Ms. Gojo thought she was dating an ordinary person's boyfriend.

Watching the black-haired boy's noticeably lighter steps as he left, Gojo Satoru propped his head up from Sumire's lap and chuckled.

"Pfft... That kid walked away so fast, it was like he was flying. I think the Kamo family's old tarts are really going to have a fire in their backyard."

"Being able to see the bigger picture means there's still hope." Kikawa Sumi put down her teacup, reached out and pulled the wooden box on the table towards her. "At least she's much smarter than those old fogies who cling to outdated ideas."

With a gentle touch of the fingertip on the mechanism of the sandalwood box, the lid popped open.

Inside, hundreds of secret scrolls written on special magic-infused anti-corrosion paper were neatly stacked, along with a large number of yellowed old letters.

Just as they expected, the Kamo family was truly terrified by the "karmic backlash" this time. They were afraid that Sumi Kikawa would think they were hiding anything, so they packed up and sent over almost all the accounts, communications, and even scraps of paper that had been related to "that brain" in the family storeroom for nearly a hundred years.

Kikawa Sumi moved extremely quickly, a glint of light flashing in her eyes, as she rapidly scanned the causal threads on the secret scroll with her [Dharmadhatu Observation].

"How's it going? Anything fun?" Gojo Satoru leaned over, resting his chin on Sumire's shoulder. His dark blue shirt was open, revealing his snow-white collarbone, and his six blue eyes swept across the dossier.

"Most of them are records of the follow-up treatment of the 'Nine Phases of the Cursed Embryo Diagram' and data on the fusion of human curse power left by Kamo Kenrin a hundred years ago."

Kikawa Sumi's long, slender fingers flew across a stack of account books.

"Rōsō is more cautious than we thought. He clearly did not entrust the core plan to any single power. The Kamo family is at most a 'factory' for him to collect materials and experiment with cursed fetuses."

"However..." Sumi Kichikawa's fingers suddenly paused, and she pulled out a thick stack of handwritten ancient books.

"A significant portion of this consists of the geological structure maps of the 'Tengen Barrier' and the 'Kyousei Palace,' which the Kamo family was ordered to review, dating back as far as eleven years ago."

Gojo Satoru's previously nonchalant gaze suddenly turned cold.

Eleven years ago was the year that Riko Tennen's accident occurred and the asteroid incident broke out.

"As expected, that guy's target was always Tianyuan from the very beginning."

Gojo Satoru sneered, his knuckles cracking as he clenched his fists.

"An immortal technique, failed assimilation, a non-human gradually evolving into a 'cursed spirit'... Lu Suo collected so much data on cursed embryos, probably intending to use the evolved Tianyuan as the target of cursed spirit manipulation."

All the clues are gradually piecing together.

Like a spider lurking in the shadows for a thousand years, Rōsō has woven a vast web between the three main families, the General Headquarters, and the Tengen Barrier. The Kamo family has collected countless miscellaneous antiques, books, and experimental products for him.

Sumi Kichikawa continued to peruse the complex and chaotic list of magical artifacts.

A broken first-class cursed tool, an Edo-era spirit-summoning disc of unknown purpose, a withered severed finger from the Heian period... After scanning through hundreds of unremarkable records, Sumi Kichikawa's hand, which was turning the pages, suddenly froze.

His gaze was fixed on a tattered, yellowed IOU, the handwriting of which was even deliberately smeared with heavy ink.

The Kamo family meticulously recorded the storage vault number and the number of sealing talismans for all other cursed items on the list, even those of the highest grade.

But this one was different; all the flow of magical power and where it was stored had been erased, leaving only a line of small characters barely legible beneath the ink marks.

Beneath the deliberately suppressed and concealed ink marks, three cold and glaringly archaic Chinese characters suddenly emerged—

【Prison Gate】.

Beside these three words, there was still half a sentence of annotation that had not been completely burned: "...the incarnation of Minamoto no Shin, a living barrier, an unbreakable top-grade forbidden object."

This attempt to cover up the truth only made the name stand out even more in the entire file.

"I understand," Sumi Kikawa said softly, her voice unusually grave. "What is this?"

"Hmm?" Gojo Satoru leaned over to take a look.

