Kiyotaka moved a branch out of the way, thinking, 'Under the bridge... I see. So perspective matters too.'
They slid down a slope talking to Nitta over the phone, who said, "Fujinuma didn't go over Yasohachi Bridge. They held their test of courage under the bridge."
Megumi then asked, "Junpei went under it, too."
She answered this with, "Most likely, you can't get below it from above."
Junpei breathed a sigh of relief, saying, "I'm not Cursed."
Nobara laughed, saying, "You're such a baby."
"That was my life on the line!"
Nitta continued saying, "The Cursed Spirit is within its barrier, so the procedure is important. You go at night, from underneath. And one more thing..."
Megumi finished for her, saying, "It's impossible to keep a domain imbued with a technique deployed forever. Which means it's like that barrier at the juvenile detention centre. An incomplete domain. We're actually lucky this time around, since we won't need a veil."
Junpei looked to Megumi, asking, "Incomplete domain?"
"A Domain that isn't imbued with a technique. A space that sorcerers and curses can superimpose on the environment around them that enhances their abilities."
Kiyotaka said this as Junpei asked, "Like video game buffs?"
Nobara nodded her head, saying, "So it's like when you finally break the smash ball and get to use your ultimate attack."
Kiyotaka deadpanned, thinking, 'I don't know what that means at all.'
They walked towards the Bridge as Nitta said, "At the bottom of the canyon, there might be a river. Crossing the river or other border- acts that symbolise crossing to the afterlife- carry important meaning in sorcery."
As they stepped past the dried-up stream of the river, they felt a sensation as Kiyotaka thought, 'So this is it?' and they entered a Domain, seeing tendons burst out stretching on the walls and a whack-a-mole-like Curse in a hole in the ceiling.
Nobara readied her hammer, saying, "This one will be rewarding to exorcise."
Junpei called out, "Moon Dregs", as he summoned his Shikigami.
That's when Megumi heard something coming towards them as it ran past them, jumped up and landed in front of them, asking, "What's this? Someone beat me here?"
Nobara looked annoyed, thinking, 'Huh?!'
Junpei looked at it, thinking, 'Is it a transfigured human? Mahito?' as he gritted his teeth.
"Don't get carried away, Junpei. Remember. Keep your distance."
Junpei took a breath before his Shikigami fired its attacks towards the [Curse], who dodged, asking, "Are you going to play with me?"
Kiyotaka looked to Megumi and said, "You and Kugisaki deal with that mole Curse. Junpei and I will handle this one."
The [Curse] began spitting out blood attacks at Kiyotaka, who dodged the attacks, noticing the decaying effect of the blood as he called out to Junpei, shouting, "Do not get hit by its attacks. It has a decaying effect."
Kiyotaka stretched, saying, "He's stronger than he looks", when suddenly Nobara was pulled out from the Domain's barrier.
Megumi looked shocked, shouting, "Kugisaki!" while reaching for her.
Kugisaki pointed to him, saying, "I'll be fine. You just whack the mole", as she was completely pulled through the barrier.
Megumi gritted his teeth, cursing, "Damn it. She gets taken away so often!" and thinking, 'But what was that just now? The mole? That earlier one?'
Kiyotaka saw this, thinking, 'Kugisaki? Here we go again.'
The [Curse] smiled, saying, "Oh, hey, it's my older brother!"
He began running off, shouting, "Me, too!" as he jumped through the hole in the barrier.
Kiyotaka and Junpei ran past Megumi as Kiyotaka said, "We're going after it! Don't die!" and they jumped through.
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Kiyotaka and Junpei arrived chasing after the [Curse] from before as Kiyotaka saw his back, which had a face on it, and the Elder [Curse] shouted, "Y-Y-Y-You saw, didn't you?!"
He turned around, shouting, "I'll kill you!"
Nobara jumped in, striking him from behind as he landed on his knee, as she asked, "Then why are you dressed like that? Is that the source of the weird smell?"
He glared, saying, "Because it gets musty!"
