Chapter 293: Hard to See Through

Tengen reached out with her slender fingers and gently pinched the still-green fallen leaf.

It clearly wasn't late autumn yet, but the leaves were already falling.

She was silent for a moment before speaking seriously. "But if I still can't complete my Shikai in the end, I will use the Star Plasma Vessel. I hope you won't stop me."

Satoshi glanced at the leaf in her hand and replied, "Alright. I promise you."

Indeed, not everything in this world goes as planned.

But soon after, Tengen raised her gaze. The worries in her eyes vanished, and her expression returned to that of the calm and omniscient Tengen.

"The goodwill event starts tomorrow. Why do you still have time to be here?" she asked flatly.

"Why do you care so much? I thought your place would be a bit quieter." Satoshi smiled.

After all, no matter where he showed up now, the entire Jujutsu world was watching him closely.

It was annoying even for him.

Tengen rolled her eyes. "From joining Kyoto's side to openly declaring war on the two major academies, who wouldn't be curious whether the famous Gojo Satoshi has lost his mind?"

"This event isn't even that important to you, right? Why are you suddenly involved?"

"My reasoning is simple."

Satoshi folded his arms. "This year's Kyoto camp is too weak. They can't serve as proper opposition to Satoru's Tokyo team."

"In short, I want to stimulate both Satoru and Suguru. They still have room to grow."

"Even now, Gojo Satoru is known as the strongest Six Eyes sorcerer in a thousand years…" Tengen muttered, resisting the urge to strike him.

"Satoru is still far from that."

Satoshi's eyes narrowed slightly as he said, "He hasn't mastered Domain Expansion or the Reverse Cursed Technique. He also hasn't achieved Bankai with Senbonzakura."

"I plan to use this opportunity to help him attain Bankai."

"This will be a small experiment for me."

Based on Satoshi's memories, Satoru only learned the Reverse Cursed Technique during the Star Plasma Vessel incident, which was still about a year away.

There was no need to rush. Techniques like these were like math—understanding was essential. Forcing it wouldn't help.

More importantly, from his understanding of Zanpakutō, Satoru and Senbonzakura were already extremely close to unlocking Bankai. All that remained was a final push.

If he could help complete that here, it would significantly boost Satoru's combat strength.

Of course, achieving that breakthrough during a crisis was dramatic, but also a huge gamble.

One small misstep could result in a complete team wipe.

That was the outcome Satoshi wanted to avoid most.

There was another motivation as well.

According to the system, once a borrower completed their Bankai, he could extract one ability from their body.

But what puzzled him was that due to the Heavenly Restriction on his own body, he still couldn't feel this world's cursed energy.

The system had analyzed Satoru's technique, but—

Could he reproduce it using spiritual energy, thereby generating a unique variant of the technique that was his alone?

He had thought about this for a long time.

But in the end, Satoshi decided to let reality reveal the answer.

So—

Satoru, please work hard and break through the barrier to complete your Bankai.

The corners of Satoshi's mouth curled up higher and higher. At this moment, he looked like a fox watching its prey take the bait, full of scheming amusement.

"Gojo Satoshi, you really look like a villain right now…" Tengen stared up at him and muttered.

"Tengen, if you keep this up, I swear I'll make sure you never find Amanai Riko…" Satoshi teased wickedly.

"...?" Tengen froze for a second, then tilted her head with a sharp gaze. "How do you know that girl?"

She did lean toward Riko's body, but she hadn't confirmed it yet.

She never expected Satoshi to already know.

She had genuinely worried that Satoshi would intervene when the time came.

After all, no one understood Satoshi's strength better than she did.

If he had decided to stop the assimilation when she was halfway through it, she would have had no way to resist him.

"So, you'd better hurry up and complete the synchronization with your Zanpakutō, Tengen," Satoshi said lightly.

Tengen slowly closed her eyes with a tired sigh. "The trick you pulled on Satoru won't work on me."

She had lived for centuries. How could Satoshi expect such a simple provocation to—

Wait.

If she had already completed her Zanpakutō's Shikai, would she really have needed a backup plan like this? She'd been working on this for nine years.

She shot another glare at Satoshi.

"Really? Then go ahead and use the Star Plasma Vessel," Satoshi said with a gentle smile.

Tengen blinked, caught off guard.

"Gojo Satoshi, you're not serious, are you?" Her eyes widened. "If I lose control, do you know what kind of disaster that would cause to the Jujutsu world?"

"I don't want others to be sacrificed. But if anything goes wrong, the entire sorcery world might go down with me…"

Her voice trembled slightly.

She looked at the boy in disbelief. Even though she had always known he was this world's twisted son, did he have to drag the whole world into that twist too?

Did he even have any real connection to the Star Plasma Vessel? Sure, Yuki had been his girlfriend, but the Vessel had nothing to do with him, right?

She was about to say more, but Satoshi interrupted her.

"So, try harder Tengen-sama."

He turned to face her and the Tombs of the Star behind her, his face radiant with a calm, infuriating smile.

Tengen's eyes twitched as she stared at him, clearly agitated.

"Fine, take me back up. The goodwill event is tomorrow, after all…" Satoshi stretched lazily and looked completely carefree.

(To be continued.)