In the original timeline, when Kenjaku negotiated with the US, he never once brought up the prospect of the Americans obtaining Cursed Techniques themselves. In fact, the US didn't hold Jujutsu Sorcerers in particularly high regard; they viewed them purely as a raw, clean energy source. In their minds, they just needed to harvest the negative emotions to generate endless Cursed Energy, treating it like a convenient, pristine holy water gifted by the heavens.
Ultimately, in the original story, the Cursed Techniques were just a byproduct to the Americans. What they explicitly wanted was the Cursed Energy itself; they didn't care about the rest.
But the situation now was entirely different.
The sheer versatility of the abilities showed them infinite possibilities (especially immortality). They began to display the ravenous greed befitting a superpower. Rather than letting these reality-bending powers remain in the hands of unpredictable foreigners, they wanted to monopolize the abilities themselves. With immortality, they could project their violent hegemony with absolute impunity.
Through eyes capable of piercing the soul, Mahito easily saw the naked greed and arrogant entitlement radiating from the men sitting across from him.
Mahito didn't answer immediately. Instead, he turned to Kenjaku. "Did you anticipate this as well?"
Kenjaku answered instantly, without a second of hesitation, "No. My contact was this gentleman: the Deputy Secretary of Energy and Environment, Mr. Silas Weil. Our discussions were strictly limited to the extraction of Cursed Energy as a novel, clean power source. At most, I mentioned your unique abilities. We did not discuss anything beyond that."
Mahito stared at Kenjaku. The ancient sorcerer's soul didn't waver in the slightest.
Kenjaku wasn't lying. Ever since he realized Mahito was harboring genuine murderous intent toward him, he had truly ceased all of his side schemes—save for matters concerning Uraume. On the contrary, he had become significantly more obedient. He knew perfectly well that Mahito wasn't like the others; even death wouldn't stop Mahito from torturing his soul. This was a bona fide candidate for godhood, someone who could officially ascend at any given moment.
Mahito looked away, and Kenjaku inwardly let out a massive sigh of relief. *Damn it. I've pulled so many tricks in the past that the moment something deviates from the plan, Mahito immediately assumes I'm the prime suspect. It's exhausting living on a knife's edge. If I knew Mahito was going to evolve this rapidly, I would have just played it straight and nurtured him from the start.*
For once, Kenjaku felt a rare pang of genuine regret.
The President chuckled warmly. "Now, now, Mr. Mahito, there's no need to be so tense. We were merely exploring the hypothetical. I understand that the Cursed Energy phenomenon is unique to Japan and exceedingly difficult to replicate elsewhere... But since you've made the trip all the way here, indulging in a little academic brainstorming can't hurt, right?"
"No, Mr. President, you misunderstand. I have no intention of deliberately hiding anything, nor have I ever considered monopolizing the Jujutsu phenomenon," Mahito replied, his tone heavy with implication. "It is precisely for the sake of you and your nation that I strongly advise you: stay as far away from Cursed Energy as possible."
Silas Weil, the Deputy Secretary of Energy, leaned in, eyes gleaming. "Does that mean, given the right conditions, the United States could also produce Jujutsu Sorcerers just like Japan?"
Kinji Hakari finally lost his patience. Switching to fluent American English, he spoke with heavy, earnest urgency. "The cycle of Cursed Energy is not a blessing! Didn't Mahito just explain this? It is incredibly dangerous! Even if you insist on going to Japan to abduct and research sorcerers, that is a hundred times safer than letting Cursed Energy cycle through your own soil! Mahito isn't lying to you. This is a curse, not a gift!"
Weil frowned, looking coldly at Hakari. "And you are?"
"My diplomat, Mr. Kinji Hakari," Mahito smiled. "While his manner of speaking is highly colloquial and he lacks a certain formal decorum, he is one of the people I trust the most. He accompanies me on all my external affairs, and all external communications meant for me must be vetted and approved by him first. You can consider him my Vice President."
Hakari felt a faint stir of emotion. Even though he was their faction's most visible link to the established Jujutsu society, Mahito had never hidden a single thing from him. Even now, when he broke protocol and interrupted the negotiations rudely, Mahito unhesitatingly backed him up. How could he not be moved?
Weil spoke with icy detachment. "If he is Your Excellency's 'Vice President,' he shouldn't be making such wildly naive statements. I'll ask one exceedingly simple question: if a massive paradigm shift occurs within the Japanese Jujutsu society, and they demand global recognition of their sovereignty—and are willing to utilize their supernatural violence to enforce it—can the United States withstand that sheer impact?"
Hakari fell silent.
Never mind the entire Jujutsu society—if he alone decided to declare war on the world, he could single-handedly sweep across America!
