Made my mind go straight to this panel from chainsaw man
which leads me to think (and i hate it with me entire soul) that megumi will really die and with the "let fate toy with you, become a clown" means that it won't be with dignity or that he will be played in an awful, distasteful way before he goes
i think it was said with such a dramatic tone that i am almost convinced it will play out that way unless something changes and gives us a clue that it won't be that way
and MAN i am hoping with all my heart that it won't be that way
and you know what??? I hope the "save me, itadori" has a meaning in this context too. for fucks' sake, save him itadori.
Disclaimer n. 1: this contains manga spoilers, up to chapter 173.
Disclaimer n. 2: this is kinda long.
You know, meeting Tengen was very cool, he was very nice with our heroes, gave excellent advice and explanation of the culling game, even showed them the back gate of prison realm, like a good supporting character would do.
But the more I think about him, the more I feel something is off.
And I will explain why, trying to make this the more coherent as possible, so please bear with me!
First thing, shout out to Reggie Star for introducing to us a different vision on what the actual goal of the culling game is, backed by good points and proves which Fushiguro too finds rational and possible:
And indeed, games seem to be almost over considering only very strong sorcerers remain after these first 9 days of battles, so the idea of a long ritual like Tengen suggested doesn't seem real anymore, it actually looks like we're at the end of the battles part.
Reggie's reaction to Tengen being named, in Fushiguro's eyes, means that Tengen isn't working with Kenjaku, but Reggie could just think Tengen is a good/neutral guy, like for now he seems to actually be, and the cooperation with Kenjaku is something known only between those two (and few others, maybe, like Uraume for example).
But to be honest, this doesn't save Tengen from the possibility of being a traitor/double agent. Remember there's at least a second mole aside from Mechamaru, higher ranked and untouchable:
Who would be better than Tengen for this role? He's an all-knowing being who doesn't need to go out of his secret temple in order to find out about things, since he's hyper connected with the rest of the world, or rather: Tengen is the world and the world is Tengen (ch. 145) and this is possible - surprise! - thanks to the missed merging with the Star Plasma Vessel.
In fact, the events of August 2006 are extremely important for this theory as if they're not important for the whole plot: to us readers, it's explained as if Toji, a sudden element free of every chain to the jujutsu world, just came in and created chaos by killing Riko, so in this sense it's more like Kenjaku found the perfect conditions to merge with Tengen (if we consider this to be his true plan) already prepared - unknowingly - by Toji.
So Kenjaku shouldn't have had any business in the killing of Riko in 2006. He just exploited the situation.
But there's something that doesn't fit well in this interpretation of the story, and it's this line (I think Tsukumo says it?):
Kenjaku prevented.
Now, I'm not a native English speaker so I hope my knowledge doesn't fail me but...doesn't the verb prevent mean someone forcefully avoiding something from happening? It's not avoiding by luck.
This line gives agency to Kenjaku in the killing of the Star Plasma Vessel.
And to be honest, it feels a bit too weird how suddenly, in the span of some few years, all the missing pieces came together and Kenjaku could finally start his evil plan almost magically, just thanks to a great dose of luck: Star Plasma Vessel dying in 2006, Tengen evolving as consequence, prison realm found again in 2012, Geto dying in 2017.
It's just 11 years. It's nothing compared to the centuries Kenjaku has lived.
You're telling me greatest mastermind galaxy brain Kenjaku couldn't create himself the conditions to start his plan and suddenly in 11 years he gets all he has needed?? Without doing the bare minimum effort?? Sorry, I can't fully believe this. The only element that is completely out of Kenjaku's doing is just Geto's dying, or rather: Geto dying in 2017 after a fight he himself started, wanted and lost.
And this brings us to another point: Geto's (unconscious) role.
Geto started to be someone known and relevant to jujutsu world in 2005, when he entered Jujutsu High, since before that time he very likely lived a normal life as a normal boy with a normal family completely made of non-sorceres, no connections to the jujutsu world.
So that's when Kenjaku has very possibly found out about cursed manipulation and how useful it would be if only Tengen wasn't human anymore. And voilà, one year later, right when the 500 years from the last merging have passed, Tengen can't merge to keep his humannes because the Vessel died and so he evolves into something more easily to be manipulated by Geto's technique.
What a huge stroke of luck, eh?
Of course, Geto had to die. And I think Kenjaku wanted Geto to die in 2006, right after the Star Plasma Vessel was killed too, because that's the only way the boy could have been useful to the evil brain.
Only problem is: Geto didn't die in 2006, it took him 11 more years to finally die. And who's the culprit?
Our dear Toji, who always and only trusted his instict, and so decided to spare Geto in 2006 in order to avoid any possible trouble with his cursed spirits (thank you Toji).
