Although Suguru Geto's resurrection was perfect—flawless in both body and soul—and intended as a countermeasure against Kenjaku, Mahito couldn't place any Binding Vows on Geto. Or rather, both Mahito and Geto knew that the moment Geto revived, he would naturally view Kenjaku as a mortal enemy. Mahito didn't need to do anything extra.
In fact, that was exactly what happened. Upon resurrection, Geto immediately decided to exact the harshest revenge on Kenjaku for wantonly desecrating his corpse.
However, there was one very awkward point: Geto had resurrected perfectly, but precisely because it was *too* perfect, his technique had been reset to zero.
Geto's technique: *Cursed Spirit Manipulation*. This was a technique that grew stronger the more Cursed Spirits one absorbed. One could even say that as long as Cursed Spirits didn't go extinct in this world, his *Cursed Spirit Manipulation* would only get stronger. It was the foundation for an infinite technique superior even to *Copy*.
*Copy Technique*, in the end, was just a technique. Even if one truly copied a target's technique, *Copy* couldn't bring out the technique's limit. It was like that in the original work: Yuta Okkotsu's Domain Expansion was [Authentic Mutual Love], not the Domain Expansion of the copied techniques.
The one capable of using the Domain Expansion of a physical target was Kenjaku's [Body Hopping Technique]. Yuta had once used *Copy* to replicate Kenjaku's technique, swapping his brain into Gojo's corpse, and subsequently [Piloting] Gojo's body to unleash [Unlimited Void].
But *Cursed Spirit Manipulation* was different. Absorbed Special Grade Cursed Spirits could use their [Domain Expansions]!
In the original work, there was such a scene: when Geto fought Toji Fushiguro, he released the [Kuchisake-Onna]. This Cursed Spirit could use a [Simple Domain]. Although there was no sure-hit effect within this spirit's Simple Domain, the target was forced to answer the question "Am I beautiful?" If they answered incorrectly or delayed their answer, they would be attacked with scissors.
From this, one could conclude that with the passage of time and an increase in the quality of absorbed spirits, the final form of *Cursed Spirit Manipulation* would be a monster-class technique possessing multiple Domain Expansions, seamless coordination, and a full suite of functions.
The most terrifying part was that the spirit pool of *Cursed Spirit Manipulation* had no limit.
In other words, there was no issue of powerful spirits taking up too much space in the pool, limiting the number of spirits under command. As long as Geto's intellect and *Cursed Spirit Manipulation* ability were strong enough, he alone could absorb every Cursed Spirit in the world. And if the quality of spirits was high enough—more like Jogo, Hanami, Dagon, or Mahito—then...
—He alone could [Flatten the Entire World].
This was the true reason why Kenjaku coveted Geto's body so much, and why Kenjaku stated that [*Copy* is far inferior to *Cursed Spirit Manipulation*].
An amazing technique, right? An exaggerated ability, right? Do you feel your heart pounding, feeling that as long as you have this technique, you are invincible?
Well, such a powerful technique had a fatal flaw:
"My spirit pool is currently empty." Geto shrugged. "Unfortunately, having zero Cursed Spirits, I'm currently the same as a blank slate sorcerer. I can't say I have *no* combat power, but I'm only marginally stronger than a Grade 1 Sorcerer."
Correct. The presence or absence of spirits was the essence of *Cursed Spirit Manipulation*. And Mahito's resurrection was too perfect—perfect enough that even the spirit pool was wiped clean! Furthermore, although Gojo's Six Eyes couldn't distinguish the difference between the current Geto's residuals and Kenjaku's residuals, in the eyes of [The Heavens], they were indeed two different people. Therefore, their spirit pools were not shared!
This meant that even if Geto wanted revenge, he lacked the capacity. Thus, he came to Tokyo High for help.
Shoko Ieiri burst out laughing, giving him no face at all. "Hahahaha! Suguru, I never thought I'd see the day! You dare come here like this? Do you know the warrant for your execution as a Special Grade Curse User hasn't been revoked yet?"
"It hasn't been revoked even after I died?"
