Ginza, Tokyo.
BOOM!!!
The glass façade of a luxury department store shattered into a million glittering shards. A massive, bloated cursed spirit unhinged its jaw, lunging toward the four figures standing calmly in the middle of the street.
"Get lost!"
Satoru Gojo raised a hand, flicking a concentrated marble of cursed energy like a railgun projectile.
BANG!!!
The curse's torso was vaporized instantly, the force of the blast continuing onward to punch a clean hole through the skyscraper behind it.
Yuta Okkotsu winced at the collateral damage. "Gojo-sensei, maybe we should dial it back just a little?"
"The citizens have been evacuated, but destroying the infrastructure is going to make the reconstruction work a nightmare," Yuta added tentatively.
Suguru Geto nodded in agreement. "As expected of Souma's disciple. You're far more considerate in your methods than Satoru."
"..."
Satoru's face soured. "Urusai! Shut it!"
"Have you forgotten that my brother used to be a total demolition maniac back in the day?" Satoru retorted, crossing his arms.
Suguru rolled his eyes. "Which is exactly why it's so strange. Souma grew up and became mature, while you're still stuck in the same spot, spinning your wheels."
"Huh? You want to go, Suguru?! I'm telling Shoko that you said her cooking was bland!"
"Everyone, shut up!"
Yuki Tsukumo pulled off her sunglasses and delivered a sharp kick to Satoru's backside.
"Focus! Find Kenjaku and the hostages. Try acting like adults for five minutes!"
"Hai~ Hai~"
The four of them swept through the Ginza district. Eventually, they found a trace left by Kenjaku at the base of a high-rise. However, instead of a trap or a hostage, they found only a crude graffiti drawing of Kenjaku pulling a funny face.
"Tch!" Satoru snorted with irritation. "I knew it. A blatant diversion. What a tedious little game."
Yuki shrugged. "In that case, let's wrap this up and head to the other battlefields to help out."
The group turned to leave without hesitation. All in all, from the moment they left Jujutsu High to their search in Ginza, barely a minute had passed. Even for Kenjaku, one minute wasn't enough time to achieve anything substantial. His 'diversion' seemed to have failed spectacularly.
Suddenly, the very building where the graffiti sat erupted with a terrifying surge of cursed energy.
The four Special Grades froze.
They turned back just as the skyscraper groaned and collapsed in on itself, reduced to a mountain of dust and twisted rebar. From the heart of the ruins, four geysers of concentrated malice surged into the sky. The black, viscous energy was so thick it looked like physical fountains of ink.
"Those are... four Cursed Wombs?!"
Satoru used the long-range perception of the Six Eyes to peer into the shifting shadows.
"Naoya Zenin, Oka Kamo, the late Emperor... and the last one... wait, why does he look exactly like the portrait of the seventeenth head of the Gojo clan?"
Yuki's eyes widened as the realization hit her. "The Big Three and the Imperial Line! Those Cursed Wombs... don't tell me..."
The four exchanged looks. The answer was already written in the oppressive air.
A thousand years ago, the King of Curses, Ryomen Sukuna, had crushed the world of sorcery under his heel. Desperate and out of options, the Imperial Court and the sorcerer clans had eventually invited Sukuna to participate in the Niiname-sai festival, effectively deifying him as an untouchable god—a desperate measure to buy peace.
But after Sukuna finally reached the end of his life decades later, Japan didn't find tranquility. Instead, it plunged into a more chaotic era, fueled largely by the birth of three of the Four Great Vengeful Spirits: Sugawara no Michizane, Emperor Sutoku, and Taira no Masakado.
The ancestors of the Big Three.
Sugawara no Michizane: The ancestor of the Gojo. Falsely accused by the Fujiwara clan, he died in bitter exile. Before Kashimo ever held the title, Michizane was the original "God of Thunder," a vengeful spirit so powerful he struck the Imperial Palace with lightning repeatedly after his death.
Emperor Sutoku: A puppet ruler stripped of power. It is said that in his final days, he used his own blood to write a curse against the Imperial family upon his coffin, vowing to become the "Great Demon King" of Japan. He left behind the legacy of Blood Manipulation, which became the bedrock of the Kamo clan.
Taira no Masakado: Born of a woman whispered to be the "Serpent Mother." It was said his mother licked his entire body at birth, granting him skin as hard as steel and making him immune to blades. A legendary rebel who sparked a massive uprising. After his death, his serpentine soul, born of the great dragon, was transformed into the ultimate shikigami of the Ten Shadows: Mahoraga. (The Sanskrit name for Mahoraga, Mahoraga-ga, literally means "Great Serpent.")
Kenjaku had meticulously gathered the bloodlines of the modern Big Three to act as anchors, resurrecting three monsters he couldn't even control.
As for the fourth, Prince Sawara, he existed two hundred and fifty years before Sukuna. Falsely accused of treason by his brother, Emperor Kanmu, he starved himself to death in exile. Before Sukuna's birth, the title of "Strongest in History" belonged to him. Kenjaku had slaughtered the modern Imperial family to use their royal blood as a catalyst to wake this nightmare from the late Nara period.
Crack... crack...
The shells of the Cursed Wombs shattered. Four grotesque, overwhelming forms crawled out of the darkness. They let out soul-shredding shrieks toward the moon, their cursed energy hitting the street like a physical tidal wave.
Under Kenjaku's remote guidance, the legends of ancient Japan had returned. But the passage of a millennium had stripped them of their names and their reason. Only an endless, bottomless hatred remained, driving them to destroy everything in their sight.
"Eh?? The Four Great Vengeful Spirits?!" Yuta gasped. Figures he had only read about in history and culture classes were now standing right in front of him.
"This... is actually going to be a bit of a pain," Satoru said, ruffling his hair.
The Vengeful Spirits might not possess the surgical precision of Sukuna, but they were legends for a reason. They were beings who had defined their respective eras. Even Satoru could feel the heavy, suffocating pressure radiating from them.
"Truly legendary," Suguru said, stroking his chin. "I wonder if I can use Cursed Spirit Manipulation to absorb them."
"Hah! You've certainly got guts to even think that!" Yuki laughed. "Stop talking. There are four of them and four of us. Pick your poison."
Satoru grinned. "Since I'm a Gojo, I'll take Sugawara no Michizane. Time to show my ancestor how much I've improved on the family business."
Yuta looked at Taira no Masakado, who stood gripping a massive tachi. "We're both swordsmen. I'll take him."
Yuki looked at Emperor Sutoku, whose body was covered in weeping, bloody sores. She rolled her eyes in disgust. "Bloody and slimy... gross. I'll take Prince Sawara instead."
Suguru shrugged helplessly. "Fine, I guess I'm stuck with Emperor Sutoku."
"Yoshi!" Satoru stuck out his tongue, his eyes flashing with excitement. "Then... let's go!"
The four of them stepped forward in unison toward their screaming opponents.
Four Special Grades vs. Four Vengeful Spirits.
The legends of the past against the legends of the modern day.
The slaughter began in an instant.
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