The morning sun filtered through the gaps between Tokyo's high-rise buildings, falling on a corner of a relatively quiet commercial street.
Yuji Itadori stood on the roadside, looking somewhat nervously at the man before him, whose demeanor was completely different.
Kento Nanami. Around 30 years old, over 1.8 meters tall, dressed in a well-tailored and neatly pressed dark gray suit, a dark red tie, light hair neatly styled, and unusual frameless glasses on his face. He stood upright, holding a leather briefcase that looked expensive, his whole figure exuding a calm, capable, yet strongly weary, elite atmosphere.
A Grade 1 sorcerer, a native of the Seven Seas. He graduated from the Tokyo Jujutsu High, is a junior of Satoru Gojo, and after graduation, he once left the jujutsu world to become an ordinary company employee, then later returned for some reason. His technique is related to "division" and "ratios," allowing him to precisely cut the length or weak point of a target at the precise point of "7:3," an extremely efficient and deadly combat style.
But even more famous than his strength is his life credo: "Work is shit, and sorcerers are shit."
For him, whether it's the work of an ordinary office worker or a sorcerer, it's essentially disgusting, distorted "labor." Yet he also has a strong sense of responsibility and principle, especially a desire to protect the "saplings that haven't yet grown"—meaning young sorcerers and juniors. This contradiction constitutes his unique work style: while openly expressing his disgust for his job, he can perform tasks with astonishing professionalism and efficiency, ensuring that newcomers receive the deserved training and protection.
"Yuji Itadori, right?" Kento Nanami adjusted his frameless glasses, his gaze behind the lenses calmly sweeping over Itadori, his tone businesslike, devoid of any emotion. "Satoru and Lord Zen'in Genji have mentioned you. You'll be following me on this mission. The main objectives are to familiarize yourself with the process of general curse exorcism missions, intelligence gathering, contact with 'windows' and ordinary people, and also..."
He paused. "Learn to control your power during missions, reduce damage to the ordinary environment, and lessen the difficulty of aftermath cleanup. Understood?"
"Yes, Nanami-senpai! Please take care of me!" Itadori immediately straightened his back and answered loudly, his face full of seriousness.
Nanami sighed almost imperceptibly.
"Another young man full of unnecessary enthusiasm. Aside from appearances, he's no different from Haibara. Those two would probably get along."
The only reassuring thing was that this teenager's strength was not to be underestimated. Having been taught by Satoru Gojo and Zen'in Genji, two super-powerful instructors, his power naturally couldn't be judged lightly, and it was said he had also broken the record of four consecutive Black Flashes left by him.
He said nothing more, turned, and headed towards their destination, his pace neither fast nor slow, precise as a clock. Itadori hurriedly followed.
The mission location was a medium-sized cinema on the edge of a commercial district.
A cordon had been set up at the entrance, and several uniformed police officers with serious expressions stood outside, a heavy atmosphere hanging in the air. Several assistant supervisors in "window" uniforms were negotiating with the police and visibly relaxed upon seeing Nanami and Itadori's arrival.
"Mr. Nanami, this way," an assistant supervisor approached and lowered his voice. "The situation... is a bit strange. Not an ordinary cursed spirit attack."
Nanami nodded, signaling Itadori to follow.
They crossed the cordon and entered the cinema. Inside was dimly lit, only emergency lights on, and the sweet, buttery smell of popcorn in the air had been replaced by an extremely faint but nauseating smell of sweetness and decay. They were led to the innermost screening room. The corridor door was wide open, the room pitch black inside, only light from the corridor slanting in, barely revealing shapes. Several "window" investigators and forensics personnel wore masks, surrounding an area on the floor in front of the screen.
When Nanami and Itadori approached and clearly saw what lay on the floor, even Nanami's concentration broke, his brows instantly furrowing. Itadori inhaled sharply, his stomach churning.
On the floor lay three "corpses" side by side.
