On the Okinawan coastline, waves continued to wash tirelessly against the shore.
The massive trench carved out by Hollow Purple churned with white foam as seawater rushed back in.
The air still carried the scorched scent left behind by the clash of high-density Cursed Energy.
Gojo Satoru floated in midair.
Reverse Cursed Technique circulated continuously within his mind. It had not only healed the fatal wound in his throat, but also brought unprecedented clarity and relief to his brain, which had long been strained by the burden of the Six Eyes.
He removed his sunglasses, his azure eyes gazing down from above.
Despite having just awakened his ultimate technique, Gojo felt no frustration.
He had witnessed it firsthand. That Purple, capable of erasing space and matter alike, had been casually swallowed by a black vortex created with a single hand.
That kind of overwhelming spatial control far surpassed even his Limitless.
"To think a monster like that actually exists in this world. If the higher-ups saw him, they'd probably drop dead from shock."
Gojo descended back onto the beach, brushed the sand from his hands, and walked over to Geto Suguru.
Geto had already recovered.
He looked at Rin standing ahead, his black clothes fluttering in the sea breeze, then at Toji Fushiguro behind him, still exuding arrogance yet quietly acting as a guard. His expression was complicated.
"Wait.. What are you going to do?" Geto asked.
Since Riko Amanai did not want to die, they had already decided to defy the higher-ups.
But the failure of the Star Plasma Vessel's assimilation meant more than just Tengen losing stability. It also meant the two of them would face endless repercussions and pursuit from the entire jujutsu world.
"It's simple."
Rin turned, his dark eyes sweeping over the two young sorcerers.
"The problem lies with the rules. So we remove the ones who enforce them. Or beat them until they change."
He glanced at Toji beside him.
"Let's go. Back to Tokyo. We'll meet these so-called higher-ups. I'd like to see how many lives they have to spare."
Toji grinned, the scar at the corner of his mouth stretching into a savage smile.
"Boss, if you're planning to tear down Jujutsu Headquarters, I'm going to enjoy this job."
Hearing that, Gojo's eyes lit up instantly. Almost gleeful, he raised a hand.
"Count me in! I've wanted to crush those rotten fossils for a long time! With you leading the charge, I'll just pin the blame on you if anything goes wrong!"
Geto sighed helplessly.
But when he glanced back at Riko Amanai hiding behind him, he clenched his fists and silently followed after them.
…
At the same time.
In a secluded traditional Japanese residence on the outskirts of Tokyo, no lights were lit.
Dim illumination filtered through the paper windows and fell across the tatami.
A slender figure sat cross-legged before a low tea table. It was a woman with short hair and delicate features, but a conspicuous stitched scar ran across her forehead.
Itadori Kaori.
Or rather, the thousand-year-old curse user inhabiting this body—Kenjaku.
A tiny fly-like Cursed Spirit slipped through a crack in the window and landed on Kenjaku's fingertip.
It had no combat ability. Its sole purpose was to relay visual and auditory information.
Kenjaku closed her eyes, receiving the transmitted intel.
A moment later, her eyes snapped open. The gentle gaze that belonged to Itadori Kaori was now filled with unmistakable shock and gloom.
"The Star Religious Group's base has been burned to the ground. All of its higher-ups died in the fire."
Kenjaku murmured softly, her fingers tracing the rim of her teacup.
"Not only that, the assassination of the Star Plasma Vessel has completely failed. Toji Fushiguro… the Heavenly Restriction I considered the key to breaking the cycle of fate, has also failed."
As a schemer who had lived for a thousand years, Kenjaku possessed an almost obsessive fixation on the flow of fate.
The Star Plasma Vessel, the Six Eyes, and Tengen. The causal link between the three had remained unbroken for a millennium.
Twice, he had attempted to eliminate both the Six Eyes and the Star Plasma Vessel while they were still young. Yet on the day of assimilation, replacements would always appear.
So this time, he changed his approach.
He found Toji Fushiguro, an anomaly completely devoid of Cursed Energy, someone who existed outside the grasp of fate.
According to his calculations, Toji should have been fully capable of killing the Star Plasma Vessel and even gravely injuring Gojo Satoru.
Once the Star Plasma Vessel died, Tengen would fail to assimilate and be forced to evolve into a higher existence, allowing his Culling Game to proceed without obstruction.
But now, the entire script had been torn apart.
And the one who had done it was not the Six Eyes, but an unknown individual completely absent from his information network.
"No Cursed Energy, yet able to suppress the Heavenly Restriction with ease. Capable of releasing lightning that can destroy Special Grade Cursed Spirits… and even freely traversing space."
Kenjaku recalled the reports on the black-haired youth, and the stitches across her forehead seemed to throb faintly.
This defied common sense.
Even during the Golden Age of Jujutsu a thousand years ago, a monster capable of manipulating elements without relying on Cursed Energy had never appeared.
"Not only did he save the Star Plasma Vessel, he even recruited Toji Fushiguro. Worse still, Gojo Satoru awakened Reverse Cursed Technique ahead of schedule under life-and-death pressure."
Kenjaku set the teacup down, her expression turning completely dark.
Gojo Satoru's awakening meant that the strongest modern sorcerer had reached his complete form.
As for that mysterious young man, his existence was like an insurmountable mountain standing in the path of a plan cultivated over a thousand years.
"There are too many variables."
Kenjaku rose and stepped into the shadows.
He was an absolute rationalist who never engaged in battles without preparation.
Until he uncovered the other party's identity and found a way to counter that spatial ability, he would not reveal himself.
"The preparations for the Culling Game still require time… I'll avoid his edge for now."
Kenjaku touched the stitched scar on her forehead and let out a cold sneer.
"The advantage of immortality is patience. Even if I have to wait another ten or twenty years, it makes no difference. For now… I'll let you run wild in this era."
The shadows swallowed her figure completely. Her presence vanished from the mansion as if she had never existed.
[A/N: I asked around, Kenjaku has no fixed gender]
…
A few hours later.
Tokyo, Jujutsu Headquarters.
This ancient complex, hidden beneath layers of barriers, represented the highest authority in Japan's jujutsu world.
At this moment, the entrance was in complete disarray.
Shrill alarms rang through the air.
"Stop them! No one is allowed to enter Headquarters without authorization from the higher-ups!"
More than a dozen fully armed jujutsu sorcerers formed a defensive line, summoning their respective shikigami and cursed spirits to block the heavy vermilion gates.
On the opposite side, Rin's group advanced steadily.
Gojo Satoru walked with his hands behind his head, casually whistling, completely ignoring the guards.
Geto Suguru let out a quiet sigh and released several cursed spirits to protect Riko Amanai and Kuroi Misato.
Toji Fushiguro walked beside Rin, the Chain of a Thousand Miles slung over his shoulder, his gaze fixed on the guards like prey awaiting slaughter.
"Boss, want me to clear them out?" Toji cracked his neck, eager for action. He had no goodwill toward these lapdogs of the higher-ups.
"No need to waste the effort."
Rin didn't slow his pace. In his pitch-black eyes, a crimson hexagram suddenly flared.
Vwoom!
An overwhelming surge of Yin Release chakra erupted, manifesting as a tangible spiritual storm that swept forward in a wide arc.
Sharingan: Genjutsu Suppression.
Thud, thud…
The dozen elite sorcerers blocking the gate never even got close. The moment their eyes met Rin's, their pupils rolled back, and they collapsed like puppets with their strings cut.
The shikigami and cursed spirits they had summoned dissipated instantly as control was lost.
In the span of a single second, the gate to Headquarters fell.
___
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