Six Paths Tsuji-Sky-Covering Jade

After leaving the temple, Kana Shizumi suddenly felt as though he had a sense of direction.

He could distinctly feel it... something invisible was drawing him toward a particular direction.

It took him several seconds to realize what was happening.

It was a state similar to "cursed energy resonance"...

As though he had separated out some of his own blood, wrapped it in cursed energy, and sealed it away somewhere.

What Kana Shizumi felt now was exactly the same sort of sensation... He subconsciously looked in that specific direction, then thoughtfully glanced at his palm.

Right, just as mentioned before.

It was like a resonance on the level of blood...

Without hesitating for long, Kana Shizumi followed the subconscious call and moved toward it as if responding.

He passed the dried-up well known as Hell's Mouth.

At last, he stopped before a low, flat shrine. From its appearance... it was probably some decorative fixture meant to hold a lantern and illuminate the surroundings.

It was utterly unremarkable, and its exterior was quite old.

Kana Shizumi gripped one corner with one hand and slowly pulled open its wooden panel, which had a drawer-like structure.

"In the middle of the Heian Era, I once conducted a very interesting experiment."

As Kenjaku spoke, he raised the paper-bound volume he had just been reading.

Aspect of the Six Paths of Reincarnation

"At the time, Rokudo Chinnō-ji Temple served as the entrance to Toribeno, the capital's largest burial ground. Every day, countless corpses passed through it, and the place was steeped in the gloomy air of wandering vengeful spirits. I conducted observations and experiments there for decades... Through the Death Paintings, I learned of the theory of postmortem decay. Correspondingly, I also became interested in the concept of the Six Paths of Reincarnation."

He conducted a great many experiments and attempts.

Naturally, the results had not been ideal.

After all, this was a theory bordering on the conceptual. If it could be extracted so easily and made into a "real object," it would have been far too cheap.

So Kenjaku made a certain compromise.

"If I could not create a perfect Incarnation vessel, then I would create compatible keys... allowing their holders to temporarily touch the Six Paths, receive the protection of a 'Path'... or even completely integrate part of that concept into themselves."

Right.

"My objective changed somewhat as time passed. I no longer pursued a finished product, instead treating it as a different kind of 'foundation.'"

Kenjaku's tone rose slightly. It was not difficult to tell that he was getting a little high.

"After lying low in Toribeno for thirty-two years, I encountered countless test subjects and eventually found... six suitable experimental subjects."

The ages continued to change, but during that Heian Era, when jujutsu was at its height...

"Jujutsu sorcerers emerged like maggots, endlessly pouring out and giving me countless opportunities to work with. I sealed away the concept of the Six Paths of Reincarnation and implanted it into specific subjects, eventually giving birth to those forbidden things."

Of course, the process had not gone smoothly.

Kenjaku shrugged as he spoke in a teasing tone.

"Because the method was too crude, even creating special individuals... was somewhat difficult for me at the time. So in the end, I could only settle for turning them into Cursed Objects."

Kenjaku raised his right hand and lightly wagged his extended index finger as he added,

"They have no consciousness, no personalities—only pure karmic force and the desire to return."

Hanami could not hold back this time.

"Then they're just ordinary Cursed Objects."

After all that, weren't they still just objects in the plainest sense?

He had mashed people together, then turned them into special objects that could be passed down... There was nothing particularly noteworthy about the method itself.

They were products of the Heian Era. It was not strange for them to have accumulated enough power by now to fall under the concept of Special Grade.

As for Cursed Objects, the category itself was rather broad.

Cursed Tools that sorcerers could directly use fell into it, as did things like Maki's glasses and Hiromi Higuruma's gavel...

Naturally, things like Sukuna's Fingers and the Prison Realm belonged in this category as well.

It was easy to see that the gap between the upper and lower limits of these things was enormous, but even among Special Grades, their practical value had to be judged case by case.

The Prison Realm was damn powerful—it could seal Gojo.

But Kenjaku, what were you supposed to do without that body?

All that could be said was that getting forcibly controlled after triggering memories of his Jujutsu High days was the underlying logic... Without that step, nothing else mattered.

Kenjaku was mocked, but he did not seem angered. He merely nodded slightly and said with a smiling expression,

"That is indeed the definition, but for particular targets... they are, in the literal sense, the best possible aid."

He spoke unhurriedly.

"Because they are saturated with cursed energy, they would only cause ordinary people to die violently soon after falling into their hands. Furthermore... only individuals specially modified by me can be compatible with these Cursed Objects."

Then—

"Six Paths Tsuji. That is the name I gave these six Cursed Objects."

At the same time.

Kana Shizumi grabbed the shadow hidden inside the wooden shrine and removed it, placing it in his palm.

In truth... there was not much room inside, and Kana Shizumi saw only this one item.

He stepped back half a pace and rose to his feet. Using the pale light spreading across the horizon, he finally saw the object's true appearance in his hand.

It was...

A magatama that gave off a cold, pale cyan glow.

That description might have been somewhat inadequate, but from Kana Shizumi's perspective, he could see a visible black aura diffusing from it.

This thing was probably so wicked it was smoking...

As he thought that, Kana Shizumi seemed to sense something and casually turned halfway around.

On the treetops not far away, he saw quite a few malformed, incomplete Cursed Spirits crouching among the branches.

They were all of the lowest grade... Even if they wanted to harm someone, they would probably need to possess them first, gradually wear them down, and only then drag their body into collapse.

"This thing can attract the attention of low-grade Cursed Spirits too?"

By nature, it was somewhat like Sukuna's Fingers.

As Kana Shizumi pondered this, he weighed it in his hand for a moment, but his expression grew increasingly strange.

Although he had already taken the object, that faintly present, faintly absent sensation remained... as though what he held had always been nothing but a "false" shell.

What was going on?

All of a sudden, Kana Shizumi recalled his earlier intuition.

A resonance like blood...

He silently examined the object in his hand, then made his decision.

Then he would give it a try!

As if guided by some unseen force, he bit open the tip of his right index finger and let his blood soak into the magatama.

In an instant, pitch-black cursed energy surged forth and wrapped around Kana Shizumi's body. As pain appeared on his face, complicated, fragmented memory shards surfaced in his mind.

He "saw" it.

A man dressed in magnificent robes being born and growing up.

Through training and instruction, he became a samurai and continued to grow stronger. He led troops, indulged in joyous songs, but ultimately suffered defeat.

As his routed soldiers scattered and fled, he fled with his family, wandering until he encountered a mysterious figure with stitches across its forehead...

Kana Shizumi narrowed his eyes. As he groaned in pain, he also learned its name from those memories.

Six Paths Tsuji—Sky-Covering Jade.