The "fish" Uchiha Hikari was trying to hook wasn't Jogo, Hanami, or any of the other Special Grade Curses.
Those curses had some strength and ambition—creating a world for curses, sure—but at their core, they were just pawns. The intel they held and the moves they made all bore the shadow of a certain mastermind pulling the strings.
Yup, that's right.
Kenjaku.
This guy was the one stirring up chaos from the dark corners of the Jujutsu world, the one holding the most secrets. If they wanted to revive Sukuna, they'd likely need his help.
After all, Jujutsu High and Jogo's group only had ten of Sukuna's fingers between them. The rest? Probably in Kenjaku's hands. Plus, Sukuna's mummified body was under his control too.
For now, Hikari stuffed the few Sukuna fingers she'd taken from Mahito back into his possession, then activated Yasaka no Magatama to issue a command: return to his original hideout.
This was her first attempt at fully controlling someone—or rather, a curse's will.
Even with someone like Danzo, she'd only altered parts of his memory, planting fabricated ones. Compared to that, what she was doing to Mahito was technically simpler.
It just did a number on the brain cells. On a normal human, it could cause permanent memory damage or even dementia.
But whatever.
Mahito was a curse with recovery powers surpassing even Muzan Kibutsuji from next door. If he couldn't bounce back, well, he'd just have to deal with the consequences.
"Alright, the bait's set."
"Now we wait for the big fish to bite."
Hikari stretched lazily, crossing her hands behind her head.
From Mahito's memories, she'd learned that he and his group had a one-way line of contact with Kenjaku. Usually, Kenjaku, posing as "Suguru Geto," would reach out to arrange a meeting. Trying to track him down proactively might spook him, so patience was the play—wait and strike when the time was right.
Later that day, Hikari's group met up with Gojo Satoru and Yuji Itadori at Gojo's place.
They swapped notes on their progress.
"…So, the curse called Hanami got away?" Hikari raised an eyebrow.
"Yup," Gojo nodded. "That curse has some serious durability. It tanked five of Yuji's Black Flashes, an attack from the Special Grade Cursed Tool Playful Cloud, and one of my Imaginary Purple shots, and still had enough juice to keep moving. But I let it escape on purpose.
From what I've seen, I'm betting there's another accomplice behind them who hasn't shown up yet. Whatever these curses are up to, it's part of a bigger scheme. So, why not use this chance to lure them out and take them all down in one go?"
"Hm…"
Gojo was fishing too, it seemed.
What he didn't know was that the "accomplice" was his long-lost friend, "Suguru Geto." The moment they'd reunite would also be when Kenjaku sealed him in the Prison Realm.
Of course, with Hikari's interference in this timeline, the infamous "Shibuya Incident" was unlikely to happen as it did originally.
But Hikari wasn't about to spill the beans on Kenjaku to Gojo.
Because, well… she kinda wanted to see his face when he met "Geto" again.
And when Yuji and Kenjaku, the "mother-son" duo, came face-to-face? That'd be a scene worth grabbing popcorn for.
Over the next few days, Hikari rented a few suites in a hotel near Gojo's place for herself, Esdeath, and Yamato—who was disguised as an ordinary girl using a transformation technique.
While remotely controlling Mahito's actions with Yasaka no Magatama, Hikari dove into studying the Idle Transfiguration technique.
After some trial and error, she could now alter parts of her body's appearance at will within thirty seconds and revert them just as easily.
Using it on others, though? That required caution.
Hikari's soul was a dual one, tempered by her Mangekyo Sharingan and further refined through exposure to the worlds of Dragon Ball, Inuyasha, and Mieruko-chan. It was far tougher than most, so she could handle larger distortions without issue.
But for others? One wrong move, and they'd end up like Mahito's transfigured humans—grotesque monsters or worse, exploding on the spot.
In fact, when Hikari tried turning her hands into cat claws, she nearly couldn't revert them.
Esdeath, witnessing the whole thing, looked intrigued. "So, this is the ability you got from that Mahito guy?"
"It's a bit weird, but… kinda cute."
She pulled out her phone, snapped a couple of photos of Hikari, and, under Hikari's bemused gaze, glanced at her ears. "Can you make those into cat ears too? It'd probably look more balanced."
"?"
A question mark practically floated over Hikari's head.
"Are you… trying to turn me into a beast-mode Leone?" she quipped.
Leone's Lionelle Teigu, King of Beasts: Lion King, let its user transform into a feline form. In the original timeline, Leone even fused with it, becoming a lion-human hybrid—probably exactly the kind of thing Esdeath wanted to see.
Speaking of which, Esdeath had only recently learned to use a smartphone.
Hikari had gotten her one mainly for communication. Since Esdeath wasn't in the group chat like Yamato or Yuji, and pulling her into a Tsukuyomi illusion for talks wasn't as convenient, a phone was the easier option.
