Utaha closed her laptop and rubbed her temples, which were aching from a long session of typing.
The room was silent, with only the occasional sound of traffic from outside the window reminding her of the passage of time.
She turned her head, her gaze falling on her blurred reflection on the dark screen and the faint cracks appearing beneath her eyes in that reflection.
An irrepressible curiosity grew in Utaha's heart like a vine.
What kind of past did a man like Sukuna have? Behind those terrifying legends of the King of Curses, were there hidden stories unknown to the world?
Utaha chose her words carefully, asking tentatively in her mind, "Sukuna-san, you were once human too, right? A thousand years ago, how exactly... did you become what you are now?"
Sukuna's four crimson pupils slowly opened, his eyes shifting as if searching through memories. He remained silent for a moment.
For him, the thousand-year slumber and scattered memories from other time-spaces were mostly blurred. For a millennium, he had done little but sleep or daze off.
Only the core memory nodes concerning his origins in the Heian Era remained as clear as yesterday.
"How did I become like this?" Sukuna scoffed, controlling the mouth on Utaha's face to pull into a cold curve.
"Speaking of which, if you strip away all that boring waiting, my life is actually quite simple."
His voice lowered, carrying a sense of detachment. "Everything probably started from before I was even born."
Sukuna's tone was as flat as if he were discussing someone else's affairs, "While in the womb, I ate my own twin brother."
"Ate... ate him?!" Utaha's eyes snapped wide open.
A chill shot from her spine to the top of her head, and her stomach churned.
As a girl raised on modern scientific education, she couldn't comprehend the concept at all.
"A fetus... how could a fetus have the consciousness or behavior to 'eat'? That's impossible."
"Heh, who knows." Sukuna seemed indifferent to the specifics, his tone carrying a detached apathy.
"Perhaps unconsciously, as the stronger one, I plundered all his nutrients. Or perhaps, as modern medicine would put it, we were conjoined twins fighting for the right to survive in one body?"
"I don't fully understand it myself. The only certainty is that in the end, I was the only one who survived. That so-called 'younger brother' perished completely during the embryonic stage, becoming a part of my nourishment."
The current Sukuna didn't strictly possess only memories from a thousand years ago, knowledge from another world gave him a few theories.
In the Heian Era, nobles commonly married relatives, and Sukuna's parents were likely no exception. This resulted in the brothers, who should have developed normally, failing to split properly and becoming conjoined. Sukuna was the primary body and absorbed the nutrients, while the other brain failed to develop normally, leaving only Sukuna to be born alive.
Sukuna's birth brought no joy, only extreme terror. An infant with four arms and two faces was undoubtedly the ultimate omen of misfortune in the Heian Era, an era that worshipped the "normal" and viewed abnormalities as demonic. Especially in certain regions, twins themselves were seen as a sign of ill luck.
"After birth, I was naturally regarded as a monster and abandoned by my parents." There was no emotional fluctuation in Sukuna's voice, as if he were stating the origins of a stranger.
"In a world that viewed anomalies as mortal enemies, I struggled to survive like a stray dog. Discrimination, loathing, fear, malice... anyway, everyone wanted me to die."
However, it was precisely this malice-filled environment that catalyzed a startling mutation. Perhaps because he had devoured his twin in the womb, Sukuna's constitution became an extremely special Heavenly Restriction.
He was born with a staggering amount of Cursed Energy, and the malice the surrounding environment directed at a child provided a constant stream of negative emotions. Like the perfect catalyst, it caused the Cursed Energy within him to grow at an unprecedented, frantic rate.
Despair, anger, hatred... these poisons that others avoided became the source of his power.
"Fortunately, I was strong enough." Sukuna's tone took on a hint of almost cruel pride.
"In my childhood, before I could fully understand what a Cursed Technique was, I could drive Cursed Energy by instinct alone to hunt beasts in the mountains. That is how I survived."
With no masters to teach him and no companions to support him, he could only realize the mysteries of Cursed Energy through life-and-death combat, honing his innate Cursed Techniques—Cleave, Dismantle, and Divine Flame, which originated from the essence of 'cutting' and 'cooking.'
This brutal self-practice, combined with his unparalleled talent, caused Sukuna's power to climb at a terrifying speed.
The expansion of power inevitably attracted attention and hostility.
Sukuna's unrestrained, self-indulgent style and his growing threat finally caused panic among the elites and even the Emperor. They viewed him as a scourge that had to be eradicated, repeatedly sending elite Jujutsu Sorcerer units, Onmyoji, and even armies to subjugate him.
The elite assassination unit directly under the Fujiwara clan, the Sun, Moon, and Stars Squad.
The subjugation unit, the Five Empty Generals.
And the Abe clan's elite forces, the Desshi Pacification Squad.
These represented almost the most elite forces of the Jujutsu World at the time.
However, these expeditions ultimately became mere footnotes to Sukuna's legendary battle record.
"Pursuers sent by the Emperor?" Sukuna let out a low, pleasant laugh, as if remembering a fun past event.
"Several groups came, making such a racket like annoying flies. In the end, I slaughtered all of them, not a single one left."
The tragedy of this one-sided massacre far exceeded the world's imagination. The absolute power Sukuna displayed turned all challengers into withered bones, completely crushing the government's will to suppress him.
Faced with absolute terror, the nobles and the Emperor, after weighing the pros and cons, finally chose to yield. They no longer tried to eliminate him but instead turned to a policy of appeasement, even being forced to worship him as a deity on certain occasions to trade for temporary peace.
The name Sukuna became the most trembling symbol of the late Heian Era.
But invincibility brought not satisfaction, but a boredom that seeped into his very marrow.
"Standing at the peak for too long, as far as the eye can see, there are only ants." A hint of genuine weariness bled into Sukuna's tone.
"No opponents worth fighting, no things capable of piquing interest. Day after day of slaughter and destruction became dull."
"Amidst this extreme emptiness, an opportunity appeared. A powerful sorcerer approached me and proposed a bold plan. Through a special contract, my power would be divided and sealed, transforming me into special grade cursed objects—twenty fingers scattered across the river of time. My consciousness would then fall into slumber, awaiting a distant future."
"Rather than rotting away in that boring era, I preferred to gamble on a possibility. I accepted that sorcerer's contract and actively transformed myself into cursed objects. All for the sake of waking up a thousand years later to clash with the powerhouses of different eras and experience truly heart-pounding combat."
"Fortunately, it seems I wasn't wrong. This era is strong, far more interesting than I imagined. Devils, Cursed Spirits, Jujutsu Sorcerers, Onmyoji? I missed many things, but it seems there is still a chance to make up for it."
Utaha pressed her temples after listening. It was truly a spectacular story. Sukuna's past was something a sheltered girl like her could never have imagined.