278 A Date?

"If Kenjaku gets his way he will merge the whole of humanity with Master Tengen. That means Kugisaki is a target too." Fushiguro said, he didn't like that he had to mention it but this was important.

As Adam went silent they could only wait for his answer. And it didn't take long for him to arrive at the solution.

"Hmm, that does seem like a problem… Wait a sec…" With that, Adam vanished from the room and reappeared in a minute with the man of the hour himself.

'Kenjaku!' They did not expect Adam to bring him here. But this was an opportune moment. Two special-grade sorcerers stood here with others who had strengths of their own.

'If we attack him now… we can have one less problem to worry about…' The moment this thought crossed their mind their body were pressed to the ground, no it was akin to being pulled down. 

The floor cracked below them, they were pulled with strength that always overpowered their resistance. A brutal force that can crush them like ants but didn't do so.

"F-Fuck!!" Nobara was included too.

'This weight… it is crushing me…' Even Maki who had a stronger physique than others felt her bones creaking and no matter how much Cursed energy Yuta used he couldn't get up.

'Even Rika is appearing… what is happening?' He gritted his teeth.

"Did you think I'd appear in front of you all that carelessly?" Kenjaku's smirk said it all, "I made a binding vow for protection here in exchange for this."

"Go on say it before I break that vow," Adam placed a hand on Kenjaku's shoulder as the latter sweated a little, but he still maintained his smile. 

"Kugisaki Nobara will not be included in the Merge, and as per the new rule of the Culling Games she cannot enter the colonies and anyone who brings her in will be barred from entry and will become a target for other players." For the first time, they can feel that Kenjaku didn't hide anything.

He didn't lie, because the Grim Reaper stood behind him. And he would rather want to see his plan bear fruit than to mess with Adam and tempt death.

'Either I die or do what he says, the choice was easy after he appeared.' Kenjaku didn't need to try to know how outclassed he was. The view in front of him was enough to show him that if what happened before wasn't enough.

"Alright then, back you go." Kenjaku appeared back into the place he was abducted from.

But even if he was back in his safehouse, his legs gave out and he fell to the ground. Covered in cold sweat from head to toe, he shook like a leaf. That was fear. A terror that seeped down to his very bones and became a constant reminder. 

How can something like that exist? How did he come about? How was he tracked? How did he reach him? Many questions pestered him. But despite that, the grin on his lips didn't go away.

'Will the collective power of 7 billion people be as strong as that?' This question excited him. This run-in with Adam had left him with many answers and tons of questions.

But, he knew that one wrong move and he'll never achieve anything. His next priority was to make sure that Kugisaki Nobara didn't enter the Culling Games and didn't get swept up in the merge.

"B-But I need to change my clothes before that." His eyes landed on the stained floor. This encounter truly left him feeling many things.

.

.

.

'Master Tengen's plan backfired.' Todo already saw this coming from a mile away. Tengen had set things up so that someone would ask the question in his place. Someone who had too much to lose in this scenario.

And that happened to Fushiguro Megumi, not only was Nobara his classmate but his sister too was wrapped in the strings Kenjaku had laid out. Gojo raised him and now even he was in danger. Not to mention Yuji was still an execution target for the Higher ups. They have fooled them now, but it wouldn't last long.

Adam would help if Nobara was in danger. That was a fact that they understood, and Tengen wanted to use that to get him involved. But, the thought that he would blindly do things if she was intentionally placed in danger became the undoing of this plan. 

But knowing that, Todo couldn't blame either Tengen or Fushiguro for their choices. Every one of them expected the help after hearing how big of a deal it had become, so they were all equally guilty of that. That is why he couldn't blame Adam for what he did as he knew this would be the result.

"That is pure love." He chuckled.

"What are you on about Todo?" Confused, Itadori looked over. The mood in the room wasn't the best after Adam left.

"You'll understand this one day brother," Todo's words didn't help either.

"You screwed up royally Tengen," Yuki on the other hand sighed. That stunt Tengen pulled took out the biggest helping hand they had by far. 

Although Adam wasn't helping now, there was a chance for later. But now that chance has become zero, negative even.

"I wanted to know how far he'd take things to not be involved, but I didn't expect such a reaction." Tengen shook his head. 

But this was for the better, now that they knew not to expect any help from Adam, they had to work with what they had.

"At least Kugisaki is safe," Itadori words did bring about a weird air in the room.

The only one safe from Kenjaku's twisted plan was Kugisaki Nobara, she wasn't that special of an existence in the greater scheme of things. But that didn't change anything.

"I see, so that is what you wanted to find out," Yuki stared at Tengen with a small smirk, "It looks like even you do not know a lot about him."

"Since I am in the middle of my evolution I am unable to get any proper information about him." 

"That means you've got something on him right? If you share it with me I'll stay as your guard." Yuki leaned forward. Her senses were tingling, knowing this piece of information became important for her as she saw it as the path to achieving her ideal world. 

"He is a being that is bigger than the world itself," Tengen answered.

"The hell is that supposed to mean?" Yuki's brow twitched.

But, this was all Tengen knew. If there was more time such a reckless move wouldn't be used. And that became the issue, they were running low on time.

'This is the only thing I can do for you.' Adam said that before leaving. The good thing was that he didn't seem to mind Tengen's actions much.

"I wonder what he meant at the end," Yuki's eyebrows furrowed as everyone moved busily. They had many things to do in order to prepare for the Culling Games.

The key to unsealing Gojo lay there so they had to go all out.

"I'll go and get the cursed tools from the Zenin warehouse. You all handle the rest in the meantime." Maki was the first to leave. 

Then Yuta left alone for his destination. Choso decided to stay and guard Tengen with Yuki, and in the end, Yuji, Megumi, and Todo were the last ones. And their task was to get the suspended Third Year, Hakari Kinji. 

"Should we really leave Nobara out of this?" Yuji didn't want to bring her along either, but he knew she'd be pissed if they don't tell her.

"We can leave her alone with him. She is safe, and if we bring her along we'd be making ourselves a bigger target." Fushiguro expected Kenjaku to use cursed spirits or other means to make sure Nobara didn't get involved.

Before that demonstration, he would've thought that Adam may be working with Kenjaku. But, now he couldn't think of it. The use of unknown techniques which didn't even have the wisp of Cursed energy, and the sheer disparity in power were shown. If he wanted to, Adam could've killed everyone in that room. 

'But, Sukuna didn't come out is what surprises me,' Fushiguro couldn't understand it. He stared at Yuji who typed away at his cell phone.

Was Yuji's control over Sukuna increased again, or was the reason behind his disappearance something else? Regardless, he would never know about the reason by guessing.

"Alright, I sent Kugisaki a text about where we are going, and told her not to come." Yuji's words made him stop.

"If you send her the location she'll charge head first you idiot." Fushiguro sighed, but Yuji shook his head.

"Kugisaki said she's on a date so she wouldn't come." Those words shook Fushiguro to his core.

"She's on a what?"

"A Date."