The Bath and the Ritual

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Settle in, take your time, and let's see what waits in the dark 🖤

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With no warning, a long, deadwood-like branch stabbed into the depths of the pool.

Water splashed.

Before long, ripples spread across the dark purple surface. A corpse pierced by the thin branch slowly rose, then was dragged in front of the three men.

Itsuki looked the corpse over. A faint pulse of cursed energy appeared in the space beside him.

The branch linked to the void poured cursed energy into the corpse, giving off a pale white light.

One second.

Two seconds.

Three seconds.

Under Naobito's disbelieving stare, the corpse's heart began to beat.

Thump.

Thump.

The heartbeat grew from weak to strong. The corpse's swollen skin gradually turned pale.

The same white as White Zetsu.

"Are you awake?"

Itsuki asked softly. The shadow at his feet shifted, placing a black cloak patterned with red clouds in front of the body.

"I said, kid Itsuki."

The corpse slowly sat up and glared at him.

"What the hell are you doing?"

"I was about to go watch the show, then suddenly I passed out."

Naked, White Zetsu picked up the clothes on the ground and started putting them on.

"Poor Number 9527. It finally adapted after all that time, and you just made me lose it."

After dressing, White Zetsu slapped his own head.

"Also, what exactly did you dump into the God Tree?"

"My head is still kind of dizzy."

After confirming White Zetsu was fine, Itsuki did not answer. Instead, he used the Sharingan to inspect the surrounding barriers for any sign of intrusion.

The way Itsuki refused to answer and even avoided his gaze looked, to White Zetsu, exactly like guilt.

"So it was you!"

White Zetsu clutched his head and gnashed his teeth.

His awareness still stopped at the moment when he had been bragging to Maki on the training field, then saw smoke rise from Itsuki's building.

He had been about to watch the excitement when a flood of chaotic information rushed into his head. Then everything went black.

Itsuki clicked his tongue and stayed silent.

If White Zetsu wanted to blame someone, he could blame Gojo. The man had given Itsuki no time to warn him.

Inside Unlimited Void, when Itsuki transferred all that information to the God Tree, he already knew White Zetsu would suffer.

After all, White Zetsu's cursed energy and soul had both been born from the Gedo Statue.

That was also why Itsuki tolerated him so much.

Control of the Gedo Statue had always remained in Itsuki's hands.

Which meant White Zetsu's life and death were always decided by a single thought from Itsuki.

"Tch."

Seeing that Itsuki ignored him, White Zetsu turned to study the environment.

"Yo, blond little bro. Busy?"

Haruta, who was chopping up cursed spirits with a foolish smile, did not stop. Hearing the voice, he turned and gave a bright grin.

"Boss Zetsu. Long time no see."

Haruta Shigemo did not find what had just happened strange. It was not the first time he had seen it.

White Zetsu looked at the stunned Naobito and frowned.

"Hey, old man."

"Don't think I didn't notice. You've been staring at me since before I put clothes on."

"What?"

"Overwhelmed by my charming physique?"

White Zetsu stretched his new body and struck a series of suggestive fitness poses at Naobito.

"Watch carefully. Learn properly."

"These are moves I picked up from late-night premium cable. Enough to keep you busy for years."

The shock on Naobito's face vanished. His expression tightened, and he said nothing.

The adult channel White Zetsu meant was exactly the sort of thing Naobito suspected.

And judging from those fitness poses...

This strange cursed spirit had clearly watched more late-night adult programs than he should have.

"Enough, White Zetsu."

Itsuki called him back and asked, "How is Number One?"

"Was it affected this time?"

White Zetsu stopped fooling around, closed his eyes, sensed for a moment, then shook his head.

"Don't worry. Everything is normal."

Then he walked to the edge of the pool and clicked his tongue.

"This place you made is pretty nice."

"The souls in the bodies have been driven out cleanly. Taking over feels much smoother than before."

Itsuki nodded and looked into the depths of the pool.

His scarlet gaze pierced through the rippling, viscous liquid.

Aside from countless pieces of cursed spirit flesh, the bottom of the pool was packed with corpses.

Sorcerers.

Curse users.

Highly trained Zenin fighters who had never manifested an innate technique.

Roughly a hundred bodies lay beneath the surface.

Some had come from the Zenin Clan's Kukuru Unit. Others were independent curse users with unusual physiques.

After all, Itsuki's bounty had remained posted on the black market for years.

From time to time, he even ordered Jinichi to raise the bounty again so White Zetsu would have more spare bodies.

A faint smile formed on Itsuki's face as he surveyed the hell before him, though he did not seem to notice it.

Itsuki had reconstructed the Bath from Uraume's explanation in the manga he remembered.

The original ritual had been used to turn treasured heirlooms into cursed tools.

Uraume had repurposed it to steep Sukuna's vessel in evil and submerge Megumi's soul.

Itsuki had adapted the same principle here, using the cursed-spirit solution to strip the corpses of lingering resistance before White Zetsu took them over.

After the Gedo Statue evolved, the number of White Zetsu it could produce was still limited.

Their bodies could not be created out of cursed energy from nothing.

Human corpses were the best medium through which White Zetsu could perceive the world.

Originally, to strengthen White Zetsu, Itsuki had tried using the fresh corpse of a Grade 1 sorcerer.

The result was White Zetsu's consciousness becoming entangled with the body's lingering soul.

It could not control the body freely.

Occasional malfunctions occurred.

And so this hell was born.

Itsuki glanced at Haruta, who was enjoying his work, and a flicker of killing intent entered his gaze.

Haruta Shigemo had originally been captured by Hisashi Zenin almost by chance. At first, Itsuki had intended to kill him directly.

Later, he thought this job suited Haruta surprisingly well, and Haruta performed it efficiently.

Juzo Kumiya, the curse user obsessed with making coat racks, had pleaded for Haruta's life, so Itsuki had put him to work instead.

"Where is Juzo Kumiya?"

Itsuki turned to Haruta and asked softly.

"Clan Head Itsuki, Juzo is in his room forging cursed tools."

"Do you want me to call him?"

Haruta lowered his head respectfully.

"Keep working. I'll go see him myself."

After saying that, Itsuki led White Zetsu and Naobito away from the pool.

Haruta waited until Itsuki vanished into the darkness before lifting his head and wiping cold sweat from his face.

"Another peaceful day. Lucky."

Then he turned toward the bound cursed spirits.

"I still prefer hanging out with you little cuties. So much more comfortable."

Haruta pressed half his face against a cursed spirit's cold body with a blissful smile.

In the next second, silver light flashed through the dim cavern.

Brilliant purple blood bloomed together with Haruta's suppressed laughter.

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