(150 Power Stone Bonus)
Chapter 27: The Curtain
An in-battle level up is practically the standard equipment for any true protagonist.
At this moment, even though Yuta Okkotsu wasn't technically the protagonist, he was standing out far more than one ever could.
The Pure Love Warrior truly feared nothing.
In the end, Suguru Geto had lost to Yuta Okkotsu simply because he had scattered a massive number of Cursed Spirits across other battlefields. Left heavily wounded, his right arm was completely obliterated.
Naturally, he didn't give Yuta Okkotsu a single chance to counterattack, choosing instead to make his escape through the narrow alleyways.
And as fate would have it, right in the middle of his flight, he crossed paths with his best friend, Satoru Gojo, and was ultimately executed by Gojo's own hands.
Even after Satoru Gojo took Suguru Geto's life, he didn't destroy the body. This critical oversight allowed Kenjaku to seize the opportunity, slip into Suguru Geto's corpse, and hijack both his physical form and his abilities.
But in this crossover world, Suguru Geto's destiny had taken a massive turn.
When Kazuma Yumesaki defeated Satoru Gojo earlier, he had extracted Gojo's memories and discovered something highly intriguing involving Gojo's past actions.
The Suguru Geto of this world had indeed successfully overthrown the Star Religious Group and installed himself as the organization's leader.
However, not long after that, he was soundly defeated by a mysterious individual and demoted to the rank of vice-leader of the Star Religious Group.
By combining those details with Mahito's memories, Yumesaki managed to piece together the exact trajectory of Suguru Geto's journey in this reality.
The Suguru Geto here never launched the Night Parade of a Hundred Demons after taking over the Star Religious Group. Or rather, before he could even set the Night Parade of a Hundred Demons into motion, he had already been crushed by that mysterious figure.
That enigmatic person became the true leader of the Star Religious Group, while Geto was relegated to serving as the vice-leader.
Whether he accepted the vice-leader position out of sheer coercion or willing submission, it proved one clear fact.
Suguru Geto had a boss, and he was constantly being watched.
Without the explicit permission of the Star Religious Group's leader, Suguru Geto could not, and dared not, unleash the Night Parade of a Hundred Demons.
Because of this, the Suguru Geto of this world was never defeated by Yuta Okkotsu, nor was he executed by Satoru Gojo.
He was still very much alive and well.
Consequently, Kenjaku hadn't stolen Suguru Geto's body either, meaning he wasn't running around controlling the corpse to sow chaos everywhere.
Yet, what made things fascinating was that Jogo and Mahito had still crossed paths with Suguru Geto anyway.
And subsequently, they were thoroughly subjugated by him.
Suguru Geto's Innate Technique was called Cursed Spirit Manipulation—a technique that allowed him to absorb conquered Cursed Spirits to use as his own personal assets, controlling them completely at will.
This particular style of Jujutsu required absolutely no physical medium whatsoever, and it could be deployed utilizing nothing but the Cursed Energy inherent to the controlled Cursed Spirits themselves.
Based on the official grade conversion rules, when the difference in grade between him and the target is two levels or higher, the entire subjugation process can be bypassed entirely, meaning the Cursed Spirit can be acquired unconditionally.
In the original timeline, the total number of Cursed Spirits Suguru Geto possessed before his death exceeded four thousand.
Furthermore, it was worth noting that the sole reason Suguru Geto lost to the Pure Love Warrior Yuta Okkotsu in the original story was entirely because he had scattered his Cursed Spirits across multiple locations.
If Suguru Geto hadn't done that back then, he undoubtedly possessed the sheer strength required to defeat Yuta Okkotsu.
Therefore, it was hardly a difficult task for Suguru Geto to overpower Mahito and Jogo, forcing them to become his followers.
Even if Mahito and Jogo hated admitting it, there was no denying that they were indeed being controlled by Suguru Geto.
Aside from Mahito and Jogo, several other Special Grade Cursed Spirits from the original plot line—specifically Hanami and Dagon—were actually acting as Suguru Geto's subordinates, strictly bound under his control.
The reason Suguru Geto controlled them was simple: he wanted to harness the power of these Cursed Spirits to overthrow the leader of the Star Religious Group.
He wanted to reclaim the Star Religious Group from the opposing party's hands.
