"I'm sorry… I can't do it."
Gojo Satoru took a deep breath and ultimately gave up on destroying the body.
He bent down, lifted Geto Suguru's corpse, and decided to find a quiet place to properly lay his best friend to rest.
Yet the gears of fate often begin to turn in the darkness because of a single moment of human weakness.
Just three months after Gojo Satoru left Shinjuku, a long-dormant shadow stirred within the hidden burial site where Geto Suguru had been laid to rest.
Kenjaku, the one with stitches across his forehead, had finally found the opportunity he had been waiting for.
"A powerful body… and that irresistible Cursed Spirit Manipulation…"
In the darkness, Kenjaku gazed at the corpse and let out a chilling laugh.
"Your warning was indeed sharp, mysterious powerhouse. Unfortunately, you underestimated human emotion. Gojo Satoru's weakness has become the perfect stepping stone for me."
…
Time passed. Seasons changed, flowers bloomed and withered.
The Night Parade of a Hundred Demons was like a stone thrown into a lake. Though it stirred up great waves at first, everything gradually settled back into calm under the passage of time.
Before anyone realized it, half a year had quietly passed.
The calendar turned to June 2018.
Over the past six months, life in the luxury villa in Tokyo's Chiyoda Ward had remained peaceful and comfortable.
In the underground training room, Toji Fushiguro casually dropped a heavy barbell onto the floor with a dull thud. He grabbed a towel, wiped the sweat from his body, and headed upstairs to the first-floor living room.
By the floor-to-ceiling window, Rin sat on a single-seater sofa, holding a cup of herbal tea personally blended by Shinobu Kochō.
The existence of the Miniature Divine Realm gave Rin and Shinobu Kochō a completely private world of their own.
Shinobu Kochō spent half of each day researching Cursed Spirit toxins in the Divine Domain's laboratory, and the other half staying in the villa with Rin.
"Boss."
Toji walked over to the refrigerator, grabbed a can of beer, popped it open, and took a sip.
"The atmosphere in the jujutsu world hasn't felt quite right lately."
"How so?" Rin took a sip of tea, his gaze returning from the courtyard.
"The number of Cursed Spirits is skyrocketing, and traces of Special Grade cursed objects are showing up in many remote areas."
Toji rubbed the scar at the corner of his mouth, his tone carrying a sharp edge. "Jujutsu Headquarters is stretched thin. They've even started sending first-year students from Jujutsu High on high-risk missions. Oh, and my useless son, Megumi, got sent to Sendai City in Miyagi Prefecture by that white-haired Gojo Satoru a couple of days ago."
"Megumi went to Sendai?"
Rin's hand paused slightly as he held the teacup.
Sendai City. Sugisawa Third High School.
This was the starting point where the main events of Jujutsu Kaisen truly began.
Judging by the timing, that pink-haired boy, hailed as the strongest vessel in a thousand years, had likely already been drawn into that vortex of fate.
"Apparently he's there to recover a sealed Special Grade cursed object," Toji said with a shrug. "I don't usually care about the kid, but those things are basically a death sentence if something goes wrong. That bastard Gojo is way too carefree."
Rin set his teacup down on the marble table and stood up.
He walked to the floor-to-ceiling window and looked toward the northeastern horizon.
There, in a dimension invisible to ordinary people, an ancient, pure, and overwhelmingly tyrannical evil presence was beginning to stir.
"A Special Grade cursed object. One of Ryomen Sukuna's fingers."
Rin's voice was calm, yet it made Toji pause mid-drink.
"The King of Curses?" Toji's eyes sharpened instantly. "The seal on that thing has weakened?"
"It's more than that."
A faint, interested smile curved at Rin's lips. "The bait has been set. That Brain hiding in the shadows for a thousand years and that insufferable King of Curses are finally about to step onto the stage."
For over half a year, Rin had not actively searched for Kenjaku.
He understood that as long as Ryomen Sukuna, the central piece, had not been revived, the Culling Game could not truly begin.
Killing Kenjaku too early would be nothing more than crushing a slightly clever ant.
What he had been waiting for was the moment when the entire board was set.
"Toji. Go get the car."
Rin turned and gave the order.
"I've been idle for half a year. My bones are starting to rust. Let's head to Sendai and join the fun… and while we're at it, meet that legendary King of Curses."
...
Miyagi Prefecture, Sendai City.
