Jujutsu Kaisen: Yearning to Become an Immortal God

Jogo clenched his fists, feeling a wave of dizziness.

One Satoru Gojo had already left them reeling, and now there were two more. This was an extremely terrible situation.

Jogo's voice trembled as he asked, "I remember you telling us that Tengen's final evolution would be complete before the end of this year... Can we kill Guan Yuan within that time?"

"That's why we have to deal with Yuki Tsukumo first," Mahito said. "Of course, I know time is tight right now, but if we give up this opportunity, the next time we act, we'll most likely have to face three Special Grade sorcerers working together... Then we'll have even less of a chance."

Jogo was left speechless.

Hanami suddenly asked, [Can we confirm that Yuki Tsukumo is coming alone?]

Kenjaku said, "I had her make a Binding Vow for the time being. But I'm not sure whether she'll pull any tricks. What worries me is, what if Satoru Gojo is following behind her... Perhaps we should find a way to hold Satoru Gojo back."

Jogo looked at him expectantly. "Then, do you have a way?"

"Hmm." Kenjaku stroked his chin and smiled. "I'm still thinking." "You're messing with me?!" Jogo raged.

Just then, a phone began to ring. Kinji Hakari took his phone from his pocket, and his pupils contracted slightly.

Mahito sharply noticed it. "Who is it?" he asked.

"Mr. Gojo." Kinji Hakari took a deep breath. "He... called me personally." Author's Note

Ancient Leaf's Author's Note:

I'm terribly sorry, I'm late again. I've had persistent insomnia for over a month now. My days and nights are often reversed, and my memory has been getting worse. The main issue is that I keep forgetting to upload. Don't worry that I've dropped the story—I currently have around ten chapters saved up, so there's no issue of running out of chapters. I simply forgot to upload them. Since I check every chapter before uploading, that's why I upload daily.

I generally schedule uploads for exactly 7 PM. If I don't upload at that time, it's purely because I forgot. This time was the same.

I'm very sorry. So, so sorry.

9. Names.

Among the classifications of Cursed Spirits, there was a special category known as Imaginary Vengeful Spirits. What made these Cursed Spirits special was that they possessed prototypes from the moment they were born, and they truly possessed the powers of those prototypes. To someone unfamiliar with the field, it might seem as though myths and legends were slowly unfolding before their eyes.

Before Mahito now stood Imaginary Vengeful Spirits bound by a barrier.

Although Special Grade Cursed Spirits appeared casually in the original work, they were actually exceedingly rare. As for Special Grade Imaginary Vengeful Spirits, there had only been one in the entire work, while throughout the history of Jujutsu Society, there had only ever been six.

Mahito had never expected to find a Special Grade Imaginary Vengeful Spirit. They were too rare, and Special Grade Cursed Spirits usually would not obediently stay put. With the half-baked Barrier Technique of the three Cursed Spirits, they probably could not trap a Special Grade Cursed Spirit. So his requirements had been simple: any Imaginary Vengeful Spirit would do. He did not demand a particular grade.

Even after lowering his standards again and again, Mahito had not expected that after searching all of Japan, they would only find five. There were too few. Compared with the ever-growing total population of Cursed Spirits, Mahito suspected Imaginary Vengeful Spirits accounted for less than one in ten thousand—perhaps even one in a hundred thousand.

Jogo twisted his body awkwardly. "Sorry, Mahito. We could only find this many. As for Special Grade... we didn't find even one." "No, I'm already very satisfied." Mahito did not mind.

Mahito was not lying. If he had relied on himself alone, he would never have had the time or energy to search for them one by one. Unlike the original Mahito, who casually captured Cursed Spirits for experiments and abandoned them without hesitation afterward, he had never given up researching Cursed Spirits. Now, the results were finally showing.

He walked over to the five Imaginary Vengeful Spirits, looked down at them, and gently raised his hand. They were:

A Kappa. A Tengu. A Zashiki-warashi.

And two Yuki-onna.

In ancient times, the number of Imaginary Vengeful Spirits had been surprisingly high. Modern times were different. Most people did not actually believe in the existence of yokai. During middle school and high school, they might be influenced by various urban legends, giving birth to Imaginary Vengeful Spirits based on such tales. But once they entered society, they would almost never think about such things again.

Instead, Cursed Spirits formed from real-life troubles began appearing one after another. Imaginary Vengeful Spirits were nearly extinct.

The Imaginary Vengeful Spirits that could still remain were, without exception, figures famous both domestically and abroad. The five Cursed Spirits before Mahito were precisely such beings. The Yuki-onna, because they were so famous, were among the rare few that had multiple existences.

"Then, let's begin," Mahito said softly. Idle Transfiguration.

