June 2018.
Sendai City, Miyagi Prefecture. Sugisawa Third High School. Night.
"Ryomen Sukuna's finger... what exactly is that?" Rice Shower asked.
Honestly, being sent on a mission after only about two weeks of exposure to this world made her want to complain a little. But one look at the fact that there were only *two* first-year students in the entire Tokyo Jujutsu High was enough to swallow those complaints whole.
She deeply understood just how incredibly scarce Jujutsu Sorcerers were in Japanese society. Word was that there were only two such schools in all of Japan, and the total student body was roughly ten people, herself included.
With curse disasters occurring so frequently nowadays, it was no wonder even first-years were being deployed on missions.
"You could call it the most infamous Special Grade Cursed Object in existence. They haven't covered that in the first-year curriculum yet?" Megumi Fushiguro frowned, walking ahead of her.
Megumi Fushiguro was Rice Shower's only classmate. He wore the black uniform of Tokyo Jujutsu High, the buttons engraved with the insignia of Jujutsu. He had black hair, but perhaps due to its stiff texture, it spiked outward uncontrollably, looking like he was balancing a sea urchin on his head.
On the surface, he looked like the cool, aloof pretty-boy type, and he did indeed always wear a 'stay away from me' expression. But Rice Shower knew he was actually a very kind person. Whenever she couldn't find a teacher, as long as he was around, he would patiently answer her questions about Jujutsu.
Just like now, as he patiently explained:
"Cursed Objects generally refer to indestructible curses. These curses possess physical forms and can even be observed by the naked eyes of non-sorcerers. They are usually imbued with violently potent cursed power, which in turn acts as a repellent to scatter weaker curses—a practice that, it goes without saying, is a terrible habit from the old days."
Rice Shower responded thoughtfully, "Using a powerful curse to ward off weaker ones... it is an effective method, but it also exposes the location of the powerful curse. Other strong Cursed Spirits might be drawn to it, or if the seal isn't maintained in time, the Cursed Object itself might break free..."
Megumi nodded slightly. "Exactly. And among these Cursed Objects, Ryomen Sukuna's fingers are classified at the absolute highest tier. Forget about the seal breaking—even if the seal is perfectly maintained, the curse radiating from Sukuna's finger will constantly corrupt the outside world. In short, whenever these Special Grade Cursed Objects are discovered, they must be dealt with appropriately."
"Which is why we're here." Megumi concluded.
Rice Shower nodded repeatedly. "Yes, I understand!"
Megumi exhaled slowly, offering a word of comfort. "But there's no need to worry. This finger of Ryomen Sukuna should still be perfectly sealed. As long as we're on time..."
Megumi's words trailed off. He opened the enclosure where Sukuna's finger was supposed to be sealed, and his pupils dilated. "You've gotta be kidding me," he muttered.
Rice Shower craned her neck to look at the sealing location—it was the school's Stevenson screen . Usually, these were radiation-proof enclosures used by meteorological stations to house temperature and air-testing instruments. Using it to enshrine a Special Grade Cursed Object now... honestly, it felt like a morbid joke.
And what was an even more morbid joke—
Rice Shower gulped. "Fushiguro... if a Special Grade Cursed Object goes missing, that's a pretty serious situation, right?"
—was that it was completely empty.
"Serious beyond imagination," Megumi replied, immediately dialing his phone.
Rice Shower suddenly felt a cold breeze. Like a startled deer, she looked around. Before attending Jujutsu High, she never would have noticed it, but now, she could observe the traces of Cursed Energy with her naked eyes. Shifting her visual focus, she saw the environment around them clearly.
She swallowed hard again. "Fushiguro... I think we're surrounded."
Megumi glanced out of the corner of his eye and said casually, "Ignore them."
Just as Rice Shower observed, there were an unexpected number of Cursed Spirits lurking in the school, many of them quite strong. They had likely gathered here, drawn by the presence of Sukuna's finger. However, because of the seal, they could only sense that the finger was *somewhere* nearby but couldn't pinpoint it. As a result, they were aimlessly wandering the grounds, refusing to disperse.
