At this moment, Tamamo-no-Mae was making her final preparations within the barrier.
If given just one more day, she would complete her control over the Cursed Spirits.
Once control was established, lower-grade Cursed Spirits would follow the actions of higher-grade ones under their pressure.
Cursed Spirits of Grade 1 and above would obey the commands of strong individuals who had been resurrected through Incarnation and possessed combat experience.
The remaining Incarnated individuals would be organized into elite squads, serving as the vanguard to break formations.
In this way, a simple command system was formed.
While it couldn't allow for refined deployment or tactics, Tamamo-no-Mae intended to crush everything with overwhelming brute force, relying on the qualitative shift created through sheer numbers.
In the era she once lived, there was no one who could stand against such might.
"Soon. Very soon. My revenge will destroy the Fujiwara clan and sweep across this country…"
While Tamamo-no-Mae focused on commanding the Cursed Spirits, the others were not idle.
Under Takako and Dhruv's leadership, multiple outposts were established within the barrier.
"Ah~ ha."
A lazy, bun-haired young man let out a big yawn.
"Don't slack off, Ito."
Suzuki, standing guard with him, gave him a light slap on the head.
"It's fine. My Shikigami are on patrol. If anyone shows up, they'll alert us."
After speaking, Ito sat cross-legged, resting his cheek against his hand, spacing out.
Suzuki shook his head and continued maintaining vigilance.
Not far from the two, several stealth-type Shikigami had already arrived near their location.
"Two people found. Should we eliminate them?"
"Don't alert the enemy. Complete intelligence confirmation first."
"Understood."
Near Naobito, a reconnaissance team from Jujutsu Headquarters was steadily advancing.
As intel continued to come in, the sand table grew larger and increasingly detailed.
The floor plan of the area gradually came into view.
"The room mentioned in the report has been found. Preparing to infiltrate."
Suddenly, a large face appeared in front of one of the sorcerers, startling him into a cold sweat.
More accurately, it appeared in front of the Shikigami he was controlling.
He had just been sharing its vision.
"Not good!"
The large face twisted into a cruel grin, then opened its gaping maw and bit down.
The man's Shikigami was torn in half before it could escape.
"Ha... ha..."
The man was drenched in cold sweat.
Watching himself be eaten through shared vision was a deeply unpleasant experience.
Worse still, he had lost a Shikigami.
"You okay?"
A teammate nearby quickly stepped in with concern.
"I'm... fine. I found a target. The rest is up to you."
"No problem. Leave it to me."
Inside the barrier, a hunched old man was chewing on the chameleon-like Shikigami.
"Blegh, disgusting taste."
The old man wore a red coat, and his eyes were pitch black with crimson pupils, making him look like a menacing little demon.
"What's wrong, old man?"
"We've got visitors."
He tossed the mangled Shikigami at his companion.
"Ugh, gross! Don't throw it at me!"
The companion angrily pushed the chewed-up Shikigami away.
"I'll report the situation. You keep watch."
With that, the man turned and walked deeper into the barrier.
"Don't worry. Not even a fly's getting past this old man."
The elder grinned cruelly as his crimson eyes began to glow.
His eyes not only allowed him to see in the dark as clearly as in daylight but also revealed the color of Cursed Energy.
That was how he spotted the camouflaged chameleon Shikigami.
Though its Cursed Energy was suppressed for stealth, it still couldn't escape his vision.
"Oh my, how lively. So many have come."
In his field of view, dozens of faint auras appeared.
Those were the hidden Shikigami and Jujutsu Sorcerers, cloaked with various concealment techniques.
The old man drew a jitte from behind him.
A jitte was a weapon used in ancient Japan to counter swords. Besides the main shaft, it had two or three prongs near the crossguard to catch and block blades.
Smoker from One Piece used an oversized version.
As the old man attacked, one by one, the hidden Shikigami were forced to reveal themselves.
Spiders, stone-like beetles, snakes... A tanuki-shaped Shikigami suddenly leapt out and transformed into a giant maw, biting at the old man.
"Heh, a tanuki's transformation technique? Cheap tricks like that won't scare this old man."
He stabbed his jitte forward.
The mouth formed by the tanuki turned into smoke and vanished.
"Just this level..."
Feeling triumphant, the old man suddenly felt a wave of dizziness.
"Not good... this is... poison..."
He slowly collapsed to the ground.
The remaining Shikigami scattered, swiftly resuming reconnaissance inside the barrier.
Outside the barrier, several Shikigami that had been buried in sand were also destroyed simultaneously.
Since they had already been exposed, there was no longer any need to waste Cursed Energy restraining them.
The priority now was to verify the intelligence as quickly as possible and retreat.
"I found 13 gates here. These could be the barriers mentioned in the report that seal Cursed Spirits."
"I found 15."
"I have 17 here."
...One report after another was transmitted back, and the sand table continued to take shape.
The recorder picked up a camera and began photographing the sand table non-stop.
The operation within the barrier had been discovered, and intelligence gathering could be cut off at any moment.
He had to take pictures ahead of time to prevent any sudden accidents from leaving the latest intel undocumented.
A slug-like Shikigami clung to a door.
It secreted mucus that corroded a small hole.
The slug moved aside, and a vision-sharing Shikigami crawled into the opening.
Inside, countless crimson, resentful eyes immediately locked onto the tiny intruder.
"Gulp."
The girl sharing vision with the Shikigami felt her scalp tingle as fear gripped her.
"Intelligence... confirmed. A massive number of Cursed Spirits are sealed behind the doors."
Naobito Zen'in listened intently to the constant stream of reports.
His expression grew heavier.
He knew what this meant.
The worst-case scenario Jujutsu Headquarters had feared was now reality.
"Wah!"
"Ugh!"
"What the hell is that thing!"
Suddenly, shouts of panic erupted behind Naobito.
Several Jujutsu Sorcerers lost their Shikigami in rapid succession.
One particularly resilient Shikigami managed to transmit a final image before its destruction—an old man.
"That's Dhruv. The Special Grade fighter Dhruv mentioned in the report."
It turned out Dhruv had summoned his own Shikigami and activated his Domain.
Within his Domain, the guaranteed-hit effect allowed him to instantly eliminate every enemy Shikigami covered by his Domain inside the barrier.
(To be continued.)