Chapter 97 — Cursed Spirit Manipulation
"Ah—ah—ah…"
Mahito's mouth hung open; for a long moment he couldn't form words. His pupils were vacant, unfocused. He simply couldn't accept that a person's soul could be dominated by the body that contains it.
Zen'in Shinsuke watched Mahito collapse and, after a pause, didn't prolong the torment.
He lifted his right hand slowly and slashed like a katana across Mahito's neck.
Swoosh!
A head flew away, tumbled across the rubble, and was promptly stepped on.
The headless Mahito looked up at the man standing on his skull; a faint light kindled in his eyes.
"Geto!"
The newcomer was none other than the mastermind behind the Shibuya incident — Kenjaku, the one controlling Geto's body. He smiled down at Mahito and asked gently, "Mahito, do you want me to save you?"
"Geto?" Yuji raced over from a distance in a blind fury. "You're the one who sealed Gojo? Bastard—give him back!"
Yuji swung to strike Kenjaku, but Kenjaku kept one foot planted on Mahito's head and made a twisting motion with a handful of shadow.
A huge carp-like maw opened on the ground and swallowed Yuji whole.
Clap!
Yuji felt weight vanish for an instant and then found himself sitting hard on the ground; the carp was gone.
"What the—?" Yuji stared around, bewildered.
"You only feel like you fell," Kenjaku said calmly to Yuji. "To everyone else, you simply tripped where you were standing."
Kenjaku began to explain the power behind his technique. "The strength of Cursed Spirit Manipulation lies in its adaptability. It lets me control multiple grade-1 (and near-grade-1) curses at once. Even if one of their techniques gets exposed or countered, it doesn't matter."
He spoke plainly, showing how the method works. "Unless you kill me before I summon my spirits, you can't stop it."
Each controlled spirit holds different techniques; the system doesn't depend on secrecy. If the enemy learns one trick, Kenjaku simply swaps in another spirit and continues the fight.
Yuji got up and charged Kenjaku again. A huge mouth opened at his feet, but this time Yuji leapt high and tried to strike. As he flew in, a black mass erupted before him — countless green centipedes poured out and wrapped him up, forcing him to fall straight into the carp's maw again.
He hit the ground once more.
Just as Kenjaku said: Cursed Spirit Manipulation doesn't care if you see through one form — there are always replacements.
"What is this thing?!" Yuji ripped off the centipedes clinging to him and glared at Kenjaku.
"Had I concentrated my forces at Shinjuku and Kyoto instead of spreading them out, I wouldn't have lost to Okkotsu," Kenjaku said to Zen'in with a smile. "You'd have seen how strong I was back then, right, Mr. Zen'in?"
"Maybe," Zen'in shrugged, then shoved Mahito's body toward Kenjaku with a flick of his foot. Zen'in didn't care to debate who was stronger between Geto and Okkotsu — he was just pleased with the gift last year.
Kenjaku caught Mahito's body and looked over at Yuji, who knelt on the ground with a fierce glare. "You're remarkably tenacious. I'll give you that."
He activated Cursed Spirit Manipulation and focused on the living Mahito. Huge currents of cursed energy piled up, and Kenjaku tried to compress Mahito into submission.
"Aaaaahhhh—!"
Mahito writhed and screamed as his body stretched, then was squeezed into a luminous blue glass orb.
Holding that little glass sphere, Kenjaku addressed Yuji as if lecturing a student. "Let's talk about the world to come."
"You know the 'Gokujōban'—the ultimate move for many techniques, aside from Domain Expansions? For Cursed Spirit Manipulation, the Gokujōban is the Vortex. It fuses the absorbed spirits into one concentrated mass of cursed energy and smashes the enemy."
Kenjaku's voice softened for a moment, almost nostalgic. "I never thought I'd act like a sorcerer, but here we are."
He continued, leaning in as he explained the Vortex's true utility: "At first I dismissed the Vortex because it sacrifices the multiplicity of Cursed Spirit Manipulation. But I was wrong. When used against a grade-1 spirit, the Vortex can extract that spirit's technique."