The five Imaginary Vengeful Spirits began to change. It was not an instantaneous transformation like when Mahito used Idle Transfiguration on himself, but a gradual alteration, like a gardener trimming branches little by little. They had originally cried out restlessly, yet as the changes began, they instead fell quiet. Cursed Spirits had never been human at their core, but their bodies were now becoming increasingly humanoid.

Idle Transfiguration was fundamentally altering the structure of their souls, yet they felt no pain at all. They accepted their own transformations with delight.

The Kappa finished changing first. This Imaginary Vengeful Spirit had originally stood a full two meters tall. A massive turtle shell covered its back, its entire body was seaweed-green, its lips resembled a beak, and its bald head had only a ring of hair around the crown.

But now it compressed. Its limbs became slender, the texture of muscles faintly emerging beneath its skin. Azure hair began growing wildly from the top of its head. Its formerly bald scalp stretched outward, forming short hair that reached its ears, while a bow was pinned behind its head.

A sleeveless short dress appeared on her body, covered by a light blue-green haori. A long black scarf fluttered in the wind. She wore black thigh-high socks, though her toes and heels were exposed, and ninja sandals covered her feet.

A long aqua-colored blade appeared before her. She grasped it, solemn and dignified.

Next came the Tengu. A pair of enormous black wings covered its body, and when they spread again, it wore an off-the-shoulder kimono in deep red and black, decorated with gold accessories. Its long black hair was tied up with a hairpin.

It straightened its body, boldly exposing the upper half of its heavy chest. Its long legs stretched out, their lines like flowing water beside a river. The high slit of its skirt revealed its thighs, while short white socks and tall geta were on its feet.

A maple-leaf fan appeared in her hand. The female Tengu smiled, radiating seduction.

Then came the Zashiki-warashi. Its transformation was the smallest, because it was the Imaginary Vengeful Spirit closest to human form. Under Idle Transfiguration, its greatest change was its face. Originally, its features had seemed scattered and distorted, barely recognizable as a child's face.

Now, its features came together. A small, pitiful face appeared, its somewhat messy black hair becoming neat in a traditional hime cut. It had black eyes and a red kimono, with a huge bow pinned at its waist.

She wore a pair of bells as bracelets, which gave off clear, crisp chimes with the slightest movement.

Finally came the Yuki-onna twins. Their ice-like bodies gradually melted away. Pure white kimonos covered them, and their snow-white hair fell smoothly behind them, reaching their hips. Their bangs and sidelocks were as even as cut surfaces, while long white eyelashes of the same color rested over their eyes. Like noble twin princesses, they wore white socks and boat-shaped wooden sandals beneath their kimonos.

Thick white winter scarves wrapped around their necks and lifted slightly in the breeze. Five pairs of eyes opened at once. They knelt on one knee and offered Mahito their loyalty.

"You are the first batch of intelligent Cursed Spirits I have created. I will give you names," Mahito said, shifting his gaze to the Kappa. "Qie Sha means a riverside spirit appearing faintly through morning mist, an everlasting tranquil beauty like a hazy ink-wash painting."

"Thank you, Master, for granting me a name. From this day onward, Qie Sha shall be Master's blade." The warrior girl lowered her head.

"Yu Feng." Mahito smiled at the Tengu. "May your black wings never fall, and may the splendor of hidden maple leaves reflect your blazing heart, demonic and divine alike."

The mature courtesan smiled. "Yu Feng thanks Master for granting me a name. I shall never forget it."

"Yayoi is praised as rebirth, while bells have had the power to ward off evil since ancient times." Mahito looked at the Zashiki-warashi and said gently, "Yayoi Suzu, that shall be your name. May your original heart remain unchanged forever, and from this day onward, demons and ghosts shall avoid you."

The girl lowered her head, her bangs hiding her eyes. She said cautiously, "Th-thank you, Master. Yayoi Suzu will do her best!"

"Lastly, miraculous twins." Mahito spoke slowly. "Imaginary Vengeful Spirits are already very rare, yet two identical Imaginary Vengeful Spirits appeared before me at the same time. I can only marvel at the wonder of fate—Xue Zhi and Xue Lian. Weaving and ripples are both words deeply connected to fate. I give them to you."

The snow-white twins bowed in thanks simultaneously. Their timing was almost perfectly identical as they spoke in unison. "Xue Zhi (Xue Lian), thank you, Master, for granting me a name."

Kenjaku clapped enthusiastically.

"Magnificent! Magnificent, Mahito! Less than half a year after your birth, you have created a new advanced race!

"If you, Jogo, Hanami, and Dagon are the noble first generation, then what you have done now is create a second generation. As long as you can imprint your Idle Transfiguration into the innate techniques of every race you create, we can foresee a third generation, a fourth generation!

