Jujutsu Kaisen: Yearning to Become an Immortal God

This also explained why Mahito had spared Miyoku. It was not mercy; he had already made his move.

Shoko Ieiri slowly exhaled, smoke rings drifting in the wind. "Satoru, I'll be blunt. If it weren't for you, I'd be siding with the old men this time. If we can't find that Cursed Spirit and eliminate it in time, then Miyoku should be dealt with sooner rather than later. She's too dangerous. What's dangerous isn't Miyoku herself, but the possibility that she could become the vessel for that Cursed Spirit's Incarnation at any moment."

Satoru Gojo refused without a second thought. "I don't agree—" Shoko Ieiri merely shrugged, unsurprised.

"Then you'd better take this seriously. You should understand what I mean." Shoko turned to look at Satoru Gojo with those brown eyes.

"An unprecedented intelligent Cursed Spirit is cooperating with Curse Users. I do not even need to guess what they intend to do—they want to overturn the current Jujutsu Society. And among them, you are their greatest obstacle. They will definitely plot against you.

"At this very moment, a pitiful girl who could be Incarnated at any time appears before you. You soften your heart and take her in.

"Then, if—if," Shoko Ieiri said softly,

"there comes a day when the girl is Incarnated, when the Cursed Spirit gains her body and stands before you... Satoru, what will you do?"

Kill her. Satoru Gojo wanted to say those words.

But he could not say them. Satoru Gojo had become soft-hearted.

He merely smiled and said, "I won't let that happen." Shoko Ieiri gave him a deep look and stopped trying to persuade him.

"Then be careful. Don't fall before dawn, Satoru. Otherwise, the disciple you worked so hard to cultivate will definitely be dealt with by those old men up top. You understand what I mean," she said.

Perhaps even Shoko Ieiri herself had not noticed the faint tremor in her voice when she said those words.

Before this, she had never been able to imagine Satoru Gojo losing. In fact, when she learned eleven years ago that Satoru Gojo and Suguru Geto had failed a mission, she had thought she was dreaming. She knew better than anyone how strong Satoru Gojo and Suguru Geto were. The fact that a mission undertaken by those two together could fail had even made her wonder whether the world was real.

After that, Satoru Gojo entered a period of rapid growth. Even now, he still had ideas he had yet to realize. He was still growing.

But now, an unprecedented situation had emerged, and its conspiracy was aimed directly at this invincible man. Shoko Ieiri did not want to think this way, but with what had happened eleven years ago as precedent, she had no choice but to consider it—

—the possibility of Satoru Gojo losing and dying.

Satoru Gojo noticed Shoko Ieiri's unease. He scoffed, wearing his usual arrogant expression as he said matter-of-factly, "Who do you think I am?"

Shoko Ieiri waved a hand. "All right, enough serious talk. Let's discuss something lighter. You asked me to check whether she has an Innate Technique. I have the result."

Satoru Gojo forced himself to forget the gloom from before. "Oh? And?"

"Congratulations. She does." A smile appeared on Shoko Ieiri's lips.

Satoru Gojo's smile widened, and he laughed smugly. "Hahahahaha! I knew it! That kid can definitely do it! With her enormous Cursed Energy, as long as she proceeds step by step, becoming a Special Grade is practically guaranteed, right? No question about it—she'll become a major figure in Jujutsu Society."

Shoko Ieiri delivered the rest of the sentence. "Her Innate Technique is... poison."

Satoru Gojo's expression froze for a moment. He immediately realized that Miyoku's identity was already controversial, and an Innate Technique as "special" as this could very likely affect her future.

After all, an Innate Technique like poison would naturally never be looked upon favorably by the righteous side.

But he quickly returned to his usual carefree expression. "So what? She's my disciple."

Shoko Ieiri looked deeply at him and repeated what she had just said. "Satoru, don't die."

Satoru Gojo matter-of-factly repeated his earlier reply. "Who do you think I am?" Suddenly, his phone rang. He took it out, glanced at it, and clicked his tongue. Shoko Ieiri casually asked, "What is it? Another mission?"

"Megumi brought back a mission." Satoru Gojo said indifferently, "Apparently, some school has a Cursed Object-related curse. I need to go deal with it alongside Megumi."

Shoko Ieiri's face darkened. "You're Megumi's superior, aren't you? You should be the one giving him orders. How did it turn into him reporting a mission to you? Did you ignore the higher-ups' instructions again, forcing Megumi to remind you?"

