Then there was Soul Multiplicity.
The original Mahito could create a complete Fusion of humans.
In Yuki Tsukumo's research notes, this was considered impossible, but Mahito had achieved it.
This showed that his mastery over Soul modification surpassed the common sense of the Jujutsu world.
If he could do it to humans, why couldn't he do it to himself?
Was it hard to fuse Souls for himself?
Even if it wasn't a complete Fusion, but a temporary one?
Wouldn't this power boost be much stronger than some human Fusion?
The Clone that Mahito developed in the later stages was created by copying his own Soul onto others.
Except for being unable to use Idle Transfiguration, their thinking was identical to the original and interconnected, involving Gestalt consciousness.
Evolving further, it wouldn't be surprising to create a hive mind.
Finally, modifying Cursed Spirits.
The original work didn't state this explicitly; it was only mentioned by others that Special Grade Cursed Spirits, which were usually impossible to find, were popping up one after another.
This was likely Mahito's doing.
The Locust Cursed Spirit was a typical example; it already showed traces of being an Intelligent Cursed Spirit.
If he continued to dig deeper, it was highly likely he could create Intelligent Cursed Spirits on par with himself, Jogo, Hanami, and Dagon.
But the original Mahito simply didn't do any of this!
He locked himself into simple physical transformations, researching only Souls and ordinary people.
He didn't even research a single Curse User!
After losing to Yuji Itadori, he lost his mind and focused solely on killing him, not giving other Jujutsu Sorcerers a single glance.
It can only be said that although the original Mahito had a high IQ, as decreed by the narrative, his lack of experience prevented him from using it perfectly.
Furthermore, with the ill-intentioned Kenjaku pulling strings from the shadows, the original Mahito acted like a marionette.
He thought he was free, but in reality, his every move was in Kenjaku's palm, with no room for struggle.
Unsurprisingly, the old man refused.
"No, it won't do."
"If there were plenty of time, I would be willing to return to my youth, but not now."
"Time is too tight."
"Both my sword and my body need to adapt, and then there would be no time to teach you."
"At least, I cannot return to my youth on the eve of your decisive battle with Yuki Tsukumo."
"I must teach you as many techniques as possible."
Swordsmanship is an extremely precise skill.
Never mind restoring an aging body to its youth; even changing to a different blade requires re-adapting to its weight and length.
Magon Ashiya was confident that he could adapt to a youthful body if given a few weeks, but the problem was they didn't have that much time.
Only now did Jogo finally have a chance to interject.
He immediately shouted, "Mahito!"
"Jogo, Hanami, Dagon, welcome back."
Mahito opened his arms.
"Was the mission successful?"
"We'll talk about the mission later."
Jogo waved his hand and said angrily, "Mahito!"
"You're going to take risks again!"
"You actually dare to face a Special Grade Sorcerer...!"
Mahito said with a chuckle, "That really doesn't sound like you."
"I thought you'd confidently say, 'Mahito, go ahead, I've got things covered here.'"
"Mahito, this is no joke."
Jogo frowned deeply, the volcano on his head spewing flames.
"I thought you had a deep understanding of how powerful a Special Grade Sorcerer is."
"Setting everything else aside, isn't there a 'common' Special Grade right next to you?"
"When you fought him, you had to collect complete information and ensure you could definitely deal with him before taking action."
"But there's a lack of information on Yuki Tsukumo."
"Why did you challenge her to a fight?"
The "common" Special Grade, Kinji Hakari, had a sour face and shouted, "Hey!"
"Volcano-head, do you want another beating?"
Jogo ignored Kinji Hakari entirely, staring intently at Mahito without moving.
Hanami sighed softly, looked at Magon Ashiya, and asked gently, "Excuse me, who might this be?"
"How strange."
"Even though I can't understand what's being said, the specific meaning naturally surfaces."
"To think there's such a character among Intelligent Cursed Spirits; I could never have imagined it before."
The old man marveled, then said seriously, "This old man is Magon Ashiya, the founder of the New Shadow Style."
"I was invited by the King of Curses, Mahito, and am now in his service."
"To think you are the founder of the New Shadow Style; you must be a figure from a thousand years ago," Hanami marveled.
"Your joining is equivalent to us gaining the strength of a hundred men."
"Well..." Magon Ashiya put on airs, as if forgetting his "damn it" self from yesterday.
His self-reference changed from casual to formal.
"Encountering Intelligent Cursed Spirits other than Mahito has also opened this old man's eyes."
"Your Excellency Hanami, you have none of the cursed aura of a Cursed Spirit; instead, you overflow with the fragrance of the forest."
"It is this old man's honor to meet you."
"Not at all..."
Jogo abruptly interrupted, "Wait, Hanami, you know this old guy?"
"What on earth is the New Shadow Style?"
Magon Ashiya was speechless and said to Mahito, "This short temper fits my stereotypical fantasy of an Intelligent Cursed Spirit."
"You and Hanami must be the exceptions, right?"
His self-reference changed back from formal to casual.
Mahito couldn't help but marvel; when it came to posturing, young people really weren't as good as these old ghosts.
Hanami sighed.
"The New Shadow Style is a major school in the Jujutsu world."
"Almost all Jujutsu Sorcerers without an Innate Technique use the New Shadow Style to some extent."
"It wouldn't even be an exaggeration to say that the New Shadow Style saved those untalented Jujutsu Sorcerers..."
"As long as one knows a little about the Jujutsu world, it's impossible to ignore the New Shadow Style."
"Huh?" Jogo was dazed.
"How come I didn't know?"
"Excellent, Jogo's performance is as stable as ever."
