Outside the juvenile detention center, Ieiri Kiyotaka was deep in thought, one hand on his chin, his brows tightly furrowed.
"Are you really that worried about them?"
Suddenly, a familiar voice appeared next to Ieiri Kiyotaka.
"Eichi-senpai?"
Ieiri Kiyotaka looked at Eichi, who had suddenly appeared behind him, with surprise, and immediately wanted to ask him to go inside and help.
Eichi gently patted Ieiri Kiyotaka's shoulder, signaling him not to worry.
"This experience is very important for them, and I'll be watching over them. Don't worry."
Hearing this, Ieiri Kiyotaka finally breathed a sigh of relief.
But in the next second, his heart was in his throat again.
"It seems Fushiguro has indeed grown a bit. It took this long for Yuji's hand to be severed."
'His hand... his hand was severed?'
Ieiri Kiyotaka looked at Eichi, who seemed to be able to see through walls, with a face full of cold sweat, unable to understand why Eichi could remain so calm when his students were in such a state.
"Kugisaki, you go first and meet up with Fushiguro."
"Are you telling me to abandon you?"
Nobara was terrified. She had just left the rural area she detested and arrived in the bustling city she had always dreamed of.
Her ideal life had just begun. How could she die here?
And she had not even seen her beloved Saori-senpai yet.
But even so, she could not bring herself to abandon her companion and run away.
"Of course not."
Yuji forcefully tied his wound, then walked in front of Nobara.
"I still have a trump card. I won't die, but it's not just the Cursed Spirits. That guy will attack you too.
"So the faster you leave, the safer I'll be, understand?!"
Yuji becoming Sukuna's vessel was only known to a very few people at the moment. Nobara did not know, only thinking he was a country bumpkin who had suddenly awakened his Technique.
"...Are you serious?"
"Yes. After you meet Fushiguro, tell him to leave with you. I'll come back to find you myself."
Yuji nodded solemnly.
"If you dare to die, I absolutely won't let you off."
With that, Nobara left without looking back.
"Hey, Sukuna, if I die, you'll die too. If you don't want to die, hurry up and help."
"Indeed, if you die, I will also die."
"Then help me if you know that."
"But I refuse."
"Huh?"
Yuji turned his head in disbelief, wanting to see Sukuna, who had appeared on his face.
"Even if this body dies, I still have other Soul Clones outside. Compared to death, you brat annoy me more. If you dare let me out, I'll kill that woman first."
"That woman is so lively. Playing with her should be interesting, and she probably tastes good too."
At this moment, the fact that Sukuna enjoyed eating people, and how he had wanted to eat Sasaki-senpai on the school rooftop right after he was revived, flashed through Yuji's mind.
"I will absolutely not let you succeed."
Yuji was in a desperate situation.
The Special Grade Cursed Spirit looked at Yuji, who was caught between a rock and a hard place, and felt immense pleasure. At this moment, it was twisting its body alluringly because of that pleasure.
'After playing with this brat, I'll go play hide-and-seek with that woman.'
Having made up its mind, the Special Grade Cursed Spirit tore open the cocoon that was somewhat hindering its movement, revealing its loincloth and two long, muscular legs.
"It's cooler to just wear a loincloth, isn't it?"
No sooner had Yuji finished complaining than he was sent flying by the immense Cursed Energy released by the Special Grade Cursed Spirit.
Before Yuji could react, the Cursed Spirit attacked again, one punch, two punches, three punches.
The Special Grade Cursed Spirit was very satisfied with this excellent punching bag.
'It hurts so much, it hurts so much, I can't dodge at all.'
Unconsciously, a few tears appeared at the corners of Yuji's eyes.
'If I had listened to Fushiguro's advice and left at that time, if I hadn't eaten Sukuna's finger, if...'
At this moment, the self-confidence he had always had since childhood due to his strong physique, the excitement of entering the supernatural world, and the fantasies in the young man's heart all shattered.
All that remained was the fear of death.
'I want to escape, I want to escape, I want to escape... I... don't want to die.'
At this time, Yuji truly understood Masamichi's words.
He realized how naive the world in his eyes had been.
"Yuji, are you going to blame your grandfather when you are killed by a Cursed Spirit?!"
His deceased grandfather reappeared in Yuji's mind, along with Masamichi's soul-stirring question.
"Stop, stop it!"
Yuji roared, forcing his brain, which was starting to become chaotic from fear, to stop thinking.
Splat.
Yuji's angry blow had no effect whatsoever. Even his other hand was severed by the Special Grade Cursed Spirit's Cursed Energy.
'Ah, am I that weak?'
Meanwhile, Nobara encountered Megumi, who was rushing toward her.
"Kugisaki, where's Itadori?"
Seeing only Nobara, Megumi immediately asked anxiously.
"He's holding off the Special Grade Cursed Spirit alone, and he told me to leave with you if I met you, saying it was to avoid hurting us."
Megumi immediately realized what Yuji intended to do.
He wanted to release Sukuna.
Only by releasing Sukuna could Yuji have the strength to fight against the Special Grade Cursed Spirit.
Only Sukuna would put the two of them in danger as well.
"No, where is Itadori Yuji?!"
Megumi grabbed Nobara's shoulders and asked anxiously.
"Over there."
After seeing Megumi's expression, Nobara also realized that something was wrong.
"Divine Dogs."
The White Divine Dog had just been severely injured by the Special Grade Cursed Spirit, so now Megumi could only summon the Black Divine Dog.
"You go first. I'll be responsible for bringing Itadori Yuji back, absolutely!"
With that, Megumi ran wildly in the direction Nobara had pointed, without looking back.
"Damn it, those two guys."
Nobara clenched her fists unwillingly, the surging tide of reluctance in her heart later transforming into her motivation to continuously grow stronger.
On the other side, Yuji, who had been beaten to the point of almost losing consciousness, released Sukuna at the last moment.
This time, it was the Special Grade Cursed Spirit's turn to tremble all over.
"What an annoying brat."
Sukuna closed his four eyes, beginning to ponder how to make Yuji regret offending him.
The Special Grade Cursed Spirit beside him was backing away continuously, terrified by Sukuna's aura.
"That brat wants me to deal with this Cursed Spirit, right? Then it would be interesting if I took this Cursed Spirit and killed his companions, wouldn't it?"
Thinking this, Sukuna regenerated a hand using Reverse Cursed Technique and then beckoned to the Special Grade Cursed Spirit behind him.
"Follow me. We're going to kill the brat."
But what he did not expect was that the dim-witted Special Grade Cursed Spirit was already too terrified to hear what he was saying.
The Special Grade Cursed Spirit was now like a big man startled in a haunted house, instinctively launching an attack.
In the next second, something that made the Special Grade Cursed Spirit's jaw drop happened. Sukuna simply swatted away its full-power attack with a casual flick.
"Idiot!"
When Megumi arrived, he saw the Special Grade Cursed Spirit already finely sliced by Sukuna.
'This is bad. The worst-case scenario has happened.'
(To be continued.)