As night fell, Sugisawa Third High School was swallowed by a heavy, oppressive gloom.
On the fourth-floor corridor of the school building, the tension had reached its breaking point.
"Give that to me, now! Or you'll be eaten!"
Fushiguro Megumi leaned against the wall, his face streaked with blood. His hands formed a summoning mudra as he fixed his gaze on the pink-haired boy trapped in the grasp of a massive Cursed Spirit.
The boy's name was Itadori Yuji.
Tonight, in order to save his companions from the Occult Research Club, he had smashed through the school's glass windows and been dragged into a battle far beyond the understanding of ordinary people.
But against the giant Cursed Spirit drawn by the Special Grade cursed object, even Yuji's superhuman physical abilities were not enough.
Suspended in mid-air by the creature, he still clutched the shriveled finger wrapped in sealing talismans. Ryomen Sukuna's finger.
"Giving it to you won't save anyone! That thing came here to eat it!"
Itadori Yuji looked down at the battered Fushiguro Megumi and his unconscious companions. His grandfather's final words echoed in his mind.
Die surrounded by others.
"If I eat it… I'll gain Cursed Energy, right?!"
Under Fushiguro Megumi's horrified gaze, Itadori Yuji suddenly tilted his head back and, without hesitation, threw the withered finger into his mouth and swallowed it whole.
Gulp.
The finger slid down his throat.
For a moment, time seemed to freeze.
Then, the giant Cursed Spirit holding him suddenly let out a scream of absolute terror.
Bang!
Its massive body exploded from within without warning. Blood, severed limbs, and shredded flesh rained down across the corridor.
Amid the smoke and debris,
Itadori Yuji landed steadily on the ground.
But the aura surrounding him had undergone a complete transformation.
Beneath his originally clean-cut hair, a second pair of eerie eyes appeared on his face. Dark, curse-like markings spread from his cheeks and neck, quickly covering his entire body.
He slowly lowered his head, staring at his hands now brimming with power, as a low, raspy laugh filled with arrogance and cruelty echoed from his throat.
"Hahahahaha!"
Ryomen Sukuna had awakened.
He tore apart the upper half of his school uniform, relishing the moonlight and the night breeze brushing against his skin.
"Light! What a wonderful sensation! The flesh of humans is as exquisite as ever!"
Standing at the edge of the rooftop, Sukuna looked down upon the sleeping modern city, his eyes brimming with cruel killing intent.
"A world crawling with people! Where are the women? Where are the children? What a splendid era this is. This time, I'll indulge in a proper slaughter!"
Fushiguro Megumi gritted his teeth and brought his hands together, preparing to summon his strongest shikigami for a final stand.
Facing the King of Curses, he knew there was no chance of victory. But as a jujutsu sorcerer, retreat was not an option.
Just as the tension reached its peak, on the verge of life and death,
an untimely sound of clapping echoed from the shadows on the other side of the rooftop.
Clap. Clap. Clap.
The sharp sound cut through the silence.
Sukuna's laughter came to an abrupt halt. Both pairs of eyes narrowed at once, sweeping toward the source like blades.
Fushiguro Megumi was also stunned.
Under their wary gazes, a tall young man in a black uniform stepped onto the edge railing of the rooftop and walked out at an unhurried pace.
"You've been frozen for a thousand years, and the moment you wake up, you start shouting. Seems time hasn't taught you how to keep a low profile."
Rin stood with his hands in his pockets, the night wind tousling his black hair.
He looked down at Ryomen Sukuna, who had taken over Itadori Yuji's body. In his dark eyes, there was not the slightest trace of reverence for the King of Curses, only a cold indifference, as if he were looking at prey waiting to be slaughtered.
"Ryomen Sukuna, right?"
A sharp, cold smile tugged at the corner of Rin's lips.
"I've heard you're called the King of Curses. How fitting. One of my favorite pastimes is dragging so-called 'kings' off their thrones and crushing their bones piece by piece."
The moment his words fell, Woosh!
a terrifying pressure, far surpassing that of a Special Grade Cursed Spirit, erupted from within Rin.
Under that overwhelming force, the entire school building groaned as if it might collapse at any moment.
The smile on Sukuna's face vanished completely.
As he stared at the man before him, who carried no trace of Cursed Energy yet radiated a lethal sense of danger, the battle-hungry blood within him began to boil.
___
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