…
As Kenjaku spoke, he lifted the glass orb of condensed cursed energy that had once been Mahito—then, without hesitation, swallowed it whole.
Zen'in Shinsuke blinked, momentarily impressed despite himself.
He'd heard enough about Mahito's essence to know that swallowing him must taste like licking a rag soaked in vomit.
And yet Kenjaku's expression didn't change in the slightest—he gulped it down as if it were water.
Guess this bastard's been eating things like that for a while now, Shinsuke thought with mild disgust.
Sensing multiple signatures approaching, Shinsuke quietly stepped back a few paces, stopping near the wounded Todo.
Kenjaku, of course, noticed immediately.
He could feel it—the noose tightening around him.
"Really now," he murmured, amusement curling in his voice. "You think I wouldn't notice being surrounded?"
His eyes drifted upward—Momo Nishimiya hovered in the air above, broom glinting with cursed energy as she locked onto his position.
An instant later, arrows rained from the sky, their tips glowing with concentrated jujutsu power.
Kenjaku didn't bother to dodge. He simply raised a hand and flicked one arrow aside with casual precision.
Bang!
Before he could even comment, a bullet whistled through the air, aimed straight for his head.
"Modern weapons?" he said, sounding almost delighted. "Ah, I've always supported using firearms against sorcerers—an efficient modernization of the art."
He caught the bullet between his fingers, turning it slightly. The metal shimmered faintly with cursed energy.
"Aha… reinforced with cursed power. How clever."
"Shin'in-ryū!"
"Draw—cut!"
More attacks came—flashes of steel and sound—and still, Kenjaku's expression never faltered.
He caught one blade barehanded, fingers tightening with effortless strength until the metal cracked apart like glass.
After all, whether it was Kenjaku himself or the body he inhabited—Geto Suguru—both were masters of close combat, unparalleled among jujutsu sorcerers.
Even with Kyoto Jujutsu High's top students launching a coordinated ambush, Kenjaku wasn't caught off guard.
From behind him, Miwa Kasumi froze mid-step, eyes widening as Kenjaku turned toward her with a smile that didn't reach his eyes.
"Gokujōban — Vortex."
A colossal whirlpool of cursed energy spiraled open behind him, its core writhing with the distorted shadow of Mahito's form. Countless spectral arms shot outward, reaching for Miwa like grasping specters.
Then—flash!—a blade of pure speed cut through the whirlpool.
Someone intercepted, slicing open the Vortex and pulling Miwa out of its grasp.
"Ah… Shin'in-ryū, is it? Finally, someone with proper technique."
"Sensei Kusakabe!" Miwa called out breathlessly.
The rescuer was none other than Kusakabe, arriving just in time—followed closely by other reinforcements.
Utahime Iori also appeared, clearly having been forced to the front lines.
"Utahime-sensei, you're not supposed to be here!" Nishimiya shouted from above. "You can't do anything in close combat anyway!"
"What was I supposed to do, stay behind alone?!" Utahime snapped back, exasperated.
Meanwhile, Riko Amanai steadied her massive sniper rifle, cursed energy gathering at the muzzle until it hummed like thunder.
"Whoever you are," she said coldly, "hand over Gojo-sensei—and get out of Geto's body!"
At that same moment, more sorcerers who had been finishing up exorcising curses across Shibuya began converging on the scene.
"Zen'in-sensei, are you alright?" Hakkari Kinji and Kirara Hoshi landed beside Shinsuke. "So this guy—this knockoff Geto—is the one who sealed Gojo-sensei?"
One by one, others arrived: Night Moth, Shoko Ieiri, Naobito Zen'in, Nanami Kento, Maki, Fushiguro Megumi…
Together, they formed a tightening ring around Kenjaku—the air vibrating with cursed energy and intent.
The mastermind of Shibuya was surrounded at last.