Chapter 159 - The Puppeteer Steps Out of the Shadows

Jogo's head rolled twice across the ground. The terror in his single eye hadn't faded before the light went out of it entirely. Toji gave the Split Soul Katana a casual flick, shaking off the dissipating Cursed Energy, then slung the blade back over his shoulder and flashed a grin at Suguru Geto, who stood not far away.

"What are you spacing out for, honor student? Come clean up the exam hall."

He jutted his chin toward Jogo's severed head on the ground.

"Full marks on that question. The trophy's yours."

Geto stepped forward and looked down at the Special Grade Cursed Spirit's head, still radiating terrifying heat. A Cursed Energy reserve this massive would normally take real effort to absorb even under ordinary circumstances. Now it lay discarded on the asphalt like a piece of trash. A body under Heavenly Restriction truly plays by no one else's rules.

Geto raised his right hand and aimed it at Jogo's remains. A black vortex appeared from nowhere, forcibly twisting and compressing Jogo's flesh and Cursed Energy together. Seconds later, a Cursed Spirit Orb — black as ink and reeking of acrid sulfur, dropped into his palm. He tilted his head back and swallowed it whole. His throat bobbed.

A burning sensation scorched down his esophagus and into his stomach. Geto suppressed the rising nausea and felt the fire-attribute Cursed Energy inside him spike all at once. More than enough to offset the massive drain from expanding his Domain earlier. A massive haul. His gaze shifted immediately, locking onto a spot a dozen or so meters away.

Mahito wasn't fully dead yet. The shattered gray-black chunks of flesh were crawling uselessly across the asphalt, trying to knit themselves back together. That soul technique is far too dangerous, it has to be contained right now. Geto had just started to move when another figure beat him to it.

Toji's silhouette blurred into a streak of green, Split Soul Katana in hand, diving straight for Mahito's pile of mangled flesh. Then the temperature of the air plummeted without any warning. A thick sheet of pale-blue ice exploded along the ground at blinding speed, forming a solid wall directly across Toji's path.

BOOM!

Toji shattered the ice wall with a single punch. It cost him that one split second. Three figures stepped out from the shadows along the street.

In the middle: a man in a wide, loose kesa robe, a rough line of stitches running straight across his forehead. To the left: a white-haired woman with hair cut to her ears, the bone-deep cold that had just frozen everything still seeping up from beneath her feet. To the right: a bewitching figure with a short blade in hand, Chikage.

"It's not very polite to snatch something someone worked so hard to cultivate, is it?"

The man with the stitched forehead, Kenjaku, spoke with a smile. He didn't even glance at Toji or Geto. He walked straight up to the twitching mass of flesh on the ground, raised his right hand, and spread his five fingers.

"Don't you dare!"

Geto's shout cracked out. The space behind him warped, and the massive claws of several Special Grade Cursed Spirits tore through the air toward Kenjaku. At the same moment, Chikage's figure flashed. The short blade carved several arcs of cold light and cleanly severed every single claw.

Almost simultaneously, the white-haired woman pressed her palms together. A wave of cold far worse than the first erupted forward, bearing straight down on Geto and Toji. In that brief instant of being held in check, Kenjaku had already finished. Mahito let out a piercing shriek. The chunks of flesh were yanked into the air by an invisible force, twisting and compressing at tremendous speed.

In the blink of an eye, a Cursed Spirit Orb took shape, larger and purer than the one that had been Jogo. Kenjaku didn't even look at it. He opened his mouth and swallowed it whole, like popping a piece of candy.

"Urp—" He let out a satisfied belch, then turned his grinning eyes toward Geto, whose expression had gone completely cold.

"My apologies, Geto-kun. This one I can't hand over to you."

"You made this much noise. Turned Shibuya into a living hell. Even plotted to seal Gojo." Geto stared at the line of stitches across his forehead. "What exactly are you after, you puppet master?"

Kenjaku spread his arms wide. His eyes burned with fanatical intensity.

"What I want to see is the absolute limit of human potential! The ultimate optimization of Cursed Energy! I will plunge this world into total madness, drive all of humanity into the deepest possible fusion with Cursed Energy, and give birth to an entirely new species — one that surpasses Special Grade, one that surpasses anything you can imagine!"

"Lunatic," Megumi muttered from behind, his skin crawling.

"Hah?" Toji dug a finger in his ear, his expression one of open disgust. "Speak like a human being, you charlatan."

Kenjaku was about to continue his grand monologue when an ice-cold voice crashed down from above.

"Are you quite done, you tedious piece of trash?"

BOOM!

Ryomen Sukuna dropped from a signal tower dozens of meters overhead and slammed both feet into the center of the rubble. The asphalt erupted. Stone fragments and shockwaves swept wildly in every direction.

Kenjaku tilted his head slightly to dodge a flying chunk of debris, his smile as hollow as ever. "Long time no see, Sukuna. Getting comfortable in Yuji's body?"

Sukuna didn't look at him. Those eyes, traced with crimson cursed markings, had been locked, from first to last, on one person alone. Toji Fushiguro. The instant that gaze landed on him, Megumi instinctively stepped forward and planted himself just ahead and to the side of his father.

The Cursed Energy inside him surged wildly, and the green steam of the Gate of Life seeped out from his body once more. He could feel it radiating off Sukuna: pure, undiluted killing intent, aimed entirely at Toji. A broad palm came down on the back of his head. The force was light, but it snapped his Cursed Energy refinement clean in two.

Toji grabbed him by the scruff and hauled him behind his back, like picking up a small chick.

"This is grown-up business. Stay out of it, kid. Go stand over there."

"Dad!" Megumi's voice went urgent.

"Do as I say." Toji didn't turn around. The usual teasing was gone from his voice, replaced by something that left no room for argument. "Watch carefully. This is the second lesson your youth taijutsu teacher is giving you today."

Megumi went still. He stared at that broad back, deep green steam billowing from every inch of it. The panic spreading through his chest was overwhelming. His feet would not move another step forward. Sukuna rolled his neck. His vertebrae cracked with a crisp pop. All four eyes narrowed at once. The corners of his mouth pulled back into an exaggerated arc.

"That old score between us."

Both hands stayed tucked into his kimono sleeves. His tone was perfectly at ease.

"It's time we settled it properly."

The words had barely landed. Sukuna's technique activated, without any warning whatsoever.

➤ Next: It Is Your Honor to Become My Teaching Material