Tokyo Metropolitan Curse Technical College.
Considering these grounds were an area he had avoided for centuries, he was all too familiar with it, Kenjaku mused. Part of that was because he had helped build the foundations as well as plan it out with Tengen. Back then, it had another name.
Another part was because this was his second time walking the same cobblestone pathway in less than two years. Something brushed past him, ruffling the kimono he wore as it rushed ahead to inflict pain.
Another one of Mahito's transfigured humans. He doubted it would last all that long. After all, they had been mass-produced for quantity and not quality, although he was certain that there were enough among them to trouble even the Grade One sorcerers. Their job here was to distract and buy time. Perfect for the multitude of disposable assets.
As for the sole special grade that should've been present... His brown eyes drifted to the horizon. Uraume, Ganesha, and Hanami were already taking care of that.
Uraume fought for the thin possibility of killing Gojo Satoru before her lord was revived. Kenjaku made a huff at the thought. His warnings had fallen on deaf ears there. They should simply focus on buying time.
Hanami fought for one simple reason: because she was mad. Mad at sorcerers, mad at the system, and above all, vengeance for Jogo's loss. A curiosity. He had never seen two cursed spirits care for one another as the duo had. He wondered how much their relationship would've been enhanced with Dagon's presence. Jogo would've played the role of a father, Hanami as a mother, and Dagon as the child. The similarity to humanity was intriguing.
Ganesha fought for the chance to rid itself of the troublesome Gojo's presence in Asia. The special-grade deity had been hunted down for years, with only his ability to treat distance as an obstacle, letting him run away at the slightest hint of the Gojo.
The thought of allying with the elephant-headed deity almost brought a laugh to his lips, especially since his original plan consisted of forcibly consuming the deity with Geto's cursed spirit manipulation. If he had done that, he doubted the unique idea the curse had brought up would have been a thing. For it seemed that while some sense of self remained for special grades under cursed spirit manipulation, it was not enough for something as creative as a binding vow.
The variability of change and chance. Things like this were why he kept living, why he enjoyed his long, long life so much compared to his swaddling friend, who very much preferred to remain in her hole beneath the earth.
In the end, he had allowed them to venture forth and challenge the strongest sorcerer. Let them see why he thought trapping the blue-eyed Gojo was a preferred method instead of killing him. Then there was the very thin, zero-point-one-percent probability they managed to kill him.
Even if they didn't, he was curious to see if Ganesha's plan and technique, supported by a binding vow, could get past Satoru's Limitless. It would be a better alternative to Domain Amplification.
Screams rang out, followed by explosions as well as curse energy eruptions from various corners of the school. It seemed like the students were fighting back, and quite well, in fact.
He found his way to a seat and dropped down gracefully. Such things found themselves coming to him easily with the body he wore. He assumed it was a feminine trait, not that he cared all that much. For him, bodies were like cloth, and he had worn so many for so long that he had lost the concept of favorites or attachments to them.
His feet tapped against the ground as he wondered if Tengen could see him now. He weighed the thought of popping down for a brief visit and decided to shelve it for now. Instead, his thoughts went to another person.
How far had Mahito gotten in his search? His original plan had involved allowing the sorcerers to return with a piece of Sukuna's finger in his possession, upon which he had placed a tracking jujutsu. A finger that would be placed with the rest of Sukuna's fingers, the school possessed.
Then a barrier to block out Satoru Gojo for a short time, while Mahito simply stole them as well as anything of interest. That plan had been strangled in its crib by chance and Gojo Jiki's presence. Another plan was rendered void simply because of the red-eyed, menacing Gojo.
They really just came in different flavors. He was certain Nozomi was somewhere up there cackling at him. He chuckled to himself as he looked to the blue sky, with clouds drifting lazily overhead.
Now, Mahito was forced to search for the fingers the hard way, which meant a barrier to stop Gojo Satoru for a short time wasn't going to work again. It was a good thing the trio volunteered to fight the special-grade sorcerer. Hopefully, they'd last long enough without him being forced to expend his other cards.
With Mahito out of mind, he moved to stand once again. He was rapidly growing bored of waiting for his own target, and he had come to a decision. Perhaps it would be good to see his old friend's face again. The thought brought a wicked smirk to a face unsuited for showing such unsightly emotions.