He posed, saying, "Rot Technique: Supreme Art: Wing King!" as blood poured out from the eyes of the face on his back as he finished saying, "Death... by Wasp!"
Another figure stepped out, saying, "Don't get so riled up, Elder Brother. Anyone who can't appreciate you is just trash in the end."
The figure that stepped forward looked sickly and had bones protruding from its body. His hands had faces on them as Kiyotaka looked to the trio, saying, "One for each of us. When you've beaten one of them, assist each other."
Kiyotaka looked to the Eldest [Curse] and said, "I'll take on this one."
Nobara pointed to the face one and said, "That one's mine."
Junpei looked at the skinny one, saying, "I guess I'll take on this one."
Kiyotaka looked to the Eldest [Curse] and asked, "Who are you and what are you doing here?'
The Eldest [Curse] looked to him from above and said, "Eso is the name. We're here to retrieve Sukuna's fingers."
"Are you affiliated with a Patch Work Curse?"
Junpei asked this with a glare as Eso asked, "And if I said that we are?"
Junpei's glare shifted to the bony [Curse] as he fired off his tendrils at the [Curse], who jumped back, avoiding it easily despite having what should have been a frail body.
Eso turned to his brother and said, "Be careful, Tanso. Don't get carried away."
Tanso smiled and said, "I'll be fine, Eso."
Eso turned to the other [Curse] and said, "Kill her quickly, Kechizu."
Kechizu nodded, saying, "I'll handle it, Older Brother."
The three ones vs ones, separated from the group and into their own spaces.
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Kiyotaka sighed and said, "Explain yourself while your brothers are still alive."
Eso looked at him and said, "Our family has chosen the side of Curses. That's all there is to it."
"Then this will be finished quickly."
Eso looked to him, asking, "What are you talking about?"
Kiyotaka answered, saying, "I've fought stronger than you when I was weaker and won."
Eso looked annoyed as he sent out his blood missiles at Kiyotaka, who dodged them, moving his head to the side and weaving to dodge as Eso thought, 'His reaction speed is high. I must go all out.'
Kiyotaka rushed in, dodging the blood missiles as he launched a combo of attacks, as Eso blocked them, but Kiyotaka grabbed his hands, holding him in place, making Eso think, 'What is he...'
Kiyotaka chanted, "Manifest", as he summoned spikes above him that slammed down, stabbing through Eso's arms, holding him in place as he screamed in agony.
Kiyotaka charged up Cursed Energy before slamming his fist into Eso's chest, making him cough up blood and think, 'This man... is much stronger than me.'
Kiyotaka sighed in disappointment, thinking, 'No Black Flash.'
Eso's blood missiles broke through the spikes piercing his arms as Eso looked to his wrists, thinking, 'I can't fight him in direct combat any more. Wing King is all I have left.'
Eso charged up Cursed Energy into his back, focusing on speed over accuracy as he unleashed dozens of attacks, making Kiyotaka think, 'Try to dodge this!'
Kiyotaka looked at the attack, thinking, 'I can't dodge it', before chanting, "Manifest", as a dome formed around Kiyotaka temporarily, blocking the attacks.
As the dome faded, there was smoke as Eso thought, 'Where is he?!!'
Kiyotaka appeared behind him, bursting up from the ground, saying, "Your back is open", as he shattered all the blood lines and then slammed his fist into Eso, who coughed up blood, thinking, 'Why do his punches have penetrating power?!!'
Eso turned around quickly to retaliate, but Kiyotaka jumped back, saying, "You're not bad. I'm sure that it's only thanks to my recent growth that I have such an advantage against you."
Essso yelled out, "Die!" as he unleashed another rush of blood missiles at Kiyotaka.
Kiyotaka used accelerating mass to increase his speed again. A technique he had dubbed Kinetic Anchor to dodge the attacks as he plunged his fist through Eso and said, "You've chosen to be a Curse. I exorcise Curses to protect the innocent. You are not innocent."
Eso cried some tears, saying, "Older Brother. I... failed..."
