"Let me be clear, I won't refund the commission fee."
In a red car, the two individuals whose injuries had been healed by Enka were chatting idly.
"I know, the commission didn't specify the number of Shikigami to tame, so this isn't a failed commission."
Eichi had no objections to this, and was even already thinking about how to tame Mahoraga next time.
If he could tame Mahoraga before High School, then at least until his third year of High School, Eichi would be stronger than Gojo Satoru and Geto.
As he thought, a scene appeared in Eichi's mind.
A four-panel comic where Gojo, who couldn't yet use Cursed Technique Reversal: Red or Imaginary Technique: Purple, was defeated by Mahoraga, showing him successively confused, shocked, and crying.
"Pfft."
Thinking of this, Eichi couldn't help but laugh aloud, a childlike innocence appearing on his face.
"You, of all people, make an expression like that?"
"Huh? What do you mean?"
Eichi looked at Toji with a strange expression, his mind filled with images of a pure white cat body + sunglasses-wearing Gojo, and for a moment he thought Gojo Satoru was coming to cause trouble again.
"No, it's nothing."
The first time he met this kid, he exuded a maturity that didn't match his age.
When he first left the Zen'in Family, everyone was afraid to approach him because of his fierce expression, but this kid inexplicably came over.
He even said something like, "We're both the same, so let's help each other out. If anyone bullies me in the future, remember to help me fight back."
What a strange kid.
Later, after meeting his beloved, his beloved often asked Toji, "Which of you two is the adult and which is the child?"
Perhaps tired, Eichi quickly leaned back in his seat and fell into a deep sleep.
"Only at times like this does he seem like a kid."
Looking at the young face in the passenger seat, Toji quietly slowed down the car.
Toji remembered his beloved saying that one should be gentle when a child is asleep, as loud noises would wake them up.
In the quiet atmosphere, time arrived at the next day.
"An unfamiliar ceiling. I must have fallen asleep in Toji's car last night."
Rolling out of bed, Eichi surveyed his surroundings.
"It doesn't look like a hotel, so it must be Toji's house."
Thud.
"Wah!"
The sound of an object colliding and a cry of pain came from next door. Eichi hesitated for a moment, then decided to go see what was happening.
Opening the door, two tiny figures came into view.
Are these Megumi Fushiguro and Fushiguro Tsumiki?
Megumi Fushiguro was sitting on the ground, holding his head with both hands, looking like he had bumped into something and was in pain. Tsumiki was crouching beside him, stroking Megumi Fushiguro and muttering, "It doesn't hurt, it doesn't hurt."
"Finally awake, huh? The sun's already high in the sky."
Toji's voice came from behind him.
"Is this your house? Aren't you watching your two kids?"
Eichi turned and asked.
"No need, their mom will take care of them."
After saying that, he opened a bottle of beer from the fridge and started watching TV.
Eichi's mouth twitched, and he suppressed the urge to complain.
He felt that if Toji were to raise him, Megumi Fushiguro wouldn't even live until Gojo Satoru found him.
As expected of the most tragic tool-like male lead in Blind-Eyed Cat's writing.
Why call him a tool? Because if you look at the entire plot, the purpose of the character Megumi Fushiguro, so far, is to work for Sukuna.
This can be seen by comparing Blind-Eyed Cat's character designs. Blind-Eyed Cat's designs for important characters are all very "perfect."
For example, Geto, despite being a summoner archetype, possesses top-tier martial arts, capable of subduing a Curse User equally skilled in martial arts with just two moves.
Moreover, Geto's Cursed Energy is exceptionally high; during the Night Parade of a Hundred Demons, he directly released thousands of Cursed Spirits to simultaneously attack two cities.
From the activation of his Technique, not only are his Cursed Spirits instantaneous without needing hand seals, but in the story, he has never run out of Cursed Energy.
That is to say, his Cursed Energy output efficiency is extremely high.
In contrast, Megumi Fushiguro, acknowledged as a Genius in the story by Blind-Eyed Cat.
The Ten Shadows Technique's Shikigami summoning has a wind-up and requires hand seals, and increasing the number of visible Shikigami is very difficult. Forget about releasing thousands like Geto; if it weren't for his ability to later deploy an incomplete Domain, even summoning three or five would exhaust Megumi Fushiguro.
His martial arts are average, and in battle, he often runs low on Cursed Energy after summoning Shikigami a few times.
