Mahito looked over at him.
"What do you mean?"
"Exactly what it sounds like... It's true that I like talented Jujutsu sorcerers, but before that, I'd rather see them display an extraordinary sort of temperament."
Kenjaku raised his right hand and lightly tapped his temple with his index finger, a subtle smile appearing on his face.
"A thirst for power, or the desire to explore unknown realms... Only with such primal curiosity as their driving force can Jujutsu sorcerers climb further toward the summit."
And in contrast to that...
"That guy clearly possesses a Heavenly Restriction, yet from the bottom of his heart, he doesn't acknowledge anything he has. He wants to cast aside this hard-won talent and pick up those mundane things instead."
Ah...
How lamentable.
What was more, merely talking about it gave Kenjaku a literal sense of "discomfort."
He covered his mouth with one hand, narrowed his eyes, and shook his head.
"The reason is that he wants to experience an ordinary person's life?"
What a joke. It makes me want to throw up.
Although Mahito could not relate to that sentiment, humans had always disgusted him anyway.
Just hearing Kenjaku express it was enough to satisfy him.
"So you mean you had some expectations for someone like that?"
"Of course."
Kenjaku leaned forward slightly, his expression becoming somewhat wistful.
"Born with half his body gone and nearly paralyzed. That means the cursed energy exchanged for it must have received an enormous boost... At a time like that, he should follow his talent and make the right choice."
And what exactly should he do?
"Completely abandon his physical body. With the aid of cursed energy, condense his consciousness into a specific part, thereby achieving liberation from the flesh..."
This way, he could escape the most basic of "weaknesses."
After all, concealing the true body was one of the necessary conditions of this Heavenly Restriction.
"Once that step is complete, the cursed energy boost he receives will rise accordingly under the Restriction's conditions. And through its inherent amplification and adjustment, the precision of Puppet Manipulation will certainly improve as well."
He spoke of the grand blueprint in his mind.
At this moment, Kenjaku's tone had grown excited, and his entire body seemed eager to try it out.
"Afterward, he can further subdivide the puppets and classify them at different levels according to the extent of the cursed energy amplification. For example, basic enhancement types, assassination types aimed at specific Jujutsu sorcerers..."
In short, to be frank...
"The combination of Puppet Manipulation and a Heavenly Restriction is quite good. With the right arrangement, it can even give you the thrill of assembling Gundam models with your own hands."
In theory, this body did indeed seem somewhat "delicious" to Kenjaku, but compared with his current skin suit, it was still somewhat underwhelming.
After all, building Gundam models was nowhere near as interesting as Pokémon.
If I can't catch Pokémon, how am I supposed to play Jujutsu Culling Game?
Mahito had been listening with great interest, but now he wore a confused expression.
"What's that? Gundam?"
"You haven't even watched that? If you pride yourself on being humanity's evil, you should at least understand some of today's popular artistic works. Otherwise, people will think you're all talk."
"I suppose that's true... Do you have any recommendations?"
"Although theoretically, it's more appropriate to start with Universal Century, young people like you might be better off starting with Mobile Suit Gundam 00... Of course, I personally recommend SEED. This sort of idol-style work has a distinctive charm too."
"...?"
Mahito scratched his head in confusion. Though they had not known each other long, he somehow felt that...
"How do you seem to know everything?"
"When I was pregnant before, I had nothing to do, so I watched a lot of things."
"...???"
Don't shove this weird knowledge into my head!
Mahito patted the side of his head with his right hand, trying his best not to let his thoughts run wild.
"Getting back to the point, regarding that guy's Binding Vow, we can be sure for now... there's no chance of it exposing us, right?"
At the mention of serious business, Kenjaku's expression changed accordingly. Rather than answer at once, he fell silent and thought for a while.
Only after reviewing his plan from beginning to end did he nod.
"No problem. I made special modifications to this Binding Vow. It was specifically designed for sorcerers with abilities that are too convenient and make information too easy to leak."
"But since it's related to Jujutsu, there's no reason we can guarantee it's one hundred percent safe, right?"
"You catch on quickly. That's exactly right. So..."
Kenjaku raised his right index finger and held it before his nose, revealing a meaningful smile.
"I actually left a backup plan. That guy will definitely notice it... Once the agreement is fulfilled, he'll be able to strike back when the opportunity arises and send the information out by activating his puppets."
Precisely because it was such an obvious "loophole," there was no possibility it would be overlooked.
"His attention will definitely be drawn there, leaving him with no spare mental capacity to think about anything else... He'll do everything he can to prepare every possible method, hoping to turn on us the moment we help him break free from the Restriction."
But...
"You understand, right? That guy won't be a match for us."
The greatest advantage of a Heavenly Restriction lay in its unparalleled "cost." Once its strengths had been stripped away, all that remained was a withdrawn boy, crippled and passively imprisoned for more than a decade.
After a brief pause, Kenjaku showed a faintly mocking smile and spoke in a tone that sounded almost like he was talking to himself.
"People who think they're clever like that are the easiest to deal with."
Meanwhile.
Kana Shizumi, who had bought his ticket and was about to board a train bound for Tokyo, suddenly stopped on the platform.
He clenched the ticket stub in his hand. After pondering for a moment, he wore a thoughtful expression.
Obedient was one thing, but Kana Shizumi could not completely stop thinking before that...
After all, he still had not figured out the purpose of Kenjaku's research. If he wanted to protect himself, Kana Shizumi had to seize every opportunity to save himself.
So what was the current issue?
"How exactly is Kenjaku monitoring my movements?"
He could not figure it out.
That was why he needed to test it!
Before Kenjaku completely lost patience with him, he needed to figure out the method the other party was using to monitor him... Only then would Kana Shizumi have a chance to regain his freedom later.
With that in mind, Kana Shizumi paused for a moment, then turned back and returned to the ticket office.
After studying the map for a while, his gaze finally settled on a direction completely opposite from Tokyo.
He had made up his mind.
Click.
He pressed the ticket button, and the destination changed accordingly to...
Sendai City.
Before you continue