Chapter 65

Jiki waited. He didn't tap his feet against the ground, for that would've indicated he was impatient. Neither did he fold his arms, for that would've suggested he was agitated. Instead, he stood with the stillness of the dead, his calm and patience a thing of legend, as he stared at the barrier before him.

His words had not been a threat but a fact. He had indulged the old sorcerer's bias and prejudice for long enough, and even now, he would've been completely content to let her remain in her fortress, for he had no desire to interact with her. At least, that was before he knew that, in some way, the sorcerer was linked to Kenjaku.

The same Kenjaku that had hurt him in the worst way possible way in recent times. The thought of the name would've made him scowl, but Jiki's anger was a focused thing now, a technique from another life. His face was empty and devoid of anything.

Enough time had passed, and he pumped more cursed energy straight into his eyes. The enhanced clarity that came with his eyes shifting from their three-tomoe stage to their fuma-shuriken mangekyo shape sent a thrill down his spine.

Susanoo? Too curse energy intensive especially this early. Amaterasu? Too volatile, more so since he only needed to get past the barrier for now. Kagutsuchi? He had enough control to simply tear down a part, and that would be enough.

Jiki took a breath, then a step, and he felt something different. There was a sudden draft of breeze coming from ahead of him. Barely perceptible to others, but Jiki was not others. He had not even felt it open, but somehow, he knew.

Tengen was the most experienced barrier user in the world. It was no big surprise that his manipulation of one surpassed Jiki's ability to notice, but Jiki did not necessarily need to. For the perceptive, there are always other ways.

So he didn't slow down, but neither did he release the technique he had already primed. Instead, he walked in with the confidence of one who knew himself. The barrier closed behind him, and this time, he noticed it.

He had asked Tengen to come out or die, but the sorcerer had chosen the middle option. She would speak to him but only in the heart of her power, in the place where her position would be the most secure. He knew she would've placed traps, barriers, seals, and other things to check an intruder, and he had planned adequately for each of them.

So he walked. He had not noticed it the first time, not while he had blitzed down the stairs with a single-minded focus, with the sole goal of murdering Toji. But now he did. The internals of the building were old.

The further he walked into the building, the more Jiki could feel a shift in both the atmosphere and his surroundings.

He took a turn and could almost physically feel the difference between this new hallway and the one he had just left. The decorations were antique. At least a hundred years older than the ones in the other hallway.

He spotted a sculpture that he was certain was from the Edo period. Paintings that were older than the average human or sorcerer. Beautiful vases that had not seen the light of day in centuries. He turned to another corridor, his movement unhurried as he tracked the cursed energy Emi was emitting. He entered the new corridor to find the setting had changed once more.

The hallway was lined with armor, most of them broken, cracked, or missing panels. Sheathed swords were placed above each armor, and there was a picture beside each of them, telling a tale about the era they were from, the battle the wielder had died in, and their general outlook. A simple glance at the words told him all he needed to know. These were from the Warring States period.

He cut into another hallway and walked into another piece of time that had been preserved for centuries. This time, his footsteps slowed as he passed a painting. It held a man, his features lost to time, but what was unmistakable was the physique. The man was big, broad-shouldered, with four massive arms that held two cursed tools, while the remaining two were locked in a hand sign.

The mouth on the stomach was clear as day, the only thing that didn't suffer the deterioration of centuries and close to a millennia. It grinned, all teeth bared. Standing across from the man were other men and women, close to a dozen. It was a fight, and as Jiki walked past the painting, he didn't need to look back to confirm: the dozen strong were losing to the single man.

Natural disasters. Walking calamites. Imaginary Gods.

The old Miko's voice trailed behind him as he left the hallway and turned again, but this time, he was greeted with a sight that slowed him down. He was at a T-junction. To the right side of the hallway was a staircase leading deeper into the earth and towards where he expected the Tomb of the Star Corridor to be, yet to the left was another long corridor lined with history.

It felt like a taunt. Like a test. A poisoned chalice and an offer. The past few minutes had made it all the clearer that Tengen was old and a collector of things. Old enough that her collection was centuries old. Yet Jiki had expected it to end in the Heian era that he just passed. Instead, the hallway made it clear that couldn't be farther from the truth.

