Friends who often delve deep into their own souls should know how terrifying it is to have a guy exist in your soul who claims to be you.
At this moment, Genji was facing this very situation.
"You say you are the former me?"
"Yes, strictly speaking, I am the collection of your forgotten past-life memories; it would be more accurate to say I am the dregs of the existence that is Genji."
The figure wrapped in ghostly blue flames explained further to Genji.
"But actually, who I am is not important; what's important is who you really are?"
"Who am I?"
"Are you really Genji, or are you Genji?"
Facing the question, Genji couldn't help but fall into deep thought, and while he wasn't paying attention, the flames also began to quietly crawl up his body.
In the outside world, just as Genji was immersed in the depths of his soul, outside his house, Toji Fushiguro leisurely passed by Genji's door with his storage Cursed Spirit, heading towards the home of So Yuki and Furukawa Ai.
"After taking care of this one, all five attacking Jujutsu Sorcerers will be dealt with, Maekage."
Aoki Chiyo conveyed the information to Maekage Ken via her phone.
"Understood."
On the other end of the phone, Maekage Ken received the intel while fighting the guy in front of him.
"They are basically all third or fourth-grade Curse Users; there are no strong enemies."
Saying this to the few people inside the room, Maekage Ken manipulated his weapon to pierce the body of the Curse User in front of him.
"That's not unexpected; the bounty on the dark web can't attract anyone powerful, unless it's one of those bored guys who's short on cash."
Aoki Chiyo continued to analyze.
'It's just that the last Cursed Energy reaction target nearby hasn't changed position since the beginning. Is it really just an unrelated Jujutsu Sorcerer who happens to live nearby?'
Thinking of the last Cursed Energy reaction target detected by her Cursed Technique earlier, Aoki Chiyo couldn't stop worrying.
"What is this!"
At this moment, Aoki Chiyo suddenly discovered a strange reaction approaching them.
Aoki Chiyo's Cursed Technique can discover and survey everything containing Cursed Energy, but within her survey range, an existence like a void appeared, with not a single trace of Cursed Energy reaction, and beside it followed a weak Cursed Energy reaction that seemed like a Cursed Spirit.
"Maekage, there's a strange thing approaching you. Be careful, I don't even know what that thing is!"
Aoki Chiyo warned Maekage Ken.
"It's a burly man, about twenty or thirty years old, with a low-level Cursed Spirit wrapped around him."
"How do you know?"
Aoki Chiyo was quite puzzled that the intel Maekage Ken possessed was even more detailed than her own.
"Because he is right in front of me now."
Maekage Ken put down his phone and looked at the man in front of him vigilantly; every cell in his body seemed to be sending him warnings.
"Kid, I won a few horse races today, so I'm in a pretty good mood. As long as you leave now, I won't kill you. How about that?"
Toji Fushiguro's dismissive words reached Maekage Ken's ears.
"Sorry, this is my mission."
Maekage Ken said this while assuming the starting stance for an Iaijutsu strike.
"Oh, forget it. It'll just take a little more effort."
Toji Fushiguro picked his ear, looking completely indifferent to Maekage Ken in front of him.
Seeing this, Cursed Energy rose from Maekage Ken's body, and he pushed off with his legs, rushing out violently, hoping to launch a sneak attack while Toji Fushiguro was underestimating him and relaxed.
However.
"Too slow."
Toji Fushiguro's voice reached Maekage Ken's ears. In his shocked gaze, Toji Fushiguro appeared in front of him as if teleporting, kicked out, and sent Maekage Ken flying far away. Maekage Ken finally managed to steady his body after crashing through the wall of the house. At this moment, he felt as if all the organs in his body had been displaced by that kick.
Aoki Chiyo, who was originally inside the house, was just about to warn the others to be careful when the house's wall suddenly shattered. As the dust cleared, Aoki Chiyo and the others noticed Maekage Ken kneeling on the ground with a pained expression.
"Maekage Ken!"
"Be careful! That guy is not easy to deal with!"
Maekage Ken warned Zenin Shi and Aoki Chiyo loudly.
Before the two could react, they heard footsteps coming from the gap in the wall that Maekage Ken had smashed.
"Alright, to save time, you all come at me together."
A cynical voice came, and Zenin Shi's pupils constricted sharply upon seeing the person who had arrived.
"You, you, you are Zen'in Toji!"
At this time, on the other side.
"What on earth are you saying? Whether it's Genji or Genji, aren't they both me?"
Genji questioned the figure in front of him.
