Osaka, Japan. Inside an ordinary, unremarkable single-family home.
"Gojo Satoru was defeated?"
Kenjaku raised an eyebrow in surprise as he read through the fresh intel he had just received.
"Was it that fake Sukuna?"
Just as he assumed that the hidden enemy had finally decided to step into the light, his eyes landed on a name—one that had been officially recognized by the Jujutsu Supervisory Board as the new strongest sorcerer.
"Yukinoshita Yukino?"
The man, still wearing Suguru Geto's face, frowned.
Yet another unknown figure had appeared out of nowhere? And this person was strong enough to defeat Gojo Satoru?
Staring at the photo of the black-haired girl, whose beauty was as pure as a snow lotus blooming on a mountaintop, Kenjaku instinctively felt that something was off.
Too young. Too unnatural.
Though Kenjaku had never met Yukinoshita Yukino before, there was someone else who had crossed paths with her.
"This woman… she fought Lord Sukuna before," Uraume muttered, her brows furrowing deeply as she stared at the photo. Her normally cold face was filled with unmistakable disgust. "But because Gojo Satoru interfered, Lord Sukuna didn't get to kill her."
Uraume had only seen Yukinoshita Yukino twice.
Once was at the underground station during the Shinjuku attack.
The other was when they raided Jujutsu High and unleashed Ryoumen Sukuna.
"You really seem to hate her. Did she do something to you?"
Kenjaku studied the short-haired, white-haired girl's expression for a moment before asking curiously.
"No." Uraume shook her head.
"Really?" Kenjaku rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Could it be because you two have… clashing personalities?"
"Hah!?"
"Haha, just kidding."
Kenjaku laughed shamelessly at Uraume's irritation.
"But if she could already fight a Sukuna with fifteen fingers back then, that means she was pretty strong to begin with."
"Even so, to reach a level where she could defeat Gojo Satoru in such a short time… that's hard to believe."
Kenjaku fell silent for a moment before asking, "Do we have any intel on her technique?"
Thinking back to Yukinoshita Yukino's battle with Ryoumen Sukuna, Uraume's face twisted with anger. Gritting her teeth, she spat out, "A technique that summons shikigami through shadows… and—"
"The same technique as Lord Sukuna."
"Again?" Kenjaku raised an eyebrow. "Summoning shikigami through shadows—is this the Zenin Clan's Ten Shadows Technique? Having multiple techniques… does that mean they're the same type as Okkotsu Yuta, someone who can copy others' techniques?"
He couldn't help but recall the memory of that shy boy who had once overwhelmed him head-on.
"Do you think this information could be true?"
After thinking for a moment, Uraume replied, "During the Night Parade of a Hundred Demons, that woman couldn't even defeat that octopus curse. But later, during the attack on Jujutsu High, she was able to fight Sukuna-sama for a long time—even when he wasn't using his Domain."
"So this unbelievable growth speed is real, huh?" Kenjaku nodded slightly, murmuring to himself as he fell into deep thought.
Suddenly, a cloud of shadowy mist appeared out of thin air in the living room, slowly taking the shape of a person.
"Kenjaku, has the title of 'strongest' changed hands again?"
A deep red glow flickered within the dark mist as a hoarse voice—like air being squeezed from an old bellows—spoke. The glow pulsed in time with its words, like a signal light.
"Well… you could say that, I guess?" Kenjaku shrugged, sounding uncertain. "According to the intel I got from the Jujutsu Headquarters, Gojo Satoru has been defeated by a girl named Yukinoshita Yukino. The Headquarters has already recognized her as the new strongest sorcerer."
As he read through the intel, he listed off her details one by one: "A jujutsu sorcerer from a non-sorcerer family, with no jujutsu lineage at all, yet possessing talent beyond even a genius. In just a few months of training, she climbed to the top…"
"Aside from the final outcome, everything before that sounds exactly like Geto Suguru's story."
"Is that a problem?"
