Yuji and Junpei quickly walked into Dormitory 404.
Inside the room, six bunk beds were lined up against the wall. The bed boards had begun to mold. Spider webs had formed in the corners. The air was filled with a scent of decay.
Megumi crouched in the center of the room. One hand was pressing down on the Divine Dog's head, while the other held a spherical object, holding it up to his eyes for a careful examination.
"Fushiguro, what did you find?"
Yuji approached Megumi and leaned in to look. He realized it was an eyeball.
...It didn't look like a human eyeball. The pupil was pitch black, taking up almost the entire socket, and a severed piece of nerve tissue was attached to the back.
Yuji frowned. He could feel the intense residual cursed energy on it. It indeed looked like a trace left behind by a Special Grade curse.
"A fish eye? Where did you find it?"
"In the door crack," Megumi said, flipping the eyeball over. "The Divine Dog followed the scent here and found this thing as soon as we entered."
Junpei stood behind the two. He peeked at the eyeball and subconsciously took a step back.
"How disgusting..."
Yuji said, "But the residual cursed energy on it is very fresh."
Megumi nodded upon hearing this and looked up at Yuji.
"Itadori, do you think this could have dropped from that Special Grade curse?"
"It's possible."
Megumi stroked his chin in deep thought. "If that's the case, then the Divine Dog might be able to follow its scent to find the curse's hiding place."
Yuji stepped forward, patted Megumi's shoulder, and smiled slightly.
"Not bad, Fushiguro. It wasn't a waste of time for me to sacrifice my training tonight to help you tame your shikigami."
"Yeah. Let's go..."
Megumi stood up from the ground. Just as he was about to hand the eyeball to the Divine Dog and lead the group to continue tracking—
POP!
The eyeball in his hand suddenly exploded. Megumi was startled. He clearly hadn't applied any pressure. Black bodily fluids sprayed out from inside the eyeball, splashing all over Megumi's hand.
"Hiss..."
At the same time, the pupils of both Megumi and Junpei shrank violently. Their eyes rolled back.
"..."
When Megumi regained his senses, he caught a glimpse of morning sunlight spilling into the dormitory through the window. The originally dilapidated room looked brand new. Six boys were lying on their respective beds. When Megumi looked at them, he realized that four of them had faces like faceless mannequins—with no eyes at all.
"What is going on?"
Megumi found himself unable to move. Meanwhile, a boy who was sitting on the bottom bunk drinking water stood up. He was tall and slightly muscular, looking like he worked out seriously. He handed his cup to a fat boy sitting on the bed near the door, who wore glasses and had heavy dark circles under his eyes.
"Hey. Go fetch me a glass of water. The water dispenser is at the end of the hall."
"Um... can't you get it yourself?"
"You're so fat—you need the exercise."
The tall boy patted his stomach disdainfully.
"Consider the walk a way to lose weight. Go on."
"..."
The fat boy opened his mouth to say something but ultimately swallowed his words. He took the cup and silently walked out of the dormitory.
The scene shifted.
It was evening. The setting sun shone through the window, dyeing the entire dormitory orange-red.
The tall boy leaned against his bed, scrolling through a secretly brought-in phone. He looked up at the fat boy who was sitting at his desk doing homework.
"Hey. I haven't had dinner. Go to the cafeteria and get me a yakisoba bread."
"You want me to run errands again?"
"Aren't I training you? You're so fat—just consider it a workout."
The tall boy pulled two test papers out of his backpack.
"Oh, right. Don't you love doing homework? I'll give my homework opportunity to you then."
"Izumi, you're bullying him again."
One of the faceless boys teased.
"I wouldn't call this bullying. He looks really happy to do it, so let him."
The fat boy hesitated and spoke up. "Um..."
"Huh? What did you say?"
"Nothing..."
"..."
The scene shifted again.
Late at night. The dormitory was pitch black.
Megumi heard the muffled thuds of fists hitting flesh. Several figures cornered the fat boy, punching and kicking him.
"This is for snitching!"
"This is for going to the teacher!"
"A fat pig like you deserves to be bullied!"
The tall boy's voice was exceptionally clear in the dark dormitory.
"Aren't you just our errand boy? Know your place!"
"Hehe. You're on cleaning duty for this week too. Don't you love being clean?"
The fists continued to fall.
"Hah... hah... hah..."
Megumi snapped back to reality. He panted heavily. His forehead was covered in cold sweat, and the back of his clothes was completely soaked.
"What happened? That feeling just now...?"
Holding his throbbing forehead, he turned to look at Junpei.