"And not only that—you can even transform humans into half-Cursed Spirits!"

Kenjaku's body began trembling faintly with excitement, and even his voice quivered almost imperceptibly.

"I can already see it—the formation of a new world! What will happen in the future? I can't wait to keep watching. Ah, living a long time really does have its benefits. Whether humans or Cursed Spirits... they're all so interesting, so interesting!"

"This is wonderful, Mahito!" Jogo shouted. "We succeeded! We truly succeeded! From this day onward, we New Humans have truly set foot in humanity's world!"

Hanami made a rapid sound, her voice overflowing with excitement.

Dagon stared wide-eyed at these newborn intelligent Cursed Spirits and could not help straightening his back. From now on, he was a senior too! Ashiya Sadatsuna let out a long breath. "This old man... has witnessed a miracle."

"It really is incredible," Kinji Hakari could not help saying. "I knew Mahito was creating intelligent Cursed Spirits, but the ones you made are different from those born naturally, right?

"I remember that you naturally born first-generation types gained intelligence because you absorbed excessive Cursed Energy. You were born knowing language and basic common sense, but why do these second-generation types you created also know language and common sense from birth? Did you use Idle Transfiguration to instill it in them?"

Kinji Hakari easily accepted Kenjaku's theory of first and second generations. It was simply too fitting; he immediately understood it. "Surprisingly, no." Mahito looked toward the warrior girl. "Qie Sha?"

"Yes." Qie Sha looked at Kinji Hakari with a solemn expression, her tone carrying a warrior's clarity. "Before this, I already had a certain degree of awareness, but it was very vague. I merely drifted with the current, living and hunting by instinct. Yet even before this, we were able to learn much common sense and knowledge from the residual Cursed Energy circulating through the atmosphere, including language."

Kinji Hakari's pupils contracted. "...Learning knowledge from residual Cursed Energy circulating through the atmosphere?"

"I have an immature theory," Mahito said slowly. "Whether human or Cursed Spirit, after death, they all go to the Soul River. But that Soul River is not some tangible object. It should be the circulation of Cursed Energy.

"Kenjaku-sensei should have studied this. I remember Kenjaku-sensei once said that, in order to create Ryomen Sukuna's vessel, he made use of the reincarnation of Ryomen Sukuna's unborn twin brother."

"That is indeed true." Kenjaku calmed himself by adjusting his breathing and said with a smile, "In fact, every sorcerer has the possibility of observing this Soul River, but only upon death, or when an opponent they repeatedly fought to the death drags them into that illusory space. I am absolutely certain that such a river exists, but none of us can interfere with it."

"But you interfered, didn't you?" Kinji Hakari asked. "The reincarnation of Ryomen Sukuna's brother—wasn't that the result of your interference?" Kinji Hakari was referring to Yuji Itadori. They had discussed Yuji Itadori, Ryomen Sukuna's vessel, long ago.

"That was not interference, but going with the flow." Kenjaku shrugged. "It's like throwing a message in a bottle from upstream, then running downstream alongside the river, following the bottle, calculating the timing, and fishing it out. That hardly counts as interference."

Kinji Hakari's heart stirred slightly, and he suddenly thought of Jogo and the others' self-introductions.

Intelligent Cursed Spirits formed by containing excessive Cursed Energy. The key was not the latter half, intelligent Cursed Spirits, but the former half: excessive Cursed Energy. Souls and Cursed Energy always had a faint, elusive connection. That so-called excessive Cursed Energy likely carried the memories of dead people. Those scattered memories gathered and integrated, combined with the identity of a Cursed Spirit, and thus came into being. Perhaps that was why intelligent Cursed Spirits appeared!

Why had intelligent Shell Spirits, unseen for a thousand years, appeared so frequently in this era? Because the number of people dying and being born in this country every year promoted the gathering of excessive Cursed Energy, allowing four intelligent Cursed Spirits unprecedented in a millennium to be born.

"The prosperity of humanity is the prosperity of Cursed Spirits. That is the truth behind Mahito and the others' birth!"

"Through this creation, I also confirmed something," Mahito sighed. "Making inferior products is easy, but to create perfect intelligent Shell Spirits, one must have a targeted Cursed Energy target—that is, Imaginary Vengeful Spirits. Because they can precisely absorb fixed Cursed Energy and be born with a foundation better suited for intelligent Shell Spirits. Other Cursed Spirits struggle to develop intelligence perfectly."

Cursed Spirits without intelligence could only act and grow by instinct. Naturally, they could not shake the current Jujutsu Society.

That was why Jujutsu Society had endured for so long, and why it confidently matched Grade 1 sorcerers against Special Grade Cursed Spirits.

But now, because of Mahito's appearance, the entire structure had finally undergone a massive change. He turned to look at the five newly born intelligent Cursed Spirits and smiled.