The hallway had paintings, sculptures, pottery, and architectural designs that Jiki could vaguely guess belonged to the Nara period. Even further, at the end of that, was another hallway to the side, which no doubt featured another piece of time carved out and placed in the building.

Tengen was way older than the Heian era.

Jiki took the right.

His curiosity could be sated some other time. He walked down the stairs and stopped at an elevator that would lead him straight down, deep into the earth. It was open, so he stepped in, and seconds later, it began to descend on its own. He was suddenly reminded of his first mission with his team, the hospital, and the uncharted basement floor plan beneath it.

The elevator came to a rest, opened up, and he walked down until he came out of the passage and into the Tomb of the Star Corridor. The first thing he noted was the bloodstain directly in front of him. Satoru and Geto's presumed greatest failure. The turning point. Riko Amanai. The girl that Satoru and Geto had been unable to protect. The girl that Toji Fushiguro killed.

He turned away from the bloodstain and observed the massive space that was the Tomb of the Star Corridor. It looked like a hidden village. The buildings were built in a circular pattern that bent inwards until they got within meters of the supermassive tree in the middle. A tree that was bounded by a rope scaled to fit it.

Despite how long it had been since his fight with Toji here, since he saved Geto from the same fate that had befallen Satoru, the damages were still present. Not all of them, but the perceptive could still see signs of that battle littered about. The tree for one was still scarred.

Jiki jumped down and began to walk the streets, with houses placed on either side of him. He slid a door open and beheld the contents. The house was well-furnished, at least as expected for an old Japanese house. There was a futon, tables, chairs, mats, cups, and plates in the kitchen. It seemed like whoever had stayed here had simply packed up and left. He didn't need to check the hundreds of others to know they were similarly stocked and habitable.

He was not sure what the Tomb of the Star Corridor was originally meant to be. It was too elaborate to simply be a place of refuge for Tengen to hide in, especially since just about everyone knew it was present under the school. No, Tengen's biggest protection was not his obscurity but the barriers he had placed everywhere.

So he continued speculating as he strolled forward. A fortress that people could retreat to if it somehow all went to hell on the surface of Japan? A medieval bunker for the rich and powerful? A hidden enclave for the people that had been rumored to worship the immortal sorcerer as a god centuries ago? There were hundreds of theories, but he shelved them to the side the moment he got close to the cursed energy signature he was tracking.

Was it a coincidence that she was also heading to him? He didn't think so.

The door to one of the houses on the side opened up, and Emi stepped out. Dressed in a flowered kimono that trailed along the ground, while her bare feet slapped against the ground. Her hair was tied up into a bun and she had her face hidden inside a book. She walked until she bumped into him and almost fell back, but it seemed like whatever vestiges of her training remained because she regained her balance smoothly and stared up at him.

He had grown taller over the past few months.

Her eyes were wide when she spoke, "Jiki? What are you doing here?"

So she had not known. Jiki interpreted it for what it was, a peace offering by Tengen. Something to soothe his anger so that when they met, Jiki would not start the conversation with an Amaterasu to the face. Fortunately for the cunning sorcerer, it worked.

Jiki allowed a small smile to slip out as he looked down at Emi, "How have you been, Emi?"

Yet it was only a small smile, for it did not work completely, not when that name kept echoing in his head, spoken and spat out like a curse, Kenjaku.

The book forgotten in her hands, she ran up to him and gave him a tight hug. When she finally pushed him back a bit for air, she beamed up at him. "Master Tengen said you had been busy."

There was a different tone in the way she pronounced "Master." A lot of people already called Tengen "Master," but that only held an air of formality, respect, and tradition, as owed to the oldest sorcerer. But Emi's tone had more than that.

"So, Satoru was right? Tengen took you on as an apprentice then?"

Emi's features changed as she sought the best way to explain, before finally letting out a sigh. "It's a bit more complicated than that." Her mood rose again. "But where have you been? Master Tengen has refused to let me out of the Tombs of the Sky Corridor until I can break out on my own. But I thought you would visit. Or even Maki, Toge, Pan—… Oh."

Jiki could feel the air of realization fall upon her. Everyone had been dealing with the results of the Night Parade in their own ways. Their team had been broken up and split as they all sought different paths and goals.

