After arranging for Megumi, Yuta, and Satoru to deal with Tomie, Eichi did not go with them.
Instead, he went to the Tombs of the Star Corridor to find Tengen, because when Eichi once again used Tengen's nationwide empty Barrier Techniques to search for Tomie, he suddenly guessed what Abe no Seimei wanted to do.
Control Tengen's nationwide empty Barrier Techniques.
Just like Kenjaku initiated the Culling Game in the original story.
If Abe no Seimei had similar means, or if Kenjaku had shared such means with him, then Tokyo Jujutsu High's already limited initiative would be completely lost.
In that case, even if Tokyo Jujutsu High won, the existing Jujutsu World and general society would suffer immense damage.
After all, Tengen's performance in this regard was entirely that of a double-crosser.
Even though Tengen was still alive, Kenjaku had been able to activate ten massive Barriers across the country.
Then he began the Culling Game, an advanced ritual that, in Satoru's absence, could be called a nation-level disaster capable of sending everyone in Japan to the other side.
Did Tengen's nationwide empty Barrier Techniques really serve no purpose at all?
Could they neither detect the Culling Game's Barriers nor counteract them after they were activated?
There were too many unreasonable aspects to Tengen's actions, so Eichi planned to deal with this ticking time bomb before the final battle began, in order to avoid unforeseen changes during the decisive battle.
Whoosh.
A pair of classical wooden sliding doors automatically opened to both sides, and Eichi once again saw Tengen, the "Thumb Spirit," as netizens called her.
Because Tengen was still under Medea and Suguru's control at this moment, she could not refuse Eichi's request for a meeting.
However, just as Tengen had said, her "omniscience" could not see through people's hearts.
Eichi could not see through people's hearts either, so if Tengen deliberately concealed or distorted certain things, it would be difficult for him to judge.
"Tell me your purpose, Tengen."
Eichi wasted no words and got straight to the point as soon as he entered.
"That is a question I should be asking you. Wasn't this meeting your suggestion?"
Tengen took a sip of tea and spoke unhurriedly.
"No need to hide it. We've interacted quite a lot over the years.
You know what kind of person I am, and you know that vague answers are useless in front of me."
Eichi's gaze was fixed on Tengen's sharply defined face, which had been constructed with Barrier Techniques.
Tengen felt a great threat from Eichi.
She knew that if this continued, Eichi might really act against her.
Ten years ago, Eichi might still have been concerned about the decline of Japan's Jujutsu World if the Barriers disappeared.
But now, after controlling the nationwide Barriers for over ten years, Eichi had long since made preparations.
If Eichi wanted, Medea could immediately seize control of the Barriers in most of the country.
The rest could also be taken over or rebuilt with just a little time.
"That is a very old story. How old, I suppose it has to start from fifteen hundred years ago."
Tengen suddenly sighed.
"Fifteen hundred years?"
Eichi was surprised, but on second thought, it seemed very reasonable.
Eichi remembered that Tengen had assimilated two Star Plasma Vessels, and Amanai Riko should have been the third.
Amanai Riko's assimilation was supposed to take place in 2006. One thousand years before that would be 1006.
That period was in the middle of the Heian period. The Heian period lasted from 792 AD to 1192 AD.
Considering that Tengen's body needed to be renewed every five hundred years, Tengen's birth year was likely 506 AD.
In other words, Japan's Kofun period.
This was an extremely distant era for Japan. Tengen had witnessed Japan's development from the emergence of a central government to modern times.
In a sense, Tengen was Japan's true living fossil.
Another point that could corroborate this was the Time Vessel Association.
Because the Time Vessel Association, which worshipped Tengen, emerged during the Nara period, from 710 AD to 792 AD.
"It's fine. I have plenty of time today, so you can tell me slowly."
After speaking, Eichi sat directly opposite Tengen and poured himself a cup of tea.
"Heh heh, it's rare for a young one to be willing to listen to me ramble about the past."
Soon, Tengen began telling her past story.
And Eichi also understood why no one was willing to listen to her ramble.
Perhaps she had lived for far too long, because her stories were even more drawn-out than those of the old men and women who used to sit at the village entrance.
After an unknown amount of time, the story finally reached its key point.
"During that time, I experienced the deaths of loved ones again and again, and because of my longevity, I was betrayed more than once.
You know, people back then thought I was some kind of immortal yokai. They believed that if they ate my flesh, they could live forever..."
"And so, after spending an unknown amount of time in a daze, he appeared."
Eichi, whose eyelids were nearly drooping, perked up.
He knew the climax was finally approaching.
"He was a very remarkable person, capable of seeing future events."
"A Cursed Technique that predicts the future?"
Eichi understood.
"During our travels together, every prophecy he made came true, until one day, he told me he had seen the future extinction of humanity..."
"He saw oceans that were no longer blue, land filled with war, and humanity heading toward destruction through mutual curses."
Eichi frowned, remembering the news from his previous life.
For example, Japan would rather spend a lot of money on publicity than build a few more tanks to store sewage, dumping all the sewage into the sea instead.
For example, John Bull had a leak several years ago but kept it hidden. There were also unconfirmed reports that the United States had secretly hidden waste containing the same materials as the sewage at the bottom of the ocean.
As for war?
Many people said that the conflict before Eichi's transmigration was the prelude to WWIII, so it really was not impossible.
But Eichi was not the one with the precognitive Cursed Technique, so he did not know what that person had truly seen.
And Tengen's account was too brief to fully deduce what had happened.
"It was also at that time that he told me about a plan."
At this point, Tengen seemed to recall something. She picked up her teacup and sank into memory.
Curiosity appeared on Eichi's face, and just as he was about to urge her, Tengen, who seemed to understand his thoughts, continued her story.
"It was also from that time that he began teaching me Barrier Techniques.
He was truly remarkable. The Barrier Techniques he taught me completely surpassed that era, even leading it by at least a hundred years.
Soon after, his life also came to an end, and I was alone once more."
"It was also after his death that I began establishing empty Barriers across the country, preparing for the moment the prophecy would arrive, preparing for..."
Tengen paused, then continued.
"Preparing for me and everyone to assimilate, to complete humanity into a higher life form."
(To be continued.)
◇◇◇
◇ One bonus chapter will be released for every 200 Power Stones.
◇ You can read the ahead chapter on Pat if you're interested: p-atreon.c-om/Blownleaves (Just remove the hyphen to access normally.)