Chapter 199
Gojo Satoru has no memory of the first two playthroughs, but Hagoromo Kazuma remembers them perfectly.
Whether it's the crested haori worn by the head of the Kamo family in the first playthrough or the crested haori worn by Kazuma Hagoromo in the second playthrough, the family crest on the cuffs is the same.
Both are from the third playthrough of [Special Grade Cursed Spirit - Ichijin].
What's going on here? Right at the very beginning of the game, he was already wearing his own tattoo on his body?
In other words, is what he's playing still... a game?
"Games, of course."
When he first met Tengen, she had her arms crossed in front of her chest and said this to him.
At that time, Kazuma Hatori had already briefly said goodbye to Satoru. After explaining that he had other important matters to attend to, he spread his wings and flew from Kyoto to Tokyo, landing at the Jujutsu High School. Then, following the guidance of the mysteriously appearing remnants of jutsu power, he passed through one of the unguarded doors and arrived at the deepest part of the earth.
The high-level professional barrier, which should have been the most heavily guarded, did not sound the alarm; Tianyuan gave him the green light all the way.
Kazuma Hato had never been to the Red Star Palace before, so he was naturally awestruck by the magnificent sight inside the main hall. But soon, as he hovered in the air, he found a figure standing beside the tree roots, folded his wings made of flames, and lightly landed on one of the thick branches of the divine tree.
How do you know about [the game]?
He asked the person in front of him who called himself Tianyuan—or rather, a life form that resembled a human.
Compared to ordinary-looking humans, Tengen's head is more like a cone with its top cut off, and it also has four eyes growing on its head.
Kazuma Hatori examined the person carefully several times, but still couldn't tell their gender from their appearance.
"Of course I know."
Tian Yuan spoke, his tone calm, his face showing no obvious emotional fluctuation.
"Because this [game] is something you made for yourself, Yizhen."
“…”
The moment it received this answer, the golden-red flames burning on the phoenix seemed to have been doused with boiling oil, and the violent fluctuations of flying sparks lasted for a long time before slowly calming down.
After a long silence, Kazuma Hatori finally spoke up and asked Tengen.
How do you know all this?
He remembered very clearly that he had never met Tianyuan, nor could he have discussed these things with him.
“…This is a story about ouroboros,” Tianyuan sighed. “If you’re asking me where the head and tail should be, I’ve long since lost the ability to tell them apart.”
The ouroboros is a religious or alchemical symbol, generally depicted as a snake biting its own tail: sometimes in a circle, sometimes in a horizontal figure-eight shape.
It is one of the oldest mythological symbols in the world, and its meaning is quite clear—infinity and cycles.
"What does this mean? Will I be trapped in this loop of reincarnation forever?"
His words, which seemed to indicate that he was in an endless predicament, made Kazuma Hatake's voice turn cold, but instead earned him a surprised glance from Tengen, who revealed a somewhat unclear smile.
"Of course not. You are still in one part of the cycle right now, far from reaching the true end and the beginning."
Kazuma Hatake: "..."
This guy is actually giving him a riddle.
"You'll understand completely when you reach that point."
Tianyuan slowly shook his head, not completely hiding anything.
“I’m sure you’ve wondered why Gojo Satoru, even if he doesn’t remember, still has many subconscious preferences that should only be known to you. That’s because there’s only one timeline.”
"Time point".
Kazuma Hatori spoke, and he had already accurately grasped the key point.
Each time he starts a new cycle, it doesn't correspond to opening a parallel world line; rather, he remains on the same world line, artificially choosing different time points.
“Yes, the timing.” Tianyuan praised, “Your [Ten Directions Maha] is still not fully developed to its limit. However, you have already comprehended [One True Dharma Realm] with this posture, so you can be said to have finally touched the threshold.”
[The ten directions refer to Heaven, Earth, East, West, South, North, the Gate of Life, the Gate of Death, the Past, and the Future.]
The Buddhist interpretation that Gojo Satoru had given him long ago now appeared vividly in Hato Kazuma's mind.
In other words, the six words referring to space are not the focus; the key usage lies in life and death, past and future.
Hagoromo Kazuma pondered for a moment, “[Kazuma Dharma Realm]... I thought it was just about igniting a flame that could burn everything.”
"That would be oversimplifying it. [If one wishes to understand all Buddhas of the three times, one should observe the nature of the Dharma realm, for everything is created by the mind.]"
After Tengen finished reciting this Buddhist verse, he took the initiative to explain to Hatori Isshin, “All dharmas in the Dharma realm are manifested by consciousness. You can understand the Dharma realm of Isshin as a calm, waveless body of water, where only the surface of the water is ‘true.’ On that surface, there is no wind, no light, no life, nothing at all.”
"This is a still and empty body of water, yet it can give rise to all things from the mind. The mind is like a formless wind; when you let this wind blow across the water and make ripples, the shapes of objects appear."
"It may eventually return to emptiness, but at this moment, it is the Dharma realm born from your mind."
Kazuma Hatake wanted to burn the world to ashes, and a massive blazing fire rose up throughout the world, extending to the very edge of the realm he could create.