But they could hardly be called "human" corpses. Generally maintaining the outline of a human with a head, torso, and limbs, their limbs were twisted into extremely unnatural postures, like dolls twisted by a hedgehog. Their skin had taken on a dull gray, as if all life was lost, the surface covered in uneven bumps and folds, like overgrown and wrinkled roots. Their facial features were severely distorted and displaced, mouths stretched into improbable smiles, leaving only two black holes where eyes should be, within which something seemed to slowly squirm, viscous and sticky.
The strangest thing was their torsos and limbs. Some parts were abnormally swollen, others so thin they seemed ready to snap, their proportions completely unbalanced, as if randomly glued together with Play-Doh in different ratios.
Yet in this extremely distorted, inhuman form, traces of their former "humanity" could be vaguely seen—remnants of clothing fragments, a faded cheap ring on one hand, a broken necklace hanging from the neck of another "corpse"...
Was this done by a cursed spirit?
"No visible trauma, no blood loss. Vital signs were completely absent when they were discovered," the "window" investigator reported quietly. "Time of death cannot be determined. Residual cursed energy is very faint, but highly contagious. Ordinary personnel who came into contact with them experienced mild mental disorientation and nausea. The scene has been cleaned."
Kento Nanami was silent. He walked over to the "corpses," crouched down. He didn't touch them with his hands, but carefully observed the distorted textures and unusual proportions. After a moment, he raised his hand and adjusted his frameless glasses—a gesture he made with a unique expression, as if confirming some kind of "boundary" or "ratio."
He stood up and scanned the entire screening room with a sharp gaze. "Any witnesses? What about surveillance?"
"No witnesses. Surveillance... in this screening room last night, the equipment 'malfunctioned.' Other areas didn't capture any abnormal people entering or leaving. It's as if..." The investigator paused. "As if someone or something specifically chose this time and place."
Nanami asked no more. He closed his eyes, as if sensing something. After a few seconds, he opened them and looked towards the corridor leading to the staff break room and equipment room at the end of the screening hall.
"Itadori," he gestured. "Follow me. Be careful. The trajectory of the 'residue' left by the cursed energy spreads there. The sorcerer, or whatever caused all this, might not have gone far, or left something behind."
Itadori immediately nodded, cursed energy quietly flowing through his body, and alertly followed Nanami. They walked forward along the dimly lit corridor. The further they went, the more noticeable the sweet, rotten smell mixed with the "dirty" cursed energy became, the air growing more humid and murky.
Just as they passed a corner where cleaning supplies were stored—
Roooar—!
Hiss—!
Several dark shadows—from both sides of the corridor and the ventilation duct in the ceiling—pounced silently and swiftly! The target was Nanami, who was leading!
These were also humanoid beings, but unlike the three "corpses" outside, these seemed "incomplete" or "active." Their skin was also gray and distorted, their limb proportions strange, but their movements were surprisingly fast! Some had their arms detached, forming spiky bone blades; some had mouths split to the base of their ears, revealing intertwined fangs; some had lower limbs bent backward, jumping like insects!
Their eyes flickered with a murky red light, full of pain and madness, their bodies radiating chaotic cursed energy fluctuations of the same origin as the corpses outside.
The sudden attack came out of nowhere and from cunning angles. But Kento Nanami seemed to have expected it, and didn't even break his stride. He didn't look back; his free left hand swung back casually.
Thud! Thud!
Two soft sounds. The heads of two monsters were instantly severed from their bodies, the cuts smooth as mirrors. Their pounce froze, then they weakly rolled to the ground.
But monsters were appearing from all directions! It seemed they had no intelligence, only an instinct to attack, but there were quite a few, and they were fearless of death.
"Itadori, clean them up," Nanami continued walking forward along the path, his voice flat, fully entrusting the enemies behind him to Itadori.
