Tengen

Without an utter obsession with Sukuna, no one would willingly stay beside a ticking time bomb that could take their life at any moment.

"Family head, we've finished digging the tunnel from the Inn to outside the city. Please leave with us at once!"

The Thirteen Family Heads were still arguing, oblivious to the tremors coming from the tabletop.

In a dark corner, a head slowly emerged and spotted the Thirteen Family Heads gathered around a candle.

The newcomer immediately called softly, "Family head, come back with me at once. The Emperor has been drilling troops outside the city lately. He may well be preparing to move against us."

The sudden voice from the dark corner frightened the family heads so badly that they fell onto their backsides, thinking the Emperor had sent a ninja.

They were looking around for the speaker when they heard someone calling to them from the corner.

"Who are you?" Abe Jinyuan asked, mustering his courage.

"Family head! It's me!"

The person whose head alone was visible wore a cloth over his face. Hearing Abe Jinyuan's question, he hurriedly pulled it off.

"It's you! How did you get here?"

As soon as Abe Jinyuan recognized the newcomer, he grew so excited that he nearly jumped on the spot.

"Keep your voice down, family head. Don't let the guards outside hear you." The man in black immediately hushed him, afraid someone might hear the commotion.

Abe Jinyuan cautiously scanned their surroundings before turning to the other family heads.

"This is a Death Servant my family keeps." Abe Jinyuan's voice was noticeably quieter as he spoke.

"Phew! That scared me to death. I thought the Emperor had sent a ninja to kill us." Yoshiko Kawashima gently patted her flat chest.

"Family head, escape with me at once. The Emperor has been drilling troops lately."

Hearing their conversation, the Death Servant realized they had missed what he had said earlier and hurriedly repeated himself.

"When your trusted aide went to the Reclusive Masters' Residence and failed to return for two whole months, we knew he might never come back. We've been preparing this tunnel ever since."

The Thirteen Family Heads crowded around the head, listening to what had happened outside.

"Luckily, when the family armies marched out, we personal guards didn't go with them. Otherwise, this tunnel would definitely have been discovered."

The Death Servant spoke at length, recounting everything about the tunnel.

To evade the Emperor's spies, they had spent their days eating, drinking, and amusing themselves in the barracks, then set aside a few hours each night to dig. After an entire year, they had finally broken through that evening.

They had also learned that the Emperor had trained tens of thousands of troops, though they could not confirm the exact number. Their families urgently needed them back to take charge.

"Good! There's no time to lose. Let's go now."

Abe Jinyuan climbed into the tunnel without the slightest hesitation, but someone remained rooted to the spot.

"What if Ryomen Sukuna finds out? He might kill us outright." Umechuan Kuko's face tightened with worry.

He had been the most severely injured a year earlier and had barely survived, while another had merely lost an ear.

"He's the King of Curses. Why would he keep watching us? He may have forgotten we even exist. We were only there for his amusement anyway."

Before Umechuan Kuko could hesitate any longer, someone behind him shoved him inside, and the others all swarmed into the tunnel.

"Family heads, this tunnel is rather cramped. We'll have to crawl out."

"It's fine, it's fine. As long as I can get out, as long as I can leave Heian-kyo, I'll crawl through any tunnel, no matter how narrow."

In the pitch-black tunnel, there was no telling who was speaking.

"Your Majesty! All the personal guards outside Heian-kyo have withdrawn."

A spy who had been keeping watch over Heian-kyo rushed in to report. The Emperor, who had been enjoying a consort, immediately sprang out of bed.

Without bothering to dress, he hurried outside, while the guard who had been standing beside the bed climbed onto it.

"What did you say?! Those personal guards have all fled!"

Shock covered the Emperor's face, and he hastily ordered, "Go and see whether those people are still in the Inn! If they are, kill them all."

"There are still so many refugees in Heian-kyo. Just say they killed them."

A terrible premonition flashed through the Emperor's mind. Sure enough, the guard soon returned.