"Aiko was hurt," Jiki finally decided to help out, and the words were like a lifeline that Emi latched onto, to forget the past few seconds. He could see the gears work in her head as she tried to remember who exactly he was talking about. Then it clicked, and she spoke with wide eyes full of surprise. "Your maid?"

He nodded. 

"Is there something we can do to help? Master Tengen is really old, I'm sure she can—" 

"There's no need for her help." He cut Emi short, only giving her a light smile to dull the blow of his curt words. "She's… okay now. I'm here to see Master Tengen for another reason." 

"Oh." Emi was perceptive, so she picked up on the tightness of his words, her features shifting to unsure. This was not just a regular or social visit. 

Then her features hardened as she came to a decision. Old loyalties die hard, and before Master Tengen, there was Jiki. 

"Come on then, I'll lead you directly to her. This place is a maze, especially this deep in. There are barriers to confuse, to disorient, barriers that loop, and barriers that are dangerous enough to die in. It's extensive enough that I'm surprised there isn't a new school focused on barriers and what they can do. I've been here for a bit, so I know how to make my way—"

Jiki nodded. He had not seen or witnessed all these barriers while he fought Toji, and he doubted they were a recent project, which meant that Tengen had deactivated them herself, because they had been useless and most likely would've impacted him negatively. This meant the barriers were no threat to Toji himself. Considering how easily Toji had slipped past all the barriers protecting the school, Jiki was not surprised. 

As they walked, Emi told him a bit about her training while also requesting stories from the outside world, and he didn't hesitate to tell her, at least about the little he already knew. 

Maki had been helping out the new first years for a bit. Toge had been in self-imposed isolation following Panda's death, and now he was training again—Jiki refused to even hint at Toji's presence this deep in the seat of Tengen's power. Yuta sent letters occasionally; apparently, Kenya and Africa as a whole were hot. Who would've thought.

Their talks went on for long, yet despite how engrossing it was, Jiki never lost focus. He counted the steps, the turns, the buildings, everything to imprint the path in his memory. While it seemed like a convoluted path that had them retracing their steps more often than not, Jiki could see a hint of it, the thin line of sanity in the madness that was the way. 

A better barrier user could probably slip through all these with some level of effort, but he doubted there was a better barrier user in the whole of Japan. 

They finally came to a door. A very plain door that had no difference from the rest of the doors they had passed. Yet there had to be something different about it, for Emi's chattering slowed until she was silent. She stood in front of the door for long seconds. When she finally turned to him, he could sense the mixed feelings welling within her. Having two masters, but once again, old loyalties die hard. 

"You should be careful," she finally said, even with the knowledge that Tengen could most likely hear her words. "Master Tengen doesn't exactly like you. Your presence. But it would be a stretch to say she hates you either, and while I doubt she can truly beat you in a fight, there is an ingenuity to the usage of barriers that can get you in a bit of a bind." 

She stared into Jiki's eyes as his mangyeko sharingan slowly spun in a wheel. With those eyes, he could feel and see the truth of her words and how much she believed that Tengen was powerful in her own way. Yet she still believed if it came down to a fight, he wouldn't lose. 

He nodded at her, and with a gentle pat on her shoulder, brushed past her and pushed the door open into a white room. 

Then there she was, Master Tengen, or at least, the creature he was guessing was called Master Tengen.

Frail, old, and worn. Seated beneath a tree in a sea of white hexagonal panels, with a low table standing before her. Yet, other than the instinctive categorizing of the location, the furniture, and the four-eyed creature wrapped in a robe, Jiki went straight to the point, stopping directly in front of the table and discarding the seat offered. 

"Our discussion today will determine whether the name of your dwelling literally lives up to its name and becomes your fate," Jiki promised, his voice a quiet whisper. 

Even with the divergent anatomy that came from being a creature not completely human, there were remnants of that physiology, ticks, and cues that had followed her for centuries, that she had not somehow gotten rid of completely. Things that would be invisible to others without the sharingan. She twitched in fear, recognition, and worry, which meant that this form of hers was new.

Tengen was supposed to be a woman. He vividly remembered Satoru using feminine pronouns to describe her, so what was he looking at. His mind spun, even in the midst of his anger. His intellect still tried to figure out what could have changed the sorcerer. 

