"Sukuna, isn't it a bit unwise to make such a grand spectacle?" A voice came from behind. "Kick up a fuss like this, and who won't know you've been revived?"
"...Kenjaku!!" Hajime Kashimo whipped his head around, grinding his teeth. "You actually dared to play me?!"
Kenjaku, utterly relaxed and unruffled, looked at Hajime Kashimo and grinned. "Where did I deceive you? I fulfilled every part of my contract with you."
"You call that fulfilling it?!"
When it came down to it, it was a play on words once again.
Kenjaku had indeed let Hajime Kashimo meet Sukuna at the appointed time, and would not interfere in the battle between Hajime Kashimo and Sukuna—but the contract clause that "comrades cannot do anything detrimental to one another" had been established at an even earlier point, and was therefore unaffected by this "non-interference in the battle" contract.
Hajime Kashimo had been thoroughly played, and so, his hair bristling with fury, the lightning of his Cursed Energy surged across his body like flames.
Unfortunately, it was useless.
For one month, bound by the contract, he could do nothing.
"Kenjaku." A savage rage surfaced on Hajime Kashimo's face. "In one month, you're a dead man."
And Sukuna—in the form of a blonde girl—shot Hajime Kashimo a glance. "Actually... you didn't need to sign that kind of contract with him at all. Now if I want to kill him, I'll have to wait a whole month—what a hassle."
The one she was addressing was, of course, Kenjaku.
"But we're not as strong as you," Kenjaku said with a beaming smile, spreading his hands. "In any case, a month from now, this guy is all yours."
Sukuna let out a soft chuckle.
"Fine," he said, tilting his head toward Hajime Kashimo. "No need to rush. A month from now, I'll come kill you then."
Hajime Kashimo was indeed strong.
But in Sukuna's eyes, he was nowhere near worth bracing himself for in earnest.
Sukuna strode straight past Hajime Kashimo and headed out of the room.
The boy gnashed his teeth and clenched his fists, but in the end he couldn't follow.
Sukuna, Kenjaku, and Rime—all three turned their backs on him, completely undefended, as if they didn't regard him as worth their notice at all, and walked straight out of the room.
Fresh air rushed into their nostrils.
What met their eyes was a lush, verdant forest.
Sukuna didn't care about his current girlish form. To him, gender and body alike were matters of no consequence.
Manipulating the girl's body, she drew a deep breath, stretched lazily, and smiled with satisfaction. "Ahh—it feels great. I've finally gotten free of that brat's body."
He lifted his eyes to the distance, his smile growing wider.
And more wicked.
"Next, it's time to pick off those detestable fellows, and the ones who provoked me, one by one."
The "detestable fellows" referred to Satoru Gojo; and the one who had provoked him was Mahiru.
He had separately declared to both of them that, once revived, he would kill them.
"But still, Sukuna," Kenjaku, at his side, brought up that earlier point once more, "you really shouldn't be making such a grand spectacle."
Sukuna's revival within Angel's body should have been carried out in secret.
If Satoru Gojo had never found out, Sukuna could have launched a surprise attack, catching him off guard.
But now that he'd let his presence run wild the moment he revived, the sorcerers in the surrounding area would surely all be able to sense it.
The advantage of "the enemy in the light, me in the dark" was utterly gone.
"Because I don't need it." Sukuna smiled, brimming with the utmost confidence. "No one yet is worthy of making me play the part of some scheming rat."
He raised a hand, slowly working his fingers.
He could clearly feel the Cursed Energy that had lain dormant within him for a thousand years now itching for action.
Just as one always stretches after a long sleep, after a revival one naturally has to limber up too.
Could Satoru Gojo and that blue-haired Cursed Spirit, combined, really make him cower?
No.
They couldn't.
No one could.
Sukuna's smile widened further.
Cursed Energy erupted from his body with the roar of a volcano.
"Hey, listen..."
Kenjaku seemed to instantly grasp what Sukuna intended to do, and his mouth twitched. But there was no time to stop him.
Sukuna had already leapt into the air.
The blonde girl let out a demonic peal of laughter, and pitch-black Cursed Energy surged into the sky, in an instant shrouding the entire vast forested mountains in darkness.
"I'm back! World!" she laughed. "Maggots! Are you ready to welcome me?!!"
——[Dismantle].
An overwhelming, sky-blotting [Dismantle].
Sukuna's Technique was divided into two kinds: one was the slashing strike, and the other was the flame that followed the slash.