He was halfway to the elevator, he knew would take him to the Star Corridor when a young boy's voice rang out. A familiar one that made Kenjaku's brown eyes widen in anticipation - finally.
"Do you think the others would be alright?"
"Don't worry about them. Despite their numbers, we've cleared a path, my brother. Whatever these are, they're not very strong. Our classmates would be alright, which means it's our job to find out the source of the attack." An older boy spoke this time, gruffer and stronger. Unfamiliar.
Kenjaku smiled as he slowed his pace and watched the two boys turn the corner and freeze at the sight of him. Itadori Yuji. Her child. He looked a little bit worse for wear. Bruised cheeks and a split lip. His jujutsu uniform was tattered from whatever scuffle he had been in. His fists were stained red, but those brown eyes of his shone fiercely and with worry.
He must've faced some of the transfigured humans that Mahito and Ganesha had unleashed, which brought the question to mind, considering what he knew about the soft-hearted boy - how did he deal with knowing he had killed what basically amounted to humans? And was the boy even aware of what he had killed? A smile came to his lips as he saw how tight the other boy's expression was. The restrained rage and anger that lurked in those black eyes.
Yuji didn't. Kenjaku mused, judging by how upbeat he looked. The same couldn't be said for the black-haired boy with a scar that trailed from the top of his head to below his left eye. This one knew for certain, judging by the suppressed rage, but it seemed he had decided against sharing that information.
"K?" Yuji asked in surprise, those similar brown eyes of his widening. His body relaxed, but once again, the other boy proved more perceptive as his own muscled physique tensed and his brows furrowed.
"Hello, Itadori-kun, who is your friend?" Kenjaku asked politely and with that same soft smile on his face. In times like this, he appreciated the feminine and petite form that was Kaori Itadori. Despite the random urges that he was forced to strangle with experience and control, there was a sense of fragility that always ensured he was not looked at as a threat. Although that facade didn't seem to work on the boy beside Yuji.
"Oh, this is my best friend, Aoi To—" Before Yuji could finish the sentence, the older boy beside him slapped a hand on his shoulder and gripped it tight, forcing the words to die in his throat.
"I've not seen her before today. Who is she, brother?" The scarred boy asked. His muscled form rippling, and his black eyes narrowing in suspicion as he stared at Kenjaku.
"Oh, she's the one I told you about. The person who helped me to refine my divergent fist technique."
The boy relaxed his tight grip on Yuji's shoulder as the suspicion that radiated from his muscled form eased at those words. "Oh, a teacher at Tokyo Jujutsu High then."
"No, K is not a teacher. She's just an old friend of Master Tengen."
Kenjaku cursed in his mind at those damning words because the scarred boy's grip tightened once again, and he dragged Itadori back a bit.
"Master Tengen has no friends."
Itadori Yuji frowned in confusion, Kenjaku could tell, Todo already knew. He had to give it to the boy - hidden beneath all that muscle was a brain just as sharp as his physique, if not better. He doubted the boy knew his true identity, but no doubt he already suspected he had something to do with the attack.
He was definitely faster on the uptake than Itadori... But where had he heard that name before? Aoi Todo. Ah, Yuki Tsukumo's apprentice. The boy who was supposedly able to beat special-grade curses even while he remained a Grade One sorcerer. Kenjaku smiled.
He spread out his hands in a disarming gesture to his sides, his soft smile never faltering. His brown eyes - Kaori's brown eyes - settled warmly on Yuji. Kenjaku smiled, keeping his presence as non-threatening as he could. "Itadori-kun, it's good to see you again. Though I suppose this timing isn't ideal." His voice was light, almost apologetic, as if he hadn't expected to run into him like this.
Yuji blinked, still confused but not yet alarmed. "K? What are you doing here? Did you get caught up in the attack too?"
Kenjaku shook his head gently. "No, child. I came for you."
Todo's grip on Yuji's shoulder turned vice-like. "Brother, step back."
Yuji frowned, glancing between them. "What? Why?"
Kenjaku ignored Todo entirely, his gaze settling on Yuji. And it wasn't an act. Not this time. Not really. He could be as deceptive as he wanted, but Yuji would see through it. That much he knew. So, he let go. Released the reins.
