Hanami made a series of rapid sounds, her voice overflowing with excitement.
Dagon stared wide-eyed at these newborn Intelligent Cursed Spirits and couldn't help but straighten his posture; from now on, he was a senior too! Ashiya Magon let out a long sigh. "I have witnessed a miracle, indeed."
"It really is miraculous," Kinji Hakari couldn't help but say. "I knew Mahito was creating Intelligent Cursed Spirits, but those you create are different from those born naturally, right?"
"I recall that your naturally born first-generation species possess innate intelligence because they received an excessive amount of Cursed Energy. You are born with language and some common sense, but how can the second generation you create also know language from birth? And common sense? Did you instill it using Idle Transfiguration?"
Kinji Hakari easily accepted Kenjaku's "first-generation species" and "second generation" theory; it was very vivid and easy to understand.
"Surprisingly, that's not the case." Mahito looked at the samurai girl. "Chisato?"
"Yes." Chisato looked at Kinji Hakari with a serious expression, her tone carrying the clarity of a samurai: "Before this, I had a certain level of consciousness, but it was very vague. I just drifted along, living and hunting by instinct. However, even before this, we could learn much common sense and knowledge from the Cursed Energy residues in the atmospheric cycle, including language."
Kinji Hakari's pupils contracted. "…Learning knowledge from Cursed Energy residues in the atmospheric cycle?"
"I have an unrefined theory," Mahito said slowly. "Whether it's humans or Cursed Spirits, after death, they go to the River of Souls. And that River of Souls isn't a specific physical object; it should be the energy cycle."
"On this point, Teacher Kenjaku should have some research. I remember Teacher Kenjaku once said that to create a vessel for Ryomen Sukuna, he utilized the reincarnation of Ryomen Sukuna's unborn brother."
"That is indeed the case." Kenjaku regained his composure by adjusting his breathing and said with a smile, "In fact, every Jujutsu Sorcerer has the potential to observe this River of Souls, but only at the moment of death, or when pulled into that illusory space by an opponent killed in one death match after another. I am absolutely certain this river exists, but none of us can interfere with it."
"But you clearly did interfere?" Kinji Hakari asked. "Isn't the reincarnation of the Sukuna brothers the result of your interference?" Kinji Hakari was referring to Itadori Yuji; they had long since discussed Itadori Yuji being the vessel for Ryomen Sukuna.
"That wasn't interference, but 'going with the flow.'" Kenjaku shrugged. "It's like throwing a message in a bottle into the upper reaches of a river, then running downstream along the bank, following the bottle, and timing it perfectly to fish it out. That can hardly be called interference."
Energy.
Kinji Hakari's heart stirred slightly as he suddenly thought of Jogo and the others' self-introductions.
Intelligent Cursed Spirits formed by accommodating excessive Cursed Energy—the key isn't actually the "Intelligent Cursed Spirit" part, but the "excessive Cursed Energy." Souls and Cursed Energy always have a faint connection, and so-called excessive Cursed Energy very likely carries the memories of the deceased. These fragmented memories are integrated and gathered, giving birth to a Cursed Spirit's identity. This might be the reason Intelligent Cursed Spirits appear!
Why have Intelligent Cursed Spirits, unseen for a thousand years, appeared frequently in this era? Because the population dying and being born in this country every day promotes the accumulation of excessive Cursed Energy, allowing for the birth of four Intelligent Cursed Spirits—an occurrence not seen in a millennium.
"Human prosperity is the prosperity of Cursed Spirits; this is the truth behind the birth of Mahito and the others!"
"Through this creation process, I've also confirmed something." Mahito sighed. "It's easy to make defective products, but to create a perfect Intelligent Cursed Spirit, there must be a targeted Cursed Energy objective—namely, imaginary vengeful curses. Because they can precisely absorb specific Cursed Energy, they are born with a foundation better suited for Intelligent Cursed Spirits. Aside from them, it's difficult for other spirits to achieve perfect intelligence."
Cursed Spirits without intelligence can only act and grow based on instinct, so they naturally cannot impact the current jujutsu world.
This is why the jujutsu world remains prosperous and why they have the confidence to match Grade 1 Sorcerers against Special Grade Cursed Spirits.
But now, because of Mahito's appearance, the landscape has finally undergone a massive change. He turned back to look at the five newly born Intelligent Cursed Spirits and smiled:
"It's not time for your debut yet, but I believe in your infinite possibilities. I will provide you with the best learning environment and am willing to forge a new path for your future… Chisato, Kazeha, Yayoi Rin, Weaving, Ripples—welcome to the real world—as 'humans.'"
All the newborn Intelligent Cursed Spirits couldn't help but cheer.
Jogo was extremely excited and said bluntly, "Then I'll do it."
"Hanami, I'll have to trouble you to stay home and look after the newborns for the next few days." Mahito interrupted Jogo. "Although they have basic common sense, they have just been born after all, and there is still much they need to learn."
Hanami felt a great sense of mission. She nodded calmly, hiding the nervousness in her heart.
Jogo opened his mouth. "And me—"
"Also, Sensei, I'll leave the development of their abilities to you," Mahito said to Kenjaku.
Kenjaku nodded without surprise. "Leave it to me. Let me see the potential of these newly born Intelligent Cursed Spirits."
Jogo's forehead dripped with sweat. "Mahito, I…"
"Teacher Ashiya, regarding physical techniques, can I trouble you?"
"Heh, that little girl named Chisato looks very well-suited for my New Shadow Style." Ashiya Magon agreed without hesitation. "I will give it my all. However, my primary teaching objective is still you… you understand, right?"
"Of course, that is exactly what I hope for." Mahito smiled.
Jogo felt a sense of crisis out of thin air. "I… I…"
"Dagon, you can go too." Mahito said gently. "But don't lead the children astray, okay? You can take them to the beach to play."
Dagon hopped in place and made a proud sound.
"I, I can too," Jogo said urgently.
"Jogo, I have a great mission to entrust to you." Suddenly, Mahito turned serious. Jogo was stunned.
"Perhaps you could make a few more trips to see if you can find any more imaginary vengeful curses?" Mahito asked.
Jogo reached his limit. "You just want to send me away, don't you?! Do you not trust my teaching?! Hanami, Dagon, and I ran all over Japan following Kenjaku's instructions just to find five imaginary vengeful curses. Now you're asking me to go find them alone—how could I possibly find any!"
See through it but don't say it, Mahito thought. Is there even a shred of your teaching ability that one could trust? Even Dagon is less of a headache than you.
However, Mahito couldn't say that.
"Searching for new imaginary vengeful curses is also an extremely important task. It determines whether we can add new companions. You should understand that, right?" Mahito said solemnly. "Of course, I know it will be hard to find any even after another search, but for our future, please go look one more time no matter what. This is for the Great Cause!"
"This… this is indeed important." Jogo was left speechless.
He looked at the sky blankly, feeling like he was being played, but after thinking for a long time, he couldn't find any flaws in Mahito's words. He felt less like he was being played and more like he was being entrusted with a heavy responsibility.
Finally—
"Kinji." Mahito looked at Kinji Hakari.
Kinji Hakari crossed his arms and smiled. "Yeah, I understand."
After a pause, he said, "I'll handle things on Gojo Satoru's end!"
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