In the original work, Mahito could determine whether someone was lying through fluctuations in their soul. The current Mahito could do it even more easily. It wasn't that he had already surpassed the original Mahito, but simply that, compared to the original, he was more adept at manipulating minds and better at detecting the fluctuations in a human soul when they lied.
Jogo looked at Kenjaku suspiciously. "What's going on, Geto Suguru?"
Kenjaku's expression remained unchanged. "I wouldn't say that; it's just that I didn't tell the whole truth. Like you, I find the modern Jujutsu world an eyesore. I want to overthrow the modern world of jujutsu. Jogo, you feel the same, don't you? And Mahito, you want to become a god; the modern jujutsu world must be your greatest obstacle."
What a clever way of speaking—not a single lie, yet skillfully hiding his own agenda.
Mahito narrowed his eyes and nodded. "That part is true."
Kenjaku feigned wiping away sweat, though there wasn't a single drop of cold sweat on his forehead, and even his smiling expression hadn't changed.
"Oh my, oh my. I didn't expect a Cursed Spirit to be able to detect human lies. That's quite an impressive ability. Now I must be completely honest with you."
Jogo gave a cold snort. "You should have done that from the start."
Mahito curled his lips. "That sentence was also a lie. You're thinking about how to gloss over things and use us, rather than being honest, aren't you?"
Jogo glared at Kenjaku, who raised his hands in a gesture of surrender.
"You can see through that too?"
"Hmm, who knows?" Mahito said with a beaming smile.
This was a lie. Mahito hadn't actually detected any soul fluctuations just then, because when Kenjaku said those words, he was indeed being sincere. Someone with little experience might have believed him, but Mahito, who was well-versed in the human art of language, was certain Kenjaku must have a contingency plan.
After all, Kenjaku's goal had a fundamental contradiction with the Cursed Spirit group's expectation of reversing the status of humans and Cursed Spirits. It was impossible for them to cooperate from beginning to end. No matter what Kenjaku said now, he would definitely betray the Cursed Spirit group in the end.
There was no doubt about it.
Since that was the case, if he could suppress Kenjaku's prestige, he had to do so. That way, they wouldn't be so easily sold out.
Heat waves radiated from Jogo's body.
"Geto Suguru, what exactly is your goal?"
Kenjaku said seriously, "To overthrow the current Jujutsu world."
Jogo looked at Mahito.
Mahito sighed. "That is true, but presumably, that isn't your ultimate goal."
"Regardless of my ultimate goal, both sides' interests in overthrowing the current Jujutsu world are aligned. I can enter into a Binding Vow with you: until the current Jujutsu world is overthrown, we shall be the firmest of allies, and neither side shall betray the other in any direct or indirect way. How about it?" Kenjaku said solemnly.
This statement was true, and if he made a Binding Vow, he would certainly follow it. In this world, a Binding Vow was a very serious matter; even someone as strong as Ryomen Sukuna had to abide by one. Kenjaku had frequently entered into Binding Vows with others over the past thousand years, and he had fulfilled every single agreement.
Anyone in the Jujutsu world understood this logic, so Jogo stopped pressing the issue.
He gave a cold snort. "A Curse User full of lies."
Kenjaku looked innocent as he lowered his raised hands. He already knew that once he mentioned a Binding Vow, they wouldn't be able to fight no matter what—at least not until the current Jujutsu world was subverted.
Mahito looked at both sides and suddenly asked, "Jogo, have you already fought Geto Suguru?"
Jogo was surprised. "How did you know? Yes, this fellow does have some skill."
Mahito thought to himself: Nonsense. If you hadn't fought him, then as a Cursed Spirit, you wouldn't have been able to tolerate a human lingering in front of your eyes at all.
When Jogo first arrived in Tokyo, he was arrogant enough to want to take on Gojo Satoru, even confident he could kill him. From that, it was clear he didn't have a deep understanding of the current Jujutsu world. He must still be in a state of arrogance.
At this moment, if a human had come to his door, they would have been incinerated long ago if they didn't possess some power.
"Please calm down a bit, Jogo. Look, the Cursed Energy you're unintentionally releasing is making Yoshino-kun break out in a cold sweat," Kenjaku said.
He looked up at Yoshino Junpei and gave him a smile—a smile so terrifying that Yoshino Junpei shuddered all over.
Jogo frowned, glanced at the sweating Yoshino Junpei, and slowly calmed his emotions. The heat waves indeed gradually receded, and Yoshino Junpei breathed a sigh of relief.
Kenjaku stroked his chin.
"This won't do. Being able to see Cursed Spirits only allows one to do logistics work in the Jujutsu world at most; it's not enough to climb to the top. If that's the case, his use to us will be very limited. Mahito, what do you plan to do?"
Mahito said indifferently, "Don't worry, I can make sure he's taken seriously."
Kenjaku nodded thoughtfully. Although he was always smiling and appeared impassive, Mahito possessed eyes that could see directly into the soul. He could tell that Kenjaku was very pleased at this moment.
This guy is testing my abilities, Mahito thought.
To be honest, Mahito actually felt a sense of relief regarding Kenjaku's test. It meant that although Kenjaku already knew the characteristics of Mahito's abilities, he didn't know exactly what level they could reach. He also needed to understand Mahito better to confirm that Mahito was indeed the key he wanted.
As the "key," Mahito naturally felt resentment toward this, but at the same time, thinking about it from another perspective, as long as Mahito's growth as a key exceeded Kenjaku's expectations—even far exceeding the limit Kenjaku could control—then Kenjaku, in order to complete his own ultimate goal, would instead become Mahito's support.
The status of the two sides would be instantly reversed.