Itadori Wasuke had a very good impression of his attending physician, Nosaka Locke.
He had clearly stated that he didn't need extra care, yet the other party still took care of him from time to time, treating him like a grumpy, stubborn, lonely old man.
To be honest, he couldn't think of any other reason besides coveting his inheritance. But considering the other party's social status and income, along with his own meager inheritance, that seemed unrealistic.
So he was very curious why the other party cared so much about an old man like him.
Thinking he was about to die, he didn't want to hesitate any longer and asked directly.
"Locke, kid, I'm already a dying man, so I'll say it straight: why did you approach me?"
Faced with the old man's almost pleading question, Locke took a pear from the plastic bag on the bedside table, skillfully took out a knife, and began to peel it before slowly revealing his purpose.
"As for me, I had a purpose in choosing to approach you from the very beginning. I won't deny that. It's mainly because of your grandson, Yuji Itadori."
As soon as he heard the other party mention his grandson, Itadori Wasuke immediately became alert, but the other's frank behavior made it difficult for him to stay guarded.
"What do you mean, you have designs on my grandson? Are you...?"
"That child has a problem. His talent is terrifyingly high, but it's mixed with an extremely subtle, hard-to-detect evil aura. So one of his parents must have a serious issue."
After stating his opinion, Locke handed the peeled pear to the other party. Itadori Wasuke was surprised to find that the pear looked very smooth, with no traces of knife carving, not at all like a human masterpiece.
"However, no matter how I think about it, the problem isn't with Mr. Itadori or your son. So the only explanation is that Yuji's mother has a problem. Combined with the time we've spent together, I'm even more certain of this guess."
Itadori Wasuke, holding honey water in one hand and a pear in the other, thought of that woman, and his heart was filled with intense unease.
His daughter-in-law was clearly dead, and the person with stitches on her head was not at all the person he knew, but merely a monster occupying a magpie's nest.
"What do you know?"
A brief silence fell over the hospital room. Locke rubbed his chin and thought for a moment, not directly answering Itadori Wasuke's question, but slowly recounting his own life experience.
"Mr. Itadori, you raised your grandson with your own hands. You should know that when a child turns three, he gradually organizes his scattered thoughts and establishes the most basic cognitive system of the world."
Itadori Wasuke was old, so he naturally understood the deeper meaning of Locke's words. Every child is born like a blank sheet of paper, and his parents are his first teachers, teaching him to see everything around him little by little.
From learning to eat and sleep on time, to calling for adults' help when encountering problems, and so on—children can gradually transform from ignorant young beasts into real human beings.
To be honest, it reminded him of Yuji as a child—never crying or causing trouble, obedient and well-behaved. Even though he knew this was the child born from that woman, he still didn't want to look at his grandson with strange eyes.
"But I'm different."
Locke's voice grew softer, with a hint of seriousness.
"Other children are new to the world, but I feel like I'm reuniting with an old friend I haven't seen in a long time, seeing everything in this world again. Because for me, everything before me is like something I remember in my memory."
Locke's serious expression, combined with the intriguing meaning in his words, made Itadori Wasuke fully confirm the judgment in his heart: this man was no ordinary person.
The hint between his words was completely obvious, as if he was clearly telling him that he was like a legendary god, born with extraordinary wisdom and transparent thinking.
"Actually, I realized my uniqueness very early on." Locke's voice was calm, but carried an indescribable weight. "From time to time, other people's memories surface in my mind. Sometimes a ninja hiding in the shadows, sometimes a martial artist pursuing a strong enemy, sometimes a king who has nothing, sometimes a guy who calls himself a madman."
"And among these chaotic fragments, the one that reflects and impresses me most deeply is the past life of a samurai who wandered the world."
Itadori Wasuke frowned and asked in a deep voice: "What do you mean? Are you trying to say you're a legendary god?"
Facing the old man's doubts, Locke, as usual, recited a Sanskrit scripture.
"Ignorance depends on action, action depends on knowledge, knowledge depends on name and form, name and form depend on the six senses, the six senses depend on contact, contact leads to feeling, feeling leads to craving, craving leads to attachment, attachment leads to existence, existence leads to birth, birth leads to old age and death, sorrow and suffering are gathered."
After a long wait with no response, Locke realized the other party didn't understand at all, so he explained:
"...Only through practice and enlightenment can sentient beings escape reincarnation and achieve nirvana. That is the concept of Buddhism."
"The souls of people in this world are locked in this reincarnation, tossing and turning with life and death, rushing from one shell to another, finally becoming a completely new existence, rising and floating in the endless cycle of reincarnation, unable to break free."
"Yet I am not within the cause and effect of this reincarnation, but always within the wave of this reincarnation."
"You asked me if I am a god. I answered that I don't know. I have also tried to find the answer, and have devoted myself to religion for the sake of self-discovery."
"Shinto calls me a natural gift. Buddhism considers me a living Buddha. Taoism says I have unraveled the mystery within the womb. Christianity praises me as a living saint. Hinduism says I am a wise man who unites Brahma with myself."
After a pause, Locke looked at Itadori Wasuke, whose eyes were full of confusion and shock, and asked with a heavy gaze:
"So, Mr. Itadori, who do you think I am?"
Itadori Wasuke was stunned, completely at a loss for how to answer the "doctor" before him. He only now realized that what had happened in their family might be far more serious than he had imagined.
Faced with something he couldn't understand, Itadori Wasuke decided to make decisions in the most skilled manner.
"Prove it to me."
Locke was momentarily stunned and looked at the old man before him, who refused to admit defeat, as if asking.
"If what you say is true, then you also have special abilities, like them. Whatever you want, you have to ask me first. So first prove it to me, then we'll talk about other things."
As soon as he said this, Locke laughed, ran his right hand across his forehead, and said:
"As you wish. Domain Expansion: Half."
In the next second, Locke, with the charm of a mature man, vanished, replaced by a middle-aged man in traditional samurai attire from Japan's Sengoku period.
As soon as he opened his mouth, he introduced himself to Itadori Wasuke in an extremely encouraging voice:
"If this is the form, then I need to introduce myself again."
"A humble man. Nishida Koshūro Kagetatsu."
"I was a wanderer who killed demons and destroyed evil."