There was a reason he had chosen Kaori's body, and now he leaned into it fully, letting her instincts and her memories bleed through. It wasn't Kenjaku speaking. Not entirely. It was Kaori, her words shaped by his will, her warmth filtered through his cold intent. Her eyes softened, and she smiled, gentle and achingly familiar.
"Don't listen to him, Yuji. This place isn't for you," she said, her voice hushed, as if she was coaxing a frightened child out from under a duvet. "Sooner or later, the higher-ups are going to do something unforgivable. And Satoru, strong as he is, won't be able to stop them. Not if they have the full power of the clans behind them. Even he would not destroy them all just to save you."
Her hands moved on their own, palms upturned and empty, a gesture of open invitation. "Come with me, Yuji-kun. Let me take you away from all of this. There's someone I want you to meet. Someone like you. Someone who understands."
Kenjaku felt Kaori's desperation pulse beneath his skin. The same desperation he felt even while he used her body to birth his perfect vessel. The lingering ache of a mother's love and the fear of losing her son. And he let it rise, let it color every word, every look. Because Yuji would feel it too. That aching, tender need to protect. To hold close. To save.
Yuji's overwhelming Empathy. That was what he was counting on, and he could see it work.
Yuji's expression wavered, the hesitation so achingly clear. The seeds had already been sown, and now, in the midst of the chaos, they were beginning to bear fruit. Kaori's warm, maternal smile lingered as she stepped closer, tilting her head with a softness that seemed almost real.
"I told you before, didn't I?" she said, voice feather-light, as though sharing a precious secret. "There's someone I wanted you to meet. Another student of mine. He's here now. Come with me, Yuji, and let me show you the world through eyes that aren't clouded by Gojo Satoru's shadow."
Todo didn't wait for Yuji to respond. He moved. Fast. He crossed the distance between the two of them in a second, and his massive fist was already swinging toward Kaori's face. Kenjaku sighed as he took over and sidestepped with fluid grace. Kaori's body was light, easy to maneuver, and he'd had centuries to master combat in all forms, regardless of the body he fought with.
"You're quick," Kenjaku mused as Todo adjusted, throwing another punch. This one grazed his kimono, but Kenjaku twisted, slamming a palm into Todo's ribs. The impact sent the larger boy skidding back as he coughed. But a quick application of a full-body defensive reinforcement meant that the blow had barely affected the brawny boy.
Todo still rubbed at his chest, his frown remained. "Who the hell are you? Are you the one who organized this attack?"
"That is none of your concern. You're interfering with an intimate moment. Be gone, please."
The boy settled into a stance. Yuji stood frozen. Uncertain. That was how much influence he had with the boy, enough to leave him paralyzed with indecision despite how suspicious everything must have been. He would not participate in this fight, and that was enough.
Kenjaku shifted his focus back to Todo. "I see you're not just muscle," he said, smiling again as he settled into his own stance. "Good. I hate killing idiots."
Todo came again, this time faster, his trained physique coming together with his curse energy reinforcement, lending him ridiculous power as he sped forward. But Kenjaku had a taste for his style of combat and was already inside his rhythm. The boy was all aggression.
He deflected the boy's first blow and felt his eyes widen just the slightest. The boy was stronger than he was fast. He dodged the second and weaved around the third, like a bee in the middle of a hurricane. Then he ducked over a straight jab, spun, and buried his elbow in the brute's midsection.
Todo's hands snapped out to grab him, but he hurriedly backpedaled, dodging the grapple. Yet it was closer than he preferred. Kenjaku felt a smile coming to his lips at the thought of the fight until he remembered his purpose.
"This is a waste of time," Kenjaku noted to himself out loud. For a second, he had almost gotten enraptured with the fight, till he remembered that he was on a time limit. Sooner rather than later, Gojo Satoru would finish with the two curses and the reincarnated sorcerer. His absence was the only reason he had shown his face here.
Which meant he could not be here when Gojo came back. The memory of his last fight with Nozomi was still imprinted at the forefront of his brain.
"You're not leaving without an explanation."
The boy disagreed as he stomped the ground with annoyance, breaking the cobblestone that lined the ground and sending up pieces of sand and stone flying about. Kenjaku was forced to take a step back and shield his face with his two hands as Todo purposely sent sand flying toward his eyes with a swift kick.
