November 23rd.
A full week has passed since Sukuna forcefully possessed Megumi Fushiguro's body and hid in the darkness to bathe.
In seven days, the ten Culling Game barriers had completely merged into one massive, unescapable dome, entirely enveloping the country of Japan.
The cycle of death and rebirth, which mandated a nineteen-day time limit, had now officially entered its second iteration for the original Players.
It had been tragically confirmed that ordinary people forcibly turned into Players whose scores remained unchanged on their 19th day were indeed punished with instant death via Cursed Technique Removal.
And now, the total number of Players trapped within the entire nationwide barrier...
Number of Players: 94 Million!
In just one single week of chaos, military intervention, and Cursed Spirit rampages, nearly ten million people in Japan had lost their lives.
...
Tokyo Jujutsu High.
Amidst the ruins of the campus, a relatively tidy, makeshift meeting room had been set up.
The Tokyo Jujutsu High staff and students, Kyoto Prefectural High staff, and Mei Mei's faction (who had recently returned to Japan) were all present.
As the current, acting representative of Jujutsu High's forces, Atsuya Kusakabe analyzed the upcoming battle trends for everyone from the stage.
"There are some things we'd better make absolutely clear before Gojo Satoru is unsealed," Kusakabe said solemnly.
"Whether it's the Cursed King from a thousand years ago... or the inhuman Zenin Mirai..."
"Our absolute top opponents are both terrifying, and we can't just put all our hopes of survival solely on Gojo."
"Therefore, the premise of this meeting is to figure out how we should face the remaining situation in the event of Gojo Satoru's defeat."
Yuji Itadori, sitting in the audience, immediately raised his hand and asked, "Why don't we just go up and fight with Gojo-sensei? At least we'd have a numbers advantage against them, wouldn't we?"
Kusakabe shook his head firmly. "On a battlefield of that Special Grade level, the sheer output and explosions can easily spread across an entire city block. If we all attack together, it will only distract Gojo Satoru from fighting at his best."
"In short, even if a Grade 1 fighter joined those three monsters on the battlefield, they would only become a hindrance and a burden."
Yuji reluctantly lowered his arm, his face darkening with frustration.
In these past seven days, Yuji had done absolutely everything he could to maximize his own combat power. He consumed the Cursed Tools that Shoko had brought from the Gojo family estate. He consumed the remaining six Cursed Womb: Death Paintings in Choso's possession. He meticulously studied the soul-research notes left behind by Yuki Tsukumo before her death.
Despite doing so much... I don't even have the right to fight alongside Gojo-sensei, Yuji thought bitterly.
Seeing his younger brother's deep disappointment, Choso reached out and patted Yuji's shoulder to comfort him.
"You have two enemies!" The martial arts fanatic, Hajime Kashimo, suddenly stood up, his eyes blazing with absolute fighting spirit. "Let Gojo Satoru go and fight Zenin Mirai first! And I'll deal with Ryomen Sukuna!"
Kusakabe sighed in sheer exasperation, completely unsure how to logically persuade Kashimo, who was stubbornly determined to fight Sukuna with all his might.
With his feet propped up disrespectfully on the seat in front of him and a hoodlum-like expression, Kinji Hakari turned his head to look at Kashimo. "Let those three monsters cause their trouble first."
"No matter who's left standing in the end... you'll be the first one to step in and perform. Is that alright with you?"
Seeing Hakari compromise, the troublemaking Kashimo grinned and finally sat back down.
Kusakabe, chewing nervously on a lollipop, continued to give instructions to the room.
Meanwhile, Angel—who was now officially on the same side as Jujutsu High—also provided several very important pieces of historical intelligence regarding Sukuna.
In the end, everyone was assigned a specific combat or support task.
However, there was still one massive variable that remained completely unclear to them.
That was Zenin Mirai's ultimate plan. They had absolutely no idea what he was doing, and they had not yet been able to see the full picture.
"Master Tengen's true form has been taken away, and her fate is unknown."
"Choso also witnessed firsthand the Cursed Technique used by Mirai in the Tomb of the Star, which forcibly laid down the rules of the Culling Game!"
Shoko Ieiri took a drag of her cigarette and asked the room with a hint of deep doubt, "The interconnected barriers covering Japan are undoubtedly part of Zenin Mirai's plan... but what is his end goal?"
"To merge humanity with Tengen..." Choso said.
"But all of this is strictly predicated on him having Suguru Geto's Cursed Spirit Manipulation technique to force the assimilation."
Yes!
To create an ultimate monster synthesized from the Cursed Energy of hundreds of millions of people in Japan, the art of manipulating Cursed Spirits was an absolutely indispensable step!
