Tuk.
I let the mummified finger I was holding drop back onto the marble floor with a dull thud.
'Okay, let's stay calm. It could just be some imitation that happens to look eerily similar.'
The remains of powerful sorcerers who left their mark on jujutsu history often transformed into cursed objects after death.
So, there was no law saying this repulsive mummified finger absolutely had to belong to Ryomen Sukuna.
To erase my doubts, I concentrated sharp Cursed Energy into the tip of Muramasa to its absolute limit and stabbed down at the finger on the floor with everything I had.
CLAAAAANG—!!
"Kuh...!"
Sparks flew upon impact.
The finger struck by the blade remained perfectly intact, without so much as a scratch.
In fact, the blade bounced back so violently from the overwhelming durability that my palms, gripped tight around the hilt, went numb.
"...It's the real deal, damn it."
Denial was over.
A Special Grade cursed object that was impossible to destroy by any means.
The starting point of the original Jujutsu Kaisen story, the Shibuya Incident, and even the Culling Game.
A Special Grade cursed object was always at the center of every major event in this world.
It was undeniably the finger of Sukuna, the King of Curses, the one hailed as the strongest and most evil in both the past and present.
I sat back down and picked up the finger again. My head was a tangled mess of racing thoughts.
'Then is this finger the culprit behind the Seiryu Nursing Hospital massacre?'
If that were the case, who on earth would deliberately place a Special Grade cursed object in the middle of a backwater country hospital on the outskirts of Kyoto?
We're still more than ten years away from the point where Yuji Itadori, Sukuna's vessel, swallows the finger and incarnates him.
Deduction wasn't that difficult.
Kenjaku.
The worst curse user in history, who has operated from the shadows for over a thousand years by hopping from one brain to another.
So, what was his intention in leaving the finger here?
What purpose lies at the end of that wretched malice?
But having reached that point, I had no way of knowing more.
It could have been a simple amusement during his thousand-year-long life, or it could have been part of a massive grand design to prepare for the future Culling Game.
Kenjaku was like a rugby ball; you never knew which way he would bounce.
"Sigh..."
I wrapped Sukuna's finger tightly in a cloth and carefully shoved it into my pocket.
I shoved the headache-inducing thoughts aside for a moment.
Right now, there was one lingering question regarding the current situation.
'Wait a minute. What about the mass hypnosis that made hundreds of non-sorcerers walk into the hospital on their own?'
That minced-meat monster I fought just now never once displayed any kind of mental manipulation ability.
The only abilities I confirmed from that freak were the forced fusion of human bodies into its own and the discharge of Cursed Energy blasts. That was it.
In a life-or-death struggle, a Cursed Spirit wouldn't have died while hiding its best cards.
In other words, it didn't 'refrain' from using hypnosis; it 'couldn't' use it.
There was only one conclusion.
The thing I just killed was merely a decoy. There's a true culprit who actually hypnotized and controlled the people.
...It really is a confusing day.
"Hey! It's over! I'm going to report mission complete to the outside!"
Kanao's voice pulled me out of my deep thoughts.
Just as she was about to call the command center, I hurriedly grabbed her wrist.
"No, not yet. Don't report mission complete. Tell them to tighten the external control even more instead!"
"What are you talking about all of a sudden? We clearly exorcised that lump."
Kanao asked, her eyes narrowing in confusion.
"No, there are still too many things that bother me."
"First, it's still unclear who or what performed the mass hypnosis to lure the non-sorcerers inside."
"And crucially, one more thing."
"...What is it?"
"That Grade 2 sorcerer who entered before us and ended up flattened. That's the most suspicious part."
Kanao thought for a moment, then tilted her head.
"Well, I don't know. Looking at that monster's mass and destructive power, it seemed like it could easily crush a person flat."
"No, absolutely not."
I shook my head firmly at Kanao's rebuttal.
"I don't know the exact mechanism of that minced-meat spirit, but its essence was a 'monster that fusions humans into its body.'"
"If I were that monster, I wouldn't have gone out of my way to crush my prey and throw it away."
"I would have swallowed them whole without breaking the brain or body, neatly wrapping them up as part of my own skin!"
At my persistent questioning, Kanao's expression gradually hardened.
"...Now that you mention it, that makes sense."
"If the situation allowed for the body to be recovered and witnessed by other sorcerers, then the monster basically just threw the corpse out for us to find."
