Yuki Tsukumo ended the call and screamed her frustration to the empty air. "Tengen! You completely dropped the ball! You actually let a Cursed Spirit spy infiltrate the upper echelons of the Jujutsu Headquarters! Now we've lost all the initiative!"
Her phone rang immediately. Unsurprisingly, it was Tengen. She answered it.
"That is indeed my failure," Tengen sighed heavily.
"I thought you were going to claim you couldn't control the Headquarters. After all, those fossils wouldn't listen to your orders anyway," Yuki sneered.
"The Jujutsu Headquarters is obligated to maintain the absolute highest degree of purity. It is my fundamental duty to ensure that baseline. I failed to detect the spy's infiltration... or perhaps, their bribery. I should have recognized the corrupting allure 'immortality' poses to the Headquarters. I should have issued a critical warning. I failed to do so. I am deeply ashamed," Tengen lamented.
Yuki was completely disarmed. She literally didn't know what to say.
Tengen theoretically stood at the absolute zenith of the Jujutsu world. Her immortality guaranteed the eternal prosperity of Jujutsu Sorcerers. She held absolutely zero desire for political power or material wealth, residing eternally in an empty, isolated shrine, tirelessly sustaining the great barriers protecting Japan. She was practically the living embodiment of a saint, yet here she was, groveling and apologizing like a lowly corporate drone.
Yuki swallowed the rest of her complaints and asked, "Tengen, our covert operation has been fully compromised. Are you still confident you can track the King of Curses?"
"My great barriers do not extend beyond the borders of Japan. I am powerless..." Tengen pondered. "Perhaps you could request Satoru Gojo's assistance."
"No, did you forget the second Binding Vow? I must arrive at the meeting location completely undetected. I don't fully comprehend the mechanics of your tracking, so I was confident I could uphold the Vow while you monitored me. But I know exactly how Gojo operates. I can guarantee he won't be able to track me without breaking the Vow," Yuki sighed.
"You are that familiar with Satoru Gojo?" Tengen asked, genuinely curious. "Gojo possesses the most absolute 'Eyes' in the world. Not a single trace of Cursed Energy flow can hide from him. If he wants to track you, he merely needs to lock onto your Cursed Energy Residuals. He will find you, regardless of where you hide."
"It is precisely *because* I intimately understand his Six Eyes that he won't be able to track me," Yuki sighed again. "His Six Eyes are world-renowned. To avoid his surveillance, countless Sorcerers have exhausted their intellect devising countermeasures. The vast majority of those countermeasures are utterly useless, but a very select few actually work. Unfortunately for him, I am one of the few who knows how."
Kenjaku had once told Mahito that Jujutsu combat was entirely a war of information. Even if the gap in raw power was astronomically vast, as long as one fully understood the opponent's entire arsenal, they could devise strategies to evade lethal strikes—or at the very least, accurately gauge their own limits and avoid suicidal engagements.
Yuki Tsukumo was an omnipotent Special Grade Sorcerer, and she understood Satoru Gojo exceptionally well. She had extensive personal experience in blinding the Six Eyes.
Conversely, Yuki guarded her own combat data flawlessly. This was exactly why Kenjaku treated her with extreme, paranoid caution, completely lacking the relaxed confidence he displayed when scheming against Gojo.
"He is far too arrogant," Tengen agreed.
This was Tengen's indirect confirmation that if Yuki genuinely committed to hiding, Satoru Gojo wouldn't be able to find her.
"Looks like I'll have to fight him head-on." Yuki rallied her fighting spirit. "It seems that high-ranking spy hasn't entirely lost their mind and leaked my complete file. At the very least, the King of Curses doesn't know the exact mechanics of my Innate Technique. He just knows I have monstrous physical strength... Heh. My technique does manifest purely as overwhelming kinetic force. My information lockdown was flawless. I've never publicly revealed my technique."
"I will devise a method to strip away the King of Curses' allies," Tengen said thoughtfully. "Although Ashiya is an ancient Sorcerer, his personal combat strength is entirely negligible. He poses absolutely no threat to you. The true variables are the intelligent Cursed Spirits created by the King of Curses, the rogue Curse Users in his employ, and... Kinji Hakari."
