Fushiguro Megumi clenched his fists. Even if he couldn't face Sukuna head-on, he could still be useful against Special Grade Curse Spirits.
But before he could speak further, a sudden red glow lit the room.
He turned sharply. On the table, a map of Kouh Town shimmered, its surface alive with scarlet points of light.
"This is…?" Megumi muttered.
"A magic tool," Rias explained, her tone hard. "It monitors all of Kouh Town."
Her crimson eyes narrowed. More and more red dots appeared on the map, multiplying at an alarming pace. Power swelled around her, her aura flaring like a storm barely held in check.
"Interesting," she said coldly. "It seems we've been completely underestimated."
Sona stepped forward, her voice solemn. "Rias, I've also received word—Stray Devils are converging on the town."
The room tensed. Two disasters, layered atop each other.
"Whatever the culprit's true objective, we can't allow Kouh Town to be overrun," Rias declared. "We move now and clear them out."
"Which direction has the highest concentration of Curse Spirits?" Satoru Mikami asked calmly.
Rias glanced back at the glowing map. "The east side."
"Then I'll handle that area," Satoru replied.
For him, this was more than cleanup—it was opportunity. Every Curse Spirit was potential growth, attributes waiting to be claimed. He wouldn't let it slip away.
After a short nod to Rias, he spread his wings and strode out without hesitation, vanishing into the night sky toward the east.
Megumi frowned, eyes on the map. "There are over ten Curse Spirits in that sector alone. Can he really take them on by himself?"
"Believe in him," Rias answered softly, her voice carrying absolute certainty. "Satoru's strength is far greater than you imagine. If he unleashes his full power… he can already rival High-Level Devils."
Megumi's brows rose slightly, but he said nothing more.
"Alright," Rias continued, her gaze sweeping across the glowing map. "We split up. Each group takes a sector. Kouh Town cannot fall tonight."
…
Meanwhile, Satoru Mikami raced through the night sky. His jet-black Devil wings cut through the wind as he soared toward the outskirts of town.
From above, his eyes swept the terrain. Seventeen Curse Spirits crawled across the landscape, each twisted into grotesque forms, advancing slowly but steadily toward Kouh Town.
His grip tightened.
A black longsword materialized in his hand, forged from magic and brimming with destructive power.
He dropped from the sky like a meteor.
Shunk!
The blade impaled the first Curse Spirit clean through.
"The first one."
Another sword condensed in his grasp, gleaming with violet-black light.
Whoosh—!
"The second one."
Whoosh—!
"The third one."
…
Sword after sword rained down like judgment. Each was infused with Destruction Magic, its power so overwhelming that the Curse Spirits stood no chance.
Within moments, the battlefield fell silent. Seventeen corpses dissolved into black mist, their remnants scattering like ashes on the wind.
"Fourteen white attributes, three green," Satoru murmured, eyes flickering with satisfaction. "Not bad. This batch was decent quality."
He was about to turn and sweep another area when a ripple brushed against his senses.
A presence. Strong, alien, unmistakable.
"…Hoh? What a coincidence."
The aura was identical to the cursed trace Sona had shown him earlier. The thief who had stolen Sukuna's finger was close. Very close.
And it was waiting at the hospital.
A grin tugged at Satoru's lips. "A Special Grade Curse Spirit, huh? Let's see if you can drop blue attributes."
His body blurred. With a single boost of power, he vanished, streaking toward the hospital like a black comet.
…
Inside Kouh Town First Hospital.
Itadori Yuji sat slumped in a chair, the ink still wet on his grandfather's death certificate. The weight pressed heavy on his chest. His only family was gone, leaving a hollow ache that gnawed at him.
Footsteps echoed from the corridor.
Yuji looked up, and his breath caught.
A figure emerged—grotesque and alien. Its body resembled a twisted tree, bark-like skin pulsing with cursed energy. Its left arm was swathed in a long strip of white cloth that fluttered as it moved.
"!!!"
Yuji staggered back a step, instinctively putting distance between himself and the intruder.
The creature tilted its head. From its mouth came a guttural string of inhuman sounds:
"￥#%… Itadori Yuji, yes?"
Yuji froze. Though the words were incomprehensible, their meaning carved itself into his mind. Somehow, he understood.
"…That's me," Yuji admitted, his voice shaking. "Who… what are you?"
The Curse Spirit's eyes glowed, and its voice resonated like roots grinding deep beneath the earth.
"My name is Hanami," it said. "The guardian of this planet."
Itadori Yuji blinked, completely bewildered.
A monster had just appeared out of nowhere, vines trailing like veins, its body resembling a twisted tree wrapped in a long white cloth. And now, it was introducing itself as the guardian of the planet.
His thoughts scrambled. What kind of nonsense is this?
"What do you want from me?" Yuji asked, his voice taut with confusion and fear.
Hanami's voice was calm, its strange, otherworldly tone carrying an authority that made Yuji's skin crawl.
"For our long-held wish," the Curse Spirit said, "we need to conduct an experiment using your body."
