In the original work, only four Special Grade Jujutsu Sorcerers appeared publicly.
In the perception of the Jujutsu world, a Special Grade Sorcerer is far stronger than a Grade 1 Sorcerer, but just how vast is that difference?
For a Special Grade Sorcerer, there is actually a clear definition, stated by Kenjaku in the original story.
All Special Grade Jujutsu Sorcerers possess the ability to single-handedly overthrow a nation—and that includes the United States.
Meanwhile, a Grade 1 Sorcerer only needs to be able to guarantee a win against a Special Grade Cursed Spirit.
It is, quite literally, the difference between heaven and earth.
In the original work, the four Special Grade Jujutsu Sorcerers on the surface were as follows.
Okkotsu Yuta: Possesses the highest level of Cursed Energy in the entire Jujutsu world, with power even exceeding Gojo Satoru's.
His Innate Technique is Copy; as long as he meets the conditions, he can use any Innate Technique.
He is evaluated as having inexhaustible Cursed Energy and unconditional Copy.
Geto Suguru: His Innate Technique is Cursed Spirit Manipulation, allowing him to control any Cursed Spirit without limit, including but not limited to Special Grade spirits or entities similar to Cursed Spirits.
Furthermore, there is no limit to the number of Cursed Spirits he can control; one man is an army.
Kenjaku, using Geto Suguru's body, claimed he could conquer the United States and didn't even care about nuclear weapons.
Tsukumo Yuki: Her Innate Technique, 'Star Rage,' allows her to grant herself imaginary mass.
She can freely increase her own density, making the power of her punches equivalent to a meteorite strike, yet she can move while ignoring that mass.
She is the ultimate stat monster.
Before her death, she released her limits and created a black hole, hoping to take Kenjaku down with her.
If it weren't for Tengen's barrier and her own will, that black hole could have compressed the Earth into a two-centimeter glass marble.
Finally, there is Gojo Satoru.
A Sorcerer who simultaneously awakened the 'Six Eyes' and the 'Limitless Cursed Technique.'
Needless to say, he is the 'strongest of the modern era.'
You say they are human?
Are such monsters considered human?
Mahito didn't think for a second that his current self could fight any of the four listed above.
Never mind his current self; even at the peak of Mahito's power in the original work, if he faced any of those four Special Grade combatants, he would only be insta-killed.
Kinji Hakari's judgment was correct.
If things followed a normal path, Mahito should have developed until he could contend with a Special Grade Sorcerer before coming out to stir up trouble.
Appearing now while still in the embryonic stage was purely reckless, just waiting for a Special Grade Sorcerer to come and exterminate him—speaking from a general theoretical standpoint.
The entire Jujutsu Kaisen original work is nearly 300 chapters long, which seems long, but if you look closely at the timeline, you'll be shocked to find that the story spans only half a year.
Half! A! Year!
The time the story begins is given in the manga as June 2018, and the time the story ends is also very clearly given—December 24, 2018.
Just thinking about this time span made Mahito feel like ants were crawling all over him.
How could he not work hard to improve himself?
How could he dare to stop?
Never mind stopping; he was afraid he wouldn't level up fast enough and wouldn't even count as a minion half a year later!
Now Mahito's research had hit a bottleneck, and he didn't have time to accumulate techniques.
He needed to grow at the fastest possible speed.
Since normal accumulation and growth couldn't keep up with him, he would use an unconventional path.
A Special Grade template!
Grade 1 no longer had value to him, and the Disaster Curses (including himself) had already been thoroughly researched.
Now he was looking forward to a Special Grade Jujutsu Sorcerer—Kinji Hakari was his target.
Just as a fifth often appears among the Four Heavenly Kings, since four Special Grade Sorcerers were said to exist on the surface, there was bound to be an extra one in private.
Kinji Hakari was that extra one, the uncrowned Special Grade Jujutsu Sorcerer.
Just how strong was he?
Two Special Grade Sorcerers had given him evaluations.
Gojo Satoru: Kinji and Yuta are Sorcerers who can stand beside me in the future.
Okkotsu Yuta: As for Senior Hakari, if he's in good condition, he can beat me.
What do you think he relied on to manage this Underground Fight Club?
This wasn't some legitimate business; Curse Users frequently came here, including Cursed Spirit Users like Awasaka Jiro who could rival or even slightly surpass a Grade 1 Sorcerer.
Did he rely on simple management skills?
No, he relied on his fists!
Mahito wanted him so badly.
Compared to Jogo, Hanami, and Dagon, his abilities were far superior.
While intelligent Special Grade Cursed Spirits were loyal and had no ulterior motives, their minds were too rigid; they could be generals charging into battle, but not marshals.
To develop, one could not lack a marshal.
Kinji Hakari, this uncrowned Special Grade Sorcerer, was the marshal he had chosen.
As for Kenjaku?
He'd kill him sooner or later.
Most importantly—he was the only Special Grade Mahito currently felt confident in defeating!
It wasn't that he wasn't strong; on the contrary, his Cursed Technique combined with Domain Expansion made him almost invincible.
Even the original Mahito at his peak would have been beaten to death by him.
But the current Mahito was not the original Mahito—now he was confident he could easily handle Kinji Hakari.
This was an attribute counter!
That was why he was sitting here.
Suppression through force brought the ambition to recruit him.
Mahito was full of confidence, determined to win over Kinji Hakari!