Sukuna, Clash of the Era's Kings!

"Monster!" Fushiguro said blankly, feeling as though he had taken ten thousand critical hits.

He had been dealing with curses for quite a while and had handled all kinds of situations, yet now he was being completely suppressed by a rookie who had only just awakened cursed energy?

He could overlook the difference in physical ability, since he mainly relied on shikigami in battle.

But Lin Mu's judgment of the situation was even faster than his?

The instant Itadori appeared, he had already begun preparing his cursed technique, as if he had foreseen it in advance.

But Fushiguro knew that was impossible. Lin Mu had relied entirely on his judgment in the moment!

If he had not lied about awakening cursed energy only today, then he was absolutely a battle genius!

After clearing out this cursed spirit, Fushiguro and Lin Mu hurried over to Itadori.

The two upperclassmen had fainted from excessive fright, but their bodies were otherwise unharmed.

Itadori stared blankly at the curse that had turned to ash. "So this is a curse? It feels different from what I imagined."

When he saw Lin Mu approaching, he suddenly recalled how he had exorcised the cursed spirit earlier.

"Lin Mu! So you already knew curses existed?"

"And what was that fire you spat out just now? That was way too cool!"

Lin Mu shrugged, indicating that he did not know much either.

"I'm not sure. I only learned it tonight. I just used it on instinct."

"Amazing!" Itadori praised him, then began talking with Fushiguro.

Taking the opportunity, Lin Mu curiously entered the inheritance space. Before him was still that soul-shaking scene, but after the inheritance progress reached 8%, a translucent fruit had grown on a twig at the very bottom of the Divine Tree.

With a thought from Lin Mu, the fruit growing on the Divine Tree gradually dimmed, and a vast amount of ninjutsu information was imprinted into his mind.

"Clone Technique, Substitution Technique, Body Flicker Technique..."

They were all basic ninjutsu, but Lin Mu was not too disappointed. These techniques were all highly practical, and if used well, they could be tremendously effective.

Besides, as long as one was strong enough, the Body Flicker Technique could produce an effect comparable to the Flying Thunder God Technique.

Aside from the basic ninjutsu he had gained, Lin Mu's physical abilities underwent another change.

A stabbing pain came from his Sharingan. Another identical tomoe emerged in his pupils, which had originally possessed only one tomoe, transforming them from one-tomoe Sharingan into two-tomoe Sharingan.

After evolving into the two-tomoe Sharingan, Lin Mu's dynamic vision underwent a qualitative improvement. Tiny details he had previously been unable to see now became crystal clear.

His bones began crackling again as waves of compressive pain washed over him. Lin Mu could clearly feel his physical abilities rapidly improving!

"Are you alright, Lin Mu?" Fushiguro noticed something was wrong with him.

"Did you overuse your cursed energy after just obtaining it?"

For a beginner, being able to fight for so long before feeling unwell was already impressive!

Lin Mu took a breath. He had not expected obtaining an inheritance to come with such intense pain. In the future, he would have to unlock new abilities somewhere safe.

"Lin Mu, what's wrong?" Hearing that, Itadori stood up as well, and the finger in Senior Sasaki's pocket slipped out along with the motion.

Itadori casually caught the falling finger. "Is this it?"

"Yes. Sukuna's finger," Fushiguro answered calmly.

The instant Lin Mu saw the finger—or rather, saw it fall—he suddenly remembered something.

Fragmented images flashed through Lin Mu's mind.

At the instant Fushiguro and Itadori exchanged the finger, a powerful Grade 2 cursed spirit would drop down from the ceiling!

Lin Mu had only watched Jujutsu Kaisen once, so naturally, he did not remember such insignificant plot details very clearly.

But seeing the scene just now had still jogged his memory.

"Danger!"

Lin Mu immediately became alert, but Fushiguro found the reaction rather inexplicable.

"What do you mean? The cursed spirits should all have been exorcised..."

Before Fushiguro could finish, he suddenly sensed an intense cursed presence coming from the ceiling!

"Move!"

The instant Fushiguro sensed the danger, he shoved Itadori away.

"Boom—"

A massive hand punched through the ceiling and crashed down, causing the entire school building to tremble slightly from the violent impact.

Having anticipated the danger, Lin Mu had evaded the cursed spirit's attack in advance. But Fushiguro, trying to save Itadori, was caught by that cursed spirit.

The dust kicked up by the giant creature's landing gradually dispersed, revealing the full appearance of the cursed spirit that had attacked the three of them.