"It's that familiar flavor," Mahito thought.
Dagon took a small leap over Jogo and Hanami, pouncing toward Mahito.
Mahito caught him in his arms and gently stroked the top of his head.
"Good, good."
"Dagon, you're very well-behaved," Mahito smiled.
Dagon jumped around, blinking his large eyes.
Mahito nodded slightly and smiled, "I see, the mission went very smoothly."
"You did well, Dagon."
"I didn't understand that," Magon Ashiya said blankly.
"You don't need to understand; just by looking at them, you can tell the mission went smoothly," Kenjaku said with a chuckle.
"In that case, we'll soon be welcoming new companions."
Collecting materials to create new Intelligent Cursed Spirits—that was Jogo and the others' mission.
This was also to complete the experiments that the original Mahito had left unfinished.
He wouldn't be satisfied with modifying low-intelligence beings like the Locust Cursed Spirit; he hoped to truly create genuine Intelligent Cursed Spirits like them!
It was a very simple logic: rather than producing those mass-produced, low-intelligence, semi-finished Intelligent Cursed Spirits, it was better to directly create another Jogo.
Mahito could guarantee that one Jogo would crush ten thousand Locust Cursed Spirits!
Even if a newly born Intelligent Cursed Spirit was far inferior to a Locust Cursed Spirit, their strength would increase very quickly once they possessed intelligence.
With a little cultivation, they could steadily become a Special Grade Cursed Spirit.
Moreover, because they possessed intelligence, their actual combat capability would far exceed the Special Grade Cursed Spirits defined by the Jujutsu world.
With further careful cultivation on this basis, even if they didn't reach Jogo's level, they would at least reach the level of a Dagon who doesn't use Domain Expansion.
As long as they could reach this level, Mahito would be satisfied.
Since he had the ability, he naturally had to work toward it.
Mahito's desire for the advancement of knowledge and technology was endless.
Since his own level could not temporarily make a leap forward, he would increase his helpers to assist him.
But not all Cursed Spirits could grow into Intelligent Cursed Spirits.
According to Mahito's research, most Cursed Spirits lacked this potential.
Besides requiring a large amount of Cursed Energy, the key point was being a Cursed Spirit with a "legend."
The reason was unknown.
According to Uraume's speculation, it was likely because Cursed Spirits with legendary properties could more easily harvest dissipated Cursed Energy from ordinary humans.
But this was just a guess; even Kenjaku couldn't figure out the specific reason.
It would likely require a significant amount of time to research.
But they had no more time, so they decisively abandoned theoretical study and used empirical methods for their experiments.
When airplanes first took to the sky, the theory was also incomplete, but that didn't stop scientists from using empirical science to make them fly.
Jogo said with a dark expression, "Imaginary Vengeful Cursed Spirits... are harder to find than I imagined."
Pausing for a moment, Jogo couldn't help but ask, "Mahito, do you really have to fight Yuki Tsukumo?"
"You haven't fully grown yet."
"You could completely afford to wait a while longer."
"Time should be on our side right now."
"This is the best opportunity," Mahito said frankly.
"To be honest, Yuki Tsukumo's appearance was completely outside my expectations."
"After the Battle of the Zenin Clan, I originally intended to settle down and study for a while, and then I would have taken you, Hanami, and Dagon to meet Satoru Gojo."
"But Yuki Tsukumo's appearance disrupted my plans, forcing me to find a way to deal with her first."
Uraume sighed.
"This isn't Mahito's fault; it's my problem."
"I didn't expect the Jujutsu Headquarters' reaction to be so intense..."
"In fact, it's not just Yuki Tsukumo; even Yuta Okkotsu has been recalled."
"The three current Special Grade Sorcerers of the Jujutsu world have all gathered at the Jujutsu Headquarters."
Jogo clenched his fists, feeling a wave of dizziness.
One Satoru Gojo was already enough to make their heads spin, and now there were two more.
This was an extremely dire situation.
Jogo's voice trembled as he asked, "I remember you told us that the final evolution of Tengen would be completed before the end of this year..."
"Can we kill Tengen within that time now?"
"That is why we must deal with Yuki Tsukumo first," Mahito said.
"Of course, I know time is tight, but if we give up this opportunity, next time we will likely have to face three Special Grade Jujutsu Sorcerers working together... then we would have even less of a chance."
Jogo was speechless.
Hanami suddenly asked, "Can we be sure that Yuki Tsukumo is coming alone?"
Mahito said, "I have made her enter a Binding Vow for now."
"But I am not sure if she will play tricks; my concern is what if Satoru Gojo is following behind her..."
"Perhaps we need to find a way to stall Satoru Gojo."
Jogo looked at him expectantly, "Then, is there a way?"
"Hmm," Mahito rubbed his chin, showing a smile, "I'm still thinking."
"You're messing with me!" Jogo was furious.
Suddenly, a phone rang.
Kinji Hakari pulled his phone from his pocket, his pupils shrinking slightly.
Mahito keenly noticed this.
"Who is it?" he asked.
"Mr. Gojo."
Kinji Hakari took a deep breath.
"He... called me personally."
Ancient Leaf's Author's Note:
I am very sorry, late again.
I've been suffering from continuous insomnia for over a month now.
My days and nights are often flipped, and my memory is failing.
Mostly I just keep forgetting to upload.
Don't worry about whether I've run out of drafts; I have about 10 chapters in stock, so there's no issue with running out.
It's purely that I forgot to upload, because I check every time before I do, so I upload daily.
I usually set it to upload at exactly 19:00, but whenever I don't upload at that time, it's purely because I forgot.
This time is the same.
Very sorry, so sorry.