"Yoshino, Itadori—did you guys see that too?"
Junpei wiped the cold sweat from his face and nodded slightly. "Y-yes. I saw it. Was it a hallucination? What exactly just happened?"
Yuji asked, "Huh?"
Megumi clutched his chest, trying hard to calm his wildly beating heart. He took a deep breath and said:
"It seemed to be someone's... memories?"
"What memories?" Yuji asked in confusion.
"Fetching water, bringing food, getting beaten up... That boy seemed to have been bullied by his dorm mates for a long time," Junpei said.
"...?"
Yuji stood to the side, completely lost.
What were these two suddenly talking about?
Although confused, Yuji quickly realized. Were they hit by the technique's effect?
"Itadori, did you not see anything?"
Megumi, still looking shaken, turned to Yuji.
"No. You two just paused simultaneously for a moment, and then ended up like this," Yuji shook his head. "Although there's still no obvious cursed energy fluctuation, this must be the effect of that curse's technique, right? Judging by your reactions—an illusion?"
"...You could say that."
Megumi replied.
"The surrounding curses have been cleared out. Your reactions just now could only have been caused by that eyeball," Yuji analyzed. "But if that's the case, things are a bit troublesome."
"Illusions, teleportation, and highly likely binding."
Not a Binding Vow—but a physical binding like when Kento Nanami was taken away. Plus the Yin-Yang Reversal.
That's more than four technique effects already, right?
There were no other residuals nearby, meaning this curse was the same one that kidnapped Kento Nanami. But how could it be this exaggerated?
"Furthermore—why didn't it use that illusion technique on me?"
Yuji looked at Junpei and Megumi, who both shook their heads.
"Could it be that because I'm stronger than it, it's afraid of me?"
"Please be serious!" Megumi rolled his eyes at him.
"Alright, alright. I was just trying to lighten the mood."
Yuji smiled and waved his hand. Despite his smiling exterior, the boy was constantly thinking.
...Or is it because a mental invasion would encounter Sukuna inside him?
Regardless of the reason, the situation was in their favor.
This meant that as long as Yuji was around, this curse wouldn't dare attack them easily.
In the dimly lit hotel room, the TV screen was shining brightly.
Hajime Kashimo leaned against the headboard, his bathrobe wide open to reveal a solid chest. The man was still wearing sunglasses—looking thoroughly entertained.
"Kenjaku, are you playing a Pokémon raising game here? You've got quite the variety."
"...Where did you hear the word Pokémon?"
"It was in this body's memories. Anyway, as I was saying..."
Hajime Kashimo mumbled indistinctly while chewing on popcorn.
"What disgusting thing did you create again? Did you mash the souls of several curses together? That weak cursed spirit doesn't look like it should possess such diverse abilities."
"Not at all. Don't be so impatient—the best part is yet to come."
Kenjaku picked up his teacup and took a slow sip.
"Hmph. So pretentious," Hajime Kashimo snorted, then smiled. "However, I'm starting to get interested in this cursed spirit. What did you do?"
The reason Hajime Kashimo chose to make a pact with Kenjaku and incarnate was because he hadn't fought to his heart's content in his past life.
Therefore, he was always very interested in people or curses that displayed great strength.
"This curse indeed far exceeds the scope of a normal Special Grade curse, but it's merely a relatively successful test subject."
Kenjaku said confidently.
"A test subject?" Hajime Kashimo raised an eyebrow. "You use Special Grade curses for experiments?"
"What else?"
"Cursed spirits don't reach their peak strength the moment they are born. Although jujutsu sorcerers will come to exorcise them whenever they appear, curses also need time to grow and accumulate experience. They can also strengthen themselves by devouring their own kind."
"One thing I've always found highly regrettable is that the strength of a cursed spirit absorbed by my Cursed Spirit Manipulation is fixed at the moment of absorption—unable to grow any further."
"So I've always been wondering if there was a way to bypass this."
Kenjaku grinned, revealing a wicked smile.
"The technique of the Artificial Cursed Spirit, Shanmei, which I created over a hundred years ago, can rapidly accelerate a cursed spirit's growth in a short time—squeezing out all its potential. Therefore, even though this cursed spirit's strength has been enhanced layer by layer, far exceeding a normal Special Grade curse..."
"The price is that these cursed spirits will instantly reach the end of their lifespans. Moreover, curses affected by Shanmei's technique completely break free from my control and can only be used as single-use consumables."
"But this actually works in my favor. Since I can't leave too many cursed energy residuals outside, Shanmei's cursed energy completely masks mine. This prevents Satoru Gojo and the others from detecting my residuals—allowing me to place cursed spirits in that school at will."
