Night fell, shrouding the entirety of Japan.
An unseen hunt was unfolding.
Ryomen Sukuna's figure moved like a teleporting phantom. Moving at a speed incomprehensible to mortals, he crossed nearly half of Japan in just a few short hours.
He first appeared at an abandoned mine.
A cursed spirit that had entrenched itself there, taking pleasure in devouring explorers, couldn't even catch a glimpse of Sukuna before a single slash cleaved it—and the entire mountain peak—in half.
From its remains, Sukuna retrieved his third finger and swallowed it.
Next, his figure materialized at a seaside lighthouse.
Another cursed spirit lurked there, born from the resentment of sailors it had lured into crashing upon the reefs.
Sukuna merely snapped his fingers.
The cursed spirit, along with the lighthouse, was instantly reduced to dust by an invisible barrage of cursed energy slashes.
The fourth finger was secured.
The last one was located deep within the sewers of a bustling city.
Sukuna couldn't even be bothered to show himself; he simply channeled his cursed energy into the ground.
The cursed spirit dwelling in the filth was instantly crushed by the tyrannical power.
The fifth finger was successfully recovered.
As the power of the five fingers merged within his body, Sukuna could feel his strength from a thousand years ago returning.
But it was not enough.
His next target was the Cursed Warehouse hidden deep within Jujutsu High.
He no longer bothered to hide his presence.
Like a black meteor trailing a terrifying wake of cursed energy, he plummeted straight toward the headquarters of the jujutsu higher-ups.
All the defensive barriers and alarm systems along the way were as fragile as paper before him, easily torn to shreds.
The stationed jujutsu sorcerers didn't even have the chance to activate their cursed techniques before they were knocked unconscious by his overwhelming aura.
Boom!!!
The doors of the Cursed Warehouse, claimed to be absolutely indestructible by external forces, were cleaved open by Sukuna with a single slash.
Faced with the heavy runes and seals guarding his stored fingers inside.
Sukuna simply used the purest, most barbaric force to obliterate them all.
He successfully recovered the three fingers kept within Jujutsu High.
The power of eight fingers was officially gathered!
At that moment, the cursed energy radiating from Sukuna climbed to a despair-inducing peak.
The entire structure of Jujutsu High trembled violently before the power he unconsciously emitted, as if it would collapse at any second.
Just as Sukuna closed his eyes, savoring the long-lost thrill of his returning power.
A figure teleported right in front of him without any warning.
"My, my, you've certainly caused quite a ruckus," Satoru Gojo said as he blocked his path, the expression on his face more serious than ever before.
The air froze.
Sukuna and Satoru Gojo—the King of Curses from a thousand years ago and the strongest jujutsu sorcerer of the modern era—officially faced off.
A massive battle was on the verge of breaking out.
But right at that moment.
An untimely voice, filled with anger and stupidity, suddenly rang out.
"Satoru Gojo!!"
A high-ranking elder of the jujutsu world, accompanied by several subordinates, recklessly charged out from the rubble.
He pointed directly at Gojo's nose, harshly reprimanding him.
"This disaster is entirely your fault for your lack of oversight! You—"
Sukuna found him far too noisy.
He didn't even spare the elder a glance, merely waving his hand casually.
A pitch-black slash silently swept past.
The elder, along with the men behind him, were abruptly silenced.
Their bodies were cleanly sliced into several pieces, exploding into a mist of blood.
Gojo watched this unfold with cold eyes, showing absolutely no intention of intervening.
Just as Sukuna prepared to officially clash with Gojo and enjoy a slaughter.
An aura.
An aura so familiar that it made his very soul sting, leisurely appeared.
Ian's figure slowly strolled into the center of the battlefield, looking as if he were just taking an after-dinner walk.
He looked at the two confronting each other with great interest, a playful smile resting on his face.
Sukuna stared dead at Ian.
In his mind, Sukuna established a Binding Vow.
A Binding Vow: 'For one year, my soul shall absolutely not leave Yuji Itadori's body!' in exchange for the absolute guarantee that his soul would remain anchored to the flesh.
He even paid an additional price to exchange for an ultimate physical power boost for his next strike.
He was absolutely certain.
Ian had to be some kind of special jujutsu sorcerer who specifically targeted the soul. As long as his soul didn't leave the body, Ian would be completely helpless against him!
Armed with this supposedly foolproof preparation, Sukuna's courage instantly swelled.
He began to mock Ian wildly.
"You managed to land a sneak attack on me last time, you piece of trash, but do you really think it'll be the same this time?"
"Today, I will use pure power to crush you and your pathetic cursed technique together!"
As his words fell.
He condensed the power of eight fingers into a terrifying slash capable of splitting mountains and cleaving the earth, launching it at Ian with world-destroying momentum.
However.
Ian merely raised his hand casually and gave it a gentle flick.
As if brushing dust off his shoulder.
That terrifying slash instantly deviated from its trajectory, flying diagonally off into the distance.
With a loud boom, it "conveniently" wiped out the few surviving jujutsu higher-ups who had collapsed to the ground in terror, leaving nothing behind.
"Smack!"
Another crisp, resounding slap echoed out.
Under the incredulous gazes of Sukuna, Gojo, and everyone watching through jujutsu surveillance.
Ian's palm, once again, landed squarely on Sukuna's face.
Sukuna's mind went completely blank.
He had thought his impenetrable soul [Binding Vow] would protect him.
Yet.
His incomparably powerful soul, which had just gathered the strength of eight fingers.
Was once again, by this effortless slap, unreasonably and forcefully smacked right out of Yuji Itadori's body!
Sukuna's soul drifted in mid-air, filled with confusion, incomprehension, and utter breakdown.
'Why... my Binding Vow... why didn't it work...'
Ian's voice, so flat it bordered on ruthless, clearly reached the ears of everyone present.
"Binding Vow?"
"What's that?"
"I didn't feel a thing."
And right at the moment Sukuna's soul was sent flying for the second time.
A mechanical and cold voice that Ian had been anticipating for a long time rang out in his mind.
[Ding! Detected that the host has gathered enough Interdimensional Energy. World Mod officially unlocked!]
[Congratulations on unlocking the [Jujutsu Kaisen] Mod.]