"Hehe."

"...At least put some effort into it." Shoko Ieiri sighed deeply. "So? If they need you to go personally, it's at least a Special Grade Cursed Object, right? What is it?"

Satoru Gojo slipped his phone into his pocket and said casually, "Apparently... one of Ryomen Sukuna's fingers."

Each Made Their Preparations

To overturn the current Jujutsu Society, the first human who needed to be dealt with was Satoru Gojo.

To defeat Satoru Gojo, Kenjaku had proposed two options. First: the Special Grade Cursed Object, Prison Realm.

Second: release the King of Curses, Ryomen Sukuna. And now, Mahito proposed a third option. "A Half-Cursed Spirit," Mahito said.

This was already the second week of Kenjaku teaching Mahito. During these two weeks, Kenjaku had been forced to repeatedly shatter his traditional understanding and confirm that the Cursed Spirit before him was truly the most unusual Cursed Spirit in the history of Jujutsu Society.

It was not something as simple and straightforward as strength. Rather, it was the way Mahito thought. No matter how unwilling Kenjaku was to admit it, he had to acknowledge that Mahito's understanding of this world was almost godlike.

For example, he was now speaking eloquently to Kenjaku, Jogo, and Hanami.

"Thanks to Teacher Kenjaku's guidance, I have completely figured out the difference between humans and Cursed Spirits. Of course, I do not mean the obvious fact that humans possess flesh and survive in this world based on their bodies, while we Cursed Spirits are curses manifested from gathered Cursed Energy. I mean our deeper forms of existence."

He raised one finger and said proudly,

"I can say with certainty that the form of existence of us Cursed Spirits undoubtedly stands above that of humans. The reason is simple: humans must eat and sleep to grow, and they must excrete and metabolize to expel toxins. But as long as we Cursed Spirits are not killed by an equal force, we are practically immortal. That alone is enough to prove that our level of life is above humanity's."

The corners of Jogo's mouth rose uncontrollably. "Of course. If anything, we are the true humans."

Kenjaku did not listen to Jogo's bragging at all. He was carefully listening for Mahito's next point. Sure enough, Mahito ignored Jogo and sighed heavily.

"But that is only 'half' of it." Hanami made a questioning sound.

Mahito slowly exhaled, as though releasing all the frustration in his heart at once. "We Cursed Spirits are incomplete when judged by our forms of life.

Yes, exactly. This was what frightened Kenjaku about Mahito. He was too rational, and his perspective was too lofty.

Let alone Cursed Spirits—even Kenjaku, a Curse User who had lived for a thousand years, had never realized the distinction between "form of existence" and "form of life" over those thousand years. Before this, although Jogo had claimed Cursed Spirits were the true humans, Kenjaku had dismissed the notion with contempt. He had only tolerated it because Jogo was an ally he had recruited himself.

But Mahito was different. He had genuinely realized the difference between the two, and in merely two weeks, he had summarized those differences and even formed a preliminary theory.

Kenjaku thought with a chill down his spine that perhaps even without his help, as long as Mahito did not die unexpectedly, this extraordinary Cursed Spirit would eventually ascend to godhood and look down upon the mortal world.

The yin and yang of this world were balanced. The stronger Jujutsu Sorcerers became, the more curses would rise in turn.

As Ryomen Sukuna awakened in the modern era, as Tengen was about to ascend into a god, as Satoru Gojo was born and grew, and as Kenjaku, a thousand-year Curse User, continued acting, the world's Jujutsu Sorcerers had experienced a tremendous rise. And after mindlessly accumulating numbers, the curse side had finally welcomed the true king of Cursed Spirits.

Mahito had been born a month and a half ago. In the literal sense—a candidate for godhood. Both in thought and ability.

"We Cursed Spirits are not complete lifeforms. Our most fatal flaw lies in our single-track nature." Mahito raised one finger and pointed at Jogo. "For example, Jogo, let me ask you this. Can you transcend your identity as an earth curse and transform your abilities into ice, water, or even storms?"

Jogo froze. "H-how is that possible? I am the curse of the earth!" Mahito said calmly, "But humans can."

Jogo's eyes widened. "Mahito, have you become confused from learning under Kenjaku...?"