"Uncertain!"
Kusakabe bit down hard into the lollipop in his mouth, his expression grim. "Didn't Maki say that Naoya Zenin went from being a Sorcerer to a Vengeful Cursed Spirit?"
"White Zetsu specifically rescued that Cursed Spirit from Maki. He also took Yorozu, who was seriously injured and on the verge of death, away from the battlefield."
"I don't think that monster from the Zenin clan would care about salvaging that little bit of extra combat power unless he specifically needed them for the future."
Angel chimed in, her voice echoing from Hana's cheek. "Perhaps that guy has some hidden cards or ancient Cursed Techniques we don't know about yet."
"According to the information you've all provided me, Zenin Mirai's tactical mind will be fundamentally different from that of the Fallen."
"Whether it was infiltrating your Jujutsu High as a teacher or meticulously hiding his true strength all along..."
"Besides his absolute superiority in raw combat power, he also possesses a scheming intellect that is no less dangerous than Kenjaku's!"
Kusakabe sighed deeply, rubbing his temples. "We have absolutely no idea how many more tricks that monster has up his sleeve."
"Do your best, prepare for the worst, and leave the rest to fate."
"At least for now... the food and drink have been prepared, and the ingredients have been carefully selected to keep us all alive!"
...
After listening to Uraume's report regarding Gojo Satoru's unsealing status, Sukuna—who had completely taken control of Megumi's body—let out a cold laugh.
"That guy won't die so easily."
Unable to personally find and kill Tsumiki using Megumi Fushiguro's body (since she was taken by White Zetsu), the vessel itself had still retained some stubborn consciousness and resistance.
Because of this, Sukuna soaked in the toxic Bath potion for a full seven days before Megumi's soul was completely and utterly silenced beneath the evil.
After changing into the traditional undergarments prepared by Uraume, Sukuna walked step by step toward the mummified corpse placed by the bath.
Uraume, with a deeply respectful expression, presented a silk handkerchief they were holding with both hands.
"I am sorry, my Lord, but I haven't been able to find your last finger anywhere."
The open handkerchief revealed three menacing, dried fingers lying quietly inside.
Sukuna swallowed each finger one by one, bringing his total to nineteen, and said calmly, "Don't worry about it. I have a pretty good idea where the last finger is."
"It must be that Gojo Satoru deliberately hid one finger away in order to indefinitely postpone Yuji Itadori's execution by the higher-ups."
Sukuna had also briefly speculated that Zenin Mirai might be holding it behind his back, but ultimately rejected the idea.
Because...
That guy is already strong enough. He doesn't need to play keep-away with my power.
Sukuna removed the mummified head of the desiccated corpse (Sokushinbutsu) in front of him and casually swallowed it whole.
This thing can make up for the Cursed Energy difference of the last finger.
Feeling the ever-increasing, absolute power surging within him... Sukuna had finally returned to his absolute peak state from a thousand years ago.
"Let's go. It's time to get back at him for the humiliation we left behind."
Sukuna's eyes were blazing with an unholy fighting spirit!
Having returned to his peak, Sukuna couldn't wait to head straight to the center of the barrier to find Mirai.
...
At the exact same time.
A blinding holy light from Angel's Jacob's Ladder fell from the sky, crashing down directly onto the unique Cursed Object lying securely in the center of the ruins.
Under the holy, purifying light, the back of the Prison Realm completely vanished into thin air.
It had only been a month in the outside world since Gojo Satoru was sealed away after the Shibuya Incident.
However, the flow of physical time inside the Prison Realm was entirely different from that outside. No one knew how long Gojo Satoru had felt he was trapped in that dark, enclosed space. It could have been seconds, or it could have been hundreds of years.
They could not rule out the horrifying possibility that he might have suffered a complete mental breakdown and would go on a blind killing spree upon emerging from his prison.
Everyone stared nervously at the billowing smoke and dust before them, their hearts pounding in their chests.
His striking white hair and deep blue Six Eyes betrayed absolutely no emotion.
He wasn't mentally unstable or screaming as they had feared... but he also completely lacked his usual, cynical, playful smile.
Emerging from the dissipating smoke and dust, Gojo Satoru calmly and silently gazed at the group of students and allies who cared about him.
Seeing the icy, emotionally detached expression on Gojo Satoru's face, Yuta, Panda, Toge, Nobara, and the others pursed their lips, completely unsure of what to say or how to approach him.
Only Yuji Itadori ignored Gojo Satoru's cold aura of keeping people at bay. The boy stepped forward and waved with a bright, genuine smile.
"Welcome back, Gojo-sensei."
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