Chapter 79 : The Name of the Six Eyes from a Thousand Years Ago
Heavy snow fell, drifting like smoke and mist. Within the circular radius, only one figure stood.
Jiang Lai had already guessed what had happened when he saw this scene from afar: Ryomen Sukuna had expanded his domain.
Honestly, he was somewhat surprised, since there were very few people who could fully expand domains during their youth. But thinking about it, Ryomen Sukuna wasn't exactly an ordinary person.
He hadn't expected such an incident to occur in the brief moment he was away. No wonder [Birth] had told him not to bother with [Death] anymore.
Ryomen Sukuna's domain, Malevolent Kitchen, left no living beings alive within its circular radius when expanded, subjectively annihilating countless lives in an instant.
Snowflakes fell like fluttering silver butterflies on the white-haired youth's shoulders. Jiang Lai landed gently beside him, the other's guide cane floating nearby through his technique.
Ohagi sensed Jiang Lai's appearance beside him, but he still kept his head half-lowered, his gaze seemingly focused on a moderately sized stone not far from his feet.
"This was Sukuna's doing, wasn't it?" Jiang Lai spoke first.
"Yes." Ohagi gave a simple reply.
Snowflakes drifted down leisurely. Jiang Lai raised his hand to brush the light snow from the other's hair and shoulders, saying gently: "Why didn't you activate Limitless? When the snow melts later, it'll get wet."
Ohagi didn't respond to this topic. Instead, after half a second, he spoke: "I originally thought I was very strong, that I could achieve whatever outcome I wanted in anything I did. Now it seems that's not the case."
His back remained as proudly straight as ever, like a pine on high cliffs. Only his tone revealed some gray emotions.
"..." Jiang Lai held his book to his lips with one hand, saying gently: "If you'd like, you can tell me what happened."
"I may not be able to give precise advice, but I can accompany you in reviewing the situation and listen to your accumulated words."
Ohagi's gaze still fell directly on that stone, which was now half-buried by falling snow.
He remained quiet, either organizing his words or thinking about things.
Finally, when the fine, gentle white snow was about to completely cover that moderately sized stone, Ohagi, like a dejected long-haired white cat with his noble fur drooping, slowly recounted what had just happened.
Jiang Lai listened quietly. The recent events appeared in his mind like frames from a slideshow movie.
From Ohagi going to the wooden house and seeing the carnage inside, to Ryomen Sukuna's deliberate words not long ago, everything was displayed before his eyes.
Finally, Ohagi said: "Originally I thought, just helping find a child, how hard could it be... But my first time venturing out and doing what I wanted to do ended like this. Terrible."
Jiang Lai didn't respond. He knew the other didn't need his evaluation or comfort, simply needing a listener.
So he stood beside him, also not activating his spatial technique, bathing in this wet snowy scene alongside the white-haired youth.
Then Ohagi continued: "That last question he asked me, about whether I was angry 'for these people's deaths or for the incident being beyond my plans', ah... Perhaps it won't sound good to say this, but honestly, most of my anger was indeed for the latter reason."
"Oh, it's not that I don't care about others' deaths. Of course I still mind." The white-haired youth clicked his tongue, struggled with organizing his words for a moment, then gave up and said: "Whatever, anyway it's just..."
"I understand." Jiang Lai finally spoke up here, his tone very calm. "I understand what you mean."
The Six Eyes from a thousand years ago and the Six Eyes from a thousand years later, though living in different eras, had very similar identities and positions.
Both grew up surrounded by stars and moon, possessed strength far beyond ordinary people, and carried an arrogant aura of supreme self-importance.
They appeared not to care much about ordinary people daily, but this wasn't disrespect for life. There was simply a barrier preventing true integration.
"You're different from Sukuna." Jiang Lai said. "Although you seem like someone with a big playful streak who's arrogant and willful, perhaps you'd use your power to beat up guys you don't like, but you wouldn't truly kill innocent people randomly based on your mood."
"...Hey," Ohagi's expression froze, not expecting Jiang Lai to suddenly say such words.
