Kashimo’s expression remained dark, his gaze fixed on Julian.
Julian held up a hand.
“Look, Kashimo, I know you’re eager to fight, but don’t rush.
Sukuna is currently suppressed inside Yuji Itadori’s soul.
He can’t manifest on command right now anyway.”
Kashimo blinked, a flicker of surprise crossing his features.
When he signed his contract with Kenjaku four hundred years ago, Kenjaku hadn’t bothered explaining the details of modern vessels.
Kashimo knew only that ancient sorcerers were transformed into cursed objects to be reincarnated in this era.
In his experience, no human mind had ever retained control after consuming an ancient soul.
“What do you mean, ‘right now’?” Kashimo leaned in, his voice tightening.
“Are you saying Sukuna will break free later?”
Julian paused, realizing he had let a key detail slip.
“Something like that…”
He hesitated, careful not to reveal too much lest he draw unexpected attention from Kenjaku’s monitoring network.
“That old curse has been setting up a contingency inside Itadori.
You know how Binding Vows work, right?”
“Of course I do,” Kashimo grunted.
“Then it’s easy to explain,” Julian continued smoothly.
“Sukuna knew he couldn’t overpower Itadori’s soul directly from the inside, so he tricked him into a Binding Vow.
The moment Sukuna utters the command ‘Enchain,’ Itadori’s body surrenders full control to Sukuna unconditionally for sixty seconds.”
Kashimo’s eyes widened slightly.
“He’s going to use that minute to transfer his soul into a new vessel through forced incarnation?!”
Incarnation sounded simple on paper, but turning one’s own soul into a cursed object was a technique Kashimo had only ever seen Kenjaku perform.
Hearing that Sukuna possessed the exact same skill barely surprised him, given the King of Curses’ reputation, but the sheer calculation behind it gave him pause.
Kashimo lowered his gaze, studying Julian with fresh scrutiny.
“Who the hell are you?
Julian gave a light shrug, tapping the side of his head with two fingers.
“Told you.
My intelligence network is top-tier.”
Kashimo stared at him for several heavy seconds.
Even with centuries of battle experience, he couldn’t spot a trace of falsehood in Julian’s posture.
Finally, Kashimo let out a sharp breath, dismissing the mystery.
He didn’t care about Julian’s background.
He had agreed to Kenjaku’s game for one reason: to test his strength against the absolute peak.
“Fine,” Kashimo said bluntly.
“Where do I find a decent fight right now?”
Julian looked down, running through the layout of the colonies.
Tokyo Colony No.
2 was notably sparse when it came to legendary sorcerers.
Aside from Kashimo himself and the French-Japanese manga artist Charles Bernard, the colony had no major players until Kinji Hakari arrived days later.
“Honestly, Kashimo…
there aren’t many strong sorcerers in this specific barrier.”
“What?!” Kashimo growled, electric sparks popping along his iron staff.
“Kenjaku reincarnated dozens of ancient sorcerers!
You’re telling me he put none of them here?”
“My guess?” Julian raised a finger.
“Kenjaku knows how dangerous you are.
He probably deliberately avoided placing other heavyweights in Tokyo No.
2 so you wouldn’t wipe out all his game pieces before the main event.”
Kashimo didn’t care for empty flattery, but the prospect of a barren battleground genuinely irritated him.
Feeling the ozone rise around him, Julian took two quick steps back, waving his hands.
“Don’t lose your temper!
There might not be anyone here, but you can always move to another colony!”
The crackling energy settled slightly.
Kashimo turned his head.
“Which barrier has the strongest fighters?”
“Sendai Colony,” Julian answered instantly.
“There are four high-tier combatants gathered there right now.
You’ve probably heard of a few of them.”
“Names.”
“Dhruv Lakdawalla, an ancient sorcerer currently on his second incarnation; Takako Uro, former captain of the Sun, Moon, and Stars assassination squad from a thousand years ago; Ryu Ishigori, an ancient sorcerer from your era; and a Special Grade Cursed Spirit named Kurourushi.”
Kashimo’s eyes flared with genuine interest.
He didn’t recognize the cursed spirit, but he knew the other three—especially Ryu Ishigori, the man Kenjaku had once described as having the highest Cursed Energy output in history.
Back then, Kashimo had been too old and sick to travel south to challenge him.
Now, the opportunity sat right in front of him.
Kashimo summoned his shikigami on the spot.
“Kogane!
Transfer me to Sendai Colony immediately!”
The small winged creature appeared in a puff of smoke, shaking its head frantically.
“Apologies, Player Kashimo!
Crossing barrier boundaries is strictly prohibited under current Culling Game regulations.
Transfer denied.”
Kashimo’s face turned thunderous.
Before he could swing his staff at the floating insect, Julian chimed in calmly.
“You don’t need a transfer.
Just add a new rule to the Culling Game that allows players to travel between barriers freely.”