"For this situation, I hope we can find a solution—preferably one that allows us to cultivate a large number of high-grade cursed spirits in a short period of time."
Inside the villa, An Xora spoke in a pose identical to a certain Commander Ikari, addressing Seele and Makima in front of him.
As for An Xora himself, he had no intention of participating in the actual brainstorming.
After all, with access to the memories of original-story characters, a manifested clone like Makima was unquestionably far more intelligent than An Xora's own main body. Given the same problem, leaving it to Makima to think things through would be far more effective than An Xora racking his own brain.
Under such circumstances, all An Xora needed to do was raise the question and wait for his clone to provide the solution. That was why the person he was truly consulting right now was Makima.
As for Seele… in the Honkai Impact 3rd setting, Seele was never characterized as someone particularly skilled at scheming or long-term planning. Asking her to solve this kind of problem would clearly be putting the young girl in a difficult position.
"A way to improve the overall quality of cursed spirits…"
Faced with An Xora's question, Makima fell into contemplation.
Improving the overall quality of cursed spirits was, in fact, not particularly difficult.
Cursed spirits were, at their core, beings born from cursed energy generated by human negative emotions. As long as the overall level of negative emotions within human society increased, the cursed spirits born under such conditions would naturally experience a qualitative and quantitative leap.
And raising the overall level of negative emotions in human society was not hard either.
The simplest method was to provoke war.
By using her authority to dominate the political leaders of various countries, Makima could easily ignite a Third World War in this jujutsu world, plunging every nation on Earth into a state of extreme tension.
Under such circumstances, the scale of negative emotions generated by human society would instantly increase by dozens of times, and high-grade cursed spirits would be born across the world at a terrifying pace.
However, if things truly reached that point, human society itself would likely descend into chaos.
Based on Makima's understanding of her master, while An Xora was by no means a morally upright saint, such an excessively extreme approach would most likely not be acceptable to him.
The act of stirring up negative emotions had to be kept within an allowable range—ideally something that could be advanced gradually, increasing the scale of negative emotions without plunging all of human society into uncontrollable turmoil.
As for avoiding sacrifices entirely, that was obviously impossible.
The very act of increasing negative emotions to produce more cursed spirits inherently meant that more people would die because of cursed spirits.
Makima understood An Xora's intentions well. What she needed to do was simply propose a feasible plan and then minimize the price that would have to be paid to the greatest extent possible.
So then—
Was there a way to both expand humanity's overall negative emotions and keep the resulting chaos under control, avoiding mass casualties?
Plans flashed through Makima's mind one after another—methods of provoking negative emotions, each accompanied by calculations of feasibility and cost.
In the end, Makima opened her eyes, her dark-golden pupils settling on An Xora.
"There is indeed an executable method to expand the overall scale and quality of cursed spirits," she said calmly. "However, implementing this idea will require some preliminary preparations. So… I ask that you please wait a little longer, Master."
Hearing this, An Xora nodded.
"Waiting for a while isn't an issue," he replied. "But what kind of preparatory work are you talking about?"
"To carry out my plan," Makima answered, "I'll need the assistance of a sorcerer with profound expertise in jujutsu research. At the same time, it would be best to secure the cooperation of a sorcerer who specializes in barrier techniques."
A sorcerer deeply versed in jujutsu research, and another who excelled in barrier techniques?
Reviewing the Jujutsu Kaisen cast in his mind, An Xora quickly identified Makima's intended targets.
"Kenjaku and Tengen?"
When it came to research into jujutsu itself, there was no one in the entire series more qualified than Kenjaku. Having lived for over a thousand years and possessing the ability to switch bodies, no one could say just how many techniques Kenjaku had studied.
Even Gojo Satoru and Sukuna—though perhaps superior in raw power—would likely fall far short of Kenjaku when it came to sheer breadth and depth of knowledge regarding cursed techniques.
As for barrier techniques, aside from Kenjaku, the one with the deepest mastery was undoubtedly Tengen. Many of the jujutsu world's existing barriers depended on Tengen's continued existence. If anything were to happen to Tengen and those barriers failed, the entire jujutsu world would immediately find itself crippled.
So what kind of plan required the domination of both of these figures as part of its preparation?
An Xora glanced at Makima. Though curiosity stirred in his heart, he ultimately chose not to ask.
After all, both Seele and Makima were absolutely loyal to him. There was no need for questioning—he only needed to wait patiently for Makima to present the final result.
...
And just like that, the day of the Inter-School Exchange Event arrived.
Tokyo, Jujutsu High.
On the pathways inside the school grounds, Yuji Itadori and the other students of Tokyo Jujutsu High stood gathered together. Facing them were the students from Kyoto Jujutsu High.
When students from the two jujutsu schools met, there was naturally no warm, friendly atmosphere of casual chatter.
At this moment, the tension between the two sides could only be described as explosive.
"Students these days really are full of energy," sighed Utahime Iori, the leading teacher from Kyoto Jujutsu High, standing some distance away. "But please don't let it turn into internal conflict."
"That said, shouldn't everyone from both schools already be here?" she continued, puzzled. "Why hasn't Principal Yaga announced the start yet?"
"Of course, it's because we still have some guests who haven't arrived yet, Utahime."
Standing beside Principal Yaga and Principal Gakuganji, Gojo Satoru spoke up casually.
"Huh? Guests?" Utahime said in surprise. "Are there people other than the two schools coming to watch this exchange?"
Normally, given the temperament of most non-academy sorcerers, very few would take time out of their schedules to watch a student-focused exchange event. Aside from oddballs like Gojo Satoru, most adult sorcerers rarely concerned themselves with matters unrelated to their own work.
At that moment, several figures approaching from the distance entered everyone's field of vision.
At the front was Makima, dressed in a fitted women's suit, her overall aura sharp and capable.
Walking casually beside her was An Xora, looking relaxed, with Seele at his side.
As the three arrived, the students from both schools—who had been bristling with hostility moments ago—fell silent.
"Senpai… who are they?"
Among the Kyoto students, Miwa Kasumi, with her blue hair, cautiously asked the people beside her.
"That's Makima-sama, the newly appointed higher-up of the Jujutsu Headquarters in Tokyo," someone answered. "She's the one with full authority over nearly all jujutsu-related affairs in the Tokyo area."
"And that girl beside her…"
Standing nearby, Kamo Noritoshi, a member of one of the Three Great Families—the Kamo clan—spoke in a serious tone.
"She's the fifth Special Grade sorcerer, newly promoted just over a month ago. According to rumors, she once defeated Gojo Satoru, the current head of the Gojo family."
"Seele Vollerei."
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