Jiang Lai smiled and continued in a half-joking, half-serious imaginative tone:
"Someone like you, for example, if you became a teacher in the future, would probably be the type with a [lacking teacher ethics] reputation far and wide, who'd tease and bully students, but whom people could absolutely rely on at crucial moments. In any case, you have a very careful and gentle side deep down."
"Ah... what are you saying!!" Ohagi was like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, a blush quickly flashing across his cheeks. Teenage boys in their teens were at their thinnest-skinned adolescent phase, even a thousand years ago.
Teenage Six Eyes could listen proudly to those clichéd compliments a hundred times, but couldn't resist this kind of sincere words that analyzed his soul.
At this moment he stuttered trying to say something quickly, but ultimately couldn't think of a good conclusion, so he dryly replied:
"Anyway, um, then... thank you for the compliment."
At this point his gaze finally left that stone not far away and turned to face Jiang Lai.
Ohagi, having already torn off his black-gold fabric, raised those distant azure Six Eyes, now fully revealing his face.
Jiang Lai's gaze fell on him, his body imperceptibly pausing.
...Was it because they were both white-haired Six Eyes? Ohagi and Gojo Satoru looked so similar!
His thoughts raced quickly.
No, even with the same hair and eye color, logically their appearances should still differ somewhat.
But at this moment, seeing Ohagi's complete face gave Jiang Lai the immediate impression of a thousand-year-old long-haired noble version of Gojo Satoru. Why were they so alike?!
Probably because Jiang Lai had been staring a bit too long, Ohagi, having adjusted his mindset from being suddenly complimented, returned to his usual noble arrogant cat personality, raising his eyebrows:
"Why do you keep staring at me? Hmph, though I know I'm handsome."
Jiang Lai coughed and looked away, saying lightly: "Just observing how long it would take you to recover from that bashfulness."
"Hah?" Ohagi pouted, raising his tone: "What are you talking about? I've heard all kinds of praise so much I could recite them backwards. It's just the first time hearing it from you, so I was slightly surprised."
He reactivated Limitless, isolating himself from the drifting snowflakes, patted off the accumulated snow and ice crystals on his body, surveyed the surrounding environment, and exhaled:
"...Back to the present situation."
"You mentioned it before, didn't you?" Jiang Lai continued smoothly. "Sukuna said in his words that I could achieve restoration."
"So what exactly is restoration?" Ohagi tilted his head slightly, his long hair shifting to one side, his eyelashes fluttering. "It's not some resurrection spell or something, right? Feels like the weird rituals mentioned in various sacrificial books... equivalent exchange, killing another group of people to revive one person or something."
"Don't be prejudiced. Of course it's not human sacrifice." Jiang Lai held his book with one hand, tapping it against his palm. "It's my ability: reversing time and space."
"..." Ohagi was strangely quiet for a second. "Really?" He didn't seem to believe it. "I've never heard of anyone in the world being able to do this. This is far too beyond normal limits."
"I never said I was human." Jiang Lai's eyes curved as he replied cheerfully.
Ohagi froze for another second.
"I know you still care about this incident... I care too." Jiang Lai's brown eyes swept over the empty, clean earth where a bustling small town had been not long ago.
He said calmly: "I will reverse time and space, bringing back the people here and the girls and children on the mountain."
The black-haired youth spoke of something immensely vast and incredible, yet his expression when saying these words made people feel completely trustworthy.
Winter wind lifted his long hair and sleeves. The navy blue figure standing in place was like a phantom cast by flowing moonlight.
"..." Ohagi was silent for a long while before speaking: "Won't there be any cost?"
"I'm very strong, so don't worry." Jiang Lai smiled and tilted his head in reply. "But the subsequent troubles, like cleaning up the demon corpse on the mountain, rooting out the villagers who colluded with the demon and having others judge them, comforting the returned children and girls who had disappeared... all these various matters will have to trouble you."
Hearing about all this interpersonal stuff, Ohagi felt his head grow a size larger: "Why is it so troublesome? Why can't we just solve it directly with force?"
"Didn't you see from this incident that having great fighting power doesn't guarantee ideal outcomes?" Jiang Lai closed his book and said: "Consider it training in this area."
"...I really don't want to." Ohagi imperceptibly twitched at the corner of his mouth. After thinking it over, he felt that if time and space were really reversed, he should indeed be responsible for the aftermath. "Fine. I'll try my best."
