Yuji Dies, Fushiguro Is Wounded

Ryomen Sukuna quickly followed him in. Apparently not having exerted much effort at all, he stood with his hands on his hips and said to Fushiguro Megumi, "I see. Your shikigami use shadows as their medium?"

It doesn't matter if he's figured it out now. Fushiguro Megumi consoled himself, raising his gaze to Ryomen Sukuna, who was still full of energy. "So what?"

Ryomen Sukuna did not continue his attack. Instead, he stroked his chin with one hand and thought, It's not some common talisman-based technique, either. He uses it pretty well.

"I don't understand. Why did you run away back then?" He looked at Fushiguro Megumi, recalling that while inside Yuji Itadori's body, he could clearly sense the outside world unless he chose not to.

"What a waste..." Ryomen Sukuna seemed to have suddenly figured something out. Pointing at his own chest, he smiled. "Fine, no matter what, at this level, I won't need to heal this."

Fushiguro Megumi let out a faint sigh and rose to his feet, thinking helplessly, He's seen right through me.

Watching Fushiguro Megumi slowly stand, Ryomen Sukuna spread his hands. "You're really risking your life over something this boring? This brat clearly isn't worth it."

Fushiguro Megumi knew he could not possibly be Ryomen Sukuna's match, but he had no choice but to fight. His gaze was somewhat calmer than before.

He remembered his sister, Tsumiki. She deserved happiness more than anyone, yet she had still been cursed.

His father, who did not even know his gender yet named him "Megumi," was still shamelessly living in this world.

Karma did not come on its own. Evil people could only be punished under the law, and Jujutsu Sorcerers were one of the gears of that "causality."

"So that more good people can enjoy equality, I will save others unequally." Fushiguro Megumi's gaze became incomparably firm and resolute as he took up a fighting stance once more.

Ryomen Sukuna seemed to sense the subtle change in Fushiguro Megumi. Moved, he smiled. "Good, very good. Your life is only beginning to burn now. In that case, make me fall for you, Fushiguro Megumi!"

A faint layer of pale blue cursed energy, invisible to the naked eye, surged over Fushiguro Megumi's body. He stared resolutely at Ryomen Sukuna and began chanting, "Furube, Yurayura, Eight-Grasp..."

Just as Fushiguro Megumi was about to continue, his momentum suddenly stalled. The cursed energy around him faded, and the familiar presence of the man before him returned.

"...Let me make this clear first. There was no rational consideration behind saving you. Even if it was dangerous, I didn't want to see a good person like you die. I was confused too. In the end, I acted on emotion. But that's enough. I'm not some ally of justice. I'm a Jujutsu Sorcerer. So I've never regretted saving you."

The black curse markings on Yuji Itadori's body slowly faded away until they vanished completely. Expressionless, Yuji Itadori suddenly bared his teeth in a grin. "I see. Fushiguro really is smart. You thought things through much more thoroughly than I did. What you believe in should be right. But I wasn't wrong either."

"Splash..."

Blood rapidly poured from Yuji Itadori's chest and mouth, running onto the ground. He lowered his head to glance at his chest, then looked at Fushiguro Megumi and asked, "Is Lin Ran and Nobara okay?"

"Yeah, they're okay." Fushiguro Megumi looked calmly at the man before him, his heart filled with an indescribable "calm."

"Sorry, it's about time..." Countless memories surfaced in Yuji Itadori's eyes as he spoke softly. "Fushiguro, Lin Ran, Nobara, and Teacher Gojo... I guess I don't need to worry about him, right? You all have to live long lives..."

Yuji Itadori's eyes slowly closed, and his body began to tilt forward. Fushiguro Megumi remained motionless where he stood, simply watching Yuji Itadori fall before his eyes.

"Thud."

Yuji Itadori fell into a pool of blood. Raindrops pattered onto his body, splashing up droplets.

Fushiguro Megumi suddenly raised his head toward the gloomy, rain-filled sky. Water ran down his face; whether it was rain or something else, no one knew.

Lin Ran called Jutochi Kiyo. After asking which hospital Nobara Kugisaki was in, he headed there directly. His injuries needed treatment too—he had truly been battered to the bone.

"Nobara, I brought you some milk. Get some proper nutrition." Lin Ran pushed open the hospital room door and entered. His body had already been wrapped in bandages, and he carried the milk he had bought earlier in one hand, setting it beside the foot of the bed.

Nobara Kugisaki had bandages around her head. Lying in the hospital bed, she looked somewhat exhausted. Seeing Lin Ran arrive, she gave him a surprised look.

"You're still alive?"

"Yeah, I'm doing great." Lin Ran smiled.

"You're wrapped in even more bandages than I am, so stop acting tough." Nobara Kugisaki shook her head. He was still putting on a strong front, though Lin Ran did seem to be in good spirits.

It was a private room, so it was rather quiet. Lin Ran walked over to the window and looked at the rain still falling endlessly from the sky. "The weather's really awful today."

Nobara Kugisaki's gaze rested on Lin Ran's back. The room was quiet, and only after a long while did she speak. "How are Fushiguro and Itadori?"

"I don't know. They should be okay." Lin Ran truly did not know how things would unfold from here. If he had not faced that Special Grade Cursed Spirit alone, would everything have changed?

Now that he had killed that Special Grade Cursed Spirit, would things on Fushiguro Megumi and Yuji Itadori's side still turn out the same as before?

It was indeed a question, but Lin Ran had no idea what was happening over there right now.

"Lin Ran, I really didn't realize you were hiding your strength." Nobara Kugisaki suddenly recalled something and spoke meaningfully.

Lin Ran froze for a moment, puzzled. "What do you mean, hiding my strength? I don't understand."

"You're still pretending?" Nobara Kugisaki propped herself up and adjusted into a comfortable position against the bed before saying, "You were the one who took down that four-armed Special Grade curse, right?"

"I wasn't! I don't know anything!" Lin Ran was baffled. How had Nobara Kugisaki found out after he dealt with that thing? They should not have met again after she was taken away.

"Hmph... That wasn't a Cursed Spirit. When a Cursed Spirit is exorcised, it disappears after death. But the one you took down left its body behind. I saw it with my own eyes. Is there any point in keeping up the act?" Nobara Kugisaki was a little unhappy. Lin Ran's strength seemed to have far exceeded her expectations.

She had originally thought Lin Ran was definitely weaker than her, just a rookie fresh out of the gate. After all this, it turned out she herself was the rookie.

The rookie was me all along!

Lin Ran immediately turned to Nobara Kugisaki. "It didn't disappear? Damn!"

He had thought he had covered everything perfectly. He could have simply said that he was no match for it and ran away, that he did not know where the Special Grade Cursed Spirit had gone. Yet Nobara Kugisaki had actually found out.

Wouldn't that make it obvious that they would think he could deal with Special Grade Cursed Spirits?

"You can be such a bore sometimes. Cough, cough... My mouth's a little dry. Help me open the milk carton." Nobara Kugisaki had already gotten over her initial shock. Killing a Special Grade might be possible under certain circumstances, but the success rate was low, and it would have to be a relatively weak Special Grade.

She did not know how strong that four-armed Special Grade Cursed Spirit had been, but it was still a Special Grade. Its weight was certainly not ordinary.