"...Why? What exactly happened?"
Junpei's breathing was somewhat hurried.
Megumi's brows were tightly furrowed as he spoke in a deep voice. "No sound. No cursed energy fluctuation. No warning signs."
"It's like... he vanished into thin air."
"..."
The corridor fell silent.
"Calm down, you two."
Seeing the two of them starting to sweat, Yuji took charge of the situation.
"Nanami-san is a Grade 1 sorcerer just like me. Every Grade 1 sorcerer has the ability to subjugate Special Grade curses independently, so he won't be in any danger in the short term. Unless..."
"Unless what?" Junpei asked in confusion.
"Unless the opponent has exceeded the scope of an ordinary Special Grade curse."
After Yuji finished speaking, he gave the two a comforting smile.
"However, there is a high probability that such a situation will not happen."
"...I hope so."
Megumi looked somewhat gloomy.
"Next, the three of us need to keep an eye on each other's movements at all times. Try not to let your companions out of your sight. Stay safe."
After comforting the two, Yuji fell into deep thought.
According to Mechamaru, wasn't this cursed spirit's innate technique Yin-Yang Reversal?
Could it be that Yin-Yang Reversal is merely a derivative ability of this cursed spirit?
No—perhaps there are other Special Grade curses or even curse users present in this school.
Both are possible.
The information available right now was too scarce. Yuji frowned. Sukuna's finger had already attracted many cursed spirits in a short amount of time. In addition, Yuji deduced that Kenjaku had probably released quite a few cursed spirits as well. Curses ranging from Grade 1 to Grade 4 were everywhere, and the chaotic cursed energy greatly affected his judgment.
"To find Nanami-san, we must first exorcise all the low-level curses in this school that are disrupting our judgment."
Kento Nanami felt as if his body had sunk into a swamp. Continuously falling. A moment later, he finally felt the sensation of hitting the ground.
SPLASH—
He felt like he had fallen into a pool of water, splashing liquid everywhere. But the surroundings were pitch black—so dark he couldn't see his own fingers.
"Hiss..."
Kento Nanami stood up from the ground. He groped around in the water and then picked up his blunt sword cursed tool. A soft sensation came from beneath his feet, like stepping on some living creature. The ground was slightly undulating and felt warm.
"Where is this...?"
Sizzle—
The sound of something corroding echoed. Kento Nanami frowned as a slight throbbing pain came from his calf, which was submerged in the unknown liquid.
The blonde man bent down and reached out to touch the ground. His fingertips met a layer of wet, viscous liquid with a faint fishy smell. He brought his fingers to his nose and sniffed.
"...Stomach acid?"
Could he currently be inside the stomach of some creature?
"Damn it. There is no light source here at all. I can't see anything clearly..."
After using cursed energy to protect his calves, Kento Nanami could only wade forward in the dark. After walking for a while, he seemed to reach the edge of the space, feeling a slippery and soft texture from the wall.
"Flesh..."
Layers of dark red meat were piled together. The surface was covered in slippery mucus, writhing slightly to a certain rhythm—like the stomach of a giant beast. Murky liquid oozed from the crevices of the meat, flowing slowly down the walls and merging into the puddle at his feet.
Kento Nanami gripped his blunt sword tightly, walked up to the wall, raised his hand, and slashed down.
SQUISH—
The blade sliced through the flesh wall, and blood-red bodily fluids sprayed out. The meat peeled back to the sides, revealing deeper muscle tissue underneath. However, even though the cut was deep—at least half a meter—he still couldn't see the bottom.
"Bottomless..."
"It seems I won't find a way out in the short term."
"..."
Kento Nanami gritted his teeth.
This couldn't go on. His cursed energy was limited, and furthermore, cursed energy couldn't completely resist the erosion of this stomach acid. His skin was already being corroded. He had to carve out a path quickly.
Kento Nanami originally thought he could protect Megumi and Junpei—the two fledgling freshmen—but now he couldn't even protect himself.
"Itadori-kun... I can only rely on you now..."
"I don't know how long Nanami-san can hold out."
Yuji walked briskly ahead of Junpei and Megumi. The corridor was filled with low-level cursed spirits blocking their path. Several blood orbs floated beside the pink-haired boy.
These blood orbs acted like floating cannons, automatically locking onto these weak curses. Countless blood orbs transformed into Crimson Meteorites that required no hand signs, piercing right through them. At the same time, Megumi's Divine Dog and Junpei's Moon Dregs were also providing cover on both flanks.
"But I have some good news to tell you."
"What good news?"
