Chapter 176: Expanding Starlight
"All these fingers came from Sōjun?" Satoru Gojo looked at Suguru Geto and asked in a low voice.
Suguru Geto nodded.
Gojo stood there in silence, deep in thought.
Nearly ten of Sukuna's fingers were laid out on the table in front of them, each sealed under a layer of tightly woven black spell marks. With these, and the ones Jujutsu High had recently recovered, they had practically gathered most of them?
"Sōjun must've been working on this for a long time already," Gojo thought suddenly.
Itadori had only joined Jujutsu High a few months ago, and collecting Sukuna's fingers had proven incredibly difficult—especially with most of them sealed and hidden. They had experienced that struggle firsthand.
And yet, the number Sōjun Minamoto had provided far exceeded what they'd recovered themselves, even more than what had been held in the Forbidden Vault.
Gojo stayed quiet for a long while.
He had originally wanted to ask Suguru if he had any real understanding of Sōjun's intentions.
But now, it was obvious—Sōjun had known they were in contact all along. Whatever Suguru knew was probably just what Sōjun allowed him to know.
"Something happen?" Suguru asked, raising an eyebrow at Gojo's silence.
"...Sōjun's betrayed Jujutsu High."
Gojo briefly recounted what had happened.
Suguru's eyes sharpened. He'd learned to judge by actions, not intentions—a principle he'd picked up from Sōjun himself.
Even if he didn't fully agree with it, it had become one of his standards for judging good and evil, and deciding whether someone needed to be purged immediately.
Most members of the Church of the Stars were power-hungry types. Still, for the sake of appearances, they'd done a few decent things. Those ones could be kept around for now, their value drained before disposal.
But there were others—people he would kill on sight.
If Sōjun really had gone to the other side and done what Gojo described, Suguru wouldn't bother asking why. A villain was a villain—his only duty was to purge them.
He couldn't make exceptions just because they were close.
What kind of ideology would that be?
Still, he needed to be sure.
"Wanna check it out?" He glanced at Gojo, his eyes gesturing toward the exit.
Gojo nodded.
The two walked out of the office together, and others quickly followed.
The hallway felt oddly empty. As they looked around more closely, Suguru noticed the decorations on either side had changed.
They made their way toward where the crowds were, eventually arriving at the main hall on the first floor—the center of the Church of the Stars.
Strangely enough, it was the only place in the whole building with any human presence.
Gojo stood at the entrance, glancing up. He was familiar with this place—it had once been the Star Religious Group's main hall. This was where he had killed Toji Fushiguro.
Two guards at the door reached out to block their path.
Suguru looked at them—ordinary people, or so they seemed. But something felt very off.
He hadn't cared much about the internal workings of the church, but... wasn't he the leader? Had he been completely sidelined?
Sōjun never seemed like someone obsessed with power. Had things really changed this much in just a few years?
Suguru didn't bother explaining. Instead, he summoned two Cursed Spirits. As soon as they landed, they lunged toward the guards.
His goal was to subdue them.
But just before the Cursed Spirits made contact, the guards looked at them—and a massive black mouth appeared out of nowhere. Suguru was caught off guard as his spirits were swallowed whole. A few crunches later, all contact was lost.
What?
He blinked in surprise.
Suddenly, two ropes shot out from behind him, looped around the guards' necks, and yanked tight. The force slammed the guards to the ground. They clawed at the ropes, struggling, but the bindings only got tighter. Within seconds, both lost consciousness.
The ropes loosened just in time and snapped back—but not before lashing the guards one last time.
Suguru snapped out of it, said nothing, and stepped forward to push open the hall doors. Gojo followed.
The hall was empty—no furniture, no signs of use. Only seven murals decorated the walls, vivid and sacred, drawing their eyes in.
Several of them were familiar.
The White Bone Tree, the Fly Head... Garuda. Could this really involve Yuki Tsukumo too?
They exchanged a glance. Trouble.
Sōjun and Riko Amanai were already difficult to deal with—two Special Grades. If Yuki Tsukumo was involved as well...
"Those two outside were clearly ordinary people, but they could see curses—and even use jujutsu. It's connected to this place for sure."
"What the hell has Sōjun done?"
Jujutsu talent was rare—maybe one in a hundred, if that. Had he figured out how to artificially create sorcerers?
If every human could use jujutsu... then...
…
Just thinking about it sent a chill down their spines.
This was no good sign.
"Should we erase it?" Suguru Geto hesitated, turning to Gojo beside him.
Satoru Gojo stared at the mural. "Erase it."
