"Could it be… there's absolutely no cursed energy at all? A Heavenly Restriction? Or some special technique…"
Sukuna finally noticed something was wrong.
At such close range, even if someone deliberately suppressed their cursed energy, it should have been impossible to hide it from him when he was actively sensing.
As long as one was human, whether a sorcerer or not, there should always be a faint trace of cursed energy flowing through their body.
Even when a sorcerer fully concealed their cursed energy, they would only feel like an ordinary person.
But the situation right now was different. If he had not seen that man with his own eyes, Sukuna would have thought there was nothing more than a rock there.
"What's wrong? Standing there muttering to yourself. Don't tell me the so-called strongest in history, Ryomen Sukuna, is scared now. Or are you only good at bullying kids?"
On the rooftop, Mukuro stood up, his tone filled with mockery.
The dark clouds that had filled the sky were gone. Sunlight pierced through the clouds and shone down on him, his shadow perfectly covering Sukuna below.
"Uncle Mukuro, be careful! He's already eaten a third finger, and this body belongs to my companion!"
Megumi called out a reminder, especially emphasizing the last part.
"You're the one who should be careful. Just don't get caught up in his technique."
Mukuro waved his hand and leapt down.
"Heavenly Restriction or technique, I'll kill you all the same!"
Before Mukuro even touched the ground, Sukuna had already raised his hand, preparing to activate his slashing technique, "Dismantle."
(Although this was not yet the stage where he could repeatedly open domains, for Sukuna, who had only used his domain for about a second earlier, the technique burnout period was not that long.)
But the next moment.
"At least wait until I land before attacking. Such rude manners for a challenger."
Before the technique could be released, before Sukuna himself could even react, a large hand pressed against his face and slammed his head backward.
His entire body was driven into the ground, forming a human shaped crater. The shockwaves cracked the surrounding earth.
A mouthful of blood burst from his lips.
He reached out to grab the arm holding his head, but Mukuro had already pulled back and straightened up.
"Even if you're not complete, you're still special grade, right? Unfortunately for you, so am I."
Mukuro lifted his foot, about to stomp down on Sukuna's head.
"Don't get carried away, brat!"
Sukuna's pupils shrank. He slammed both hands onto the ground, releasing dozens of irregular slashes in an instant.
The entire area was shredded. The ground collapsed several meters down, and Mukuro's stomp landed on nothing.
Using that opening, Sukuna escaped from beneath his foot and shot into the air.
'No cursed energy flow at all from those hits. So it really is an extreme body born from Heavenly Restriction? Even a thousand years ago, in the peak of jujutsu, I never saw someone like this…'
Sukuna wiped the blood from his mouth. The blow barely hurt, yet it filled him with excitement.
He had been called the King of Curses since a thousand years ago. And a man with no cursed energy at all was a denial of curses themselves.
Cursed techniques were just skin and muscle. Only the body was true bone and marrow.
So which of them truly represented the essence of this world?
Battle intent surged across his face. As a sorcerer, a strange sense of purpose rose within him.
Their clash felt inevitable.
"What are you thinking about? Letting your mind wander during a fight is pretty disrespectful, don't you think?"
A voice suddenly came from behind him.
Mukuro, who should have fallen with the collapsing ground, had somehow leapt into the air. He was now briefly hovering there, back to back with Sukuna as he spoke.
"Kid, the one being rude and disrespectful here is you, isn't it?"
Sukuna turned his head and calmly replied while looking at the man's profile. The two looked like old friends catching up after a long time apart.
Then he twisted his body and reached out to touch Mukuro, but a fierce whip kick slammed into his face first, sending him crashing down into the rubble-filled crater.
"My nephew really was taken good care of earlier. Come on. Try a little harder. You might even manage to touch the edge of my clothes."
Mukuro landed and walked forward, stopping a few steps away from the pit.
He curled his finger in a mocking gesture. His other hand remained in his pocket.
"Dismantle."
Dozens of invisible air slashes burst out of the smoke filled crater.
Clang, clang, clang, clang, clang!
Metallic impacts rang out nonstop.
A short blade formed instantly in Mukuro's hand. He calmly blocked every slash while his left hand never left his pocket.
'Creating matter from nothing? What kind of ability is this…'
Sukuna leapt out of the pit and retreated rapidly, pulling back more than ten meters.
The situation was becoming troublesome.
Long range Dismantle was blocked. Cleave required close contact. And "Open" could not be activated instantly like slashes.
With only three fingers, opening a domain again so soon was difficult.
Even if he could, with his opponent's speed, he would escape the open domain instantly. Against someone with no cursed energy, the guaranteed hit effect likely would not even work.
And that man's abilities were strange. It was more than just an extreme body from Heavenly Restriction.
The King of Curses had taken another loss barely a month after awakening.
"What's your name?"
While rolling his shoulders like a warm up, Sukuna suddenly asked.
"Mukuro Fushiguro."
Mukuro answered while tossing the short blade in his hand and walking closer.
"Mukuro Fushiguro, I like you. But you also really piss me off."
Sukuna grinned, then kicked off the ground, shattering it as he charged like the wind.
If the other man was that good at close combat, then fighting him head-on sounded just fine.
After all, that kid Itadori was still there as a hostage.
At least for now, there was no way Sukuna would use reverse cursed technique to heal his heart. There was no reason to benefit the one who was using him.
"If you're pissed, then try beating me. If you can't, keep it bottled up."
Mukuro finally pulled his hand from his pocket and charged straight at the King of Curses.
"So fast. This is what a special grade fight looks like…"
Watching from the side, Megumi's eyes widened.
Even after being trained by his uncle and his father, this was the first time he truly felt the power of special grade fighters.
In the span of a blink, the two had already exchanged dozens of blows.
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