Tengen's evolution

Understanding what Chinatsu and Satoru Gojo meant, Tengen looked relieved and prepared to commit herself to the path of evolution.

At first, she had not given it much thought. By the time she first reached her body's limit and faced the choice between "evolution" and "assimilation," however, she had already become a central figure in Jujutsu Society.

Many people urged her to choose the latter. Tengen was an excellent barrier user who had set up superb barriers throughout Jujutsu Society, and they insisted that if anything happened to her, all of Jujutsu Society would be plunged into turmoil.

Between their objections and the fear in her own heart, Tengen ultimately chose "assimilation" and assimilated with a girl who was a star plasma vessel.

On the surface, this was called "assimilation," but because of the vast difference in their minds, Tengen undoubtedly remained the dominant consciousness. Her body regained its youth, while her mind merely gained a little over a decade's worth of memories.

Those memories had little effect on Tengen. Although she felt guilty, the joy of regaining a youthful body completely overshadowed that guilt.

But the most dangerous thing was to dwell on things. Over such an immense stretch of time, how could she possibly avoid doing so? Especially whenever her body reached its limit and she once again faced those two paths: "evolution" and "assimilation"...

She feared that failure would turn her into a monster that endangered Jujutsu Society, or even the entire world. That fear forced her to keep choosing the safer option.

Before beginning the evolution ritual, she turned toward Chinatsu and Satoru Gojo. Knowing that someone could stop her even if her evolution failed clearly put her much more at ease.

"Then I'll leave it to you two. If I truly become a monster, please be sure to kill me."

As her words faded, a towering tree within Chinatsu and Satoru Gojo's field of view suddenly began to glow faintly.

Observing the towering tree with their Six Eyes, the two could clearly see strands of unusual cursed energy radiating from it.

"Looks like it's started..."

"Yeah. The question is whether Tengen will evolve into MetalGreymon or SkullGreymon. If it's SkullGreymon, we'll have quite a fight on our hands."

Satoru Gojo grinned as he spoke, clenching both hands into fists and knocking them together. He was brimming with enthusiasm.

Including the time he had spent guarding Riko Amanai, he had gone more than fifty hours without closing his eyes to sleep.

But after mastering Reverse Cursed Technique, he and Chinatsu could both use the positive energy produced through reversal to heal physical injuries. A little fatigue was child's play.

"Sis, do you think Tengen will succeed?"

"Hard to say. I don't think she'll turn into SkullGreymon, but I still have a bad feeling."

"Oh, so she won't turn into SkullGreymon. Still, Digimon has plenty of evolution paths. Not turning into SkullGreymon doesn't necessarily mean she'll safely evolve into MetalGreymon."

Satoru Gojo continued using the anime Digimon to describe Tengen's evolution. Although the comparison was rather abstract to anyone unfamiliar with it, for those who knew Digimon, his explanation was practically perfect.

Time ticked by. Under their watchful eyes, the cursed energy radiating from the towering tree at the center gradually stabilized, allowing the two to relax considerably.

Thanks to their Six Eyes, they could react immediately if even the slightest problem arose with Tengen. So once the cursed energy began to stabilize, they wasted no time and started another round of training.

Although mastering Reverse Cursed Technique had awakened their potential, making them undoubtedly the strongest in the current Jujutsu Society, if the finger guy appeared before them now at full strength with all twenty fingers, they would still suffer a crushing defeat even together.

After all, they still had plenty of training objectives to complete. There had been things to work on before their awakening, and naturally, there were more to work on afterward.

For example:

One, become proficient in using Red and Purple.

Two, simplify incantations and hand signs.

Three, perfect round-the-clock automatic defense.

Four, master long-distance Teleportation.

Five, grasp the ultimate art of jujutsu: a "domain."

There were plenty of objectives, but they were not overly complicated.

In the original work, Satoru Gojo had taken only a year or two after awakening to complete those objectives one after another, becoming the strongest among the strongest.

Now, with the two pushing each other and constantly competing to improve, they would likely reach their full potential even sooner.

Judging by the time displayed on their phones, they had already spent two days in the Tombs of the Star Corridor. Although training helped them pass the time, this was hardly a long-term solution.

The atmosphere in the Tombs of the Star Corridor was truly difficult to describe. Despite the spacious surroundings, it felt cramped. Despite the reasonably good visibility, it somehow felt dim and gloomy.

Had someone more timid stayed there for a few days instead of Chinatsu and Satoru Gojo, there was no telling whether their mental health would suffer, but getting any sleep there would certainly have been difficult.

Of course, Chinatsu and Satoru Gojo had not slept either.

They had spent these past few days absorbed in training toward their new objectives, such as round-the-clock, fully automatic Limitless Defense. Once perfected, it would essentially eliminate the possibility of anyone catching them off guard, even in their sleep.

"Still not done? This evolution is taking way too long. Don't tell me the signal's bad and she froze halfway through. Like when your phone's loading bar reaches ninety-nine percent and just stops. That would be awful."

Satoru Gojo held his phone, which had no signal whatsoever, in one hand and muttered in frustration. Beside him, Chinatsu stood with her arms folded, her own feelings rather complicated.

She could tolerate an evolution that took a few days, but if it dragged on for months, she really did not think she had that much patience.

Yet if Tengen's evolution truly failed and she became "SkullGreymon" while they were absent, it would be an absolute disaster, and Chinatsu would feel guilty for the rest of her life.

No choice. We'll just have to keep watch.

Just as Chinatsu lowered her head and sighed, something suddenly changed in the towering tree at the center. Strands of unusual cursed energy came surging out of it.

Chinatsu and Satoru Gojo immediately went on alert. Although they could not yet tell exactly what was happening to Tengen, common sense suggested that her evolution probably was not going very smoothly...