"Looks like it's going to be a massive brawl." Yuki cracked her knuckles, her expression entirely devoid of fear. She excelled in chaotic melees and was actually looking forward to it.
But Tengen replied... "Not necessarily."
*Not necessarily?*
"I have repeated this countless times. Ashiya is a dogmatic samurai. His fanatical obsession with martial honor was unmatched even in his own era," Tengen explained slowly. "If you truly arrive at the battlefield alone, the King of Curses—who has wholly inherited Ashiya's ideology—will very likely face you in single combat. Just as he marched into the Zen'in estate alone."
Yuki's mouth twitched. "Does the King of Curses actually believe he can defeat me in a one-on-one duel?"
"I do not know," Tengen admitted. "But you absolutely must exercise extreme caution. You will be in severe danger... Before you meet the King of Curses, I strongly advise you to draft a will. I am not joking, nor am I attempting to demoralize you. My absolute rationality dictates that there is a very real possibility you are not a match for him."
It was an incredibly offensive statement, yet inexplicably, Yuki didn't feel insulted. This was because deep down in her own psyche, she harbored the exact same suspicion... The King of Curses had actively prepared to kill her, fully aware he lacked intel on her Innate Technique.
A heavy pressure settled over Yuki.
Tengen sensed the subtle shift in Yuki's mental state and smoothly changed the subject. "Have Satoru Gojo call his student immediately."
"You want to flip Hakari?" Yuki asked.
"I do not know if it will succeed," Tengen replied calmly. "Kinji Hakari harbors immense respect for Satoru Gojo. If Gojo personally extends an invitation, Hakari will likely find it impossible to refuse. However, I have absolutely no confidence we can force him to actively betray the King of Curses. The King of Curses has given him entirely too much. He granted him immortality. He appointed him as his chief diplomatic envoy. He trusts Hakari implicitly, which guarantees Hakari harbors fierce loyalty toward him in return."
Yuki looked up at the sky and sighed deeply. "Hakari... what a damn fool."
"Hakari is young and suffered severe persecution from mainstream Jujutsu society. Even Satoru Gojo failed to secure justice for him. The King of Curses simply exploited that vulnerability, offering him exactly what he craved: power, immortality, and absolute respect. Forget Kinji Hakari—even the highest echelons of the Jujutsu Headquarters couldn't resist the temptation, selling out our highly classified operations for a taste of it." Tengen wasn't surprised in the slightest.
Yuki gritted her teeth in pure rage. "This entire catastrophic mess is solely the result of the Headquarters' absolute rotting corruption! I used to be entirely indifferent to Gojo's dream of tearing down the system. I figured whoever sat in those chairs wouldn't affect me anyway. But my stance has officially changed. From this day forward, I am fully backing Gojo! Those bastards at Headquarters are entirely unfit to rule!"
In truth, Yuki was also a victim of Headquarters' persecution. But she was lucky: she was overwhelmingly powerful, and Tengen silently backed her from the shadows. The Headquarters didn't want to simultaneously antagonize a Special Grade Sorcerer and their literal deity, so they backed off. But that didn't stop them from deploying petty political sabotage, which Yuki simply ignored.
But this was entirely different. Someone within the Headquarters actually dared to act as a spy for Cursed Spirits! This permanently enraged Yuki. She resolved to physically intervene and dismantle the corrupt power structure.
And she unequivocally possessed the authority to do so.
"In my memories, you were quite the refined lady," Tengen chuckled softly. "I never imagined I would hear such vulgar profanity spewing from your lips."
"How many decades ago was that?" Yuki exhaled a long breath, as if trying to purge all her built-up stress. "I'm not that little girl anymore."
Yuki desperately wanted to abandon this topic. She was nearing thirty, and the cruel marks of time were beginning to catch up to her. Yet, standing before Tengen, she was still just an overgrown child. In Tengen's eyes, her youthful rebellion had merely been a child throwing a tantrum, which Tengen had indulged with infinite patience. Remembering it now only filled Yuki with excruciating embarrassment. It felt like a friend dragging out her worst middle school photos, making her want to scream just to drown out the memory.
