Satoru Gojo lowered the legs he had propped on the table and leaned slightly forward. Although he still wore his sunglasses, the mockery in his tone had significantly subsided.
"Alright, enough reminiscing."
He tapped the table, drawing everyone's attention. "Mei Mei, share those 'interesting' things you discovered with everyone."
Instantly, the conference room fell silent.
All eyes focused on Mei Mei.
Mei Mei calmly took out a thin, high-tech tablet, swiped her finger across it a few times, and a holographic image was projected onto the center of the conference table.
It was a complex map of Japan, marked with many tiny, faintly ominous specks of light, along with ancient runes and a diagram of the Ley Line flow.
"Everyone."
Mei Mei's voice was clear, calm, and professionally precise, "As Geto mentioned, I have been tracking the clues related to Prince Sawara for seven years."
She pointed to the light spots on the map.
"These are records from across the country over the past twenty years: abnormal Cursed Energy remnants and Ley Line disturbance points related to the 'Dethroned Crown Prince,' 'Vengeful Spirit Pacification,' and 'Ancient Imperial Sacrifices.' They appear isolated, weak, and were even treated as ordinary low-level Cursed Spirit incidents or natural phenomena."
Her finger swiped, and an extremely faint, pale gray line of energy flow, winding through multiple light spots, was highlighted.
"But when I superimposed and analyzed them against the locations and routes of the sacrifices recorded in ancient texts—sacrifices performed after Prince Sawara's exile and death, and subsequent attempts to appease his vengeful spirit—I discovered this."
That pale gray energy flow faintly outlined a path, ultimately pointing toward—
"The depths of the Kyoto Gyoen National Garden, and Mount Hiei Enryaku-ji Temple."
Mei Mei raised her head, a sharp glint flashing in her beautiful eyes.
"I suspect that Prince Sawara's grudge does not exist in the form of a physical Cursed Spirit, nor is it fully resurrected."
"It is more like a 'Conceptual Parasitism'."
"It has parasitized the systems of 'history,' 'faith,' and the 'Ley Lines' connected to the root of its resentment."
"By leveraging the fear and sympathy people have felt for it over millennia, and the continuous, Cursed Energy-infused sacrificial rites performed by the Imperial Family and the Buddhist community to appease it, it has been silently drawing strength and perfecting its form of existence."
"It did not participate in the Culling Game, perhaps because it doesn't need the identity of a 'Player'."
"Its 'game board' is the entire historical and religious framework of Japan."
Mei Mei paused, surveying the shocked expressions of the crowd, and slowly offered her final hypothesis: "If my judgment is correct, Prince Sawara is attempting to ascend from a 'Historical Vengeful Spirit' to a being that controls 'Imperial Fortune' and the 'National Destiny'—"
"A Divine Cursed Spirit."
Mei Mei's words were like a boulder thrown into a calm lake, stirring up huge waves in the conference room.
"'Divine Cursed Spirit'...'"
The term caused everyone's expression to darken, and the air instantly grew heavy.
Those who had personally participated in the Shinjuku Decisive Battle years ago immediately recalled the being that had fused deeply with Japan's entire Barrier system and was virtually unshakeable—Tengen.
Satoru Gojo shed all traces of his flippancy. His Rikugan, hidden beneath his sunglasses, was sharp as a knife. He stated gravely, "Tengen, who had assimilated with a hundred million people—if Toho Hiroshi had not successfully become the Ten-Tails Jinchuriki and forcibly stripped and annihilated it through sheer power, all of us, along with this world, would likely have long become part of its Eternal Barrier, trapped in the living death of the 'Infinite Tsukuyomi'."
His words summoned heavy and tragic memories for everyone.
That battle nearly wiped Shinjuku, Tokyo, off the map, costing countless comrades, and victory was only narrowly achieved beneath Toho Hiroshi's final, all-or-nothing Truth-Seeking Orbs.
Yuta Okkotsu frowned, his voice deep: "Tengen's form of existence relied on the Star Plasma Vessel and the Barrier system, indirectly connecting it to the citizens' Cursed Energy."
"But Prince Sawara, if Miss Mei's hypothesis is correct, is directly parasitizing the concepts of 'history' and 'faith,' drawing strength from the fear, sympathy, and sacrificial rites people have offered it over millennia."
"This form of existence might be even more ethereal and harder to grasp than Tengen."
Megumi Fushiguro interjected, his tone laced with worry: "Moreover, Tokyo only just finished reconstruction seven years ago."
"The economy and civil life have only just recovered; the city cannot withstand another battle like the one in Shinjuku."
His words voiced everyone's hidden concern.
The fight against Tengen was a pure collision of ultimate power levels.
However, battling a "Divine Cursed Spirit" that may have integrated into the concepts of National Destiny and history could involve destruction that is far more bizarre and difficult to control.
For a moment, everyone's gaze, filled with complex and indescribable emotions, turned toward Toho Hiroshi, who was sitting next to Suguru Geto and had remained silent since the start.
He maintained his calm expression, but compared to his peak seven years ago, his brow held a settled gentleness and lacked some of the aggressive sharpness.
Most striking was his long hair; after using the "Rinne Rebirth Technique" to revive everyone seven years ago, it had turned completely snow-white and had not regained a single strand of black since.
This was an unmistakable sign, reminding everyone of the heavy price paid for that victory.
Satoru Gojo's Rikugan subtly scanned Toho Hiroshi, attempting to sense the state of the Cursed Energy within him.
However, Toho Hiroshi's aura was so contained it was like a bottomless abyss; even the Rikugan could not accurately determine whether the boundless power of the Ten-Tails still resided deep within him, or if the white hair signified some kind of permanent damage and depletion.
"Toho."
Suguru Geto's voice, carrying a trace of imperceptible concern, broke the silence, "Has your body truly recovered completely?"
This was the question everyone present wanted to ask.
Toho Hiroshi was the absolute main force in that decisive battle seven years ago, the sole hope for ultimately crushing Tengen.
If the threat of Prince Sawara was imminent, and Toho Hiroshi could not recover his battle strength from that time, the chances of dealing with this potential crisis would be greatly reduced.
Feeling the focused gazes—a mixture of worry, expectation, and scrutiny—Toho Hiroshi slowly raised his head.
He did not immediately answer Suguru Geto's question, instead looking out the window, watching the trees swaying in the breeze in the Jujutsu High courtyard, and the blurred outline of the Tokyo skyline further away.
Seven years had passed; the city's scars had been smoothed over little by little, and new life was thriving on the ruins.
In his mind flashed the small, focused face of You controlling Cursed Energy, Yao's mischievous antics rolling around with a Cursed Corpse, Shoko's quiet profile by the window, and Tsumiki's busy back in the kitchen... This ordinary, peaceful life, filled with the scent of everyday existence, was what he had guarded at all costs.
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