Sukuna initially wanted Megumi Fushiguro’s body because he had fought Satoru Gojo just after waking up.
Satoru Gojo’s cursed technique, [Limitless], can isolate all attacks from his body, infinitely extending the distance an attack takes to reach him within a hair’s breadth.
After fighting Gojo, Sukuna had been thinking about how to break Gojo’s technique; theoretically, Gojo’s technique was a perfect counter to Sukuna’s direct style of attack.
When Sukuna said he would be the first to kill Gojo after his resurrection, he actually wasn’t completely certain.
At that time, Sukuna met Megumi Fushiguro and felt the presence of Mahoraga.
He actually knew nothing about Mahoraga then, but his innate talent and sharp intuition for cursed energy made Sukuna realize that Megumi Fushiguro’s technique was the key to breaking Gojo’s invincible defense.
This was why, in all subsequent actions, he protected Megumi Fushiguro until he could completely occupy his body.
“Open!”
Sukuna unleashed a burst of [Furnace: Open] at Mahoraga’s back, and the explosive flames hit the shikigami’s spine dead-on.
As the flames dispersed, Mahoraga slowly turned its head.
Although it had no eyes, the wings where its eyes should be spread slightly.
Seeing its unscathed back, the smile in Sukuna’s eyes grew even deeper.
He glanced sideways at Levi and sneered, “As I thought…
is it the same type of technique?”
Before the words had left his mouth, Mahoraga arrived in an instant, blowing the white-haired Sukuna away with a single punch.
However, Levi could see that before being sent flying, Sukuna had already folded his hands in front of his chest, blocking Mahoraga’s attack with his palms.
Then, Mahoraga let out a roar, and with a thrust of its feet, the ground shattered like an explosion.
It leapt away with overwhelming leg strength to pursue Sukuna.
The asphalt road, already cratered by Levi’s blasts, was almost completely overturned.
Sukuna was blown away and locked in an aerial battle with Mahoraga, yet he didn’t forget to scream at Levi with a ferocious face, “Levi!
Once I master Mahoraga’s ability—”
“—I will definitely kill you first!”
Levi cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted back, “Didn’t you promise Gojo that you’d kill him first?!”
Sukuna’s voice drifted back from afar, “I’m letting you cut in line!
You’re ahead of Satoru Gojo!”
Then there were only booming explosions; Sukuna’s voice could no longer be heard.
Levi shook his head.
“Satoru Gojo would be sad if he knew.”
Just then, footsteps came from behind Levi, along with someone’s words.
“Do you know Satoru Gojo very well too?”
Levi turned around to see a figure in monk’s robes, with stitches across the forehead and squinted eyes, standing a short distance away with a smile.
“Yo, if it isn’t the King of Brain-swapping.”
Levi pushed the glasses on the bridge of his nose and looked left and right.
“Where’s Mahito?
You haven’t eaten him yet, have you?”
Kenjaku maintained that same airy smile.
But inside the skull, that brain had already opened its mouth slightly.
Holy shit, I’m being doxxed!
Although Kenjaku had been observing in secret for a long time and confirmed that Levi indeed possessed extraordinary intelligence capabilities…
Having his secrets laid bare the moment they met still left him unprepared.
“You know me?”
Kenjaku couldn’t help but ask.
Levi walked in the direction Haruta Shigemo had been taken, casually saying to Kenjaku, “Don’t underestimate my intelligence network.”
Kenjaku followed behind Levi with a helpless smile.
“Really, you always brush people off like that.”
Kenjaku’s interest in Levi grew more and more.
A man never seen before had suddenly emerged, appearing as if he knew everything.
Yet he had no cursed energy.
If not for those glasses, which were a cursed tool, he couldn’t even see cursed spirits.
However, his nearly indestructible body left even Sukuna helpless.
This wasn’t like Gojo’s technique of infinitely extending attack distance; every attack had physically struck the man in front of him, yet they were completely useless.
Sukuna had even lost his composure to the point of rage, screaming the man’s name in the sky.
“Mr.
Levi, right now the entirety of Shibuya…
no, because you shattered the Curtain, ordinary people have successfully escaped.
It also allowed the cameras, lenses, and satellites of the outside world to capture everything happening here.”
“Although you’ve remained anonymous in the past, after tonight, your name will become a household name in both human society and the jujutsu world.”
“What are your thoughts on this?”
Kenjaku followed behind Levi, asking like an interviewing reporter.
Flames ignited in Levi’s hands.
A moment before the thrust propelled him away, he turned his head and gave Kenjaku a slight smile.
