On the second day after Itadori's encounter with Sukuna, the weather was gloomy, as if a heavy storm was approaching.
A black official car, driven by assistant supervisor Kiyotaka Ijichi, picked up the three first-years.
"Emergency mission," Ijichi adjusted his glasses, his eyes behind the lenses carrying their usual nervousness and a slight seriousness. He spoke faster than usual. "At the Tokyo, Third District, Youth Palace. A special-grade cursed womb has been confirmed. Its fluctuations are significant, and formation is expected within the next two days. Moreover—"
He paused and looked at the three first-year Jujutsu High students before him, young but who had already faced life and death. "There are ordinary people trapped inside. According to residual vital signs, at least three people are still alive, but their conditions and exact locations are unknown."
"Your mission priority is to rescue as many survivors as possible, while protecting yourselves, setting markers, and waiting for a Grade 1 sorcerer to take over handling the cursed womb. Direct confrontation with the special-grade cursed womb is strictly forbidden, understood?"
"Understood!" Itadori and Kugisaki said in unison, their expressions turning serious. Megumi Fushiguro nodded, frowning slightly. "A special-grade cursed womb... in the heart of the city? Wasn't there a barrier reaction?"
This was a key question.
After Zen'in Genji's awakening, although the thousand-year-old barrier was overloaded, it was still functioning, and the suppression and absorption of cursed spirits continued. The cursed energy required to conceive a special-grade cursed womb was immense, and theoretically, it would be difficult to escape the perception and suppression of this barrier.
Ijichi gestured for them to get in the car and quickly explained as the vehicle smoothly left the Technical College grounds and merged into Tokyo's morning traffic.
"That's precisely the problem," Ijichi gripped the steering wheel, staring straight ahead. "This cursed womb... is special. It seems to have begun gestating within the prototype of a certain 'domain,' or it possesses an extremely strong, unformed 'domain' characteristic itself."
"The core mechanism of the global barrier established by Lord Zen'in Genji is to absorb, suppress, and disperse masterless and free-roaming negative emotions and cursed energy in the environment, and to a certain extent, mark and weaken 'formed cursed spirits.'"
He glanced at the three students in the rearview mirror. "If a cursed womb of this nature breeds within a 'domain-like' environment, possessing a high degree of cohesion in its cursed energy and not yet fully 'born,' the barrier's recognition and absorption efficiency will be significantly reduced, potentially resulting in errors or delays. This domain also has a neutralizing effect on the Great Barrier..."
"Its formation is inevitable," Megumi Fushiguro took over, his face darkening. This meant that what they were about to step into was a nest where a special-grade cursed spirit was about to hatch, and this nest had its own inherent rules.
The atmosphere in the car was slightly solemn. Itadori watched the rapidly receding street scenes outside the window, suddenly remembering something. He scratched his head and turned to Fushiguro and Kugisaki beside him.
"By the way... that guy Sukuna made a fuss inside me yesterday," he said casually.
"Huh? What does he want?" Kugisaki immediately raised her eyebrows, looking displeased. "Trying to use you to do something bad?"
"No, it's not that..." Itadori waved his hand and organized his thoughts. "He seems... to have an opinion about Lord Zen'in Genji. He felt that since Lord Zen'in Genji came to the Technical College and didn't come to 'greet' him, he was very angry. Then he said, 'This can't go on,' and wants me to keep an eye out for news about his other fingers, hoping to gather all twenty as soon as possible."
"What?!" Kugisaki's voice shot up an octave. She turned and glared at Itadori, her short orange hair practically bristling. "You agreed?! Yuji Itadori! Have you been cursed into losing your mind?! There are twenty fingers! If you eat them all, who knows what will happen! What if that bastard Sukuna takes you over completely?! Are you really willing to give up your body just to satisfy his desire to fight?!"
Her questions were like a volley of cannon fire, filling the car with gunpowder. Ijichi, driving, tensed up, the car swerving slightly before he quickly corrected it, cold sweat forming on his forehead—discussing special-grade cursed objects and the King of Curses was far too thrilling for an assistant supervisor.
"No, no, no! Of course not!" Itadori flinched at Kugisaki's momentum, waving his hands repeatedly, his head shaking like a rattle. "I'm not giving up my body! No way! But..."
He hesitated for a moment, looking at Kugisaki, then at Megumi Fushiguro, who was sitting silently in the passenger seat. "I did swallow Sukuna's finger myself. I've indeed borrowed that power and used it to deal with enemies and save people. And... how should I put it? Although he has a bad temper, his desire to fight Lord Zen'in Genji again... I feel like I sort of understand it?"
Seeing Kugisaki's eyes about to kill, Itadori quickly sped up his explanation. "I didn't agree with him! This kind of understanding... it's about meeting a worthy opponent and wanting to go all out in a match at least once! Like how I feel happy when I meet a strong opponent! Of course, Sukuna's way is definitely wrong—he wants to kill people..."