His birth? Low possibility, especially since he had not had direct contact with her before now. Then another event came to mind: Riko Amanai. The girl that should've been sacrificed for the sake of Jujutsu society. The girl that died. Satoru and Geto had told him enough. 

Tengen recovered smoothly, like nothing had just happened, and, looking into the distance with those eerie four eyes, she spoke. 

"She worries too much, you know. She fears that anyone she trusts will leave her at the slightest provocation. Loneliness. I believe it's trauma left over from her time before she was enlisted as a student. Another that should've not been, but that was before you tilted the balance and the world was forced to compensate once again." 

Jiki remained silent. 

"You know, by now, most people would be surprised, disgusted, curious, worried, or scared at my appearance. But not you. There was not even the slightest emotional response. Utter apathy. It is a curious thing to be felt, yet it is apathy tinged with something else, something unrealized." 

Itachi had seen worse than a talking four-eyed figure. He had killed enough Orochimaru's experiment's while hunting the snake. Instead, he cataloged the mutterings but didn't speak a word. Rather, he focused, bringing the weight of his cursed energy to bear and focusing it on the creature before him. Mixed in it was killing intent, precise and deadly, the sum and weight of multiple years killing both man, beast, and curses. The concentrated desire to absolutely murder another being manifested into the world. It was nearly physical. It was enough to silence the creature as it finally turned to face him, and, in its eyes, Jiki saw worry. 

"Are you going to tell me why you're here, child, or are you going to stare me to death? It is an act that I don't find completely ridiculous, judging by what you have done so far." 

"Kenjaku." Jiki whispered the name, and he watched it cut deep into Tengen like a blade. 

"Ah, is that what this is about." Tengen chuckled, as if there was some perverse joke that only she could see. "I'm not sure—" 

Jiki placed his palms on the low table and leaned forward just the slightest bit. When Tengen looked at him once again, she realized his eyes had changed. His face remained placid and apathetic, yet the same couldn't be said for his cursed energy. Cursed energy manipulation on a level that was unique, bringing the full presence of his rolling cursed energy, streaked with a dark deed that stained it into a malevolence on the same level as the Imaginary God. A sin that matched feasting on your own unborn twin.

Cursed energy that was rigidly controlled until it was let out like this, showing its full malevolence. Intent backed by deed. 

"I do not care about your personal opinions or what you think and feel. Tell me everything, or I will extract it from your mind myself. They say the process is unpleasant. But such is the nature of Tsukuyomi." 

Tengen finally let out a sigh. If this was the monster the Gods had chosen… 

"I suppose he has finally done something stupid enough to appear on your radar. Fine, let us start from the beginning." 

The hexagonal panels that served as the walls flipped.

"This is a memory he shared, much like I share with you now." Tengen's voice was soft, almost wistful, as a udden snowstorm manifested, swirling around them, biting and relentless. "It was the middle of a dreadful winter in the Yayoi Period. The winds howled, the earth was shook, and survival was a cruel game with horrible odds. Yet, amidst the frost and desolation, a child was born, a boy that was… wrong." 

She paused, the weight of her words hanging heavily in the air. "His birth defied the natural order, as if the world itself hesitated to claim him. Yet, despite his unusual nature, he embraced life with a fervor unmatched. He lived not as others did, bound by fear or convention, but as he wished, vivaciously and recklessly, defying fate with each breath he took." 

Tengen turned to face him. "Neither Sukuna, Satoru nor you were the first, born in such a way that the world was forced to react. He was the first, it simply took the world longer to send a reply."

The scene shifted, the snowstorm softening to reveal images of the boy, a feral grin, wild eyes, and a relentless vitality that dared the heavens to strike him down. Tengen's expression turned somber. 

"Centuries passed, and still, the boy still lived but grown, a measured smile, calm eyes, and a relaxed vitality. It took the world a long time, but finally there was a response for the abnormality that was the boy. Another was born, a girl. Born of his own blood centuries later, she bore a fragment of the same power that made him aberrant, a variation of the technique that once set him apart." 

Her gaze met Jiki's, her eerie four eyes telling a tale of profound sadness.

"You." Jiki noted.

Tengen's lips curved into a faint, melancholic smile. "Me."