Sakurajima Colony.
Accompanied by the roar of a massive object landing, Kokichi Muta abruptly opened his eyes.
The world in his eyes was a city reminiscent of the 80s. Old apartments and two-story buildings filled his vision. Beneath his feet was an asphalt road, poorly maintained and riddled with potholes and bumps. The shops lining the street had a distinct sense of the era, cramped together one after another, large signs hanging above them, rusted from weathering the elements.
The most conspicuous thing was a giant construct lying across the asphalt road, crushing the low houses on either side.
Additionally, over a hundred puppets were distributed evenly across the streets, covering the entire world with Muta as the center. The familiar giant construct and puppets made Muta's eyes widen.
"Ultimate Mechamaru and Ultimate Mechamaru: Mode Absolute. I didn't expect them to actually follow me into the Dream Migration. My prediction was correct: as long as Cursed Energy circulation is maintained during sleep, items from reality can be brought into the Dream Migration."
This deduction wasn't complex for Muta. If one thought about it carefully, if only living beings with Jujutsu potential could enter the Dream Migration, Cursed Spirits would be fine, but would humans appear in the barrier naked? Furthermore, for techniques like Tool Manipulation, Puppet Manipulation, Crow Manipulation, and others that rely on external mediums to manifest power, wouldn't they have zero combat ability at the start, forced to rebuild their constructs from scratch inside the game?
That would be too unreasonable. As the Lord of Cursed Spirits' ascension ritual, the Dream Migration surely wouldn't make such a mistake. Muta was certain of this.
And now, it seemed his judgment was correct.
*Clatter.* Muta raised his hand. He was still in his disabled state; the entire nutrient tank and bathtub bed had been brought into the Dream Migration. This was likely because these life-support facilities had been completely saturated with his Cursed Energy, to the point that they were dragged in along with him.
Muta thought further. Since these life-support devices could be brought in, if someone held a gun, a rocket launcher, an autocannon, or even a tank, a fighter jet, or an aircraft carrier, could they bring those in? Of course, the larger the object, the lower the efficiency of Cursed Energy saturation. There probably wasn't a sorcerer bored enough to do that.
But theoretically, it was possible.
*Is this a bug?* Muta pondered seriously. Precisely because he was a Puppet User, he thought of these things. Powerful sorcerers who could achieve the same effects as modern artillery with their own Innate Techniques probably wouldn't consider this.
Suddenly, his gaze sharpened as he looked to the side.
A shikigami resembling a golden cicada appeared beside him. The shikigami spoke in a cheerful, sweet AI voice:
"Because puppets are part of a Puppet User's strength, no matter how powerful the puppet, as long as it is connected to the user's Cursed Energy, it can be brought into the Dream Migration. This is permitted by the rules."
The shikigami flew harmlessly up, down, left, and right.
"This is No. 4511's exclusive Kogane. Kogane can provide the Master with all guidance and support in the Dream Migration, including but not limited to purchasing weapons, healing, knowledge, wishes, and querying enemy intel."
"Barrier Shikigami, huh." Muta looked thoughtful. "No. 4511... what does this number represent?"
"It represents that Master is the 4,511th sorcerer to step in here," Kogane said.
"Hmph, plenty of people unafraid of death." Muta suddenly realized, "No, the earlier ones must be mostly Curse Users! After the Lord of Cursed Spirits appeared, Curse Users practically vanished. They must have been thrown into this game the moment the Dream Migration opened. These Curse Users account for at least a few hundred people, maybe more! The rest should be amateurs with Jujutsu potential who don't know about the Jujutsu world. These amateurs are probably just bold. After all, in a nation of over 100 million, 4,000 is a reasonable number."
Muta didn't act immediately but continued to ponder the intel of the Dream Migration. Suddenly, Kogane emitted a beeping sound.
"Master has received a new message! Master has received a new message!"
"You even have a function to send and receive messages from others?" Muta said with interest. "It seems you're more useful than I imagined."
"Kogane is very capable! Kogane is very capable!" Kogane flew up and down happily. "Does Master want to view the message?"
"Open it."
Kogane flew in front of Muta and projected a screen from its watery eyes. On the screen, Mahito appeared. He waved at Muta, his face full of smiles:
"This is Mahito. Long time no see, Kokichi Muta-san. Ah, no need to say hello, this is a recording.