"You love your family, which is why you have such deep hatred after they were killed; you also love your friends, but deep down, you always have a trace of a barrier that prevents you from truly integrating into this world—not from the outside, but one you have given yourself."
The words of the guy in front of him made Genji fall silent.
"You cannot completely let go of your previous life, nor can you completely integrate into this one; that is your problem. Then there is only one question: which side do you choose? Genji!"
The boy remained silent, and the flames on his body had already spread to his chest.
"Compared to the pain of losing family in this life, wouldn't it be better to have been alone from beginning to end in the previous life, wouldn't it?"
The voice swirled around the boy's ears, and his eyes gradually became calm.
"Let it be; you are tired in this life too, aren't you?"
"Wrong."
Just as the flames were about to completely cover the boy, the boy suddenly made a sound.
"What?"
The fiery figure seemed not to have expected this scene.
Seeing the flames that had originally covered the boy burst apart, revealing the face of Genji—no, Genji. His clothes had also changed back to the Tokyo Jujutsu High uniform, and he wore a bracelet on his left wrist.
"I was almost talked into your trap. Never mind who I really am; why don't you tell me who you are first?"
"I said, I am you!"
The figure shrouded in flames seemed to be getting a bit anxious.
"That's right, you are indeed me, the dregs of the me from the past, but you are also something else, right? An existence mixed with some kind of external object."
Genji calmly analyzed the guy in front of him.
"Even this room from my previous life was created by you to confuse me, right?"
Saying this, Genji waved his hand, and the surrounding flames began to expand, burning the surrounding environment. After regaining a clear consciousness, Genji also regained the ability to control these flames.
"From the moment I came here, including this room, everything was a prop prepared by you to make me completely lost. However, your question just now was indeed reasonable."
Genji said, looking at the figure in front of him. At this moment, the figure shrouded in flames seemed to start flickering and becoming unstable.
"I will tell you my answer now."
Genji smiled and said: "Whether it's Genji or Genji, they are both me. I have never felt sad or upset about my choices as Genji, and I have never regretted transmigrating and reincarnating as Genji. I am even grateful for this, grateful that in this life I can have family, and can have close friends like Shoko, Satoru, and Geto. And I will never stagnate because of the possibility of loss!"
As Genji's words fell, the surrounding environment completely shattered, and the fragments of the room belonging to Genji's previous life scattered. It revealed the original appearance of Genji's soul.
A boundless wilderness, overgrown with blue vegetation, yet coexisting with the flames on the ground in a way that defied common sense, with a ghostly blue sun hanging in the sky. This was the true landscape of Genji's heart.
"I will live on seriously as Genji. Likewise, I will never forget that I was once Genji!"
Accompanied by Genji's words, the figure in front of Genji also began to gradually dissipate.
"As expected of you."
Facing this situation, the dissipating figure actually calmed down. The voice was no longer the voice Genji was familiar with, but had turned into a female voice.
"Only then does it have value."
At the very last moment before completely dissipating, the voice sounded again.
"Looking forward to seeing you again."
"Genji."
After saying this, it completely dissipated.
At the same time, in an ordinary apartment in Tokyo, a young woman around 20 years old suddenly stopped what she was doing.
"What's wrong?"
The friend in front of the woman asked.
"Nothing, just remembered some good things."
The woman smiled mysteriously.
"Lin, you're being mysterious again."
The woman's friend said somewhat helplessly, but with her head lowered, she didn't notice the trace of a crazy smile on the woman's lips.
'That's it, that's how it should be. I'll wait for the day we meet again, Genji!'
After the figure completely dissipated, some things similar to fragments appeared in place, flew in front of Genji, and merged into his body.
For a moment, some memories of the previous life became clear again.
"Goodbye, Genji."
Genji said softly, then concentrated his spirit again and left the world of the soul.
...
"What a pain. I didn't expect such a thing to happen inside my soul."
In the real world, Genji, his spirit returned, opened his eyes and muttered to himself.
"Hmm, my physical strength and Cursed Technique output have both increased a lot, and even my Cursed Energy limit has increased."
Genji felt his body and nodded with satisfaction. Not only that, but at this moment, he felt that he had even vaguely grasped the feeling of the Reversal technique.
"Boom!!"
Just as Genji was quite satisfied with his gains this time, a sudden explosion came from a distant house.
"What's going on!"
Genji discovered that the house where the explosion occurred was none other than the home of So Yuki and Furukawa Ai.
"Auntie, Little Ai!"
Sensing something bad, Genji immediately rushed out of his house and headed towards So Yuki's home.