She aggressively forced a subject change. "What exactly do you want Gojo to say to him?"
"If I recall correctly, the Goodwill Event between the Tokyo and Kyoto branches is about to commence?" Tengen asked.
"It starts in two weeks." Yuki's eyebrow twitched involuntarily. Gojo had dumped the entire King of Curses investigation onto her specifically because he was busy preparing for that damn event. Just thinking about it pissed her off.
"Have Satoru Gojo call Kinji Hakari and officially invite him to participate in the Goodwill Event," Tengen instructed. "Hakari likely won't refuse, as it doesn't directly compromise the King of Curses. It's merely a reunion between teacher and student. The King of Curses won't stop him either. He remains incredibly paranoid about Gojo, and I suspect he is actively hoping to trade Hakari for Gojo's absence, guaranteeing he can face you at absolute full strength without any external interference."
As one of Gojo's prized pupils, Yuki naturally had access to Hakari's file. She nodded slowly. "That makes sense. If Hakari intervened during my duel with the King of Curses, things would get extremely dangerous for me. But the King of Curses is also terrified that Gojo might be secretly shadowing me. If he can orchestrate a clean trade—Hakari for Gojo—the arrogant King of Curses will definitely take that deal. He will agree to it."
"It would be optimal to contact Kinji Hakari immediately," Tengen suggested.
"Right now?" Yuki frowned, then her eyes widened in realization. "You want to observe Hakari's physical reactions to indirectly gauge the King of Curses' true power! Since we know Hakari is his absolute confidant, Hakari must know his exact combat metrics! Even if Hakari's Vows and loyalty prevent him from explicitly leaking intel, Hakari is a blunt brawler, not a master spy. His tone and micro-expressions will bleed enough intel for us!"
*When it comes to pure espionage, these ancient fossils really are on another level.* Yuki silently praised Tengen.
"That is only a fraction of my objective," Tengen added slowly. "I also deeply desire to observe the absolute limits of this 'immortality.' Specifically, I want to see how it interacts with Kinji Hakari's 'infinite Cursed Energy.' A Sorcerer wielding both infinite Cursed Energy and true immortality... exactly how terrifying has he become? I am immensely curious."
Yuki completely understood Tengen's underlying motive.
When the King of Curses' ability to 'force evolution' first leaked, the Jujutsu elite didn't actually take it that seriously. They already possessed pseudo-versions of similar techniques. The rapid advancement of modern medical science had heavily impacted the Jujutsu world. Many elite Sorcerers now knew exactly which lobe of the brain housed Innate Techniques and precisely where the 'Cursed Energy Core' was located in the abdomen, thanks to medical imaging.
To uneducated rogue Curse Users, 'forcing evolution' sounded like miraculous witchcraft. But to orthodox, elite Sorcerers, it just sounded like a highly specialized, surgical Innate Technique. Nothing more.
But 'Immortality' was entirely different. That was a fundamentally transcendent concept.
Currently, every single immortal Sorcerer paid an astronomically horrific price for their longevity, accompanied by devastating side effects—Tengen included.
But the King of Curses' 'immortality' was completely different. It could theoretically be applied to anyone, even normal humans lacking Cursed Energy, with absolutely zero side effects. Or rather, the only 'side effect' was ensuring the global environment remained stable. As long as the Earth's Cursed Energy cycle wasn't interrupted, the immortality was completely perpetual. True eternal life.
Forget the Jujutsu Headquarters—even Tengen herself was violently curious. She desperately needed to observe a living specimen, and Kinji Hakari was the absolute perfect test subject.
"So before I face the King of Curses, you want me to spar with Hakari?" Yuki asked.
"Yes," Tengen replied. "Are you opposed?"
"I am absolutely looking forward to it!" A feral grin split Yuki's face. "I've been dying to test out this 'infinite Cursed Energy' Gojo is always bragging about!"