Elsewhere.
While Ryomen Sukuna regained his flesh and recovered his strength, Kenjaku had not been idle either.
He had encountered the Death Omen Star, Sako, at the Kamo Clan. Though he had been toyed with and humiliated, surviving the encounter had brought him extraordinary benefits.
So he headed straight for that old relic Tengen's Palace, intending to hunt her down.
"Twelve years ago, were there no other star plasma vessels besides Riko Amanai?"
"And don't include me, obviously."
Yuki Tsukumo's attitude toward Tengen was openly hostile, because she herself had once been a backup candidate for assimilation with Tengen.
"There were indeed no other star plasma vessels as exceptional as Riko Amanai."
Yuki Tsukumo keenly sensed the implication in Tengen's words.
"So there were others."
Even though Riko Amanai, whom Satoru Gojo and Suguru Geto had escorted, had not been assimilated by Tengen, there had still been backup candidates who could have stabilized her.
But she had not used them. Instead of continuing to remain within the bounds of humanity, she had chosen to let herself evolve.
"Why would you rather take such an enormous risk than assimilate with a star plasma vessel?"
Tengen considered it, then admitted, "It would be more accurate to say I accepted reality. Assimilating with a star plasma vessel allows my immortal self to be reset."
"Merely growing older brings my evolution to a halt."
"That was because I couldn't guarantee whether my evolved self would become a threat to humanity.
Yet after my assimilation failed, even though evolution expanded my consciousness beyond my physical body,
I could still maintain my reason through barrier techniques, just as I do now."
"Although I didn't feel certain it would succeed at first, I still felt that one day I would become what I am now, as naturally