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In that crater, where the heat radiated like an oppressive force, threatening to undo everything around it even in its most weakened state, Yuki and Tengen stood at its edge, watching the interior with expectation.
Their eyes never strayed from a single body, one that steamed like a kettle, burned beyond recognition.
Yuki was anxious. With every passing minute in which she was unable to approach, and Itadori's body showed no sign of life, the knot in her chest only tightened.
Kenjaku was dead — yes, that was a reason to celebrate — but now one of her students was fighting for his life. A student who was not only important to the future of Jujutsu society, but to countless people as well.
Yuki knew the sorcerer's world was dangerous — everyone did. Those who began training to become sorcerers understood that tomorrow was never guaranteed. They were expected to accept from the very start that death was something they'd have to grow used to.
But Yuji never had the chance to learn that. He was thrown into this world, forced to adapt.
Unlike the other students, he hadn't been conditioned from childhood. He hadn't been taught sorcerer culture, its customs, its history — or most importantly, that his life would be in constant danger.
So seeing such a young boy, someone Yuki was meant to protect, left her frustrated with herself. It infuriated her to be so weak that she had been forced to let a sorcerer with less than a year of experience fight in her place.
And yet, it was thanks to that very boy that they had won — at the cost of his sacrifice.
"He's showing no signs of improvement." Minutes had passed, and Itadori's condition hadn't changed, Yuki's worry only growing.
"Patience." Tengen reassured her. With potential on par with Satoru Gojo, the hermit had no doubt it was only a matter of time before Yuji woke.
Among all the students, Itadori Yuji was, without a doubt, the one with the strongest will to live. Tengen doubted he would ever simply give up.
Besides, his journey couldn't end here. There was still so much left for him to do.
He would rise again — Tengen had no doubt of it.
"…"
For a few more seconds, the only sound was the scorched earth, still hot enough to crackle faintly.
But that gradually changed when Yuji's body seemed to stir, drawing Yuki and Tengen's full attention.
First, his burned fingers gripped the hot ground beneath him as if searching for support. Then, with a trembling motion, his legs shifted, slowly pulling back so he could sit up.
Relief spread across Yuki's face as she watched. For a moment, she had doubted Tengen's words, but calm returned when she saw the boy finally move.
Even if he hadn't awakened Reverse Cursed Energy, as long as he was alive, Shoko should at least be able to stabilize him.
He would be fine.
And she could at least look her brother in the eye without feeling like garbage.
"…Wait."
Tengen's voice caught her attention, making her turn toward the elder — only to see him staring at the crater in astonishment.
Confused, Yuki turned her gaze back to Yuji.
Only to see that the boy who moments ago had been on the brink of death, his skin charred black, now had a perfectly restored body in all its glory.
But that wasn't what had shocked Tengen — no, such triviality would never surprise someone like him.
Instead, it was something that, once Yuki noticed it too, made her blood run cold and her eyes go wide.
"Ah~ Freedom! How it irritates me that I've felt it so few times since my return."
That voice — a voice steeped in wrath and authority, one only a king could possess. A voice Tengen knew all too well, and even as a near-god of Jujutsu, feared.
"But that's finally going to change…" The markings on his face gave him away, and even if that weren't enough, the malice pouring from his body was more than enough for anyone to recognize him.
The infamous King of Curses, Sukuna, had somehow freed himself from his perfect prison.
"Now!"
And he clearly had no intention of going back.
!
With a swift motion, Sukuna tore off one of his own fingers, a manic grin on his lips as the severed digit glowed with Cursed Energy.
Tengen, watching with a shocked expression, finally seemed to grasp the situation, urgency sharp in his voice as he turned to Yuki.
"We have to stop him. Now!"
Tengen didn't know what Sukuna intended to do, but if he was in control, something very serious had happened. There was no way they could allow him to complete his goal.
!
But before Yuki could even move, a massive slash opened across her chest, sending her flying several meters before crashing into a pile of rubble.
"Don't get in my way, trash." Sukuna declared, his eyes briefly landing on Tengen before dismissing him as worthless. "Disappear."
Tengen pressed her lips together. In this situation, there was nothing she could do. Even with a physical body, she could do nothing against someone like Sukuna. She had been, after all, a non-combatant sorcerer for nearly her entire life.
So, with Yuki injured and incapacitated, Tengen could only watch warily, arms crossed, as Sukuna continued his work.
Take back control, boy!
Sukuna, still holding the glowing severed finger, smiled once again.
And then, to Tengen's surprise, he crushed it into a lump of flesh — and before their horrified eyes, a clone took form from what had been a finger.
"In the end, this is a gamble!"
Cursed Energy erupted from Sukuna's body, his reserves so vast they blanketed the entire crater.
But as quickly as it had come, it withdrew into a single point in the King of Curses' chest — a small black sphere forming before Sukuna snatched it up and shoved it into the clone's mouth. The clone swallowed without resistance.
The markings vanished soon after, Itadori's body collapsing to the ground.
For a moment, silence reigned, and Tengen felt a spark of hope that Sukuna's plan had failed.
But that hope was short-lived. The clone, which had been still the entire time, suddenly trembled.
!
And then, that same malice and cursed energy exploded from its body in a wave so powerful it made even the experienced Tengen, in her non-physical form, recoil.
This was no simple change of vessel — Tengen could feel it. Sukuna hadn't just traded a limited body for another.
Sukuna was declaring, with every fiber of his being:
The King of Curses had returned — in all his glory.
.
Itadori was not unaware of what Sukuna had done. It was his body, after all. Even though he'd lost control for a moment, he had still witnessed Sukuna succeed in freeing himself.
And his reaction… was far from his proudest moment.
Veins bulged on his forehead, his teeth clenched so tightly they might crack, and his fingers curled with enough force to pierce his own palms.
Worst of all, even as he tried, he found himself unable to return. Sukuna had healed him just enough to stand, but the internal damage remained.
Though no longer charred beyond recognition, he was still a body on the verge of death.
It infuriated him not to have foreseen something like this — but how could he?
For this to be possible, Sukuna must have made an incredibly disadvantageous Binding Vow, something that would leave him crippled or severely weakened.
And to use a clone as a flesh vessel the same way he had with Tanshoku… The bastard must have been planning this for some time — and that only made Itadori angrier.
But this wasn't the end. Itadori wouldn't allow it.
With Sukuna on the loose, his friends were in danger. Itadori would not let the King of Curses carry out his threats.
The growth of a sorcerer never came easily. To grow, a true sorcerer had to be challenged, forced into situations where they had to push past their own limits just to survive.
And this was, without a doubt, one of those situations.
He had to return — not just for himself, but for those he cared about.
Besides… to die without giving the King of Curses a proper beating?
Itadori refused.