Shanmei was one of Kenjaku's many test subjects. Originally, he just wanted to use it to replace the dead Hanami—never expecting it to have such a miraculous effect.
"..."
Hajime Kashimo raised his hand and pushed his sunglasses up to his forehead.
"So what? You didn't let me go. Aren't you afraid of failing?"
"Failing?" Kenjaku smiled dismissively. "So what if I fail?"
He wasn't an old fossil like Tengen. He was a super veteran who had accumulated a thousand years of experience since the Heian period!
When it came to the understanding of jujutsu, if he claimed to be second, not even Sukuna would dare claim to be first.
"It's just the death of a few test subjects. No big loss."
"But if it succeeds..."
What to do when a child is disobedient?
Kenjaku chose to pull out seven Special Grade curses to give them a beating.
"Then I will have found a method to mass-produce Special Grade curses."
"Bullshit."
Hajime Kashimo questioned. "How could it possibly be as exaggerated as you say?"
"..."
Kenjaku stuck out his tongue and made a funny face at Hajime Kashimo, spreading his hands. "Alright. I admit—this operation depends on Shanmei's condition. Although it's much more stable than when I first created it over a hundred years ago, its mental issues still haven't been resolved."
"Hmph. I knew it. Not that impressive after all."
Hajime Kashimo said disdainfully.
"Just sit back and watch the show."
"This experiment has just begun."
Kenjaku crossed his legs, staring at the screen with great interest.
On the screen, Yuji's figure disappeared at the end of the corridor.
Pale moonlight bathed the branches and leaves of the trees. The night breeze blew as Choso walked alone through the quiet woods of the campus.
"...Strange."
The man muttered to himself.
"Isn't that blonde man from earlier the only jujutsu sorcerer in this school?"
Although he wouldn't be attacked by the cursed spirits Kenjaku dropped, the curses everywhere affected his cursed energy perception and judgment.
However, Choso vaguely sensed that someone within the barrier was using the exact same innate technique as him—Blood Manipulation.
"Such a familiar feeling..."
Choso knew that Kenjaku resurrected him simply to use him, which was why he was slacking off in the gymnasium.
But the aura of Blood Manipulation piqued his interest.
Thinking this, Choso walked through a forest path, hurrying toward the direction of Yuji's group.
Meanwhile, Yuji's group had already cleared out the dormitory building. Megumi's Divine Dog led the way, while the other two used their techniques to continuously clear the surrounding low-level curses.
Following the Divine Dog's footsteps, the three eventually arrived at an open basketball court.
Moonlight shone on the smooth ground. The basketball court had long been in disrepair, covered in fallen leaves. Looking through the wire mesh fence from a distance, Yuji saw a horde of low-level curses gathered there.
The pink-haired boy stopped running.
"Stop."
He raised his arm, stopping Megumi and Junpei from moving forward.
In the center of the basketball court stood a curse. It had completely pale skin covered in pitch-black cursed marks, stood nearly three meters tall, and was packed with solid muscle. A brownish-black Sukuna finger rested in the hollow of its chest.
"This guy must be the Special Grade curse that swallowed Sukuna's finger—looking exactly like the one at the juvenile detention center."
"However..."
Megumi had seen the Special Grade curse at the detention center. His breathing grew slightly rapid. "This guy's cursed energy has surged several times compared to the one at the detention center. How could this happen?"
A drop of cold sweat slid down Junpei's forehead. During the exchange event, he had stayed at the edge of the barrier. Now, this was his first time seeing a Special Grade curse other than Mahito in person.
"Although I don't know the specific details, I guess it has something to do with the mastermind behind the scenes."
Strange... How could there be such a drastic change? Could Cursed Spirit Manipulation really enhance a cursed spirit to this extent?
Yuji raised his hand, placed it on Megumi's shoulder, and gave a gentle push.
"You two step back. Leave this to me."
"Itadori, you..."
Megumi was still hesitant, but Junpei nodded at him.
"Fushiguro, trust Itadori-kun."
"Alright... Yoshino, let's go clear the surrounding curses..."
"No. You two stay here. Don't go too far from me—don't forget what happened to Nanami-san."
Yuji patted Megumi's shoulder. He let out a long sigh, then took a step forward. The boy clapped his hands together, aiming at the Special Grade curse in the distance. At the same time, the opponent seemed to have noticed his presence.
This makes the sixth finger.
He needed to finish off this Special Grade curse quickly and then go save Kento Nanami.
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