Yuji clapped his hands together, and scarlet blood emerged from behind him, all surging toward his palms.
"Piercing Blood."
The moment his words fell, several streams of scarlet liquid bloomed like arrowheads, shooting rapidly in front of Yuji. Although the guided Piercing Blood wasn't as swift as the normal one, it didn't have the normal Piercing Blood's flaw of being difficult to adjust the trajectory if the first volley missed.
SQUISH—SQUISH—SQUISH—!
The sound of blood arrows piercing flesh was continuous. Some low-level cursed spirits didn't even have time to roar before their bodies were pierced by the blood arrows. Purple bodily fluids pooled into a puddle of blood on the ground. The cursed spirits went limp, then turned to ashes and dissipated into the air.
In the blink of an eye, only the Special Grade curse remained standing alone in the center of the basketball court.
Its walnut-sized eyes darted around, sweeping over its dissipating companions in surprise, before finally locking back onto Yuji.
"ROAR—!"
The curse let out a low roar, kicking off the ground fiercely, cracking the basketball court floor beneath its feet, and charged toward Yuji like a cannonball.
Yuji didn't retreat—instead charging forward to meet it. The boy raised his fist, and scarlet blood quickly covered his arm, forming a thick layer of blood armor. Cyan cursed energy flared up, gradually transforming into pitch-black lightning—
"Black Flash!"
The two fists clashed fiercely in the air.
BOOM—!
A terrifying shockwave exploded outward with the point of impact as the center. The concrete ground around Yuji shattered layer by layer like a spiderweb. Rubble and dust were swept up by the shockwave, forming an expanding ring of air.
"?!"
Junpei and Megumi were watching from a short distance away. The black-haired boy's bangs were blown up by the strong wind. He subconsciously raised his arm to shield his face, squinting at the figure on the edge of the court.
"What astonishing power... Is this Itadori-kun's strength?"
Although he had kept hearing about Yuji's terrifying battle records—whether it was the battle with Mahito or Jogo—he had long fled the scene in the former, and only watched the battle from afar at the edge of the barrier in the latter. This was his first time watching so immersively.
Megumi stood beside Junpei, his eyes fixed on the boy fighting the Special Grade curse not far away.
Itadori, you've gotten stronger again...
Facing this Special Grade curse—which was several times stronger than the one at the juvenile detention center—Yuji, who had only been enrolled for two days back then, could be temporarily suppressed by the opponent. But the current Yuji completely overwhelmed the opponent, which was enough to show the progress this boy had made in these past few days.
"Guh..."
At the edge of the court, the curse's fist was knocked back by the boy's immense force. The skin on its knuckles had cracked open, and purple bodily fluids seeped from the wounds.
"Roar..."
It stumbled back several steps, while Yuji retracted his fist, the blood armor on his arm also cracking.
Although Yuji won the clash just now, this punch was enough to demonstrate the terrifying power of a Special Grade curse.
"GAHHHHH—!"
The severe pain made the curse look up unwillingly, its deafening roar piercing the clouds. It then raised its hand, golden cursed energy gathering in its palm, eventually slowly forming into a cursed energy orb—intending to hurl it at Yuji.
But Yuji was faster.
The pink-haired boy raised his right hand, spreading his five fingers. The blood orbs gathered around him bloomed after being highly compressed, transforming into several slender blood ropes that wrapped around the curse's arms and torso. The blood ropes quickly tightened, digging into the curse's skin, firmly binding its body and forcibly interrupting its technique.
"Flowing Red Bind."
"Ugh... Ah..."
Yuji took a step forward, then placed his palm on the chest of this Special Grade curse.
Reverse Cursed Technique. By multiplying two negative cursed energies to form positive energy, it was like a "deadly poison" to curses whose physical bodies were composed of cursed energy.
However, the process of injecting Reverse Cursed Technique energy into another person's body was much more complex than using it on oneself. Therefore, Yuji could only use this move while the opponent was bound—or, like Yuta Okkotsu, pour positive energy into the opponent's body through close-range, mouth-to-mouth contact.