Because there was a powerful source of Cursed Energy keeping them tethered, they wouldn't attack humans until they found that source—unless, of course, someone deliberately provoked them.
Megumi knew the score. These small fry weren't the objective. Once they retrieved and handled Sukuna's finger, these curses would naturally scatter.
And even if they didn't, dealing with them later wouldn't be an issue.
"Yo, Megumi. How'd the mission go?" Gojo's voice suddenly rang out from the phone.
"Terrible." Megumi had absolutely no intention of making small talk and immediately reported the situation. "When we arrived, the Special Grade Cursed Object was already gone. The Stevenson screen is empty."
"Huh? Seriously? The Special Grade Cursed Object vanished? That's hilarious! Ahahaha!"
*I'm going to punch you.*
"Don't come back until you recover it," Gojo said mercilessly.
*Next time I see him, I'm definitely punching him,* Megumi thought seriously.
"F-Fushiguro..." Rice Shower stammered, trembling.
"It was probably taken by some kids at the school who didn't know any better," Gojo mused. "Isn't that how kids are these days? Always into morbid stuff and chasing urban legends. Go check if the school has an Occult Club or something similar. If they do, they're probably the ones who took it."
Megumi nodded inwardly. That was exactly what he was thinking. Unlike the old days, where the elderly passed down taboos and both youth and children obeyed them—a rigid and unsympathetic tradition, but one that effectively reduced the manifestation of curses in a world with real supernatural dangers—modern youths didn't listen to such warnings. Thrill-seeking was deeply ingrained in them. They willingly sought out dangerous occult phenomena to prove their uniqueness and courage.
"F-F-Fushiguro..." Rice Shower's voice pitched up, sounding like the prelude to a terrified scream.
"Can I ask the school administration for help?" Megumi asked, frowning in thought. "Maybe during the day, I can just walk in and ask—"
"Do not expose the existence of the Jujutsu world. Other than that, do whatever you want," Gojo said flippantly.
"Are you joking? You think I can just stroll into the principal's office, make up some random excuse, and expect them to cooperate?" Megumi's anger quietly simmered. "I need at least *one* believable excuse, right? With empty words, I won't even make it past the front gate security!"
"If you want to complain, take it up with the higher-ups," Gojo said, once again displaying the cold ruthlessness of adults, casually exploiting his student. "You know the rules. I don't care either way, but if it's you, they won't show any mercy. You wouldn't want to be unable to afford your sister's hospital bills, would you?"
"That's enough!" Megumi wanted nothing more than to hang up right then and there.
"FUSHIGURO!"
Rice Shower's voice finally cracked. She backed up frantically until her spine slammed into Megumi. Megumi looked over at her in irritation, but suddenly, his annoyed expression froze, locked in place like a statue in a museum.
On the other end of the line, Gojo spoke up, sounding as though he had just remembered something. "Oh, right. If the Special Grade Cursed Object is missing, you guys need to be careful. Rice Shower's constitution is a bit unique. She's the type that easily draws the greedy gazes of Curses. If they can't find the source of the curse—the Special Grade object—they might just decide to use Rice Shower as a substitute meal."
Megumi roared, "YOU'RE TELLING ME THIS TOO LATE!"
At that exact moment, the shifting, shadowy forms of the Cursed Spirits fully encircled Megumi and Rice Shower. Cold sweat poured down Rice Shower's forehead. She raised her fists, having no idea what stance to take to fight them off. This was her first real combat scenario. The tension made her emotions wildly unstable, and panic nearly swallowed her whole, especially with so many curses glaring at her with ravenous, bloodshot eyes.
Megumi hung up the phone and formed the shadow-puppet hand sign.
He spoke with icy calm. "Perfect timing. Rice Shower, it's time for your live-combat lesson."
"I heard everything on the phone! This isn't a lesson, it's a completely unexpected disaster!" Rice Shower shrieked pitifully, tears threatening to spill from her massive eyes. "You said this was just going to be a simple retrieval mission! How did it turn into this?!"