Kiyotaka then said, "Even still... I apologise" as he pulled out his arm as Eso fell limp to the floor, the light fading from his eyes as Kiyotaka thought, 'His body isn't evaporating. He really isn't a Curse. Well... I already suspected that, so a Curse User? Or something else?'
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Nobara stood there as Kechizu looked to her, jumping towards her as she dodged to the side, slamming her hammer into his head as she jumped back, throwing up some nails and firing them at him.
One of the nails hit him as he dodged the rest, saying, "That hurts."
Nobara grabbed some nails, holding them in her hands, ready to throw them up and slam her hammer into them as she thought, 'It didn't do enough damage. If it gets too close, the fight will become nasty.'
He charged towards Nobara, who fired her nails. He dodged the first barrage before being hit by the second barrage, but in spite of this, he spat out his blood as Nobara was covered in it. He smiled gleefully, saying, "Rot Technique: Decay."
Nobara glared at him, saying, "How dare you soak my clothes and face in blood, you piece of shit!" as flower markings appeared across her body, making her think, 'Flowers? What's going on?'
Nobara felt the poison in her body as she smiled wickedly, saying, "It seems like I'm your worst match up."
She grabbed a nail, impaling it into her wrist, thinking, 'Straw Doll Technique: Resonance!'
She looked to him, saying, "Let's play a game of chicken. You don't like pain, do you? Then start crying and release your technique."
Kechizu began sweating in fear as he felt his own technique being resonated against him, thinking, 'What's happening?'
Nobara smirked and said, "My Cursed Technique is Straw Doll: Resonance. It allows me to transfer the effects of things like damage and poisons based on Cursed Energy."
Kechizu looked terrified, thinking, 'This is what Older Brother mentioned. Revealing one's Cursed Technique to enhance its ability.'
Nobara smiled as she stabbed herself again, intensifying the effects of the resonance and now putting Kechizu in a position to die first as she rushed in, shouting, "Go on. Just try to poison me again and make things worse for yourself!"
Kechizu ran towards her, trying to fight with brute force as Nobara threw up some nails and slammed her hammer into them, firing them as they hit Kechizu, who wailed in pain, being stunned, and Nobara slammed her hammer into Kechizu as Black Sparks flew from the impact, and he collapsed.
Nobara turned around, thinking, 'The technique is still active, which means he's still alive.'
Kechizu rose up and attempted to bite her as she smiled, saying, "That's right. I haven't shown this one to you yet, have I?"
She clicked her fingers, saying, "Hairpin", as the nails in Kechizu exploded and blood spurted out from the damage, and his corpse collapsed to the ground, the markings disappearing from Nobara's body.
Nobara looked at it, thinking, 'It's not a Cursed Spirit?! What the hell?'
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Junpei looked at his opponent, thinking, 'I need to kill this thing quickly and then get back to her others. Not just Ayanokoji and Kugisaki, but Fushiguro might need help too.'
Tanso looked to Junpei, saying, "You don't look all that strong."
Tanso swung his arm as blood flowed from his mouth on his hand and calcified into bone, stabbing through the air at Junpei, who jumped to the ground and into a roll to dodge it, thinking, 'His blood turns into bone?'
Tanso pointed his bony finger at Junpei, saying, "I really hate people like you who bully my siblings."
Junpei looked at him, saying, "Are you crazy? We're not bullying you. You can't just take Sukuna's fingers. Those objects..."
Junpei gritted his teeth as he thought of his mother and shouted, "They have to be secured properly!"
Junpei summoned his Moon Dregs as the tendrils launched towards Tanso, but Tanso unleashed blood from his hands that solidified into a bone shield as the stingers bounced off harmlessly, making Junpei's eyes widen.
'No effect? You... can't be serious.'
Junpei jumped back as bone projectiles were fired at him.
Tanso glared at him, saying, "Enough! How dare you look at Older Brother's back and make him feel insecure! How dare you claim to not be a bully after that!" as he sent forth attacks made of Blood that Junpei dodged, thinking, 'Why isn't he calcifying them?'
