The Stolen Ame no Murakumo

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After killing the Tengu, Ren noticed a change in the feather fan in his hand. An inexplicable presence surged from it, and its cursed power became much stronger. He tried using it and found that he could only wave out attacks like a faint breeze, nothing compared to the raging winds the Tengu had produced earlier.

Ren had not studied cursed objects deeply, so he would have to hand it to specialists later and have them see whether anything was abnormal. After the battle ended, the barrier surrounding this place had already disappeared. Kazuya Suzuki glanced at the shattered Tengu corpse on the ground without showing much surprise.

"Ren, thank you for your work. As agreed, aside from the normal reward, this feather fan is now yours."

Soon, people from Kazuya's side arrived and packed away the corpse of the person who had once been their companion and had now become the monster called Tengu. Ren put away Dojikiri and the feather fan, then looked at Kazuya, whose faint smile had never truly disappeared.

He asked the question in his heart. "This should be a fairly serious secret too. Why reveal it now? You brought in the Zen'in and Kamo clans, and now you are telling all this to the Gojo clan, whom you have always kept out. What are you planning?"

The Kamo clan had always been a pillar of the conservative faction, so it made sense for them to be involved. As for the Zen'in clan, their historical baggage and strict family traditions had long put them at odds with the Gojo clan. Their participation was not strange either.

Listening to Ren speak as calmly as if he were discussing ordinary family matters, Kazuya spread one arm toward the black luxury car parked by the road. "If you are interested, Ren, I can explain slowly."

Ren narrowed his eyes and smiled. "Very well. Then I will accept your hospitality."

After they got into the car, the driver sitting properly in the front seat was as silent as stone. The car started quickly and smoothly. Kazuya took a bottle of red wine from the small cooler in the spacious cabin and gestured to ask whether Ren wanted a glass.

"Sorry. By law, minors under twenty are not allowed to drink."

Hearing that, Kazuya smiled faintly and pulled out the lower shelf of the cooler, revealing all kinds of drinks: soda, sparkling water, juice, and more.

"Surely Ren did not think old men like us only drink red wine and whiskey?"

Ren did not react much to Kazuya's joke. He only asked for a chilled can of cola. Then he watched Kazuya start fussing with the wine. After a series of procedures ordinary people would probably call elegant, Kazuya finally began tasting it.

Ren had already finished half his cola.

On the way to an unknown destination, Kazuya did not directly discuss the most important matters. Instead, he began chatting with Ren about ordinary things, including trivial affairs at the Kyoto and Tokyo schools.

Ren looked out the window and responded occasionally. Kazuya did not react to his perfunctory attitude at all. He spoke almost to himself the whole way without the slightest awkwardness.

At last, the car arrived. It was a well-known luxury hotel. But when the driver passed straight by the hotel's main building, Ren realized their true destination was one of the structures behind it.

It was a five-story building whose purpose could not be guessed from the outside. The style was understated luxury. The precious surrounding space had been extravagantly used to create a natural garden hidden inside a forest of steel. After the driver stopped at the entrance, Kazuya got out and signaled that they had arrived.

When Ren stepped out, several beautiful women in different styles of clothing came from the resplendent entrance. Each had her own distinct air, and together they almost embodied the word beauty.

Their perfect smiles seemed to contain scenery capable of drowning a person. They came forward and bowed together. Even their voices each had a different charm. Ren only swept them with one glance before saying to Kazuya, "Hurry up and say what you need to say. My time is valuable too."

Kazuya nodded, then clapped his hands. The women turned and led the way. After they reached an extremely luxurious room, Ren gestured for them to leave. Only after Kazuya nodded did they bow gracefully and exit, closing the heavy soundproof door behind them.

Kazuya sat on the sofa across from Ren and poured hot tea from the pot on the table into the cup before him. The sound of flowing water accompanied his voice. "Using cursed objects to let compatible people obtain cursed techniques is a method that appeared only recently. Naturally, it has flaws. I am not a technician, so I do not know the specific details. What I do know is that the target of the ritual must participate willingly. Otherwise, the success rate becomes pitifully low."

"Furthermore, the target must be someone who has not awakened an innate technique but possesses the potential to become a jujutsu sorcerer. As the price for obtaining power, successful candidates lose most of their lifespan. At longest, they may have several years. At shortest, several months. They begin aging from the soul and then move toward death. That is also something candidates must be told."

"Candidates?" Ren caught that detail.

"Yes. Compatibility. According to their testing method, each cursed object has a different degree of compatibility with different people. If compatibility is high, the success rate rises, more lifespan remains, and the power displayed becomes stronger."

Kazuya himself had some cursed energy, but he was still far from a qualified jujutsu sorcerer. That made sense. If artificial sorcerers had no risks or costs, these people would certainly have used the method on themselves first, then greedily tried to monopolize the path.

It was precisely because the method had severe side effects and harsh requirements that they could disclose it voluntarily. And this was probably not the main reason.

As expected, Kazuya's expression soon turned serious. "At present, this technology is not mature, so it has been kept secret. However, an accident occurred a few days ago."

"One of our hidden research facilities was breached. Several cursed objects used for this project were stolen."

Ren leaned back on the sofa with a cold smile. "Stolen? By whom? And what was taken?"

Kazuya's expression was grave. "The other side never showed themselves. Based on the traces left behind, there was more than one intruder, and the residue belonged to curses. As for what was lost..."

He paused, then continued. "Six cursed objects in total. Five of them are still within tolerable limits. The most important loss is an ancient sword. According to records passed down with it, the sword bears the name of one of the three legendary spirit swords: Ame no Murakumo. Of course, that is within the history of the jujutsu world."

