The first ray of morning sunlight pierced through the thick, leaden clouds, spilling onto the devastated streets of Shibuya.
There was no hustle and bustle of the morning rush hour, nor were there any throngs of commuters.
The entire city seemed to have had its soul drained away in the catastrophe of the previous night.
In its place stood massive, translucent black barriers looming over every district in Tokyo. These barriers pierced the clouds, forcibly carving the city into isolated death arenas.
The barriers of the Culling Game.
Chiyoda Ward, on the rooftop terrace of a luxury villa.
Yamada leaned back on a leather lounge chair, holding a cup of freshly ground black coffee.
"Boss, this really made quite a scene."
Toji pushed open the glass door to the terrace, walked over carrying two cans of beer, and tossed a neatly organized briefing document onto the glass round table.
"News just came in from Kong Shiu. The fluctuations released by Kenjaku before he died last night dropped ten barriers across Japan. Every ordinary person inside the barriers has one chance to leave. However, those he marked in advance, fed with special grade cursed objects, or had their Cursed Techniques forcibly awakened are all forcibly classified as 'players' and must kill each other within the barriers."
Toji pulled the tab on a can and took a large gulp of ice-cold beer.
"Five points for killing a Jujutsu Sorcerer, one point for killing an ordinary person. Accumulate one hundred points to add a game rule. If there is no change in points within nineteen days, they will be stripped of their Cursed Technique and die."
Toji rubbed the scar on the corner of his mouth and sneered, "What a simple and brutal insect-breeding game. Although Kenjaku was burned to nothing by you, the mess he left behind is enough to keep those old men in the Jujutsu World busy for a while."
"Insect-breeding is exactly what I want."
Yamada set down his coffee cup, his gaze falling on the square, flesh-colored box covered in eerie runes on the table.
The special grade cursed object, Prison Realm.
The strongest Jujutsu Sorcerer of the modern era, Gojo Satoru, was currently imprisoned inside this small box.
Shinobu, wearing a white lab coat, walked up from the laboratory downstairs. She held a tablet-like detection instrument, scanned the Prison Realm twice, and frowned slightly.
"The structure of this thing is very peculiar. The Cursed Energy circuits on the surface form an absolute closed loop. If you force it open from the outside, it is highly likely to trigger a collapse of the internal space. The person sealed inside would be shredded by the spatial turbulence as well."
Shinobu put away the instrument and looked at Yamada. "How long do you intend to keep him locked up? Although that guy has a sharp tongue, with him around, suppressing the ancient Curse Users who have awakened due to the Culling Game would be much faster."
"No rush."
Yamada tapped his fingertips on the cold surface of the Prison Realm, emitting a dull sound.
"Although Satoru's Limitless is useful, he has had it too easy these past few years—so easy that he even hesitated on the battlefield out of concern for civilians. Let him reflect in this black box for a few days and get rid of that indecisiveness."
Yamada stood up and walked to the edge of the terrace.
"Besides, if Satoru is released, who would dare to show their face among the ancient monsters awakened by Kenjaku and the Special Grade Cursed Spirits lurking in the dark?"
A hint of undisguised madness curled the corners of Yamada's lips.
"What I want is for those arrogant ancient Jujutsu Sorcerers to kill each other until they are red-eyed in the barriers. I want Sukuna's remaining fingers to be actively gathered together by those prey. When the insects in these ten barriers are raised to their fattest, most bloated state..."
"I will then step in and crush all ten jars."
This was the true purpose of Yamada letting the Culling Game proceed without early interference.
It was too time-consuming to hunt down hundreds of ancient Jujutsu Sorcerers scattered across the country, it was better to let them devour each other in the barriers and accumulate points.
Once they killed their way to the strongest "Insect King," he would wait in comfort and harvest a massive amount of Dimension Points in one go.
...
At the same time.
Tokyo Metropolitan Curse Technical College, underground morgue and temporary infirmary.
The room was filled with the pungent smell of disinfectant.
Shoko's eyes were bloodshot with fatigue. Despite Yamada's Yang Release providing a safety net during last night's battle in Shibuya, saving the lives of core combatants like Nanami Kento and Naobito, a large number of peripheral Assistant Supervisors and lower-level Jujutsu Sorcerers still perished in the chaos.
In front of the morgue beds, Yuji, Megumi, and Nobara hung their heads, the atmosphere suffocating to the extreme.
"With Gojo-sensei sealed, the Jujutsu Headquarters will definitely take the opportunity to attack."
Megumi gritted his teeth, his fingernails digging deep into his palms.
He remembered the unquestionable back of Yamada as he took the Prison Realm at Shibuya Station last night. It was an absolute disparity that left no room for even the thought of resistance.
"Regardless, our primary task now is the Culling Game."
Megumi looked up, his eyes filled with a desperate resolve. "Tsumiki... she suddenly fell into a coma last night. She was also dragged into this Culling Game and became a so-called 'player.' I must enter the barrier, accumulate one hundred points, and add a rule allowing ordinary people to leave the barrier."
Tsumiki was Megumi's sister and the most important person in his life. To save her, even if there was a mountain of blades and a sea of flames ahead, he had to charge in.
Yuji stood up abruptly and patted Megumi's shoulder. "Count me in, Fushiguro. I've eaten fifteen fingers. Although Sukuna's power is terrifying, I can suppress him now. Let's go together to save Tsumiki-san, and then go to Chiyoda Ward to beg Yamada-san to release Gojo-sensei."
Nobara gripped her hammer tightly. "Stop nagging, how could I be missing from something like this?"
Just as the three of them made up their minds.
Click.
The heavy iron door of the infirmary was pushed open from the outside.
A massive, heavy, and even blood-scented Cursed Energy poured into the room without warning.
Yuji and Megumi immediately stood back-to-back in a fighting stance, as if facing a formidable enemy.
From the shadows outside the door, a young man carrying a long sword walked out. He was wearing a loose white uniform, and his medium-length black hair was draped casually over his shoulders.
There were deep dark circles under his eyes, and he exuded a sickly exhaustion, but those pitch-black eyes were as terrifying as an abyss.
Special Grade Jujutsu Sorcerer, Okkotsu Yuta.
After realizing that the Shibuya Incident had broken out in Japan, this pure love fighter, who was overseas on a mission, rushed back to Tokyo overnight.