Strong! Solitude! Love!

[Twisted the plot of "the traitor who made a deal with Mahito"]

[Reward: 5 free attribute points]

Seeing the familiar text appear before him, Kana Shizumi merely shifted his gaze away without giving anything away.

Just as expected...

"So long as the direction is changed, it counts as altering the plot. For example, Mahito was originally supposed to recruit this guy, but now it's me instead. The rewards are obtained normally too."

The definition was broad, leaving plenty of room to manipulate things.

And what was with the value of this reward? Five points all at once? That was quite a bit more than before.

Kana Shizumi could only assume that the reward value was strongly connected to the extent of the "plot alteration"... So, in a sense, this kid's decision was even more important than where one of Sukuna's fingers ended up?

After thinking about it for a while, Kana Shizumi smiled as if he'd come to terms with it.

Come to think of it... that really was true!

"How do you plan to accomplish what you just said?"

Watching the mechanical puppet question him, Kana Shizumi briefly organized his words before answering.

"We Cursed Spirits have a method that can free you from this inconvenience. Make a deal with us. We'll help you gain a new life, and you'll provide us with some other assistance."

His words were quite vague, since he couldn't reveal too much in the first place.

What if he directly explained Idle Transfiguration and Kokichi Muta refused the deal? Fuck... then Kana Shizumi would be the traitor?

"The specific details will need Jail Mom to work out. I'll bring him over, then leave the rest to Kenjaku and Mahito."

As for whether Kokichi Muta could actually survive?

Honestly, Kana Shizumi didn't care much to begin with.

Whatever. Forget it.

After all, in a world full of lunatics who went around pursuing strength! solitude! love! at the drop of a hat, spending all day thinking about romance was pretty low-class...

And the female characters in Jujutsu Kaisen weren't exactly normal either.

A quick rundown was enough.

There was the burn-scarred super-macho one, the money-loving weirdo, and even one who loved cats and had no children—Nobara Kugisaki in the sequel had no kids...

Given such an exquisitely beautiful mental state, considering the circumstances, the blame could only be pinned on jujutsu itself.

After all, that stuff was a manifestation of negative emotions. Use it long enough, and becoming a little twisted was inevitable.

Take a certain person from the prequel who "wanted it more and more." We had every reason to suspect that eating too many filthy rags had caused some mental instability!

So Kana Shizumi had absolutely no desire in that regard.

After all, what was ccb compared to landing a Black Flash?

Kana Shizumi was the kind of person who made a decision without hesitation when faced with a choice.

A—you arrive in some small town, and your childhood-friend class president, the sweet and adorable shrine maiden, and the gentle, elegant older girl next door are all lining up to date you.

B—get ready. It'll soon be your turn to fight Sukuna!

Here, which one would you pick?

The answer was obvious! Even if I got beaten to death today, I'd still rush up and throw a couple of thunderous lines at Sukuna first!

Back to the point.

"Send a mechanical puppet with me, alright? That way, the others won't notice our movements either."

As he spoke, Kana Shizumi took out his phone and contacted Kenjaku.

Jail Mom's task was this—help her find targets who could be recruited. In the original story, Mahito did this job. Now it was his turn.

As for the meeting place and the exact method, Kenjaku would make the follow-up decisions. He could leave those matters to the thousand-year-old monster; Kana Shizumi couldn't be bothered to waste brainpower on them.

After sending the message, Kana Shizumi locked his phone and waved without looking back.

"Let's go. Don't waste time."

"Wait..."

The mechanical puppet didn't follow.

Kana Shizumi turned halfway around and saw the other party still standing there, glaring at him with "flickering eyes."

"How am I supposed to trust you? How can I tell whether what you said... isn't just a trick to get yourself out of this situation?"

"...???"

This guy was still at it?!

He'd already shown obvious hesitation just now, yet only now did he suddenly realize he needed to "verify" things.

Didn't he think that was a little ugly?

Perhaps Kana Shizumi's look of disdain was too obvious. After a moment of silence, Kokichi Muta suddenly raised his right hand.

"I won't make a deal with someone of unknown origins. If everything you said is true... then prove it with your strength. Make me interested in your plan."

The moment he finished speaking.

Burning Cannon.

Hiss...

The air instantly rushed backward into his palm. Activated by cursed energy, it violently erupted from there!

Bright red flames, wrapped in cursed energy, sprayed out in a tight spiral before blooming in an instant, forming a literal splashing wave of attack.

With high temperatures mixed with cursed energy, the power of this attack went without saying.

From Kana Shizumi's perspective, it was like an entire sea of fire was crashing down over him.

You little bastard, starting with zero windup...

Even as he grumbled internally, Kana Shizumi rapidly retreated and opened up the distance in an instant.

Was he attacking just because they disagreed? No, perhaps this was the normal direction the plot should take...

After all, based on the original story, even after Kokichi Muta betrayed them, he retained a "bottom line" regarding his self-awareness. Considering he and Mahito didn't know each other to begin with, they must have fought after their first meeting.

"And then he realized this guy couldn't be handled by conventional means, temporarily compromised, and prepared a Simple Domain as a countermeasure while being drawn in by the plan..."

Hiss~

That actually made sense.

But if so, the sugar content was even more absurdly high.

—What made you think something like a Simple Domain could deal with an opponent on Mahito's level?

Kana Shizumi unleashed his cursed energy, reinforcing his body as he rapidly pulled farther away.

Taking it head-on with his body would obviously be difficult, and an attack with that kind of output had its own range limits.

In one breath, he pulled nearly fifty meters away. Standing at the edge of the forest, Kana Shizumi watched mechanical puppets continuously emerge in the distance, seemingly without end...

He crouched halfway down, an expression of contemplation appearing on his face.

If he wanted this guy to compromise and accept the proposal, he first had to make him realize that he wasn't easy to deal with.

The correct solution would be to prioritize taking down a few mechanical puppets, demonstrate his strength, and let Kokichi Muta make his own judgment.

But that was... the mindset of trash.

Kana Shizumi slowly rose to his feet, crossed his clasped hands, and pushed them forward.

As his joints cracked, he casually licked his lips.

I finally escaped being a maggot. Why the hell was I acting lofty with someone like you?

I'm going to crush you completely in the field you're most proud of!

Cursed energy surged and gradually awakened.

Bloodlust crawled over his body, making him resemble a ghost.