"Your Majesty, the Inn is empty. Everyone has fled. All we found was a pitch-black tunnel."

"What..."

The Emperor slumped onto the floor of the great hall. He had failed to kill those troublesome family heads sooner because he had hoped to make use of them. Now his scheme had backfired, leaving him worse off than before!

"Your Majesty, shall I go and capture them all?"

"With so many personal guards outside the city, how do you expect to capture them? It looks like war is about to begin again!"

No longer able to spare a thought for the affairs of his harem, he dressed and rushed off to find his general charged with defending the nation.

"My lord, the foolish Emperor has lost those hostages."

Uraume leaned close to Sukuna's ear and spoke softly.

"Haha! It seems an even grander show will unfold after we leave. What a shame we won't be able to witness it ourselves."

As he reflected on Japan's future, an unfamiliar ripple of Cursed Energy slowly reached him from afar.

He glanced in that direction and said slowly to Uraume, "We have a guest."

A person in a white kimono appeared at Yuki's front gate, looking like an ordinary Japanese girl.

Yet her eyes carried all the weariness of passing years. The moment Sukuna saw her, he recognized her.

"Tengen, what are you doing here?" Sukuna asked in puzzlement.

Indeed, he had no memories of Tengen whatsoever, which meant they had never met before. Yet he had recognized her at a glance, and that struck him as strange.

"Sukuna, this farce must end. I cannot allow you to keep doing as you please."

Tengen's emotionless words reached his ears. She sounded like a machine devoid of feeling.

Hearing such arrogant words, Sukuna split his mouth into a wide grin. It had been a long time since he had laughed so freely. "Hahaha! Old hag! Who gave you the courage to look me in the eye?!"

"Sukuna, I know everything about you. You'll be leaving here before long, won't you? Once you're gone, I will restore all of Japan to the way it was."

"Oh? And?"

Sukuna was not surprised that Tengen knew so much about him. After all, she called herself an omniscient sorcerer.

"I have just one proposal. I will not erase any trace of your existence. On the contrary, I will spread word of you."

"What do you want? Or rather, what do you want from me?" Sukuna asked slowly, watching the expressionless face before him.

"I..."

No one heard any part of their conversation. From the moment Tengen stepped into this place, Sukuna had pulled her into his domain, so even Uraume could not hear a word.

"Hahahaha! To think this was what lay hidden beneath that hypocritical face of yours! How amusing! Absolutely fascinating!"

The domain was dispelled, revealing the two figures again. No one knew what they had discussed.

But when they emerged, a faint smile had appeared on Tengen's face, as though she had gained some sort of satisfaction.

"Then let us meet again in a thousand years."

As Tengen turned and left, only Sukuna remained, laughing wildly and muttering to himself about how utterly fascinating it all was.

How wonderful. This world was growing more and more interesting. I could hardly wait!

Sukuna held his forehead and laughed for a full quarter of an hour before finally stopping and regaining his composure.

"Uraume, it's time we headed to Mount Hida. I can hardly wait to witness the world a thousand years from now."

"My lord, I'll make the arrangements at once."

Uraume slowly withdrew, leaving Sukuna alone.

"Family head, we've finally escaped!"

Outside Heian-kyo, groups of personal guards escorted carriages at a rapid pace, utterly unaware of the indifferent eyes watching them from the sky.

Then the owner of those eyes merely pointed, and every personal guard and every family head who had just escaped death turned to dust and scattered on the wind.

Their faces still wore smiles of boundless joy and relief at their escape.

In the Imperial Palace, the Emperor was receiving the general charged with defending the nation. His body likewise dissolved before his expression could change.

By daybreak the next morning, the entire world seemed to have changed.

The whole timeline seemed to have been set back on course. The families that had lost their heads did not cause trouble for the Emperor.

Nor did the Emperor remain a mere figurehead. The newly enthroned Emperor launched reforms.

Everything seemed to be moving in a better direction.