"This damn mission… whoever wants it can have it!"
"I'd rather face a court-martial than stay in this hellhole another second!"
At the edge of the Tokyo No. 1 Colony.
After surviving countless brushes with death and finally making it this far, the American soldier Jack nervously waved behind him.
"Rose, hurry!"
"We're almost out of this nightmare! Move!"
Dressed in a U.S. military uniform and clutching a completely useless firearm, Rose sprinted toward the colony's boundary.
"This stupid mission was practically sending us to die!"
Over the radio, the dying screams of their comrades continued without pause.
The fact that this military couple had even made it this far was already a blessing from Lady Luck.
Only ten meters remained between them and the exit.
Just as relief appeared on their faces—
It froze.
Splurt!
A bloodied short blade suddenly pierced through Jack's throat.
"Jack?!"
Warm blood sprayed across her face.
Seeing the agonized expression twisting her boyfriend's features, Rose's pupils shook violently.
"Well, well… that look on your face says he meant a lot to you."
A man with short blond hair and a black wide-sleeved Zenin robe withdrew the blade from the soldier's throat, amusement written all over his face.
It was Naoya Zenin.
"With a pretty face like yours, what are you gonna do now that your boyfriend's dead?"
Using the bloodstained knife, Naoya lightly tapped Rose's cheek and raised an eyebrow.
"How about… you come with me instead?"
"Monster… monster…"
Feeling the thick warmth smeared across her face, Rose muttered in terror.
Her trembling legs staggered backward—
Then—
Bang! Bang! Bang!
"Die! Die! DIE!!!"
Screaming desperately, Rose emptied her gun at him.
Naoya Zenin, the biological son of former Zenin clan head Naobito Zenin, had inherited the same technique as his father:
Projection Sorcery.
Projection Sorcery divided one second into twenty-four frames. By moving according to a predetermined set of actions within those frames, the user could attain speed far beyond ordinary humans.
However, those movements could not be altered midway, nor could they excessively violate the laws of physics.
When the technique was activated, anyone touched by the user's palm would also be forced to move according to the same twenty-fourth-of-a-second rule.
If they failed to comply, they would freeze in place for one full second—
Like a flat paper doll suspended in time.
Their thoughts would continue, but their body would remain completely immobile.
Naoya effortlessly dodged the incoming bullets.
"Do your best, do your best~"
Grinning cheerfully, he approached Rose while mockingly cheering her on.
"Die! Stay away from me, you monster!"
Slash! Slash!!!
Four consecutive strikes too fast for the naked eye to follow.
Her arms and legs were severed at the tendons in an instant.
With a dull thud, Rose collapsed into a pool of blood.
"You should thank me."
"After all, I was merciful enough to leave you alive, wasn't I?"
Naoya stepped on her head, smiling brightly.
Clang!!!
A nail faster than a bullet shot toward Naoya's head from afar.
"You cut off someone's limbs and still expect gratitude…"
"Are all the men in the Zenin clan this twisted?"
The disgusted voice of Nobara Kugisaki echoed across the battlefield.
Seeing one civilian dead and the other critically wounded, rage surged through Yuji Itadori.
"You slaughter ordinary people far weaker than yourself…"
"What's the difference between you and a curse?"
To avoid encountering Mirai Zenin within the same colony, Yuji's six-man group had split into three teams.
The Angel could only carry one person with her wings to bypass the guards and leave the colony.
Thus, Megumi Fushiguro departed first for Tokyo No. 2 Colony alongside the Angel.
Hiromi Higuruma and Fumihiko Takaba, who had never met Mirai Zenin before, exited through another route.
But Yuji and Nobara had the misfortune of running into Naoya, who was guarding this exit.
"Students from Jujutsu High?"
Naoya raised an eyebrow, mockery filling his eyes.
"Turn back now and you might live a little longer."
"This road is closed."
"Nobara!"
Yuji shouted sharply.
The moment she nodded, he charged forward!
Against ordinary guards, they would have avoided conflict and searched for another exit.
But Yuji couldn't accept this.
He couldn't accept Naoya massacring innocent people right in front of him.
Cursed energy surged as Yuji swung a furious punch toward Naoya's smug face.
"Oh right—you're that brat carrying Sukuna."
Effortlessly dodging Yuji's ambush, Naoya's narrow eyes gleamed with ridicule.
"And here I thought some saint had shown up."
"Aren't you the famous Itadori-kun who slaughtered tens of thousands in Shibuya?"
At those words, Yuji's body froze for an instant.
Naoya's knife, overflowing with malice, immediately slashed toward his throat.
Mirai's orders hadn't included sparing this guy.
"Straw Doll Technique!"
"Yuji, snap out of it!"
A cursed nail shot forward!
Naoya tilted his head to evade it while Yuji ducked beneath the descending blade.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Three nails slammed into the ground, blasting deep craters into the concrete.
"That was my sin. I won't deny it."
"For the rest of my life, I'll keep exorcising curses as atonement…"
Yuji rose and glared at Naoya, murderous intent burning in his eyes.
"But humans worse than curses like you…"
"…should die."
Licking the blood from his knife, Naoya sneered.
"And what can a worthless punch-only idiot like you do?"
As Sukuna's vessel, Yuji Itadori's abilities were no secret among the Three Great Clans.
Blue cursed energy flared as Nobara launched another volley of nails.
Boom!
Using the cratered ground as footing, Yuji synchronized perfectly with Nobara's assault and threw another full-powered punch.
"How laughable!"
Naoya barked coldly.
Empowered by Projection Sorcery, his speed approached the speed of sound.
BOOM!!!
A sudden heavy punch smashed into Yuji's jaw!
Wrapped in overwhelming force, Yuji's body was hurled violently into the wall of a nearby building.
"You're just a rookie who barely entered the jujutsu world, yet you seriously think you can beat me?"
Shaking the blood from his fist, Naoya turned his malicious gaze toward Nobara in the distance.
"You brats are so arrogant it's hilarious."
Born into privilege at the very top of society and the sole son of the Zenin clan head, Naoya had inherited the clan's treasured technique.
From childhood, he had always gotten whatever he wanted.
But then came the rise of Mirai Zenin… and Naobito's abdication.
After ten years under Mirai's bloody rule, Naoya realized—
The future clan head was magnificent.
Brilliant.
People who made mistakes deserved to die.
Trash incapable of completing missions didn't deserve to waste the Zenin clan's food.
Those worthless insects had no right to live within the Zenin family.
And that old man Naobito—
Naoya had long despised how his father intentionally kept him away from the future clan head.
Every mission assigned to him was somewhere far away, depriving him of chances to serve at Mirai's side.
Pretending it was "for my own good"—
When really, the old man was just terrified I'd steal his authority.
Especially after news spread that Mirai had defeated Satoru Gojo during the Exchange Event—
Naoya's fanaticism only deepened.
"No players are allowed to leave the colony!"
To Naoya, Mirai's commands were absolute law.
"Die, woman!"
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