The dark mist seemed to sense something hidden in Kenjaku's words.
"No, the intel itself isn't the issue."
But the man in the Gojo-style robes shook his head and chuckled softly. "It's just unexpected that the Jujutsu Headquarters would so easily elevate a civilian sorcerer to the title of 'strongest'—and in such a dramatic fashion, no less."
After all, even as the head of the Gojo Clan—one of the Big Three Families—Gojo Satoru had earned his title through sheer strength, building his reputation step by step. It wasn't something that had been handed to him through an official announcement.
Yet now, an unheard-of civilian sorcerer was being given such special treatment from the Headquarters.
Kenjaku figured there were only two possibilities.
The first possibility: this so-called "strongest" actually does have impressive power—perhaps even on Gojo Satoru's level—but they obey the Headquarters. She could be their tool to counterbalance Gojo Satoru, who always acted as he pleased.
The second possibility: this whole thing is nothing but a complete sham, deliberately spread for some hidden agenda.
Kenjaku leaned toward the second possibility.
But then, thinking about that arrogant white-haired man, he instinctively dismissed the idea.
"If this woman is really the so-called 'strongest,' then I'll personally deliver her death." The dark mist swirled violently, the flickering red glow radiating a chilling killing intent.
"Sorry, but our plan won't change based on unreliable intel. Our top priority is still sealing Gojo Satoru," Kenjaku said with a hint of regret in his voice.
"Are you ordering me?" the shadowy figure asked.
"No, this is what we agreed upon from the start, isn't it?" Kenjaku said with a smile.
The dark mist was silent for a moment, then slowly faded away, leaving behind a single sentence that echoed through the living room:
"Then I'll kill Gojo Satoru first… and after that, I'll bring death to the so-called strongest."
The moment it vanished, the white-haired girl standing nearby let out a deep breath of relief.
"Where did you even find a cursed spirit of that level?" Uraume asked with a serious expression.
The pressure she had felt from that shadowy figure was almost on par with Sukuna-sama himself.
Just a few exchanges had been enough to drench the girl's back in cold sweat. The moment she relaxed, she felt her cursed energy slip out of her control, turning the sweat on her back into tiny frozen crystals.
Even though she could tell that the spirit wasn't as powerful as Sukuna-sama in his prime, its sheer presence felt just as—if not more—overwhelming.
"It's only natural that you feel that way."
Kenjaku spoke slowly. "You know, the jujutsu world deliberately maintains a balance between sorcerers and cursed spirits."
"When a powerful sorcerer is born, the strength and number of curses in that era increase accordingly. In fact, it can even give rise to terrifyingly strong cursed spirits."
"In this era, Gojo Satoru, the awakened Ryoumen Sukuna, and Sukuna's impostor—each of them alone is enough to push the world of jujutsu forward. And now, there are three of them at the same time. Not to mention, there's also a newcomer whose true strength is still unknown."
Hearing Kenjaku's explanation, Uraume frowned. "But even a thousand years ago, when Lord Sukuna and I traveled all over Japan, we never encountered a cursed spirit this powerful."
"That brings me to my second point," Kenjaku said calmly, raising two fingers. "It's Tengen's barrier."
"Outside of Japan, the number of sorcerers and cursed spirits is extremely low. This is because of Tengen's barrier. It allowed Japan to monopolize cursed energy on a global scale."
"But now that I've destroyed it, that restriction is gone. All of humanity has become a source of cursed energy."
"Think of it this way—Japan has many urban legends about how grudges give birth to vengeful spirits, right? Now imagine the grudges of an entire country forming a spirit. That would be much weaker than a spirit born from the grudges of all humanity combined."
The white-haired girl with a bob cut suddenly understood.
No wonder Kenjaku attacked Jujutsu High, broke Tengen's barrier, and then suddenly left Japan. He had gone overseas to find stronger cursed spirits.
"And that one just now… it's different from Jogo and the others, who represented nature," the man said, his eyes dark and unreadable. "This one is closer to the source."