"Humans truly can." Kenjaku took a deep breath, suppressing his inner shock as he tried to keep his voice calm. "Among Jujutsu Sorcerers, there is an extremely difficult technique called Cursed Technique Reversal. Depending on their individual Innate Techniques, Jujutsu Sorcerers can use the principle of negative multiplied by negative becoming positive to reverse their Innate Techniques into completely opposite attributes."

Jogo turned back to Kenjaku and said incredulously, "Reverse... their innate... abilities?" Mahito folded his arms and said calmly,

"Jogo, that is why I say the lifeforms of Cursed Spirits are incomplete. We Cursed Spirits are curses formed from the negative emotions humans emit during their lives, and that makes our forms of existence unquestionably superior to humans.

"But on the other hand, because we are curses formed from human negative emotions, we cannot escape the shadow of curses. We can only exist and act under the identity of curses.

"Other than Hanami, we cannot even restrain our urge to kill humans!

"Even Hanami inherits the thought patterns of curses. When she thinks about saving nature, she naturally thinks of killing humans. As our name suggests, we are Cursed Spirits, and nothing more than curses.

"But humans are different. As Jogo said, the foundation of humanity is lies and deception, yet they can overcome and even conquer that dark truth, building new societies through unity and order.

"Even when it comes to primal urges like eating and sleeping, they can endure them. People who voluntarily starve themselves or die suddenly from lack of sleep are hardly rare in this society!"

Mahito turned toward Jogo and looked at him seriously. "Jogo, can you go your entire life without harming people?"

Jogo wanted to say of course he could, but just as those words reached his throat, overwhelming panic suddenly arose. Scenes of harming humans replayed endlessly in his mind—burned crowds, scorched skin, figures screaming amid flames. The instant he imagined cutting himself off from those things completely from this moment onward, he could not help trembling in terror.

He could not do it!

He could not refrain from killing people. He could not refrain from burning people. Because he was the curse of the earth!

Mahito saw Jogo open his mouth, wanting to speak but unable to do so, and nodded gently.

"There is no need to feel afraid, Jogo." He closed his eyes and sighed softly. "Because I cannot do it either." Jogo stared at Mahito in shock. "You... Mahito, you too...?"

"That's right. I am ashamed, Jogo. I cannot do it either." Mahito opened his eyes and raised his hands, looking at them. "The instant I saw humans after I was born, malice began bubbling up endlessly within me. I wanted to kill people, harm people, deceive people. These were impulses born from instinct. I clearly had no concerns about survival, yet my instincts craved human screams and sorrow, just as humans crave food and sleep."

Mahito paused, then said slowly,

"I cannot defy my instincts. I cannot suppress my urge to kill. Constantly twisting human minds merely eases the hunger within me. I cannot escape it."

Kenjaku nodded inwardly. Though it had only been two weeks, Mahito's theory now touched upon the fundamental truth behind the composition of Cursed Spirits.

As Mahito himself had said, in terms of "form of existence," Cursed Spirits stood above humanity. Yet in terms of "form of life," Cursed Spirits were incomplete.

A complete lifeform should possess positive and negative, yin and yang, black and white. But Cursed Spirits did not.

Cursed Spirits possessed only negative, only yin, only black.

Even if their "form of existence" made them higher beings, their "form of life" was inferior even to beasts. That was the essence of Cursed Spirits.

Mahito clenched his fist and looked toward Jogo, Hanami, and Kenjaku. "Therefore, I want to change the structure of my body.

"I want to cast off my current 'form of life' and obtain yang, obtain positive, obtain white. To do that, the only thing I can think of is to imitate the human form of life and become a 'Half-Cursed Spirit.'

"Although that would be downward compatibility, and could be considered a humiliation for a higher being, compared to the incompleteness of my form of life, such a small humiliation is not worth mentioning."

Jogo and Hanami were filled with solemn admiration.

Kenjaku nodded inwardly as well. This truly was the most direct way to surpass Cursed Spirits. But there was one problem.

"How will you do it?" Kenjaku asked. "The Incarnation of a Cursed Spirit. As far as I know, aside from certain Cursed Spirits that must Incarnate to display their strength, no other Cursed Spirits have ever done it voluntarily. Forget doing it—they have never even thought of it."

That was the truth. In reality, Cursed Spirits had no need to Incarnate at all.

Incarnation was terminology exclusive to Cursed Objects.

