Chapter 106: Choso
Inside a serene, Japanese-style meditation room at the Star Plasma Cult's headquarters, Toho Hiroshi knelt alone. The Prison Realm rested quietly on a low table in front of him, emitting faint, ominous Cursed Energy fluctuations.
He closed his eyes, as if meditating, or perhaps just waiting.
Footsteps approached from a distance, breaking the silence.
Without any obstruction, four figures appeared at the entrance of the meditation room.
It was Shoko, Yuta Okkotsu, Megumi Fushiguro, and Yuji Itadori. Clearly, Toho Hiroshi had already given instructions to allow their arrival.
Shoko was the first to walk in. She looked at Toho Hiroshi, her gaze complex, carrying a hint of imperceptible sorrow. "Toho, stop this. It's still not too late."
Toho Hiroshi slowly opened his eyes, his Rinnegan calm and unmoving.
"Stop? Shoko, tell me, what then? Watch this world gradually slide into a deeper abyss, and then repeat the cycle in the familiar pain and loss?"
"There must be another way!"
Shoko insisted, "There's no need to deny reality like this!"
"Another way?"
Toho Hiroshi gently shook his head. "Human history is a history of trying 'another way.' What was the result? Curses have never disappeared; instead, they've become more rampant in this era."
At this moment, Yuta Okkotsu stepped forward, his expression serious and firm. "Mr. Toho, regarding the eye of the moon plan, regarding the eternal dream you speak of... I think there's one person who would absolutely disagree."
Toho Hiroshi's gaze turned to him, seemingly already knowing what he was about to say.
"It's Rika."
Yuta Okkotsu stared intently into Toho Hiroshi's eyes. "The Rika you adopted as a child, watched her grow up little by little, and who now lives like an ordinary girl in the sunlight."
"She has experienced hardship, but she cherishes her current normalcy and reality even more. She would never be willing to live in a false dream! Have you asked for her will?"
At the mention of the name "Rika," the calm in Toho Hiroshi's eyes finally showed an extremely subtle ripple. He was silent for a moment before slowly speaking, his voice a few shades deeper: "It is precisely so that she, and countless others like her, never have to experience the nightmare she went through in her childhood again, that I must implement the Eye of the Moon."
"In the world of Infinite Tsukuyomi, she will always be happy, and she will never lose important people again, including you, Yuta."
"But that's not her!"
Yuta Okkotsu was somewhat agitated. "The real Rika would choose to face reality, no matter how cruel it is! What you're doing is erasing her existence!"
Toho Hiroshi did not directly refute him, but merely shifted his gaze, as if piercing through the walls to see the ordinary girl living in a distant city.
Had his secret visits all these years not been precisely to protect that 'normalcy' he wished to give to the whole world?
"Senior Toho."
Yuji Itadori's urgent voice cut in. He couldn't fully grasp the profound debate about reality and illusion; he had a more direct purpose. "Please, unseal Teacher Gojo Satoru first. As long as Teacher Gojo returns, things will definitely get better!"
"Whatever the conditions, I will agree to them, please."
He looked at Toho Hiroshi, his eyes pure and earnest, with the unique youthful glow of someone who believes all difficulties can be solved.
Toho Hiroshi's gaze fell on Itadori, carrying an indescribable deep meaning. "Conditions? Itadori, you don't even remember, but we met a long time ago. You and your grandfather are both very good people."
"As for Gojo Satoru..."
He glanced at the Prison Realm. "His power is indeed strong, but as I said, he cannot solve the root cause. However, unsealing him is not impossible."
He changed the subject, looking at the last visitor who had remained silent—Megumi Fushiguro.
"Megumi, your sister Tsumiki, is still asleep, isn't she?"
Megumi Fushiguro suddenly looked up, a flash of astonishment and hope in his eyes. "Yes. Do you... have a way to save her?"
He knew this man before him was unfathomable, and perhaps truly had a way.
"Long-term comas caused by curses are indeed tricky in modern medicine and conventional jujutsu."
Toho Hiroshi said calmly, "But not unsolvable. I can go see her, perhaps I can find a way to wake her up."
He paused, his gaze sweeping over the four people before him, and gave his response, which was not the direct answer any of them expected.
"You have brought your respective requests, and based on our past relationship, I will not ignore them."
"But the eye of the moon plan will not stop because of this."
He stood up and walked to the window, turning his back to them.
"Yuta, you said Rika wouldn't agree. Then, I will personally go see her and hear her thoughts—before the plan is implemented."
"Megumi, take me to see Tsumiki. In return, I will try to wake her up."
"As for Itadori, unsealing Gojo Satoru... before you fully understand the cruelty of this world and still insist on unsealing him, I can let you meet someone first."
He gently clapped his hands.
The side door of the meditation room slid open, and a tall man walked in, wearing the Akatsuki Organization's red cloud black robe, with a spiky, gravity-defying hairstyle and a black Cursed Mark on the bridge of his nose.
His aura was steady and powerful, but his eyes held a complex emotion, looking directly at Yuji Itadori.
"Allow me to introduce him."
Toho Hiroshi's voice was flat. "Choso. He is also your older brother, Yuji Itadori."
"What?!"
Yuji Itadori was completely stunned, looking at the man who was both strange and subtly familiar, his mind a blank.
Yuta Okkotsu and Megumi Fushiguro instantly became wary, while Shoko frowned tightly.
Choso looked at Itadori, the complexity in his eyes finally transforming into a gentle firmness. He spoke, "Yuji, my otouto."
This sudden recognition instantly disrupted Itadori's rhythm.
"Itadori, when did you get an older brother?"
Megumi Fushiguro couldn't help but press, "Why haven't I heard anything about it!"
"Huh? I have no idea!"
Yuji Itadori was bewildered, looking at the unfamiliar Choso. "Hey! What's going on with you? I don't have any memories of you in my head at all."
"To be precise..."
Toho Hiroshi slowly began, "Although Choso is your biological brother from different parents, you are both products of Kenjaku."
"Itadori, Kenjaku once possessed your mother's body and had you with your father."
"And Choso is a product conceived by Kenjaku, while possessing Kamo Noritoshi's body, using his own blood with human women and Cursed Spirits, which are the cursed womb: death paintings."
The meditation room fell into an eerie silence, with only Yuji Itadori's heavy breathing and the lingering echo of Choso's "otouto" reverberating in the air.
"Biological brothers from different parents?"
Megumi Fushiguro murmured, repeating the contradictory phrase, his gaze at Choso full of vigilance and confusion. "Products of Kenjaku?"
Yuta Okkotsu's hand was already on the hilt of his sword at his waist. Although he hadn't fully drawn it, Cursed Energy was already surging around him.
"Mr. Toho, what does this mean? Itadori and the cursed womb: death paintings..."
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