Most importantly, Mahoraga. Blind-Eyed Cat made Mahoraga the strongest Shikigami of the Ten Shadows Technique, and Mahoraga certainly lives up to that reputation.
But this Shikigami was prepared for Sukuna.
Why?
Because Blind-Eyed Cat left no means in the Ten Shadows Technique to subdue Mahoraga.
To give an example from the original work, when introducing Mai Zen'in's Construction Technique, Blind-Eyed Cat stated that Construction Technique is one of the Techniques with the lowest Cursed Energy conversion efficiency.
In other words, while others can deal 10 damage using 10 Cursed Energy, Construction Technique can only deal 1 damage using 10 Cursed Energy.
Among the Ten Shadows Technique, Piercing Ox is almost the strongest Shikigami in terms of attack when it hits.
Under this premise, Sukuna, whose Cursed Energy is much stronger than Yorozu's, summoned Piercing Ox, and its hit on Yorozu's insect armor only shattered a portion, without even severely injuring Yorozu.
If Piercing Ox's attack is like this, how much stronger can the attacks of other Shikigami of the same level—Max Elephant, Tiger Burial, Hun Dog, Great Serpent, and Nue—be?
But according to the plot's development, if Sukuna is the one to subdue Mahoraga, everything makes sense.
Blind-Eyed Cat didn't care whether Megumi Fushiguro, the "male lead," could tame Mahoraga, because Mahoraga was originally prepared for Sukuna, the King of Curses, who possessed a powerful second Technique.
As for the reason?
Naturally, it's because of Gojo Satoru.
As mentioned earlier, Blind-Eyed Cat likes perfection when designing characters he favors.
Gojo Satoru is a perfect character, a combination of a stats monster and a mechanics monster.
So perfect that even the equally perfect Sukuna had to give his all to defeat him.
But this wouldn't do.
Gojo Satoru isn't the protagonist.
Sukuna, the great Devil King villain, must be defeated by the protagonist.
But he couldn't let Sukuna reveal his trump card so early in the battle with Gojo Satoru; then, even if the protagonist won later, it would be meaningless, with all the glory going to Gojo Satoru.
Troubled, Blind-Eyed Cat slapped his head. Sukuna can possess, right? I'll give the male lead a Shikigami capable of overturning Gojo Satoru, and then let Sukuna take it. Wouldn't that work?
This way, Gojo Satoru's defeat could be rationalized, and the protagonist's group could be strengthened later, killing two birds with one stone.
Thus, Mahoraga was born. This strongest Shikigami, often mentioned alongside Six Eyes, whose greatest purpose before Sukuna's arrival was to self-destruct with others, was designed.
Blind-Eyed Cat didn't care if the Ten Shadows Technique Shikigami were balanced, or if they became stronger with each Shikigami tamed.
Because Sukuna would solve it. Thus, the design of the Ten Shadows Technique's Shikigami became quite arbitrary. Tiger Burial's only appearance was on the chest of a crocodile.
At the same time, Megumi Fushiguro was also utilized to the extreme by Sukuna, or rather, by Blind-Eyed Cat.
His physical body successfully provided Sukuna with Mahoraga, a Shikigami capable of defeating Gojo Satoru, and his Soul successfully helped Sukuna withstand the massive information attack of Unlimited Void.
He also prevented Gojo Satoru from delivering a fatal blow at a crucial moment.
That's right, Gojo Satoru held back.
After successfully using Unlimited Void to crash Sukuna's brain, Gojo Satoru could have directly destroyed Sukuna's brain and killed him, but to save Megumi Fushiguro, Gojo Satoru chose to attack Sukuna's chest.
At that time, Gojo Satoru said, "It's not over yet. At least I need to destroy his heart, liver, and lungs. I need to bring him closer to death than Yuji was in the juvenile detention center."
Note the word "closer."
Gojo Satoru's goal was to bring Sukuna to the brink of physical and mental collapse simultaneously, thereby allowing Megumi Fushiguro's consciousness to gain the upper hand.
Even though the opponent was the strongest in history, Gojo Satoru still tied his own hands with the premise of saving Megumi Fushiguro and engaged in a battle with Sukuna where the odds were uneven.
But unfortunately, as Gojo Satoru said, he could only save those who were ready to be saved.
When Sukuna used Megumi Fushiguro's body to kill Fushiguro Tsumiki, Megumi Fushiguro's Soul had already collapsed, which also sealed Gojo Satoru's defeat.