"Did you think Kusakabe was joking about you being written into history books just now?" Shoko said with a smile. "He was telling the truth. Although the Higher-ups are slow with their work so they haven't actually changed the textbooks yet, the agenda has already been passed. They're just waiting for free time to make the edits."
Geto blinked, then smiled. "That is... truly an honor."
"Honor?" Shoko was puzzled.
"I died to eradicate Cursed Spirits; I have no regrets in my heart," Geto said calmly. "As long as history records my life impartially, how could I not feel honored? Is the act of eradicating Cursed Spirits so ugly? No, it is a sacred thing. Even now, I believe so... This is the Great Cause. I have no regrets, in death or in resurrection."
Shoko was rendered speechless.
"Those aren't words that should come from someone resurrected by the Lord of Cursed Spirits." Masamichi Yaga pushed up his sunglasses. "If you truly want to eradicate Cursed Spirits, the first step now should be to cooperate with Kenjaku to cut off the current largest faction of Cursed Spirits: the Lord of Cursed Spirits' forces."
"I thought I would do that too," Geto said.
"It seems after talking with the Lord of Cursed Spirits for a while, you've abandoned your extreme ideology?" Yaga asked.
"If Satoru were here, he wouldn't ask that question," Geto laughed. "Although Yaga-sensei is my mentor, you still don't understand me."
"I'd like to hear the details." Yaga frowned.
"My desire to eradicate Cursed Spirits isn't literally about the spirits themselves. The true reason I want to eradicate them is to protect the community of Jujutsu Sorcerers." Geto placed a hand on the table, resting his cheek against the back of his hand, smiling. "I believe humans without talent for Jujutsu are merely a troop of monkeys who haven't fully evolved. These monkeys only endlessly spawn Cursed Spirits, and Cursed Spirits can only be killed by sorcerers. Isn't that just giving us trouble? That group of hairless monkeys only does this; how could I not despise them?"
Geto wasn't lying. In the original timeline, a major reason he developed the desire to eradicate spirits lay in the [Ignorance] of ordinary people. In Geto's view, he was protecting them, accommodating them, keeping them so beautifully safe, yet these people felt no gratitude and only ceaselessly persecuted sorcerers. The two daughters he adopted were victims of such persecution. At that time, his Dao Heart shattered, and he chose to blow up the world.
The key point wasn't [Eradicating Cursed Spirits], but [Protecting Sorcerers]. That was the essence of his ideology.
Once you understood the essence of his ideology, it wasn't hard to understand why he had so many followers. In cinematic terms, he was [Magneto], an extreme racial supremacist.
"I don't understand. What does this have to do with cooperating with the Lord of Cursed Spirits?" Yaga asked.
"I'm not cooperating with the Lord of Cursed Spirits, Mentor Yaga. You misunderstand me." Geto's smile faded, replaced by solemnity. "I don't need to cooperate with him at all. It is enough that he fulfills the promise of the [Dream Migration]."
"What do you mean?"
"The [Finite Infinity] Wish," Geto said in a deep voice. "In the predictable, inevitable future, the Great Barrier of Japan will eventually form a massive planetary barrier encasing the entire Earth. When that barrier is complete, the concept of the [Finite Infinity] Wish will undoubtedly cover the entire planet. As long as that future arrives, I only need to win the final battle, face the ascended [God Mahito], and speak the wish: [Grant everyone on the planet the talent of a Jujutsu Sorcerer]. Do you think [God Mahito] could grant this wish?"
Everyone was stunned.
Kusakabe stammered, "Theo-theoretically, yes. But the [God Mahito] of that time will have ascended from being the [Lord of Cursed Spirits]! Would he agree to your wish? If he agrees, wouldn't that mean Cursed Spirits would truly go [Extinct]?!"
All Cursed Spirits were manifestations of curses formed by the Cursed Energy residuals of ordinary people and sorcerers. This was an established fact. Years ago, when Yuki Tsukumo chatted with Geto, and Geto asked, [If we kill all ordinary people, would Cursed Spirits disappear?], Yuki Tsukumo seriously responded: [Yes].
