What a Delightful Battle of Wits

By the time Kashimo had finished eating, Shiratori had washed the dishes, and the sun had vanished completely behind the mountains, Kenjaku, who had been left standing outside for nearly an hour, was finally allowed in.

"Phew... You two really are heartless, leaving me outside to be eaten by mosquitoes for so long."

Kenjaku put on a wounded expression, his voice carrying a note of exaggerated accusation, as though he really had suffered some great injustice.

"Oh, give it a rest. Are we that close?" Hajime Kashimo curled his lip.

Shiratori Gotsu sat casually against the stone table and crossed one leg over the other.

"Now we can get straight to the point. Of course, to show your sincerity, you should start by telling us what you're planning at the moment."

Kenjaku switched instantly from wounded to smiling, as though the aggrieved man from a moment ago had been someone else. "No problem. May I sit down, then?"

"Oh, there's no need. You can talk standing up just as well."

Shiratori Gotsu waved a hand.

Kenjaku's smile never faltered as he edged half a step toward a stone stool. "But I'd like to sit down before I talk."

"Oh, it won't take long..."

Kenjaku: "I've been standing for a long time. I want to sit down now."

Shiratori Gotsu: "...You really have no shame, Kenjaku."

"I want to sit down."

Shiratori Gotsu had intended to mess with Kenjaku, but in the end, he lost to the other man's relentless persistence.

Kenjaku got his wish and sat down. It was a complete victory for shamelessness!

He brushed off his clothes, then took a deep breath.

"To make a long story short, what I'm doing right now is traveling around in search of Jujutsu Sorcerers who have regrets about their lives."

"After they die, I use a special process to seal their souls and Cursed Energy in a piece of their bodily tissue."

"Then, a hundred years from now, I'll have them incarnate in other people and come back to life, so they can do whatever they want to do."

"That's it."

Having delivered his explanation smoothly in one breath, Kenjaku looked at Shiratori Gotsu with a thoroughly sincere expression and waited for him to speak.

This old bastard really isn't being honest...

Shiratori Gotsu raised an eyebrow. He had no intention of exposing Kenjaku. After all, he was negotiating with him for fun.

If he exposed Kenjaku's entire plan all at once and made him feel insecure, there was no telling whether Kenjaku might change his plans halfway through, causing the story to veer off its original course.

If Kenjaku really pulled some mysterious moves and sent things in a direction beyond his control, then Shiratori Gotsu would go from the one looking for entertainment to the entertainment himself.

So he needed to open the box slowly. Rushing would only make a mess of things.

"So you're a 'dream maker,' then?" Shiratori Gotsu teased.

"Mm-hmm~" Kenjaku nodded without hesitation, the somewhat stiff smile on his face instantly growing much more natural.

At the same time, he muttered inwardly, Looks like Shiratori Gotsu doesn't know that much about my plan... That's a relief.

Shiratori Gotsu naturally noticed the subtle change in Kenjaku's expression.

Looks like it worked...

Seeing things moving in the direction he wanted, Shiratori Gotsu continued, "Then what's the price? Or rather, what's your objective?"

"If there's nothing in it for you, why be this 'dream maker'?"

"To be honest, I know you made some kind of deal with Sukuna, but I don't know exactly what it was. It's hard not to be curious."

Kenjaku spread his hands, his expression utterly candid. "Because I'm bored!"

"Shiratori, you know how it is. When someone lives too long, the same old days get boring."

"I'm doing this simply to find some entertainment."

Shiratori Gotsu, who knew everything, naturally knew full well that none of those statements were lies. It was just that...

So you're telling me half and hiding the other half... You bastard, Haji Ken...

That was right. Although everything Kenjaku said was true, every sentence was like Satoru Gojo after Sukuna's World-Cutting Slash cut him in half: one half standing, the other lying down.

He said one half out loud and kept the other half to himself.

Seeing that Shiratori Gotsu remained silent, Kenjaku continued.

"As for my deal with Sukuna, that much is indeed true."

"But as for the details... I'm afraid I can't tell you. After all, I made a Binding Vow with him back then, so I have to keep it secret."

What a load of crap...

Shiratori Gotsu grumbled inwardly.

