"Then... why do you look like that now, Master Tengen?" Itadori suddenly asked, his brows knitted as his gaze swept over Tengen's face, which no longer looked human.
"I am immortal, but I am not ageless." Tengen's voice remained ethereal, perfectly calm. "If you lived for several hundred years, you would look like this too."
"Seriously...?" Itadori froze, his lips slightly parted, as though trying to process the long, unimaginable years behind that casual remark.
"Sorry to interrupt." Okkotsu's voice cut in, quiet but steady. "We came to ask about Kenjaku's objective and how to unseal the Prison Realm. Could you tell us what you know?"
"Of course." Tengen turned its gaze toward Okkotsu, its hollow face betraying no expression. "Or so I would like to say, but first, allow me to set a condition."
It paused, its gaze shifting from Okkotsu to Yuki Tsukumo, then to Choso.
"Yuta Okkotsu, Yuki Tsukumo, Cursed Womb: Death Paintings. Two of you three must stay behind to serve as my guards."
"Guards? Aren't you immortal?" There was genuine confusion in Okkotsu's voice.
Tengen did not answer immediately. Its hollow eyes shifted slightly, as though looking somewhere far away.
"Are you worried about being sealed?" Shoko suddenly spoke, her tone mild, though her eyes remained fixed on Tengen.
"That's not fair." Yuki Tsukumo raised a hand, a trace of dissatisfaction in her voice. "Shouldn't you tell us how long we'd be guarding you, and why?"
Tengen closed its eyes. Fine patterns suddenly spread in rings beneath its feet, rippling outward in every direction like water. Each ring carried an ancient, profound cursed energy as it slowly unfurled across the pure white floor. The patterns were difficult to make out, yet seemed almost alive, writhing faintly in the light.
"Then let me tell you about