He paused, his voice lowering but remaining clear. "My idea is that if... I mean if, on the premise that he doesn't take me over and doesn't harm the innocent, I could temporarily restore his power, let him have a match with Lord Zen'in Genji, and put an end to his obsession... maybe it's not something completely unthinkable. After all, part of him is inside me now—that's already a fact."
Itadori looked at Megumi Fushiguro, as if seeking support or confirmation of a certain fact. "Fushiguro, didn't you say before that Lord Zen'in Genji examined my body? What did he say about me eating more fingers?"
The attention in the car instantly shifted to Megumi Fushiguro. Kugisaki also temporarily suppressed her anger and stared at him.
Megumi Fushiguro looked away from the front, his expression remaining calm, but a thoughtful light flickered in his eyes.
"Lord Zen'in Genji's judgment was this," Megumi Fushiguro spoke slowly, his voice steady and convincing. "'Itadori's body is an extremely special 'perfect vessel.' This 'perfection' is not only reflected in its ability to withstand Sukuna's cursed energy without collapsing instantly, but also in the absolute dominance and stability at the soul level.'"
He turned to Itadori to explain further. "'As long as you don't absorb too many of Sukuna's fingers at once, your soul's dominance will not waver.'"
"Simply put," Megumi Fushiguro concluded, looking at Kugisaki to reassure her. "As long as he doesn't swallow too many at a time, so that Sukuna's cursed energy instantaneously exceeds Itadori's soul's ability to digest and suppress it..."
"Then, even if Itadori eventually gathers all twenty fingers, as long as the process is gradual, giving his soul time to adapt and 'digest' the fragments of Sukuna's consciousness carried by each finger, the most likely outcome is that Itadori will contain all twenty fingers' worth of cursed energy, but the dominance of his body and soul will still remain with Itadori himself. Sukuna will remain suppressed, and Itadori will be the one using his cursed energy."
This conclusion made Kugisaki's eyes widen, and even Ijichi couldn't help but glance at Itadori several more times in the rearview mirror. Contain the cursed energy of twenty fingers without being taken over? That sounds like a fantasy, but if it's the judgment of a thousand-year-old god of curses...
Itadori himself seemed relieved and nodded vigorously. "Yeah! That's what Fushiguro said! I could feel it myself—although that guy is noisy and has dangerous ideas, as long as I don't want him to, he can't control my body. So my idea is, the fingers can be found, the power can be taken, but the body and decision-making power have to be mine."
"He wants to fight Lord Zen'in Genji. I can help create the opportunity, but on the condition that he doesn't kill indiscriminately like before, and doesn't harm the innocent. If he agrees... No, even if he doesn't agree, as long as I can control it, I will use his power to save those who need saving when necessary. And then... maybe one day, I can find a way for him and Lord Zen'in Genji to have the match they both desire, without endangering others."
He clenched his fists, his eyes not naive, but thoughtful and determined. "This is my responsibility for swallowing that finger, and also... one of my 'treatment plans' for the 'tenant' inside my body? Of course, this would require the agreement and control of Gojo-sensei and Lord Zen'in Genji."
Kugisaki looked at Itadori, snorted, turned her head away, but her tone had softened. "Tch, you're full of reasons... whatever you want, if one day you get controlled by that bastard, I'll be the first to wake you up with my hammer, but don't blame me."
"Haha, then do it, Kugisaki!" Itadori laughed heartily.
Megumi Fushiguro didn't laugh. He just looked at Itadori's face.
This guy, in this selfish world, is always very empathetic.
---
As they spoke, the car left the bustling city and entered a relatively quiet cultural and educational district. A complex of buildings came into view—the Youth Palace.
However, a place that should have been full of children's laughter and vitality was now shrouded in an invisible, pulsating dark aura. The building itself looked intact, but all the windows were lit with an unnatural gloom, as if the light had been absorbed. Within a few hundred meters of the Youth Palace, the streets were empty and eerily silent. Only the police barricades fluttered slightly in the wind.
"Here we are," Ijichi parked the car at the barricade, looking at the building enveloped in an ominous halo, his face pale. "The cursed womb is inside the main building. Its exact location is unknown. The survivors' vital signals were last detected near the 'Planetarium' on the third floor. Remember, your mission is to rescue and mark, not to fight. If anything unusual happens, retreat immediately. I will deploy a 'curtain' over the entrance here and stand by."
"Understood!" The three of them got out of the car, exchanged glances, and nodded.
Itadori flexed his wrists, his eyes sharpening. Kugisaki checked her pouch of hammer and nails, licking her lips. Megumi Fushiguro put his hands in his pockets, but a faint cursed energy was already circulating throughout his body.
The glass automatic doors of the Youth Palace slid open noiselessly, revealing a deep darkness inside, as if absorbing all light.
╔══════════════════════╗
📘 Want more?
Join me on Patreon for bonus chapters
and early access!
🔗 https://www.patreon.com/cw/OverlordD
╚══════════════════════╝