukumo frowned. "He said he would keep an eye out."

"He has not seen the King of Curses?" Tengen asked.

"He did not say whether he had seen it or not. He only said he would keep an eye out." Yuki Tsukumo fell into thought.

"He must have seen it, and he was very likely placed under a Binding Vow." Tengen said calmly, "Though Ashiya Sadatsuna came from a samurai background, he was by no means lacking in caution. Rather, it was precisely because of his caution that I allowed him to live until now. If he sincerely taught the King of Curses, he would certainly have taught it that same caution. Anyone the King of Curses met would certainly be placed under a Binding Vow."

Yuki Tsukumo's eyes flashed. "So as long as we keep a close eye on Hakari now, we can definitely find the King of Curses?" Guan Yuan answered cautiously, "In theory."

"In theory?" Yuki Tsukumo's voice sharpened. "Do you know how fast the Lord of Curses is growing? Satoru Gojo and I went to the Zenin Clan to take a look—

5. Coincidence

Yuki Tsukumo frowned deeply as she looked at the convenience store before her.

She took out her phone and made a call. After listening for several seconds, before the person on the other end could answer, she said impatiently, "We were one step too late."

After a while, a voice came from the phone. "So the King of Curses' master really is Ashiya Sadatsuna?" Yuki Tsukumo said coldly, "That should have been your responsibility."

"I have been monitoring every millennium-old sorcerer in Japan. Ashiya Sadatsuna is merely one of them, and he is not even the strongest. On the contrary, he is extremely honest. He is the only millennium-old sorcerer who voluntarily exposed his life to me. I am certain that he merely wishes to live quietly. So long as nothing happens to Jujutsu Society, he will never act," the voice said slowly.

"But now something has happened." Yuki Tsukumo sighed. "The King of Curses appeared out of nowhere, and its debut battle was the destruction of the Zenin Clan." "Yes," the voice said calmly. "That is why I immediately sent you to find him."

Yuki Tsukumo said irritably, "But it was still too late! The moment you learned that an intelligent cursed spirit had appeared, you should have immediately tracked down every millennium-old sorcerer you knew! Then have Satoru Gojo visit them one by one! That would count as an actual crisis warning."

"I cannot do that." The voice sighed again.

"Why?" Yuki Tsukumo demanded angrily. "Because I am Tengen," the voice said.

Yuki Tsukumo fell silent. Only after a long while did she ask helplessly:

"Fine. Because you are Tengen, unless something beyond your control happens, you are not allowed to interfere with Jujutsu Society. You must remain above it all and be a happy puppet! I said this long ago: if you truly cared about Jujutsu Society, you should not have let Jujutsu Headquarters make such a mess."

"I am already over a thousand years old, child," Guan Yuan said gently. "My thoughts and my methods have long ceased to suit this era. You think the modern Jujutsu Headquarters is antiquated, but if I truly replaced Jujutsu Headquarters as you suggest, you would only think they were doing a decent job after all."

"Your stepping down and yielding power is what reduced Jujutsu Headquarters to its current state," Yuki Tsukumo said coldly.

"Didn't a Satoru Gojo appear?" Tengen smiled. "I believe he will eventually change Jujutsu Headquarters. Just as Jujutsu Headquarters bound me here in the name of righteousness back then, Satoru Gojo will always carve out a broad road of his own... That is humanity."

Fine. If that is how deeply you understand righteousness, I have nothing to say. Yuki Tsukumo rubbed her temples and sighed helplessly. After a while, she asked, "What do we do now? We have lost the trail." Yes, when Tengen learned that Mahito had an antiquated master, she immediately thought of Ashiya Sadatsuna.

It was not that Tengen had failed to consider Kenjaku. Rather, Kenjaku and Ashiya Sadatsuna were two entirely different people. Mahito showed none of Kenjaku's despicability or ruthlessness. Instead, everything about him revealed a samurai's clarity and righteousness. Guan Yuan possessed records on every immortal in Japan, so after carefully questioning Yuki Tsukumo and Satoru Gojo for information, she immediately identified Ashiya Sadatsuna.

