Chapter 121: Stubbornness and Sarcasm
The fragments of memory dissipated in his consciousness, and Rin refocused on the Divine Tree Space.
He hovered in mid-air, his gaze falling heavily upon Sukuna, who was tightly bound by vines, his expression grave.
Something was wrong.
Everything had been sealed perfectly before; apart from his initial struggles, Sukuna hadn't even been able to make a sound, so how could he suddenly start mocking him now?
When he heard that voice at the ramen shop earlier, he had thought the seal of the Divine Tree had loosened, giving this old ghost an opportunity.
With a thought, Rin's consciousness transformed into a pale golden stream of light, pouring into the vine seal that wrapped around Sukuna.
Cursed Energy spread along the vines, carefully inspecting every node. The seal was intact, the golden Cursed Energy on the vines remained full, and Sukuna's Cursed Energy was suppressed tightly; even though he kept struggling in vain, he hadn't caused any damage to the seal at all.
It had neither loosened nor broken.
In other words, the Divine Tree's seal itself could not completely seal Sukuna's mouth.
Rin couldn't help but sigh, a feeling of helplessness rising in his heart. This King of Curses was truly troublesome; even as a prisoner, his mouth was still so sharp.
"What's the matter, brat?"
Sukuna caught the change in his emotions and immediately mocked him: "Searched for so long and found you can't seal me? Are you scared now?"
"You have absolutely no power to resist now."
Rin glanced at him coldly, his tone carrying the impatience of a victor: "Can you show some respect for the winner and shut your mouth?"
"Winner?"
Sukuna sneered, his tone full of disdain: "You only defeated one-twentieth of my power; do you deserve to be called a winner? Being so arrogant, you were just born in an era without me and picked up a bargain."
He paused, his voice filled with the pressure accumulated over a millennium: "If it were a thousand years ago, I could crush you to death with a single finger and let you know what true fear is."
This threat was delivered with great intensity; if it were any other ordinary Jujutsu Sorcerer, they would likely have already felt fear.
But Rin just raised an eyebrow, his face calm: "Who can't talk big? You're tied up like a dumpling right now, barely able to move a finger, and you're talking about a thousand years ago?"
He floated forward, looking down at Sukuna: "I advise you to shut up and behave yourself. If you dare to blabber and disturb me again, I'll beat you up. Anyway, you have no chance to resist now, so I'll definitely win without losing anything if we fight."
As Rin spoke, he had already started calculating.
When he meets a lightning-attribute Jujutsu Sorcerer in the future, he must copy the "Lightning Strike" technique.
Then he would electrify the Divine Tree's vines. As long as Sukuna dared to run his mouth, he would flip the switch and let this old ghost taste "electrotherapy" to see if he could still be so arrogant.
Sukuna was choked by his blunt threat, then snorted coldly: "You wouldn't dare!"
"Why wouldn't I dare?"
Rin spread his hands, his tone casual: "You are my prisoner now, and I can do whatever I want. Why don't you try cursing again and see if I dare to take action?"
"You!"
Sukuna was furious, yet completely helpless.
He was a prisoner now, a situation that had never occurred in a thousand years.
Although he was not afraid of Rin's threat at all—after all, the fingers he used to store his soul were extremely hard and could not be destroyed, otherwise, over the thousand years, Sukuna would have been finished off long ago.
But he was still unhappy; the dignified King of Curses was actually being threatened like this by a brat.
He could feel that this brat really dared to take action, and his methods would absolutely be merciless.
Rin watched him look frustrated, and the gravity in his heart dissipated a little, replaced by a sense of satisfaction from a successful prank.
He withdrew his Cursed Energy and said indifferently: "Behave yourself, don't force me to get rough with you."
The Divine Tree Space finally returned to silence, with only the sound of rustling emerald leaves. Pale golden Cursed Energy flowed like water between the vines, firmly imprisoning Sukuna's figure in place.
He no longer mocked him, nor did he struggle, closing his eyes tightly, his breathing so steady that it seemed as if he had really fallen into a deep sleep.
But only Sukuna himself knew that he had never let his guard down.
At this moment, he was calming his mind, calmly analyzing his current situation.
He was not panicked at all.
First, the fingers that carried his power were special grade cursed objects, the outer shell was incredibly hard, and the contained Cursed Energy formed its own barrier. Even if that brat controlled this space, he might not necessarily be able to truly harm his source.
Second, his power was dispersed among twenty fingers. Currently, only one-twentieth was sealed; there were still nineteen "clones" roaming outside. As long as those fingers were not found, he would never truly be in a desperate situation.
What really made him feel heavy in his heart was this strange Divine Tree Space.
Sukuna's vertical pupils moved slightly under his eyelids, perceiving the pale golden power flowing in the space.
That power was gentle yet vast, carrying a kind of "vitality" and "control" he had never seen before, as if this world itself possessed a will, binding him firmly within it.
A thousand years ago, he had seen countless powerful Cursed Spirits and Jujutsu Sorcerers, and had controlled vast domains, but he had never felt such a great and peculiar power.
It was not as violent as Cursed Energy, but it had a suppressive power that crushed everything, making him feel a trace of dread from the bottom of his heart.
Sukuna knew very well that the brat was by no means a good person.
Being able to copy Jujutsu techniques, control such a strange soul space, and easily suppress one-twentieth of his power, his talent and methods were far beyond ordinary people.
If he were kept imprisoned here, no one could guarantee whether the brat would figure out a way to break the shell of the special grade cursed object, or find a way to completely annihilate his source.
More importantly, he coveted Rin's body too much.
That pure, powerful vessel that could perfectly accommodate Cursed Energy was more to his liking than any host in the past thousand years.
As long as he could escape, and as long as he could gather the power of the other nineteen fingers, he could completely break through the seal, possess this body, and recreate the glory of the King of Curses.
Thinking of this, a flash of ruthlessness crossed Sukuna's eyes. Inside the body wrapped by vines, black Cursed Energy began to surge quietly.
He did not make any more futile struggles, but instead condensed his Cursed Energy into an extremely thin warm current, which quietly infiltrated the surrounding space along the gaps in the vines, probing for weaknesses in the seal bit by bit, and accumulating enough power for an instantaneous burst.
The pale golden Cursed Energy on the vines remained formidable, and the suppression of the Divine Tree had not weakened, but Sukuna was not in a hurry.
He had lived for a thousand years; the thing he lacked the least was patience.
He was like a dormant beast, retracting all his fangs and sharpness, quietly waiting for the right moment.
Perhaps it would be the moment Rin let his guard down, or the instant the seal showed a slight loosening; as long as there was a glimmer of opportunity, he would launch a counterattack without hesitation, doing everything in his power to escape this space that made him feel suffocated.
The Divine Tree Space remained quiet, the rustling of leaves masking the traces of Sukuna's secret plotting.
The black shadow wrapped in vines looked harmless, but it actually hid dangers capable of overturning everything. A game of imprisonment and escape, plunder and protection, had not yet truly ended.