In truth, any Special Grade sorcerer in the Jujutsu world could accomplish that. Yuki Tsukumo could sink entire continents. Yuta Okkotsu's boundless copied techniques could slaughter the American populace in a myriad of ways. And Satoru Gojo? He could take a casual bath at the epicenter of a nuclear detonation.
In a twisted way, the archaic, corrupt Jujutsu society genuinely maintained world peace. Despite how utterly terrible the establishment was, its role as a cage was necessary. Keeping the sorcerers in check and preventing them from running wild was its greatest contribution! And so far, it had upheld that foundational duty exceptionally well.
Weil adopted a patronizing, educational tone. "I do not know why Japan has remained so quiet despite possessing these Jujutsu Sorcerers. But I do know that the second Japan fully unifies its sorcerers, the entire geopolitical map of the world will violently shatter."
Hakari remained silent.
Weil dismissed the naive diplomat and nodded respectfully at Mahito. "Mr. Mahito, we are fully prepared to accept whatever drawbacks come with cultivating Jujutsu Sorcerers on American soil. Please, tell us the method."
"You aren't even going to ask what the drawbacks are?"
"Japan is still a developed nation," Weil stated proudly. "And there are vast disparities even among developed nations. If Japan has managed to contain and conceal this phenomenon until now, I assure you, the United States can do it as well, and do it infinitely better. Ultimately, Japan is a nation of barely 100 million people. The United States has 327 million! More than triple Japan's population. As Your Excellency noted earlier, if Japan can brute-force the probability through population size, America can do it vastly better!"
*Japan's 100 million population birthed the four Disaster Curses—Earth, Forest, Ocean, and Humanity. I genuinely want to see what kind of horrific abomination America's 300 million people will spawn.*
Mahito couldn't suppress the smirk tugging at his lips. He applauded loudly. "Excellent! What ambition!"
Every American in the room unconsciously straightened their posture, exuding the pride of the world's sole superpower.
"The reason Japan can reliably produce Jujutsu Sorcerers is quite simple. For a thousand years, Japan has been enveloped by a colossal, invisible barrier. You can think of it as an alternative atmosphere. This barrier is strictly localized to the Japanese archipelago. All the Cursed Energy leaked by the human population is trapped within this atmosphere, creating a closed-loop cycle. After centuries of marinating in this localized Cursed Energy cycle, even ordinary humans eventually give birth to sorcerers."
Mahito spoke slowly, deliberately. "If you want to spawn Jujutsu Sorcerers on American soil, the method is simple. Find a transcendent Barrier Master and erect an identical, continent-spanning barrier over the United States. Within a century, you will naturally birth native American Jujutsu Sorcerers, and the numbers will be self-sustaining."
The President cried out in dismay. "A century?! I only have a four-year term! Even if I win re-election, that's only eight years! Especially with Sleepy Joe gaining momentum lately, I'm not even guaranteed my current seat! A century is way too long!"
Everyone at the table stared at the President. He froze for a second, then immediately adopted a solemn, statesmanlike expression. "A century is unacceptable. We are currently in a critical era of global competition. A hundred years is more than enough time for rival nations to thoroughly reverse-engineer the Jujutsu phenomenon. We must accelerate our timetable to match the pacing of the geopolitical landscape."
*Just phrase it differently and suddenly it sounds incredibly righteous and majestic. Is this the power of a superpower's President?* Hakari's mouth twitched, but he remained silent.
"There is a faster way," Mahito smiled.
"Please, Mr. Mahito, share it with us," the President maintained his solemn facade.
"The foundation remains the same: the American Great Barrier must be erected. That is non-negotiable. I just explained that the core mechanic is the Cursed Energy cycle. The barrier ensures the energy doesn't leak out. So, how do we accelerate the cycle? Simple. Bring Jujutsu Sorcerers from other countries into your own."
Mahito's expression remained perfectly serene.
"Force them to fight as brutally and frequently as possible. During the heat of intense, life-or-death combat, a sorcerer vents hundreds, thousands of times more Cursed Energy than a civilian! This explosive energy will be trapped by the American Barrier, evolve within the atmospheric cycle, and rapidly saturate the American environment."
"The catch is whether you can actually secure that many Jujutsu Sorcerers. Aside from Japan, I don't believe any other nation on Earth has a sufficient density of them. Oh, and by the way, Jujutsu Sorcerers are incredibly lethal. If you plan on kidnapping them, expect a massive amount of bloodshed."
The President rubbed his temples. "So it comes back to kidnapping, then?"
He didn't even acknowledge the 'bloodshed' part. To him, that wasn't a factor worth considering.
The military official, however, was focused on exactly that. "How resistant are Jujutsu Sorcerers to gunfire? Or, if you'll excuse my bluntness... how bullet-resistant are you?"