“Kenjaku, honestly, I’ve always felt that Battle Royale-style games aren’t very fun.”
“Forget it, it doesn’t matter.
Just forget I said anything.”
With that, the flames from Levi’s hands propelled him off the ground, flying forward.
Kenjaku stood where he was, his hair fluttering in the strong wind, speechless for a long time.
He had no doubt that Levi’s final words were directed at the [Culling Game] he had planned to launch tonight.
“A grand banquet prepared for so long, only to be called uninteresting by someone?”
Kenjaku scratched his head in distress.
“Aah, that’s quite a blow.”
“So…”
Kenjaku looked up, his gaze sharp as he watched the point of light that was Levi disappear into the horizon.
“You also have the ability to foresee the future, don’t you?”
“Truly terrifying.”
“Levi, just how far into the future do your eyes see?”
No matter what, Kenjaku did not plan to start the [Culling Game] tonight anymore.
Originally, in Kenjaku’s eyes, whether it was Satoru Gojo or Sukuna, though they were powerful, they were nothing more than two ‘players.’
Satoru Gojo was a hero-type player who would complete every plotline and side quest, kill every monster, and protect every NPC with a story as much as possible to achieve a perfect ending.
Sukuna was a player using a cheat trainer; with a ding, he obtained invincible power and then went on a killing spree to see how much he could destroy and slaughter this world.
And Kenjaku himself…
was the game developer.
He wanted to change the game’s mechanics.
Gojo definitely wouldn’t agree, so he banned Gojo’s account.
As for Sukuna’s killing spree, it could help him refresh and format the game’s resources, so he kept him.
His goal, rather than wanting to create a transcendent cursed spirit, was more about just wanting to switch to a fresher game.
Not necessarily a more fun one, but definitely a fresher one.
However, the real world is not a program after all; you can’t just close this game and click on the next one.
One can only run the new version by completely deleting the original version.
But then again, Kenjaku wasn’t some old fox planning for a millennium who would constantly repeat ‘this is also part of the plan.’
It just so happened that in these few decades, the death of the Star Plasma Vessel made Tengen become like a cursed spirit, it just so happened that Suguru Geto’s technique was [Cursed Spirit Manipulation], and it just so happened that the human cursed spirit Mahito was reborn during this period and mastered [Idle Transfiguration].
All the conditions were just right.
How could Kenjaku possibly hold back?
Everything was ready for the database wipe; the code for the next version was right in front of him.
How could Kenjaku resist pressing the button?
It was just different now.
This game…
had a bug.
“Fortunately, he doesn’t have cursed energy.
This gives me more room to maneuver…”
Just as Kenjaku was thinking this, a flash of inspiration struck his mind.
“Wait, the first thing he did upon meeting me was ask about ‘Mahito.’ And after deliberately using information about Mahoraga to lure Sukuna away, he immediately went to find ‘Haruta Shigemo,’ whose technique is luck.”
“Combined with the fact that he knows what I’m going to do in the future, he must have also seen that I plan to use [Idle Transfiguration] to awaken cursed energy in a large number of ordinary people.”
“Given his lack of cursed energy protection, as long as I rely on Tengen’s barrier to remotely activate [Idle Transfiguration], it’s possible it could affect him…”
Kenjaku’s mind began to race.
He linked all of Levi’s actions together!
Kenjaku suddenly clutched his head, feeling his brain tremble.
He was incredibly excited, feeling the thrill of victory from seeing right through the opponent across the table based on tiny clues!
“No, it will definitely work!
That’s why he didn’t hesitate to expose his existence and reveal so many trump cards—just to stop Sukuna from destroying Shibuya and prevent Sukuna from accidentally killing Haruta Shigemo!”
“Levi, the first future you foresaw must be me using [Idle Transfiguration] to bypass your defense mechanism and cause you harm!”
“And to avoid that first future, you must obtain cursed energy before I consume ‘Mahito’ and acquire [Idle Transfiguration]—which means, tonight!”
Kenjaku was absolutely certain of his deduction, his excitement growing as he thought.
“So you broke the Curtain, killed Uraume, and lured Sukuna here—all to ensure Haruta Shigemo’s survival!”
“That way, you can rely on Haruta Shigemo’s luck to awaken cursed energy!”
“Although I don’t know how you plan to do it, in the eyes of someone who can see the future, your success rate must be one hundred percent!”
Too interesting, it’s just too interesting!
Kenjaku felt like he had found an incredibly interesting playmate and opponent!
Therefore, Kenjaku decided!
To run away.