At this point, he looked like a plucked rooster, stripped of every trace of his former dignity and left with nothing but helplessness and humiliation.
As they spoke, the hurried roar of a car engine came from the distance, growing louder as it approached. Everyone instinctively turned toward the road, only to see a black sedan speeding toward them. Its sleek body moved with remarkable stability and power, clearly the product of extensive modifications.
The windows were tightly shut, making it impossible to see who was inside, but the car's frantic speed alone conveyed the urgency of its passenger.
Before long, the black sedan came to a smooth stop in the open area outside the school gates. The tires made a faint scraping sound against the pavement, and the door was thrown open.
A slender figure stepped out. She wore a pristine white formal dress, its hem trailing along the ground, while her long hair was neatly tied behind her head, revealing a slender neck and delicate features.
Perhaps because of how hurriedly she had arrived, her cheeks carried a faint flush, and her breathing was slightly labored. The moment she got out, she gathered up her skirt and hurried toward Gojo and the others.
That familiar face and unmistakable presence could belong to none other than Seitenshi.
The instant Seitenshi received Gojo's call, she hadn't hesitated for even a moment. She had made her decision immediately.
She had to come.
She absolutely had to come.
She wanted to see with her own eyes as Kikunojou Tendo, the man who had stripped her of all political power and treated her like a puppet under his control, died before her.
For so many years, although she had occupied the position of Seitenshi, she had never truly possessed the authority that should have been hers. Every word she spoke and every action she took had been controlled by Kikunojou Tendo, leaving her with no freedom at all, like a puppet pulled along by strings.
She had endured countless pressures, grievances, and moments of helplessness. The restless nights spent tossing and turning, the silent suffering hidden behind an outwardly privileged life, all of it had been caused by the same man.
Now, the source of all that pressure was finally going to be destroyed completely.
A trace of urgency and anticipation showed in her eyes as her pace quickened. The hem of her dress fluttered gently in the wind, making her resemble a white lotus on the verge of blooming, yet there was an unyielding strength beneath her delicate appearance.
Just as Seitenshi hurried toward them, Gojo's gaze happened to sweep across the grass beside him and suddenly stopped.
Not far away, a person emerged from the mouth of the enormous toad.
She was dressed in a familiar black school uniform, her hair neatly styled, her expression cold and composed.
It was Kisara Tendo.
Like Seitenshi, Kisara had only just crawled out of the toad's mouth, a faint trace of dirt still clinging to her. The instant she emerged, however, her eyes became razor-sharp, like an enraged leopard, and an icy killing intent radiated from her entire body.
She didn't pause for even a second. She hadn't even bothered to brush the dirt from her clothes before she charged toward Kikunojou Tendo and Kazumitsu Tendo as though consumed by an overwhelming fury.
As she ran, her right hand swiftly drew the long sword at her waist. The blade slid free with a crisp "shing," its cold edge flashing harshly beneath the sunlight and reflecting the murderous expression on her face.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa."
Seeing Kisara charging forward without the slightest concern for anything else, Gojo's smile faded slightly. With a hint of helplessness in his voice, he hurried forward and stopped her.
"Hey, calm down."
He placed a hand lightly on Kisara's shoulder and felt her body trembling beneath his palm. It was the tremor of absolute rage and hatred.
"I'm the one this is all about, and I'm still fine. Why are you all getting more worked up than I am?"
Gojo shook his head helplessly. He had originally intended to deal with these two troublesome people and be done with it. He hadn't expected Seitenshi and Kisara to become so emotional, each looking as though they intended to personally take revenge.
"Let go of me!"
Kisara violently shook off Gojo's hand. Her voice came out hoarse and full of rage, her eyes already bloodshot and the veins standing out beneath them. Her entire body radiated a bone-chilling killing intent, as though she wanted to tear the two people before her apart with her bare hands.
"I'm going to kill these two!"
Her fingers tightened around the sword until her knuckles turned white, and the blade trembled faintly in her grip. She had clearly reached the limit of what she could endure.