It was a massive crawling cursed spirit. Its abyss-like mouth occupied nearly its entire head, while its tongue was covered in disgusting, enormous eyes.

Just one look at it was enough to make someone feel physically ill.

At the same time, an intense cursed presence washed over them. This was a Grade 2 cursed spirit close to Grade 1!

Megumi Fushiguro, bound in place, pressed his ten fingers together in the shape of wings. Lightning flickered in his hands as he prepared to summon a shikigami.

"Uwee—"

Sensing danger, the cursed spirit let out a strange cry and swung its arm, violently hurling Megumi Fushiguro toward the wall.

The immense momentum interrupted Megumi's shikigami summoning, sending his body hurtling uncontrollably toward the wall.

Without anything to cushion the blow, he would definitely be seriously injured! In the original story, Megumi's combat ability had plummeted because of this attack.

But this time, Lin Mu was here!

"Body Flicker Technique!"

Lin Mu gathered chakra in his calves, his body turning into a streak of black as he shot past the cursed spirit and arrived behind Megumi Fushiguro, as though he had teleported!

He braced both hands against Megumi. The tremendous force transmitted through Megumi's back, but his flying body quickly came to a stop.

"When?!" When Megumi saw that Lin Mu had caught him, his heart was once again filled with shock.

He clearly remembered Lin Mu being separated from him by the cursed spirit just moments ago. How had he crossed over the cursed spirit in an instant—

—and gotten behind him without anyone noticing?

But the situation did not allow him to dwell on it. The cursed spirit before them was powerful.

It would likely be troublesome to deal with!

Megumi rubbed his aching back and pressed his ten fingers together, preparing to form the wing-shaped hand sign again.

But the cursed spirit was not stupid either. Sensing the surging cursed energy, it had no intention of giving Megumi a chance to summon a shikigami.

"Careful, it's about to charge!" With the Sharingan, Lin Mu keenly detected the cursed spirit's intent to attack.

The situation unfolded exactly as Lin Mu had predicted.

Relying on its hill-like body and brute strength, the cursed spirit charged straight at Megumi and Lin Mu.

For a moment, Lin Mu thought a small truck was barreling toward them!

"Fire Release: Majestic Flame Destroyer!"

With almost no casting time, a massive fireball burst forth.

In a situation like this, Lin Mu's ninjutsu was far more convenient than Megumi's shikigami summoning.

Megumi had only just assumed the hand sign when Lin Mu's attack had already arrived.

"Boom—"

Terrifying shockwaves and blistering heat erupted, shining like a small sun in the pitch-black night.

"Uwee—"

However, the attack did not kill the cursed spirit. The flames merely burned away its outer skin and part of its flesh.

Yet the intense pain drove the cursed spirit into a frenzy.

"Boom—"

The sturdy wall of the school building was smashed through with ease, forcing Megumi and Lin Mu to evade outside.

The cursed spirit's hatred for Megumi had also shifted to Lin Mu because of that attack.

A massive fist swung out. Suspended in midair, Lin Mu had no way to dodge.

The punch struck Lin Mu solidly, slamming him straight into the wall.

"Lin Mu!" Megumi cried out in alarm. The force of that punch was so great that an ordinary Grade 2 sorcerer would not be able to withstand it!

One punch would most likely kill them instantly!

"Damn it, Divine Dogs!"

Two shikigami rushed out and began tearing at the cursed spirit's body, but the effect was negligible.

"Boom—"

Another punch came down, turning the two shikigami into black water.

Megumi wanted to summon other shikigami, but what met him was the cursed spirit's charge!

"Stop right there!"

Just as the cursed spirit was about to attack Megumi, Itadori suddenly appeared atop its head.

A plain, unadorned fist crashed down, knocking the huge cursed spirit's entire body to the ground.

"Itadori! Get out of here, it's too dangerous!"

Megumi had not expected him to actually join the fight. Wasn't he afraid of dying?

"I can't just stand by and watch you fight for your lives without doing anything."

"Grandpa said I'm strong, so I should help others."

Itadori looked at his fist as he spoke.

"Idiot! Without cursed energy, you can't hurt a cursed spirit!"

After Fushiguro finished speaking, the cursed spirit that had just been knocked to the ground swiftly climbed back up, leaped over Itadori, and sent Fushiguro flying with a punch.

From the previous attack, it knew that Itadori posed little threat to it. As long as it dealt with Fushiguro, no one left on the field would be able to threaten it.

