Chapter 237: Are You Asking if My Blade is Sharp Enough?
As for the question of who the newcomer was, there wasn't much room for doubt.
In Shibuya... no, in the entire jujutsu world, there were only two individuals aside from Emiya standing nearby who could provoke such a physical stress response from Jogo: Gojo Satoru and Ryomen Sukuna.
The former was likely still exerting effort to save people within the unknown expanse of the [Magano], while the latter was the absolute wildcard Kenjaku had painstakingly schemed for so long to finally liberate from Yuji Itadori's body.
Kenjaku was a man who wouldn't hesitate to skin and de-bone the cursed spirits he had collaborated with for so long just to bolster his own strength; how could he possibly have no hidden agenda for Ryomen Sukuna, whom he had spent so much energy to resurrect?
Before Emiya's sudden rise to power, Kenjaku's original vision was simply to use Sukuna as an agent of absolute instability to disrupt the entire jujutsu world. Sukuna was meant to serve as a counterweight to the overwhelming pressure of Gojo Satoru, thereby granting Kenjaku more room to maneuver.
Ryomen Sukuna, hailing from that chaotic era a thousand years ago, would absolutely never reach a reconciliation with anyone in the modern age.
Just as a beast that can be kept in a cage for people to admire is always a domesticated species tamed since birth, a wild predator captured from the outside will never be content to be confined within a small cage.
From the perspective of modern humans, such an unruly animal is considered "rebellious" and "disobedient"... but in reality, on what basis do they consider themselves the masters of the world?
The wild has its own laws.
Even without humans, these predators would have lived perfectly well in the wild, free from such constraints and loss of liberty. In the end, it is simply the law of the jungle.
In Kenjaku's view, modern sorcerers are like those beasts domesticated since birth; they lack any "blood" or fighting spirit and have turned their backs on the world where the strong reign supreme. Such a world is utterly boring—a stagnant pond without a single ripple. The world of jujutsu would eventually trend toward destruction in such an environment, and all of humanity followed a similar pattern.
Kenjaku originally only wanted to return the world to its primitive state of chaos filled with infinite possibilities, but after seeing the alternative possibility brought by Emiya, his horizons were instantly expanded to a new level.
However, to achieve that goal, the first step was naturally to erase as much as possible any obstructing forces detrimental to his plan...
"This cursed energy... could it be... Ryomen Sukuna?!"
As a powerful Special Grade cursed spirit, Jogo sensed that abnormal cursed energy earlier than anyone else on the field, which was why it had suddenly halted its movements. Strictly speaking, Jogo had never seen Sukuna's true form, nor did it know the actual extent of his power. It had only briefly seen Yuji Itadori, the "vessel," for the first time not long ago.
Before this moment, it had harbored doubts regarding the title and strength of the "King of Curses." Had it not been for Kenjaku's constant lobbying, it would never have believed that Sukuna possessed the strength to simultaneously confront both Emiya and Gojo Satoru.
It had never faced Gojo Satoru—the "Modern Strongest"—head-on, but it knew that since it was no match even for the previously unknown Emiya, there was no point in even thinking about the legendary Gojo.
Until now. Sensing the overflowing cursed energy, Jogo immediately gained a crystal-clear understanding of the power gap between itself and Sukuna. If the opponent were this guy, it would lose—and it would be an absolute, utter defeat.
The title "King of Curses" was likely as real as it gets.
So, the fact that Ryomen Sukuna appeared at this remarkably coincidental timing... could it be he's really here to back up Kenjaku?!
Unknowingly, Jogo's focus in the battle had shifted from how to kill the High School sorcerers to how to kill Kenjaku—and ensuring his death was as painful as possible.
It turns out that, sometimes, hatred truly can change a cursed spirit.
"Hm, a cursed spirit? You actually recognize me?
Well, it makes sense. After all, those coveting my cursed energy and fingers are everywhere; one more cursed spirit isn't strange. But unfortunately, I don't have time to play games with you right now."
What does true arrogance look like? It probably doesn't get much more extreme than the current Ryomen Sukuna.