"It is the end of all life."
And it is a trump card to use against Gojo Satoru.
…
December 24th, Christmas Eve.
As one of Asia's busiest cities, Tokyo's Ginza district had already been decorated for the holiday season.
The towering buildings were lit by colorful neon lights, stretching endlessly like a sea of steel. Christmas decorations and sparkling gifts filled the display windows along the shopping streets, while strings of twinkling lights were woven between the street lamps and greenery.
Festive sculptures of Santa Claus and reindeer stood at street corners, and a towering Christmas tree was set up in the main plaza, its branches adorned with glowing ornaments and gift boxes. People walked in small groups, chatting and laughing, fully immersed in the holiday spirit.
None of them noticed the malice spreading rapidly through the darkness of the night.
At the top of the Seiko Clock Tower in Ginza, Kenjaku lowered his gaze, looking down at the densely packed crowd below. A slow, unsettling grin spread across his face.
The cold night wind howled past the rooftop, making his five-layered kasaya billow wildly.
"Alright then," he murmured. "Let's begin."
Kenjaku spread his arms, overlooking the masses like a god preparing to cast judgment.
Suddenly, the giant digital billboards in the shopping plaza flickered with static.
"Huh? Look at that!"
"What's going on? Is it broken?"
"An ad screen glitching out on Christmas Eve? That's bad timing. Hahaha!"
People turned their attention to the flashing billboards, laughing and chatting. But as soon as the screens stabilized again, the crowd fell silent.
Across the high-rise buildings, every giant screen now displayed the same video.
A man with a half-bun hairstyle, a single lock of hair hanging over his forehead, and monk robes appeared on the screen.
"What's happening?"
"Who is this guy?"
"Some kind of Christmas Eve special broadcast?"
"Wait… is it just me, or is he kind of good-looking?"
The murmurs in the crowd grew, filled with confusion.
"Good evening, everyone." The man on the screen smiled, his deep, smooth voice echoing through the speakers. "First of all, I'd like to wish you all a Merry Christmas."
…
"He's finally making his move."
Standing on the rooftop of a high-rise in Shinjuku, the white-haired man watched a livestream on his phone. The screen showed Kenjaku's speech being broadcast on a giant LCD display.
"So he went to Ginza, huh? I was sure he'd hit Shinjuku again. No sense of coordination at all," Gojo Satoru grumbled in dissatisfaction.
Closing the livestream, Gojo Satoru called Ijichi.
"This is Ijichi." The call connected instantly, and Ijichi Kiyotaka's voice came through the phone.
"Ijichi, the enemy is in Ginza. You guys saw the broadcast, right?"
"Yes, we're all heading there at full speed," Ijichi Kiyotaka replied quickly. "We don't know yet if the enemy will release a swarm of cursed spirits like before, so the assistant supervisors will deploy a barrier first."
"The students and Grade 1 sorcerers are already on their way. If nothing unexpected happens, Yukinoshita-san will be the first to arrive."
After listening to Ijichi's report, Gojo Satoru made a sound of acknowledgment. "I'll get there as soon as I can. Tell Yukinoshita not to act rashly—we have no idea what kind of surprises the enemy has planned for us."
"I got it."
Ending the call, Gojo Satoru slipped his phone back into his pocket. The next moment, he lifted off the ground as if gravity no longer applied to him, soaring toward Ginza at high speed.
…
"Let me introduce myself. I am Kenjaku, a sorcerer who has existed since a thousand years ago.
And now, congratulations once again."
"You are about to witness the arrival of a new era."
A wide grin spread across the man's face, filled with fanatic excitement.
Behind him, a massive black ripple spread outward, and countless cursed spirits poured out from within.
The LCD screen flickered violently before finally shutting off, leaving only darkness. The neon lights from the opposite buildings reflected off the blank screen.
…
---
You can read 10 advanced chapters at my patreon.com/YeyeQiu