For Sukuna, who possessed sixteen fingers, unleashing tens of millions of slashes was as simple as ordinary breathing.
Sukuna laughed wildly, and as the oceanic, majestic Cursed Energy churned madly, thousands upon thousands—no, tens of millions, hundreds of millions—of slashes burst forth in a single instant, covering the entire land.
The endless slashes were denser than a raging gale.
In the blink of an eye, the entire space was forcibly separated into countless neat, tiny particles.
There was nowhere to flee.
Nowhere to flee at all.
Ceaseless slashes filled the whole of the space.
Ishiryuu, Urogi, and the others who had been in this forest were so terrified by the colossal slashes that they didn't dare shift from where they stood.
Fortunately, Sukuna's slashes merely grazed past them, allowing them to luckily escape with their lives through this typhoon of slashes.
"Hahahaha..." Sukuna laughed, his laughter echoing through the shattered heaven and earth. "Hahahaha!!——"
So exhilarating!
Truly exhilarating!
The feeling of being unbound was just so exhilarating!
The feeling of being able to do whatever you want—it was truly, truly exhilarating!!——
A little while after the slashes had scoured the ground clean, Ishiryuu, Urogi, and the rest finally dared to move a little.
The lingering force of the slashes still remained in the space; even the clouds in the sky had been sliced to shreds.
And the entire forested mountainside had been cleanly cut into a basin, at the very center of which stood a solid palace.
It turned out that Sukuna's earlier world-destroying strike had been merely to carve himself a palace into the earth.
"Sigh... why are you still so fond of running wild..." Kenjaku, behind him, patted the dust off his clothes, his expression slightly helpless. "Now you've done it—the whole world really does know you've been revived."
The wings behind Sukuna beat, and he slowly descended, smiling with utter contentment. "I already told you, it doesn't matter. Angel's Jujutsu Technique suits me perfectly—there's no way I'll lose after this."
"Satoru Gojo, and that cunning blue-haired Cursed Spirit—you really ought to stay on your guard," Kenjaku advised.
Sukuna pursed his lips, not bothering to respond to him any further, and merely gazed off into the distance.
The storm and dust of the surrounding forest had only just begun to settle when this area was already sprouting many Shikigami and minions used for reconnaissance—there were crows, drones, and even a winged rabbit.
It didn't matter. Let them look.
Sukuna paid these no mind.
Instead, with considerable interest, he locked eyes with that winged rabbit.
He suddenly grew curious about what sort of expression that blue-haired Cursed Spirit would show after seeing him.
That treacherous, scheming creature—what would she do after this?
"I'm going to kill you," Sukuna said to the rabbit, his smile brimming with killing intent. "I absolutely will—I mean what I say."
And far, far away, Mahiru—sitting cross-legged atop a giant rabbit hot-air balloon, having watched Sukuna's whole "getting-out-of-bed tantrum" from start to finish—showed little change in expression.
That Sukuna would appear using Angel as a vessel was something Mahiru had long anticipated, so she wasn't surprised.
She said nothing, flipped down off the hot-air balloon, and landed on the ground.
And on the ground, by the roadside, Fushiguro Maki had just finished throwing up, her complexion awful, gasping for breath in great gulps.
"That thing... is Sukuna?" Fushiguro Maki's face was pale.
"Yes, that's right." Mahiru shrugged. "A blonde beauty, no less."
A moment ago Sukuna and Mahiru had locked eyes, and so that malice and oppressive pressure had been transmitted along their line of sight into this area.
The others could just about hold up, but the jujutsu assistant and Fushiguro—whose own strength wasn't great to begin with—truly couldn't withstand such pressure.
So arrogant.
Kicking up such an enormous commotion the moment he made a move.
Setting aside the matter of his personality, this probably also showed that Sukuna truly wasn't afraid of Satoru Gojo.
Now Sukuna had sixteen fingers, and if he employed certain measures, he could even attain the power of seventeen fingers. But note that, at the same time, within his body he also held Angel's cursed object.
Just how much of a boost the Cursed Energy of this Angel cursed object could bring Sukuna, Mahiru wasn't certain.
She swept a glance over the few people before her—even Jogo included—and everyone's expression was rather grim.
Clearly, Sukuna's terror and power had, to some degree, exceeded their expectations.
Mahiru walked over, patted Jogo on the shoulder, and stroked Fushiguro's head. "Don't worry, we'll just stick to the plan as usual."