"According to the agreement, our Binding Vow automatically terminates after I open the Dream Migration. You've worked hard this past half-year. The intel from Kyoto was very useful to me, especially tracking Principal Gakuganji to determine his location. It allowed us to make moves right under his nose. Until I fought Gojo, he didn't even realize his headquarters had turned into a sieve. Your contribution is undeniable."
Muta felt extremely uncomfortable.
No matter how he spun it, this was betrayal. Initially, he had harbored thoughts of obtaining forgiveness from Kyoto through betraying the Cursed Spirits after the Vow was complete. But as Mahito's influence and power grew, that thought became harder to entertain.
Even Muta himself hadn't expected that, right to the very end, he would continue as Mahito's spy. Now, even the Binding Vow was concluding.
But this was fine. Muta sighed inwardly. Mahito, possessing infinite resurrection, could never be killed. Even if he failed, he could always make a comeback. From a fault-tolerance perspective, no matter how the Jujutsu world struggled, the ultimate victor would inevitably be Mahito. His career as a spy wasn't meaningless.
*Clap.* Mahito clapped his hands gently. His recording seemed to understand Muta's conflict, speaking cheerfully:
"Originally, I thought about healing you personally. But you see, if I did that, your betrayal would be known to the Kyoto side. You probably don't care about the teachers, but you cherish the camaraderie among the Kyoto students, right? If it were exposed like that, you wouldn't have the face to stay there anymore, even if the ultimate winner is me."
Bullseye. Muta clicked his tongue.
"So, I changed the method," the recorded Mahito said with a grin. "The Dream Migration's points are nearly omnipotent, including healing Heavenly Restrictions! Not just your type, where physical performance is traded for range and output of Cursed Energy, but even the Heavenly Tyrant's restriction can be healed. And the price is the same, fair to all: 200 million points."
Muta's mouth twitched. 200 million? Even though he had just arrived and didn't know how points were earned or the speed of acquisition, he knew 200 million was a massive and difficult number.
Then, the recorded Mahito said, "Now, since you can hear my words, it means Kogane has recorded your Cursed Energy Residuals. I've also set it up so that once your residuals are recorded by Kogane, 200 million points will be provided to you immediately for free... You should understand what this means."
*Clatter.* Muta subconsciously clenched his fists.
Of course he knew what it meant! At this moment, if he wished, he could truly break free from this broken body. He could measure the earth with his own two feet, unleash techniques with his own hands, and never again spend his remaining life lying in this life-support device!
This was his wish, and now, it was within reach! Amidst his excitement, Muta had a question:
—Since the Lord of Cursed Spirits thought even of the Kyoto side's suspicion, how would he reasonably give me these 200 million points?
As if anticipating Muta's train of thought, Mahito smiled like a child.
"In a moment, the legendary Ryomen Sukuna will descend into this barrier, or perhaps fall right in front of your eyes. Among the ways to gain points, fighting a death match grants a massive amount. So... restore your mobility as quickly as possible. Then, have a good fight with Ryomen Sukuna, who only has the power of one finger! Use a decisive battle with Ryomen Sukuna to announce your rebirth, and conveniently cover up that 200 million point discrepancy."
Muta's pupils contracted, and he couldn't help but scream, "I'm fighting Ryomen Sukuna?!"
"Finally." Mahito raised his index finger and pressed it gently against his lips. "Make sure to unleash a Cursed Energy output worthy of a Special Grade Sorcerer. Because the stronger the sorcerer, the higher the points gained in a death match. That makes the 200 million point gap seem more reasonable."
In the recording, Mahito smiled as happily as a child who got his favorite model kit, innocent and pure. He concluded, "That's it! Please have a good fight with Ryomen Sukuna.
"Isn't Daddy Mahito super gentle? I considered everything for Muta-san. Oh, of course, if you just heal yourself and don't fight Sukuna, that's fine too. But you'll have to come up with your own excuse for how you got that 200 million.
"Well then, *ja ne*."
"Mahito, you son of a bitch!" Muta roared, shaking with rage.
*Zip.* Kogane closed the recording.
Then, Kogane emitted a *ding-dong ding-dong* jackpot sound, jumping up and down happily. "Master, Master! Your account has an extra 200 million points! Would you like to use them now?"
"Use them!" Muta had already started thinking about how to deal with Ryomen Sukuna. Fortunately, before contacting Mahito, he had thoroughly searched for data on Sukuna. He knew what Sukuna could do and was relatively calm. "Restore my Heavenly Restriction body!"
