Bang—!
A softball slammed into the soccer goal frame at the edge of the sports field. The impact was so violent it left a visible dent in the stainless steel.
"That's... about 30 meters!"
The staff member measuring throws stared at the mangled goalpost, wiped the sweat from his brow, and called out a number he knew couldn't possibly be accurate.
The crowd erupted.
"The world record is only 23.12 meters!"
"Is he a monster?!"
"More like a gorilla..."
"...?"
A pink-haired boy slowly lowered his arm and glanced around, confused.
Did I just throw that?
Is this some kind of illusionary cursed technique? A curse user? A cursed spirit?
The sports field was surrounded by green wire fencing. The campus was lush with foliage, and the teaching building next door looked exactly like an ordinary high school.
No... there's absolutely no trace of cursed energy. Not even the faint aura of a cursed object.
Wait. Isn't this the high school I attended when I was a kid?
Yuji Itadori's eyes widened in disbelief.
The year 2086—sixty-eight years after the Shinjuku Showdown in the Inhuman Makyo.
By that time, Yuji Itadori had become the only registered Special Grade Sorcerer in the jujutsu world. By any measure, he was undeniably the strongest sorcerer of the modern era, surpassing even his teacher Satoru Gojo and the King of Curses himself, Ryomen Sukuna.
Having consumed Sukuna's fingers and the Death Painting Womb cursed objects, Yuji's body aged at a crawl. But with that strength came an unbearable loneliness.
One by one, his companions grew old and died. Only his appearance remained unchanged.
He'd gone to a pachinko parlor to distract himself from the grief. He blinked—and suddenly found himself here.
"Itadori, you seem way more suited for the sports clubs."
"You don't have to force yourself to stay in our Occult Club, you know."
"...Senpai?"
Yuji turned to face the familiar pair standing beside him. His mind raced, and a wild theory began to form.
Did I... travel back in time?!
"Sorry, Senpai. Something came up—I need to head home early."
After a hasty goodbye to his Occult Club seniors, Yuji left the school grounds. He made his way to a quiet park in the center of town and sat down by the fountain.
Half an hour passed. He sorted through his thoughts.
He had definitely traveled back in time.
He reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a small, pitch-black rectangular box.
Inside was Sukuna's finger—the cursed object he and his seniors had discovered earlier in the school's weather station.
Right now, he hadn't enrolled in Jujutsu High. Everything had started after he swallowed that finger.
If he didn't eat it this time... none of those future events would have to happen.
Yuji's gaze sharpened.
But I have to do it.
Right now, he had no cursed energy. No power to control his own destiny. He was nothing but an unusually strong athlete. No Black Flash. No Blood Manipulation. No Shrine. No mysterious farm.
If he'd been given a second chance, he would make up for every single regret.
Junpei, cruelly killed by Mahito. Nanami-sensei. Gojo-sensei, cut in half by Sukuna...
And his promise—to act as a tireless cog, hunting that Special Grade cursed spirit to the ends of the earth.
Mahito.
Yuji gripped the black box tightly, resolve hardening in his chest.
He would re-enroll in Jujutsu High. Kill the four Disaster Curses alone. Eliminate Sukuna. And end the chaos Kenjaku had unleashed.
But while he was lost in thought, a hand suddenly landed on his shoulder.
"Hey, you."
"?"
Yuji turned his head.
A black-haired boy stood behind him—neat white shirt, jet-black hair spiked up like a sea urchin, and a cold, distant gaze.
Fushiguro!
A wave of nostalgia hit him so hard he almost smiled. He caught himself just in time.
No. I can't smile right now. It'll blow my cover.
He fought to keep his expression neutral. This should be when Fushiguro came to his school on a mission to recover Sukuna's finger. Even after sixty-eight years, he remembered it clearly.
Megumi Fushiguro glanced at the pink-haired boy struggling to suppress a grin and frowned.
Why is this guy smiling? Is he an idiot?
"I'm Megumi Fushiguro from Jujutsu High. I have something to discuss with you."
"Oh, hey," Yuji nodded, playing dumb. "What can I help you with?"
"You have a very dangerous cursed object in your possession. I need you to hand it over immediately—"
Before Fushiguro could finish—
Crack—
The ground beside them split open. Yuji flinched as a hideous cyan reptile-like cursed spirit burst from the earth, spraying dirt in every direction. The inhuman creature roared and lunged straight at them.
A cursed spirit drawn by Sukuna's finger?!
"Fushiguro, move!"
Yuji reacted a split second faster, but right now he was just a strong athlete. Before he could shove Fushiguro out of the way, the creature barreled into them like a truck.
WHAM—!
Both of them were sent flying. Yuji's back slammed into a tree trunk.
CRACK—!
The tree snapped in half and toppled over, kicking up a cloud of dust. Yuji groaned as he slid to the ground.
Before, I could've killed something like this with a single breath. But without cursed energy, I can't do a damn thing.
He turned to Fushiguro, hoping the sorcerer could handle it—
"Ugh...!"
"Damn it."
The spiky-haired boy clutched his arm and staggered to his feet, face twisted in pain.
"My arm's broken. I can't form hand signs like this..."
It broke that easily?!
Wasn't this the exact reason I swallowed Sukuna's finger in the first place? Because Fushiguro—a Grade 2 sorcerer—couldn't beat a Grade 2 cursed spirit?!
Yuji gritted his teeth, his eyes falling to the black box in his hands.
I have to eat it.
"Itadori, run! Leave this to me—ngh—leave it to me!"
"Don't try to play hero right now!" Yuji shot back.
"Shut up and run!"
Yuji ignored him. Without hesitation, he pulled Sukuna's finger from the box. The grotesque cursed spirit was closing in fast, roaring as it charged.
There wasn't a trace of fear in his eyes.
"If it's a dangerous cursed object, then eating it should give me the power to kill this thing, right?"
"...You?" Fushiguro froze. "Wait—you'll die!"
"I'm not gonna die. Stop jinxing me."
ROARRRRR—!
The cursed spirit shattered the ground as it bore down on them.
Yuji raised his hand, shoved the finger into his mouth, and swallowed.
Gulp.
His heart lurched violently. A familiar, savage cursed energy exploded through every fiber of his being. Black cursed marks bloomed across his skin. His pupils turned crimson, and a second pair of eyes opened beneath his originals.
The reptile reached him—
Yuji's gaze sharpened. He flicked up two fingers, formed a hand sign, and chanted.
"Dismantle."
"Cleave."
Sukuna's majestic cursed energy surged outward. An invisible slash carved through the Grade 2 cursed spirit's torso. Its supposedly invulnerable body split clean in half at the waist, sliced apart like warm butter.
Thud—
The creature collapsed. Yuji lowered his hand and watched it slowly dissolve at his feet.
"Phew—that was close."
He let out a long breath.
"That should do it."
"...?"
"Hey, wait—are you serious?!"
Megumi Fushiguro gaped at him from where he crouched.
This guy just casually killed a Grade 2 cursed spirit?!
Even I couldn't beat it! Is he even human?
No... after less than a tenth of a second of thought, Fushiguro understood.
That was an Innate Technique. He's been taken over!
Yuji noticed the suspicious glare and quickly raised both hands.
"Whoa, hold on—I haven't been possessed, okay? Don't look at me like that."
It wasn't just Fushiguro who noticed. Yuji felt it too.
Sukuna's power had clearly manifested in his body—but Sukuna's consciousness hadn't overwritten his own.
Could it be... after sixty-eight years of accumulation, I can actually use Sukuna's power myself?