Jujutsu Kaisen: Survive First, Become a God Later

Mahito appeared on a highway.

To the left of the highway was a canal.

The waves of the massive canal crashed onto the shore, kicking up spray.

Mahito could smell the moisture in the air.

The water's surface was clean and shimmering with light.

To the right were continuous mountains covered in lush green vegetation, and the trees were perfectly reflected on the canal's surface.

Mahito looked toward the end of the highway, where there was only endless darkness.

He understood; this was Yuki Tsukumo's post-death space.

Suddenly, a massive roar echoed down the highway.

Mahito looked toward the sound.

A motorcycle was racing toward him at high speed.

The person on the motorcycle was indeed Yuki Tsukumo.

She wore a motorcycle helmet, her blonde hair flowing out from the edges and fluttering backward in the wind.

Mahito stood casually by the side of the highway and stuck out his thumb.

The motorcycle tires screeched loudly as the bike stopped right in front of Mahito.

Yuki Tsukumo took off her helmet, letting her blonde hair cascade down her back.

At that exact moment, the canal's waves crashed violently against the shore.

The mist drifted across Yuki Tsukumo's face, giving her a somewhat ethereal appearance for a brief moment.

She smiled.

"This is my passage to Hell."

"You can't hitch a ride on my bike."

She wasn't wearing the black tank top and dark cargo pants from the outside world.

Instead, she wore a buckskin leather jacket over a black top, paired with denim jeans.

As she parked the motorcycle by the road and leaned against it, her full figure was completely revealed.

She tossed her head slightly, her long golden hair dancing in the air.

She nodded slightly.

"I was thinking you might come."

"Sure enough, before I finally enter the Underworld, I really can see you."

"Are you sure you can see me?"

"I wasn't a hundred percent sure, but on the road to the afterlife, I kept having this vague feeling."

"I strongly feel that when I ride this motorcycle into the darkness, I will completely cross over into the Underworld."

"That should be true death."

"But I knew I would see you before that."

Yuki Tsukumo turned to look at the canal, watching the spray fly into the air.

"Mahito, what kind of women do you like?"

Here it was, the classic Tsukumo-style question.

She had even passed this unique greeting on to her disciple, Aoi Todo!

"How strange."

"We greeted each other when the battle started, and I thought you would have asked me this question then."

Yuki Tsukumo laughed.

"It seems my way of greeting is quite famous if even you've heard of it."

"More than just famous."

Mahito couldn't help but laugh out loud.

"Your disciple, Aoi Todo, has really spread your greeting far and wide; he asks it of everyone he meets."

"That's actually quite good."

Instead of being ashamed, Yuki Tsukumo praised him loudly.

"Back then, I viewed you as a mere Cursed Spirit, and a mere Cursed Spirit wasn't enough for me to acknowledge."

Yuki Tsukumo looked back at Mahito with a deeply meaningful expression.

"But it's different now."

"I regard you as a human."

Mahito's heart stirred slightly.

This was the first time someone had genuinely acknowledged him as a human.

Before this, no matter how much he emphasized it, being 'human' was just his own empty claim.

Even if Kenjaku didn't say it out loud, he never truly treated him as a human in his heart.

Only Yuki Tsukumo truly saw him as human.

Perhaps Naobito Zenin should be added to that short list, but until the very end, that stubborn old man never explicitly called him human.

Perhaps in that old man's eyes, since they had already met in the afterlife space, it was simply taken for granted.

"I've never really considered that question," Mahito mused.

"If I had to say... maybe someone more traditional?"

"Well, you know, I really can't stand those overly progressive women with countless gender identities over in America."

"I can't stand them either."

Yuki Tsukumo laughed heartily.

Yuki Tsukumo then spoke solemnly.

"The type of woman a man desires reflects his true character."

"Mahito, since you say your preference for women is traditional, it shows that your subconscious is pursuing traditional glory."

"You must have a strong sense of machismo."

"To you, women should be quiet, pure, beautiful, and detached."

"Meanwhile, men should shoulder the great cause, pursue true benevolence, sweep away all darkness, and ensure that all beauty endures."

Mahito felt a sudden sense of pride at being praised and smiled warmly.

"You're not trying to gaslight me, are you?"

"I'm insulting you," Yuki Tsukumo sneered.

Insulting?

"I am a modern woman," Yuki Tsukumo said calmly.

"I strive for progress and hope to hold my destiny in my own hands."

"I don't care for tradition, and I am full of prejudice against traditional women."

"A man like you could never be genuinely interested in a woman like me."

"Everything I just said was a subtle insult, but unfortunately, you didn't understand it."

Mahito was utterly stunned.

Yuki Tsukumo stood up from the railing, leaned back against her motorcycle, and casually started an entirely new topic.

"Mahito, what do you think is the fundamental difference between an ordinary person and a Jujutsu Sorcerer?"

Why did she suddenly bring this up?

Mahito thought for a moment before answering.

"It should be a physiological difference from birth, right?"

"The part of the body that extracts Cursed Energy is located in a Jujutsu Sorcerer's abdomen."

"Meanwhile, the section of the brain that houses an Innate Technique is located in the prefrontal cortex."

"Ordinary people simply don't have these physiological traits."

"That has been considered common knowledge for a thousand years."

Yuki Tsukumo leaned against her motorcycle as the canal water splashed loudly behind her.

She smiled.

"But for me,"

"It's slightly different."

"Oh?"

"It's the Soul."

Yuki Tsukumo spoke absolutely flatly.

"A Jujutsu Sorcerer's Soul is completely different from an ordinary person's."

"The Jujutsu World has one major thing wrong."

"It's not that a special Soul exists because of a Cursed Technique."

"It's the exact opposite; a Jujutsu Sorcerer can only be born because a special Soul exists in the first place."

This was indeed a profound principle never once mentioned in the original manga.

Mahito suddenly remembered that in the original story, Yuki Tsukumo was an unmatched expert in the field of the Soul.

In the entire Jujutsu World, she seemed to be the only one who dared to call herself a master of the Soul.

Before her, no one in the long history of the Jujutsu World had ever studied the Soul so deeply.

Her ultimate goal was to completely eradicate Cursed Spirits.

On the surface, this grand ideal seemed entirely unrelated to her niche research.

Why did she study the Soul?