"Get used to it. This is the daily life of a Jujutsu Sorcerer," Megumi said, controlling his breathing.
Finally, one of the Cursed Spirits surrounding them lost its patience and charged at them with a vicious roar.
Megumi unleashed the technique he had already prepped, roaring with all his might:
"Combat start! Let's go—Divine Dog!"
The shadow beneath Megumi's feet violently stretched, and leaping forth from the darkness was a massive white hound. The Ten Shadows Technique: Divine Dog!
Divine Dog snapped its jaws wide and bit into the charging Curse. The immense bite force nearly snapped the creature in half. The Curse let out a mangled, bizarre shriek, but a split-second later, the sound was snuffed out. Megumi stepped forward, channeling Cursed Energy into his fist, and smashed the Curse. It violently exploded like a popped balloon.
Amidst the splattering gore, Megumi calmly assessed their surroundings.
He silently counted the number of Curses, shocked to realize there were over thirty of them. Most were Grade 3, but there were Grade 2 Curses hiding among the swarm. It was incredibly rare for this many Curses to gather in one place, as Curses adhered to a strict hierarchy of strength. In the presence of a powerful source of Cursed Energy, weaker Curses typically wouldn't dare loiter.
But the magnetic pull of Sukuna's finger had shattered that tacit hierarchy. A massive swarm of Curses had congregated, searching frantically, driven by the desperate desire to evolve.
These Curses, driven purely by instinct, were now eyeing them like starving predators.
Originally, the Curses were locked onto Rice Shower, but the moment Megumi and Divine Dog retaliated, the entire swarm snapped their attention toward him.
"Huuu." Megumi exhaled slowly, retaking his stance.
Less than a second of silence passed before the Curses rioted!
The swarm shrieked and rushed Megumi in a chaotic stampede. There was zero coordination; they simply threw themselves forward, but their sheer numbers made up for it. They lunged like two folding fans snapping shut on each other, crushing and hindering one another in the center, yet they didn't hesitate for a second. It was a tsunami of bodies.
Without warning, Megumi dropped completely out of their line of sight, crouching so low his chest practically brushed the ground. Taking a deep breath, he flared his Cursed Energy—and exploded upward!
He slid underneath the crushing waves of the Curses, thrusting his Cursed Energy-infused fists upward as the swarm sailed over him. His split-second reaction allowed him to entirely evade the initial wave of the stampede, and he took the opportunity to exorcise two or three Curses in the process.
Divine Dog crashed head-on into the swarm. The white Shikigami slammed into them with all its might, instantly becoming buried beneath a mound of Curses. Countless cursed hands grabbed and tore at the dog, making it yelp from the sheer tearing force, but it didn't rip apart. Withstanding the pressure, it opened its jaws and viciously bit back.
Megumi delivered a sweeping kick, sending one Curse crashing into another. In the blink of an eye, the tsunami-like assault lost its momentum.
At the end of the day, they were just mindless beasts. No, worse than beasts—a pack of wild animals knew how to coordinate. These things only knew how to charge like a tidal wave. Once they survived the first rush, the Curses would end up getting in each other's way, allowing them to be picked off one by one.
Suddenly, Megumi's eyes widened. A Grade 2 Curse that had been lying in wait among the Grade 3s finally bared its fangs. But its target wasn't Megumi. It was Rice Shower!
This cunning Grade 2 was a serpentine Curse. It had slithered through the center of the horde, advancing slowly. When Megumi intercepted the main group, it didn't try to ambush him. Its target had remained fixated the entire time: Rice Shower. It only wanted her.
And now, its chance had come. With Megumi bogged down by the swarm, Rice Shower was left completely wide open. The Curse coiled and launched itself, its snake-like body springing forward like a viper on the hunt. In an instant, the serpent's maw was right in front of Rice Shower's face, venomous fangs bared, snapping down to bite.
Rice Shower screamed. Megumi's eyes nearly bulged out of his skull.
"RICE SHOWER!"
The next instant, the serpent's mouth exploded.
