Chapter 159 (Patreon)

Squelch!

With one hand, Toji Fushiguro tore Ogi Zenin’s head from his body.

Blood sprayed across Toji’s face, making his expression appear almost demonic.

“That... is my body?”

Ogi’s severed head spun through the air as he uttered the final question of his life, his voice filled with faint confusion.

Maki Zenin stared at her dead father without the slightest trace of sorrow. It was as though the man who had just died were nothing more than a stranger.

Tap. Tap.

Maki’s heart pounded as she watched Toji approach.

This was a man capable of killing her father with ridiculous ease.

“What do you want...?”

Toji tilted his head and considered the question for a moment.

“Playful Cloud, the Chain of a Thousand Miles, the Inverted Spear of Heaven, and the Split Soul Katana.”

“What?”

Did this man intend to empty her entire arsenal?

Maki had gone to great lengths to obtain those special-grade cursed tools. Was she truly supposed to hand them all over without a word...?

“These are the cursed tools you asked for.”

Maki understood that survival meant knowing when to yield. Besides, Toji had eliminated her enemy for her. A few cursed tools were a small price to pay.

None of them mattered more to her than Mai’s life.

Toji reclaimed the cursed tools that had once belonged to him. However, the one he wanted most was nowhere to be found.

“The Inverted Spear of Heaven... You don’t have it?”

Faced with Toji’s questioning gaze, Maki answered honestly.

“The Inverted Spear of Heaven was destroyed ten years ago.”

“Destroyed? Who had the strength to do that?”

“Satoru Gojo.”

Toji narrowed his eyes.

“So it was him. If that’s the case, it isn’t surprising.”

Maki studied him carefully. She had heard rumors about the Sorcerer Killer, but nothing she had heard conveyed just how terrifying he truly was.

“Wait!”

Just as Toji was about to leave, Maki called out to him.

“What is it?”

Since Maki had kept his cursed tools safe, Toji was willing to spare her a moment.

“What you said earlier...”

Toji merely stared at her, clearly not understanding what she meant.

“You’re the legendary Sorcerer Killer, aren’t you?”

“That’s right.”

Maki gritted her teeth before forcing the words out.

“I heard that you don’t possess any cursed energy either. So... I want you to take me as your student!”

“Take you as my student?”

Toji examined Maki.

Like him, her lack of cursed energy was the result of a Heavenly Restriction.

However...

Her Heavenly Restriction did not appear to be complete.

Toji’s gaze shifted toward Mai, who lay unconscious in Maki’s arms.

The missing portion of Maki’s Heavenly Restriction was bound to her twin.

Maki could not keep herself from tensing beneath Toji’s scrutiny.

“If you want me to accept you as my student, that’s fine. But first... you’ll have to prove your strength.”

Death and rebirth had changed Toji considerably. He was already a dead man, so consequences no longer meant much to him.

More precisely, the being standing here possessed only the information that defined Toji Fushiguro as an individual. He was closer to a lingering remnant of Toji’s soul than a man who had truly returned to life.

Even so, Toji Fushiguro remained Toji Fushiguro.

Only his way of doing things had changed.

Although Maki’s Heavenly Restriction was incomplete, she still possessed some potential.

“Take it.”

Toji tossed the Split Soul Katana to Maki before taking the three-section staff, Playful Cloud, for himself.

“Then... let’s begin.”

The moment those words left his mouth, Toji vanished from directly in front of her.

Maki focused every one of her senses on her surroundings.

“Where did he go?”

Whoosh!

The violent whistle of a staff tearing through the air made every hair on her body stand on end.

Maki immediately pinpointed Toji’s position and swung the Split Soul Katana behind her.

Clang!

The impact launched Maki through the air.

The difference in their physical strength was simply overwhelming.

“Cough... This strength... I can’t fight him head-on.”

Maki dragged herself out of the rubble, using the Split Soul Katana to support her battered body.

His strength was monstrous.

“Is that all?”

The disappointment on Toji’s face was plain to see. He had initially thought she might be a promising prospect.

“Come at me!”

“Again!”

Something like this was nowhere near enough to make Maki give up.

No further words were needed.

Maki raised the Split Soul Katana and charged. She poured everything she had into each swing, dispersing the force of Toji’s counters before attacking again.

She repeated the cycle over and over.

Maki eventually lost all sense of time.

Her entire body was drenched in blood, but at last, the Split Soul Katana pierced Toji’s flesh.

“How... was that?”

The moment she finished speaking, Maki collapsed unconscious.

Toji pulled the Split Soul Katana from his body and looked down at her.

“Not bad... You may be the daughter of that useless bastard Ogi, but you’re not bad at all.”

——————

Tokyo Bay.

“Sukuna, Satoru Gojo should have the final finger.”

Tengen approached Sukuna and spoke.

“You were my enemy for an entire lifetime. Now we stand on the same side. The very thought is unpleasant.”

“Only this body belongs to Tengen. I am still the one controlling it, Sukuna,” Kenjaku replied with mild exasperation.

Sukuna sat atop a building and gazed toward the distant land being swallowed by darkness.

“Satoru Gojo...? Ah, I remember now. The sorcerer with the Six Eyes.”

A disdainful smile appeared on Sukuna’s face.

“Whatever he can accomplish with the Limitless, before me, he is nothing more than an ordinary man.”

Kenjaku glanced at him through Tengen’s eyes.

“You should still be careful. His Domain Expansion is the most troublesome part.”

“Kenjaku, what do you think of Ragnar Kagenou?”

Kenjaku was somewhat puzzled. He did not understand why Sukuna was still dwelling on Ragnar at a time like this.

“He is powerful. His strength surpasses anything that can be measured by the standards of jujutsu sorcerers.”

Kenjaku paused before continuing.

“The most troublesome aspect is the collection of cursed tools hidden within his technique. I’ve never heard of any of them... and cursed tools of that caliber couldn’t possibly have existed in jujutsu society without attracting attention.”

“Ragnar Kagenou’s weapons are not cursed tools. I can guarantee that.”

Sukuna’s eyes narrowed slightly.

“He called them... Noble Phantasms.”

“Noble Phantasms... Yes, I believe that was the term,” Kenjaku answered after searching his memories.

“Kenjaku, do you know what I sensed when I faced him?”

“What?”

“Ragnar Kagenou is neither human nor curse. He resembles a life-form of a far higher order.”

Sukuna paused, his expression filling with excitement.

“He is the only being who has ever made me feel pressure. Since the moment I was born, I have never experienced anything like it.”

However, Sukuna was not yet finished.

“But I am still incomplete. And I could tell that Ragnar Kagenou had not shown his full strength either.”

With that, Sukuna rose to his feet.

“Before the darkness engulfs everything, we will make our preparations.”

Only seventy-two hours remained before All the World’s Evil engulfed Tokyo.

Sukuna needed to gather every fragment of his power before Ragnar Kagenou arrived.

Hokkaido and the Tohoku region had been completely overrun within only a few dozen hours by the black mud of All the World’s Evil unleashed by Ragnar.

Even the two special-grade cursed spirits that had only just been born were swiftly exorcised.

A streak tore across the sky.

Sukuna was scouring every corner of District 11 for Satoru Gojo’s whereabouts.

“Where are you... Satoru Gojo?”

As Sukuna passed over Kyoto, he detected traces of Gojo’s residual cursed energy.

“I found you.”