This was Junpei's first mission, and he had been immersed in a tense atmosphere from the very beginning.
This high school had completely turned into a paradise for curses. There were no humans left inside the school—only countless curses.
It was inevitable for Junpei to be afraid seeing so many curses for the first time.
"Do you remember the Curtain that Ijichi-san set up before we entered the school? The Curtain is a type of barrier that isolates the inside of the school from the outside, and curses cannot easily escape from the Curtain."
"The inside and outside of the Curtain are different barriers, so that curse couldn't have teleported Nanami-san outside the Curtain..."
Yuji paused.
Megumi understood. "In other words, Nanami-san isn't far from us. He is inside the barrier—and very likely somewhere near us?"
"Exactly."
Yuji nodded, then continued.
"If Nanami-san had engaged in a battle with a Special Grade curse, even with the interference of many other curses, we should have sensed his cursed energy immediately. But right now, there is nothing."
"Which means Nanami-san is highly likely just trapped right now—not in imminent danger."
Based on the available information and his years of combat experience, Yuji quickly analyzed Kento Nanami's situation.
"Amazing. You figured out the current situation so quickly."
Junpei exclaimed in admiration.
"Although there hasn't been a battle, it doesn't mean Nanami-san is safe and sound right now. We better find him within fifteen minutes... no, ten minutes."
Kento Nanami was a trustworthy elder. In his past life, he had helped Yuji a lot and guided his growth. The last thing Yuji wanted to see was anything happening to him.
"We can't dawdle any longer. We have to move fast."
Yuji raised his hand to rub his temples, his tone heavy.
He couldn't waste too much cursed energy here. Although Megumi and Junpei would hinder his battle against a Special Grade, they could help him clear out the grunt curses. This was the only other piece of good news to be thankful for.
However...
He turned his head, his gaze casually sweeping over the small grove by the school gate, where the figure of a blonde man could vaguely be seen.
A rat that doesn't belong here has sneaked in.
The doors to the gymnasium at the very edge of the school were pushed open a crack. Moonlight squeezed in through the gap. Naoya Zenin—covered in the blood of cursed spirits—walked through the crack into the spacious interior.
"Phew—"
Naoya Zenin leaned against the door panel and let out a long sigh, his gaze sweeping across the empty gymnasium.
This was the very edge of the barrier—the place least likely to attract curses. It was the perfect spot to rest for a bit.
After all, he had come to this high school bearing unhealed wounds. Unable to exert a hundred percent of his strength, he chose to wait and see.
"That guy Yuji Itadori hasn't discovered my whereabouts yet. I'll wait until that pink-haired brat and the curses mutually destroy each other, and then I'll strike... and wipe them all out."
The corners of Naoya Zenin's mouth curled up slightly, revealing a sinister smile.
In reality, even if Naoya Zenin were at his peak, he wouldn't dare rush in to clash with Yuji.
Naoya Zenin had been beaten into fear by Yuji.
That guy, from the very first moment they fought, was landing Black Flashes consecutively as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
Who the fuck could withstand that.
But...
"Yuji Itadori, you made me lose all my face in front of everyone. I will definitely take revenge for this."
Tigers lurked within Naoya Zenin's eyes.
He walked slowly to the center of the gymnasium, planning to find an empty spot to rest. But just then, he felt an extremely faint trace of cursed energy coming from not far away.
"...?"
Naoya Zenin was somewhat surprised. He looked toward the source of the cursed energy. Ordinary curses lack intelligence and wouldn't hide their cursed energy at all. Could it be a jujutsu sorcerer?
The blonde man's gaze fell on the shadows beneath the distant podium. A black-haired man wearing a white kimono, draped in a deep purple sleeveless crossed-collar vest and scarf, was curled up under the podium, hugging his legs.
Naoya Zenin's footsteps halted.
He narrowed his eyes.
"The aura of a curse... it's somewhat similar, but not entirely."
Hearing his voice, the motionless black-haired man stirred. He raised his eyes to look at Naoya Zenin. The man's hairstyle was very peculiar—tied behind his head into two bundles of spiky hair resembling sea urchins. There was purple eyeshadow around his eye sockets and a black horizontal cursed mark across the bridge of his nose.
"A human?"
"I just woke up from a hundred and fifty years of slumber..."
The man's voice was hoarse and low.
"Are you a jujutsu sorcerer?"
Naoya Zenin stared at him for a few seconds, then a contemptuous smile broke across his face. "I see. I know now. You are the Cursed Womb: Death Painting stolen from Jujutsu High's storehouse."