Suddenly, one of the attacks he dodged calcified, stabbing into his side, making him think, 'Delayed activation?!!' as Junpei fell to the ground, clutching his side.
Tanso looked to Junpei, saying, "This will kill you, you bully. Rot Technique: Cracking Calcification!"
Junpei held his side in agony, thinking, 'My skin is cracking?!'
Junpei held his side as Tanso smiled, saying, "You've got 3 minutes at most before you're dead. You bullied my sibling, so I hate you. Suffer as you die."
Junpei got up slowly, asking, "You hate me?"
Tanso rushed in, creating knives out of bones, thinking, 'He's a Shikigami user, so according to Elder Brother, he should be weak to close combat.'
Tanso swung the blade at Junpei, but Junpei dodged the attack as Moon Dregs formed around him, its stinger at his fist, saying, "I really hate people who hate me", as he gathered Cursed Energy into his fist and slammed it into Tanso, who spat out blood, thinking, 'That much power?!! But... he seemed like such a shrimp' as he jumped back.
He looked down to see a puncture wound on his stomach, thinking, 'Poison?'
Junpei smiled and said, "My Cursed Technique is poison-based. Yours too, right? Well, aren't we a match?"
He smirked, saying, "But Gojo Sensei taught me something. My Cursed Technique lets me poison whatever I want. I've been poisoning the body because I didn't know any better, but... I can poison your Cursed Energy itself if I want! You're going to start feeling sluggish soon. You're going to feel your Cursed Energy eat itself alive and..."
Junpei stabbed himself in the side where Tanso's technique was affecting him, saying, "This Cursed Energy will eat itself alive too!"
Yoshino Junpei was immune to his own Shikigami's poison as he did not select himself as a target for said poison, so stabbing himself would not be an issue apart from blood loss, and since he stabbed himself in a more gentle manner than most would expect from someone acting like a madman, the blood loss was minimal.
Tanso sweated thinking, 'He's... insane' as the calcification of Junpei's skin halted.
Junpei unleashed multiple tendrils towards Tanso, with all of them attacking from different angles as Tanso jumped back, running around the area to dodge the attacks, but one grazed his leg as he thought, 'Not good!'
He tumbled to the ground and formed a dome of blood that calcified, trying to protect himself as Junpei shouted, "That won't work!"
The tendrils wrapped around each other, focusing their power into a single point, and spun like a drill as they hit the dome and, after a second, broke right through as Junpei looked, thinking, 'Did it work?'
The dome fell apart as Junpei saw Tanso standing there, having been hit dead on in the back, but having his hands on the ground as Junpei looked confused, thinking, 'What is he doing?'
Suddenly, a calcified bone spike tore up from the ground as its tip broke right before hitting Junpei in the gut, who spat out blood and was sent flying as he fell to the floor rolling as he came to a stop, clutching his stomach, thinking, 'My ribs! Ugh! They're broken!'
Tanso stood above him with a dark look on his face, saying, "I let my guard down. I won't let it down again."
Tanso swung his blade down, but then he felt something sticking in his back as he thought, 'What the?'
Junpei coughed up blood with a smirk, saying, "You just said you wouldn't let your guard down, but you did."
Tanso stared at the stinger protruding from his side, thinking, 'What the hell? How did he...'
He glared, severing the Shikigami's tendril and... healing from his injuries, saying, "Sorry, but I can use Reverse Curse Technique."
Tanso lifted a bone blade, ready to kill Junpei, who thought, 'I won't be able to do enough damage in time.'
Tanso felt the sensation of Kechizu's Rot Technique being used against him, thinking, 'What? Why?' causing him to hesitate.
Junpei got up, coated himself in Moon Dreg, and slammed his fist into Tanso's gut, thinking, 'I can't let up. This is my only chance. I can't even try to remove the effect of his Cursed Technique. I need to kill him now!!!'
Tanso stepped back, having snapped back into his senses, thinking, 'No, I can't be distracted...' but Junpei began punching him and poisoning him with each hit as he couldn't get a second to breathe.
Junpei remembered how Gojo taught him that poison can't be healed with the Reversed Cursed Technique under normal circumstances.
