"Wake up, Ryomen Sukuna. Burn all those arrogant Sorcerers to ash."
Jogo pinched Yuji's cheeks and forcibly stuffed all ten fingers into the boy's throat, forcing him to swallow them.
"Gulp."
The sound of swallowing was exceptionally clear in the dim passage.
One second. Two seconds.
Yuji's body suddenly convulsed violently. It was as if countless venomous snakes were slithering beneath his skin, and his bones made a terrifying grinding sound.
A Cursed Energy so massive it couldn't be measured by common sense erupted with him at the center. This Cursed Energy was too pure, too evil. It was no longer a simple collection of human negative emotions, but an absolute silence precipitated after slaughtering countless lives.
The temperature in the passage plummeted. The flickering lights overhead shattered one after another under this pressure with a series of bangs.
In the darkness, Yuji slowly sat up. The skin on his face split open, giving birth to a second pair of eyes. Pitch-black patterns quickly covered his cheeks, neck, and arms.
He looked down, glancing at his perfectly intact left hand.
"Oh? That brat's severed hand was actually healed. What an interesting method."
Sukuna cracked his neck, letting out a low, raspy laugh that dripped with arrogance.
He slowly stood up.
Jogo knelt on one knee, his body uncontrollably trembling. Facing this King of Curses from a thousand years ago, even as a Special Grade Cursed Spirit, he felt a shudder originating from the depths of his soul.
"Are you the one who fed me the fingers?"
Sukuna looked down at Jogo from on high. There wasn't a trace of gratitude in those two pairs of eyes, only the indifference one has when looking at an ant.
"Yes." Jogo lowered his head.
Just then, Nanako and Mimiko, who had been blown away earlier, came walking over while supporting each other. Looking at Sukuna, who was emitting a terrifying pressure, they suppressed the fear in their hearts and knelt on the ground.
"Sukuna-sama, we also fed you a finger!"
Nanako looked up and shouted urgently, "Please have mercy and help us kill that fake occupying Geto-sama's body! If you agree, we are willing to tell you the location of the remaining fingers!"
The air froze.
Sukuna turned his head, looking down at these two trembling girls.
The curve of his lips stretched wider, revealing white fangs.
"You... are negotiating terms with me?"
Before the words even finished—
Swish!
Mimiko didn't even have time to let out a scream before her head, along with half her torso above the shoulder, suddenly shifted and slid off smoothly. Blood erupted like a fountain, splashing all over Nanako's face.
"Mi... Mimiko?"
Nanako stared blankly at her sister who had been turned into two pieces, her brain completely shutting down.
"Using a single finger to try and order me to kill?" Sukuna's cold voice echoed in the hall.
"Bugs who don't know their place. Die."
An invisible net of slashes instantly fell. Nanako couldn't even say a word of plea before her entire body was cut into hundreds of pieces of meat by a dense array of 'Dismantle,' scattering on the ground like a pile of mud.
The smell of blood instantly soared.
Having witnessed this scene with his own eyes, cold sweat dripped from Jogo's forehead.
This man was even more fickle and tyrannical than the rumors suggested.
After killing the twins, Sukuna turned his gaze back to Jogo, who was kneeling on the ground.
"And you. You fed me ten fingers in one go."
Sukuna crossed his arms, his tone carrying a bit of boredom. "Speak, what is your wish? Do you want me to kill someone, or destroy some place? As long as it's on the way, I can reluctantly help you once."
Jogo took a deep breath and buried his head even lower. "I have no requests. I awakened you seeking no reward. Our goal is to have you fully resurrected, so that curses can replace humans and become the true masters of this world."
Hearing this answer, Sukuna was stunned for a moment. He looked at this Cursed Spirit with a volcano on his head, the indifference in his eyes fading slightly, replaced by the interest of having discovered an amusing toy.
"No requests? Wholeheartedly dedicated to me?"
Sukuna threw his head back and burst into a fit of wild laughter.
"Hahahaha! Truly an interesting obsession. For a Cursed Spirit to possess a spirit of sacrifice even purer than a human's."
The laughter stopped, and Sukuna looked down. "For the sake of those fingers, I will give you a chance."
He raised his hand and pointed at Jogo. "If you can land a single hit on me, even if you only touch a corner of my clothes—from now on, I will be at your disposal. Whether it's killing people or dealing with that annoying white-haired guy, I'll do it for you."
"How about it?"
Jogo snapped his head up, a burning battle intent erupting in that single eye.
Although he knew there was an insurmountable chasm between them, as long as he landed one hit, he could secure the King of Curses' service for their side.
This was a deal he could not refuse.
"Are you serious?"
Jogo stood up, the volcano on his head instantly erupting with scorching black smoke.
The remaining stagnant water in the surroundings evaporated instantly under the high temperature, and the concrete of the walls was baked red.
"I never go back on my word."
Sukuna cracked his neck and strode toward the other end of the passage.
"Follow me, Volcano Head. Let me see what you've got."
...
Meanwhile.
At the entrance to the fifth underground floor, not far from this connecting passage.
Yamada was walking unhurriedly forward along the dim tunnel. The Kusanagi Sword was held casually in his hand, the scabbard dragging a shallow scratch on the ground.
His pace suddenly halted.
In the deep darkness ahead, a Cursed Energy massive enough to cause an ordinary Jujutsu Sorcerer a mental breakdown was sweeping toward him like a tsunami.
That wild, tyrannical aura that viewed all living beings as mere grass was clearly audible even through the thick load-bearing walls.
"Finally awake, are you?"
In Yamada's pitch-black pupils, a faint purple halo quietly swirled. Six black tomoe slowly took shape within the Rinnegan.
He remembered the scene back on the rooftop of Sugisawa Third High School in Sendai City, where he had stepped on this so-called King of Curses and ground him into the mud.
"After eating over a dozen fingers, your confidence has grown quite a bit."
"Just as well. That seafood just now was too weak, it didn't even count as a warm-up."
Yamada took long strides, heading toward that soaring Cursed Energy pressure with great momentum.
"Let me help you remember for free, what it feels like to have your bones crushed inch by inch under someone's foot."