On the outskirts of the Curtain, at the temporary command center overseen by Masamichi, the atmosphere was extremely heavy.
Utaha and Eriri were assigned to a very peripheral area. As two first-year freshmen lacking combat experience, they were strictly forbidden by Masamichi from entering the danger zone.
Eriri gripped the hem of her clothes tightly, her blonde twin-tails seemingly losing their usual luster. She looked through the window of the command vehicle at the center of Shibuya, shrouded in darkness, her voice trembling with irrepressible fear.
"Kasumigaoka... inside... what's happening inside? Fushiguro and the others... Gojo-sensei..."
Utaha didn't answer immediately. Deep within her eyes, a light far more complex than Eriri's flickered.
She reached out and gently patted the back of Eriri's cold hand, whispering, "Calm down, Sawamura. Panicking now won't solve anything."
At that moment, the air in the command post suddenly turned cold. It wasn't a change on a thermometer, but a chill originating from the soul, as if it could freeze one's blood.
A figure, like a ghost, ignored all cordons and patrolling Jujutsu Sorcerers, appearing silently in a shadowed corner of the command post.
Clad in white like snow, with hair like frost, their ice-blue eyes were indifferent, devoid of any human emotion.
It was Sukuna's loyal subordinate—Uraume.
Their appearance triggered no alarms, as if they had been part of the shadows all along.
Uraume's gaze bypassed everyone and landed precisely on Utaha. They stepped forward, stopping about three paces in front of Utaha.
Then, under Eriri's terrified gaze and Utaha's suddenly constricted pupils, they knelt on one knee and bowed their head deeply.
This was an incredibly respectful, even pious, act of submission.
"Sukuna-sama." Uraume's voice was as cold as clashing ice, clearly reaching Utaha's ears. "Your servant has come as promised."
They held up an ancient box that looked exceptionally heavy, made of a material neither wood nor metal, its surface covered in crawling, shimmering seal talismans.
The moment the box opened, a majestic, tyrannical, and suffocating Cursed Energy poured out like a flood, instantly making the hair of everyone in the command post with Cursed Energy perception stand on end, almost instinctively forcing them into defensive stances.
Inside the box, on a crimson velvet cushion, fourteen withered, twisted, dark-skinned fingers that emitted an ominous, heartbeat-like rhythmic glow were neatly arranged. They resonated with each other, the Cursed Energy fluctuations causing the air to hum faintly.
These were fragments of the King of Curses' power—Sukuna's fingers.
And there were as many as fourteen at once.
Uraume's voice remained steady, as if the items in their hands weren't cursed objects capable of causing disaster, but ordinary offerings. "According to your will and Kenjaku's assistance, I have brought all fourteen of your fingers that could be collected so far."
Almost at the same time the box opened, Utaha felt a sudden heat on her left cheek. Her skin split open on its own, and Sukuna's mouth, filled with sharp teeth, emerged uncontrollably.
A consciousness far clearer, greedier, and more oppressive than usual descended through this crack.
"Hmm... finally, most of them are gathered." Sukuna's voice came through Utaha's mouth, carrying a sigh of satisfaction and undisguised longing.
"Well done, Uraume. Even after a thousand years, your efficiency still satisfies me."
Sukuna's "gaze" seemed to sweep over the fourteen fingers and then turn toward the space behind Uraume.
There stood a man-sized object, tightly covered by a heavy black cloth.
Uraume understood, stood up, and pulled back the black cloth.
The object within was a simple, ancient mummified body that seemed to have endured countless ages of wind and frost.
This mummified body was in a cross-legged sitting position. Though the skin was shriveled and dark brown like dried meat, its abnormal skeletal structure was still clearly discernible: broad shoulder blades indicated connection points for four arms, and the proportions and contours of the skull also hinted at features of more than a single face.
It stood there quietly, exuding an aura of both deathly silence and ancientness, forming a bizarre contrast with the active cursed fingers in the nearby box.
"This is..."
Sukuna's voice carried a slight fluctuation, no longer pure mockery or arrogance, but a certain sense of recognition and belonging.
Uraume bowed and reported respectfully, "I found the remains of your physical body left behind when you fell a thousand years ago in Hida Province."
"Tengen seemed to have used it as a core, supplemented by secret techniques, to create this mummified body."
Hida Province—this was exactly where ancient texts recorded the origin of Sukuna's legends. It was perfectly logical for Uraume to find Sukuna's remains there.
Sukuna was silent for a moment, then let out a low, pleasant laugh through Utaha's mouth. "Heh... Hahahaha! Good. Uraume, you truly never disappoint me. With this old shell and these fingers... the time has finally come."
The next moment, Utaha felt an indescribably massive consciousness, like a bursting flood, being forcibly pulled from every corner of her body. That feeling of her soul being torn apart, followed by a sudden lightness and emptiness, made her legs go weak. Had Eriri not caught her in time, she would have collapsed.
She panted heavily, and the mouth on her cheek quickly closed and vanished as if it had never existed.
And that extracted consciousness and majestic Cursed Energy belonging to Sukuna transformed into a solid stream of dark red light in the air, and slammed into that shriveled mummified body.
The dark red Cursed Energy flow, like living blood vessels, instantly enveloped the mummified body.
At first, there was a deathly silence, like a stone sinking into the ocean.
But then—
Crack... Crack...
A grating sound of bones breaking and rearranging came from inside the mummy. The hard, dark brown outer shell on its surface began to develop countless cobweb-like cracks, through which a newborn, dark red, flesh shone.
The original cross-legged posture was forcibly changed. The mummy's torso expanded as if inflated, its stature growing taller, becoming more hulking and non-human.
At those broad shoulder blades, the skin and muscle were violently torn apart. Accompanied by an unpleasant, viscous tearing sound, four brand-new, muscular arms covered in newborn skin and black cursed markings burst out.
The four arms waved and grasped in the air unconsciously, creating sharp whistles as they tore through the air.
At the same time, the torso's abdomen writhed violently, the skin being pushed and torn from the inside out, forming a huge mouth filled with interlocking sharp teeth that almost spanned the entire abdomen. This mouth opened and closed greedily, letting out a silent roar and breathing out black Cursed Energy.
The most terrifying change occurred on the face.
On that shriveled head, the originally blurred facial features were completely reshaped.
Two crimson eyes, burning with endless tyranny and hunger, snapped open in their normal positions like hellish searchlights.
But this was not the end. About an inch below these eyes, the skin split again, and another pair of equally crimson, yet seemingly colder and more cruel vertical pupils slowly emerged.
Two pairs of eyes, four crimson pupils, turned slightly at different angles, scanning this strange world, finally focusing on Uraume, who was kneeling, and the barely standing Utaha and Eriri.
Finally, at the highest point of his head, a wheel turned slowly.