"Just as usual?" Doubt had already appeared in Yuji Itadori's eyes.
"Mm, no need to worry too much."
"Sticking to the plan as usual" meant that Gojo would still continue dissolving the black hole.
Tomorrow night, with Satoru Gojo's final release of his Domain, he would fall into Technique Burnout, and at the same time, Mahiru would enter the black hole; Jujutsu High's side would be thrust completely into a disadvantageous position.
Sukuna couldn't be bothered to conceal himself, but that didn't mean he had any moral scruples that demanded a fair duel with his opponent.
With Satoru Gojo weakened and the annoying blue-haired Cursed Spirit absent, Sukuna would absolutely not let this opportunity slip.
Normally speaking, Satoru Gojo shouldn't continue dissolving the black hole after that.
Granted, leaving the black hole sitting where it was would mean it would slowly expand and evolve into yet another catastrophe, but that was still better than exposing a weakness and being cut down clean by Sukuna.
For now, Sukuna remained within the territory he had just carved out for himself, showing no intention of taking the offensive.
Most likely Sukuna, too, figured that Jujutsu High wouldn't proceed according to the original plan, and so was watching to see how things would develop.
But to everyone's surprise, Mahiru showed not the slightest intention of re-planning; her expression was even quite casual:
"That's right. Trust us... just stick to the usual."
Mahiru beckoned to the jujutsu assistant, signaling him to get in the car and drive, then turned and pulled up the half-crouching Fushiguro, heading toward the car door.
"We still have one day. Let's head back—I'll put some final buffs on Itadori, make some last preparations, and then..."
The girl turned her head, and seeing Fushiguro's face written all over with fragility and unease, she couldn't help letting out a laugh, reached out and patted her head again. "And then—let's throw one more party. Before the big battle, let's relax a little more."
When Mahiru said she wanted to throw a party, no one expected that she actually meant it.
After returning to Tokyo with Kinji Hakari and Kirara Hoshi, Mahiru actually managed to wheedle a sum of money out of Satoru Gojo, and threw a party in Jujutsu High's cafeteria.
It wasn't all that elaborate, really—she just bought all sorts of snacks and asked the Jujutsu High chefs to prepare a big spread of delicious food.
But naturally, Itadori, Fushiguro, and the others weren't in high spirits—each of them wore a worried, anxious look.
The same went for Jogo and Hanami. Although Kin-chan didn't know what was going on, he vaguely sensed that the mood was off, and didn't quite loosen up.
The only ones making any noise at the whole party were just the three of them: Mahiru, Todo, and Kinji Hakari.
After the party ended, everyone returned to the several temporary rooms Jujutsu High had provided to rest.
Mahiru, however, went out.
"Naobito Zenin and Mechamaru—I'll leave them both to you." In the infirmary, the jujutsu assistant gave Mahiru a deep bow.
Mahiru waved a hand, said little, and simply unfolded a miniature Domain toward the two life-support hibernation pods.
Mahiru's Idle Transfiguration was the strongest means of healing. She unfolded her Domain and, by means of the guaranteed-hit effect within it, effortlessly healed every one of Mechamaru's and Naobito's injuries.
But unfortunately—both Naobito and Mechamaru, having been trapped for a long time in the life-support pods and fallen into a near-death coma, had scarcely any Cursed Energy left in their bodies.
Even with their wounds healed, the two of them would continue to sleep on, owing to their overdrawn Cursed Energy.
Recovering to the point of being able to take part in the battle before tomorrow night was, sadly, probably out of the question.
Once Mahiru finished the treatment she left, and turned to contact another jujutsu assistant, inquiring about the matters she'd arranged earlier.
"I'm terribly sorry, we failed to keep watch on the Kamo family's forces... Mr. Nanami and Miss Mei Mei forced their way into the Kamo family residence today, only to find that the entire family had vanished at some unknown point, the house emptied out." This jujutsu assistant looked troubled. "Yuta Okkotsu has been held up abroad by a special-grade jujutsu incident, and probably won't be able to make it here. And the other two you had me search for... Higuruma and Takaba—neither of them is in the country either."
"...Tch." The girl clicked her tongue, somewhat irritated.
How could she not be irritated... A week ago, the girl had had the jujutsu assistant go look for Higuruma and Takaba, and yet—who knew how the butterfly effect was meddling—both of them happened to be out of the country. And the most annoying part was that Yuta Okkotsu, of all people, couldn't make it back either.