After Jogo spoke, Sukuna—who was standing at the top of the deep crater and looking down with his chin up—only barely slanted his eyes toward it, as if he hadn't noticed the spirit at all until then.
Even though from the standpoint of modern jujutsu, Jogo could undeniably be called the strongest cursed spirit, Sukuna still didn't spare it a glance. One wonders if spirits of this level were common a thousand years ago, or if Sukuna simply looked down on enemies of this caliber and thus treated them with such contempt.
After bestowing those words upon Jogo like a gift, Sukuna immediately focused all his attention on Emiya.
He certainly hadn't forgotten that he was supposed to have regained his freedom over a month ago, only to be stopped by Emiya. Not only that, the way Emiya had stopped him was quite cruel... If he had simply lost in a fair fight, he would have accepted it as a lack of skill. But Emiya had actually thrown an old man into Itadori's mental realm, who then proceeded to hack him apart without a word.
That scene was so pathetic that Sukuna had even offered favorable terms to Itadori just to make the boy agree to suppress all memories associated with that period.
This humiliation... this humiliation was something he could never, ever forget!
His failure then was only because he had just regained his vessel and couldn't even exert a tenth of his peak power. After retrieving over a dozen fingers from Choso, his strength had mostly returned. Surprisingly, Itadori's body could actually withstand this power; for an ordinary human body, it was unexpectedly useful.
Next, what he had to do was not just kill Emiya—this guy who dared to insult him so many times—but also attempt to interrogate him to find out where that man named Senji Muramasa was, and reclaim all his lost glory.
So what if that bladesmith showed a realm of skill far beyond his own? Everything Sukuna possessed was grown from countless slaughters.
It was inappropriate to describe the past him as a "genius," because so-called geniuses had been stepped on and killed by him one by one. What he had to do was not just reclaim his peak power, but continue to grow on that foundation until he could thoroughly defeat and kill those who dared to threaten him.
Sukuna had only one reason for wanting to become stronger: he would never allow anyone to look down on him from a position of superiority.
One person standing at the top, looking down and scorning others, was more than enough.
That was why, in the final decades of his life a thousand years ago, Sukuna was revered as a deity by ignorant and weak commoners. Because at that time, he had no rivals left in that era, and thus lost his reason to fight. As for a reason for him to kill? It was only reserved for those who dared to be more arrogant than him.
To the ignorant and cowardly non-sorcerers at the bottom, Ryomen Sukuna might have actually been a "friendly and merciful deity."
"I've come back for you with a much stronger form, Emiya Shirou.
I just don't know if your growth during this time is enough to be worth looking at, or if you're qualified to entertain me now."
As he spoke, Sukuna grabbed the edges of his top and easily ripped the troublesome garment to shreds, revealing a physique of solid muscle and black markings.
It seemed he wasn't just ignoring Jogo's existence; even Kenjaku, who was also on the field, and everyone else present were being completely ignored. In Sukuna's current eyes, out of everyone nearby, Emiya was the only one qualified to have a proper one-on-one battle with him.
But that alone wasn't enough, far from enough... He knew clearly that with the combat power Emiya had shown at the detention center, Emiya wouldn't be qualified to be an enemy of his current self, who had recovered most of his power.
Having observed the outside world through Yuji Itadori's body, he knew Emiya had been growing every moment over the past month. But could a mere month truly compare to the better part of his entire life?
Sukuna was actually pessimistic about this, so at this moment, he even hoped that Emiya had become stronger than he imagined. This boring modern society really didn't have much to pique his interest; only a battle like this could get him slightly excited.
Once he dealt with Emiya, he would try to learn some modern knowledge that he couldn't learn from Yuji Itadori, to see if he could find a breakthrough using that specialized knowledge.
"Ryomen Sukuna... he really came out again. Which means Itadori..."
Emiya stared in Sukuna's direction and pondered for a moment, then responded without hesitation:
"Whether my blade is sharp enough... wouldn't it be better to just try it out with your own body?"
Read ahead and finish this fanfiction by supporting me on buymeacoffee com/varietl or ko-fi edwriting