"You two are the ones who killed my father and mother!"
She practically screamed the words, each one carrying years of grief and hatred that had finally found an outlet after being buried for so long.
"You two animals!"
Gojo hadn't expected that.
He had originally assumed Kisara simply couldn't stand Kikunojou Tendo and Kazumitsu Tendo because of everything they had done. He hadn't realized that the two men were actually responsible for her parents' deaths.
With that revelation, her fury and killing intent were completely understandable.
However, when Gojo saw that Seitenshi had also reached them, a complicated expression on her face, he could only speak to Kisara helplessly.
"I understand that you want revenge, but there's someone else here who has a grudge against them too. Why don't you two split them between yourselves?"
His tone remained somewhat lazy as he tried to ease the tension while giving Seitenshi a chance to settle her own grievances with her own hands.
Seitenshi had arrived just in time to hear Gojo's words. She looked at Kisara standing there with her sword in hand and killing intent radiating from her body, then glanced at the battered Kikunojou Tendo in the distance.
She hurriedly waved her hands, her eyes filled with unease and hesitation.
"Um, actually, I don't need to."
Her voice was soft.
Although Kikunojou Tendo had stripped her of her authority and freedom over the years, she had still lived a sheltered and privileged life. She had never experienced bloodshed or killing.
She had never killed anyone herself, and she had barely even seen corpses. Asking her to take a life with her own hands, even if that person was Kikunojou Tendo, the man who had taken away her power and caused her so much suffering, was still more than she could bring herself to do.
Her kindness and gentleness were on full display at that moment. Even though her heart was filled with resentment, she still couldn't bring herself to take another person's life with her own hands.
"Seitenshi."
When Kikunojou Tendo saw Seitenshi, his expression became complicated. There was surprise, unwillingness to accept his fate, and even a trace of barely perceptible guilt, but above all, there was despair.
He knew that Seitenshi's arrival meant his final hope had been extinguished. There was no longer any possibility of turning the situation around.
"If you don't mind, then should we leave both of them to Miss Tendo?"
Gojo glanced at Seitenshi, helplessness flashing through his eyes. He couldn't help thinking that she was still too timid. In the end, she simply couldn't bring herself to be ruthless.
"I have no objection."
Seitenshi shook her head gently, her voice firm. Although she couldn't take revenge with her own hands, she wouldn't stop Kisara either. After all, Kikunojou Tendo and Kazumitsu Tendo truly did owe Kisara a life.
"Miss Tendo, be my guest."
Gojo shrugged and gestured toward Kisara as though inviting her to proceed.
He genuinely had little interest in Kikunojou Tendo and Kazumitsu Tendo.
The two were simply far too weak. They were no different from ants in his eyes and weren't worth the effort of personally dealing with them.
If they hadn't repeatedly appeared before him and gone out of their way to cause trouble, he wouldn't even have bothered paying attention to them.
Compared with that, Kisara's hatred over the murder of her parents was far more deserving of this opportunity. She had every right to personally bring the two men to justice.
Hearing Gojo's words, the killing intent in Kisara's eyes grew even stronger. She tightened her grip on the long sword and walked toward Kikunojou Tendo and Kazumitsu Tendo one step at a time, every stride unwavering, as though each footfall landed directly on everyone's hearts.
Just as Kisara was about to strike and the sword was beginning to descend, an urgent voice suddenly rang out from behind her.
"Wait!"
"Kisara!"
Everyone turned at the sound.
Rentaro Satomi was rushing toward them with Enju Aihara, both wearing anxious expressions. They had clearly only just arrived.
Rentaro was panting heavily, sweat covering his forehead as he ran. He shouted toward Kisara, desperately trying to stop her.
"If you kill them like this, then how are you any different from them? You'll be a murderer too!"
The words exploded through the scene like a thunderclap.
Gojo turned his head toward Rentaro with a look of utter bewilderment, the eyes behind his sunglasses filled with disbelief, as though he couldn't believe what he'd just heard.