"Yes!" Itadori's eyes sharpened. Instead of fear, he felt a wave of anger rising from the tragic scene he had just witnessed, not afraid of the swarm of twisted monsters. He pushed off the ground, his body like a tiger pouncing from its lair, crashing straight into the group of monsters!
Bang! Bang! Crack!
The dull sounds of fists and feet hitting flesh, and the clear sound of breaking bones echoed in the narrow corridor. Itadori's movements were simple and swift. After the hellish training from Genji, his combat instincts and power control had reached a new level.
Without using Rasengan, each strike was powerful—just his fists and feet covered in cursed energy, precisely hitting the vitals (if they still had any) or joints of these monsters.
With one punch, three monsters were blasted away, slamming into the wall. With a side kick, he sent another monster's waist flying, its upper body spiraling away, knocking over a row of lockers. With a back elbow, he smashed the head of a monster that had pounced from above...
The battle ended in just over a dozen seconds. Seven or eight monster corpses lay on the ground, still twitching slightly. Itadori shook off a sticky, gray, flesh-like fluid that resembled blood and rotting tissue from his hands, breathing slightly heavily, but his eyes remained sharp.
Relaxing. This is so relaxing. These monsters look horrible, but their actual combat effectiveness is probably that of a strong Grade 3 or quasi-Grade 2 cursed spirit—not a threat to him.
But at that moment, Kento Nanami, who had been watching the battle situation and the monster remains, suddenly stopped. "Huh?" He turned back, walked over to a monster whose chest Itadori had caved in but was still twitching slightly, crouched down, and carefully examined it.
His expression grew even more serious than when he had first seen the three "corpses."
"Something's wrong," Nanami said in a deep voice.
"What's wrong, Nanami-senpai?" Itadori approached.
"Look," Nanami pointed to the monster remains on the ground, which were gradually ceasing their twitching. "After being exorcised, they didn't dissipate into cursed energy like cursed spirits."
Itadori was stunned, then noticed. Yes, ordinary cursed spirits, no matter how weak, would quickly turn into black smoke or light spots of cursed energy and dissipate after exorcism, returning to the world. But these monsters on the ground, though they had lost their activity, still existed as "corpses," gradually losing temperature and excreting more and more gray bodily fluids.
"This is..." A foreboding feeling arose in Itadori's heart.
Nanami didn't explain, but quickly took a precise, palm-sized cursed tool that resembled a portable scanner from his briefcase and scanned one of the relatively intact monster corpses. The data on the tool's screen changed rapidly.
After a few moments, the scan was complete. Nanami looked at the final analysis results on the screen, and even with his composure, his breathing briefly became slightly faster. He took off his frameless glasses and frowned deeply, as if digesting an extremely unpleasant fact. Then he put his glasses back on, looked at Itadori, and his voice was as cold as a Siberian wind:
"Initial rapid DNA sequencing and vital characteristic analysis show..."
He paused and delivered the horrifying conclusion word by word:
"These humanoid monsters... their genetic sequences strongly match those of humans. No, to be more precise, they were human before. They are victims of a powerful and evil technique that forcibly distorts, transforms, and causes them to lose their self-awareness and human form."
Itadori's pupils sharply contracted. A chill instantly ran from the soles of his feet to the top of his head, nearly freezing his blood.
Human... These monsters, these cursed and terrifying beings... were originally human?!
Who is this?! What kind of sorcerer or cursed spirit could commit such a conscience-blaspheming, desecrating act?! Turning living people into these twisted, murderous monsters?!
Thinking of the three distorted corpses outside, Itadori felt only a burning anger mixed with a cold nausea exploding in his chest!
Suddenly, he looked up towards the direction from which the darkness and cursed filth in the depths of the corridor emanated, his blue eyes burning with an unprecedented, cold determination.
"Nanami-senpai!" Itadori's voice was slightly hoarse from anger, but unusually firm. "We... must find the bastard who did this! Exorcise him! Stop him! We can't let him hurt anyone else!"