Mahito understood instantly. The general was trying to gauge the combat baseline of Jujutsu Sorcerers, using Mahito as the metric. He was assessing Mahito with the cold, analytical gaze of a tactician, trying to figure out what Mahito was truly capable of.
"Ordinary Jujutsu Sorcerers have zero resistance to bullets. While Cursed Energy reinforcement drastically enhances their physical parameters and dynamic vision, if a bullet connects, they will die." Mahito's expression didn't waver; his polite smile remained fixed. "As for someone at my level... would you like to test it yourself?"
The General narrowed his eyes. "Myself?"
"Did you bring a firearm?" Mahito asked placidly. "Right here, right now. Shoot me."
Everyone in the room suddenly felt an oppressive, suffocating pressure bearing down on them, forcing their heart rates to spike. It felt as though they were being submerged in the crushing terror of the deep ocean. Mahito hadn't made a single aggressive move, but the moment the words left his mouth, every man at the table could vividly picture him strolling casually through a hailstorm of bullets, completely untouched.
If bullets were genuinely useless, and Mahito possessed spatial portal technology... didn't that make him the most terrifying, unstoppable assassin in human history? He could simply open a portal and step into anyone's bedroom. No matter how lethal the traps or how elite the bodyguards, nothing would even slow him down.
*Just asking two casual questions managed to poke a terrifying, apocalyptic monster.*
The General let out a dry, cold laugh. "How incredibly domineering of you, Mr. Mahito."
"I've actually never tested if nuclear weapons would work on me." Mahito smiled radiantly. "Perhaps you gentlemen could help satisfy my curiosity?"
The General's face instantly paled.
The President hastily interjected, shattering the violently tense atmosphere. "Hahaha! Mr. Mahito, you have a wonderful sense of humor! What's all this talk about nuclear weapons? Since we dropped them in 1945 for... ahem, deterrent purposes, America hasn't used a nuke in actual combat since. Why on earth would we ever consider using one against you, Mr. Mahito?"
He quickly pivoted, addressing his cabinet. "What about bribery? The promise of a Green Card? I believe we have considerable influence within the Japanese political sphere. Even without resorting to kidnapping, simple financial and social incentives should be highly attractive, right? Afterwards, we build them an arena. Let them fight it out there. I'm sure the public will eat it up. Hell, American football probably has a higher crippling injury rate than underground sorcerer fights."
The President complained, "I told you guys, we can just negotiate! Why do we always default to war? America fights a war every year and still gets handed the Nobel Peace Prize! Fuck, I'm the only President who hasn't started a war, and I don't have a Peace Prize!"
"That is established state policy," someone reminded the President in a hushed tone. "Whether Democrat or Republican, it is our duty to maintain that tradition. Mr. President, you represent the Republican Party right now. Please mind your words."
"This isn't the White House! Can we skip the partisan lectures?" the President snapped impatiently. "Can we move on to the next topic?!"
*You were the one who brought it up!* As expected of a real estate mogul turned President, his skin was thicker than a career politician's.
The middle-aged white woman asked, "Mr. Mahito, do you know a Barrier Master capable of erecting this American Great Barrier?"
"I do." Mahito nodded, smiling. "A sorcerer who has lived for a thousand years. The undisputed 'Tengen' of the Japanese Jujutsu society. She is Japan's greatest Barrier Master, and the architect and maintainer of the current Japanese Great Barrier. If you want an American Barrier built, she is the only one who can do it."
*A sorcerer who has lived for a thousand years?*
The President realized the implication and laughed. "Mr. Mahito, you're not playing straight with us. Are you trying to manipulate the United States into using its geopolitical leverage to force Japan to hand over this Tengen? Or do you want us to threaten the Japanese government into 'inviting' Tengen to America as a guest? You want Tengen out of Japan?"
"Mr. President, what are your thoughts on 'God'?" Mahito asked abruptly.
The President was stunned. Why had the topic suddenly veered into theology? No, wait, hadn't they been in the realm of theology from the very beginning? Weren't Jujutsu Sorcerers basically just occult mysticism anyway?
"If you have a point to make, Mr. Mahito, please speak plainly. We are all friends here," the President frowned.
"Tengen will ascend to become a God by the end of this year." Mahito spoke with heavy implication. "You might scoff at Japanese deities and dismiss them as false idols, but a god is a god—a genuine administrator of the world's physical laws. Once that happens, even if you want to threaten her, you won't be able to."
"Once this Tengen becomes a god, she won't care about Japan anymore? Why wouldn't she be susceptible to our threats?" the General demanded.
