Shibuya, Inokashira Line, 9:33 p.m.
Ze Zenin arrived and saw Naoya Zenin lying motionless on the ground.
He slowly walked over to the cousin who had always trailed after him. Looking at the blood at the corner of Naoya Zenin's mouth and his vacant eyes, he remained silent for a long time.
He gently wiped away the blood and closed Naoya Zenin's eyes with his hand. For the first time, he stood there in a daze.
This cousin and friend who had followed him for twenty years... was dead.
Ze Zenin was not coldhearted. He had feelings, and there were people and things he cherished.
Although he had never particularly liked Naoya Zenin in the original manga, people changed. The Naoya he knew now was undoubtedly someone he could count on.
A companion he could trust to watch his back...
Ze Zenin had assigned Naoya Zenin to team up with Maki. Judging by the situation, Naoya had most likely sent Maki and her companion away, then stayed behind to cover their retreat.
Forcing down his agitation, he pressed his hands against Naoya's shoulder and abdomen, using Reverse Cursed Technique to repair the mangled flesh.
Hoisting Naoya Zenin's body onto his back, Ze Zenin looked at the blood on the ground. At that moment, he finally understood how Suguru Geto had felt all those years ago.
"If this long marathon we run as jujutsu sorcerers ends in mountains of our companions' corpses and seas of their blood, what am I supposed to do?"
Back then, he had been able to take the moral high ground and reason with Suguru Geto because he had never experienced the pain of losing someone-
He had been unable to see things from Suguru Geto's perspective.
*I was only one step away from creating the world