Based on the memories extracted from Mahito…
The meeting spot Kenjaku had arranged was in Okutama Town, a small city in the westernmost part of Tokyo, bordering Saitama Prefecture. It was dozens of kilometers from Hikari Uchiha's current location.
With "Shangri-La" at her disposal, that distance was no different from a quick stroll.
So…
Hikari and Esdeath grabbed a quick dinner, packed light, and stepped into the teleportation array. A flash of purple light later, they vanished from the living room, reappearing the next second on a secluded narrow street.
At this hour, the street was nearly deserted.
The sky hung dark and heavy, carrying the ominous weight of an approaching storm.
"…That should be the place."
Hikari scanned her surroundings, her gaze locking onto a nearby izakaya. From her vantage point, she could make out a few blurry figures inside, their hushed voices mingling with an unsettling aura.
"Let's go, Esdeath. Time to check it out."
Hikari started walking, quickly leading Esdeath across the short street to the izakaya's entrance.
They pushed through the door.
The roughly hundred-square-meter room held a counter and seven or eight tables, with a handful of customers easily visible. Hikari's eyes swept the room, immediately spotting Mahito and his group by the wall—
Jogo, Hanami, Dagon…
And Kenjaku, disguised as the black-haired, black-robed Geto Suguru.
The main villain crew from the original Jujutsu Kaisen story was almost all here—missing only Rika, but she was Sukuna's subordinate. While she collaborated with Kenjaku and the cursed spirits, she didn't operate with them, so her absence was expected.
"Ahem…"
Hikari cleared her throat, flashing a warm smile at Jogo and the others, who were quietly scheming at their table.
"Sorry to interrupt, cursed spirit gentlemen, but you're surrounded. If you surrender immediately, I might consider giving you a dignified end."
"…?"
Jogo and the others, mid-planning, froze. They turned to look at her, their faces a mix of shock and uncertainty.
"You… talking to us?" Jogo pointed at his own face, seeking confirmation.
Hikari tilted her head. "Who else?"
"…"
At that moment, white smoke practically steamed out of Jogo's volcano-like head, as if his CPU had short-circuited, unable to process the situation.
Hold on…
How did this human kid, who looked like she hadn't even graduated middle school, have the guts to talk to them like that?
Did she not realize that he—and the others seated nearby—were special-grade cursed spirits?
Or…
"Who are these two humans? Did you call them here?" Jogo turned to Kenjaku.
In his mind, Kenjaku was Geto Suguru, a special-grade sorcerer wanted by the jujutsu world for breaking its rules. If Hikari and Esdeath were connected to anyone, it had to be him.
But Kenjaku shook his head. "I've taken a few human sorcerer disciples, but I keep meetings like this strictly confidential. This kid… probably some heir from a jujutsu clan, passing by and spotting us, thinking she can play hero."
"Huh?"
That made sense.
Not every sorcerer could gauge a cursed spirit's strength just by their appearance. This black-haired girl, clearly still wet behind the ears, likely mistook them for low-grade spirits, which explained her boldness.
With that in mind…
Jogo casually raised his right hand, ready to incinerate them to ash.
But just then…
He paused, a sudden instinct making him glance up at the other woman by the door—the one with long, ice-blue hair. A faint sense of dread crept into his chest.
The next moment…
Esdeath raised her eyes, her cascading hair stirring without wind, exuding an overwhelming aura that swept through the room!
"These guys are the so-called 'special-grade cursed spirits'?"
"They don't look like much. Way weaker than that Gojo Satoru guy… Can we start already?"
The last operation against Mahito had been handled by Hikari alone, with Esdeath arriving after the fight was over.
But now…
"Hang on a sec."
Hikari snapped her fingers, summoning the "Shangri-La" teleportation array beneath their feet. With a flash of light, everyone vanished from the izakaya, reappearing in a deep mountain range hundreds of miles away.
Here, Esdeath finally unleashed her full presence. A bone-chilling blizzard seemed to materialize out of nowhere, sweeping across the area. Everyone felt a shiver, as if plunged into a frozen wasteland, the cold seeping into their bones.
"Impossible…"
"This oppressive aura… it's even more terrifying than Gojo Satoru. Since when did a sorcerer like this exist among humans?"
"And what's with this place? An instant teleportation technique? Or an innate domain?"
Jogo and the others were dumbfounded, still reeling from the sudden shift in scenery, only to be stunned again by Esdeath's overwhelming presence. Then, they watched as towering ice walls sprang up around them, soaring dozens or even hundreds of meters into the sky, sealing at the top.
—This was Esdeath's sealing technique.
Now, the thousands of square meters of this mountaintop were completely under her control, a "domain" of her own making.
Beneath ice walls over half a meter thick, even Jogo, the strongest among them, felt a surge of dread, recalling the humiliation and fear of being dominated by Gojo.
A battle was now inevitable.
Under the menacing glares of the special-grade cursed spirits…
Hikari remained unfazed, speaking calmly. "So, are you coming at us one at a time, or all at once?"
…
In the end, Jogo and the others chose to attack together.
With the entire area sealed by ice and snow, escape was no longer an option. Their only chance of survival was to defeat the ice-blue-haired woman.
But that was no easy task.
