Chapter 203 (End of Main Text)
"A defeated opponent, and a coward at that."
Gojo Satoru was also exhausted and had depleted his magical power, but he still had to first scoff at the finger before checking on Fushiguro Megumi, who had collapsed unconscious.
Kazuma Hatake also reverted to human form, bent down and picked up the finger—startling Satoru Gojo, who immediately turned to warn him.
"You're not allowed to eat it. What if it takes over your consciousness?"
This guy's history of eating random things was so serious that it instantly set off Gojo Satoru's alarm radar.
Eating one is fine, but who knows what would happen if twenty of them were gathered together!
“…No,” Kazuma Hatori chuckled, “I don’t really eat everything.”
"Speaking of which, starting just now, a memory that didn't exist before suddenly appeared in my mind."
After confirming that his student was safe and sound, Gojo Satoru was finally able to relax completely.
Then, without even tending to his wounds, he immediately started settling scores with his lover.
"Impressive, huh? You slit your own throat with a knife, forcing me to curse you."
Gojo Satoru let out a cold snort, "Oh dear, why didn't I think of this move at first? Maybe I could transform into a cat-shaped cursed spirit or something."
Kazuma Hatake: "..."
Stand at attention, obedient and respectful, and listen attentively to instructions.
Gojo Satoru took a deep breath, and then he couldn't say anything more.
It's so infuriating that it's impossible to get angry.
Rather, it's more accurate to say...
"……Very good."
Gojo Satoru reached out and hugged Hatori Kazuma tightly—unlike the time after the first playthrough, this time he reversed the situation, burying his face in Hatori Kazuma's neck, his voice filled with a very low, almost indistinguishable tremor and sob.
"I'm so glad you're okay."
Kazuma Hatori gently patted Satoru Gojo's back, comforting him and saying, "Everything is going according to plan."
Gojo Satoru: "..."
Gojo Satoru muttered sullenly, "You have the nerve to talk about a plan? You're just gambling with your life."
Now that he has fully regained his memories, doesn't he know that this guy's timeline isn't a normal, linear flow, but rather pieced together by jumping back and forth twice?
The future Kazuma Hodori may have known that the past Kazuma would do this, but for the past Kazuma Hodori, the risks of doing so were simply unimaginable.
And Yizhen did this simply so that he could survive.
From this battle.
Kazuma Hatori listened silently to Satoru Gojo's accusations, feeling the warm, damp sensation gradually seeping into the fabric, and dared not refute them at all.
He didn't really intend to refute it, but instead quietly embraced Gojo Satoru in the center of the ruins, spending this memorable, short yet long moment together.
"Teacher—Teacher Gojo—and Mr. Mamaru are here too—"
"Hey, Itadori! What kind of Mr. Shinmaru is this? You dare name Mr. Kazumaru a dog?!"
"Ah, hahaha..."
Until shouts came from afar, accompanied by hurried and noisy running sounds—the content of the shouts also became clearer, and even before the people arrived, they had already started arguing loudly.
Gojo Satoru quickly lifted his head from Hagoromo Kazuma's neck and wiped away the remaining tear stains with his hands. "Can't tell, can you?"
The question was asked in a very soft voice, and the person seemed a little nervous.
He's a tough teacher who's always been a cool guy in front of his students, how could he let them find out he's crying in embarrassment!
"I can't tell."
Kazuma Hatori replied with a smile, "He's still just as handsome as ever."
"That's good."
Gojo Satoru let out a long sigh of relief, turned around and waved happily to his students—in addition to all the first-year students being present, most of the second and third-year students were there.
"You were released? Those old men wouldn't be so kind. Was it You Tai who helped you?"
Even Principal Yagami and Shoko Ieiri were released and were at the very back of the noisy procession; Principal Yagami, in particular, looked several years older from worry after only being imprisoned for a few days.
“Yes,” Yuta nodded embarrassedly, “After I broke the curse on Rika, I lost my ability to fight, so I tried to go back to the high school to rescue everyone… Fortunately, there was that unfamiliar blond youth. After he heard that I had successfully defeated Xia Youjie and rescued Mr. Yizhen, he immediately agreed to help release the rest of the people as well.”
In Zenji Naoya's mind, secretly releasing the strongest fighter, Otsuku Yuta, was probably an early-stage risk investment. Once he saw that the return was that Hato Kazuma successfully broke free from the prison gates and rushed to the battlefield to support Gojo Satoru, then the subsequent rescue would be a natural pledge of loyalty.
Hagoromo Kazuma and Gojo Satoru, could they really not defeat an enemy? He didn't believe it.