The moment he saw those three words, his six azure eyes narrowed slightly, and the flippancy in his expression vanished in an instant.

"...They even managed to dig up clues about this thing."

Gojo Satoru extended his fingertip and gently tapped the line of blackened text, his tone calm yet profound.

"Simply put, it is a living, high-grade barrier artifact. It is said to be a cursed object formed from the physical body of the enlightened monk Minamoto no Shinto after his death in the Heian period. It has no destructive power; its only function is 'absolute sealing'."

"Absolute seal?"

"Ah. Once the box is opened, as long as certain conditions are met, even a god, once trapped inside that box of cause and effect, will absolutely be unable to break free from it by his own power. Moreover, physical time inside is completely frozen, so the sealed being cannot use magical power, will not age, and will not die."

Wu Tiao Wu's fingertips were slightly bent.

"However, the conditions for opening the box are outrageously demanding—the target must remain within a four-meter radius of the barrier for a full minute."

"Stay within four meters for one minute..."

Kikawa Sumi repeated it in a low voice, the dark light in her eyes suddenly becoming sharp.

Almost simultaneously, the two exchanged a glance.

Without any extra words or even reminders, their thoughts connected in an instant.

"……I see."

Gojo Satoru suddenly chuckled, a chilling glint appearing on his incomparably handsome face, his six eyes gleaming with a deep, unfathomable light.

"No wonder that rat kept hiding and even made the higher-ups' probing so roundabout; no wonder he went to such lengths to steal Jay's body."

"Because everything he did was not simply about overthrowing the world of sorcery."

Following up on Gojo Satoru's words, Kikawa Sumi continued, her eyes deep and unfathomable: "His ultimate goal is Tengen and the Cursed Embryo, but on the inevitable path of this plan, there stands an absolute obstacle that he can never overcome."

"That's you, Wu."

Kikawa Sumi's voice was deep and hoarse, yet it possessed a chilling penetrating power: "No matter how cunning the methods of a curse master who has been reincarnated over the past thousand years, there is absolutely no way he could defeat Gojo Satoru in his prime in a head-on confrontation."

"So he can't kill me, and he can't beat me."

Gojo Satoru rested his chin on his hand, a cold and mocking smile playing on his lips, as he completed the final step for Kikawa Sumi.

"His only solution is to completely 'eliminate' me from the game."

"And if they want to lock me up in this so-called prison gate, they have to make me stand still for a full minute."

Gojo Satoru's eyes were slightly closed, his voice carrying a hint of suppressed emotion and self-mockery.

"In this world, I cannot give any enemy more than 0.1 seconds of pause. Unless..."

"Unless the person standing in front of you is Xia Youjie, who should have died." Qichuan Cheng interrupted him, her eyes extremely cold.

A minute in the brain may be a long time for ordinary people; but for Six Eyes, who can process massive amounts of cause and effect and memories in an instant, the shock and bewilderment of reuniting with the remains of his best friend only requires a brief moment of emotional outburst to be stretched and converted into a full "minute" of stagnation in his brain!

All the clues fit together perfectly at this moment.

Stealing his best friend's body, secretly investigating the Heavenly Yuan Barrier, contacting the Kamo family to plunder ancient forbidden artifacts... all of Tōsō's schemes and conspiracies from beginning to end pointed to the same prey—

He intends to use the most despicable and cruel methods to target Gojo Satoru as his only Achilles' heel!

"Click."

A soft, crisp sound broke the deathly silence in the room.

A grotesque crack was silently and forcefully etched into the edge of the sandalwood box in Kikawa Sumi's hand.

The air inside seemed to drop to freezing point in an instant.

Kikawa Sumi rarely flew into a rage; her killing intent was the result of countless life-and-death trials, carrying a tangible pressure of rules that almost distorted the surrounding light.

When she learned that a venomous snake lurked in the shadows, plotting to push her vibrant, proud lover—who had just been cuddling and complaining of exhaustion in her arms the night before—into an eternally cold, living coffin, the facade of restraint and elegance in Kikawa Sumi's heart shattered completely.

"Cheng".

A cool hand covered him, and Gojo Satoru grabbed his hand, which was so strong that his knuckles were white. His long fingers slipped between Gojo's fingers and gently shook it.

