Tokyo in July was deep in the middle of the rainy season.
Relentless downpours swept across the steel jungle, while the sky hung low under heavy, leaden clouds that made the air feel suffocating.
Inside the living room of a luxury villa in Chiyoda Ward,
Toji Fushiguro walked in from outside, casually tossing his dripping black umbrella onto the mat by the entrance.
He headed straight to the bar, pulled a cold can of beer from the fridge, popped it open with one hand, and took a long swig.
"Boss. Those old geezers at Jujutsu Headquarters are up to something again."
Toji wiped the water from his chin and looked at Rin, who sat on a leather sofa flipping through an ancient book.
"A Cursed Womb has appeared above the Eishu Juvenile Detention Center in West Tokyo. According to the 'Window' observations, there's a high chance it'll develop into a Special Grade Imaginary Cursed Spirit."
He let out a sneer, his tone full of mockery.
"Guess what? Jujutsu Headquarters actually assigned this job to three first-years who've been enrolled for less than a month. One of them is my useless son, Megumi, as you know. Another is that pink punk, Itadori Yuji, the kid carrying Ryomen Sukuna you fought that day."
Rin closed the ancient book and casually tossed it onto the coffee table.
"Killing with a borrowed knife."
He leaned back against the sofa, tapping his fingers lightly on the armrest.
"Gojo Satoru isn't in Tokyo right now, is he?"
"He's away on business. It's obvious the higher-ups are using his absence to push Sukuna's vessel into a death trap. If Itadori Yuji dies at the hands of a Special Grade Cursed Spirit, they'll have a perfectly legitimate reason to eliminate a major threat."
Toji shrugged.
"As for my son and that other girl, they're nothing but expendable collateral in their eyes."
Such underhanded tactics were nothing new in the corrupt jujutsu world.
"A Special Grade Cursed Spirit… and Sukuna's finger."
Rin stood up, walked to the floor-to-ceiling window, and looked out at the pouring rain.
A month had passed since their first encounter in Sendai City.
During that time, Itadori Yuji had been taken back to Jujutsu High by Gojo Satoru and had officially become a jujutsu sorcerer.
Meanwhile, Kenjaku had remained completely silent, as if he didn't exist at all.
After staying idle for so long, it was time to move.
"Let's go, Toji." Rin put on his usual black outfit. "Let's see what this so-called Special Grade Cursed Spirit is made of."
…
At the same time, in West Tokyo, at the Eishu Juvenile Detention Center,
rain poured over rusted barbed wire, and a nauseating, metallic stench filled the air.
Inside the building, the dim corridors stretched endlessly.
"Run! Fushiguro! Take Kugisaki and get out of here!"
Itadori Yuji leaned against the cold wall, gasping for breath.
His left wrist was gone. Blood poured from the clean-cut stump, spreading across the floor in dark red puddles.
Just minutes earlier, the three of them had stepped into the Innate Domain that had formed from the Cursed Womb.
There had been no warning, no time to react.
The pale Special Grade Cursed Spirit, wearing a grotesque smile, had simply waved its hand, and Yuji's physical toughness meant nothing. His entire left hand was severed in an instant.
Kugisaki Nobara had already fallen into an unknown abyss. Whether she was alive or dead was unclear.
Fushiguro Megumi stood a few steps away, his body rigid.
Even the Divine Dogs he had summoned did not dare to growl under the creature's pressure.
The difference between them was absolute.
In front of this Special Grade Cursed Spirit, these inexperienced rookies weren't even worthy of being prey.
"I'll hold it off! Once you find Kugisaki, get out of here immediately! As soon as you're outside, I'll let Sukuna take over my body!"
Yuji roared at Fushiguro Megumi, forcing himself to endure the unbearable pain.
Megumi clenched his teeth, his nails digging into his palms.
He knew this was their only chance.
He looked at Yuji one last time.
"You have to survive."
With that, Fushiguro Megumi turned and rushed deeper into the corridor to search for his missing teammate.
After confirming that Megumi had left, Itadori Yuji took a deep breath and faced the monster floating before him, its gaze filled with mockery.
"Come on, you bastard."
Itadori clenched his remaining right hand, gathering the faint trace of Cursed Energy within his body around his fist.
The Special Grade Cursed Spirit let out a shrill, twisted laugh. A sphere of dense, purple-black Cursed Energy condensed at its fingertips, distorting the surrounding space from the sheer pressure.
It had no intention of engaging in close combat with a broken human. It would simply obliterate this insect in the most direct way possible.
"Sukuna! Come out!"
Itadori shouted desperately within his mind, trying to relinquish control of his body.
But deep in his consciousness, the voice of the King of Curses responded with cruel amusement.
I refuse. Even if you die here, at most this fragment of my soul will disappear with you. But before that, I want to watch you get torn apart… to see that look of despair on your face.
His heart sank.
Itadori's eyes widened as he watched the purple-black sphere, powerful enough to reduce him to nothing, hurtling toward him.
Death closed in completely.
At that critical moment...
Buzz—~~!
The air in the corridor trembled unnaturally.
The space in front of Itadori seemed to be forcibly ripped apart by unseen hands.
A pitch-black vortex, its edges warped and rippling, suddenly opened before him.
Kamui.
The unstoppable sphere of Special Grade Cursed Energy made no sound as it struck the vortex and vanished, swallowed whole into another dimension.
The vortex closed.
A tall figure in a black trench coat stood in front of Itadori Yuji.
Leather boots stepped into the blood-streaked water with a crisp sound.
"It's been a month. How did you end up in such a pathetic state, kid?"
Rin kept one hand in his pocket, tilting his head slightly as he glanced at Itadori's severed left hand, his tone casual, almost teasing.
Itadori stared blankly at the man who had appeared out of nowhere, his mind going momentarily blank.
"I-it's you! The guy who saved me on the school rooftop!"
He immediately recognized this terrifying man, the one who had forced even Ryomen Sukuna into submission.
The suffocating sense of death that had gripped him moments ago vanished the instant he saw Rin.
"Don't go calling me that. Move aside, your blood's getting on my shoes."
Rin looked away from him and raised his gaze to the Special Grade Cursed Spirit hovering in the air.
It resembled a human form, yet had no distinct gender, its twisted smile unsettling and unnatural.
From its chest, a faint aura of a Special Grade cursed object could be felt. It was Ryomen Sukuna's finger.
The moment its attack was neutralized without explanation, the twisted smile on the Special Grade Cursed Spirit's face vanished.
It could not sense any Cursed Energy from Rin, yet every instinct within it screamed in warning.
"Gah-ga-ga-ahhh!"
With a furious roar, its figure disappeared from sight.
It moved twice as fast as when it had severed Itadori's arm, its claws tearing through the air as they shot toward Rin's throat.
___
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