As long as enough Reverse Cursed Technique energy was injected into the curse's body, its body would begin to disintegrate from the inside, turning into ashes and dissipating into the air.
However—
Just as the positive energy was about to surge from Yuji's palm, the curse's body jolted violently.
SQUISH—!
The curse thrust its arms outward, and the blood ropes wrapped around it snapped like broken rubber bands. Yuji's pupils shrank slightly. He subconsciously wanted to retreat, but the curse's fist had already swung over.
BANG!
The punch smashed into Yuji's crossed defensive arms. The pink-haired boy's body slid backward several meters, his shoe soles plowing two deep grooves in the ground.
"It broke free...?"
Yuji lowered his arms, looking at the curse rolling its wrists, his brows furrowing slightly.
It seems that guy Kenjaku really did something to this curse.
Yuji shook his numb arms and resumed a fighting stance.
But that's fine too.
"..."
A few minutes later.
"Black Flash, Black Flash, Black Flash—!"
The final punch.
Yuji poured all his cursed energy into his right fist, then smashed it fiercely down on the head of the Special Grade curse in front of him—
BANG!
BOOM—!
The curse's head was smashed into the concrete ground by the punch. The terrifying power transmitted through the curse's body to the ground. The concrete ground beneath it caved in as if hit by a meteorite, cracks spreading in all directions, forming a circular crater several meters in diameter.
The curse's body was embedded at the bottom of the crater. Its eyes rolled back. It finally went limp on the ground, limbs powerless.
Yuji retracted his fist. Purple blood slid off his knuckles. He reached out and took the Sukuna finger from the curse's chest, then pocketed it.
The sixth one.
"..."
"Um... Fushiguro-kun."
Junpei and Megumi were standing together not far away. A drop of sweat slid down Junpei's forehead.
"Hmm?"
"We two... don't seem to be of much use, do we?"
Junpei scratched his cheek somewhat embarrassedly, a hint of disappointment in his voice. Since entering the school, he had been clearing out low-level curses—which indeed helped a bit—but facing this Special Grade curse, he didn't even have the right to get close.
"You'll get used to it when going on missions with him. Let's go."
Megumi patted Junpei's shoulder, and the two walked toward Yuji.
"Itadori, how is it?"
"This guy is completely dead."
Yuji glanced at the gradually dissipating curse, then looked up at Megumi.
"Fushiguro, why did your Divine Dog lead us to this kind of place?"
"The Divine Dog should have followed the scent of that Special Grade curse, not this cursed spirit that ate Sukuna's finger, right?"
Hearing this, Megumi shook his head. "I'm not sure either, but the Divine Dog's sense of smell probably wouldn't make a mistake. Unless that curse had a tendency to deliberately guide us—intentionally revealing its aura just now and then hiding it at the critical moment."
"It's possible."
Yuji agreed, his expression somewhat grave.
"But if that's the case, then it's stalling for time. Could this guy be trying to... with Nanami-san..."
Before he finished speaking, Yuji caught sight of something on the ground from the corner of his eye.
That Special Grade curse had completely dissipated, its torso ashes blown away by the night breeze and merging into the darkness. But after that, an "item" was left behind.
Yuji's pupils shrank slightly. It was a fish-eye-like eyeball, the pitch-black pupil almost occupying the entire sclera.
Exactly the same as the one they found in Dormitory 404.
"Fushiguro, Junpei—get back!"
Yuji got up and quickly pushed the two away, but it seemed to be too late.
POP!
The eyeball exploded, and black-purple liquid splattered out. At the same time, Megumi and Junpei fell into an illusion.
"..."
"Second time."
In a daze, Megumi heard a hoarse voice. This voice was extremely close to him, as if murmuring right in his ear. But when he looked toward the source of the voice, he found only darkness there. Nothing at all.
"...Damn it!"
Just as Megumi cursed inwardly, in a trance, he felt himself standing in a luxuriously decorated living room.
The marble floor gleamed coldly under the chandelier. A middle-aged man in a crisp suit sat cross-legged on the sofa, a delicate purple clay tea set on the coffee table. Outside the floor-to-ceiling windows was a neatly trimmed courtyard, the afternoon sun shining on the lawn, highlighting the high-profile luxury of the villa's decor.
