A Subtle Turn

Although Kana Shizumi had said he was taking a taxi away.

In reality, he had not stayed in it for long... because late-night fares were ridiculously expensive.

Although Kenjaku had given him a bank card to use freely, it was not his money after all. If Kenjaku decided to settle accounts later and asked where the money had gone, that would only invite trouble for himself.

—Your mom gave you a card and told you to use it however you wanted. Would you really just swipe it to your heart's content?

What if she treated you to bamboo shoots stir-fried with pork afterward? Tell me!

So Kana Shizumi got out about five kilometers away.

He did not need a car for the rest of the journey. With Cursed Energy Reinforcement, he could run the whole way... after all, compared to before, Kana Shizumi had now basically stabilized at the level of a Grade 2 Sorcerer.

As long as he did not use large-scale or highly precise techniques, he could sustain himself and recover at the same time.

Only rookies ran out of mana... when had those guys in high-level matches ever worried about endurance?

They either had a Rika tucked away or casually landed two Black Flashes. Everyone could dance all over their mana bars anyway, so they made their techniques as flashy as they wanted.

It was just like the all-out brawl in the Sendai barrier. Replace Okkotsu with anyone else, and it would become a situation where whoever could not deploy a Domain would be embarrassed...

"Sir, are you sure it's all right to get off here?"

The taxi driver glanced at the desolate wilderness around them, his face full of hesitation.

This kid was not planning to kill himself, was he...? Even if he really did die, it would not directly have anything to do with him, but he would still be questioned afterward. It would affect both his income and his work.

So he decided to choose his words carefully.

"Ahem, sir... at your age, you really do not need to care too much about what other people think. I was young once too. When I was your ag—Huh?! Where did he go?!"

He had not even paid yet!!!

Kana Shizumi shoved open the door and jumped straight off the mountain road.

There was no way he would fall to his death. With Sky-Covering Jade's ability, he easily maintained a hovering state and began moving at high speed...

Flying was, in fact, much less tiring. After becoming basically familiar with the ability and expanding its applications, Kana Shizumi could now maintain quite a rapid pace.

He was only slightly slower than the Shinkansen.

Thanks to the concealment function of the Curtain, Kana Shizumi did not need to worry about being exposed during this time... after all, before any action was carried out, residual cursed energy could easily become the source of exposure.

Gojo could travel back and forth from Tokyo to Itadori's old school at practically teleportation-level speed. Under normal circumstances, that journey would take at least three hours by car...

It was better to be cautious. Gojo, that super work machine, was like a freight truck—if he ran into you, he ran into you... just accept your bad luck!

After weighing things up, Kana Shizumi reached a conclusion.

He would probably be back in Tokyo before dawn.

Taking advantage of the time, he also sorted through what he had gained this time.

"Recovered a Six Paths Tsuji Cursed Object, increased my attributes, and gained another modifier..."

In nature, it was probably like Poison Blood being supercharged.

Considering that even Uraume had been unable to recover with Reverse Cursed Technique in the original story, that was enough to show how powerful Poison Blood's utility was.

Now he could even add blades to Crimson Blood Manipulation... that counted as increasing his damage output in another sense.

But that was all.

There was nothing else afterward...

"Logically speaking, after coming into contact with Yuji Itadori, something should have changed too, right?"

To be honest, Kana Shizumi had truly thought so at first. But after confirming that no notification had come in, he more or less understood.

—Perhaps, for Yuji Itadori, this experience itself contained nothing worth "changing."

His grandfather would still die.

Yuji Itadori's home would still be cold and empty.

Without anything else substantial enough to influence his thoughts, club activities would continue, Sukuna's Fingers would be taken away... he would still meet Fushiguro, then swallow that fateful finger.

After analyzing it all, Kana Shizumi felt that this theory had considerable merit.

From the looks of it, he had not changed anything at all... he had merely let Yuji have some fun and made him aware that he had a friend like this.

So, should he get to know him more deeply?

Kana Shizumi wore a contemplative expression... as the absolute central figure of the entire story, the literal number-one protagonist.

Yuji Itadori was connected to countless side plots. Anything related to him could set off a chain reaction.

So even if Kana Shizumi wanted to "draw some blood" from Yuji, he still had to consider it carefully.

After all, he needed to figure out where he stood now...

They were on the villains' side.

If he ruined Kenjaku's plans and something happened to Yuji, causing Sukuna to disappear, Gojo could cheerfully punch them all to death one by one...

Whether on the protagonists' side or the antagonists' side, the top combatants possessed strength that was literally in a league of its own.

Yet one of those two was carefree, while the other was difficult to deal with. No matter how he approached them, Kana Shizumi felt that he might get kicked to death on the spot...

What a headache.

With a sigh, Kana Shizumi continued onward and returned to Tokyo.

He hurried to the place Kenjaku had told him about beforehand... unlike his previous hideout, this time it was another luxury apartment in the city.

It had comprehensive access controls, a security system, and a private elevator for each unit.

It was on the sixth floor, and from the living room, he could even see Mount Fuji in the distance...

Seeing the thoroughly modern decor and furnishings inside, Kana Shizumi felt like laughing in exasperation.

So after living for so many years, aside from arranging his schemes, was Kenjaku's only remaining hobby real estate speculation? Otherwise, it was really hard to explain where all these high-end residences had come from...

Or had he conveniently laundered some assets after taking over the Kamo Clan's head?

Still musing over it, Kana Shizumi washed up and found a spare room to rest in.

After staying awake all night, even someone with his unusual constitution felt somewhat tired... thinking over everything that had happened yesterday, he soon fell asleep.

At the same time.

In Kyoto, inside a metropolitan hospital.

"Cough, cough, cough cough..."

The violent coughing did not stop. Even out in the corridor, one could faintly hear the weak sounds coming from inside.

The girl, who had previously maintained an indifferent expression, unconsciously quickened her pace.

Even if she did not want to admit it... her body was still very honest.

She raised her hand and pushed open the door.

Bang!

"Mai, I heard you were injured?"