Due to Jogo's severe injuries, the four calamities did not take any overly aggressive actions during this period.
On the other hand, Mahito was actually testing Gojo Satoru's reaction by targeting those close to him, deliberately using this month to observe.
Anger would naturally be for the best; anger always clouds one's judgment and, conversely, would cause Gojo Satoru to show more openings.
However, by the same token, Gojo Satoru might also resort to even more extreme actions.
Besides anger, there was another possibility: Gojo Satoru's reaction could be cold and restrained.
That would be more troublesome, as Mahito would find it difficult to evaluate the changes brought about by continuing such behavior.
As for why Mahito was attempting such operations to provoke Gojo Satoru, it was because in his mind, the Shibuya Incident could have more than one outcome.
It wasn't that the only choice was to cooperate with Kenjaku to use the Prison Realm; they could also direct Gojo Satoru's spearhead toward Kenjaku, letting Kenjaku and Gojo Satoru erupt in an all-out battle while they played the role of the mantis stalking the cicada, eventually dealing with both of them.
Jogo, who had become miniature due to his injuries, sat to the side. Perhaps because his power had not yet fully recovered, Jogo's overall aggressiveness had subsided to some extent, faintly giving off a sense of tranquility.
Jogo asked Mahito in a rare, peaceful tone, "You said that besides killing Jujutsu Sorcerers in a non-Cursed Energy way, there's another thing that could possibly improve a Cursed Spirit's strength. Is it also about increasing the overall power of Cursed Spirits?"
Beside him, Mahito continued practicing to increase his proficiency with Idle Transfiguration while answering Jogo.
"Are you talking about that? That method isn't for that, no. It's for individual strength enhancement."
"Is there any other way besides growing with time and devouring humans?" Jogo couldn't help but feel curious.
"You should remember, right? We are born from the negative emotions generated by humans. As long as the specific negative emotion that serves as our source doesn't disappear, even if we die, we can still be reborn as a brand-new existence after a period of time."
Mahito did not reveal the answer directly but instead guided Jogo to follow his line of thought.
Listening to Mahito's explanation, Jogo faintly began to understand Mahito's meaning, but the understanding was still somewhat vague. He sought confirmation from Mahito with some uncertainty.
"Are you saying the key lies in the source of our birth?"
Having repeatedly performed Idle Transfiguration, Mahito also felt exhausted due to the high consumption of Cursed Energy in a short time. He deactivated the state of Idle Transfiguration, walked over to sit beside Jogo, and continued speaking.
"Exactly. The so-called Cursed Energy that grows with time and the fact that we can be reborn after a certain period following death both seem to happen because of the passage of time. But perhaps, essentially, it's not because of time passing, but because of the accumulation of the source negative emotions within humans."
"Accumulation?" Jogo repeated the word. Although he was an existence with high intelligence among Cursed Spirits, he rarely considered problems from this perspective.
"Yes, accumulation. In essence, it's not about waiting for time to pass, but waiting for the source curse to grow because of the passage of time. In other words, as long as we can increase people's fear and other negative emotions toward our source, we can shorten the required waiting time and even potentially obtain a terrifying boost in a short period." Mahito fully disclosed the conclusion of his thoughts to Jogo.
"..."
After a brief moment of thought, Jogo opened his mouth. Shock, absolute shock.
Following Mahito's logic, Jogo found that this possibility was extremely high.
Mahito continued to talk to himself, "Actually, I have the information from the manga to thank for allowing me to figure this out. That fellow Geto has a Special Grade Cursed Spirit called Kurourushi, which can use reproduction to let its offspring carry the power of the curse again if it is exorcised, achieving a rebirth with almost no interval."
[Small Tip: This part is an extension of the setting. There is no specific official setting to back it up. It can be viewed as a headcanon, applicable only to this book.]
"Rebirth without an interval... is such a thing possible?" This concept was clearly somewhat advanced. It was hard for Jogo to believe that a Cursed Spirit existing as a Special Grade could be reborn so quickly after death.
"If it were you or me, we probably couldn't do it. That fellow's strength isn't at our level, which might be the key to why he can be reborn in such a short time. Another factor is the act of reproduction; leaving behind another specific individual that can carry this cursed power is itself an act of leaving an anchor. For us, there's a high probability we can't imitate that, so the focus should be on enhancement rather than rebirth."
Mahito explained and analyzed seriously for Jogo.
Jogo didn't speak, but was seriously absorbing Mahito's information.
Mahito continued to supplement, speaking about his arrangements for what came next.
"Although there's a method, the difficulty of implementation is actually completely different for the four of us. Among us, only you are the most suitable person, which is why I haven't been in a hurry to start during this time."
Jogo pointed at himself with some surprise, "Me?"
"Hanami is the forest; just thinking of a way to spread that terror to humans is a headache. Dagon is the ocean; it's hard for us to provide any help besides himself, and besides, he's not mature enough yet. As for me, I am the hatred and fear between humans; I have a suitable plan, but the time for implementation isn't now. But your source is their fear of the Earth. I think as long as we detonate Mount Fuji, it should be enough."
As Mahito spoke, he used the index fingers and thumbs of both hands to form a frame, aiming it at the distant Mount Fuji.
This bold idea left even Jogo stunned when he heard it.
"Detonate Mount Fuji...?"
"Yes. If we do that, that fear will surely boil over in the hearts of those humans!" Mahito said, revealing a cruel yet innocent smile.