He reluctantly nodded, somewhat reservedly: "I'll attempt planning and negotiation. Though these things are troublesome."
Jiang Lai's eyes crinkled with laughter: "Then I can rest assured."
"But what about you?" Ohagi immediately followed up. "After reversing time and space, what will you do?"
Jiang Lai could sense his strength from a thousand years ago. He could completely reverse the time and space of an entire small town without pouring everything into it like in the Yesterday's Past arc.
However, after the reversal, he would bear the sins of [Death]'s judgment, so he might need rest. He wasn't certain.
Therefore, Jiang Lai said: "I haven't decided yet, but I don't plan to get too deeply involved in the mortal world. Most likely I'll find that Sukuna guy and beat him up. Leaving me such a mess and making me work so hard, I really need to pay him back to feel satisfied."
Hearing this, Ohagi nodded deeply in agreement, gritting his teeth: "Next time I need to fight him too. Damn it, that guy left disgusting things behind and ran away, really...!"
"Oh right, here's this for you." Jiang Lai returned the guide cane floating through his technique to Ohagi.
The white-haired youth naturally took it, as if finding his original performance state, returning to that surface-reserved noble youth, resting one hand on the wooden staff.
Jiang Lai stood in place. He felt that infinite power connecting with nature, existing with this vast ice and snow landscape in his breath. He could expand a domain, selectively target objectives, then reverse time and space within the domain.
"Just stand here, Ohagi. I can choose to exempt you and the demon on the mountain from the effects of the domain's time and space reversal." Jiang Lai said to the white-haired youth.
Ohagi paused for a second and said: "In this situation, there's no need to use that fake name anymore, right? You can address me by my real name."
"Real name?" Jiang Lai blinked. "But you never told me your name."
"Huh? You don't know?" Ohagi also looked surprised. "I thought when you guessed I was the Gojo family's Six Eyes, you'd know my name. After all, I'm so famous."
Jiang Lai showed half-moon eyes.
Ohagi coughed and straightened his expression, his azure Six Eyes looking over seriously: "Fine, let me introduce myself properly. My name is..."
"Gojo Satoru."
Jiang Lai: Oh.
Jiang Lai: Huh???
Gojo Satoru?? How could it be such a coincidence?!
Speaking of which, when the Gojo family named their children, didn't they check historical ancestor names? Wouldn't having the same name be a bit awkward?!
Jiang Lai was instantly confused in mid-air.
...But with such similar appearance and personality, plus the same name, could this really be some reincarnation setting??
After all, the name "Jujutsu Kaisen," this "kai" could have multiple interpretations, one of which was "reincarnation."
If it really was a reincarnation setting, he wondered if the future Gojo Satoru would someday remember stories from a thousand years ago. Jiang Lai thought.
Maybe while he was currently dreaming of a thousand years, the other person was also experiencing the same dream of a thousand years.
Jiang Lai's thoughts flowed, but he didn't show it, only nodding with a smile: "Alright, Satoru-kun, I'll remember."
Before his next words could come out, long-haired Gojo raised his hand first to stop him: "Wait, you don't need to tell me your name."
Jiang Lai blinked, somewhat surprised.
"Didn't you just say you're not human? Plus this ability to reverse time and space, I've read many ancient books and know quite a few ghost and supernatural stories."
Long-haired Gojo raised his eyes: "You probably can't form bonds easily, right? So it's better if I don't know your name yet."
"If there's a chance in the future, or when I've grown to the point where I'm certain I won't disappoint a bond, then tell me." The white-haired youth's brilliant azure Six Eyes were bright and clear. "Your name."
"..." Jiang Lai paused, then smiled: "Alright."
Snowflakes drifted as the black-haired youth stood in the center of the clean field. He let his book float beside him.
This was Jiang Lai's first attempt at a complete domain expansion combining time and space, but instinct already told him how to operate.
He brought his hands together, raising his pinky and index fingers to touch upward, curving his ring and middle fingers with their knuckles connecting on both sides, and touching his left and right thumbs tip to tip pointing toward himself.
"Domain Expansion..."