"Yeah, the math isn't adding up. Fine, let's search every nook and cranny."
We immediately scattered and began combing through the entire Seiryu Hospital, from the 1st floor to the 3rd, and down to the basement boiler room.
We kept our senses sharp, looking for hidden barriers or places where Cursed Residue suddenly cut off.
However, not a single survivor was found inside the hospital.
It was impossible to tell if the true culprit had already escaped or if they were simply so meticulous that they left no trace behind.
"Phew, I guess it can't be helped. We're not finding anything else. Let's just report it, Hachiro."
"We can't just keep the police waiting outside forever."
"...How strange. Did they really slip away already? Fine, I understand."
I reluctantly agreed.
Kanao called the public safety commander waiting outside and reported a tentative mission complete.
Not long after, the cleanup crew (Assistant Directors) in hazmat suits entered the hospital. After handing over the scene to them, we stepped outside.
In the back seat of the black sedan returning to the Zenin estate in Kyoto.
Kanao and I stared silently at the mountains receding through the car window, neither of us saying a word.
'Sukuna's finger. And the true culprit who vanished.'
The unpleasant feeling, like a thorn stuck in my throat, refused to go away, but there was no way left to verify anything now.
**
Crash—. Crash—.
A clear, peaceful beach where the waves gently rolled in.
On a sunbed atop the sandy beach bathed in warm sunlight, a woman wearing a black rash guard lay in a completely relaxed posture.
There was a surgical scar running across her forehead.
"Kaori~ Are you still sulking?"
On the sunbed next to her, a youth with a neutral appearance, whose entire body was covered in stitches, was lying face down, speaking in a playful voice.
"Sorry, sorry. I'm still inexperienced, you know."
"Touching something as delicate as a human soul in the brain is quite tricky~"
"I'm not sulking. Just... a little disappointed, I suppose."
At the indifferent reply, Mahito let out a giggle.
"But it really was a good idea! Modifying the brains of non-sorcerers who have Cursed Techniques and turning them into sorcerers! It looks interesting. Maybe I should try making one later?"
Seeing Mahito's eyes sparkle with the new possibilities of his technique, Idle Transfiguration, the woman curled the corners of her mouth up languidly.
"Sure. Don't rush; take your time looking for it. The true shape of the soul, that is."
"Okay♥"
It was then.
From the forest behind the beach, one giant figure and one small dwarf-like figure walked out with footsteps that made the ground rumble.
Sssssss...! Sssssssss!!
The dwarf was huffing and puffing, his single eye wide with anger.
Finally, crimson flames erupted from the volcano-like top of his head.
"Hmph! I don't care about anything else! But you! Why on earth did you feed that precious finger of Sukuna's to such a piece of trash!!"
As the dwarf shouted while pointing his finger, the massive tree-shaped Cursed Spirit standing next to him tried to restrain him.
".erif no gnihtac si tserof ehT .ogoJ ,nwod mlaC"
"Shut up! You stay quiet, Hanami!!"
"He's right. Calm down, Jogo."
Despite Jogo's yelling, the woman remained lying on the sunbed and spoke in a languid, soothing voice.
"I had quite high expectations for that nursing hospital, and I put a lot of work into it."
"Heee? What kind of technique did it have that Kaori even invested a finger~?"
"Well, I suppose you could call it 'Grafting.'"
The woman muttered softly while looking up at the sky.
"It's merely grafting the bodies of living humans or sorcerers onto its own..."
"But it's a technique that allows it to fully absorb and use their individual personalities, Cursed Energy, and even their Innate Techniques."
'That might be the clue to shaping the new form of Cursed Energy I desire so much...'
As the woman's voice trailed off in a low murmur, Mahito clapped his hands, having understood the situation.
"Aha! So that's why you molded it into a Cursed Spirit and even fed it Sukuna's finger to experiment?"
"Yes. I provided the field and the fertilizer, so now it just needs to grow nice and tall."
"And what if that stupid hunk of meat gets subjugated and dies? He's supposed to be an ally! What about that precious finger you invested!"
But as if there was nothing to worry about, the woman lay back deep into the sunbed and waved her hand lightly.
"Don't worry. Once the time is right and it's properly ripe, I'll go and harvest it myself."
Blocking out the sunlight, she added in a dry voice.
"Well... if it dies a meaningless death halfway through without even sprouting properly, then it just means it was a failure that only had that much potential to begin with."