In that case, he'll surely escape that devil's retribution afterward, huh? The Zen family will definitely be his!
Zenji Naoya was smug and even began to thank himself for his past foolishness in insisting on going to watch the sister school exchange meeting.
How wise and brilliant he was to get him on board this ship sailing toward victory!
As for the ship's name being Sirius Killer, Living Yama, Devil, etc... well, it's no big deal.
Meanwhile, on the ruins of Shinjuku, Itadori Yuujin, who had the strongest physique, rushed over first. He was only truly relieved after confirming that Gojo Satoru and Hato Kazuma were both alright.
"How are Fushiguro and Ryomen Sukuna doing?"
"Fuhei is fine. He should be alright after a good night's sleep."
After saying this with a smile, Gojo Satoru immediately puffed out his cheeks in dissatisfaction, "...Ryomen Sukuna is fine too, he's turned back into a troublesome cursed creature."
"Shall I eat it again?"
Yuji Itadori immediately blinked his beady eyes and raised his hand to volunteer—his missing left little finger had not returned and had become the new Special Grade Cursed Object.
"...Don't make it sound like you're just eating an energy bar."
After retracting his finger, Kazuma Hatori was speechless for a moment before flatly refusing, "I'll take care of it."
"Huh, that's what Mr. Kazuma ate..."
"Stop thinking about eating it! It's not salmon!"
Kugizaki Nobara was speechless and raised her hand to punch Itadori Yuujin on the head, making the latter let out a pitiful "Ouch!"
"Um, don't do it..."
Yoshino Junpei tried to persuade her helplessly, but Kugizaki Nobara had already finished knocking, so she just put her hands on her hips and let out a soft hum.
The last one to arrive, Masamichi Yae, silently nodded to the students he hadn't seen in years, his eyes, though not wearing sunglasses, filled with relief and contentment.
"Ah, so how does Mr. Kazuma plan to resolve this?"
After the lively commotion subsided, someone finally asked Kazuma Hatake a question, bringing the topic back to the previous one.
Gojo Satoru, who had been smiling as he watched them relax and play around, slowly lost his composure and turned to look at Hagoromo Kazuma, meeting his gaze into those warm and gentle black eyes.
He had already guessed what Kazuma Hatori would do, and felt reluctant and nostalgic about it.
"Don't make such a sad face, Satoru."
Kazuma Hatake laughed, affectionately smoothing his lover's disheveled white hair with his fingertips, then gently pressing his forehead against his. "When the time comes, come find me at this address."
“We will meet again, you know that. Nothing can separate us, not death, not time or space.”
"……Um."
Gojo Satoru took a deep breath before releasing Hagoromo Kazuma, taking a few steps back to make room for him.
Standing at the back, Hisahito Itadori asked worriedly, "Gojo-sensei?"
"It's alright, Yuujin."
Gojo Satoru turned back to him with a reassuring smile, "What's coming next is an unprecedented big move, so you'd better watch carefully! You'll probably only see this once in your life, right?"
"Huh?!"
Before the arriving crowd, Kazuma Hatori had removed the physical form maintained by the barrier, and the phoenix formed by the interweaving of brilliant gold and bright red light was flapping its long and fluttering wings, slowly flying into the sky.
Tiny, shimmering specks of light fell from the sky, more and more, like freshly falling snow in winter—but when they landed in an outstretched palm, a warm, gentle touch was clearly felt, and they gradually melted away.
Looking up at the sky again, even the phoenix that was powerful enough to block out the sun had completely disappeared.
"Gojo-sensei!?"
Yuji Itadori looked at Satoru Gojo in a panic, not understanding what was going on.
"Ichijin, who transformed into a top-tier cursed spirit, devoured the evolved Tengen several years ago."
Gojo Satoru, who was also reaching out to catch the light, closed his eyes briefly before finally speaking to explain to everyone.
"The evolved Tianyuan has long since transcended the realm of humanity, becoming a form that both exists and does not exist, its soul already integrated with the entire world."
"Therefore, the original Rōsō, who later became Natsuyuge, wanted to rely on these 10 barriers that had activated [Death Annihilation Return] and the evolved Tengen, which could assimilate with all the humans in Japan, to achieve the idea of [evolving humans into sorcerers]."
Yi Gu You Tai was stunned. "But...but didn't the teacher exorcise all those cursed spirits and cursed objects from their physical bodies...?"
“Yes, but the barrier that was originally set up there still exists.” Gojo Satoru smiled at Otsukoku Yuta. “And Kazuma will use those barriers to achieve his goal.”
