Night fell over the bustling streets.
The little sisters Maki and Mai held their mother's hands as they walked, enjoying the rare feeling of freedom in the outside world.
As they passed a toy store, Mai looked through the thick glass window. A hint of longing flickered in her eyes, but she obediently kept silent.
"Buy them all."
Their mother's sudden words startled Mai.
She waved her hands hurriedly.
"No, Mother. I… I don't want any toys."
Lies.
Pretense.
Concealment.
These were the first lessons Mai had learned growing up in the Zenin clan.
"It's not because you like them that we're buying them."
Lowering her head, the woman calmly explained to her daughter:
"It's because the clan head ordered it. We must obey."
Buy whatever they like.
Those were Mirai's exact instructions before they left.
And she was carrying them out seriously—perhaps with a faint trace of maternal affection mixed in.
"...Okay."
"I understand, Mother."
Inside the conference room of the Zenin estate.
"Withdraw the surveillance from Shoko."
"Did you find the curse user I asked you to track?"
Resting his chin on one hand, Mirai asked casually.
The daytime "fishing operation," just as Shoko had guessed, had indeed been primarily aimed at Suguru Geto.
However, among the curse users, there was also someone Mirai had hoped to lure out.
Unfortunately, that person never appeared.
"Reporting to the clan head… w-we still haven't found him."
The sorcerer responsible for the investigation stood rigidly, his face buried against his chest as he answered with a trembling voice.
Silence.
The large conference room fell into a deathly stillness.
Sweat the size of beans slid down foreheads.
Cold perspiration soaked through backs as an unspeakable fear spread through the room.
Drip. Drip.
Zenin Jū (OC)—the Grade 1 sorcerer assigned to track the curse user—gritted his teeth, enduring the pain from his missing left arm.
His crimson eyes were cold and devoid of emotion.
Compared to the friendly, approachable Mirai who had been chatting with Shoko earlier that day, the boy before them now seemed like an entirely different person.
"Three months ago, I gave you the portrait and the information about his cursed technique."
"Three full months, and you still couldn't uncover even a single lead."
Mirai's icy gaze fell upon the one-armed man.
"The next time I ask—if you still don't have an answer—kill yourself."
"Yes!"
Ignoring the blood still flowing from his wound, Zenin Jū bowed deeply in response.
Losing only an arm instead of his head was already fortunate.
The former clan head watching from the side felt the same.
In fact, he was slightly surprised.
That ruthless brat had shown unusual mercy today.
After more than half a year under Mirai's leadership, everyone had gradually grown accustomed to this "special kind" of care.
After dealing with the matter, Mirai calmly flipped through the old notebook in his hands.
"Monitor a certain underage child."
"Locate Sukuna's fingers."
"Find a woman with stitches across her forehead."
One strange order after another left Mirai's mouth.
No one in the room understood what they meant.
Yet no one dared question them.
"That's enough preparation for now."
Mirai stood up from his cross-legged position and stretched his body.
Forming a hand seal slowly, he gave a quiet warning:
"Drive away all living creatures within a five-hundred-meter radius."
The underground warehouse destroyed earlier by Max Elephant had not yet been rebuilt.
At Mirai's command, the people present didn't even wait for Naobito Zenin to urge them.
They scattered at top speed.
Like ink spreading through clear water, the moment Mirai released the suppression on his cursed energy—
he became the absolute center of the entire estate.
People beyond five hundred meters—sorcerers and ordinary humans alike—felt as though a massive stone had suddenly been placed upon their hearts.
"With this treasure, I summon…"
As Mirai murmured softly, the shadows beneath the lights suddenly began to boil violently.
"Mahoraga!!!"
Not far away, Naobito shouted the name with cold sweat pouring down his face.
So that was why Mirai had ordered everyone to retreat.
This was the subjugation ritual of the Ten Shadows Technique!
Naobito's fists clenched instinctively as his heart pounded wildly.
Throughout the entire history of the Zenin clan, no master of the Ten Shadows Technique had ever succeeded in subjugating this shikigami.
From the boiling shadows, a massive figure slowly emerged.
Its body was muscular and bare from the waist up.
Above its head floated a circular wheel resembling a ship's helm.
A massive unsheathed sword wrapped in bandages hung from its right arm, gleaming with a chilling light.
Its face was grotesque, teeth clenched tightly.
Dead, branch-like growths extended from its eyes, spreading outward like a pair of demonic wings.
Two rows of Divine Dogs crouched at its feet, howling toward the sky as if welcoming its arrival.
Mirai looked up at the massive being and chuckled softly.
"Eight-Handled Sword Divergent Sila Divine General… Mahoraga."
"BOOM!!"
Before Mirai could admire it further, Mahoraga suddenly swung the sword bound to its right arm toward him.
This was a single-person subjugation ritual.
Either Mirai would subdue Mahoraga—
or he would be killed by it.
The terrifying sword slash carved a deep trench across the ground.
The conference hall shook like an earthquake before collapsing entirely.
"Excellent! Very excellent!"
Standing atop the ruins, Mirai remained completely unharmed.
His crimson eyes gleamed brightly as he admired Mahoraga's destructive power.
Mahoraga paused for a moment—
then suddenly leapt forward.
"BOOM!!"
A left fist as hard as steel.
The demon-slaying sword bound to its right arm.
Like a raging storm, its attacks hammered the spot where Mirai stood.
As long as the target was not dead, Mahoraga would never stop attacking the summoner.
Explosions rang out endlessly.
The cracked ground spread outward like a spiderweb.
"Everyone fall back!!!"
"Notify the evacuation teams immediately!"
More than five hundred meters away, Naobito shouted orders to the surrounding sorcerers.
He understood Mahoraga's terror better than anyone.
Hundreds of years ago, a Zenin clan head who possessed the Ten Shadows Technique had summoned this very shikigami.
And forced a mutual death with the head of the Gojo clan.
At that time, the Gojo clan leader—
just like Satoru Gojo today—
had also been a Six Eyes user with the Limitless technique.
Watching Mirai begin this ritual without warning filled Naobito with complicated emotions.
Worry.
Fear.
Dread.
And an enormous amount of expectation.
If the ritual succeeded…
Then Zenin Mirai would become the most powerful clan head in the entire history of the Zenin family.
As time passed, the former conference room had turned into a bottomless crater.
The surface was covered with cracks and rubble.
At the bottom of the pit, Mirai—his body in a semi-intangible state—stared at the wheel floating above Mahoraga's head.
He counted the number of rotations carefully.
Clink.
Another crisp sound rang out.
Since Mahoraga had begun attacking until now—
the wheel had finally stopped turning.
The Sword of Extermination flashed forward with blinding speed, wind roaring past.
Mirai twisted his body violently to dodge—
yet sharp pain still erupted across his chest.
Two and a half minutes.
That was how long it had taken Mahoraga to break through Mirai's intangibility.
Just as he had predicted.
The Kamui eye technique, converted into a cursed technique by the will of the world—
was not invincible.
Mahoraga—the so-called strongest shikigami—
did not possess its title because of overwhelming attack power or defense.
Its true strength lay in something far more terrifying.
Its ability to adapt to everything in existence.
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