Chapter 63: Awakening the Rinnegan
Mei Mei walked to Toho Hiroshi's side, her gaze sweeping over the horrifying, battleground-like scene not far away. Even for someone as experienced as her, her brow furrowed almost imperceptibly, but quickly returned to normal.
"What a tragic way to say goodbye,"
she commented, with little emotion in her tone. "So, you chose to let go of a Special Grade Curse User who massacred an entire village of ordinary people, and you also left some kind of 'mark' on him."
Mei Mei turned her head to look at Toho Hiroshi, a playful curve on her lips. "If this information were sold to The Higher-Ups, the price would be unimaginably high."
Toho Hiroshi finally turned his head, his deep black eyes seeming to swallow all light in the night, looking directly at Mei Mei: "Would you do it?"
Mei Mei met his gaze for two seconds, then suddenly chuckled and shook her head: "Of course not. At this stage, the long-term benefits of cooperating with you far outweigh a one-time information sale. What's more…"
She paused, her smile becoming somewhat meaningful, "Investing in a powerful individual who values relationships and has limitless potential is much wiser than offending him."
"I'm just curious, how do you plan to handle this? The Higher-Ups aren't fools; the residual Cursed Energy here is terrifyingly dense, and Geto Suguru's Cursed Energy signature isn't hard to identify. They'll find him eventually, and your whereabouts today aren't untraceable."
"I know."
Toho Hiroshi's voice remained flat, as if he had already considered all of this. "As for The Higher-Ups, I have my own way of dealing with them. They need power, and even more, they need someone who can counterbalance 'Gojo Satoru' and The Big Three Families."
When he mentioned Gojo Satoru, his tone didn't change, but Mei Mei keenly caught the complex meaning within it.
"Using the counterbalance to Satoru as a bargaining chip? That's very practical."
Mei Mei nodded, seemingly approving of this idea. "So, do you need me to provide some 'necessary' misleading information for you, or perhaps preemptively adjust the 'Window' observation reports? Of course, old rules, extra services, extra charges."
"Yes."
Toho Hiroshi agreed readily. "Specific details, we'll communicate later."
"Straightforward."
Mei Mei smiled contentedly. "Then, do you also need post-incident cleanup? For professional 'cleaning services,' I can introduce you to channels with discounted prices."
"No need."
Toho Hiroshi refused. "There's no need to cover anything up here."
Mei Mei raised an eyebrow, somewhat surprised, but quickly understood: "Indeed, some traces, if left behind, can explain things better. For example, the cruelty of the defector, and the helplessness and belatedness of the pursuer."
She gently stroked the feathers of the crow on her shoulder: "It seems you already have a complete plan."
"Alright, I won't speculate too much about the employer's thoughts; I'm only responsible for providing services. If there's nothing else, I'll take my leave now; the smell here is really unpleasant."
She turned to leave.
"Mei Mei."
Toho Hiroshi called out to her.
"Hmm?"
She looked back.
"Thank you for today's matter."
Toho Hiroshi said, his tone flat, yet the weight of his words was not light.
Mei Mei paused for a moment, then her smile grew wider, with a hint of genuine meaning: "You're welcome. Just remember to transfer the subsequent consulting fees and hush money to my account. Keep in touch, my dear VIP client."
With that, she gracefully waved her hand, and her figure, along with the crow on her shoulder, slowly merged into the shadows, disappearing as silently as they had appeared.
Only Toho Hiroshi remained, along with the pervasive scent of blood and the endless night.
The paths had diverged, sworn friends now on different roads.
He closed his eyes, then opened them again; there was no longer any confusion in his gaze, only cold resolve and a hint of deeply buried pain.
Toho Hiroshi stood alone in the center of the silent village. The dense scent of blood almost solidified, clinging to his nostrils and to his heart.
Geto Suguru's complex and resolute eyes as he left, and the uncontrollable tears that finally spilled, were like the sharpest Cursed Tool, repeatedly cutting at his nerves.
"I should have done more…"
"If I were stronger, able to break his twisted logic…"
"If I could have stopped him just now…"
Countless 'ifs' and self-reproach gnawed at his heart like venomous snakes.
Intense pain and powerlessness almost drowned him.
He used Kamui, he used Susanoo, he even awakened Yata no Kagami; he tried to pull back his falling sworn friend, he planted a mark hoping for the future.
But in the end, he still watched Geto Suguru stain his own hands with indelible blood, stepping onto that lonely, divergent path leading to destruction.
His sworn friend still left.
That immense sense of frustration and heartbreaking pain, of possessing power yet still being unable to save someone important, was far more profound than any physical injury.
This extremely intense emotional torrent furiously crashed within his chest, with nowhere to vent, finally all surging towards his left eye, which was scalding hot from overuse and intense emotion.
That Mangekyo Sharingan, which bore Kamui and Yata no Kagami, had witnessed too much and tried to retain too much.
"Ugh—!"
Toho Hiroshi suddenly clutched his left eye, letting out an uncontrollable, low growl mixed with pain and anger.
A soul-tearing agony, far surpassing any previous instance, exploded from deep within his eyes.
It was as if something was breaking and reorganizing inside his eyeballs; the flowing Dōjutsu Power and Cursed Energy burned and transmuted wildly in an unprecedented manner.
He knelt on one knee, his body trembling slightly from this sudden, violent change. Between his fingers, an uncontrollable, eerie yet powerful energy fluctuation subtly emanated, silently pushing away the dust on the surrounding ground.
Mei Mei had not gone far; she was hidden in the shadows, watching this scene in shock.
As a Jujutsu Sorcerer, she could clearly perceive that the already unfathomable power within Toho Hiroshi was undergoing some earth-shattering transformation.
The level of energy emanating from him made the crow on her shoulder let out uneasy, sharp screeches.
The intense pain continued; Toho Hiroshi felt as if his left eye had been thrown into a furnace, yet new life was being born within the ultimate destruction.
After an unknown period, the soul-rending pain slowly receded like a tide, replaced by an unprecedented clarity and vastness, as if he could see through the essence of all things in the world.
He slowly lowered the hand covering his left eye and opened both eyes.
His right eye remained that deep crimson.
But in his left eye, the magnificent and complex Mangekyo pattern had disappeared.
In its place was a new pupil, cold, mysterious, as if containing the power of transmigration and life and death.
The white of his eye seemed to have deepened, and the pupil displayed faint purple, wave-like circular patterns, with a bottomless, deep black core.
Just quietly gazing forward, it gave off a supreme majesty and coldness, as if capable of controlling life and death and annihilating all things.
Rinnegan.
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