What if he controlled an even larger area?
Suppose that what he truly wants is not to ignite a fire that burns everything, but to seek hope after despair?
Xia Youjie once said that the special-grade cursed spirit named Zhenren touched his soul, which was a burning flame.
And that Nostradamus prophecy that started circulating at some unknown time perfectly matched everything he experienced in Shinjuku.
Kazuma Hatori seemed to understand something.
But there's still a problem.
He stared at Tianyuan in front of him. "Why do you know so many things, and why did you specifically tell me?"
"Let me first explain why I was able to find you, even though you're in Kyoto."
Tianyuan placed his hand on his chest. "Although in the eyes of the sorcery world I am probably no different from this tree, in reality, I can sense the sorcery energy fluctuations within any barrier that I set up or teach."
"Especially now that I am gradually evolving, my soul is breaking away from my long-decayed body and becoming formless and omnipresent in this world. In other words, the world is me and I am the world."
“The Gojo family is included within the Purification Zone I set up in Kyoto. Your magical power was almost out of control at the time, so I was naturally able to clearly sense you.”
"This is probably the downside of becoming a top-tier cursed spirit. You are forced to sacrifice a part of your rationality as a human being, and your likes and dislikes become so obvious and straightforward."
Kazuma Hatori did not refute this—he tacitly accepted it and thought there was nothing wrong with it.
"Next, I'll answer your question."
Tianyuan continued, “My existence has become extremely special, and I am not controlled by your [One True Dharma Realm]. My memories still exist completely in my brain... well, if they can still be called a ‘brain’.”
"For example, I know that I will fail to assimilate the astral body in the future, and I accept this reality and intend to let nature take its course; as a result of accepting this reality, even though I am still before the day of assimilation of the astral body, my body has already begun to evolve ahead of time."
"Of course, I actually have another explanation that I haven't said aloud, but I think you'll figure it out soon."
"—Just like your current state, it is not a coincidence."
A long, long silence descended upon the vast Hall of Death.
Only the phoenix standing on the gnarled old tree, its feathers burning with golden and red light, swayed softly, silently gazing at Tianyuan, who stood beside the tree roots and had evolved beyond human form.
Until Kazuma Hagoromo finally spoke.
"According to you, I cannot change the predetermined future. But you cannot explain the overlap between the first and second timelines."
“I don’t need to explain,” Tianyuan shook his head slightly again. “How can you assert that it doesn’t belong to a link in the past?”
“…”
This convoluted approach left Kazuma Hatori completely bewildered, unsure how to make sense of things.
What does this mean? The past him actually fell into the future that extends from this moment, while the future him, shaped by the future, returned to the past even further back, creating a Möbius strip that echoes the past and has no beginning or end.
"So, my vision of destroying the world won't actually come true?"
Hagoromo Kazuma muttered to himself, but Tengen corrected him.
"To be precise, destroying the world is not your ultimate goal. However, I can predict that you will soon figure out what you should really be doing."
Before Kazuma Hagoromo left the Red Star Palace, Tengen said one last thing to him.
"I am here waiting for your return, Kazuma."
…………
late at night.
When Kazuma Hatori returned to the Gojo residence and quietly entered the bedroom where Satoru Gojo lived, he found that the light in that room was still on.
Gojo Satoru rested his elbows on the desk, his head bobbing up and down as he waited for him to return.
In his other hand, he held a pen, the tip resting on the draft paper; the first half was filled with calculation formulas, but probably because he was too sleepy while waiting, the handwriting became more and more sloppy as he went on, and finally it just became a mess.
Next to it was a plate of plump strawberry daifuku, made by Granny Chika.
It seems that Satoru went to Granny Chika's place again this afternoon and even brought back a strawberry daifuku for her.
"Ah, I'm finally back."
Before Gojo Satoru opened his eyes, the all-seeing [Six Eyes] had already sensed that familiar curse power rapidly approaching.
He yawned, his eyes still half-closed, and his hands instinctively reached out, wanting a hug from the warm and soft phoenix.
Hato Kazuma fell into Jingo's arms as if he were a gentle breeze. After being held tightly in his arms, he fell onto the tatami mat and rolled all the way to the quilt before stopping. Then he rolled up the quilt and lay down completely still.
I'm so sleepy and lazy that I don't even want to get up and walk a few steps.
But this is just too cute, no wonder it's Gosho.
Hatake's truly heavy emotions were instantly shattered, and he even couldn't help but chuckle.
Before he left, he couldn't explain to Satoru where he was going, so Satoru didn't press him for details. Instead, he rubbed his face against Satoru's feathers and mumbled something about the idea he had mentioned earlier.
"I've made up my mind. I'm going to study at the Jujutsu High School in Tokyo..."
This is the path of growth that Gojo Satoru is about to embark on. Through subsequent trials, he will gain enlightenment, see his true nature, clarify his mind and set his goals, and remain untainted by any darkness or dust, possessing a heart of gold that is purer and more steadfast than anyone else's.
"Um,"
Kazuma Hatori smiled and gently nuzzled him.
"I've made my decision."
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