And Cursed Objects were generally formed from the actions of Jujutsu Sorcerers while they were alive. When Cursed Spirits died, unless special treatment was used, they dissipated directly into the world. It was impossible for them to become Cursed Objects.

Mahito thought for a moment, then said slowly, "I believe compatibility is very important." Kenjaku paused. "Compatibility?"

"Let us continue using human Jujutsu Sorcerers as an example. If I were a Jujutsu Sorcerer, my Innate Technique would be Idle Transfiguration, which alters souls. If I continued to grow, I would learn Cursed Technique Reversal. Let me ask you, Kenjaku: what do you think the reversal of an Innate Technique that alters souls would be?" Mahito asked.

That stumped Kenjaku. He frowned and thought deeply for a moment before asking tentatively, "The opposite of the soul... would that be the body?"

"Generally, we say that souls reside within bodies, but that is not the case for me. When I alter souls, I can use the soul to pull the body into a different form. I can even see the soul's metabolic products. Those metabolic products are all kinds of human emotions. By altering the soul, I can adjust the intensity and degree at which the soul releases those products. That is also the key to my ability to twist minds."

Mahito pointed to his own eyes and said calmly,

"Therefore, to me, the soul stands above the body at all times. The body is merely the shell of the soul, something that can be changed at any time if I wish.

Kenjaku understood Mahito's meaning. In Mahito's eyes, the soul existed above the body, so the opposite of the soul could not possibly be the body.

He simply spread his hands. "Sorry, I cannot think of it."

"You focus too much on the 'soul.' My ability is 'altering souls,' not simply souls." Mahito slowly exhaled and voiced his ambition. "If I were a Jujutsu Sorcerer, then the opposite of my Cursed Technique Reversal, 'altering souls,' would very likely be—

He uttered something astonishing. "—Soul Creation."

Kenjaku's pupils contracted. He finally understood why Mahito, despite having been born not long ago, dared to proclaim his ambition of becoming a god.

At the most fundamental level, he already regarded his own ability from the perspective of a god!

No, perhaps it was because he could think from a god's perspective that an unprecedented Cursed Spirit ability like Idle Transfiguration had been born. And because he possessed that unprecedented ability, he could determine that once he continued to ascend, he would surely touch the domain of gods.

The domain of gods—Soul Creation!

Even Jogo and Hanami were stunned.

Jogo could not help asking, "Is that really possible? Soul Creation? As long as you can use Cursed Technique Reversal, you can perform such a miracle?!"

"Not just me. Jogo, Hanami, and of course, I have not forgotten Dagon—you are all the same." Mahito said with complete certainty.

"Based on the principle of negative multiplied by negative becoming positive in Cursed Technique Reversal, all of you could very likely obtain astonishing increases in strength. This increase would not be a simple matter of being stronger or weaker, but an ascension in the level of life itself—the benefits obtained by completing your lifeforms."

He was not speaking nonsense. There was even some theoretical basis for it.

Although Half-Cursed Spirits were Mahito's own conjecture, there truly were beings in the original work that came close to this concept. They were—the Cursed Womb: Death Paintings.

Every member of the Cursed Womb: Death Paintings was born with the ability to continuously convert their own Cursed Energy into real blood, while their Innate Technique was the blood-related Innate Technique, Blood Manipulation.

Mahito suspected that the Cursed Technique Reversal of the Cursed Womb: Death Paintings was the creation of blood, which was tied to their Cursed Energy trait.

If this theory was true, then as long as Mahito could become a Half-Cursed Spirit, his Cursed Technique Reversal would very likely be Soul Creation.

When the time came, Mahito would alter souls with his left hand and create souls with his right. That would be the complete me! Kenjaku took a deep breath and said slowly,

"I cannot be certain. Even in the entire history of Jujutsu Society, no being known as a 'Half-Cursed Spirit' has ever appeared. I cannot say whether your idea can succeed... But judging from theory alone, I cannot find any flaws using my expertise. It is very likely true."

In other words, if Mahito truly became a Half-Cursed Spirit and could use Cursed Technique Reversal, then he really could use Soul Creation!

Could the abilities to alter souls and create souls rival Satoru Gojo's Six Eyes and Limitless? Kenjaku did not know, but merely considering the possibility made his scalp tingle.

This was the realm of true genius. Compared to Ryomen Sukuna, Satoru Gojo, and Mahito, even Kenjaku, a thousand-year Curse User, seemed dim and insignificant. Mahito nodded in satisfaction.