Junpei began slamming his fists into Tanso's gut and not letting him breathe, thinking, 'If he manages to escape from my combos, I'll die! I have to kill him while he's stunned from my blows and the poison.'
Tanso's eyes dilated as he focused, blocking Junpei's attacks and jumping back, healing himself, but then he realised, thinking, 'My Cursed Energy... it really is eating itself alive! Any more of this and I'll be out of Cursed Energy.'
He clicked his tongue in annoyance as he showed his hands, forming bone weapons, thinking, 'I'll kill him with these.'
Junpei took a stance, stabbing himself in his stomach to halt the effects of Tanso's Rot Technique, but Tanso suddenly fell to his knees, gasping for breath and thinking, 'Kechizu's Rot Technique is... ugh...'
Tanso fired off one last attack, piercing Junpei with calcified bone as Junpei fired off the tendrils, and they all hit Tanso, injecting him with poison. Tanso fell to the floor filled with holes and bleeding out, thinking, 'My brothers... I'm sorry.'
Junpei stabbed himself again, thinking, 'Something feels wrong... Not just my ribs either,' as he fell over, unconscious, thinking, 'I did my best but... was it enough? Is everyone else... still... okay?'
Kiyotaka arrived to see Junpei lying there as he checked him, saying, "You pushed yourself too much. You should have stalled til I got here", and chanting, "Manifest", as he created a tourniquet to treat Junpei.
Kiyotaka called Nitta, saying, "Nitta-san. Please get here quickly. Junpei needs medical attention. He's suffering from broken ribs and internal bleeding."
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Kiyotaka walked through the forest with Nobara, who asked, "Is Junpei okay?"
Kiyotaka nodded, saying, "I got to him quickly, so Nitta-san arrived quickly. Considering how far away from a hospital we are, he'll be fine. Then Nitta-san can get him to Shoko-san."
Nobara sighed in relief, saying, "Then Fushiguro is the only one that we have to worry about."
Kiyotaka looked to her and asked, "Are you alright? Any residual problems?"
Nobara looked at her arm, saying, "Oh, yeah. I'm fine, though... it might leave scars."
They arrived under the Yasohachi bridge as they saw Megumi lying there, and Nobara said, "F-Fushiguro?!"
Megumi got up, saying, "Oh, you're back. I'm glad you're safe."
Nobara got startled, saying, "I-I was so scared! I thought you were dead! Thank goodness!"
Megumi looked annoyed, saying, "Can you lower your voice? My head hurts. And... where's Junpei?"
"He took a bit of a beating, but he still managed to win. Nitta-San's taking him to the hospital so he'll be fine."
Kiyotaka said this as Megumi sighed in relief.
Nobara deadpanned, saying, "Don't go to sleep with Sukuna's finger in your hand. That's dangerous."
Megumi looked to her, asking, "How do you know about the finger?"
"You have the energy to ask about that?"
Nobara asks this as Megumi says, "Nope. Call Nitta-san and tell her we have it. It needs to be sealed at once. Cursed Spirits are approaching."
Megumi held out the finger to Kiyotaka, saying, "Hold on to it until then. You're the one with the most Cursed Energy right now. You're not even sweating."
Kiyotaka reached out, but Sukuna's face appeared on his hand, eating it as the marks of Sukuna appeared on Kiyotaka's body, and he quickly willed to suppress it.
Megumi and Nobara then shouted, "Why the hell did you eat it?!!"
Kiyotaka deadpanned, thinking, 'Why am I being blamed? What kind of treatment is this?'
Kiyotaka looked at his hand, thinking, 'What a troublesome thing.'
Kiyotaka helped Megumi up, saying, "Well, that's resolved itself. Let's head home and get some rest."
Nobara sighed, saying, "I'm hungry. I wonder if there's a Splendid Sushi around here."
"We should get something for Junpei, too. He worked hard today."
Kiyotaka said this as they walked off towards the hill that would take them back onto the main road.
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To Be Continued
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Rating Out Of 10 For This Chapter?
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