Chapter 202

A onetime Star Plasma Vessel, Yuki Tsukumo at last gets the talk with Tengen she has wanted. At the same time, Kenjaku launches his assault on the Tombs of the Star, guarded that day by Choso. Before either side throws a punch, Kenjaku spells out more of his vision for the jujutsu world's future.

Yuki presses Tengen about the vessels, asking whether others existed beyond herself and Riko Amanai. Tengen confirms there were others but says none matched Riko's potential, and that they merely accepted their fate, preserving self-awareness through barrier techniques even as they evolved. Yuki rejects that resignation and condemns Tengen's casual disregard for young girls' lives, adding she would have backed the Time Vessel Association had it sought control instead of killing vessels. When Tengen asks what the other vessels' voices are saying, Yuki refuses to relay them, unwilling to hand Tengen an excuse to dodge responsibility for those they merged with.

Feeling a threat approach, Tengen wishes the talk could go on. High above the Star Corridor's Tombs, an empty barrier's wall gives way as Kenjaku smashes through it. Choso meets him, only to be told the curse user has no further interest in him. Choso claims Tengen will not speak and needles Kenjaku for being disliked; Kenjaku brands him an overzealous vanguard and says the Culling Game has done its job as the ritual nears completion, which unsettles Choso. Kenjaku then warps the barrier into a movie theater to screen one possible ending of his plan, recalling Yuki's point that routing the nation's cursed energy by way of Tengen would make every person in Japan a sorcerer.

That, for Kenjaku, is only a stepping stone; unlike Yuki he does not want cursed spirits gone. He has always chased a wholly new form of cursed energy, which is why the Death Painting Wombs disappointed him. Because Tengen sits closer to a curse than to a sorcerer, fusing them with mankind would instead convert non-sorcerers into cursed spirits, potentially condensing a population of a hundred million down to one writhing cursed-energy mass capable of assuming any shape. Kenjaku compares his curiosity to a toddler with a crayon and blank paper, collapses the theater, and dismisses his motive as simple fun, even hoping the result wears a funny face. Disgusted, Choso readies Piercing Blood.

Set during the Culling Game Arc at the Tombs of the Star, the chapter features Yuki Tsukumo, Tengen, Kenjaku, and Choso, with Riko Amanai appearing in flashback and the Culling Game referenced. Choso's Blood Manipulation and Piercing Blood are the highlighted techniques.