In the world of Jujutsu Kaisen.
Japan is the country with the most frequent Jujutsu phenomena.
Outside of Japan, the appearance of Jujutsu Sorcerers and Cursed Spirits is far less common.
Last winter, Eichi traveled abroad once to verify this situation.
Except for Emiya, who acted alone, the remaining two Heroic Spirits accompanied Eichi.
After investigating several major countries and making some investments, the three returned to Japan.
It was also during that overseas trip that Medea confirmed one thing.
There is only one reason why the incidence of Jujutsu phenomena in Japan far exceeds that of other countries.
Tengen's barrier.
Cursed Energy originates from human negative emotions, and after those emotions are released, they continue to spread outward.
In many places, Cursed Energy eventually dissipates naturally, becoming too diluted to form Cursed Spirits.
This is because the areas inhabited by humans are still too small compared to the total surface of the Earth.
Eichi recalled reading an article in his previous life.
It stated that the land currently inhabited by humans only accounts for 3% of the Earth's land area.
There is still an enormous amount of uninhabited space where Cursed Energy can disperse.
But Japan is different.
Japan has Tengen's barrier.
Although the barrier does not actively gather Cursed Energy, it prevents the Cursed Energy within Japan from dispersing outward.
At the same time, Cursed Energy drifting in from outside is also retained.
A small land area, a large population, and a high-pressure society.
With such a massive amount of Cursed Energy unable to disperse, it all accumulates on Japan's small landmass, naturally giving rise to a large number of Cursed Spirits and Jujutsu Sorcerers.
Because of this, the Cursed Energy System operates extremely efficiently in Japan.
But in foreign countries, the situation is different.
Many places overseas are vast and sparsely populated, so very little Cursed Energy is generated.
Therefore, the Cursed Energy System doesn't function smoothly there.
The feeling is like Japan has a massive signal transmitter, and you can connect to the Wi-Fi named "Cursed Energy System" anywhere within the country.
But in foreign countries, due to the vastness and sparse population, the signal of the "Cursed Energy System" Wi-Fi would be extremely poor.
So, once Riko moves far away from Japan, the Karma formed by the Cursed Energy between the star plasma vessel and Tengen becomes even more tenuous.
To completely sever this Karma, Eichi had Toji, someone who operates outside the Cursed Energy System, exploit a bug.
Almost all living beings in this world possess Cursed Energy.
Even animals have faint traces of Cursed Energy in them.
Mei Mei's Black Bird Manipulation: Kamikaze removes the faint Cursed Energy limitations in animals, allowing crows to launch suicide attacks under her control.
So no matter the cause of the star plasma vessel's death, the Karma of the Cursed Energy System will continue to function.
However, Toji's existence introduced a bug into this precise system.
Toji is an anomaly completely untouched by Cursed Energy Karma, but when the star plasma vessel died, the Karma of the Cursed Energy System broke, unable to process what had happened.
If this System had a maintainer, things would be fine.
It would simply move on to the next step, allowing the next star plasma vessel to merge with Tengen.
But the Cursed Energy System doesn't have one. It is like a cold, unthinking machine that keeps trying to complete its current task.
It attempts to use the Karma of Cursed Energy to locate Toji, the cause of the star plasma vessel's death.
And then the system completely freezes.
Because it cannot locate Toji, yet its rigid programming keeps trying to find him.
Because of this, Tengen realized that the Karma on him had been interrupted.
He could avoid assimilating with the star plasma vessel.
Tengen, seeing this as fate, chose not to activate a backup star plasma vessel, but instead abandoned the assimilation process entirely.
"I see, so Amanai is already free."
Under Eichi's explanation, everyone finally understood Riko's situation.
"That's right," Eichi nodded.
"On this ship, Medea has set up a barrier that isolates all external Cursed Energy interference. Once Tengen begins his evolution, the star plasma vessel will no longer be needed, and Amanai Riko will be free."
"Are you that sure Tengen won't assimilate with another star plasma vessel?"
"He won't."
"Oh?"
Satoru's Six Eyes, hidden behind his sunglasses, showed interest.
"I've been meaning to ask you, Eichi..."
Satoru, who had been sitting with his legs crossed, put his feet down and leaned forward, his posture radiating pressure as he faced Eichi.
"How do you know so many things?"
Satoru stared into Eichi's eyes.
The penetrating gaze from his Six Eyes made the air feel suffocating.
"Satoru."
Eichi met his eyes without flinching.
"Do you know about future sight?"
He gave the answer he had prepared long ago.
To have "seen" the future in advance—how is that not future sight?
"Future sight? Isn't that just something from novels and games?"
Suguru rubbed his chin.
"I remember your stories also had settings with future sight. There were two types, if I recall: prediction and measurement."
"Oh, a Jujutsu technique that lets you see the future, huh."
Satoru leaned back, relaxing into his seat.
"In the future you saw, what was the result?"
He stopped questioning.
Eichi's chest warmed.
All the explanations he had prepared were no longer needed.
His best friend trusted him that much.
"Amanai died. She died at the Tombs of the Star."
Eichi raised his right hand and made a gun gesture toward Suguru.
"Right before you were about to take Amanai's hand and lead her to freedom, she was shot in the head by Toji."
Eichi mimed a shooting motion at Suguru.
Suguru's eyes widened instantly.
He remembered that moment in the Tombs of the Star.
When he asked Riko about her feelings.
The man who had silently appeared behind her, without any trace of Cursed Energy.
If he had ambushed her and fired...
Suguru knew he wouldn't have been able to stop him.
"Tsk. Fate really has a messed-up sense of humor."
Satoru clicked his tongue in annoyance.
"Hey, Suguru."
He turned to wake the dazed Suguru.
"Don't dwell on things that haven't happened yet."
Seeing the growing distress on Suguru's face.
Satoru knew he tended to overthink, so he comforted him in his own way.
"Hmm, you're right. No point worrying about something that hasn't happened."
Suguru's expression returned to normal, and he looked up at Eichi.
"In the future you saw, what happened to me?"
"You were stronger than Satoru... but only slightly."
"You confronted Toji head-on using Rainbow Dragon, but you didn't know he had the Split Soul Katana that ignores hardness. Rainbow Dragon was sliced in half."
"After that, you tried using Kuchisake-onna to attack Toji, but since Toji has zero Cursed Energy, the Domain's sure-hit effect didn't work."
"Then you tried to subjugate the Cursed Spirit that serves as Toji's arsenal, but since you didn't know it was already bound to a master, the subjugation failed. That created an opening, and you were ultimately cut down by Toji."
Eichi summarized Suguru's situation in just a few sentences.
(To be continued.)
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◇ One bonus chapter will be released for every 200 Power Stones.
◇ You can read the ahead chapter on Pat if you're interested: p-atreon.c-om/Blownleaves (Just remove the hyphen to access normally.)