Even so, he still had no intention of pressing the issue or questioning him.

As he had said before, he was here to find entertainment, not to be the entertainment.

There were some things he only needed to be clear about in his own mind. There was no need to say them out loud and cause some unforeseen change.

Seeing that the conversation had laid enough groundwork and the time was ripe, Shiratori Gotsu went straight to the point.

"You remember what I said before, right? That I was very interested in the 'world several hundred years from now' that you described."

Is it finally coming...?

Kenjaku was delighted, but he kept his expression impassive and merely nodded slightly.

"This era is terribly boring to me, but I saw something interesting at the Martial Exhibition Before the Emperor."

At that, Shiratori Gotsu grinned.

"I know your reason for gathering Jujutsu Sorcerers is definitely more complicated than that, but I don't really care about those things. If you want to keep it secret, that's fine."

"What matters is that I want to go several hundred years into the future, but I don't want to be at your mercy."

"So, how about we make a Binding Vow?"

Things really are going just as I expected... Heh heh, Shiratori Gotsu, you're nothing special after all...

Kenjaku immediately grinned as well. "Of course, no problem at all."

He was practically bursting with joy inside.

You probably don't know that after I use my Cursed Technique to switch bodies, Binding Vows made through my previous body don't transfer over and take effect, so I don't have to abide by them at all...

You're still too green, Shiratori Gotsu!

Meanwhile, looking at Kenjaku, Shiratori Gotsu was also bursting with joy inside. Looks like it worked...

"Then let's begin."

"What you have to do is feed the Cursed Object I'll incarnate through to a future descendant of the Zenin Clan who has awakened the Ten Shadows Technique. At the same time, you can't tamper with me in any way."

"On that basis, I won't interfere with or obstruct what you intend to do in any way."

"And if you make an explicit request of me, I can help you to a certain extent."

"All right, I accept." Kenjaku agreed with a grin, without the slightest hesitation.

"Oh, right," Shiratori Gotsu suddenly added lightly, "this Binding Vow applies to 'you,' Kenjaku."

"Ah, yes, yes, that's right... Right...?"

Kenjaku was still being nonchalant at first.

Only after turning the terms of the Binding Vow over in his head a couple more times did he suddenly realize there was a problem with Shiratori Gotsu's vow!

His grin vanished at once.

...Wait, no!

Damn it, he got me!

I let my guard down. He actually knew the properties of my Cursed Technique, and in these circumstances, he even...

That was right. Shiratori Gotsu had used the Binding Vow's two-way terms to bind the vow to Kenjaku himself.

The crucial part was the sentence: "If you make an explicit request of me, I can help you to a certain extent."

And Kenjaku, in his delight, had agreed to the entire Binding Vow containing that sentence without giving it much thought.

Even if he never asked Shiratori Gotsu for anything afterward, the two-way obligation in that sentence had already taken effect on Kenjaku's true self.

-Along with Shiratori Gotsu's conditions, as part of the whole.

In other words, he had taken the noose Shiratori Gotsu handed him and willingly slipped it around his own neck.

The corners of Kenjaku's mouth twitched. He felt as sick as if he had eaten a cockroach, but all he could do was keep his composure and say,

"Wasn't the Binding Vow between us already meant to apply to me? There's no need to confirm that, is there?"

"Mm-hmm."

Looking at Kenjaku's smile, which had suddenly turned stiff and insincere, Shiratori Gotsu could barely hold it in.

What a delightful battle of wits...

That thought made it even harder to keep a straight face.

Forcing down the corners of his mouth, Shiratori Gotsu quickly waved his hand. "If there's nothing else, you can go now."

"We'll meet here again in three days."

"...All right, I'll take my leave."

With that, Kenjaku pushed open the door and left without looking back, his face stiff.

"Pfft... Hahahahaha!"

Forty-one seconds later, Shiratori Gotsu's cheerful laughter rang out from the little courtyard.

Hajime Kashimo, who had watched the whole thing from the side, was already completely baffled.

When Shiratori Gotsu suddenly burst out laughing like an idiot, he became even more bewildered.

(A fan said they wanted a chat group, so I made one.)

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