Although Yuta was in a completely different league from Gojo and Sukuna, just having him present would relieve a great deal of pressure.
Contrary to how she appeared in the eyes of Nobara Kugisaki, Fushiguro, Itadori and the rest, Mahiru wasn't actually as relaxed as she seemed on the surface.
This was the single most crucial battle, after all—no amount of preparation would be too much.
At every moment the girl was racking her brains, wanting to improve the plan she and Satoru Gojo had drawn up together, thinking of what other methods there might be to raise their odds of victory just a little more.
Incidentally, Mahiru had already sent Nobara Kugisaki a message, telling her not to go hammer that finger for now. Such an important measure had to be saved for later.
"Fine then..."
Mahiru hurried back to Jujutsu High again.
The girl was surprised to find that Itadori and Fushiguro, whom she had urged to go rest, hadn't slept at all, but were training on the practice field.
Kinji Hakari, Kirara Hoshi, as well as Maki and Mai, were all present too.
"What are you all doing?" Mahiru asked.
"I'm... getting some pointers from senpai," Itadori answered. "There's not much time left—I want to master this technique as quickly as I can."
Fushiguro, equally grave in expression, earnestly spoke up, saying that she too was mulling over the matter of Domain Expansion.
"I was thinking," she said, lowering her eyes, "since my Domain Expansion is incomplete to begin with, then... could I just skip the step of Technique Burnout entirely? Though, even if I really could eliminate the effects of Technique Burnout, I probably wouldn't get all that much stronger... but I just want—want to become a little stronger. Otherwise..."
Otherwise——
Wouldn't that mean she could do nothing at all?
The time until the battle began was slipping away minute by minute, second by second.
Everyone was shrouded in anxiety.
After hearing Fushiguro out, Mahiru let out a soft sigh. "Technique Burnout can't be eliminated."
The girl pointed at her own head. "You can think of it like this—after a Domain Expansion, a person's brain suffers damage and needs time to repair itself. Never mind you—even someone skilled in using Reverse Cursed Technique still can't repair the damage to their own brain."
In the original work, the only ones who could use Reverse Cursed Technique to repair their own brain damage were Satoru Gojo, and Sukuna, who had grasped the knack of it through Satoru Gojo's demonstration.
"...Is that so." Fushiguro's gaze trembled slightly.
Mahiru folded her arms, her gaze drifting slightly to the side.
"Then, Mahiru," the black-haired girl before her lowered her eyes, "if... I were to hand my Technique over to you, would you have a way to make my Technique work?"
"Hm?"
"During the day, I witnessed Sukuna's terror with my own eyes—and that, very likely, is only the tip of the iceberg." Fushiguro spoke, her tone heavy. "Even my suicidal methods probably couldn't do anything to him... so I was thinking, if I handed this ability over to you, could it perhaps change the current situation... or create more value?"
At these words, Mahiru sighed.
As had been mentioned before, there were currently two methods by which Mahiru could learn Mahoraga.
And no matter which one, Fushiguro would die.
Once her own self-destruction had become meaningless, what Fushiguro sought turned out to be another form of self-destruction.
That was why Mahiru sighed.
"You just need to take care of your own part, that's all," the girl said to Fushiguro. "As for your Technique... I do indeed have an idea, but when the time comes, I'll act on it myself."
Fushiguro looked at Mahiru and opened her mouth.
Mahiru cast a glance around at the people before her.
She probably realized that she'd let her irritation show, so she put on a deliberately relaxed smile. "You all don't need to worry too much—if the sky falls, Satoru Gojo will hold it up anyway."
"Gojo-sensei, huh..."
"Yes, yes—if Satoru Gojo can't beat the other side, then we'll all just bail and skedaddle together." Mahiru spread her hands wide. "I'm telling you, if things go south, I'll definitely be the first to run. When disaster strikes, the lot of us will each fly off to save our own skins... I'm a selfish creature anyway, I don't like playing the hero—what matters more than your own little life?"
"But..."
"So as my final word of advice to you all—when the time comes, if you run into danger and something beyond your power, just run. Don't try to be heroes..." Mahiru waved her hand. "On a battlefield like this, no one will save you. I certainly won't be going to the rescue."
The girl turned and left.
Walking off in Jogo's direction.
"Goodnight, everyone. See you tomorrow."
____
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