Chapter 68: The Truth Behind Geto Suguru's Defection
The battle deep within The Higher-Ups' headquarters, with its terrifying Cursed Energy fluctuations that nearly overturned the entire underground, was like a giant stone thrown into a calm lake; the ripples spread rapidly and could not be concealed.
Inside Tokyo Jujutsu High, everyone who had just experienced the shock of Geto Suguru's defection was instantly alarmed by this anomaly emanating from the core of power.
"This direction... is The Higher-Ups' headquarters?"
Yaga Masamichi suddenly stood up, his face drastically changing. "This Cursed Energy is Toho's! And there's another extremely ancient and evil aura."
The ash from Ieiri Shoko's cigarette tip fell to the ground. She looked towards the mountains where The Higher-Ups' headquarters were located, her eyes filled with worry: "What has he done now?"
And the most intense reaction, naturally, came from Gojo Satoru.
Almost the instant the fluctuations arrived, his Six Eyes had already captured the familiar yet strangely wild Cursed Energy signature—belonging to Toho Hiroshi, but deeper and colder than ever before, as if containing the majesty of life and death, of Rinnegan.
And, the ancient Cursed Energy that was fiercely clashing with it, full of gore and brutality.
"This idiot!"
Gojo Satoru cursed under his breath, his figure instantly vanishing from his spot, using only Cursed Technique Lapse: Blue for instantaneous movement, rushing towards The Higher-Ups' headquarters at top speed.
When he violently broke through the outer Barrier and forced his way into the council hall, which had become a ruin, and followed the strongest fluctuation traces to the entrance of the underground secret chamber, this is what he saw.
Toho Hiroshi stood alone amidst the wreckage, a lingering, heart-palpitating pressure emanating from him.
The scarlet blade in his hand was slowly returning to its sheath, a fleeting dark red glow on the blade carrying a satiated ferocity.
The secret chamber floor was covered with deep pits and cracks, and the walls bore terrifying impact marks and the lingering embers of black flames that had not yet completely extinguished.
The air was mixed with a strong smell of blood, charring, and an indescribable residue of ancient Cursed Energy that had been forcibly dispersed.
Most shocking of all, in the center of the ground, several ominous black rods were pinning a 'thing'—barely recognizable as humanoid, but severely damaged and constantly emitting an ominous black-red aura—firmly to the ground. The thing was still twitching slightly, radiating extreme pain and despair.
And Toho Hiroshi, at this moment, slowly turned his head.
In his left eye, the purple Rinnegan with its circular ripples had not yet completely faded, cold and indifferent, as if a god looking down on the mortal world, causing Gojo Satoru's Six Eyes to feel an unprecedented strong stimulation and oppressive sensation.
"Toho!"
Gojo Satoru's voice carried incredible shock and anger. "What the hell are you doing?! All that mess outside, did you do it?"
He was referring to the bodies of the elders and guards in the council hall.
Toho Hiroshi's gaze calmly met Gojo Satoru's. The Rinnegan in his left eye slowly receded from purple, returning to deep black, but the cold sense of distance did not disappear with it.
"As you can see, just cleaning up trash."
His voice was devoid of emotion, as if merely stating a fact.
"Cleaning up trash? You call this cleaning up trash!"
Gojo Satoru almost laughed in exasperation. He pointed at Oni Yamagao pinned to the ground, then gestured outside. "Do you know who you killed? Those are The Higher-Ups! You're declaring war on the entire Jujutsu World's order!"
"Order?"
Toho Hiroshi's lips curved into a cold arc, his smile full of sarcasm. "Satoru, is the order you speak of defined by those rotten, stinking fools who only hide in the gutters, playing power games and sacrificing young Jujutsu Sorcerers to maintain their own positions?"
"This twisted, corrupt order cannot protect those who truly need protection; it only constantly creates tragedies, driving people like Geto to a dead end!"
"If we want to thoroughly change this Jujutsu World that is rotten to its core, severing this disgusting old order is the necessary first step."
Gojo Satoru's Six Eyes behind his sunglasses stared fixedly at Toho Hiroshi: "Is that your reason? For Geto? Or for your so-called 'change'? Do you know the consequences of doing this?!"
"Consequences?"
Toho Hiroshi took a step forward, his aura pressing down on Gojo Satoru like a mountain, dark currents surging in his deep eyes. "The consequence is that from today onwards, I will define the new rules. As for The Higher-Ups? If they are smart, they should learn to shut up and pray they don't become the next target to be cleaned up."
"You're insane!"
Gojo Satoru roared, pale blue Cursed Energy beginning to boil around him, Limitless Cursed Technique poised to strike. "I can't let you act so recklessly."
Just as the atmosphere between the two became tense, as if a monumental clash was about to erupt the next second.
Toho Hiroshi suddenly changed the subject, his tone becoming solemn: "Moreover, Satoru, do you think Geto's defection was really just his problem alone?"
Gojo Satoru's condensed Cursed Energy paused slightly: "What do you mean?"
"I investigated that village."
Toho Hiroshi's left eye narrowed slightly, the Rinnegan patterns faintly visible, as if tracing back certain clues. "The 112 villagers Geto killed."
His voice turned bone-chillingly cold: "Traces of extremely subtle, yet highly consistent Cursed Technique modifications remained in all of their brains. Their consciousnesses were tampered with, their emotions extremely amplified—fear, hatred, xenophobia..."
"All hostility towards Jujutsu Sorcerers was the result of meticulous design and guidance."
Gojo Satoru's pupils suddenly contracted: "What did you say?"
"In other words."
Toho Hiroshi spoke each word distinctly, like a cold hammer striking Gojo Satoru's heart, "The 'ignorance and evil of the villagers' that Geto saw was, to a large extent, a'script' deliberately manufactured and presented to him."
"His defection, the blood on his hands, was very likely a meticulously planned conspiracy by someone hidden in the shadows, right from the start."
The air in the secret chamber instantly solidified.
The anger and confusion on Gojo Satoru's face were gradually replaced by immense shock.
If Toho Hiroshi was telling the truth, it meant that Geto Suguru's tragedy was manipulated from its very root.
"Who is it?"
Gojo Satoru's voice deepened, the boiling pale blue Cursed Energy around him not dissipating, but becoming even more condensed and dangerous—a sign of extreme rage after his inverse scale had been touched.
Toho Hiroshi slowly shook his head, the Rinnegan patterns in his left eye subtly shifting, as if analyzing invisible, lingering clues.
"The traces were handled very cleanly, with ancient and bizarre methods, almost integrated with the brain's physiological structure itself. If not for these eyes seeing deeper things, I would not have been able to detect it at all."
He paused, his voice carrying a cold certainty.
"To achieve this level, to refine a Cursed Technique to the point of altering consciousness, weaving emotions, and simultaneously affecting hundreds of people in a village, or even subtly influencing them much earlier—this is absolutely not something an ordinary Jujutsu Sorcerer or Cursed Spirit can do."
"This requires time, knowledge, and malice and patience far beyond this era, accumulated over hundreds or even thousands of years."
He did not utter the name—Kenjaku.
The Curse User who had wandered in the shadows for a millennium, with stitch marks on his brain.
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