Chapter 30

"I'm sorry, but I can't agree to that."

After hearing Xuan's request, Yuji shook his head.

"Is that so? Well, of course. Since I'd need to use your body, I won't force you."

Xuan raised a hand and spoke with a grin.

"So, I'll follow you from now on, until the day I can defeat Sukuna head-on—or even kill him. Of course, this isn't because of my deal with Kenjaku. It's merely my own wishful thinking."

Okkotsu looked at Xuan before him and frowned.

"I'm very sorry, but we can't trust you."

"I can make a binding vow."

Xuan raised both hands as cursed energy gathered around him.

"Even if you do, it'll just be a binding vow full of loopholes that you can exploit however you like, won't it?"

"I, Xuan, shall lose my innate cursed technique if I act against Yuji Itadori because of my deal with Kenjaku, or act alongside Yuji Itadori because of that deal."

Xuan clapped his hands, and the spreading cursed energy proved that his binding vow had been formed.

"That should be enough now, right? Let me travel with you?"

Though unwilling, Okkotsu still sheathed his sword. A binding vow with nothing but drawbacks, made not with another person but with himself—and one that took effect immediately rather than requiring payment afterward—was not something to be taken lightly.

"...I don't know why you're willing to go this far, but... I still can't ag—"

"I agree."

Yuji's voice came from behind Okkotsu. After hearing Yuji's response, Okkotsu nodded somewhat helplessly as well.

"Sukuna... Four days ago, while I was unconscious, I was force-fed ten fingers all at once. Back then, Sukuna took control of my body and killed several thousand people in Shibuya."

"..."

Megumi and Okkotsu both fell silent. Choso, who had been standing some distance away, stepped forward and gently patted Yuji Itadori's back several times with his broad palm.

"So... if you're also 'the strongest,' then I want you to kill me if Sukuna takes over my body again."

"I will."

Xuan agreed with a smile, then plopped down beside them.

"Ah, you can talk about your own business now. Just pretend I'm not here."

As he spoke, Xuan pulled a game console from the shadows beside him. With the Nintendo startup sound ringing out, everyone felt as though all their previous vigilance had been for nothing.

"So—Megumi, why did you come to find me?"

"The Culling Game."

"That... 'game' centered around killing people?"

"Yeah... My sister has woken up, but she was drawn into the Culling Game."

Megumi Fushiguro fell silent for a moment before speaking again.

"I need your help, Yuji."

"Then what do we do?"

"Go back to Jujutsu High and find Lady Tengen."

Megumi paused briefly, then continued.

"Noritoshi Kamo—Kenjaku's objective—and a way to unseal the Prison Realm and save Satoru Gojo-sensei. We need answers to both of those things."

"...And?"

"Only Lady Tengen might know the answers to both, so we need to find her."

"Then... does that woman, Tsukumo-senpai, know anything?"

"I already spoke with her. This was her idea."

Megumi turned slightly to the side.

"The problem is Lady Tengen's hidden barrier. Among thousands of doors, we need to find the one true door to enter where Lady Tengen is and meet her."

"Oh? You're talking about Tengen? That person is still alive?"

Xuan suddenly spoke up, then abruptly stood.

"You know about Tengen?"

"—I don't know much about her current state, but I know the basics. I remember her scent. Though it's been a long time, and there may be something wrong with my sense of taste, so I can't find her as quickly as I once could."

"What do you mean, you remember her scent?"

Okkotsu looked at Xuan in confusion.

"Oh, that? My sense of smell is exceptionally sharp. As long as I remember a scent, no matter how far away it is, I can identify it. Even a faint trace can lead me to the person it belongs to again."

"But as I said, too much time has passed. Even her body may have changed—so I might not be able to find Tengen quickly."

"As for Tengen's hidden barrier, I can help with that too—"

Just as the conversation was nearly dying down, Choso suddenly appeared among them.

"Help? What do you mean, Choso?"

Yuji, who had been wondering about it for a while, finally turned to look at Choso, who had appeared out of nowhere.

"Mahito stole them before too, didn't he? Sukuna's fingers and the Cursed Womb: Death Paintings. I can sense my other six younger brothers inside the repository. I can feel them. With Xuan's help, we should only need a little time to find where Tengen is, right?"

Xuan nodded.

"I agree with this plan."

"Then that's what we'll do. Before we start, we still need to meet up with Tsukumo-senpai. We should move together."

Okkotsu nodded, agreeing with the plan as well.

"—I knew I still had to ask."

As Choso and Okkotsu headed toward the door, Yuji got to his feet.

"Fushiguro... Nobara, she—"

"..."

Fushiguro remained silent and shook his head.

"Yeah... I understand..."

Yuji clenched his fists and silently followed the two of them.

Seeing everyone get up to leave, Xuan rose as well, fiddling with the handheld game console in his hand as he followed them.

Walking at the front, Okkotsu turned back to look at Xuan once more—the cursed energy coiling around him, nearly bursting forth yet tightly contained against his body. His total cursed energy was on par with Okkotsu's own, while his control over it was only slightly inferior to Satoru Gojo's—or at least, that was how it appeared.

But Gojo-sensei possessed the Six Eyes. Compared to someone without them, the level of cursed energy control Gojo displayed was extraordinarily difficult to achieve. So although the man before him had attained that near skin-tight control over his cursed energy, he was completely inferior to Gojo in terms of precision.

Even so, it was already terrifying. This player named Xuan might truly possess strength equal to Satoru Gojo's.

What a terrifying opponent—but would someone like him really act just because of a single sentence saying "Sukuna is stronger than him"?

Probably... not, right?

He still needed to keep an eye on him.

"Hey, Yuji, have you ever played O Pokémon?"

"You! Don't just sidle up to me like it's the most natural thing in the world!"

Xuan's voice came from the back of the group.

"O Pokémon? What's that?"

"You too! Don't just sidle up to me like it's the most natural thing in the world either!!!"

Watching the two men squeeze Yuji between them, Okkotsu remembered what Satoru Gojo had said—

"Especially that first-year student named Yuji Itadori. Please take good care of him."

Take care of him?

That looked somewhat difficult, Gojo-sensei.