Fushiguro leaned against the cold, damp wall, his lungs burning with pain, every breath carrying the scent of blood.
The sight of the Divine Dogs being crushed in an instant flashed repeatedly in his mind. That kind of death, with no room for resistance, pierced his pride and confidence as a Jujutsu Sorcerer like an icicle.
The blood gushing from Yuji's severed arm cast a red mist of despair before his eyes.
Special Grade...
Is this what a true Special Grade is?
This isn't a routine mission at all, it's murder.
Fushiguro gritted his teeth, his nails digging deep into his palms, trying to use the pain to dispel the sense of helplessness that was nearly consuming him.
He had to do something, summon a stronger Shikigami, even if it meant dying together.
Just as Fushiguro suppressed the trembling of his soul, prepared to form hand signs, and attempted to communicate with a deeper, more dangerous Shikigami—
An anomaly erupted without warning from Yuji's dying body.
It wasn't a rampage of Cursed Energy, nor a deathbed counterattack, but something more fundamental, more hair-raising, awakening.
"Ugh... Hah..."
Yuji's pupils, which had been dilated due to intense pain and blood loss, suddenly constricted and then abruptly dilated again. The pupils were instantly covered with fine blood vessels, then stained with a deeper, purer blood-red.
At the horrific stump of his right arm, the gushing blood didn't stop, but seemed to flow back in as if by some invisible force.
New granulation tissue grew frantically at an irrational speed, and bones extended and joined like living things, making a bone-chilling creaking sound.
A brand new right arm, with a slightly pale complexion but exceptionally perfect muscle lines, seemingly containing explosive power, formed within a few seconds.
But this regeneration process brought not life, but a chilling dread that made Fushiguro's soul scream.
A viscous, cold aura, filled with the most primitive violence and supreme indifference, spread out with Yuji's body as the center, like a ferocious beast that had slept for a thousand years opening its eyes.
The air instantly became as heavy as lead, and even the dust froze mid-air. The cursed aura permeating the Juvenile Detention Center shrank back and dispersed insignificantly before this power, like a firefly before a bright moon.
Fushiguro felt as if he had been thrown into a bottomless ice cave and as if an invisible giant hand had seized his throat, even his thoughts were nearly frozen.
He watched Yuji... no, he watched that "thing" use its new arm to prop up its body and stand straight, slowly and with a rhythm entirely different from Yuji's.
Then, "Yuji" turned his head and looked at Fushiguro.
The original amber pupils had vanished, replaced by four... no, to be precise, Yuji's original eyes remained, but two more horizontal pupils, filled with mockery and cruelty, had opened on both sides of his cheeks.
Four eyes focused on Fushiguro simultaneously in a way that defied human facial structure.
Just being watched by these four gazes, Fushiguro felt his Cursed Energy flow become sluggish, his Shikigami contracts wailed deep in his soul, and even breathing became a luxury.
This was not Itadori Yuji.
This was... the King of Curses, Ryomen Sukuna.
"Tch..."
"Yuji," or rather, Sukuna, flexed the five fingers of his new right arm, his knuckles letting out a series of crisp cracks.
He looked down at this body, all four eyes showing unmasked scrutiny. "That fellow Kenjaku... the vessel he prepared isn't bad."
His voice came through Yuji's throat, forming an eerie multiple resonance. Every syllable seemed to carry a thousand pounds of weight, pounding against Fushiguro's heart.
Sukuna seemed somewhat dissatisfied with his current state, but he didn't comment further.
He raised those four eyes and cast a nonchalant glance at the Curse, which was facing a formidable foe and letting out threatening growls but not daring to step forward.
"Half-baked thing..."
The corners of Sukuna's lips curled into a spine-chilling arc at the same time.
"Relying on a few scraps leaked from my fingernails, you dare to put on airs here?"
He didn't even strike a proper combat stance. He just casually raised his new right arm toward the Curse, fingers slightly spread in a phantom gripping gesture.
No incantations, no complex hand signs, not even a precursor of intense Cursed Energy eruption.
Although this Curse was only a mutated Cursed Spirit spawned by Sukuna's finger and had limited intelligence, its biological survival instinct sounded a frantic alarm.
For the first time, its four bulging eyes stopped their chaotic spinning and collectively showed extreme terror.
It wanted to flee, to counterattack, to scream, but its body was stiff under that silent, absolute pressure.
It could only futilely stir up all its Cursed Energy, its dark purple embryonic skin writhing violently as it tried to release its strongest attack.
However, under Sukuna's casual grip—
Pfft.
The Curse's head, covered in eerie black-and-white patterns, with its giant mouth agape and four eyes, silently separated from its muscular neck.
The cut was as smooth as a mirror. There was no blood spray, because all vitality, Cursed Energy, and existence itself were being thoroughly severed and erased the moment they were gripped.
The head rolled onto the ground, its four eyes still holding a residue of unbelievable terror, its mouth slightly open, yet unable to make any sound.
Immediately after, the headless, massive body collapsed like a sandcastle that had its support removed. Before it even hit the ground, it had turned into the finest dust, leaving not a single trace behind.
From the moment Sukuna took control of the body to the Curse's total annihilation, the entire process took less than three seconds.
There was no intense confrontation, no dazzling light and shadow, only the casual extermination of an ant by absolute power.
Fushiguro froze in place, his mind a complete blank.
What the Curse had given them before was a despairing gap in strength.
But what Sukuna displayed now was an absolute dominance from another dimension that left one unable to even feel despair.
Sukuna withdrew his hand, and the air became exceptionally calm, as if nothing had ever existed.
He acted as if he had done something trivial, not even bothering to look at the spot where the Curse had disappeared again.
***
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