From within its wooden fingers, Hanami produced a foul, desiccated object. A severed finger, blackened and grotesque with a sickly crimson aura.
"Eat it, Itadori Yuji."
Yuji gagged at the sight, stumbling a step back. "No way! That thing looks disgusting!"
He spun on his heel and bolted.
But before he could even reach the doorway, thick vines erupted from the floorboards. They coiled like snakes, binding his wrists, ankles, and torso in one swift motion.
"You can't escape," Hanami said coldly. "Everyone in this town capable of saving you is already being held back."
In a blur, the Curse Spirit appeared before him and rammed the grotesque finger into his mouth.
Yuji tried to resist, tried to spit it out, but a burning heat flooded down his throat.
A shudder ripped through his body. Black markings spread like wildfire across his face, writhing lines of cursed energy that twisted into jagged tattoos.
An ominous aura erupted from his very core, filling the room like suffocating tar.
Bang—!
The vines binding his body snapped as though sliced by an invisible blade, bursting into fragments that rained down around him.
Yuji stood upright again, but his eyes were no longer his own. Two new slitted eyes opened at the sides of his cheeks, glowing with a predatory malice.
All four eyes shifted, scanning left and right, before finally settling on Hanami.
"…A Curse Spirit, is it?"
The voice was not Yuji's. It was lower, dripping with cruelty, carrying the weight of something ancient and unspeakably evil.
"That's unexpected," Sukuna mused, flexing Yuji's fingers and testing the boy's body like a new vessel. He grinned, baring teeth too sharp, too wild. "Then… I'll give you one minute. Explain your purpose before I decide whether you live or die."
Hanami didn't flinch. "I need information about Rizevim."
The name seemed to sour the air itself.
Sukuna's grin vanished, replaced with a glare that could peel flesh from bone. "That name again." His voice was ice. "A thousand years ago, that bastard appeared before me on his own. I never went looking for him."
"I see," Hanami replied calmly, as if the answer was expected. "That is all I needed to know."
But before he could continue, the ceiling above exploded.
BOOM—!
Dust and rubble rained down as a figure crashed through, descending like judgment.
A flash of steel followed.
Hanami's right arm was severed clean at the root, spinning through the air before thudding to the ground.
The Curse Spirit hissed in pain and leapt back, glaring at the intruder.
"You…" Hanami's eerie gaze focused. "You are Rias Gremory's new servant."
The figure landed gracefully amidst the debris, a black longsword in hand glowing with destructive energy.
Satoru Mikami stood tall, his sharp eyes fixed solely on the Curse Spirit.
Hanami's expression twisted. "Why are you here?"
"Why?" Satoru raised his blade, his voice calm but cold. "Because I came to find you."
His gaze briefly flicked toward Sukuna, who was watching with amused interest from Yuji's body. Then his sword pointed back at Hanami.
"Your little game ends here."
BOOM—!
The air quaked as Satoru launched forward, blade aimed straight for the Special Grade Curse Spirit.
"Hmm?!"
On the north side of Kouh Town, Rias, having just cleared another Curse Spirit, snapped her head around sharply.
"President, what is it?" Koneko called from nearby, concern etched across her face.
Rias's crimson eyes narrowed. "There's the aura of a Special Grade Curse Spirit. Satoru is engaging it."
Koneko furrowed her brow, thinking for a moment. "If it's just a Special Grade, he should be able to handle it, right?"
"A standard Special Grade might be manageable," Rias replied, frowning. "But this one… is different."
She had faced Special Grade Curse Spirits before, even exorcising a few herself. From experience, she could immediately sense the scale of the threat. The cursed energy radiating from the hospital direction was immense—at least several times greater than that of an ordinary Special Grade.
"President, you should go help Satoru–Senpai," koneko said, her voice tinged with urgency.
"There aren't many Curse Spirits left here. I can handle it."
Rias was also a little worried.
"Then I'll leave it to you."
Rias replied, though a shadow of worry crossed her face. Satoru's strength was extraordinary, but he had only recently become a Devil. A sneak attack or ambush could still put him in real danger.
...
At that moment, Hanami's confidence began to falter.
He felt a bitter taste in his mouth.
He had assumed Satoru was merely a minor Devil with limited cursed energy—a novice, no stronger than a Grade 2 Curse Jujutsu Sorcerer, hardly worth fearing.
But reality proved him wrong.
Satoru Mikami cut through the underbrush of the hospital grounds with a single, precise slash, closing the distance with terrifying speed and control. Hanami's eyes widened in disbelief.
This… cannot be a Grade 2 Curse Jujutsu Sorcerer… he muttered, his pride and frustration bubbling into a growl.
Every movement from Satoru carried lethal intent, the faint hum of Destruction Magic resonating through the air. Hanami realized, with growing dread, that raw intelligence and underestimated strength were about to collide—and the outcome was already tipping.
Hanami wanted to curse.
You call this a Grade 2 Curse Jujutsu Sorcerer?!