"Don't be angry." Gojo Satoru tilted his head and looked at him, his originally cold expression melting into a soft one because of Sumi Kikawa's loss of control. "I haven't been locked up yet, have I?"

Kikawa Sumi took a deep breath, trying her best to suppress the murderous intent churning in her chest.

He gripped Gojo Satoru's hand tightly in his palm, raised his head, and stared at Gojo Satoru with his deep black phoenix eyes. His voice was low and hoarse, filled with a tense restraint:

"Wu, if... I mean if, Lu Suo really has obtained the Prison Gate, and one day in the future, he really finds an opportunity to seal you."

Kikawa Sumi's gaze was sharp as a knife as she asked, enunciating each word clearly:

"In this world, within the realm of sorcery... is there any weapon capable of forcibly destroying or resisting this kind of top-tier seal from the outside?"

Seeing Sumi Kichikawa's tense expression, as if she were about to draw her sword and dig up the entire Japanese land at any moment, Satoru Gojo felt an indescribable sense of comfort.

He grasped Sumi Kichikawa's hand in return, even giving the doctor's palm a relaxed squeeze, revealing a confident and radiant smile:

"Don't worry, Cheng. The essence of sorcery is the substitution of rules and constraints. Since there is an absolute defensive 'shell,' there is naturally a 'spear' that specifically counters it."

Gojo Satoru raised two long, slender fingers, his face full of confidence:

"Two top-grade spell tools capable of forcibly dispelling all spell effects and destroying the prison gate barrier from the outside have indeed been recorded in the history of spellcasting. One is the short sword [Heavenly Reversal Blade], which can nullify all spells;"

The other is the overseas woven spell tool, the [Black Rope], capable of disrupting and neutralizing all spellcasting techniques. With either of these two items, even the Prison Gate could be torn open from the outside as easily as slicing tofu.

Hearing this, Kikawa Sumi's tense shoulders finally relaxed slightly, and the suffocating anger in her chest subsided a little:

"That's good. Where are these two items stored now? In the high school's archives, or in the Gojo family's private collection? Wherever they are, we'll go get them now—"

Halfway through her sentence, Sumi Kichikawa suddenly stopped abruptly.

He noticed that Gojo Satoru's smile had suddenly changed, even revealing a rare hint of guilt and ingratiation.

Gojo Satoru blinked his innocent, beautiful, azure eyes, his gaze drifting somewhat towards the ceiling, a particularly pure smile playing on his lips:

"Ahaha... Well, Cheng, don't be in such a hurry. We do have the item, but..."

Sumi Kikawa's brow twitched suddenly, a doctor's intuition frantically sounding an alarm: "...But what?"

Gojo Satoru coughed lightly, extended his thumb and forefinger, and restrainedly gestured a tiny slit, announcing in an almost cheerful, sunny tone:

"But... those two things had a tiny, insignificant accident a few years ago."

Kikawa Sumi looked at him expressionlessly, the ominous premonition in her heart almost solidifying: "What accident?"

Gojo Satoru shrugged, even tilting his head playfully:

"I disposed of Tian Ni Hou back then."

"As for the black rope... a few years ago when Jay was organizing the Night Parade of One Hundred Demons, some dark-skinned curse master used it to whip me. I found it really annoying, so I just blasted it all into charcoal and scattered it into the sea!"

Gojo Satoru smiled and withdrew his hand, concluding with a matter-of-fact air:

"Therefore, in conclusion—the only two keys in this world that could break open the prison gates from the outside were completely destroyed by me, Master Wu, more than a decade and a few years ago."

"........."

The quiet machiya room in the early morning was plunged into a deathly silence.

Only the crisp, ethereal, yet ironically ironic "thud" sound of a bamboo tube filled with spring water striking a bluestone deep in the courtyard could be heard.

Sumi Kichikawa remained frozen in place, still holding the teacup.

After a full half minute, Dr. Qichuan, who was usually unfazed even by the collapse of Mount Tai, slowly closed his eyes, raised his other hand, and pressed his throbbing temples wearily and painfully.

...My stomach suddenly started to cramp slightly without any warning.