"Because once she ascends, she could obliterate every American military base stationed in Japan with a thought. The Japanese Great Barrier would trivially withstand America's entire nuclear arsenal. And if you displease her, she could summon apocalyptic tidal waves and drown every inch of America's coastlines." Mahito smiled pleasantly. "Of course, I realize this sounds extremely hyperbolic, and you are free to disbelieve me, Mr. President. But since I'm warning you in advance, when America's landmass violently shrinks, please don't blame me for not giving you a heads-up."
*Fuck! He's backing us into a corner and forcing us to make a choice!*
The President and his cabinet exchanged tense, uncertain glances.
"Perhaps... there's an alternative option?" Weil asked hesitantly.
*A sorcerer who has lived for a thousand years? Just hearing the title makes me want to stay the hell away!*
"There is." Mahito immediately sat up straight, offering himself up. "I am also a Barrier Master. While I am nowhere near the level of the millennium-old Tengen, I consider myself top-tier. I could design an American Great Barrier and guarantee its stable operation."
"And what is your experience in this field?"
"Absolutely none." Mahito admitted cheerfully. "After all, aside from Tengen, no sorcerer in history has ever attempted to construct a nation-spanning barrier. If you want me to do it, I might be a little rough around the edges on my first try."
*Fuck, you want to use our nation's grand immortality project as your personal guinea pig?!*
The middle-aged white woman immediately declared, "I will draft an official inquiry to Japan tomorrow morning! Truly, to think a genuine immortal who has lived for a thousand years exists. She is a treasure of humanity! We absolutely cannot let her languish in a backward place like Japan. She must be brought to America immediately so we can provide her with the most meticulous protection!"
*Got them.* Mahito smiled.
"Additionally." The middle-aged white woman gestured to the military general. "Mr. Mahito, allow me to introduce the Commander of the Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC), Army Lieutenant General Gary K. Johnson. He commands the most unyielding, elite special forces in this nation, and they are currently securing this facility... Would you be willing to give us a practical demonstration of a Jujutsu Sorcerer's capabilities?"
The General didn't back down. He nodded sharply. "That is exactly what I had in mind. Do you need a moment to prepare, Mr. Mahito?"
Mahito laughed. "Aiming straight for me, are we?"
"I assume the Jujutsu world operates on a 'might makes right' hierarchy?" The middle-aged woman looked at Mahito, probing carefully. "Since you are sitting at the head of the table, that implies you are the strongest among your faction. By observing a combat exchange with you, we can gain a profound understanding of a sorcerer's lethality. This will also help us calculate exactly how much manpower we need to deploy when we start abducting sorcerers from Japan."
"If that's the case..." Mahito looked unfazed.
"Allow me," Kenjaku offered. "My technique is perfectly suited for an exhibition."
Sha stepped forward proactively. "Please remain seated, Master, and you as well, Teacher Kenjaku. If it is merely a probing spar, allow me to handle it."
Mahito tilted his head and looked at Sha. Even though the Cursed Spirit girl's face remained utterly blank, Mahito could look into her eyes and see the raging inferno of fury burning within her soul.
Hakari smirked. "Looks like the little lady's anger has been boiling over for a while. She just has better facial control than I do, so she hasn't exploded yet."
Mahito instructed mildly, "Don't kill them."
Kenjaku shrugged and stepped back.
"Your will." The Cursed Spirit girl bowed her head.
Lieutenant General Johnson's mouth twitched. "I'm really being looked down on, aren't I?"
The General stood up abruptly. "The security detail outside that door consists of fifteen operators. They are the absolute elite of the Counter Assault Team (CAT), all heavily armored and equipped with high-performance assault rifles."
"And that's not all. In addition to my CAT unit, I have operators from the CIA's Paramilitary Operations Center—the world's most classified tier-one strike force. Every single member has over eight years of military service and extensive black ops experience. Three squads. Thirty men."
"A total of forty-five of the most lethal, highly-trained professional killers on the planet!"
"If you think you have what it takes, let's see you try!"
The General barked with imposing arrogance, "I'll speak plainly! The Japanese should stick to building cars and drawing cartoons! You have no business harboring any other ambitions, and that includes your little Jujutsu Sorcerers!"
"What 'millennium-old sorcerer'? If she was truly that powerful, she would have stepped up in 1945 when we dropped the bombs! The fact that she hid means even she can't beat a modern military. Even your ancient god fears America, so you all better learn your place!"
"General, let's dial back the stereotypes!!" The President yelled frantically, desperately trying to cut him off as he watched the expressions of Mahito's group.
"It's fine." Mahito rested his chin on the back of his hand and smiled warmly. "Speaking one's mind so bluntly is just a sign of honesty. I don't mind at all."
He paused for a second, then added casually, "Sha. As long as they don't die, do whatever you want."
*Yep, he's definitely pissed!*
Sha straightened her spine and answered with a crystal-clear voice, "Yes, Master!"