What I'm trying to say is that Kenjaku possibly had a role with the Time Vessel Association that paid Toji, maybe Kenjaku himself somehow suggested Toji (known as a sorcerer killer) to the group as the right person to kill Riko; in this way, he was probably hoping that Toji would kill not only the Star Plasma Vessel, but the Six Eyes (remember: Kenjaku didn't have the prison realm yet, so he couldn't resort to sealing) and the boy with cursed manipulation too.
3 in 1, how practical (fits Kenjaku, he's a guy for optimization).
The only little problem was created by Toji sparing Geto's life, so Kenjaku had to wait 11 more years, but that's it (maybe in the end it wasn't too bad for Kenjaku either, since he could use the body of a strong, adult and expert special grade curse user, rather than the body of a still young and unrefined sorcerer, no more than level 1).
But how could Kenjaku be sure that the strongest duo, the sworn enemy Six Eyes and the Next Top Body, would be there as well?
Because Tengen himself asked for Gojo and Geto for the mission.
Now, personally choosing two teenagers, even if they are the strongest sorcerers, as the right people to deal with such a delicate matter like escorting the Star Plasma Vessel is a bit weird. Let's say a lot weird.
Unless you're secretly hoping they fail, which is indeed what happened. After all, if this mission was given to any other level 1 sorcerer, would have it been as relevant and useful to Kenjaku? Probably no.
Yes, Riko would have died anyway because Toji was there, but if Geto and Gojo weren't there too, killing them would have been way more difficult and who knows for how much longer Kenjaku should have been waiting for the next perfect occasion, remember the offer was 3 in 1.
And the duo wouldn't have (likely) fallen apart, meaning that the perfect situation to seal Gojo in Shibuya wouldn't have been possible (but I doubt Kenjaku even thought about plans so far since he didn't even have prison realm back in 2006 - I think he was just very happy when Geto went on his own evil way, because that brought him away from jujutsu society, "easier" to seize).
And another extremely weird thing is this: Tsukumo told Geto that the merging happened anyway, or that it was going to happen soon, and we know she really said what she thought was true and didn't lie to Geto, considering her reaction when Tengen says the truth about the missed merging.
So this means someone lied to Yuki on purpose, maybe even told her to spread the word that Tengen was safe and stabilized in order to hide his true nature evolving for the next 11/12 years. And again, who could this someone be if not Tengen himself, who would be better than him?
If he was a good guy and in trouble, why didn't he say it earlier? Why did he keep the silence about the huge danger represented by his evolution?
And another thing about Yuki: maybe it's just me, but I feel like she's presented as someone we can't trust fully mainly due to her "chat" with Geto in 2007, yet her actions prove her to be a relatively good person, or at least someone who is willing to give her full help to the good side.
While Tengen, at the opposite, is presented as someone reliable from the start...but Yuki doesn't seem to really believe it. Her "initial" interactions with Tengen seem kinda cold, because it looks like he's rejecting her.
And actually it's not even their first meeting.
What if the first time they met Tsukumo already sensend something was off, maybe asked dangerous questions, so Tengen tried to keep her away from him, only her among the group of visitors, because she's the only one who knows him and who could ask things - and in the end Yuki stays for that reason, to finally talk with Tengen.
It's true that Tengen then says two out of Tsukumo, Okkotsu and Choso, but again if we consider him as a double agent, this still makes sense: keeping two of the strongest enemies with him, preventing them to helping the others, even putting them in a position in which Kenjaku may kill them first, is actually a great move.
Now, there's still one big question: why would Tengen work with Kenjaku?
To be honest, I can't really say. Maybe Tengen doesn't hate too much the idea of merging with humans and/or Kenjaku, maybe he's tired of keeping barriers and wants chaos, maybe he wants to create a new Heian era like Kenjaku...for now I can't think of any particular theory to answer this question.
I will just say that this particular line could somehow be relevant in finding an answer.
The chains of fate kept Tengen, Star Plasma Vessel and Six Eyes bonded together for centuries.
Toji broke those chains by killing the Star Plasma Vessel.
The Six Eyes are now sealed.
Tengen is now "free" to evolve and merge, and free to deal with Kenjaku too.
if u read jjk for the dilf worship but hate on takaba fumihiko and don’t adopt him into the circle of honorary dilfs i don’t trust u. his terrible sense of humor and pathetic-ness are deadbeat dad//struggling dad culture. instead of fighting and abandoning teenagers he tries to help them, and in his good nature he gets rejected. at the end of the fight, he reminds the other dude to take a bath and brush his teeth. what the hell? he has a good heart. he is just a chaotic, clueless man. this is just a man. he is just a dude. he is just a guy with sideburns and a bad sense of humor leave him alone.
