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"Well, isn't this cozy," I muttered.
I could feel the skeptical looks from the others, but I ignored them and stepped forward.
We descended the slope, walking through the forest of dead trees until we reached a small clearing. Here, nature finally started to look somewhat alive: normal trees stood before us, and beyond them, a gray building with massive metal gates loomed, stark against the eerie woods surrounding it. It looked like something straight out of a drug lord's hideout.
Yuji squinted at the structure, then glanced at Choso, seeking confirmation.
"This is the place you mentioned?" Maki asked, her eyes carefully studying the building.
Choso nodded and wasted no time moving toward the metal gates.
"Yes. This is where the remains of my younger brothers are stored," he said, turning back to us briefly before adding, "Wait here. I need a moment."
The gates creaked open with a mechanical groan, and Choso stepped inside, disappearing into the dark warehouse.
"What do you think he's doing in there?" Yuji asked, turning to me, curiosity gleaming in his eyes.
"He's absorbing what's left of the 'Death Paintings,'" I replied, crossing my arms and keeping my gaze on the door.
"Absorbing?" Yuji raised an eyebrow, clearly not fully grasping it.
"Kind of like what you do with the fingers of that bastard inside you," I said, and took the opportunity to activate my "Spiritual Vision," locking onto the disgusting presence slumbering within Yuji.
It didn't take long. A mouth appeared beneath Yuji's eye, twisting into a crooked grin before a raspy voice spoke.
"Quit staring, Sukehiro Yami. Or do you have some kind of fetish for this?"
I smirked.
"Nah, I just enjoy getting under your skin."
"Bastard," Sukuna snarled, drawing out the word with menace.
"Alright, crawl back to your hole," I waved dismissively. "We've got nothing in common to make small talk."
"Coward," Sukuna sneered, but the mouth disappeared, leaving Yuji's face as it was before.
"You two are just like old friends," Yuki remarked, her gaze fixed on me with both suspicion and curiosity.
I shrugged, pretending to be indifferent.
"Sometimes, when you kick the same idiot around enough, you start to form some kind of mutual understanding. But honestly, we're not exactly drinking buddies."
Yuji shook his head, but there was a smile playing on his lips. Then, as if sensing something, he looked at me again.
"He's laughing in there," Yuji said quietly, a bit awkwardly.
"That creep's always laughing," I replied, knowing Yuji understood exactly what I meant.
Choso reappeared in the doorway, calm and focused, as if he'd fully accomplished what he needed to do.
"All set," he said, rejoining us.
"You got everything done?" Yuki asked, glancing over at Choso.
I responded before the "big brother" could.
"Don't ask questions when you already know the answers," I said, walking past her without slowing down.
I could practically feel her gaze burning into my back. Yeah, this was one of those moments where even without superpowers, you could tell someone was glaring at you.
"You don't have laser vision," I called out without turning around. "So hurry up and move your ass — let's get to this damn meeting already."
To be honest, I really did think of this meeting as a damn nuisance. Memories of my last encounter with Tengen still haunted me. Her stare — that cold, hollow gaze — was unforgettable, to say the least. And her soul? It held so many mysteries that even I was both curious and cautious. At her level of evolution, I wouldn't be surprised if she could see right through me, straight to my true nature. After centuries of existence, she could've developed powers far beyond what we can even imagine. And after the decade she spent without a vessel, her soul had evolved to a whole new level...
In just the past year, Tengen might have changed more than she had in the previous ten. A year ago, she could sense souls, or at least feel them within her barrier. Who knows what she's capable of now? And that... bothered me.
So why had I agreed to this meeting? Well, I had a few questions I wanted to ask her. Plus, this was a good chance to scope things out and prepare for the future hunt — specifically, my hunt for Kenjaku.