"Now is not yet the time for you to enter the world, but I believe in your limitless potential. I will provide you with the best learning environment. I am willing to forge new paths for your future... Qie Sha, Yu Feng, Yayoi Suzu, Xue Zhi, Xue Lian, welcome to the true world, as 'humans.'"

All the newly born intelligent Cursed Spirits could not help cheering.

Jogo was incredibly excited and said decisively, "Then leave it to me."

"Hanami, I'll have to ask you to stay home and take care of the newborns these next few days." Mahito interrupted Jogo. "Although they have basic common sense, they have only just been born and still have much to learn."

Hanami felt an enormous sense of mission. She nodded calmly, hiding her nervousness. Jogo opened his mouth. "What about me—"

"Also, Kenjaku-sensei, I'll leave the development of their abilities to you." Mahito spoke to Kenjaku.

Kenjaku nodded without surprise. "Leave it to me. Let me properly see the potential of these newly born intelligent Cursed Spirits." A bead of sweat slid down Jogo's forehead. "Mahito, I..."

"Ashiya-sensei, could I ask you to handle their physical training?"

"Hehe, that little girl called Qie Sha looks quite suited to my New Shadow Style." Ashiya Sadatsuna agreed without hesitation. "I'll give it my all. However, my primary teaching target will still be you... You understand, don't you?"

"Of course. That is exactly what I want." Mahito smiled. Jogo felt an inexplicable sense of crisis. "I... I..."

"Dagon, you can go too." Mahito said gently. "But don't lead the children astray, okay? You can take them to the beach to play."

Dagon bounced in place, making a proud sound. "I-I can too," Jogo said hurriedly.

"Jogo, I have another major mission for you." Mahito suddenly turned serious. Jogo froze.

"Perhaps you could make a few more rounds and see whether you can find any more Imaginary Vengeful Spirits?" Mahito asked.

Jogo could endure no more. "You just want to send me away, don't you? You don't trust my teaching?! Hanami, Dagon, and I followed Kenjaku's instructions and ran all over Japan just to find five Imaginary Vengeful Spirits. Now you want me to search alone? How could I possibly find any!"

Don't say it if you've seen through it. Mahito thought. Is there even the slightest part of your teaching ability that could reassure anyone? Even Dagon is less troublesome than you.

But Mahito could not say that.

"Finding new Imaginary Vengeful Spirits is also extremely important. It determines whether we can gain new companions. You understand that, don't you?" Mahito said solemnly. "Of course I know it will be difficult to find more even if you search again, but for our future, please search one more time no matter what. This is for the greater good!"

"Th-that really is important," Jogo said, unable to argue.

He stared blankly at the sky, feeling as though he had been fooled. Yet after thinking for a long time, he could not find a flaw in Mahito's words. Then he felt that perhaps he had not been fooled at all, but entrusted with an important task.

Finally—

"Kinji." Mahito looked at Kinji Hakari.

Kinji Hakari crossed his arms and smiled. "Ah, I understand."

After a pause, he said, "Leave Mr. Gojo to me!"

10. The Ties Between Both Sides

One week later, Tokyo Jujutsu High.

Within Tokyo stood such a school. Protected by barriers and surrounded by high mountains, it had one torii gate after another stretching from the foot of the mountain to its summit. These torii gates served as the barriers' entrances. Every person entering them had to be a registered sorcerer, otherwise the barriers would automatically sound an alarm.

It was a military fortress, except it had also taken on the function of education. This was Tokyo Jujutsu High.

Outside the torii gates, Yuki Tsukumo leaned against one of them. She frowned toward the side and asked impatiently, "Where's Gojo? Where did he run off to now?"

"He said he was bringing the underclassmen over," a Panda said in a calm voice.

Yes, an actual Panda: a round body, black-and-white fur, and a simple, adorable appearance. Only when he stood upright like a human could one sense his size. Even so, his slightly hunched posture made him seem non-threatening.

"Salmon," Toge Inumaki said.

Toge Inumaki was a short boy with ash-white hair. He wore Tokyo Jujutsu High's black uniform, though only his collar had been altered, rising high enough to cover the lower half of his face. This made every word he spoke sound muffled. "So, how much longer are we supposed to wait?" Maki Zenin said.

She was the culprit who would massacre the Zenin Clan in the original work, but she was still only a rebellious girl now. She had refined features, wore plain glasses and the female Tokyo Jujutsu High uniform, and tied her dark green hair into a ponytail.

Yuki Tsukumo sighed. "Only Gojo knows the exact time. He only said they would arrive at noon... Didn't he tell you?" The three students all shook their heads.

"Great. That guy really is unreliable when it comes to getting things done." Yuki Tsukumo gritted her teeth.