[At your words, Kenjaku's face, which always wore the composed smile of someone with everything under control, once again involuntarily showed shock and disbelief.]
[Those eyes belonging to Kaori Itadori widened slightly, their pupils trembling violently in their sockets, as though frantically processing the information contained in your words.]
[But then that brief astonishment was replaced by a sudden burst of laughter, almost hysterical.]
["Haha... hahahaha!"]
[Kenjaku suddenly burst into uncontrollable laughter. It echoed through the narrow entryway, carrying a touch of absurdity mixed with the fervor of someone who had discovered a rare treasure.]
[After that life-and-death confrontation over those few short minutes, after personally experiencing your terrifying, unfathomable cursed energy and your unquestionable, absolute suppression, that thousand-year-old brain knew perfectly well that you were not joking.]
[There was not the slightest hint of bluffing in your eyes, as still as stagnant water.]
[At that moment, Kenjaku's mindset underwent a rather subtle change.]
[Your "Phantom Parade," capable of perfectly replicating and reversing others' cursed techniques, had indeed prompted him to secretly place you on his shortlist for his next perfect body. Countless vicious schemes for plotting against you and seizing your flesh had even flashed through his mind.]
[But now, if you truly intended to help him in this capacity, the situation was entirely different.]
[An invincible host with limitless potential was certainly tempting, but an accomplice who could elevate his grand, thousand-year blueprint to a higher dimension undoubtedly suited his mad delight in pursuing "unknown chaos" even better.]
[To use the exact words in his mind at that moment, this was simply too interesting.]
["Whew..."]
[Kenjaku gradually stopped laughing, undisguised curiosity and scrutiny gleaming in his narrowed eyes.]
[He now had a bellyful of questions for you. He had unhesitatingly thrown the option of contending with you through