Chapter 154 : The Little Prince and Knight
"On a person?" Jiang Lai's expression became slightly grave. Such a mobile tower was obviously more troublesome than fixed ones, whether for targeting or removal.
After a pause, he asked: "If this thing is carved on a person's body, how do we remove it?"
"......" Okkotsu Yuta's eyelids drooped slightly, his raven-like long eyelashes casting shallow shadows. He paused for a moment and said: "There are probably two solutions: one is for the formation caster to transfer and remove the tower themselves, the other is... to kill the person carrying the mobile tower."
Okkotsu Yuta stated the cruel truth in an extremely calm voice.
The formation caster, that is, the Supervisory Committee's Brain-kun, definitely wouldn't transfer and remove the tower formation himself.
That meant there was actually only one solution: kill the person carrying the tower.
The air fell into silence for an instant. Neither Okkotsu Yuta nor Jiang Lai spoke.
This problem was somewhat similar to the trolley problem.
Should one person be killed to save more people? But wouldn't the person being killed be quite innocent?
Jiang Lai exhaled, his thoughts racing: "I heard you know reverse cursed technique, right? Could you revive that person the instant after killing them?"
He remembered that in the original work, Okkotsu Yuta had operated exactly like this.
After the Shibuya Incident in the original, Okkotsu Yuta accepted the higher-ups' mission to kill Itadori Yuji and became Itadori Yuji's executioner.
However, in reality, while stabbing through Itadori Yuji's heart with one sword, he also injected reverse cursed technique, thus saving him.
Hearing Jiang Lai's question, Okkotsu Yuta pondered for a moment and finally shook his head gravely:
"I'm afraid that won't work. Because this kind of formation is carved on the other person's body. If I heal them with reverse cursed technique, it would be equivalent to restoring the formation."
"......" This really was quite difficult to handle.
Jiang Lai's heart was equally heavy.
Approaching from the formation itself, perhaps there was still the solution of using the liquid fox's regression ability to devour it, just like devouring the binding that young Geto Suguru had signed.
But the liquid fox's devouring reversal speed was relatively slow and required long-term companionship, which would make Geto Suguru's side very difficult to explain.
"We can set this problem aside for now." Okkotsu Yuta suggested. "Let's handle the others first."
"Alright." Jiang Lai currently hadn't thought of any complete solution either, so he nodded in agreement, adding: "But if possible, it's best to find that mobile tower person in advance."
Finding them earlier might lead to more solutions.
Maybe this mobile tower happened to be Brain-kun himself. That suspicious guy might put the final insurance on himself. If so, they wouldn't need to worry and could directly deal with Brain-kun.
Jiang Lai optimistically let his imagination run wild for a moment, then reined in his thoughts.
But perhaps Brain-kun might, out of some twisted pleasure, place it on someone else... a character that might make everyone very conflicted.
Jiang Lai didn't hope it was someone familiar, but felt it couldn't possibly not be someone familiar.
After all, if Brain-kun were to place it on someone else, he naturally wouldn't place it on ordinary people, and there were only so many candidates in the jujutsu world...
Speaking of this, Jiang Lai continued asking: "Can this map's positioning be more precise? I mean, how do we confirm that what we find is the Four Guardian Towers?"
"When approaching the Four Guardian Towers, the corresponding symbols on this paper will light up." Okkotsu Yuta pointed at the strange abstract runes beside the text on the paper: "We can judge based on this."
This was good. Jiang Lai thought. This way, the search process would become easier, and it would be easier to confirm who exactly the [Front and Back] tower character was.
His thoughts flowed, and Jiang Lai quickly focused his attention, bringing the topic to the map.
He pointed at the text on that paper, saying in a steady tone: "If my speculation is correct, the location of [Noble and Base] should be the Zenin family."
"Not long ago, I just communicated with the Zenin family's lady and reached a cooperative agreement. If needed, they will cooperate with us, so the [Noble and Base] tower can be directly handed to the Zenin family to handle."
"Since you've already communicated with them, we can probably rest assured." Okkotsu Yuta didn't raise any doubts and nodded accordingly: "I also think [Noble and Base] is in one of the Big Three Families. After all, Kyoto is where the Big Three Families' old residences are located. Among them, the Zenin family is the most closed off, so [Noble and Base] being at their place has the highest probability."
Okkotsu Yuta also conducted simple analysis, presenting his own views.
"Do we need to confirm now?" Jiang Lai asked, then quickly added: "But in my opinion, I think we can set the Zenin family aside for now. There are many people and eyes there, making it unsuitable as the first target, as it might alert our enemies."
Although the Four Guardian Towers couldn't have additional monitoring techniques installed nearby due to their mechanisms, this didn't mean there weren't their informants around.
Informants didn't need to know about the Four Guardian Towers' existence, they just needed to report unusual suspicious activities to provide intelligence to the Supervisory Committee.
So the Zenin family, where the waters were most muddied, seemed like an easy place to handle but might actually involve many troubles.
It would be better to start with another location, then after confirming the specific removal method for the Four Guardian Towers, handle the Zenin family one as quickly as possible.
