The young Tengen

After unleashing an enhanced Purple, Satoru Gojo let out a breath, brimming with a sense of accomplishment.

After all, Toji Fushiguro had beaten him into awakening too, but by the time he awakened, his big sister had already beaten his target into submission.

He had all that newly awakened power and nowhere to unleash it. He had not even gotten the chance to deliver his classic line from the original manga, "Throughout heaven and earth, I alone am the honored one." He could hardly have been more frustrated.

It was perhaps a little mean to put it this way, but fortunately, the monster Tengen had whipped up was durable enough to make an excellent punching bag. Now, Satoru felt that all his pent-up stress had been released, leaving him thoroughly refreshed.

Meanwhile, Chinatsu laid the unconscious Tengen flat on the ground. When she had pulled her out of the monster earlier, the urgency of the situation had kept her from paying much attention. Looking at her now, she realized that Tengen actually appeared young.

In the original manga, Tengen first appeared after Toji Fushiguro killed Riko Amanai, leaving her with no choice but to evolve. In the end, however, she evolved only halfway, becoming something that was neither human, monster, nor cursed spirit.

In that state, her overall silhouette was still human, but her head had taken on a monstrous appearance.

Satoru and Chinatsu's "Six Eyes," also known as the "Azure Sky Eyes," were special eyes, not six literal eyes.

Tengen, on the other hand, had a startling four eyes on her face, two on the left and two on the right. She had no hair, and her head was almost rectangular.

This made it difficult for many readers to determine Tengen's gender when they saw her in the manga, so they instinctively assumed she was male.

In fact, Yuki Tsukumo had once called Tengen an old woman, and a character design sheet added later in the serialization confirmed that she was female.

Now, the young Tengen lay flat on the ground. Her long silver hair was not sleek, but rather quite loose and tousled. Judging by her face, she was definitely not the cute type, looking more like a mature, sophisticated woman.

Before long, Satoru also turned his attention to Tengen. Although he knew she was female, no one in today's Jujutsu Society knew what she looked like when she was young.

"This is Tengen? How did she get younger? Does that mean her evolution succeeded? But then what was that monster earlier?" Looking down at Tengen on the ground, Satoru rattled off several questions in succession.

Listening to Satoru casually fire off questions like a machine gun, Chinatsu could not help glancing at him. After a little thought, she offered the conclusion she had reached.

"I think her evolution succeeded. We just made evolution out to be far more miraculous than it really was. She didn't become a god in a single step. Maybe she could become one after a few more evolutions in the future, but at least she isn't one now.

"As for that monster, I think Tengen might have lost consciousness the instant she finished evolving. That caused the cursed energy produced by her evolution to run wild, and the towering tree, which had already been nourished by cursed energy for years, absorbed it and changed shape."

Chinatsu did not know whether her guess was actually correct. Based on the current situation alone, though, she felt that even if it was not entirely right, it was probably close.

Satoru listened beside her, looking rather bewildered. It was not that he lacked brains. After all, using Limitless was extremely complicated. Although neither he nor Chinatsu enjoyed studying, both were academic high achievers far ahead of other students their age.

He simply did not feel like using his brain when he was with Chinatsu, dressing it up as a way to exercise her intelligence and prepare her to inherit the position of Gojo Clan head.

Just as the two of them looked at Tengen lying on the ground and considered whether to leave her alone or wake her through physical means, Chinatsu's phone began ringing with a series of beeps.

"Hm?"

Chinatsu took her phone out of her pocket with a puzzled look. This place was covered by multiple barriers, including some that interfered with electromagnetic waves. Her phone should not have had a signal here.

Still puzzled, Chinatsu answered the call. It was from Masamichi Yaga, and the instant she picked up, his roar came through from the other end.

"What on earth happened over there?! Every barrier Master Tengen set up across the country has stopped working! Has something happened to her?!"

"Huh?"

Chinatsu froze in bewilderment, as did Satoru, who had perked up his ears to eavesdrop beside her. Both turned to look at Tengen lying nearby. Satoru immediately walked over and held a finger beneath her nose to check whether she was still breathing.

"Sis, it's fine. She's still alive."

Only after hearing Satoru's report did Chinatsu breathe a sigh of relief. She figured that Tengen's evolution had changed her on a biological level, causing a problem with her previous "identity verification."

Chinatsu briefly explained what had happened to Yaga on the other end of the call, then hung up and looked at Tengen again.

It seemed they could not just leave her there. They had to wake her up as soon as possible.

With that thought, Chinatsu took a deep breath and prepared to roll up her sleeves and put in a little more work. Just then, Satoru extended an arm beside her and stopped her.

"No need to trouble yourself with this, Sis. Just leave it to me~" Satoru grinned and eagerly shook out both hands.

As he approached Tengen, perhaps driven by her body's subconscious instincts, the unconscious woman's brow actually twitched slightly, trying to force her mind awake.

Unfortunately, it did no good. Compared with her frail body, her mind was clearly much more tenacious.

Once her mind had completely overpowered her body's resistance, Satoru was already beside her, raising both hands with a cheerful grin.

As Satoru let out one bizarre, goofy chuckle after another, the smack! Smack! Smack! of his Tathagata Divine Palm echoed through the Tombs of the Star Corridor.

Half a minute later.

With both cheeks burning, Tengen sat cross-legged on the ground, her eyes filled with quiet resentment. Satoru, the culprit, merely tucked both hands behind his back and turned his head away, even whistling.

Satoru Gojo: Don't look at me. I don't know anything~

Tengen: ...

Sorry, some things came up in real life yesterday, and I also needed to think through the plot, so I couldn't manage two updates. Today should be fine, though.