"Master, there are two versions," Kogane said methodically. "The Basic Version is simple healing. This healing perfectly restores Master's body, but the Heavenly Restriction will vanish, and the Heavens will take back your Cursed Energy range and volume. The Deluxe Version restores Master's body while maintaining the buffs granted by the Heavenly Restriction. The former is 20 million points, the latter is 200 million points. Kogane suggests the former because..."
"Use the Deluxe Version!" Muta interrupted! Usually, he would carefully examine the difference between Basic and Deluxe to pursue the best cost-performance ratio. Perhaps he would have eventually accepted Kogane's advice and chosen the Basic Version.
But now was different. Ryomen Sukuna was about to descend; he didn't have the time! He had to restore his mobility and combat power at maximum speed to welcome Sukuna's impact.
"*Whoosh*, used," Kogane said.
*Splash!* Muta's hand suddenly grabbed the edge of the life-support tank. That hand, originally skinless, was generating tender white skin at an astonishing speed. Muta felt almost no pain, only a slight itch. He slowly stood up. The feet that the Heavens had taken away were regrowing. He reached up and unraveled the bandages on his face. The originally skinless face had fully regrown in less than two seconds. His face had no scars; it was as fair and clean as porcelain.
Muta stood up abruptly, rising from the nutrient tank. He was naked. The pain that had tortured him every moment of his life had vanished unknowingly. There was a momentary void in his heart as he realized that since his body was whole, the power the Heavens brought him was being withdrawn in sync.
But—the power did not decrease!
Mahito hadn't lied. Although the Heavens had withdrawn the Cursed Energy range and volume given as compensation for his disability, his body still maintained its original talent, as if he were still in the state of Heavenly Restriction.
Muta understood. Mahito must have used Idle Transfiguration to completely copy his Cursed Energy extraction, circulation, and diffusion organs from his Heavenly Restriction state, then perfectly replicated those physical traits in this new body. As a result, the Heavenly Restriction was lifted, but his talent remained.
Idle Transfiguration was too god-tier. Muta verified this immense power with his own body.
Muta clenched his fist, then stomped his foot. Even though he had lain in a life-support device since birth and never left it, his posture when clenching his fist and stomping was so natural, as if he were a teenager who had lived a normal life for seventeen years.
Mahito fulfilled his promise. From this moment on, Kokichi Muta was reborn.
Muta was so moved he almost cried—provided Ryomen Sukuna didn't show up!
*BOOM!* The giant construct was slowly standing up. Muta kicked the life-support device away. Underneath it was a set of Kyoto High student uniforms. He had worn this uniform countless times with his fake body while using Ultimate Mechamaru, and now he skillfully began to put it on.
The puppets covering the streets were slowly waking up. Muta released his Puppet Manipulation technique to connect with them. These puppets fell into formation according to Muta's will. Within a short time, all puppets were at their stations.
*No!* Muta reconsidered. *I can't use the multitude of Ultimate Mechamarus and other support puppets. That would prompt Ryomen Sukuna to use Domain Expansion directly, or that unknown fire technique. Whether it's Domain Expansion or the fire, this massive army would be swallowed instantly, and I would die too.*
Muta immediately ordered the massive Mechamaru army to scatter, preventing them from grouping up. He himself boarded the cockpit of the giant mechanical titan.
Muta knew clearly in his heart that in terms of true strength, he couldn't be Ryomen Sukuna's match. The only way to defeat Sukuna was to exploit his arrogance and carelessness. So he couldn't use full power right from the start. He had to give Sukuna a sense of playfulness, then strike with maximum output for a guaranteed victory.
Yes, victory.
He had to win! He had just been reborn; he didn't want to die at Sukuna's hands like this. Wouldn't that mean he lived for nothing? Muta suspected this was intentional on the Lord of Cursed Spirits' part—because he was no longer useful, Mahito sent Sukuna specifically to kill him.
*Cannot die! Absolutely, absolutely cannot die!*
(At this moment, Muta did not yet know that resurrection in the Dream Migration cost only 100 points.)
It was just a one-finger Ryomen Sukuna! He had suffered in silence for 17 years, and now that happy times were right before his eyes, how could he admit defeat? How could he possibly admit defeat!
Kogane suddenly emitted an air raid siren: "Master, Master! Powerful Cursed Energy approaching! Powerful Cursed Energy approaching!"
A roar like thunder suddenly exploded:
"MA—HI—TO—! I'm going to fucking slaughter you—!!!"