It wasn't only him. Betty, Kayo Senju, and Seitenshi all instinctively looked toward Rentaro as well, their faces showing varying degrees of astonishment and confusion.
No one present had expected Rentaro to say something like that at a moment like this.
Kisara's parents' murderers were standing right before her. After years of suppressing her hatred, she had finally been given the chance to take revenge. Yet instead of helping her, Rentaro was trying to stop her and was even equating her with the people who had murdered her parents, calling her a murderer.
Concern filled his eyes.
Faced with everyone's strange looks, Rentaro paid no attention to them. His entire focus remained fixed on Kisara, his expression filled with urgency and worry.
"Kisara, calm down!"
He hurried in front of her and reached out as though intending to hold her shoulders, trying to force her to regain her composure.
"If you really do this, you'll never be able to turn back."
Gojo stared at Rentaro's righteous expression, utterly speechless. He instinctively glanced at Betty, silently asking with his eyes, Is this guy out of his mind?
Betty caught his gaze, raised an index finger, and pointed at her head. Her questioning expression was accompanied by the faintest hint of mockery.
Without saying a word, she conveyed exactly what she meant.
This guy's got something wrong with his head.
Betty had lived for hundreds of years and had met every kind of person imaginable. She had encountered kind people, evil people, clever people, and fools, but this was the first time she'd met someone as stubbornly and absurdly rigid as Rentaro.
"Ahem."
Gojo coughed twice, breaking the silence. He looked at Rentaro with an expression of helplessness and tried to persuade him.
"Satomi, this is about Kisara's revenge. It's her personal matter. Maybe we should stay out of it."
He knew Rentaro's personality. He was kind, upright, and almost painfully rigid, always clinging to his own idea of "justice." But some things couldn't be judged by something as simple as right and wrong, especially revenge.
Seitenshi also stared at Rentaro with a strange mixture of confusion and helplessness. Saying something like that at a time like this was simply inappropriate.
Who were Kikunojou Tendo and Kazumitsu Tendo?
They were criminals whose hands were stained with blood. They were the enemies who had stripped Seitenshi of her authority and controlled her life, and they were also the people responsible for murdering Kisara's parents.
People like that hardly deserved to live.
Rentaro's words weren't merely stopping Kisara from taking revenge. He was effectively pleading for the lives of two villains, something Seitenshi simply couldn't understand.
"Yes! Exactly!"
At that moment, Kazumitsu Tendo seemed to have grabbed onto a lifeline. His eyes immediately lit up.
He had been sprawled helplessly on the ground, but now he struggled to his knees and crawled several steps toward Rentaro on his hands and feet, his voice hoarse with desperation as he begged for a chance to live.
"We demand to be punished by the law, not executed here! If you really do this, then you'll be criminals yourselves!"
As he spoke, he turned toward Seitenshi and repeatedly slammed his forehead against the ground. The dull impacts continued until blood soon began to flow down his face.
"Are you really going to commit a crime in front of Seitenshi?!"
His voice cracked with tears, overflowing with fear and desperation. There was no trace left of his former arrogance or confidence.
At that moment, he was nothing more than a coward desperately clinging to life, willing to throw away every last shred of dignity and beg for mercy if it meant surviving.
Kisara paid no attention to Kazumitsu's pathetic pleas. Her gaze remained fixed on Rentaro, her eyes filled with disbelief, as though she couldn't comprehend how such words could have come from her childhood friend.
They had grown up together. Rentaro knew perfectly well that her parents had been killed by Kikunojou Tendo and Kazumitsu Tendo. He knew what she had endured all these years. He knew how much effort she had poured into reaching this day and how long she had waited for her chance at revenge.
Yet now, just when she was finally about to have her revenge, he had stepped forward to stop her.
He had even called her a murderer.
"They're the people who killed my parents, and you're telling me to stop?"
Kisara's voice was terribly hoarse, filled with grief and disappointment. Tears welled in her eyes, but she stubbornly refused to let them fall.
She stared at Rentaro, desperately searching his eyes for even the slightest trace of guilt or hesitation.
All she found was determination and concern.