"Let me guess—which number are you? The eldest? Or the second?"
The man was silent for a moment before speaking. "I am Choso, the eldest of the nine brothers."
"Oh. So you're the eldest son."
Naoya Zenin nodded, the smile on his face unchanged.
Although he maintained a light smile on his face...
Inwardly, Naoya Zenin was panicking. The first three of the Death Painting Wombs were cursed objects of Special Grade caliber. Currently severely injured and unhealed, he absolutely could not rashly engage in a battle.
Tch. How unlucky!
"Just asking—what is your purpose in coming to this school?"
Naoya Zenin asked in annoyance.
"I came to find my younger brothers." Choso replied.
"What?"
"The man who fed me to a curse user and allowed me to incarnate proposed a deal to me. He helps me find my remaining six brothers, and I work under him."
"And my mission is—"
Choso stood up from under the podium. At the same time, Naoya Zenin felt an invisible cursed energy erupting around him. Scarlet liquid emerged behind Choso. The blood churned in the air before finally converging together, transforming into several small blood-red spheres that floated behind him.
"To kill all the jujutsu sorcerers that appear in this school."
Naoya Zenin's pupils shrank violently.
"Blood Manipulation...?"
He subconsciously took a step back.
How could he run into such a "good thing"?
"Tch."
Although Naoya Zenin was still grinning on the surface, inwardly he had cursed the Choso in front of him ten thousand times.
Why did it have to be now?
Why did it have to be me?
I was just looking for a place to rest—why did I have to run into this kind of thing?
A drop of cold sweat slid down his forehead.
"Hehe. I am the legitimate son of the Zenin Clan. A Grade 1 sorcerer. Naoya Zenin."
"Your Blood Manipulation looks far inferior to that guy named Yuji Itadori."
Naoya Zenin tried his best to squeeze out a smile.
Damn it. I couldn't beat Yuji Itadori—you think I can't beat you?
"Did you think I would lose to a third-rate piece of trash like you?"
"Laughable!"
"..."
A few minutes later.
The floor of the gymnasium had turned into a pool of blood. Naoya Zenin lay on his stomach, propping himself up with his elbows.
"Cough cough... Blergh—!"
He vomited a mouthful of pitch-black blood.
What is this? Poison?
Naoya Zenin's face was a mixture of blood and cold sweat. The old injuries from his fight with Yuji flared up during the battle just now, leading to his complete defeat at the hands of Choso.
How could Blood Manipulation have this kind of effect... Crap. I feel like I'm losing consciousness.
Choso stood in front of Naoya Zenin, looking down at him.
Not a single drop of blood stained his white kimono, and the blood orbs beside him continued to float.
"You bastard... Cough cough... Don't look down on me!"
"You're in this state, and you still care about things like that?"
Choso looked down at Naoya Zenin expressionlessly. Because he was a special incarnated body, his blood was mixed with a lethal poison that humans could not resist. Unless one possessed an advanced Reverse Cursed Technique, once his blood was injected into them, they would fall into a poisoned state.
"Truly ugly."
Choso felt disdain.
"I'll be going now. You can fend for yourself here."
"Don't leave, you... bas..."
Naoya Zenin's eyelids grew heavier and heavier. His vision increasingly blurred.
Yuji Itadori... Choso... Death Painting Womb...
"Why do I run into every kind of monster..."
THUD—!
He tried to raise his eyes to look at the slowly departing Choso, but ultimately collapsed into the pool of blood.
Trash.
Naoya Zenin, unable to battle again.
On the other side of the campus.
Yuji's fist, wrapped in cyan cursed energy, smashed into the face of a gorilla-like curse in front of him—
BANG!
SQUISH!
The sound of a skull shattering echoed in the corridor, and purplish-blue blood splattered everywhere. The curse's head was directly blown apart by the boy's punch. It then went limp, twitched twice on the ground, and turned into ashes, dissipating into the air.
Yuji shook the bodily fluids off his hand, his gaze sweeping to the end of the corridor.
"Are there any more?"
"None for now. My Moon Dregs is patrolling nearby. This area is pretty much cleared."
Junpei followed behind him, panting heavily.
"Good work, Junpei."
Yuji nodded. Just as the two were talking, Megumi's voice came from inside the dorm room marked "404" not far away.
"Itadori! Yoshino! Divine Dog caught the scent of that Special Grade curse!"
What? It was that easy.
Yuji raised an eyebrow.
Watch me elbow it to death with eight consecutive Black Flashes later.
"We're coming right now!"
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