Chapter 47 — The Stitched-Face Curse
"The Exchange Event results?"
"Unfortunately…"
"The team battle ended in a draw since it was interrupted by the curse invasion. But on the second day, during the individual event—baseball—we lost two to zero."
"So overall, Tokyo still won this year's exchange."
"But Ren, don't worry."
"You can win it back next year. I'm sure you can."
---
In the Kyoto students' resting area at Tokyo Jujutsu High, Ren was catching up on everything that happened while he had been unconscious.
"It's just a shame… this is as far as I go."
"Huh?" Ren picked up on the implication. "Senpai, you won't be competing next year?"
Nishimiya Momo's small, flushed face looked downcast.
"The Exchange Event is only for third-years and below. I'll be a fourth-year next year."
"I see…" Ren thought for a moment, then smiled reassuringly.
"In that case, just attend as a spectator next year, Momo-senpai."
"Trust me. I'll definitely bring victory back to Kyoto."
Momo nodded, her mood lifting slightly.
"Ren!"
A voice suddenly called out from the hallway, accompanied by brisk footsteps.
The moment he heard that voice, Ren's entire body stiffened.
"Ren," Shoko Ieiri's head popped around the corner. "So you're here."
"Come with me."
"Shoko-sensei…" Ren swallowed. "Didn't we just—yesterday—"
"Relax. It's not a checkup." She waved casually for him to follow.
"Honestly, it was just a routine examination. Why are you acting like you survived a war?" she muttered as she walked ahead with light, tapping footsteps.
Routine? What kind of routine exam flicks you if you don't cooperate—
Ren stopped himself mid-thought, sweating.
"So what is it, Shoko-sensei?"
After leaving the rest area, Ren began to feel uneasy.
They were heading… toward the hospital.
He shot her a suspicious look.
Shoko lit a cigarette, inhaled deeply, and exhaled a curl of smoke.
"I told you, it's not about the exam. Why are you so jumpy?"
She paused slightly.
"It's about the curse."
"And this particular curse… concerns you directly."
---
Inside the hospital morgue, Shoko pulled open one of the refrigerated drawers.
A burst of cold mist spilled outward.
What is going on…
Ren's shoulders trembled as he looked around. As a jujutsu sorcerer, he wasn't supposed to fear ghosts or monsters.
But stepping into this cold, dim room—lined with silent metal drawers holding corpses—
Still made his skin crawl.
Ren folded his arms, silently complaining to himself.
Then—through the rising white mist from the refrigerated drawer—he caught sight of the corpse inside.
The body was grotesquely twisted and deformed, limbs contorted at impossible angles, as though reshaped by some inhuman hand.
His expression changed instantly.
"…This is?"
"Yes." Shoko observed his reaction and nodded.
"This is one of the victims from a malicious curse incident that occurred in Tokyo a month ago."
"The curse remodeled humans into monsters and ordered them to attack in public spaces. Aside from those killed during the attacks, the humans who were transformed also died shortly afterward."
She paused.
"The curse's appearance: a young man with blue hair and stitched facial scars."
"Its technique allows it to manipulate the target's soul in order to alter their physical body."
She looked at him steadily.
"Based on your previous description of being a 'Polymorphic Soul Isomer body,' we believe this is the same curse you encountered."
"Where is it?" Ren's fists clenched tightly.
"We nearly exorcised it during an operation a month ago," Shoko replied. "But it escaped at the last moment. We're still tracking it."
"Because you've encountered it before—and because of your abilities—we'd like you to remain in Tokyo temporarily and assist in hunting it down. Until we eliminate it completely."
"No problem." Ren agreed without hesitation.
Shoko nodded. "I'll gather the sorcerers who've fought it before. You can hold a strategy meeting and share your experiences."
---
An hour later, after the meeting began—
Ren sat at one end of the conference table.
Across from him were Itadori Yuji and Grade 1 sorcerer Nanami Kento.
Both wore grim expressions.
Itadori and Nanami were the ones Shoko had mentioned—those who had directly fought the stitched-face curse.
According to their intelligence, the curse had already learned Domain Expansion.
That was not good news.
Having barely survived a Domain himself, Ren understood the danger firsthand.
"Polymorphic Soul Isomer body…" Itadori muttered. "We didn't encounter that ability during our fight."
He raised his head, staring at Ren in disbelief.
"You're saying it can mass-produce modified humans as strong as you?"
His face practically screamed: That's a disaster waiting to happen.
"You didn't see it?" Ren lowered his gaze, recalling those fragmented, painful memories.
"The 'Polymorphic Soul Isomer body' is still a developing technique for it. The success rate is extremely low."
"First, its mastery over the technique isn't complete. Second, the conditions are harsh. It requires twelve souls with extremely low mutual rejection."
"Finding even two compatible souls is rare. Finding twelve? Almost impossible."
"I was essentially a prototype. If I remember correctly, there were only two successful subjects at the time."
"And even then, ordinary multi-soul constructs aren't like me. Due to soul rejection, they can only exist for a short time before collapsing."
"Low success rate. No long-term stability. It's not surprising you didn't encounter one."
He lifted his eyes to meet theirs.
"But in future battles, you need to account for the possibility."
"This isn't just about probability. If what you've said about its rapid growth is accurate… then the next time we face it, it may already have refined this ability."
According to Nanami and Itadori, the curse was newly born—young, evolving at a frightening rate. Its current power likely wasn't its limit.
Which meant—
Next time, it might be able to create multi-soul bodies with a near-perfect success rate.
"Wait," Itadori said, eyes widening. "Then how do we even fight that? If it summons a whole army of guys like you—uh, I mean—not monsters—strong guys!"
He had seen footage from the Sister School Exchange Event.
He absolutely could not imagine an entire crowd of "Ren" dropping from the sky—
All unleashing Twin Heavenly: Black Flash at once.