Cursed Vault

Knock, knock, knock. Knock, knock, knock...

Listening to the knocking from outside, Kenjaku set down the book in his hand and turned halfway toward the entryway.

"Who is it?"

Click.

The lock turned by itself and was silently "picked" open.

Mahito stood outside the door with a smile, waving inside and casually calling out, "Yo."

"I never said you could come in... never mind. What is it?"

"Nothing~ I just happened to bring over a new companion a while ago, so I wanted you all to get acquainted."

As he spoke, Mahito took half a step back and raised a hand to pat the short, stout figure standing beside him.

The latter wriggled forward twice, entering the light and revealing an inhuman red silhouette.

It was barely a meter tall, resembling a squat, chubby octopus standing upright.

Its hands and head were tucked beneath the white cloth draped over it. It met Kenjaku's gaze...

"Pf!"

—This thing apparently still couldn't talk.

It merely waved its two thick arms, swinging them hard twice as though it had a speech impediment.

Kenjaku leaned his head back slightly, one brow lifting as a somewhat peculiar expression appeared on his face.

"This is... a new cursed spirit? Something related to the ocean... I see. So it was about time for it to take shape."

Though it was weak, for the current villain faction, even one more maggot was still a good thing.

Besides, the body Jail Mom was currently wearing possessed Cursed Spirit Manipulation. Looking at this group of cursed spirits now was probably like a Pokémon trainer encountering Suicune...

"Welcome. Also... good job finding it, Mahito."

"Ha, you're too kind! More importantly..."

Mahito familiarly poked his head inside. Like a restless child entering someone else's home, he looked around the living room.

Kenjaku sat in his chair, flipping through the book before him without even raising his head.

"Unblemished went out on a mission. He isn't here."

"Huh?! What a coincidence?"

Mahito stood there with his hands on his hips. His head turned in one smooth motion like dough flattened beneath a rolling pin, stretching long.

It traced a winding arc through the air before landing on Kenjaku's left shoulder.

"Hanami told me he'd been staying with you for the past half month, supposedly training? I wanted to see how much he'd improved... what a shame."

Kenjaku turned a page as though no one else was present, his voice utterly devoid of emotion.

"There will be opportunities. No need to rush."

"Ah, then forget it... speaking of which, is there anything you need help with lately?"

Kenjaku stopped moving and tilted his head up slightly, adopting a thoughtful expression.

"For now... no. Feel free to move around on your own for a while. You can also use this opportunity to focus a little more on improving your abilities."

Propping his chin on his right hand, Kenjaku looked at Mahito with a faint smile.

"You are a cursed spirit born from humanity's malice... frankly, I'm looking forward to what you can do."

If Kana Shizumi had heard that, he probably would have been amused.

Looking forward to it? Oh, he was certainly looking forward to it...

The reason Kenjaku had not turned Mahito into a ball and swallowed him ahead of time in the original story was ultimately because Mahito had not fully matured yet.

If he extracted him early with Cursed Spirit Manipulation, Mahito's ability would become fixed as well, directly affecting the later cursed technique battle royale.

"My improvement? Haha, honestly, I don't have any opportunities or ideas for the moment."

Although Mahito spoke as though he did not care, that was not what he truly thought... he definitely wanted to find a way to break through, or he would not have been so interested in Itadori and Nanami in the original story.

After all, he improved with every fight, until his birthday became his death day.

Mahito shrugged, and the expression on his face suddenly became a little bored.

Without anything fun to do, there was no reason to stay.

"Then I'll be leaving... see you, Kenjaku."

"Mm. I hope to hear good news of your progress next time."

"By the way, where did Unblemished go?"

Kenjaku considered for a moment, then spoke softly.

"Kyoto... the Cursed Vault."

Almost at the same time.

Kana Shizumi, traveling by Shinkansen, was staring blankly at the scenery outside the window.

Once the train began moving, he withdrew his gaze and spoke in a deeply sentimental tone.

"The experience really is different when you spend money... night buses are absolute trash."

Though taking the bus was theoretically cheaper, after confirming the balance in his bank account, Kana Shizumi decisively chose to upgrade his experience.

What a joke. Was he supposed to risk his life for people and save them money too?!

After confirming his arrival time, Kana Shizumi organized his thoughts and began sorting through the process and purpose of this trip.

First, it had to be stressed that he was making a special trip to Kyoto definitely not to deliver himself to his death...

Joking about rubbing his head against Gojo's shoe soles was one thing. Having finally become a "person" again, Kana Shizumi wanted to struggle on and live until the end.

So his special trip to Tokyo this time was, at its core, also for the sake of increasing his strength.

As for the destination...

The Cursed Vault.

After silently repeating the name to himself, Kana Shizumi let out a breath.

Though it received little attention in the original story, it was actually an extremely important place.

As a location for storing all kinds of Cursed Tools, a Cursed Vault itself implied sealing and storage. Within certain organizations, Cursed Vaults also took on responsibilities similar to dungeons.

Itadori and Okkotsu, those two unfortunate brothers, had both once been taken into a room covered in talismans—by nature, that probably counted as a type of Cursed Vault as well.

The original Death Paintings had also been stolen from there, while Maki returned to the Zenin Clan to retrieve Cursed Tools she could use from its Cursed Vault, and so on...

It could be said that this place was itself a gathering ground for Cursed Objects.

So what was Kana Shizumi's current goal?

"Recover the Six Paths Cursed Tools..."

Though he had no idea where they had gone, considering that Cursed Vaults contained large quantities of Cursed Objects, perhaps he might get lucky?

It would be great to try his luck.

Moreover, a Cursed Vault did not refer to a single complex of buildings. In fact, based on what was currently known, Jujutsu High and the Zenin Clan each had entirely separate Cursed Vaults under their jurisdiction.

The Big Three Families were theoretically equals, so following that logic...

"Kyoto Jujutsu High and the Kamo Lineage must also have dedicated Cursed Vaults under their control."

That was Kana Shizumi's objective.

Sneak in and see whether my "Six Roots" had been sealed inside!