But Esdeath, who'd lived her whole life in the Akame ga Kill world with barely any modern tech, was like a kid in a candy store. In just a few days, her phone's gallery was bursting with nearly a hundred photos and videos.
A good chunk of them? All Hikari.
Her face, her back, her chowing down on food outside, her lounging in casual clothes after a shower, even her groggy, just-woke-up look with messy hair—all captured in detail.
Hikari was a bit speechless. "…Can't you take pictures of someone else, Esdeath? Or maybe snap some selfies?"
"Selfies?" Esdeath raised an eyebrow. "What's the point of that?"
"…"
So taking pictures of me is the point?
Esdeath, unfazed, continued, "Didn't you ask me to take photos of you before? Like that one with the East Sea Cloud Dragon or when you were piloting that robot at Dr. Gero's lab? Why's it a problem now?"
"Those were different from these… candid life shots," Hikari sighed, wondering if she should teach Esdeath some new phone tricks to distract her from the camera. Maybe… introduce her to some gacha games?
Imagining Esdeath glued to her phone, lost in a game, Hikari couldn't help but smirk.
"…Phew, finally back to normal."
After some effort, Hikari looked at her now-normal hands and let out a relieved breath. "C'mon, it's dinnertime. Let's grab something to eat. Yuji mentioned a new restaurant in Shinjuku that's supposed to be pretty good. Wanna check it out?"
"Sure," Esdeath nodded.
As they slipped on their shoes to head out, Hikari opened the group chat, pinging Yamato and Yuji to see if they wanted to join.
After the exchange event at Jujutsu High wrapped up, Yamato, true to her plan, challenged Yuji to a spar.
Yuji then dragged in Megumi Fushiguro, Nobara Kugisaki, Panda, and Maki Zen'in, and the group quickly hit it off.
Well… "hit it off" in the literal sense—they were sparring up a storm.
Yamato knew her strength was a bit much for the Jujutsu world, so she held back, avoiding Haki or her Devil Fruit powers and sticking to pure physical combat. Even then, she wiped the floor with them.
As a result, Maki and Panda, both skilled in physical techniques, started calling Yamato the new "Heavenly Tyrant."
In the Jujutsu world, certain individuals traded limitations—like a lack of cursed energy or techniques—for exceptional physical prowess, like Megumi's dad, Toji Fushiguro, or Maki herself. Yamato's traits fit that mold, so the nickname wasn't surprising.
That evening, Hikari and Esdeath met up with Yamato, who arrived with Gojo and the others, at the restaurant. They booked a private room for a small group dinner.
During the meal, Hikari struck up a conversation with Megumi, casually bringing up the Ten Shadows Technique.
"…Miss Uchiha, you want to see my shikigami?" Megumi asked.
"Something like that," Hikari nodded, her tone light. "Mr. Gojo mentioned the Ten Shadows Technique is a Zen'in family heirloom, using shadows as a medium to summon up to ten shikigami. The last one's supposedly so powerful it could take down a Six Eyes user in a mutual kill, right?"
"Gojo… told you even that?" Megumi frowned.
At this point in time, Megumi was still dutiful, not yet in the "whatever" mindset he'd adopt during the Sukuna battle later. He knew the final shikigami was Mahoraga and could summon it, but since he hadn't tamed it yet, he kept it as a last-ditch, mutually destructive trump card.
Hikari's request to see Mahoraga just for "curiosity" didn't sit right with him.
"Look, I know it's a bit sudden," Hikari said, "but I can guarantee Mahoraga won't run wild in the city. If you want proof I can pull it off, ask Gojo."
She paused. "Also, I hear your sister, Tsumiki Fushiguro, has been in a coma for years, right? If I can help wake her up, would you let me see Mahoraga?"
Megumi's eyes widened. "How do you know about Tsumiki? …Is that true?"
"Of course," Hikari said, pointing to her glowing, fiery eyes. "These eyes of mine can see the future."
Tsumiki's coma was due to an ancient sorcerer choosing her as a vessel for reincarnation, much like Yuji's situation.
For Hikari, it was an easy fix.
She'd just dive into Tsumiki's mental world, yank out the ancient sorcerer's soul, and take it down. If Tsumiki's soul was damaged or warped, Hikari could use her newly acquired Idle Transfiguration to restore it.
That said, Hikari was still a bit rusty with soul restoration. She figured she'd need to practice on a few curses or humans first.
Experimenting on random people was obviously a no-go, but grabbing some vile criminals to "contribute to medical progress"? Hikari saw no issue with that. Surely, those scumbags wouldn't mind.
Megumi said he'd think it over carefully.
With her abilities, Hikari could easily toss an illusion to make him "voluntarily" agree.
But since he was Yuji's close friend and a decent guy, treating him like Mahito or Danzo felt wrong.
More importantly, Hikari didn't want to overuse her will-altering powers. Doing it too much might blur the line between right and wrong, turning her into the kind of person she despised.
A few days later, in the evening, Mahito finally sent word.
Kenjaku had shown up.