The next day, after everyone returned to Tokyo Jujutsu High, they were met with wave after wave of investigations and questioning.
After all, a Curse User, accompanied by multiple Special Grade Cursed Spirits, had attacked Tokyo Jujutsu High, threatening Tengen, one of the pillars of the Jujutsu World.
Moreover, Tengen, who had not assimilated with the star plasma vessel the night before, had gone missing by morning.
The last communication between the Tokyo Jujutsu High staff and Tengen was a single sentence: Tengen said he would be going into seclusion for a period of time.
This made those who understood Tengen's situation extremely uneasy.
They increased their surveillance on Tengen while also hunting down the Curse User who had dared to infiltrate Tokyo Jujutsu High.
The Time Vessel Association, as the obvious mastermind, was immediately purged by the Jujutsu World.
Kong Shiu temporarily escaped danger because he ran fast enough.
Toji, on the other hand, was being held by the Gojo Family for now.
The investigation results were quickly submitted to the higher-ups at the Jujutsu Headquarters.
Since then, meetings among the higher-ups had been nonstop.
The purpose of these meetings was simple: to shift blame.
The Zen'in clan furiously turned their fire on the Kamo clan.
Because the investigation showed that most of the designated missions issued to Eichi and the others came from the Kamo clan.
It was these orders that had caused Tokyo Jujutsu High's defenses to weaken.
Therefore, the Zen'in clan demanded the Kamo clan take primary responsibility for the incident.
The Kamo clan, naturally, didn't want to shoulder the blame.
First, their actions were legally justifiable. Second, the incident was caused by an irresistible force, which no one could have prevented.
Thus, the two clans began arguing back and forth.
The Gojo Family sat off to the side, sipping tea as they watched.
In the end, several positions in the Jujutsu Headquarters that had been held by the Kamo clan were transferred to the Zen'in clan and the Gojo Family. As for the Time Vessel Association, which could no longer speak for itself, they ended up taking the brunt of the blame.
Strictly speaking, it wasn't entirely scapegoating. They had indeed participated.
In a house in Miyagi Prefecture, Kenjaku was looking excitedly at the messages on her phone.
They included photos of Riko's "corpse" and news of Tengen entering seclusion.
"It finally succeeded."
Kenjaku was ecstatic.
Five hundred years ago, her attempt to stop Tengen's assimilation had ended in failure.
Five hundred years later, she had finally succeeded.
"Now I need to hide for a while."
Kenjaku looked at the messages on her phone again.
One of them was a sketch of a person, very similar to her current appearance.
This had been drawn by investigators at Jujutsu Headquarters, based on Eichi's description.
Now, Jujutsu Headquarters had launched a nationwide manhunt for the Curse User using this sketch.
"This body is no longer usable. Which one should I use next?"
Kenjaku began going through the list of backup bodies she had prepared.
For a thousand years, Kenjaku had been keeping track of powerful Jujutsu Sorcerers and promising talents.
Partly to prepare for the resurgence of a golden age of Jujutsu.
And partly to secure suitable backup bodies.
Among all the potential hosts, only three were completely off-limits to Kenjaku.
The first two were obvious: Gojo Satoru and Ryomen Sukuna.
Those two were simply untouchable.
The third was Fushiguro Toji.
Toji's complete absence of Cursed Energy clashed with Kenjaku's desire to explore the full potential of Cursed Energy. If she possessed Toji's body, she would lose her Cursed Energy and be unable to use Jujutsu.
"Is Geto really the best option?"
Cursed Spirit Manipulation had near-perfect compatibility with Kenjaku.
"No, it's still too difficult to take over Suguru's body right now."
His strength was one factor. The companions surrounding Suguru were the bigger issue.
Besides, Suguru was too high-profile.
Kenjaku, who preferred to act from the shadows, wouldn't put herself under the spotlight unless absolutely necessary.
The reason she needed to change bodies this time wasn't because Itadori Kaori's body was no longer viable.
It was because Kaori's appearance had already attracted too much attention from the Jujutsu World, which made him unsuitable for future plans.
As for Suguru, who was even more scrutinized, especially by the Six Eyes, he was completely out of the question.
Even if the Jujutsu World's focus wasn't on Suguru, Satoru's Six Eyes would instantly see through any disguise.
"Looks like Geto can only be targeted slowly..."
She needed a body that had sufficient strength, wasn't too conspicuous, and had an identity that would allow her to move freely in the shadows.
Once again, Kenjaku set her sights on the Kamo clan.
A Jujutsu Sorcerer from the Kamo clan would have the necessary status for planning.
At the same time, they weren't too high-profile. The ones currently most active in Jujutsu Headquarters were all from the Zen'in clan.
The Kamo clan relied more on political maneuvering than actual strength, so they weren't very noticeable.
Even though they made a lot of noise about Blood Manipulation, it still couldn't compare to the Ten Shadows Technique or the Six Eyes.
Because of this, the Zen'in clan rarely took them seriously.
After all, the Zen'in clan believed in strength above all.
"Looks like I'll have to trouble the Kamo clan a bit more."
Having made her decision, Kenjaku got up and headed to Kaori's house.
A barrier silently formed. Everything that happened inside would go unnoticed by the outside world.
Kenjaku stood by Yuji's bedside, watching him sleep.
This was the vessel she had carefully prepared for Ryomen Sukuna.
A child who carried a thousand years of her knowledge, capable of suppressing even the King of Curses, Ryomen Sukuna.
Ryomen Sukuna was far too dangerous. Kenjaku didn't have full confidence in controlling him.
To that end, she had to prepare a way to restrain him.
That was Yuji, the perfect vessel Kenjaku had created for Ryomen Sukuna.
He was also her last trump card against the Six Eyes before she acquired the Prison Realm.
Kenjaku had personally witnessed the Jujutsu World's attempt to seal and destroy Ryomen Sukuna.
Even when they had gathered nearly all their forces, they lost.
They lost to Ryomen Sukuna alone.
This deeply fascinated Kenjaku.
Unfortunately, Ryomen Sukuna was not someone she could control.
Kenjaku had once approached Sukuna, hoping to form a Binding Vow, just as she had done with others in the past.
Ultimately, she wanted to turn him into a Cursed Object and make him her weapon.
But Sukuna's immense talent had shocked her.
After seeing the technique just once, Sukuna learned how to create a Cursed Object himself.
Then he turned himself into one, not even giving her the chance to interfere.
In the end, Kenjaku only managed to obtain Uraume.
While Uraume wasn't weak, it was far below her expectations, and she couldn't help feeling disappointed.
That said, Uraume was still very useful.
As long as she said one thing—"This is all for Sukuna"—no matter how reluctant Uraume looked, he would still follow orders.
Kenjaku reached out and gently touched Yuji's face.
Yuji, still half asleep, opened his drowsy eyes.
He stared blankly at the woman in front of him.
She looked familiar, but he couldn't remember who she was.
Kenjaku gently stroked Yuji's pink hair and spoke softly with a faint smile.
"Listen, Yuji, you must..."
The young Yuji looked up at her with innocent eyes.
Soon, Kenjaku finished saying everything she needed to say.
"...And finally, forget me. Forget we ever met today."
The Binding Vow was established.
A wave of sleepiness washed over Yuji, and he drifted back into a deep slumber.
(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.)