Itadori's Death

Fushiguro, watching Lin Mu and Sukuna's battle from afar, was completely at a loss for words.

Not only could Lin Mu fight Sukuna, but he was actually going blow for blow with him!

Even if Sukuna's strength after tearing out his heart was definitely below three fingers, it was still at least above two.

Not long ago, Lin Mu had struggled fiercely against the cursed spirit at the juvenile detention center. Yet now, he could fight Sukuna with such ease?

Was Lin Mu growing that quickly, or had he simply never shown his true strength before?

Most terrifying of all, Fushiguro had already been shocked enough that Lin Mu possessed two cursed techniques.

But now, he had displayed no fewer than four abilities that appeared completely unrelated!

Flames, trees, clones, and an exoskeleton resembling a Simple Domain!

Most sorcerers only possessed a single cursed technique. As for whether there had ever been exceptions in history, Fushiguro did not know—at least, he had never heard of any.

The effects or activation conditions of a cursed technique could be altered by making a "binding vow"...

But no matter what kind of binding vow was made, the technique's ultimate effect would not stray too far from its original nature.

Fushiguro's own cursed technique was shikigami summoning. It might have seemed as though it granted many different abilities, but from beginning to end, his only ability was summoning.

No matter how flashy the abilities of the shikigami he summoned were, they did not belong to him.

But Lin Mu was different. Every ability he had displayed was cast by himself, without relying on any external force.

And every one of those cursed techniques differed greatly from the others, with no apparent connection between them.

No matter how harsh or tricky a binding vow was, it could not turn flames into trees.

So there was only one explanation: Lin Mu truly possessed multiple cursed techniques!

And judging by Fushiguro's understanding, the effects and power displayed by every single one of those techniques were absolutely far from weak!

On top of that, there were those special eyes that had earned Gojo-sensei's recognition.

If Fushiguro remembered correctly, when he had first seen those eyes, they had possessed only a single tomoe. After that, they changed every so often.

From one tomoe to two, then three—Lin Mu's eyes were evolving and growing stronger as well!

Those terrifyingly powerful eyes were not even complete yet?

"Lin Mu... what kind of monster are you?" Fushiguro gave a bitter smile. Fortunately, this monster was on Jujutsu High's side.

If he belonged to an opposing force, the entire jujutsu world would likely be thrown into turmoil because of him.

Within the blazing sea of fire, a pitch-black figure gradually emerged.

It was Sukuna, who had been trapped inside. Charred branches lay at his feet, while flames clung to his body without ever directly touching his skin.

All the flames were scattered by some external force less than a millimeter from Sukuna's skin.

Although Majestic Destroyer Flame had not unleashed its full power, it had still inflicted considerable damage on Sukuna.

Clear burn marks covered half of his body.

Lin Mu was not surprised that Sukuna had endured that attack. The strongest of ancient times—perhaps even the strongest in history—was unquestionably beyond him in terms of combat experience.

It was also within his expectations that Sukuna had neutralized his attack.

Through exquisite control of his own cursed technique, Sukuna had weakened the power of his slashes in exchange for increasing their number, forming a dense net of slashes around himself.

Using that method, Sukuna had blocked most of the damage.

Sukuna stared fixedly at Lin Mu as he rapidly closed in. His entire aura was terrifyingly grim, as if that evil demon from a thousand years ago had returned!

Fushiguro, who had mostly recovered, also arrived at the battlefield. He keenly sensed Sukuna's change—his next assault would likely be even fiercer than before!

As Lin Mu's teammate, he could not just hide in the back and watch.

Lin Mu did not stop Fushiguro from joining the fight. After all, what Fushiguro was about to do was crucial to the later plot. He had to let Fushiguro release his cursed energy and allow Sukuna to sense it.

That way, Sukuna would realize that Fushiguro's body could also bear his soul!

However, unlike Itadori, Sukuna would be suppressed within Itadori's body, whereas that suppression would be much weaker inside Fushiguro. Sukuna could even seize control!

Lin Mu remembered that later on, after Sukuna took over Fushiguro's body, he also inflicted massive trauma upon Fushiguro's mind, causing him to completely lose the will to resist and devote himself solely to destruction.

That allowed Sukuna to perfectly control his body.

Lin Mu had no intention of rewriting this key plot point that could influence the ending. Besides, he also wanted to fight Sukuna at his peak.

He did not know whether it was his own nature or something inherited from Madara's abilities. After all, Madara in Naruto had also been a battle maniac who loved fighting the strong.

Fushiguro and Lin Mu exchanged a glance, their expressions turning solemn. "Let's go together."

With that, cursed energy surged through Fushiguro's entire body.

And when Sukuna sensed the cursed energy within Fushiguro, his reaction was exactly as Lin Mu had expected—his face filled with wild delight!

"This is far too interesting, Fushiguro!"

"Try a little harder. Maybe I'll use a reverse cursed technique to heal you."

Fushiguro formed a hand seal, preparing to summon a shikigami.

Lin Mu raised an eyebrow slightly. It seemed that his appearance had changed the course of events after all. At this point, Fushiguro had originally intended to summon Mahoraga.

Lin Mu's display of strength must have been enough to make Fushiguro think that, working together, they could force Sukuna to restore the body, so he had abandoned the idea of summoning Mahoraga. After all, if that thing was summoned, it might end up killing Lin Mu too.

But this small detail probably would not make much difference. Sukuna may have already seen through the fact that Fushiguro's cursed technique was the Ten Shadows Technique.

Just as Fushiguro was about to summon Max Elephant, Sukuna's demeanor changed.

Having experienced the same thing before, Fushiguro immediately realized that Itadori had regained control of his body. But that also meant that Itadori's life was about to come to an end.

With both relief and disappointment in his voice, Fushiguro answered the question Itadori had asked him back at the juvenile detention center: "Why did you save me?"

"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."

"Though I hesitated before, in the end, I acted on my feelings."

"But that's enough."

"I'm not some ally of justice."

"I'm a jujutsu sorcerer. So... I've never regretted saving you!"

The corners of Itadori's mouth lifted slightly. "I see. You really did think things through better than I did, Fushiguro."

"But I wasn't wrong either."

A great gush of blood poured from Itadori's chest. Within the hollow cavity, there was no longer a beating heart.

"I don't have much time left." His voice was sorrowful. "Lin Mu, Kugisaki, Gojo-sensei... I probably don't need to worry about them, right?"

"Fushiguro, I hope you live a long life..."

Itadori's consciousness gradually blurred, and his body collapsed beyond his control.