Unfortunately, even with multiple Special Grade Cursed Spirits under his command, Suguru Geto still didn't dare to challenge that leader directly.
The enemy's power was simply too unpredictable. Even with several Special Grade Cursed Spirits at his disposal, Suguru Geto still lacked the confidence necessary to take down that mysterious leader.
After piecing all of this together, Yumesaki's only takeaway was that Suguru Geto was far too cowardly.
You actually had the nerve to send people to look for trouble with me, yet you're too terrified to challenge the leader of the Star Religious Group.
Because of this, Yumesaki decided it was time to put a little pressure on Suguru Geto.
While he didn't particularly care for fighting and killing, the other side had already come looking for him. If he didn't strike back now, the opposition would assume he was acting out of fear.
This pressure absolutely had to be delivered.
Having made his choice, Yumesaki immediately copied Mahito's Idle Transfiguration, intending to disguise himself as Mahito so he could bring Jogo—who had been reduced to a ball—back to report to Suguru Geto.
As for the real Mahito, his soul had already been utterly shattered by Yumesaki and turned into pure nourishment to feed Mahoraga.
Thanks to Mahito's contribution, Mahoraga's power had shot up by several levels. That was definitely something worth celebrating.
Medea understood the sheer extent of Yumesaki's current power perfectly, so she wasn't worried in the slightest about his plan to masquerade as Mahito to meet Suguru Geto. With a fool like Suguru Geto, it was basically impossible for him to see through Yumesaki's disguise anyway.
Besides, even if the disguise did get blown, it wouldn't be a big deal, considering Suguru Geto wouldn't necessarily be able to win against Yumesaki in a fight.
Nero, on the other hand, couldn't wrap her head around why Yumesaki was bothering with this at all. With their current strength, they could easily launch a direct, open assault and completely obliterate the enemy right then and there.
Resorting to disguises and surprise attacks now—didn't that just diminish their dignity?
Yumesaki tapped his own forehead, "Now that you mention it, I suppose it does."
He gave it some serious thought; with his level of power, there really was absolutely no need to use a disguise when he could just attack the opponent out in the open. He wasn't the type of person who enjoyed playing mind games with others anyway.
I must have been having a temporary lapse in judgment.
After quietly scolding himself, Yumesaki decisively tossed Jogo over to Mahoraga as food, making Mahoraga even stronger.
Then, full of energy, he led Medea and Nero straight toward the enemy's location.
Yumesaki had already extracted Suguru Geto's exact, pinpoint coordinates from Mahito's memories moments ago.
The location turned out to be a shrine in Tokyo dedicated to the Inari Deity. Because this shrine was incredibly effective, incense offerings were abundant on regular days, with even high-ranking officials and wealthy individuals frequently coming to pray.
However, not many people knew that this shrine was actually one of the core assets belonging to the Star Religious Group.
The real reason incense offerings were so abundant here was simply because the people running the place actually possessed genuine supernatural abilities.
Right now, this shrine had fallen into Suguru Geto's hands, and he was managing it exceptionally well.
By the time Yumesaki arrived at the shrine, the main gates were tightly shut, and the entire surrounding area was pitched in darkness, without a single streetlamp or candle flickering in the vicinity.
The massive shrine sat hiding within the deep shadows of the night, utterly silent, radiating an inexplicable, bone-chilling aura.
It felt as though if someone were to take a single step inside, they would never be able to come out again.
Yumesaki could clearly see that the entire shrine had been enveloped by a layer of black sludge flowing down from the sky. This phenomenon was known as a Curtain, which was a fundamental Barrier Technique used in Jujutsu Kaisen.
This barrier didn't just block network signals; it could also warp human perception. Any ordinary person looking toward the Curtain would completely overlook the abnormalities occurring inside. For that reason, Curtains were typically erected by Jujutsu High personnel to cover up incident sites.
"Why do you think Suguru Geto activated this thing?"
Yumesaki felt a bit curious, turning his head to ask Medea. Even though he had already killed Mahito and Jogo, as the master of those two Cursed Spirits, Suguru Geto had most likely realized they were dead by now.
However, Suguru Geto had no way of knowing that Yumesaki could read memories, let alone use them to track down his location.
So why did he activate this thing entirely on his own?
