"Huh? Did Yuji go home already?" Junpei's mom sat up, stretching.
"What is this?" she said, reaching out and picking up the cursed finger that was on the table. "A finger?"
She questioned it just as a cursed spirit looked down from behind her, ready to kill her in an instant—when suddenly, it burst into a bloody mist.
"Huh?" Nagi turned around to see Yuji standing with his back to her, a puddle of purple blood covering him. She felt a heavy, suffocating presence from him all of a sudden.
'That patchwork nobody is nearby, eh? I have to repay him for touching my soul in the future...' Sukuna grinned as Junpei rushed from his room, having heard the noise. He stared, shocked to see Yuji back somehow despite having just left not long ago.
"Y-Yuji?" Junpei asked, seeing the darkness surrounding his body. Yuji turned, four red eyes locking him in place.
"Oh, it's you. That useless brat Yuji is asleep right now. I don't care for the matters of weaklings, so go die or whatever; I have to teach that cocky puppet a lesson."
Sukuna waved Junpei off and vanished in a burst of speed, sending heavy winds through the small apartment. Junpei ran over to his mother to check on her. He saw the blood of the cursed spirit everywhere, and it seemed that due to the near-death experience, his mother could see it too.
It seemed he had some explaining to do.
———————————————————
Using [Search] as he stood on the rooftop of the apartment, Sukuna targeted Mahito. Suddenly, a purple light shone in the distance beneath the ground—a purple outline of a male silhouette with long hair. Beside him was someone else he had already cataloged.
'Kenjaku... right. They were speaking ever since Nanami encountered Mahito in the original, right? Perhaps they stayed so close in order to keep tabs on Junpei...' Sukuna grinned and leapt from the rooftop.
Below ground in the sewers, Kenjaku was telling Mahito the next step in their plans when he suddenly looked up. He felt something vaguely familiar closing in on them.
"You should probably move out of the way, Mahito," Kenjaku said, leaping far back.
Mahito barely moved a second before Sukuna slammed through the street above, crushing the ground beneath him and leaving a crater where Mahito once was. The cursed spirit in question was blown back from the wind alone as Sukuna stood straight, malicious intent rolling off him in waves.
"To what do I owe this visit, Sukuna?"
"Shut up, Kenjaku. That rat of yours is getting a punishment for something he did. I don't have time to waste, so I'll teach him a lesson," Sukuna said. Kenjaku, for once, didn't respond.
Knowing who Sukuna was, he felt it would be wise not to piss him off any further.
"Would you mind telling me what he did exactly?" Kenjaku asked as Mahito stood up, confused.
"In the future, this puppet dared to touch my soul. So, I'll take initiative and beat him within an inch of his life a bit early. Is that a problem?" Sukuna turned to look at Kenjaku with dead eyes.
"I do need him alive. You don't plan to kill him... right?"
"I guess I can leave him alive, but until I'm done with him, you have no guarantee," Sukuna said, already getting irritated. If not for that binding vow between Kenjaku and the original Sukuna, he would have just killed the two of them now and gone to seek stronger opponents.
"Hahaha! You're the King of Curses! The one we're trying to resurrect, right?" Mahito laughed. "You have less cursed energy than me right now. How do you plan on facing me in your current state?"
Kenjaku backed away a bit further from the two of them. He had seen the battle between Gojo and Sukuna back at the detention center, and he knew Mahito was only making things worse with that mouth of his.
"I'm done talking to the likes of you..." Sukuna said.
The voice didn't come from in front of Mahito. It took him time to realize it, but that voice had been whispered into his ear from behind. He hadn't even registered Sukuna's movement, and yet—
"Wait—"
Mahito tried speaking when a massively powerful grip grabbed the back of his head, cracking his skull like glass. His vision blurred as he was thrown through everything, soaring into the sky outside. His body spun out of control until he saw a blur moving overhead, punting him across the skyline with a bang that shattered windows three blocks over.
Sukuna was holding back his strength so as not to kill Mahito, refraining from using any cursed energy so he wouldn't exorcise him by accident. Yet, the gap was still insurmountable.
"Augh..." Mahito vomited blood, panting as he reshaped his soul to heal. In that attack, all his organs were damn near liquefied; even though he maintained his soul's shape, it still hurt like hell.
Trying to stand and run away, Mahito felt a firm hand on his shoulder. He turned, only to be met with dozens of palm strikes to the torso. He was hit so hard the skin on his back burst off as he vomited blood again.
"Stop it!" Mahito shouted. He managed to grab one transfigured human he had on him, forming spikes to try and impale Sukuna.
"Tch. Fool..." Sukuna said, tossing Mahito up before kicking him away once more.
Mahito ragdolled through the sky. As he began to reach the end of his flight, Sukuna was already waiting for him. He stood with his hands in his pockets before leaping upward and spiking Mahito ten meters deep into the ground. The shockwave set off car alarms and rattled buildings all around them.
"I suppose this is enough for now..." Sukuna grabbed Mahito by his hair and started dragging him back toward Kenjaku.
"Remember, puppet: should you ever even dream of touching my soul once again, I'll kill you and those cursed friends of yours. Jogo and Hanami, was it? There was that Dagon, too. Haha."
As Sukuna spoke, Mahito realized the monster knew more than he should have. He knew about a future event involving his soul; he knew about Dagon, Hanami, and Jogo. He seemed to know where they were at all times.
'Is this truly just an incomplete Sukuna?'
Mahito didn't know what he was feeling right now. Their mission was reviving the King of Curses, yet it seemed what Kenjaku had told them about the man was watered down by a lot. It only took a few minutes to get back, with Sukuna dragging him a bit before leaping back to Kenjaku.
"Here. Take your puppet. I got bored after he couldn't even react to me. Beating on a weakling is boring."
Sukuna tossed Mahito to Kenjaku's feet. He turned away and leapt into the distance before returning control to Yuji. He now had three of the twenty fingers in this world, and now that he'd had a bit of fun messing with that special grade puppet, he could focus on his own plan.
"By the time of the Goodwill Event, everything will change..." Sukuna muttered, and he couldn't help but laugh.