"Before this, our research on it had produced almost no results. Aside from its indestructibility, we found nothing special about it. We had never found a compatible candidate either, so it gradually stopped receiving much attention. We did not expect it to be stolen together with the others."

Kazuya finally showed a trace of anger. "The other side clearly had a purpose. They were extremely fast and decisive, and they were connected to curses. Those other cursed objects have been processed, but if the thieves can awaken the curses inside them again, that alone will be troublesome. More importantly, there is that sword."

Ame no Murakumo was a divine sword of legend. The myths attached to it carried tremendous weight. Although those were only myths, according to their experience, the more famous a being from myth or legend was, if it also existed in the jujutsu world, the stronger the curse attached to it would likely be.

They had no choice but to plan for the worst. If the other side awakened those stolen cursed objects and ancient curses returned to the world, how would they respond?

If it were only the other curses, then gathering enough strength might still suppress them. But if it was that Ame no Murakumo...

After their ritual fused a cursed object with a compatible person, the power that could be displayed was actually limited. Take the berserk Tengu from earlier. When he had still been human, his control over his power and ability could not compare to the later monster form.

If the unknown curse on that sword returned, then... they would probably have to seek help from Gojo's side. After all, of the four Special Grade sorcerers openly known at present, three belonged to that side. The remaining one was overseas year-round and did not pay attention to this side.

If things went well, perhaps nothing would happen and the thieves would not be able to do anything with the sword. But if they went badly, once the curse on the sword reappeared in the world, the consequences would be beyond what headquarters could bear.

Sukuna at least had a vessel restraining him, and Satoru Gojo had personally guaranteed the situation and stood as a final safeguard. Even then, many people feared him enough to want him removed as soon as possible.

If a serious consequence occurred because of something in their hands, then never mind Gojo. Internal conflict alone would grind them to pieces.

After repeated arguments, they settled on their next course of action. First, they would trade away this secret that could not remain hidden much longer. Their research had also reached a bottleneck. The project they had once placed great hopes on had ultimately become only a method of cultivating hired muscle.

That had already dissatisfied some people. Now that a mistake had happened, if they could not solve it quickly, their positions would probably be affected.

Second, they would slowly use it as a bargaining chip and see how much help they could obtain from Gojo's side. In addition, they would act through multiple channels and try to win over the other two Special Grade jujutsu sorcerers. Yuta Okkotsu was overseas for the moment, so Ren became their first test target.

They would slowly probe him with benefits and treatment in different areas. People always had goals or desires. They did not even hope to pull Ren into their camp. It would be enough if they could exchange resources for his help in the form of transactions.

Material needs, emotional needs... he was not Satoru Gojo, the leader of the reform faction. To people who had soaked in power struggles for so long, the fact that they had only recently designed a mission that almost killed his juniors did not matter much at all.

The Tengu mission had been assigned partly because it was indeed difficult to solve, and partly so Ren could pass this information to Gojo. They also needed time to make preparations.

After that, Kazuya answered every question Ren asked aside from technical details. Once Ren saw the whole picture, he realized the technology truly had many flaws.

First, the strength of the sorcerers created was limited. As for their claim that the results were only around Grade 1, he could hear it and forget it. Ren would judge from the worst-case scenario first and assume they could produce sorcerers beyond Grade 1. Whether those could be considered Special Grade did not matter for now.

Judging by those harsh conditions, that would probably be extremely difficult. In other words, their numbers were limited. Otherwise, headquarters would not be so passive before Gojo-sensei. Of course, Ren did not believe that manufactured combat power like this could threaten Gojo anyway.

Short lifespan. Voluntary risk in exchange for power. And it seemed the cursed object could be reused? Was this not a method for mass-producing disposable fighters? The exact method was unclear. Unfortunately, if there were no side effects and ordinary people could become sorcerers through it, it might have ended the existence of curses.

Forget it. That was wishful thinking. Reality did not have that many cursed objects, and there were such serious side effects too.

"Then I will take my leave. No need to send me off. I am in a hurry, so I will go back by myself."

Bright sunlight shone down. Waves and sand formed a perfect summer scene. But neat cracks suddenly appeared across that perfect painting, ruining its beauty. Then the cracks widened, as if an invisible door had been pushed open, and Suguru Geto walked through with a smile on his face.

Mahito, Hanami, and the others, who had been resting on beach chairs, turned back. Mahito wore an innocent smile as he asked with interest, "Well? Did it work?"

Geto walked around Jogo, who had only a head left and looked tiny while his body regenerated. His expression was relaxed and pleased. "Of course. More than worked. There was even a considerable unexpected gain."

"I never thought an experiment from when I was bored would bear fruit like this. How interesting." Geto nearly murmured the second half, and it was hard to hear clearly.

Mahito immediately looked puzzled. "What did you say?"

On the beach chair, Jogo's face was gloomy. "Can that trump card you mentioned be used yet? Satoru Gojo and that brat... your Prison Realm can only seal one of them."

Geto showed a helpless smile. "How could it be that easy? Letting all the evils of the world and the realm of Yomi descend again would not be easy."

Flames erupted from Jogo's head. "Then the things you said..."

Geto raised a finger to his lips. "I never said this was meant to awaken it. It is only a key. What can be reproduced will probably be only part of the shell. But that will be enough."

"Living for a long time really lets one see more interesting things. Human limitations, yet they still managed to reach this point... fascinating."

Mahito sat up from the chair, stretched, and looked bored. "The next part is still a long way off, right? I am going out to look for some fun. Call me if anything happens."

Watching Mahito pull open a door in empty space and walk out, Geto smiled as he saw him off.

"With a variable in play, this plan may not succeed. I should prepare a backup plan. Fortunately, I have long grown used to the world's unpredictability. In some ways, accidents have their own beauty and entertainment value. I am looking forward to it."

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