If it was out of caution, why hadn't he just run away immediately?
"Perhaps he simply wants to meet you, but is afraid of affecting the surrounding population, so he voluntarily raised this barrier with the intention of settling things with you inside."
Medea thought it over carefully; perhaps only this explanation made any actual sense.
Yumesaki observed the surrounding environment and felt that Medea's words held merit. Even though this shrine was built atop a mountain peak, its location wasn't entirely isolated. It enjoyed a quiet atmosphere amidst a bustling area, with a noisy city and a complex neighborhood sitting right at the foot of the mountain.
If a battle truly broke out, it would definitely shock the local populace. Activating a barrier to avoid disturbing outsiders and ensure tomorrow's daily life went uninterrupted was a solid method.
He actually has a brain.
Yumesaki offered a quick word of praise, then led Medea and Nero inside, walking with his head held high.
Swoosh!
The very instant the three of them stepped past the barrier, they heard a sharp, whistling sound as the air itself was torn apart.
Looking up, a streak of light came crashing down from the heavens. The enemy had actually chosen to launch a preemptive strike. Their timing was absolutely flawless, leaving Yumesaki and the others zero room to dodge or react.
However, the enemy had still vastly underestimated Yumesaki's group. As the light—which packed enough force to pierce straight through solid steel—closed in on Yumesaki, its speed slowed down drastically, until it ground to a complete halt right in front of him.
Cursed Technique: Infinity.
This was the ability Yumesaki had copied from Satoru Gojo, and he was putting it to use at the perfect moment. He blocked the enemy's assault with absolute calm. That tiny, infinitesimal distance felt like an uncrossable chasm.
At the exact same moment, Medea raised her hand, causing layer upon layer of Magic Circles to deploy, locking onto the enemy who had initiated the attack. A barrage of magical bullets that literally blotted out the sky was unleashed, giving the foe absolutely no chance to evade.
This is what you call returning a favor.
The individual who had just attacked Yumesaki was the Special Grade Cursed Spirit Hanami, a Cursed Spirit born from humanity's collective hatred and fear of forests. The appearance of this creature was just as abstract as Jogo's.
Despite having a generally human-like silhouette, the tree branches growing straight out of its eye sockets made anyone who looked at it knit their brows in disgust.
Yumesaki silently thought to himself that if he ever looked like that, he'd rather just die.
Fortunately, Hanami wasn't human; she didn't care about her looks, and she had no intention of dying. Seeing the sky filled with magical bullets, she instinctively leaped backward.
A series of thunderous explosions roared out, and the ground where she had been standing just a moment ago instantly shattered, leaving behind massive, irregular craters.
Seeing her attack get dodged, Medea didn't mind at all, because a whole new wave of attacks was already on the way. The magical bullets filling the sky pursued Hanami relentlessly. The shadow of death clipped Hanami's heels tightly, forcing her to keep moving and dodging with immense difficulty.
If she dared to stop for even a second, she would undoubtedly take an unprecedented, heavy blow.
Hanami understood this perfectly; she knew she was currently walking a razor-thin tightrope, where one minor slip-up would leave her severely wounded. Even if it didn't kill her, she definitely wouldn't come out of it unscathed. While desperately evading, she continuously gathered her Cursed Energy.
In the next second, the ground beneath her feet suddenly ruptured, and massive tree branches fought their way out of the earth, sweeping across every direction.
The magical bullets covering the sky were instantly blown apart in midair, giving Hanami a desperate moment to catch her breath.
However, the very branches she had created were also obliterated by the magical bullets, scattering in ruins across the ground.
"This is somewhat amusing."
Watching this unfold, a slight smile played in Medea's eyes. The enemy in front of her possessed a bit of wit, but that was about the extent of it. If she wanted to, she could toy with this opponent until they died at any given moment.
Boom!
Right at that moment, the heavy sound of thumping footsteps echoed out, sounding like a runaway car hurtling toward them at an unbelievable velocity.
Yumesaki turned his head and saw a tall, massive Cursed Spirit emerging from the darkness.
— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —
It looks like I'll need to increase the number of Power Stones required for the Bonus Chapter from 50 to 100.
Join my Patreon to get access to more chapters from Webnovel here:
patreon.com/FaaanzKun