Megumi caught sight of the fat boy from earlier standing in front of the coffee table. Purplish bruises still lingered on his face. His head was bowed—like a child who had done something wrong.
CRASH—!
The middle-aged man suddenly raised his hand and smashed the water cup in his hand onto the fat boy's head.
"Trash!"
"Bullied at school and you don't know how to fight back? What's the use of crying to me! What's the point of you being so fat?"
"But, Dad, I..."
"I really can't figure it out. I'm a manager of a listed company, and my wife is so beautiful. How did we give birth to a thing like you?"
The man's gaze swept up and down the fat boy—not looking like he was looking at his own son, but rather at a defective product.
"It's one thing that your looks can't compare to your sister's, but your grades are also a complete mess. What is the point of you living?"
"Every time I see your pig face, I get angry. Get out of my sight. Don't be an eyesore."
"..."
Hearing his father's scolding, the fat boy silently bent down, picked up the broken glass shards of the water cup piece by piece, held them in his hands, and then silently backed out of the living room, walking toward his own room.
"Useless thing."
His father's muttering came from behind.
"..."
Not long after the fat boy returned to his room, his door was pushed open. A middle-aged woman walked in, her hair tied in a bun, wearing an elegant dress. The woman held a towel in her hand. She bent over and gently wiped the wound on the boy's forehead with the towel.
"Does it hurt?"
"..."
"We all know your father's temper. He just... hopes you can be a bit more successful. After all, the company has a lot of things to do, and the pressure is high."
"...I know, Mom."
"Fushiguro, Junpei—wake up!"
"Hey! Fushiguro! Junpei!"
"..."
Megumi snapped his eyes open, his whole body panting heavily as if he had just broken free from drowning.
"Hoo... Hoo... Hoo..."
Cold sweat continuously rolled down his face. Megumi turned to look at Junpei and found that he was the same.
"Fushiguro-kun... Did we see... the same thing? That boy's family..."
"Yeah, probably. But this is already the second time we've been hit."
Megumi's brows were tightly furrowed. After recovering, he looked at Yuji with a pleading gaze.
This was just a subconscious action.
Because Yuji was simply too strong—as if he could solve anything.
"This means that curse might have been watching us from the shadows all along. It probably can't defeat Nanami-san and me working together, so it's been using this method to stall for time. After dealing with Nanami-san, it might attack us."
Yuji deduced. Although the surrounding low-level curses had been cleared out, he still hadn't sensed any cursed energy fluctuations, so he couldn't determine the location of that Special Grade curse.
"We can't let this continue."
Three strikes and you're out. Although he hadn't noticed any key clues yet, it was impossible for this curse not to reveal any flaws. The next time this eyeball appeared and plunged Megumi and Junpei into an illusion, he would directly drag this Special Grade curse out.
Yuji patted Megumi's shoulder. After confirming that both of them had broken free from the illusion, the three planned to leave.
But at this moment, Yuji suddenly sensed a faint sound.
From the corner of his eye, he casually swept across the ground, then stopped at the place where that Special Grade curse had disappeared.
"..."
Scarlet liquid seeped up from underground, right at the bottom of the circular crater he had punched out earlier.
Yuji noticed that this blood was different from the blood that oozed out when the eyeball exploded earlier. The eyeball's blood was black-purple, while this blood was scarlet. And it looked like it was...
Welling up from underground?
Yuji felt thoughtful. He seemed to have thought of something, but just as he was about to speak, the boy sensed a surging cursed energy rapidly approaching the three of them from not far away.
"Piercing Blood!"
Piercing Blood—a move that uses Convergence to concentrate blood at one point and then fires it at supersonic speed.
Yuji whirled around. A crimson blood arrow shot straight toward him, its speed almost impossible to capture with the naked eye—
SQUISH!
Although Yuji had raised his arms in time to block, the surging blood still knocked him back several meters. When the blood offensive dissipated, a scarlet hole had been torn open in the boy's arm.
"Is this... Blood Manipulation?! The exact same fighting style as Itadori's?"
"Itadori-kun! Are you okay!"