The next moment, the boy disappeared from his senses with the sound of a clap ringing. By the time Kenjaku's senses picked up the scarred boy's curse energy signature again, he was already behind him. Too fast to have simply moved, too close to dodge. A fist drawn back to bury itself into his unguarded back.
Kenjaku found himself frowning. He truly didn't have time for this. He flexed his curse energy, rewiring his brain on the spot and focusing on the cursed technique he wanted. A heartbeat later, Aoi Todo slammed face-first into the floor behind him, as all gravity in a three-meter radius, with him at the epicenter, increased a hundredfold. Sending the boy, alongside the sand he had kicked up, slamming into the ground with force.
He turned back and faced the boy with a frown on his face. He only had six seconds where the reversal of Kaori's curse technique was active, which meant that he needed to kill him before then. Yet, his thoughts drifted to where Itadori Yuji stood. If he killed the boy now, he was never going to make any headway with Itadori again. The boy would no doubt shut him out.
Four seconds left.
Kenjaku let out a sigh as he stepped closer. Todo was struggling, but under the effect of the increased gravity, he could not move. He could barely even speak. The difficulty of using curse energy had multiplied, and he was unable to even use the strange teleportation he had used earlier.
Kenjaku walked up to him and slammed his leg down on the boy's back with a stomp that cracked the ground, followed by the breaking of cartilage and bone as he destroyed the boy's spine. The boy's scream of pain immediately cut off as Kenjaku pivoted and buried his feet in the side of the boy's face, knocking him out with a single blow.
Then he turned back to Yuji, who was staring in shock. "He's not dead, Itadori-kun, nor is he permanently injured. His injuries can be tended to by Ierie Shoko before the day ends, but we need to talk. Just the two of us."
"About what?" Yuji asked, his eyes drifting to where the other boy lay unconscious and broken. So Kenjaku hurriedly started speaking to distract him.
"About you, the sorcerer you've nesting in your guts. Your place in this school, in jujutsu society. Your wants, your needs, your dreams. You don't have to fight anymore, Yuji. This school, these people, they'll only use you. Even as you work and conspire with the Gojo's, their end goal for you still boils down to your sacrifice and them using you to end the threat of Sukuna for good."
Yuji's features hardened, and Kenjaku could tell he had made a mistake again. "I don't care about dying as long as it is a death that had meaning, a death to protect my friends and the world." His features softened. "Before my introduction into Jujutsu, I always thought I was special,but now I know I'm not. I've accepted my place as a cog in the machine, and I know what my purpose is. To rid the world of Sukuna for good."
"We don't want you to die!" Kenjaku hissed out with a desperate plea. Foreign emotions interfering with his, twisting his features from their state of eternal calm to anger. Giving the reins to Kaori Itadori came with its own consequence.
"You're not just a weapon or tool. We don't care about a good death. No matter what, you have to live, Itadori Yuji. Even should this world burn, you must live." With supreme willpower, he regained control, banishing those annoying feelings and despair. He dragged an arm over his face, forcefully calming himself.
"Please, Yuji-kun. Come with me."
Yuji's fists clenched. "Why would I? You hurt my friend and dodged his question. You're behind this, aren't you?"
Kenjaku's smile didn't waver. "Because my name is Kaori Itadori and I'm your mother, Yuji."
The words hung in the air, heavy. He could see as Yuji's breath hitched, his eyes widening as he took an instinctive step forward. Everything suddenly made sense. That sense of familiarity that the boy must've always felt. The vaguely similar features he would've tried to ignore. Kenjaku had been giving him pieces of the puzzle, but only now could he see as everything clicked in the boy's head.
He grinned internally, he had the boy in the palm of his hands now. Then all of a sudden, from above them, a voice cut in, it was dry and unimpressed.
"No, you're not."
Kenjaku's gaze flicked upward, and his expression tightened. Above him, a lone figure sat perched on the rooftop's edge, one leg swinging lazily over the side. Snow-white hair spilled down, contrasting against the black hakama and haori that draped over a lean frame. Three black tomoe spun languidly within a sea of crimson, eyes more inhuman than even the six eyes. Eyes that radiated so much negative curse energy. Eyes that stared at them with aloof detachment.
Gojo Jiki.
Kenjaku's smile faltered for the first time since he had launched his plans. "Well. This just got complicated."