"What do you think?"
Satoru didn't answer directly. Instead, he tossed the question to Mukuro.
In truth, he already had an answer in mind. He simply wanted to hear his old friend's opinion.
"And how do we know that after you get beaten senseless next time, you won't pull the same stunt again?"
Mukuro's aura showed no sign of restraint. Mahoraga, who had been kicked away earlier, had already returned to stand beside him.
The tense atmosphere remained unchanged. It felt as though the moment Sukuna gave an unsatisfactory answer, a battle would break out.
"Would I need to?"
The smile disappeared from Sukuna's face, and his furrowed brows were filled with disdain.
Setting aside the fact that the same trick wouldn't have such a surprising effect a second time, using Yuta and Rika as hostages this time had only been necessary because he couldn't fully control the body and therefore couldn't display his true strength.
Would the strongest sorcerer in a thousand years... lose?
"Who knows? You're always getting beaten into hiding by this bastard like a turtle pulling its head into its shell." Satoru shrugged his shoulders and continued provoking him. "We've never actually seen your true strength. Could it be that you're secretly weak?"
If possible, Satoru wanted to bait Sukuna into making a binding vow. Unfortunately, that approach was useless.
"A little trash talk serves no real purpose. The weak have no right to speak. When life and death are on the line, the answer will reveal itself."
Such an obvious attempt at provocation was impossible for Sukuna not to see through. Once he regained his true power, he would have no reason to rely on such low-level methods.
Besides, the two standing before him weren't qualified to demand any promises from him. The binding vow he had agreed to earlier was already a rare act of generosity, given out of respect for the few strong individuals he acknowledged.
Since they enjoyed overthinking things so much, he would let them worry all they wanted.
Silence fell once again.
* * *
"Sukuna hasn't eaten any new fingers since Shibuya. So why haven't Gojo-sensei and Fushiguro-san taken him down?"
Watching from a distance, Yuji wore a completely confused expression.
Just Megumi's uncle alone should have been enough to defeat Sukuna. Yet now, even with Gojo-sensei added to the equation, none of the three had actually started fighting.
"Isn't it obvious?"
Behind him, Kashimo finally broke free from the ice after struggling for quite some time. He had forcefully escaped using the small amount of cursed energy and physical strength he had recovered.
However, unlike before, he no longer looked eager to challenge Sukuna.
Crossing his arms, he explained things to Yuji, "The reason they can't fight is because they're afraid of hurting that kid who's being possessed."
The Sukuna he knew was a being who believed that "throughout heaven and earth, I alone am the honored one." A man like that would never tolerate others provoking him to his face.
Given the current situation, there was only one possibility: something must have gone wrong during the process of leaving that boy's body and fully reincarnating.
He had fought Yuta before. The kid was strong. Someone of that level couldn't have his soul erased so easily. Therefore, the problem was most likely that Sukuna's soul hadn't fully synchronized with the body.
And that very issue was probably restricting the other two as well, forcing both sides into negotiations instead of fighting.
Beside them, Todo, who proudly claimed to possess an IQ of 530,000, stroked his chin and voiced his theory, "Okkotsu is different from you. He wasn't chosen by Kenjaku as Sukuna's vessel, so he doesn't have any control over the situation. I think that's the real reason nobody can fight right now."
* * *
Back at the center of that suffocating standoff...
Seeing that neither Mukuro nor Satoru intended to attack, Sukuna finally lost patience. A mocking smile appeared on his face as if he had expected this all along.
This was the difference between humans and curses.
Bound by meaningless emotions, humans could never achieve true greatness. That was why he found them so boring. They possessed immense power yet allowed themselves to be restricted by countless concerns.
That was the choice of ordinary people.
"Since we're not fighting, let's meet again at Christmas."
Sukuna casually waved toward the two of them before turning away. As he walked off, he gestured for Rika to follow.
"Let's go, Queen."
"Yuta... Give Yuta back to me..."
Rika had no idea what she should do. In the end, she could only follow behind Sukuna while constantly muttering in his ear.
But she received no response.
"Are you sure you don't want to take the risk and try?"
As Sukuna and Rika's figures gradually disappeared into the distance, Mukuro turned toward Satoru.
To be honest, too many unknowns had emerged since the Shibuya Incident.
Sukuna occupying Yuta's body meant he now possessed multiple cursed techniques. That alone would make him difficult to deal with.
Then there was Rika.
Both were incredibly troublesome existences. The sooner they were dealt with, the better.
Unfortunately, the conditions weren't favorable enough.
"It's fine, it's fine. Let him recover his power." Satoru waved his hand casually, looking completely relaxed. "At least after that, we won't have to worry about Yuta until we've beaten Sukuna so badly he can't move anymore."
"Wouldn't allowing Sukuna to regain all his power be too risky? He was the strongest sorcerer from a thousand years ago..."
Yuji and Todo had rushed over from behind, but hearing the conversation left them worried.
After all, Sukuna had never appeared before them in his peak state.
"Don't worry. A full-power Sukuna might be a little more troublesome to deal with, but..."
A gentle breeze brushed through Satoru's snow-white hair. Looking directly into his student's eyes, confidence practically overflowed from his voice.
"We'd win."
The spirited expression on his face made it seem as though he had returned to the era ten years ago when he proudly declared: "Throughout heaven and earth, I alone am the honored one."
"Do whatever you want."
Mukuro's eyelid twitched slightly as he prepared to leave.
"By the way, you didn't kill a lot of people, did you?"
Before he could go, Satoru finally asked the question. It was also something Todo had wanted to ask earlier but hadn't dared to.
The moment Mukuro possessed Megumi's body, he seemed to have brought with him an overwhelming stench of bloodshed. The killing intent surrounding him was so dense it felt tangible. It was even more frightening than the aura Kashimo had given off when they first met him.
"I stepped on a few bugs. Nothing worth worrying about."
That was his answer.
Satoru didn't ask any further. He already had a rough idea of the truth.
"I'll leave things here to you."
Megumi closed his eyes.
* * *
The next moment, somewhere in Tokyo, Mukuro opened his own.
Under the dim yellow lights, destruction covered the area.
Completely different from the version of himself who stood among friends and students, his face now carried a cold and indifferent expression. A streak of blood stained his pale cheek.
This was the meeting center of the Jujutsu higher-ups.
Blood flowed everywhere.
The corners of Mukuro's lips curled upward slightly as he looked toward the few survivors trembling in the corner.
"Sorry for keeping you waiting."
**
**
**
Thank you for reading! If you'd like access to extra chapters and want to support my work, you can visit my P@treon:
P@treon/SilverShark769
Vote with Power Stones for Bonus Chapters!
Your support means a lot, thank you!