Amidst her screaming, Rice Shower tore the Grade 2 Curse to pieces.
Megumi froze.
He saw it clearly. Rice Shower hadn't possessed any conscious thought of attacking or defending. While screaming, she simply threw her hands up in front of her face. The serpent's jaws clamped down on her hands, the venomous fangs guaranteeing a lethal injection of poison.
But the Grade 2 Curse's fangs couldn't even pierce Rice Shower's skin!
A howling tempest of Cursed Energy erupted outward with Rice Shower at the epicenter. It coated the surface of her body, flowing seamlessly over her smooth, pale skin. This was the most rudimentary form of Cursed Energy reinforcement—the absolute basic manipulation drilled into first-years at Jujutsu High.
In her panic, Rice Shower simply squeezed her hands.
This, too, was first-year curriculum: reinforcing physical strength with Cursed Energy.
But even Megumi couldn't reinforce his entire body at once. He had to carefully manage every drop of Cursed Energy in his reserves, calmly analyzing the battlefield and distributing his energy with extreme tactical precision. That was how he fought.
But right now, for the first time, he was witnessing how a Sorcerer with an utterly monstrous pool of Cursed Energy fought.
She crushed them with sheer, unadulterated mass!
Screaming in sheer terror, Rice Shower unleashed her Cursed Energy, instinctively applying full-body reinforcement! The Grade 2 Curse's full-power ambush couldn't even bite through her passive defense. Her counterattack was as simple as a baby snapping a brittle string. She grabbed the Grade 2 Curse with both hands and violently pulled outward.
The Grade 2 Curse was literally ripped in half, exactly like a snapped string. Howling in agony, it dissolved into cursed residue.
Megumi instantly recalled what Gojo had told him when he pawned Rice Shower off on him.
"Don't worry about Rice Shower," Gojo had said. "I mean, I totally believe in your potential, Megumi. But if we're strictly talking about right now? Without a doubt, Rice Shower is stronger. A lot stronger. So much stronger that you might actually get jealous."
Megumi's mouth twitched.
*I see. So this is the potential to become a Special Grade Sorcerer that Gojo-sensei was talking about? Yeah, I completely understand now.*
He took a deep breath and roared abruptly, "Rice Shower! Calm down!"
Dizzy and disoriented, Rice Shower lowered her hands. The residue of the Grade 2 Curse still clung to her fingers. She couldn't even believe she had just killed an actively attacking Curse so effortlessly. This wasn't a textbook scenario; this was a living, breathing curse.
When the Curse lunged, she had been swallowed by terror, but now...
*It... actually wasn't a big deal?*
*Is this body, modified by Mr. Mahito, really this powerful...?*
Snapped back to reality by Megumi's shout, she hastily replied, "Y-Yes! Yes, Fushiguro! I'm fine! I'm actually fine!"
"You're babbling! Calm the hell down! That Curse couldn't even scratch you, haven't you realized that yet?!" Megumi yelled again. This time, he didn't even turn his head, merely continuously reinforcing his fists to batter the Curses in front of him. Divine Dog had returned to his side, and working in perfect sync, the pack of over thirty Curses couldn't even get close to him.
"Huh? Right, I need to calm down, I need to calm down," Rice Shower gasped for air.
"Right now!" Megumi roared while throwing a punch. "You see the swarm of Curses in front of you?"
"Y-Yes?"
"Kill them," Megumi ordered.
"Eh...? Eh?! M-Me?!" Rice Shower froze.
Deliberately, Megumi let a few Curses slip past him. Realizing they couldn't land a hit on Megumi, these Curses immediately shifted their sights back to Rice Shower. After all, compared to Megumi, she was their actual target; they had only attacked Megumi out of instinct because he was actively harming them. Now that he wasn't engaging them, they naturally locked back onto Rice Shower.
Rice Shower's face turned completely green. "I-I can't do this!"
"Now," Megumi repeated firmly. "Kill them."
A segment of the swarm broke off and surged toward Rice Shower.
And amidst her sobbing, Rice Shower tore them limb from limb!
Sayonara!