Only Ashiya Sadatsuna cared so deeply about so-called righteousness. It had to be him.

If Mahito had been taught by another immortal, he would never have spared even the old and weak members of the Zenin Clan. Nor would he have loudly announced his own name before battle. Such behavior, like something from a samurai movie, was something only Ashiya Sadatsuna could have taught.

As for the possibility that this had been the intelligent cursed spirit's own will? Tengen had not considered it, nor had Yuki Tsukumo or Satoru Gojo.

What a joke! As a cursed spirit born from curses, it could never have held tolerant thoughts toward humans from the beginning!

Forget cursed spirits. Just look at how low some people's standards could sink in reality, and you could imagine how evil and arrogant an unrestrained bastard could be. Thus, from the very beginning, everyone in Jujutsu Society believed that the Lord of Curses' personality had been shaped by his master's teachings.

"Don't you have the phone number of Gojo's student?" Tengen said slowly. "I remember that you called him before contacting me. Has he called back?"

"No. I called him before contacting you, about half an hour ago." Yuki Tsukumo frowned. "He said he would keep an eye out."

"He has not seen the King of Curses?" Tengen asked.

"He did not say whether he had seen it or not. He only said he would keep an eye out." Yuki Tsukumo fell into thought.

"He must have seen it, and he was very likely placed under a Binding Vow." Tengen said calmly, "Though Ashiya Sadatsuna came from a samurai background, he was by no means lacking in caution. Rather, it was precisely because of his caution that I allowed him to live until now. If he sincerely taught the King of Curses, he would certainly have taught it that same caution. Anyone the King of Curses met would certainly be placed under a Binding Vow."

Yuki Tsukumo's eyes flashed. "So as long as we keep a close eye on Hakari now, we can definitely find the King of Curses?" Guan Yuan answered cautiously, "In theory."

"In theory?" Yuki Tsukumo's voice sharpened. "Do you know how fast the Lord of Curses is growing? Satoru Gojo and I went to the Zenin Clan and took a look. We generally agreed that it took him no more than three hours to destroy the Zenin Clan, and within those three hours, he evolved at least three times! On average, once every hour!

"He is growing every second, without pause! He can already destroy the Zenin Clan now. I cannot even imagine how far he will have grown by next time.

"What did Satoru Gojo say?" Tengen asked.

"That bastard told me to do whatever I wanted," Yuki Tsukumo said through gritted teeth.

"Since he is still confident, things will not slide in the worst possible direction," Tengen reassured her. "I know Ashiya. He is not the calculating sort. Even if he intends to fight, he will do so openly and honorably. Just as when the King of Curses went to the Zenin Clan, it openly announced its name and gave the Zenin Clan all the time they needed to prepare before beginning the battle."

That was also why Guan Yuan could remain so unhurried.

If this had been Kenjaku's scheme, Tengen would certainly have become tense. When she learned that Kenjaku had appeared and sealed Satoru Gojo, she immediately found a way to open the seal and cautiously left guards behind, because Tengen knew Kenjaku's target had to be her. She could not die. If she died, all of Japan would fall into chaos.

The facts proved that Guan Yuan truly understood Kenjaku. She saw through every one of Kenjaku's actions.

But the facts also proved that Kenjaku understood Guan Yuan very well and saw through every one of her actions.

Of these two enemies entangled for a thousand years, Kenjaku ultimately came out ahead. Guan Yuan was confined in one place and had scarcely ever come into contact with the outside world. Her thinking remained stuck a thousand years in the past. Only when she fused with a Star Plasma Vessel could she glimpse the development of the times, while Kenjaku had personally experienced the changing eras. He constantly experienced the changes in Jujutsu Society. That was the gap created by real experience.

"So you mean we do nothing now?" Yuki Tsukumo asked. "I remember, the reason you contacted me was because Jujutsu Headquarters allowed it, right? Because those people at Jujutsu Headquarters truly felt pain and fear, they opened the door for me and allowed me to see you."