The pressure Esdeath exuded was no less than Gojo Satoru's. Against him, they'd only had a sliver of hope by working together, and it was the same with her.
However…
Even in this situation, two figures stayed out of the fight.
One was Kenjaku.
He'd always had a transactional relationship with Jogo's group, and being naturally cautious, he wasn't about to tangle with a mysterious powerhouse like Esdeath without knowing the full picture.
The other was Mahito.
When Jogo and the others saw Mahito break from the group, scurrying to Hikari's side like a loyal puppy, they could hardly believe their eyes.
"Mahito, what are you doing?!"
"You're the leader of the cursed spirits!!"
"No wonder these two human sorcerers found us! Mahito's the real traitor! When did he betray us?! What the hell happened?!"
Though shocked beyond belief…
With the enemy at hand, Jogo and the others stuck to their plan, reluctantly facing Esdeath.
Their strength might not match Gojo's, but in terms of Naruto or Akame ga Kill! worlds, they were on par with Kage-level or Imperial General-level fighters. For Esdeath, they weren't so weak that they'd crumble under a single casual punch.
At that moment…
Esdeath cloaked herself in a thin layer of ice and snow, forming armor over her body. With a cat-toying-with-mice attitude, she took on Jogo, Hanami, and Dagon simultaneously. Jogo had briefly considered having Hanami and Dagon hold Esdeath off while he ambushed Hikari, but the thought barely formed before Esdeath sensed it, flashing in front of him and kicking him back.
With that…
The special-grade cursed spirits finally faced reality, unleashing their full arsenal—physical attacks, techniques, everything—assaulting Esdeath like a relentless storm.
Ice, fire, water arrows, fields of flowers…
Elements clashed in mid-air, punctuated by bursts of dazzling light.
Worth noting was Jogo's innate domain.
As the strongest of the four cursed spirits, born from humanity's fear of the earth, Jogo wielded fire manipulation. His domain, "Coffin of the Iron Mountain," could turn a vast area into a molten inferno in an instant, reducing ordinary sorcerers to ash the moment they stepped inside.
But…
For Esdeath, it meant nothing.
She didn't even need to try hard to summon a massive blizzard, neutralizing the fiery domain and then obliterating it.
As for Hanami and Dagon…
Their strength fell short of Jogo's.
Hanami, born from humanity's fear of forests, wielded wood-based techniques, while Dagon, born from fear of the ocean, used water-based ones.
Notably, Dagon's domain, "Horizon of the Captivating Skandha," created a vast, beach-lined blue sea, summoning countless giant fish monsters to attack. Hikari was intrigued by this ability and had asked Esdeath to spare Dagon's life.
—If she could acquire this domain, she'd have a private beach for vacations anytime, anywhere.
A personal beach where she could swim naked without worrying about prying eyes—the ultimate vacation spot…
While Esdeath faced Jogo, Hanami, and Dagon alone…
Hikari was squaring off with Kenjaku.
At this point…
Kenjaku seemed to realize something, eyeing Hikari cautiously. "You're allies Gojo Satoru brought in?"
"Nope."
Hikari shook her head, a mischievous smile on her face. "To be precise, we're here because of your son."
"…Son?"
"That's right. His name's Yuji Itadori."
Hikari stared at Kenjaku, enunciating each word. "You're no stranger to that name, are you? After all… he's the child you carried for ten months and birthed with such effort."
"?!!"
Kenjaku's pupils shrank in shock.
Even Esdeath, Jogo, Hanami, and the others, mid-battle, widened their eyes in disbelief, glancing over with stunned expressions.
Carried… for ten months?
Geto Suguru?
What the hell? Was this top-tier jujutsu rebel secretly a woman disguised as a man?
Or… had human society advanced to the point where men could get pregnant and give birth?
Unlike the clueless Jogo and company, Kenjaku's shock was far more intense, his usual composure crumbling. "What… do you know?"
"Oh, quite a bit."
Hikari counted on her fingers, listing casually. "Like how your real name is Kenjaku, a mysterious sorcerer who's lived for a thousand years, body-hopping through Noritoshi Kamo, Kaori Itadori, and now Geto Suguru. You've sired the Cursed Womb: Death Paintings and Yuji Itadori through human unions… and you're plotting to seal Gojo Satoru with the cursed tool 'Prison Realm.'
"Gotta say, I admire your dedication to science—switching genders isn't unheard of, but going so far as to bear children with other men? That's rare.
"Or… maybe your original body was female?"
In the original Jujutsu Kaisen, Kenjaku's true appearance and gender were never revealed, only that he was once a friend of Tengen.
So…
It was hard to assume anything about his gender.
But if Kenjaku was originally female, yet had inhabited Noritoshi Kamo's body and fathered the Death Paintings with a human woman… that'd be pretty wild.
At this moment…
Kenjaku, his identity exposed, dropped the "Geto Suguru" facade. His aura shifted, and he summoned a dense swarm of cursed spirits—Pox Granny, Giant Catfish, Black Bath… In the blink of an eye, hundreds, thousands of cursed spirits filled the air, baring their menacing fangs at Hikari.
"…Quite a number."
Hikari shook her head slightly. "All flash, no substance."
With her words, a dark red aura flared behind her, forming the shape of a skeletal giant.
The Third Power: Susanoo!