Okkotsu Yuta nodded, agreeing with Jiang Lai's view: "That's right. Then let's set the Zenin family aside for now."
Both were smart people, making communication very convenient. Their opinions easily reached consensus.
At this moment, after initial discussion, Okkotsu Yuta and Jiang Lai's gazes fell on the white paper.
Since Gojo Satoru was handling the overseas [Crossroads], [Front and Back] was currently difficult to find, and [Noble and Base] was temporarily set aside as unsuitable for the first target, the first place to explore was only:
[Position Switch] located in the central-southern part of Honshu Island.
That area was where Mount Fuji was located, about 120 kilometers from Tokyo, neither far nor close. By car alone, it would only take a few hours.
However, they didn't know how long they would need to explore and remove the formation there, so they needed a short vacation.
"My current identity's middle school is on break, and Nanami-san wants me to stay at Jujutsu High to study jujutsu." Jiang Lai blinked and made a gesture: "But if Brother Okkotsu suggests taking me out for training, Nanami-san would definitely agree~"
The address "Brother Okkotsu" made Okkotsu Yuta pause again. After coughing lightly, he said in a low voice: "... Oh, of course. I'll explain to Nanami-senpai."
"What's wrong, Brother Okkotsu?" Little Sheep Jiang Lai smiled, continuing to call him with his current youthful voice, with some deliberate intention: "You don't like this way of addressing you? Should I change it? Okkotsu-senpai, Okkotsu-sensei, Brother Yuta, handsome onii-chan?"
"... Let's stick with the first one. When we're outside, that form of address will do."
Okkotsu Yuta placed one hand over his lips, his smile gentle yet mixed with some helplessness: "Why does senpai like joking around just like Gojo-sensei?"
Jiang Lai blinked his dark eyes lightly, his voice cheerful: "Probably because teasing serious people is very interesting."
Okkotsu Yuta touched his nose.
Having experienced numerous events, Okkotsu Yuta actually had good acting skills and could naturally cooperate perfectly with Jiang Lai in his brown-haired youth shell when outside.
In the original work, when he served as Itadori Yuji's executioner, he appeared as the perfect cold, ruthless killing god, successfully deceiving everyone who didn't know the truth.
However, when he didn't need to act in private, he would return to his sincere, gentle youth demeanor. Because of this, at this moment he showed slight mild confusion at Jiang Lai's deliberate teasing.
"Please stop teasing me, senpai." Okkotsu Yuta put away the white paper map, his tone gentle: "Let's go back. The auxiliary supervisors will handle the aftermath here."
"Alright." Jiang Lai nodded. He didn't continue the playful behavior and followed the black-haired youth carrying the sword bag in a few steps.
A moment later, as if remembering something, he said again: "By the way, is it convenient for you to enter the Tombs of the Star beneath Jujutsu High?"
"Yes, we Special Grades have some unique privileges." Okkotsu Yuta nodded in response: "What's the matter?"
"Before leaving, I'd like to go there and take a look." Jiang Lai paused and answered thus: "There are some things I want to confirm slightly."
He had originally planned to explore later using his main body, but now with Okkotsu Yuta, he felt he could go find Tengen in advance.
"Maybe Tengen has some knowledge about the Four Guardian Towers and can inform us." Jiang Lai said: "It would also facilitate our actions."
"Tengen-sama? That's indeed possible." Okkotsu Yuta thought for a moment: "Senpai is right, we can go find Tengen-sama before leaving."
"But the premise is that Tengen is on our side. He wouldn't reveal our plan to destroy the Four Guardian Towers to the Supervisory Committee, right?" Jiang Lai said in a half-joking tone, voicing the doubts hidden in his heart.
Logically, Tengen should be in the opposing camp to Brain-kun, but Jiang Lai wasn't quite sure about the new series situation, so he cautiously decided to ask Okkotsu Yuta first to confirm.
"Tengen-sama is trustworthy." Okkotsu Yuta said with certainty: "Moreover, the Tombs of the Star where he resides generally doesn't receive visitors, so no news will spread outside."
The black-haired youth's tone was very serious, and Jiang Lai confirmed his trust in Tengen from it.
He believed in Okkotsu Yuta and Gojo Satoru's instincts, so he also chose to trust Tengen.
It seemed similar to the original work, with Tengen still standing on humanity's side. Jiang Lai thought. In that case, from Tengen, who had also experienced a thousand years, he might be able to obtain more additional information.
Would Tengen know about [Birth]? Would he know what happened during those years?
Jiang Lai wanted to know those missed stories.
His thoughts diverged for a moment in his mind, then Jiang Lai brought the topic back to the previous travel plans: "After we find Tengen, when do we set off for Mount Fuji?"
"What does senpai think?" Okkotsu Yuta stepped forward, turning his head slightly to look at the brown-haired youth beside him: "Gojo-sensei said everything should follow your lead. For future actions, I'll follow senpai's command."
"Then I really have quite a lot of power." Jiang Lai smiled and joked: "Combined with my current youthful form, wouldn't I be just like a little prince?"
"If senpai is now the little prince," Okkotsu Yuta smiled gently, rarely joining in the playful conversation, saying warmly: "Then I would be your knight."