Geto gathered a vortex of energy at his fingertip. As soon as it formed, he fired it straight at the wall. The energy embedded itself and began spreading out—slowly at first, but with increasing speed.
The mural flickered twice, as if reacting to a faulty connection, then went completely dark. The once sacred and mysterious aura inside the hall vanished without a trace.
The two exchanged glances and waited, but nothing happened.
And that silence only made the unease grow stronger.
...
The moment the mural disappeared, all the Seven Sins sorcerers across the world felt their spirits stir. Images of their corresponding sins quietly surfaced in their minds...
Sōjun Minamoto lifted his gaze toward the Church of the Stars, a strange smile curling at his lips.
Destroying the murals might have seemed like shattering the foundation of the Seven Sins—but in reality, it shattered a seal. The Seven Sins were now free to imprint themselves directly into the hearts of the believers.
Most of the Seven Sins sorcerers weren't even stationed at the church. They were scattered throughout the world. Gojo and the others had no way to contain them or halt what was coming.
What was spare Cursed Energy to Sōjun was, for these people—
Everything.
It was their entire Cursed Energy reserve.
They would soon realize that the more followers they gained, the greater the total amount became, and with it, their own strength would grow exponentially.
Sōjun had set no limits on them. They existed outside the usual categories of human or curse, and as such, the balance mechanism of the Jujutsu world couldn't recognize them.
He clapped his hands together and laughed.
This was the true beginning of the Church of the Stars' expansion.
"What's so funny?" Riko Amanai asked, puzzled. Who suddenly bursts into laughter while walking?
"Nothing," Sōjun chuckled with delight.
Kenjaku once bragged to him about gathering a thousand Cursed Objects—ancient and modern alike—after years of searching. It was a theatrical boast.
But to Sōjun, that was still too small-minded. In a country with this many people, even counting all of them felt insufficient.
He wasn't just tapping into their power—he was trying to pry loose the collective Cursed Energy amassed since humanity's birth. And even with that, he still wasn't certain it'd be enough.
A thousand?
He couldn't help but laugh again at the memory of Kenjaku's tone back then.
Sōjun quietly anticipated the spread. It wouldn't take long.
The power sequence he had provided was completely fair. It treated humans, curses, any sentient being with emotions—all equally.
Though for now, only humans had become "believers," it wouldn't be long before the Seven Sins and Seven Virtues merged. The total energy would grow, dragging curses into the cycle. What happened after that... even he couldn't predict.
Everything hinged on what kind of "Heaven" the "World" system truly was.
He looked up, gazing into the sky.
...
Soon after, the two returned home.
At that moment, a tremor ran through the back of Sōjun's hand—a message from Kenjaku. The end of the month had arrived. The plan was in motion.
It was time to seal Satoru Gojo.
"So it begins."
Sōjun stood in the center of the living room. His body expanded, growing to two and a half meters tall. The ceiling forced him to hunch his back, lower his head, and bend his knees. His posture looked strange—yet powerful.
A roll of white bandages unraveled around him, coiling like a snake and wrapping him tightly.
Seven strange images flickered once across the surface of the bandages.
Finally, the wrap over his left eye slid shut, hiding the starry glint within.
He no longer needed to squint.
A profound sense of freedom and ease surged through him. His Cursed Energy and Blessing Energy began merging rapidly...
This—was his true form.
He had the regeneration of a cursed spirit, the balanced moderation of a human, with none of the weaknesses of reverse techniques. The mystery of a spirit, the uniqueness of a Shikigami, and the overwhelming power of a perfected technique.
Why choose between being or not being, when he could embody both?
This was perfection.
"Exhale—"
Every cell in his body sighed in unison, releasing a fine mist that spiraled around him like a halo.
"Inhale—"
The mist flowed gently, with stars flickering faintly within it.
In that moment, to Riko Amanai's eyes, Sōjun both existed and did not. When she tried to see him, she couldn't. But when she didn't think to look—he was right beside her.
The seven fleeting images from before were etched deep in her mind. If she wanted, she could connect with any one of them.
Just as she tried to reach out, the images vanished completely.
"Huh?"
"Let's go," said a familiar voice, echoing directly in her mind.
"Oh, okay!" She saw him again and stood up, following without question.
She could tell—this time was different.
These past days, she hadn't been idle either. She'd pushed herself harder than ever, refining her techniques. She was now just one step away from Domain Expansion.
She had even mastered [Falling Blossom Emotion], a type of Simple Domain. Even if she had to face an actual Domain, she wouldn't be defenseless.
Excited, she leapt toward Sōjun Minamoto—only to see him vanish right before she made contact.
[Shadow Fixation] could anchor even herself within a shadow.