That was indeed why Yuki Tsukumo had been able to contact Tengen.

Compared to Satoru Gojo's student, Tengen's source of information was naturally more reliable. Thus, Yuki Tsukumo had gone to demand that Jujutsu Headquarters contact Tengen, prepared to pester them endlessly. She had thought it would be a long battle, so while contacting Tengen, she had also called Kinji Hakari.

Unexpectedly, Tengen readily agreed to meet her. Then, using Yuki Tsukumo's information, she quickly identified the King of Curses' master—Ashiya Sadatsuna, the founder of New Shadow Style.

The people at the top had finally been scared out of their wits!

Although the people of Jujutsu Headquarters had taken the King of Curses seriously when it first appeared, they had only taken it seriously. In truth, they had not regarded this once-in-a-thousand-years intelligent cursed spirit as a real threat. Their most guarded target was still the disobedient Satoru Gojo. They never believed this so-called King of Curses could cause much trouble.

But the battle against the Zenin Clan woke them up. It had truly cut into their flesh!

Who made up Jujutsu Headquarters? Eighty percent of them came from the Big Three Families! With a single move, the King of Curses had nearly wiped out close to a quarter of Jujutsu Headquarters' members.

How could they not be afraid?

That was why they decisively allowed Yuki Tsukumo through when she demanded to meet Guan Yuan. It was pain that struck close to home!

Then, following Guan Yuan's clue, Yuki Tsukumo rushed here without stopping, only to still come up empty-handed.

Guan Yuan suddenly said, "Speak plainly." Yuki Tsukumo froze. "Speak plainly?"

"If it were anyone else, I believe your straightforward words would be no more than a breeze in their ears. They would pretend you did not exist, or perhaps even laugh at you for being foolish." Tengen said confidently, "But Ashiya is different. He possesses an old-fashioned spirit. If you wish to see him, he will definitely meet you, even if it puts his life at risk. The disciple he taught is the same. The Zenin Clan humiliated the Lord of Curses, so the Lord of Curses came alone to destroy the Zenin Clan."

Yuki Tsukumo's mouth twitched. "But I want to kill it. Wouldn't it see through such an obvious trap?" "No, you do not want to kill it." Tengen said slowly. "You merely... want to find it."

Yuki Tsukumo suddenly understood. Tengen stood behind her! Tengen possessed the Great Barrier covering all of Japan. Her usual work was maintaining that barrier. If such a massive barrier went without maintenance for even a day, enormous disasters would occur.

In fact, after Guan Yuan was absorbed by Kenjaku in the original story, it truly did go out of control. Cursed spirits were everywhere and could not be stopped at all.

Possessing such an enormous barrier meant that once Tengen locked onto someone, unless they instantly left Japan and escaped Tengen's Great Barrier, Guan Yuan could catch them no matter where they ran! Yuki Tsukumo did not need to kill the Lord of Curses at all. So long as she met the Lord of Curses, Tengen could handle all the remaining tracking.

Yuki Tsukumo licked her lips fiercely and sighed. "Sure enough, sorcerers are all bastards. Millennium-old sorcerers are millennium-old bastards."

"You insulted yourself too," Guan Yuan reminded her.

"I am also a hopeless bastard." Yuki Tsukumo spoke in a complicated tone. "If it were not for me, perhaps Geto..."

"Suguru Geto had already broken down at the time," Tengen comforted her. "You were merely the trigger. Without you, there would have been someone else. Once he broke down, he was bound to walk that path sooner or later. It had nothing to do with you. I thought you saw that clearly."

"I do see it clearly." Yuki Tsukumo let out a breath. "All right, I understand what I need to do. Then, until we lock onto the King of Curses, let us work together properly again after all this time!"

"As you wish." The call ended.

Yuki Tsukumo stared blankly at the convenience store's sliding door, considering how to find the King of Curses... She had even thought it through. So long as she could meet it once, that would be enough. At that time, she could make a Binding Vow. Even a vow that said, I will never attack you, would do.