Of course, Yuki quickly added: [Regrettably, I haven't gone crazy enough to do that]. She thought it was a discussion about the possibility of eradicating spirits, an academic debate. But Geto didn't see it that way. At the time, he truly took that [Yes] to heart. This became his operational theory after becoming a Special Grade Sorcerer.
Clearly, even the current Geto hadn't abandoned this idea. In fact, he had become even more extreme!
Previously, he only wanted to kill all ordinary people in Japan. Because only Japan had the Great Barrier, spirits in other places were very weak—weak enough that they couldn't kill people even if left alone, only causing frailty at most.
But now, he was targeting the entire globe!
Kusakabe muttered to himself, "You are a certified lunatic. The King of Curses definitely had water in his brain when he resurrected you."
Unexpectedly, Geto nodded vigorously. "I think so too. He actually thought that as long as Cursed Spirits didn't cause trouble for the world, and he personally managed them so that the title of [Curse] might become history, I wouldn't target Cursed Spirits? Truly laughable."
"Right? I think so to—" Kusakabe wanted to mock him a bit more, but he suddenly paused. Shocked, he pushed his chair back and stood up. "Wait, what did you just say? The Lord of Cursed Spirits plans to manage spirits and make the title of [Curse] history? How does he plan to do that?"
*Damn it, that's the real important news!* If Cursed Spirits truly disappeared, wouldn't sorcerers truly fade into history? When the birds are gone, the bow is put away?!
One look at Kusakabe's face revealed exactly what he was worried about. Geto said cheerfully, "What are you thinking? How could sorcerers disappear? Don't forget, the King of Curses promised that this [Dream Migration] would never disappear. In other words, the promise of the [Finite Infinity] Wish means that as long as the King of Curses lives, it won't disappear. With [Eternal Life] and [Resurrection] hanging there, how could sorcerers lose their jobs? On the contrary, sorcerers will thrive!"
Kusakabe froze.
Yaga pushed up his sunglasses, speaking with sarcasm, "If you've been following the Higher-ups' movements recently, you'd know they are no longer our friends. If not for the fact that they haven't caused trouble, Satoru would have purged the entire headquarters long ago. Why? Because of the eternal life promised by the [Dream Migration]! If us sorcerers are like this, those non-sorcerers are even crazier. Guess how the [Star Religious Group] appeared back in the day? It was because those old men in high positions hoped Tengen would look after them after death once he ascended."
The Star Religious Group was history, but the damage caused back then was immeasurable. One could say Gojo and Geto became who they were largely thanks to the Star Religious Group. Geto's first step to becoming a Special Grade Curse User was purging the Star Religious Group. He gathered the remnants, and killed anyone who disobeyed him, regardless of their status in society, using fear to unite them.
Kusakabe nodded thoughtfully, then frowned. "Wait, the Dream Migration is built on the Great Barrier of Japan, and later it will be built on the Planetary Barrier. If all ordinary people become sorcerers, wouldn't the Dream Migration end? Then wouldn't we still be out of a job!"
Shoko pulled a ladies' cigarette from her pocket but didn't light it, just letting it hang from her lips. She smiled. "Kusakabe, you haven't been listening carefully."
"What?"
"The opening of the Dream Migration requires the Great Barrier of Japan, but once the Dream Migration is truly running, it operates on the Cursed Energy residuals volatilized by sorcerers engaging in fierce combat inside the barrier. In other words, once the Dream Migration barrier is open, it doesn't matter if the Great Barrier of Japan truly closes."
Kusakabe was dumbfounded. "It... it can work like that?"
"Not only that." Geto wagged his finger, smiling. "What you said just now about Cursed Spirits going [Extinct] from then on is also incorrect. Remember the rules of Cursed Spirit birth? It is the manifestation of curses formed by the accumulation of Cursed Energy residuals circulating in the atmosphere. If my wish is realized and all humans on Earth become sorcerers, then indeed, Cursed Spirits won't be born on Earth... but what about inside the Dream Migration?"
