Four days passed in the blink of an eye.
That night, on the outskirts of Tokyo, deep within an extremely remote stretch of mountain forest.
Under the cover of darkness, Makima stood alone on an open space at the mountaintop. Her mid-length red hair fluttered gently in the night breeze.
Today was the agreed-upon time to discuss "cooperation" with the curses. For this reason, she had deliberately sent away Miwa Kasumi and Nishimiya Momo—the guards she had only recently recruited—and came here by herself.
Despite meeting dangerous curses, Makima showed not the slightest hint of nervousness. Her face still carried that calm, composed smile, yet the golden pupils in her eyes were cold to an extreme.
Tap… tap… tap…
Footsteps sounded from not far away.
Wearing a monk's robe and occupying Suguru Geto's body, Kenjaku slowly emerged from the darkness.
"I never imagined that the one seeking cooperation with us would be someone of your stature. If the Tokyo sorcerers found out that Miss Makima—who was just promoted to special-grade and holds such high authority in the jujutsu world—was trying to work with cursed spirits and curse users, their jaws would probably hit the floor."
"Is it just you, Mr. Suguru Geto?"
Makima didn't respond to his words, merely asking calmly.
"Yes. After all, when a high-ranking sorcerer suddenly proposes cooperation with curse users and cursed spirits, it's hard not to suspect a trap."
"You might've already arranged for other special-grade sorcerers to lie in wait, planning to wipe us out once we arrived. However…"
"Before coming here, I thoroughly checked the surroundings. There really is only you here, Miss Makima. It seems you're quite sincere—if anything, it makes me look overly cautious."
Kenjaku laughed as he spoke.
Makima smiled as well.
Then—
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Three golden chains shot out, but their target wasn't Kenjaku. Instead, they flew toward another direction.
In an instant, a figure burst out from the shadows, narrowly dodging the chains.
"So we were discovered after all? Looks like your plan failed, Geto."
Forced to reveal himself, Mahito shrugged helplessly at Kenjaku.
"It was within expectations. Trying to ambush a special-grade with that kind of setup—while not completely impossible—was still rather wishful thinking."
With his preparations exposed, Kenjaku's expression didn't change. He merely looked at Makima apologetically.
"What just happened was nothing more than a small precaution on my part. I hope Miss Makima doesn't misunderstand."
"No, this isn't a misunderstanding."
Makima shook her head slightly.
"I don't mind whatever preparations you made. Or rather, no matter how many preparations you made, it would only be natural."
"Because… you've already stepped into a trap."
As Makima's presence grew increasingly dangerous rather than restrained, Kenjaku fell silent.
"See? I told you this 'cooperation' was definitely suspicious."
Mahito spoke casually. As a curse born from humanity's fear, malice, and hatred toward one another, no one understood human darkness better than he did.
From the moment Jogo and Hanami told him that someone suddenly wanted to cooperate with them, Mahito had agreed on the spot—but inwardly, he had never held much hope for it. After all, while he trusted his fellow curses, he never hesitated to view humans through the lens of maximum malice.
And sure enough, this so-called cooperation was nothing but a pretense—an excuse to lure them out. They had even gone so far as to deliberately let Jogo and Hanami escape.
"It seems I was naïve—to expect someone who holds high authority in the jujutsu world, and is also a special-grade sorcerer, to truly side with curses."
Kenjaku let out a long breath, disappointment evident in his voice.
Had the rapid changes in the jujutsu world recently put too much pressure on him, clouding his judgment?
No—this judgment was perfectly reasonable.
With Gojo Satoru already present, the jujutsu world had long been troublesome enough. Then two months ago, another existence appeared—Seele Vollerei—whose threat level was no less than Gojo's, perhaps even greater.
And just a week ago, the jujutsu world suddenly announced that Makima—formerly a Grade 1 sorcerer and a high-ranking official—had been promoted to special-grade and stationed in Tokyo, with both Gojo Satoru and Seele publicly acknowledging her strength.
In such a situation, if he didn't desperately seize every possible ally, his plans would have no chance of succeeding.
Even knowing this could be a trap, as long as there was even a one-in-ten-thousand chance it was real, he had to come and see for himself.
Moreover—
"Is Miss Makima really that confident in her own strength? No matter what, you and I are both special-grade sorcerers, and Mahito's strength is far beyond that of an ordinary special-grade curse. Surely you can feel that."
"Or do you believe you possess strength on par with Gojo and Miss Seele—enough to subdue the two of us by yourself?"
On this point alone, Kenjaku absolutely did not believe it.
A monster like Gojo Satoru was already a once-in-a-thousand-years anomaly. That another equally powerful existence—Seele Vollerei—had appeared in the same era, on the same side no less, was already an absurd coincidence.
Kenjaku refused to believe that, short of Sukuna's resurrection, a third such monster could exist in this era.
With that thought, Kenjaku activated his technique, Cursed Spirit Manipulation. A curse shaped like a gigantic centipede burst forth, lunging toward Makima.
At the same time, Mahito attacked as well—his arm twisting grotesquely into a retractable blade, stabbing straight at Makima.
Makima neither dodged nor retreated.
Two golden restraint chains rose to intercept their attacks.
The instant the centipede curse touched the chain, its body stiffened completely. With a light flick of the chain, the curse was smashed apart.
The chain blocking Mahito's blade, meanwhile, slithered along his arm toward his body.
Feeling an intense sense of weakness emanating from the blade, Mahito didn't dare let those eerie chains touch him. He immediately severed his arm and leapt backward.
"Geto, be careful! Don't let those chains touch your body!"
Kenjaku had already noticed this as well.
The moment his centipede curse made contact with the golden chains, the cursed energy within it instantly fell into a state of stagnation, and his control over it via Cursed Spirit Manipulation was completely severed.
After all, Cursed Spirit Manipulation relied on cursed energy to function. Once a curse was touched by those golden chains, even the cursed energy of the technique itself was forcibly silenced.
To be able to plunge cursed energy into absolute stillness—such a powerful technique existed, and yet he had never even heard of it before.
Still… if it was only this much—
Then it was something he could handle.
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