...into an immediate slaughterhouse.
"Thump... thump..."
It was the sound of a heartbeat—heavy, oppressive, and carrying an indescribable, eerie resonance.
Yuji Itadori stared intently at the long-haired man in front of him. The man wore a kimono and had a horizontal bloodstain across his face; in that moment, Yuji's muscles tensed instinctively.
Danger! Extreme danger!
Even without exchanging blows, Yuji's beast-like intuition was screaming a warning:
The man before him was completely different from the mindless transfigured humans he had just encountered outside.
He was strong! Terrifyingly strong!
"You..."
Finally, the deathly silence was broken.
Choso slowly turned around, his hollow yet deep eyes locking onto Yuji.
His brow furrowed deeply, as if he were looking at something unbelievable—something that even sparked a flicker of rage.
"You... why do you carry the scent of my younger brothers?"
Choso's voice was soft, almost raspy.
Yet beneath those words lay a suppressed fury as terrifying as an impending volcanic eruption.
"Huh?"
Yuji froze.
He had already prepared for a life-and-death struggle, circulating his cursed energy to strike first.
But he never expected the man's first words to be that.
"Brothers? What are you talking about?"
Yuji looked at him with utter confusion.
He swore this was the first time he had ever seen this man in this hellish Shibuya underground.
Yet for some reason, he felt the man's face... looked strangely familiar.
'As if I've seen him somewhere before?'
Wait!
A bolt of lightning flashed through Yuji's mind.
Jujutsu High!
After the Yasohachi Bridge incident a few months ago, Brother Yoru had brought two strangely dressed—honestly, borderline perverted—guys back to Jujutsu High.
Brother Yoru had said they were his new subordinates. Their names were... Eso and Kechizu?
This man's facial features bore a striking resemblance to those two!
Not only that, but this man seemed to have visited the school to see his brothers back then. They really had crossed paths briefly.
It was just that Yuji's mind had been entirely focused on the investigation of the Special Grade Cursed Objects at the time, so he hadn't interacted with the man much.
"I remember now, you're Eso and Kechizu's..."
Before Yuji could finish, Choso cut him off violently.
"Shut up!"
Choso lunged forward, his foot crushing the concrete floor into a deep crater as spider-web cracks rippled outward.
"Don't you dare speak my brothers' names with that mouth!"
Choso's breathing grew ragged.
He couldn't help but recall what Eso and Kechizu had told him at their dwelling a few days prior.
"Brother, that boy at Jujutsu High named Yuji Itadori... he's strange."
Eso had frowned then, his voice filled with doubt.
"Even though he carries that nauseating cursed aura of Sukuna's... beneath that curse... I felt a strange sense of familiarity."
"Yes! Brother!" Kechizu had chimed in.
"It felt as if... as if he were our own flesh and blood!"
At the time, Choso hadn't taken it to heart.
The Cursed Womb: Death Paintings were unique existences, products of their mother's cruel experimentation by that demonic man (Kenjaku).
How could there be anyone else in this world connected to them by blood?
He had even assumed it was just a delusion his brothers had after being purified by that monster from Jujutsu High, Yoru.
But now.
As he stood face-to-face with Yuji Itadori, and as the blood within their bodies produced a faint yet undeniable resonance in the air...
Choso finally realized that his brothers hadn't lied!
The boy before him truly carried the scent of blood from the same source!
But how was that possible?!
How could an ordinary human boy possess the bloodline of a Cursed Womb: Death Painting?
'Could it be... that this kid used some evil jujutsu to steal my brothers' power? Or... is he a new experiment created by that demon?!'
Regardless of the possibility, for Choso, who valued his brothers above all else, this was an unforgivable desecration!
"Since you refuse to say anything, then die."
Choso's eyes went cold, looking at Yuji as if he were already a corpse.
Hum!
Before the words could fade, a violent surge of red cursed energy erupted from Choso's body!
"So fast!"
Yuji's pupils shrank.
He only saw the man raise his right hand. The next second, a crimson line of blood shot across the dozen-meter gap like a blade tearing through space, piercing toward his face!
Blood Manipulation: Convergence!
This was the ancestral technique of the Kamo family, one of the Big Three, but in the hands of the eldest Cursed Womb: Death Painting, Choso, it exhibited a terrifying power far beyond that of any human sorcerer.
For his blood was itself the most lethal poison and the toughest weapon!
"Damn it!"
Yuji's reaction time was pushed to the limit.
He jerked his head to the right and kicked off the ground, catapulting backward like a leopard.
Squelch!
The line of blood grazed Yuji's cheek; the sharp gust of wind even sliced off a few strands of his pink hair.
Although he had avoided a lethal blow to the head, the bloodline seemed to grow eyes in mid-air, making a bizarre, sudden turn.
"What?!"
Yuji was shocked; he hadn't expected the attack to change its trajectory mid-flight.
Slash!
A muffled sound rang out.
Yuji's left arm was instantly sliced by the bloodline, leaving a wound deep enough to see the bone. Hot blood sprayed out, soaking his uniform.
"Sss..."
Yuji hissed in pain, his figure stumbling as he landed behind a support pillar a dozen meters away.
He gripped his wounded arm tightly, his brow furrowed.
Not just because of the searing pain, but because he could feel that the blood that had cut him contained a domineering destructive force, one that was trying to erode his body!
If it weren't for the fact that he was Sukuna's Vessel—possessing high poison resistance and physical regeneration—that single hit might have rendered his entire arm useless!
"Did you dodge? It seems that body of yours, soaked in curses, has decent reflexes."
Choso slowly lowered his right hand, a single drop of blood still wriggling on his fingertip.
He began to walk, step by step, toward the pillar where Yuji was hiding. Each footfall seemed to beat in time with the Grim Reaper, radiating a suffocating aura of dread.
"However, this is only the beginning."
Choso's voice echoed through the vast underground hall, sounding like a judgment from hell itself.
"Since you carry the scent of my brothers but refuse to tell the truth..."
"...then I will tear your body apart with my own hands and drain your blood dry, confirming it bit by bit!"
Feeling the murderous intent drawing closer and becoming more violent, Yuji leaned against the cold pillar and gritted his teeth.
He finally understood.
The guy in front of him wouldn't listen to any explanations; he was a complete and utter lunatic!
Moreover, that bizarre blood-control ability was almost impossible to defend against. In this cramped underground space, it put him at a severe disadvantage.
"No choice then..."
Yuji took a deep breath as blue cursed energy began to converge wildly on his fists.
Since reasoning was out of the question, he'd have to use his fists to carve out a path to survival!
This fight was unavoidable!
Yet, a split second before lunging out, an absurd thought flashed through Yuji's mind.
'This man named Choso... why is he so certain that I have his brothers' scent?'
'Could it be... that my origins really hide a secret even I don't know about?'
[ Author's Note : If you're loving the story, a power_stone, review or comment means the world!
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