"Too slow."
A split second before the claws could reach him, Rin's right hand flashed out of his pocket like lightning.
Snap.
A dull, crushing sound.
His fingers clamped down on the Cursed Spirit's face, crushing its pale features within his grip.
Its terrifying forward momentum came to a dead stop in mid-air.
"This is what you call a Special Grade?"
Rin looked at the creature struggling in his grasp, thrashing wildly as it tried to attack him, a trace of disappointment flickering in his eyes.
"Other than barely acceptable speed, your strength is pathetic. Not even as good as a wild boar."
"Awooo!"
The Special Grade Cursed Spirit frantically gathered its Cursed Energy, trying to release a point-blank blast to blow Rin's arm apart.
Rin gave it no such chance.
"Be still."
He tightened his grip.
A majestic emerald-green light, brimming with vitality and creation, burst from his palm.
Yang Release Chakra.
Cursed Energy was born from pure negative emotion, while Yang Release represented the purest form of life energy.
When these two opposing forces collided, it was like oil thrown onto flame.
Sizzle—!
A piercing scream echoed through the corridor.
The emerald-green Yang Release surged violently from Rin's hand into the Special Grade Cursed Spirit's body.
The negative Cursed Energy that made up its body began to collapse under the assault of that vibrant force.
In just three seconds, this Special Grade Cursed Spirit, which had driven Itadori Yuji to despair and could easily slaughter a Grade 1 sorcerer, was forcibly purified into a puddle of foul black liquid in Rin's hand.
Clang.
A shriveled, dark red finger wrapped in talismans dropped into the liquid with a sharp sound.
Instant death.
No drawn-out battle, no spectacle.
Rin released his grip, brushed off his hand, and bent down to pick up Sukuna's finger.
Behind him, Itadori Yuji stood frozen.
He knew this man was strong, but strength on this level went far beyond anything he could comprehend.
That was a Special Grade Cursed Spirit. Their entire team had been helpless against it. Yet in Rin's hands, it didn't even last three seconds.
"Kid."
Rin turned and tossed the withered finger toward Itadori.
"Eat it."
Yuji fumbled as he caught it, swallowing nervously. "Just… like that? What if Sukuna comes out again?"
"He won't."
Rin's gaze settled on Yuji's cheek. The faint outline of a hexagram flickered in his eyes as his sight pierced through flesh and directly into the soul within.
"Isn't that right, Ryomen Sukuna?"
A mouth lined with sharp fangs suddenly split open on the side of Yuji's face.
Sukuna's voice emerged, filled with suppressed anger, but lacking his earlier arrogance.
"Don't get carried away… you bastard. Once I gather all twenty fingers—"
"So what if you do?"
Rin cut him off. He stepped forward and patted Yuji on the shoulder, though his words were clearly directed at the one inside.
"If you say one more word, I'll twist this kid's head off right now. You won't even get the chance to come back."
The mouth on Yuji's cheek snapped shut instantly and vanished.
Silence.
Seeing this, Itadori Yuji's admiration for Rin surged to a whole new level.
The King of Curses, who constantly ranted in his head about killing, had actually been silenced with a single sentence.
At that moment, hurried footsteps echoed from the end of the corridor.
Toji Fushiguro strode in, carrying the unconscious Kugisaki Nobara over his shoulder, with Fushiguro Megumi following behind him.
Seeing the black liquid covering the corridor and Rin and Yuji standing unharmed, Toji grinned.
"Boss, you're quick. I just pulled people out from below, and you've already taken care of the Special Grade."
Rin glanced at Kugisaki Nobara on Toji's shoulder.
"Everyone's here. Let's go. The air in this place reeks."
...
Whirl! whirl~!
On a remote street in West Tokyo, the rain had already stopped. The glow of the streetlights reflected dimly in the puddles.
With a faint ripple of distorted space, a pitch-black vortex opened in mid-air.
Rin stepped out first, his leather boots splashing lightly against the pooled water.
Behind him, Yuji, Megumi, and Toji, carrying Nobara, followed one after another.
The moment they landed, the tension in Itadori Yuji's body finally snapped. As the adrenaline faded, the sharp pain from his severed arm hit him all at once, making him stagger.
"Haah… it hurts!"
He clutched his left wrist, his face pale as paper.
Back at the detention center, his hand had been severed at the root during the fight with the Special Grade Cursed Spirit. Though it had been hastily wrapped in cloth, blood was still seeping through.
"Hey, kid, keep bleeding like that and you'll die."
Toji casually set the unconscious Nobara down on a roadside bench, glanced at Itadori, and grinned.
"If you drop dead now, wouldn't all that effort I spent pulling you out go to waste?"
Megumi stepped forward and supported Itadori, immediately pulling out his phone.
"I'll contact Ijichi-san right away and have him take us to Jujutsu High to see Ieiri-san. Reverse Cursed Technique should at least save his life. As for the hand…"
In the jujutsu world, aside from monsters like Sukuna, even Ieiri Shoko, who specialized in Reverse Cursed Technique, would struggle to regenerate a severed limb from nothing.
"No need to go through all that trouble."
Rin turned, his gaze settling on Itadori's blood-soaked wrist.
He walked over, raised his right hand, and held his fingers just above the wound.
"Bear with the itch."
As he spoke, a dense emerald-green light, almost tangible, bloomed in his palm.
Yang Release Chakra.
Under the glow of that life-filled energy, the necrotic tissue around Itadori Yuji's wound rapidly shed away.
Then, a scene that made one's scalp tingle unfolded.
Pale bone extended outward at a visible speed, branching like the growth of a tree.
Blood vessels, nerves, and muscle fibers followed, as if countless invisible hands were weaving them together at incredible speed.
In less than ten seconds,
the green light faded.
A completely intact left hand, its skin even smoother than before, had fully regrown on Itadori's wrist.
"This… how is this possible?!"
Fushiguro Megumi's eyes widened, and his phone slipped from his hand, falling into a puddle with a splash.
He stared at the newly formed hand, his understanding of the world shaken to its core.
Regenerating a severed limb. Not reattaching it, but creating flesh and bone from nothing.
"Move it. See how it feels."
Rin nodded toward Itadori's hand.
Yuji raised it slowly, clenched his fist, then flexed his fingers one by one.
There was no stiffness. If anything, it felt stronger than before.
"It… it grew back! My hand really grew back! That's insane! Uncle, are you some kind of immortal from those webnovel stories?!"
Yuji jumped in excitement, disbelief written all over his face.
"Uncle?"
A vein twitched at Rin's temple as his gaze turned cold.
"Call me that again, and I'll cut it off a second time."
Yuji instantly stiffened, covering his mouth and shaking his head frantically.
___
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