Kurozawa Village – Abandoned Mountain Settlement
Mission Grade: ???
Sorcerer: Akashi Ryuunosuke (flying solo, lucky guy)
The woods wheezed. Not, like, literal lungs, but you could feel it—every tree and damn rock felt like it was on its last legs. Mist just smothered everything, heavy as a wool blanket, turning the pines into ghosts. Akashi stood there, staring at this busted sign that used to say "Kurozawa." Now, half of it's just a burned hunk of wood. Welcome home, huh?
He shuffled forward.
Radio buzzed—static, then voices:
"Keep comms open," Megumi. Classic.
Nobara: "Don't die, idiot."
Yuji, way too chipper: "You got this!"
Akashi rolled his eyes, thumbed the radio off. "Way too loud, guys."
He yanked his bag tighter, ducked into the ruins.
Inside—Village Center
Place was dead. Not just "nobody home" dead. Like, the soul had been sucked out. Shrines—empty. Paper talismans hanging off poles, all torn and yellow. But the air? Stuffed full of cursed energy, thick enough to choke you.
He passed this old well.
Stopped.
Heard... something. Not really a sound, more like an itch in his ear.
"...Ryu... no... suke..."
Whipped around. Nada.
Cursed energy flared—reflex, like goosebumps but way worse.
Dragon Tongue: Whisper Ward
"探れ (Sagure)..."
Reveal.
Suddenly, cursed marks sizzled to life in the dirt and walls—barriers everywhere, woven with death.
Okay, not just cursed. Sealed. That's a whole other nightmare.
Then the well shrieked.
Yeah, you read that right.
Something slithered out—long, gross, wormy, with a bunch of human faces stuck all over it. Every mouth spit out pieces of his name, like a broken record.
"Ryu...no...suke... it... was... her fault..."
His knees went weak.
One face? His mom's.
Flashback—Slum Alley, way back
She grabbed him, wild-eyed.
"If they ever find you… run. Promise."
"Who?"
Her mouth barely moved: "The ones who speak without tongues."
He tried to ask—never got to.
A scream. A curse. Blood.
Snap back to now
Dragon Tongue: Phase IV – Voice of the Abyss
"裂断 (Setsudan)..."
Sever.
His voice cracked through the monster. Split it right down the middle.
Didn't help. Thing just glued itself back together, this time talking with his mom's voice.
"You were born from a curse, Ryuunosuke. You were never supposed to exist."
He just stood there, brain short-circuiting.
Lies? Mind games? Just some trick?
Please let it be a trick.
He roared—couldn't help it. Cursed energy shot out of him in waves.
Reversal Mode: Dragon Tongue – Purge Sequence
"沈黙 (Chinmoku)..."
Silence.
The monster collapsed. Imploded? Whatever—gone in a blink. All those voices? Gone too. Just dust, swirling in the air.
Later—Village Shrine
He stumbled to the main shrine, overgrown and soaked in old blood. Right in the middle: a black stone tablet. His family crest, clear as day.
He reached out—
—and the world slipped sideways.
Vision. Not his.
A cloaked man, maybe Gojo's age, holding a weird, cursed baby.
"The boy lives. Bury the mother. Mark the child."
Another guy: "We'll need him when the barrier breaks."
"When the seal's undone—when Sukuna comes back."
Final Scene – Tokyo, Night
Gojo, looking about twelve shades of grim, staring out his office window.
Yaga strolled in. "He made contact, didn't he?"
Gojo: nods.
"He found the village."
Yaga sounded like he'd swallowed glass.
"Then it's started."
Gojo's eyes tracked the city lights—probably seeing curses crawling across the whole country.
"Let's hope he's ready to find out who he really is."