If she did not make a move, was there not Yuta Okkotsu? Was there not Satoru Gojo? Anything would do. No matter what, all she needed was one meeting.

But the question was, how could she contact it? Yuki Tsukumo thought of Kinji Hakari.

It was now certain that Kinji Hakari had seen the King of Curses. The problem was that he seemed to have been placed under a Binding Vow that prevented him from betraying the King of Curses.

But she was not asking for information. She merely wanted to meet it once.

From what Momo said, even members of human society's parliament could contact it. Why could she not? I refuse to believe it!

Having reached that point in her thoughts, Yuki Tsukumo made up her mind and called Kinji Hakari.

As she waited for the call to connect, Yuki Tsukumo continued thinking about the King of Curses' ability. The ability to make people evolve.

An ability that could turn ordinary people into sorcerers, allowing sorcerers to rise to greater heights.

It could even grant people immortality. Immortality.

Yuki Tsukumo slowly exhaled. This was truly shocking news. At the time, she had thought it was merely a smokescreen, until she met Tengen again and heard from Tengen's own mouth about immortals living in Japan.

Damn it, Yuki Tsukumo had never imagined that Jujutsu Society truly possessed methods of immortality besides Tengen—and more than one!

Yet to Yuki Tsukumo, immortality was not the key. The key was the ability to make humans evolve into sorcerers. She had always had an ideal.

She wanted to end the birth of cursed spirits!

She had never hidden her thoughts. When she was actively operating as a sorcerer, she had publicly promoted her ideas and did not mind spreading them. To that end, she had considered many methods. In the end, those methods had either proved ineffective or were too cruel for her to accept. Yet now, unexpectedly, another method had appeared before her.

The birth of cursed spirits ultimately came from ordinary people being unable to control their own cursed energy, allowing it to leak into their daily lives. That leaked cursed energy eventually formed curses. Those curses became cursed spirits.

Sorcerers were different. Even the weakest sorcerer could perfectly control their cursed energy and prevent it from leaking away.

In other words, every cursed spirit was born because of ordinary people. Sorcerers did not produce cursed spirits.

Thus, she had come up with this idea: turn every ordinary person into a sorcerer. If every human could control their cursed energy, cursed spirits would no longer be born!

Unfortunately, when she proposed this method, Jujutsu Headquarters decisively threw her out. If not for her strength as a special-grade sorcerer, she suspected Jujutsu Headquarters might have sent people to assassinate her.

Then what other method was there?

There was indeed one more, and someone had inherited that method.

That person was Suguru Geto, a special-grade curse user—the man Kenjaku now possessed.

Kill every ordinary person, leaving only sorcerers. If a child born to a sorcerer and a sorcerer did not possess the talent to become a sorcerer, kill them as well.

After repeating this for several generations, ordinary human genes would be eliminated, leaving only the genes of sorcerers. Then cursed spirits truly could disappear forever. The theory held up, but Yuki Tsukumo was at least a normal person. She could never do such a thing. She could only seek other methods, while Suguru Geto had taken up that theory—he truly intended to kill every ordinary person in the world!

That madman was ultimately killed by Yuta Okkotsu.

And now, the ability to end cursed spirits was held by a cursed spirit itself...

Yuki Tsukumo had a dangerous thought: capture the King of Curses in secret, turn it into some kind of universal cursed tool, and use that cursed tool to transform every human in the world into a sorcerer, thereby realizing her ideal!

She truly had the ability to do so. The world's one and only shikigami cursed tool had been created by her. She was not a construction-type sorcerer, but in terms of theory and practical ability, she was unquestionably the best in the world. Even ancient sorcerers would not surpass her under equal conditions.

As she waited, Yuki Tsukumo refined her plan. First, she had to beat the King of Curses into submission. Then... Suddenly, the call connected.

A voice came from the phone. "This is the King of Curses, humanity's curse upon humanity, Mahito." Yuki Tsukumo froze.

"Is this Yuki Tsukumo?" he asked. "I heard you have been looking for me?"

Let us meet on the battlefield.