Lost in thought, we made our way to an enormous hall. The ceilings stretched up several meters, vanishing into the darkness above. It felt like this room had been ripped from another world, a stark contrast to the familiar Japanese architecture of Tokyo Jujutsu High and the botanical gardens we'd passed through. The walls were made of rough stone blocks, each one probably weighing a ton. And the atmosphere… was suffocating. Heavy and oppressive.
Yuji suddenly stopped, frowning as he stared at the ground.
"Is that blood?" he asked, leaning closer to inspect a dried, smeared stain right beneath his feet. "What happened here?"
"This happened eleven years ago," Yuki's voice echoed through the hall, bouncing off the stone walls. "If you think about it, that's when everything started to twist."
Yuji froze, looking at her in confusion, as if he was trying to catch some hidden meaning in her words.
"What do you mean?" he asked.
"Eleven years ago, Toji Zenin killed the Star Plasma Vessel, nearly killed Satoru Gojo, and shattered Suguru Geto's pride," I answered for her, my eyes still fixed on that dried-up stain of blood on the ground.
Yuki, ignoring my words, stood silently, staring into the space ahead. Her gaze, cold and focused, seemed to pierce the tunnel before us, reaching beyond the visible. The white glow ahead beckoned her, cutting through the dense darkness of the corridor, almost as if it were calling us to the other side. The light was strange — it felt alive, as if it were trying to seep into us, flooding everything around and erasing the boundaries between the world of the living and something far older.
As we moved closer, we stepped into a space bathed in pure white light. The contrast with the dark tunnel we had just come from was so stark it felt like an illusion. Instinctively, I squinted, as if the light itself were trying to burn my eyes. The brightness filled the entire area, not just hanging in the air but creating the very space we now stood in. There was an unsettling feeling inside me — like I was staring at a living entity. To test that thought, I activated my "Spirit Vision."
"The main shrine is right here," Choso said.
Yuki stepped forward first, her figure cutting a dark silhouette against the white light.
"Not liking this one bit," she muttered, glancing around with a sharp eye.
The space felt unnervingly lifeless. We stood in a world of absolute light, but the only things drawing attention were our own shadows and the dim tunnel behind us. There were no shapes, no textures — just blinding light and us.
"There's nothing here," Yuji said, his voice uncertain, as if he, too, sensed something was off.
"Is this really the main shrine?" Megumi added, his skeptical eyes scanning the blank space, trying to find anything tangible.
Yuki frowned, her expression tense and filled with frustration.
"It is, but it's rejecting us," she said, shaking her head as she glanced over the empty space. "Tengen isn't engaging with the outside world… I thought now, with the 'Six Eyes' sealed, he would appear."
"It's beyond anything we could've predicted, so your assumption was reasonable," Nanami commented, looking around with the same strange wariness, as if he were trying to see something that wasn't there.
"You're just not looking in the right place," I said quietly. "Come on out, old hag."
With "Spirit Vision" activated, I saw something that's hard to put into words. This place wasn't just saturated with spiritual energy — it was the embodiment of it. The entire structure was woven with threads of spirituality, creating an intricate fabric that blended into one seamless whole. I wasn't standing in just any room; I was standing inside Tengen's very soul, transformed into this space. Or had this space been transformed into her soul? The answer slipped away from me. Over the last year, Tengen had evolved so rapidly, her essence had grown so deep and complex that I could barely recognize it. There was no end, only endless layers of spirituality stretching outward. Incredible, how quickly this being had grown in power.
"You're still as rude as ever, Sukehiro Yami," a cold, almost echoing voice filled the space. For a moment, I wasn't even sure if I heard it with my ears or inside my head.
From the void ahead, a figure began to take shape, materializing right before our eyes. It was a humanoid creature, standing on two legs with a cylindrical head — no hair, but four gleaming eyes that shone in the white light. It was draped in a white cloak, blending with the background, as if this being was part of the light surrounding us.
"And you're just as unwelcoming as ever, Tengen," I replied without hesitation, stepping forward to meet the challenge head-on.