"To put it simply, through the 10 barriers connecting all of Japan, Tengen will have the means to [apply curses] and [perform the final assimilation ritual] on ordinary people."
"[To become a sorcerer and achieve the optimization of spell power], this is the direction that Lu Suo wants to take."
"And then, what about the reverse?"
Gojo Satoru looked up at the boundless sky.
Countless specks of fluorescent light still drift down, one after another merging into this ravaged land.
However, it wasn't just this place that received the light—it was the whole of Japan.
"In other words, the truth that is now one with the world is [heaven]."
"He did not intend to [apply a curse], but rather to form a [binding] with ordinary people throughout Japan, including sorcerers."
"Yes, perhaps it could be called..."
"[Heaven and Curse]".
—That's right, what Kazuma Hatori wants to do is to reclaim all the magical power of Japan and put it into his own body.
Whether or not one's body touches these falling points of light is irrelevant. Throughout the entire Japanese island covered by these points of light, all humans will be forced to sign a [Heavenly Curse] with him.
Just as they once talked in the classroom, Kazuma Hatori's definition of a normal society is that "all cursed spirits have disappeared."
Then, all we need to do is make all of humanity lose their magical powers.
It doesn't matter if it can't cover the whole world for the time being; it can gradually expand over time.
Humans who have lost their curse power will no longer leak their curse power, no matter how much negative emotions they experience, and will no longer be able to generate twisted creatures like curse spirits.
This society, which is finally functioning normally, will no longer need the world of sorcery.
As for where this vast amount of recycled magical power should go?
Before his consciousness completely dissipated, Kazuma Hatori mimicked Goto's usual demeanor, a faint, sly smile appearing in his eyes.
Let's play a game.
Let's play a "game" that can reverse time and reverse cause and effect.
When the dazzling rain of light finally subsided, only a cluster of burning white flames slowly, slowly descended from the sky, until it gently and softly extinguished in Gojo Satoru's palm.
When the flames subsided, what appeared before him was a game with an exquisite cover.
Taking up most of the page was a picture of him when he first entered vocational college. His posture as he looked up was full of vigor and ambition, both unrestrained and flamboyant.
"No wonder he was looking for Xiao Wu everywhere as soon as he arrived..."
Gojo Satoru couldn't help but chuckle softly as he carefully put it away.
All the barriers covering Japan were completely removed, and when I looked up at the azure sky again, it was as clear as if the sky had cleared after the rain.
His [six eyes] no longer showed any trace of magical power.
…………
[Future simulation collapse probability: 0%]
[The world is operating smoothly as monitored; data reading begins; world merging begins...]
[Fusion complete.]
[Game over. Thank you for playing.]
When this line of text popped up, Kazuma Hatake didn't even bother to look at it.
He sprinted out of the bedroom at top speed, leaped down the stairs to the first floor in a few steps, flung open the door, and headed towards his destination without looking back.
The video store that sold him this game...!
And that shop assistant who looks so familiar!
"Yoshino Junpei!"
Kazuma Hatori stood panting at the store entrance, startling a part-time employee who had been called by his full name. The employee didn't even dare to turn around and seemed to wish he could bury himself in the shelves.
"Um, Mr. Kazuma..."
He stammered, trying to explain something, when Kazuma Hatori, who had caught his breath, strode into the music store, his sharp gaze sweeping around.
"What about enlightenment?"
The questions went straight to the point, ignoring everything else.
"The store manager is... behind you."
Yoshino Junpei replied softly, his index finger carefully pointing behind Hatori Kazuma, causing him to turn around in surprise—
Standing at the door was Gojo Satoru, dressed casually and carrying a thermos in one hand; his soft white hair fell down, and he was no longer wearing the sunglasses that would obstruct his vision.
"It's finally here! I knew it would be around this time."
He greeted Kazuma Hatori with a cheerful smile, raising the hand holding the thermos and waving it triumphantly and confidently at him.
"It's my sweet and fragrant red bean and rice cake soup! Come and have some with me!"
We had made an appointment to eat Wu's red bean and rice cake soup together after everything was settled.
Kazuma Hatori never imagined that he, who had always found it difficult to express his emotions, would one day be so happy.
He was so happy that his eyes welled up with tears, but he smiled and hugged Gojo Satoru.
Only now, from the moment Kazuma Hagoromo obtained the game to the moment he reunited with Satoru Gojo, has the head and tail of the Ouroboros finally connected, completing a perfect circle.
"Have you finally found me?"
"Yes, I'll never let go again."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
