You're a Special Grade, huh?

Guided by the Divine Dogs, the group slowly advanced through the warped interior of the juvenile detention center. After passing through several dim corridors, the space suddenly opened up.

Though they had never gone downstairs, they somehow arrived in an area resembling the detention center's sewers.

Several horribly mangled corpses lay by the wall, their bodies torn apart as if they had been ripped to shreds by a beast.

Fushiguro said uncertainly, "That's three bodies, right?"

One of the corpses, which had only its upper half left, was still barely recognizable.

The name on the tag pinned to its chest identified him as the son of the mother they had met outside.

Itadori's expression darkened. Staring at the corpse, he muttered, "This is that mother's son. I'm taking him back!"

But Fushiguro spoke sternly, not supporting Itadori's decision. "He's already dead! We still need to confirm the safety of the other two survivors!"

"Carrying his body will affect what we do next!"

The two held vastly different views and began arguing.

Itadori believed that declaring the woman's son dead without even seeing his body was far too irresponsible, while Fushiguro believed someone like him was not worth doing this for at all.

Sorcerers received detailed information on the people involved before carrying out a mission.

The man before them, whose face was still recognizable, had driven without a license and hit a little girl on her way home from school. It had even been his second time driving without a license!

In Fushiguro's eyes, such an unrepentant villain was beyond saving.

But kind-hearted Itadori could not understand Fushiguro. "If that's what you think, then why did you save me?"

Itadori's question left Fushiguro momentarily speechless, and he fell into thought.

As the two argued, Lin Mu suddenly sensed an intense cursed presence behind them, dozens of times stronger than any curse they had encountered before!

"Watch out!"

After warning his teammates, Lin Mu immediately attacked in the direction the presence had come from.

In the vast space, a wave of flames from Majestic Destroyer Flame swept forward.

Although he had caught the curse's presence for an instant, it was far too fast.

Lin Mu's attack missed.

Lin Mu's sudden warning also put everyone on alert.

Fushiguro asked in confusion, "What's wrong? If there were a curse, the Divine Dogs should've warned us."

As he spoke, he looked toward where the Divine Dogs had been—but there were no Divine Dogs left, only a white dog's head embedded in the wall!

The Divine Dogs, which were extraordinarily sensitive to cursed energy, had been instantly killed before they could even make a sound!

That had never happened before!

Fushiguro immediately realized how serious this was. Only a special-grade cursed spirit could probably do something like this!

"Hey, this is all your fault. You were still arguing at a time like this. At least consider the time and place—"

Kugisaki began complaining about Itadori and Fushiguro's behavior, but before she could finish, the ground beneath her suddenly turned into a pool of black water, and she instantly fell through it.

After Kugisaki disappeared, the opening vanished as well!

Itadori and Fushiguro's hearts clenched!

"Run! We'll find Kugisaki later!" Fushiguro was certain that a special-grade cursed spirit had set its sights on them!

But before they could move, a cursed spirit with a lower body wrapped in a silkworm cocoon and a humanoid upper body appeared silently behind them!

An utterly chilling smile spread across the cursed spirit's face, as if it were welcoming their arrival.

Its terrifying presence spread through the area, warning them that any movement would result in instant death!

"There's no mistake. This cursed spirit is special grade. I can't move!" Fine beads of sweat appeared on Fushiguro's face.

Move, move, move! Itadori also struggled desperately to make his body react beneath that horrifying pressure.

He had once casually thought that special-grade cursed spirits were not that frightening, but only after experiencing one firsthand did he understand what special grade truly meant.

An involuntary thought rose in both their hearts: Can Lin Mu really beat it?

Wood Release: Advent of a World of Trees!

While the two of them were unable to move, Lin Mu had already formed hand seals and unleashed his ninjutsu.

His blood-red Sharingan opened as his hands rapidly formed seals.

Branches like giant pythons burst from the ground and swiftly coiled around the cursed spirit's body.

The cursed spirit showed immense interest in the only person who had not been frightened by it.

Faced with this strange method of attack, it was not surprised. Instead, its face was full of curiosity.

But the next second, it could no longer smile. The seemingly ordinary branches drilled into its body like augers.

Its skin, harder than steel, was pierced so easily. Like blood pumps, the branches rapidly absorbed the blood within its body.

Sensing the threat, the cursed spirit's expression turned to terror. It rapidly swung both hands down, trying to sever the branches.

But the branches were both flexible and tough. No matter how it attacked, it could only leave nearly imperceptible scratches on them.

