The rain stopped.
Not slowly.
Not naturally.
It simply… ceased.
The sky darkened as if something ancient had claimed it.
Yuji's lifeless body still lay on broken stone.
Blood mixing with rainwater.
Silence.
Then—
A finger twitched.
The Return of the King
Cursed energy exploded outward like a volcanic eruption.
The ground cracked.
Air vibrated.
The corpse began to rise.
Across the battlefield, every surviving sorcerer froze.
They all felt it.
That pressure.
That presence.
Not a vessel.
Not suppressed.
Not contained.
Ryomen Sukuna had taken full control.
Dark markings spread across Yuji's body again—
But this time deeper.
Permanent.
The smile that appeared was no longer playful.
It was absolute.
Rebirth
Sukuna flexed his fingers slowly.
"This body…"
He looked down at his chest where the fatal wound had been.
It was gone.
Completely regenerated.
"…will suffice."
Four eyes opened for a brief moment before merging back into two.
The sky split with black lightning.
From a distance, Yuta Okkotsu stepped back involuntarily.
"This isn't possession…"
"It's incarnation."
Sukuna was no longer borrowing.
He had rewritten the vessel.
The First Step
A single step forward.
The stone beneath his foot disintegrated.
Sukuna looked at one man only.
Toji Fushiguro.
"So," Sukuna said softly,
"You're the anomaly."
Toji didn't respond.
His grip tightened on his blade.
No cursed energy.
No aura.
Just instinct.
Sukuna tilted his head.
"You killed Domains."
He smirked.
"Let's see if you can kill a god."
Cleave
Without hand signs—
Without warning—
Space distorted.
A diagonal slash tore through the battlefield.
Buildings behind Toji split in half.
The ground carved open.
Toji moved at the last possible microsecond.
The edge grazed his shoulder.
Blood sprayed.
He landed silently ten meters away.
Sukuna's smile widened.
"You can see it?"
Toji didn't answer.
But his eyes had sharpened.
He wasn't seeing cursed energy.
He was reading intent.
Micro-movements.
Air pressure.
Muscle shifts.
Pure killing instinct.
The Declaration
Sukuna stretched his neck lazily.
"Very well."
Cursed energy spiraled around him like a storm forming.
"I'll play seriously."
The air became heavy.
Breathing became difficult for everyone except two.
Toji stepped forward instead of back.
"If you're done talking," he said calmly,
"come kill me."
Sukuna's grin split wider.
The ground shattered beneath them—
And both vanished in the same instant.
The collision of anomaly and calamity began.
Yuji was gone.
The King had risen.
And the true war had finally started.