Junpei and Megumi simultaneously looked toward where the blood arrow came from and found that the person attacking Yuji was Choso, who had come following the sound.
"You are Sukuna's vessel, Yuji Itadori?"
Choso lowered his arms from forming a hand sign. Fresh blood gathered behind him again, then formed into concentrated blood orbs.
"...Who are you?"
Yuji shook his hand, and the wound caused by Piercing Blood was immediately healed by the Reverse Cursed Technique.
Although the pink-haired boy felt a surge of joy upon seeing his eldest brother, considering that this barrier might have already been infiltrated by Kenjaku, he chose to pretend not to recognize Choso.
"I am the head of the Death Painting Wombs. The eldest of the eight brothers. To save my younger brothers, I have come to kill you."
Choso raised his hands, assuming a fighting stance.
"Prepare to die, Sukuna's vessel."
In the hotel room, the TV screen was brightly lit.
"Oho. They're fighting, they're fighting."
Hajime Kashimo lay on the bed holding a bag of potato chips, enthusiastically watching this battle between brothers.
Kenjaku leaned against a chair nearby, a smile playing on his lips.
Although he was certain that Choso absolutely couldn't defeat Yuji right now, he had also planted other Special Grade curses in ambush nearby.
But the most important thing wasn't to defeat Yuji—but to make him sign a Binding Vow with Sukuna and turn from the "Jujutsu High side" to the "Neutral side," so he wouldn't affect Kenjaku's plan.
I wonder how that guy Choso will feel when he finds out he hurt his own younger brother.
However, just as Hajime Kashimo and Kenjaku were preparing to settle down and enjoy this battle between brothers—
SPLAT!
The camera feed was covered by blood splattering into the air. Blood smeared the lens, and the image began to shake violently—like an out-of-control camera falling from the sky.
"What?"
Kenjaku quickly changed the channel, wanting to pull up the feeds from other cameras, but the feeds from the micro-cameras he had planted in other places were the same.
"What's going on?"
Hajime Kashimo frowned.
BZZZ—
The screen quickly turned into a flurry of snow, completely losing its ability to broadcast images.
"Huh?"
Hajime Kashimo sat up straight immediately, looking at Kenjaku in dissatisfaction.
"Hey, Kenjaku—what did you do? I was just getting into it!"
"..."
Kenjaku was silent for a while upon hearing this.
"How is this possible?"
"These cameras were all planted by me in relatively safe locations. They wouldn't easily be affected by the battle."
"Although the battle between Yuji Itadori and Choso is indeed intense, it's impossible to destroy all the cameras at once, right?"
Kenjaku wondered aloud.
"Then what is going on now?!"
Hajime Kashimo's voice rose a few pitches, the word "disappointed" written all over his face.
"..."
Kenjaku was speechless, his brows still tightly furrowed.
Is it a coincidence?
Or is this kid intentionally destroying the cameras I set up? But how did he detect the presence of these micro-cameras? Even Satoru Gojo couldn't detect them.
Is this not hacking?
Because the Curtain isolates the vision inside and outside the barrier, the surveillance cursed spirits he placed far away couldn't enter the Curtain for the time being, and most of the cursed spirits inside the barrier had been destroyed by Yuji. It seemed he wouldn't be able to see the images inside the barrier for a short time.
Kenjaku felt puzzled.
He recalled the juvenile detention center incident. Back then, he had also placed surveillance cursed spirits near Yuji, but they were spotted by Yuji at a glance. Although at the time he thought Yuji was looking at a crying mother whose direction happened to overlap with the cursed spirit.
But now, he was a bit hesitant about whether his judgment was correct.
Yuji couldn't have discovered that he was peeping, could he?
Regardless, Kenjaku didn't easily draw a conclusion about this matter for the time being.
But now he could no longer monitor Yuji's group inside the barrier and could only silently pray that his plan would be implemented smoothly.
"Damn it..."
Yuji Itadori, are you hacking or what?
<><><><><><>
Read Advanced Chapters on : patreon.com/Kaizo247
~ Every 150 PS = Bonus Chapter!
~ Push the Story forward with your [Power Stones]