"Move!"

Lin Mu shouted. He had known this cursed spirit would appear; it had only come a little earlier than expected.

Once Lin Mu made his move, Fushiguro and Itadori finally broke free from the suppression.

Itadori drew Tuzuo Demon from his waist and slashed horizontally with incredible speed.

Yet when the sharp blade struck the cursed spirit's flesh, it rang out with the sound of clashing metal.

"Rip—"

With the sound of flesh tearing, Itadori's entire right arm was sent flying. Tuzuo Demon, still gripped in his severed hand, snapped in half down the middle!

Lin Mu had seemed to handle it with ease, but only after truly exchanging blows did they understand just how powerful a special-grade was.

Itadori had not even seen how it attacked just now!

Shock rapidly spread across Fushiguro's face. This cursed spirit was completely beyond his ability to handle!

Now, everything depended on Lin Mu.

The cursed spirit struck at a speed too fast to see, its barrage of fists hurtling toward Lin Mu.

Since it could not sever those branches, it would directly attack the one using the cursed technique!

But in Lin Mu's eyes, its attack was no different from an ordinary person throwing a punch. He merely shifted his feet slightly and evaded the blow.

With a thought from Lin Mu, the branches rapidly tightened. The portions embedded in the cursed spirit greedily absorbed its energy.

A foreign thought instantly surfaced in the special-grade cursed spirit's heart—one that had long been rooted in every creature's instincts: fear of death!

Though Lin Mu might not necessarily be able to defeat it, it had no desire to fight someone capable of threatening it.

The cursed spirit used the same ability again. The ground beneath Lin Mu transformed into a pool of black water and teleported him elsewhere within the juvenile detention center.

Lin Mu seemed to have expected it, showing no panic as he fell.

Once Lin Mu had been completely teleported away, the branches lost control and gradually went limp.

In a dim space filled with cursed spirits, Lin Mu's figure fell from high above.

Seeing the mass of cursed spirits below, the corners of Lin Mu's mouth rose uncontrollably. His plan had succeeded.

After much consideration, Lin Mu had decided to let Itadori summon Sukuna to deal with this cursed spirit, so he had held back during his fight with that special-grade cursed spirit.

He could have used Majestic Destroyer Flame after restraining it, but he had chosen not to.

If nothing unexpected happened, Itadori would soon decide to let Sukuna out to deal with this cursed spirit.

Next, Lin Mu only needed to wait for Fushiguro to find him. Although he could leave this place with the Sharingan, Fushiguro did not know that. If he left first, it might affect the plot again.

Besides, with so many cursed spirits here, he could not possibly leave. To him, these cursed spirits were huge amounts of inheritance progress.

If possible, he also planned to go support Kugisaki.

After all, he remembered that in the original story, Kugisaki had been trapped by those cursed spirits because she had not brought enough nails. Fortunately, Fushiguro had arrived in time to save her.

With himself, an unpredictable factor, now present, things might change. To ensure Kugisaki would not be in danger, he needed to exorcise the cursed spirits here as soon as possible!

After their exchange, Itadori had gained a profound understanding of a special-grade cursed spirit's strength.

Having ventured this deep inside, there was no way they could escape this cursed spirit on their own.

And Lin Mu, the only one capable of fighting the special-grade cursed spirit before them, had been teleported to an unknown location.

Perhaps there was only one way to break this deadlock!

"Sukuna! If I die, you die too! Help me if you don't want to die!"

At this critical moment, Itadori made his decision. As he bandaged his severed right arm, he spoke to Sukuna within him.

The moment his words fell, a mouth suddenly appeared on Itadori's cheek. "I refuse!"

"Even if I die inside your body, I still have eighteen soul fragments left!"

"But what pisses me off is that I don't control this body. If you want to switch, then switch."

"But when that happens, I'll kill all your companions first!"

Sukuna spoke in a teasing tone.

"The first will be the one beside you, then that woman who looks so spirited."

"But the one I care about most is Lin Mu. Fighting him might be quite entertaining!"

"I won't let you have your way!" Itadori said furiously.

Sukuna was utterly unconcerned. "While you're talking to me, your companion over there is about to die first."

Against a special-grade cursed spirit whose strength vastly surpassed theirs, fighting head-on was clearly the stupidest decision.

"Fushiguro, hurry and find Lin Mu and Kugisaki. When you get outside the juvenile detention center, use some way to signal me."

"When that time comes, I'll let Sukuna out!"

"Until then, I'll hold it off here!"