As Fushiguro was sent flying, Sukuna's Finger in his hand fell out as well.

Itadori knew he absolutely could not let the cursed spirit get the finger!

Itadori sprang forward and got the finger first, but as a result, he failed to escape the cursed spirit's attack range.

"Boom—"

The enormous fist crashed down. Relying on his terrifying physical abilities, Itadori leaped high into the air and dodged the blow.

However, the finger was sent flying into the air as well.

Seizing the opportunity, the cursed spirit opened its huge mouth, intending to swallow the finger!

Unlike the original story, the cursed spirit was faster this time!

At this rate, the cursed spirit would swallow the finger first!

"Fire Release: Majestic Flame Destroyer!"

A dazzling blaze lit up in the distance, and a terrifying wave of flames swept across the ground toward the cursed spirit in a wide fan-shaped spread.

To avoid catching Itadori in it, Lin Mu had deliberately unleashed Majestic Flame Destroyer toward the ground.

This was also Lin Mu's final ninjutsu attack. His chakra was already nearly depleted.

When he had been sent flying by the cursed spirit earlier, he had used up some chakra to cast the Substitution Jutsu, avoiding the full force of the impact.

He had originally planned to stay in the rear and wait for Itadori to swallow the finger, but the development of events had turned out somewhat unexpected.

Left with no choice, Lin Mu could only act again. If the cursed spirit swallowed the finger, they would probably be killed instantly.

Tongues of searing flame spread along the ground, instantly burning the cursed spirit's feet into a bloody mess. The intense pain also slowed its attempt to swallow the finger.

Taking advantage of the opening, Itadori stepped on the cursed spirit's head and jumped again.

The cursed spirit endured the agonizing pain and grabbed Itadori's body, preventing him from reaching for the finger.

Yet the instant the finger fell, Itadori caught it between his teeth while bracing his feet against the cursed spirit's upper and lower jaws.

Only then did Lin Mu finally let out a breath of relief. Now, Itadori could swallow the finger without his intervention.

Even if he wanted to interfere, he couldn't. His chakra had bottomed out after unleashing Majestic Flame Destroyer.

Seeing this, the cursed spirit let out a strange shriek and grabbed Itadori's hands, continuously forcing them downward as it tried to swallow both him and the finger.

"Danger! Give me the finger, quickly! You'll be swallowed too!" Fushiguro said anxiously.

As they struggled, Itadori recalled his earlier conversation with Fushiguro. "What are you eating the finger for? Is it tasty?"

Fushiguro replied, "Of course not. It's to gain powerful cursed energy!"

Itadori's gaze turned resolute. "Isn't this the way to save everyone?"

"As long as I have cursed energy, that'll be enough, right, Fushiguro?"

Fushiguro suddenly realized what Itadori intended to do. "Stop, don't!"

Without any hesitation, Itadori swallowed Sukuna's Finger whole!

Fushiguro's expression froze the instant the finger was swallowed.

"Sukuna's Finger is a special-grade cursed object! It's highly poisonous. He'll definitely die—but what if, what if..."

As Fushiguro worried inwardly, an incomparably terrifying aura erupted from Itadori's body!

It was like the most vicious and terrifying man-eating demon from hell. The evil aura of the curse was dozens of times stronger than all the curses they had encountered combined!

In all his time as a jujutsu sorcerer, Megumi Fushiguro had never encountered such a terrifying cursed aura!

The pressure from that aura alone instantly drenched his back in sweat.

Lin Mu, standing nearby, felt the same aura. In an instant, the scene before his eyes changed once more.

He returned to the grand ancient battlefield where he had previously seen Madara Uchiha.

The peerless figure standing atop the blue giant moved. With an interested glance, his eyes, which regarded all things as insignificant ants, swept toward Itadori.

Abruptly, an almost tangible pressure erupted from Lin Mu's body and crashed head-on into the cursed aura emanating from Itadori.

Walls of pressure, one blue and one red, collided. A soundless explosion seemed ready to split heaven and earth apart.

All living beings beneath those two auras had no choice but to bow their heads in submission!

Inside Itadori's body, a figure seated upon a throne of bones opened his eyes. It was the King of Curses!

Ryomen Sukuna!

Upon sensing an aura that rivaled his own pressure, a trace of gravity appeared in Sukuna's eyes—but even more than that, excitement.

"Oh, this seems to be an interesting era!"