Cursed Spirits are manifestations formed by massive amounts of Cursed Energy residuals. Because ordinary people lack sorcerer talent, they cannot prevent their negative emotions from leaking out. Although sorcerers sometimes have insufficient control, they generally control it well, even during sleep. Therefore, the formation of spirits is basically caused by ordinary people; the sorcerer population, which uses Cursed Energy, rarely causes the birth of spirits.
But this does not include special circumstances.
What are special circumstances? There were specific cases in the original work: it was explicitly stated that only sorcerers killed *by* Cursed Energy would not turn into Cursed Spirits. If killed without Cursed Energy, although they might temporarily disappear, they would soon reappear in a new form. Thus, killing spirits with ordinary methods is meaningless; they must be killed with Cursed Energy involved.
There was even a specific case in the original work: Naoya Zen'in was beaten to near-death by Maki Zen'in. He barely escaped with his life, only to be found by Maki's mother. For some reason, Maki's mother raised a weapon and completed a [No Cursed Energy] kill confirmation.
Not long after, the dead Naoya Zen'in turned into a Special Grade Vengeful Spirit and entered the Culling Game to seek revenge on Maki.
If not eliminated by means involving Cursed Energy, even a sorcerer will turn into a Cursed Spirit after death. And the stronger the sorcerer, the stronger the curse they become! Just the posthumous curse of one Naoya Zen'in could turn into a Special Grade Cursed Spirit. So what about the [Dream Migration]?
This was a place where multiple Special Grade Sorcerers fought unceasingly.
What kind of Cursed Spirits would be born from the convergence of such terrifying Cursed Energy residuals?
Kusakabe involuntarily shuddered, a shadow cast over his heart. He felt as if he could foresee the terrifying monsters that would be born in the Dream Migration. And these monsters...
Kusakabe looked up sharply. "I see. You're not targeting the Cursed Spirits of the current world, but the *new* Cursed Spirits born within the Dream Migration! And not just ordinary spirits, but Special Grade Cursed Spirits born from the ceaseless deathmatches between Special Grade Sorcerers! These are unprecedentedly powerful spirits that couldn't be born even through a thousand years of Jujutsu history!"
Kusakabe's words were no exaggeration. throughout history, how many times had Special Grade Sorcerers fought each other? The most intense period was a thousand years ago, during the era when Ryomen Sukuna rampaged—that was the peak of conflict between Special Grade Sorcerers. Even true gods fell during that time.
Remember Kenjaku's wish? He said in the original work that he hoped to [Return] to the golden age of Jujutsu. That [Return] referred to the era of Sukuna's rampage!
Why did Sukuna cause such a massive boom in Jujutsu a thousand years ago? Why, when the human population was far smaller than modern times, did that era birth Cursed Spirits far surpassing anything modern—aside from the [Disaster Curses]? Even in modern times, [Yokai] had been reduced to legends.
It was because of Ryomen Sukuna's rampage!
In that era, Special Grade Curse Users emerged endlessly, and Special Grade Cursed Spirits were everywhere, forcing Ashiya Sadatsuna to create the Simple Domain and propose the core philosophy of [No choice but to press forward].
And the current [Dream Migration] was far more exaggerated than [A Thousand Years Ago].
There was Ryomen Sukuna; there was Gojo Satoru; there were ancient Special Grade Sorcerers; there was Kenjaku; there was Yuta Okkotsu; and Suguru Geto was ready to join at any moment. Even more terrifying was that a thousand years ago, if you died, you died. Losing a Special Grade Sorcerer meant one less conflict between Special Grades. But in the Dream Migration, you could resurrect! Even if you died, you could resurrect and fight a deathmatch a second, third, infinite number of times! In this environment, what kind of curse manifestations would be born? What exaggerated Cursed Spirits would appear?
Thinking of this, how could Kusakabe not tremble? How could he not fear?
Geto clapped gently. "Very good, Kusakabe. You understand me."
He paused, looked around, and smiled. "Now, Yaga-sensei, Shoko, you know why I came to ask for your help, right? I believe that if news of my resurrection gets out, a few subordinates might return to my side. But those subordinates are far inferior to the current forces of Tokyo High. How about it? Can you help me?"