Across the original story, fighters on Gojo-Sukuna's level almost never ran short of cursed energy.
But below that level, there had been a few instances and descriptions of similar situations.
For example, after Okkotsu faced Uro and Ryu Ishigori in succession in Sendai, the two reached the same conclusion without even needing to speak.
Okkotsu's cursed energy had to be nearly depleted!
Then good old Okkotsu pulled out his ring, fired up his Gundam, and entered phase two.
Although the original story never explicitly described it, fighters at special grade or above could generally gauge their opponents' cursed energy reserves-
He had no personal experience with that, but it was probably a product of combat experience?
He would probably have to reach special grade himself before he understood.
Thinking this over, Kana Shizumi waved his right hand. When he looked again, the mouth had already disappeared.
It was almost as though he had imagined it.
I'm really getting further and further from being human.
As he reflected on that, Kana Shizumi also looked through his stats panel.
[Cursed energy total: 79 (cursed tools: +5+15) (Sukuna's Fingers: +2)] [Cursed energy efficiency: 41 (cursed tools: +5)] [Cursed energy output: 44 (cursed tools: +5)] [Innate Technique: Modified Blood Manipulation, Six Karmic Obstruction Samadhis, Malevolent Shrine] [Hand-to-hand combat and cursed energy manipulation: 59] [Derived abilities: Barrier Technique (Domain Expansion: closed), flight (via cursed tool), Cursed Blood Attachments (via cursed tool), Cursed Energy Observation (via cursed tool), Reverse Cursed Technique (advanced), Black Flash (unstable), Cursed Energy Absorption]
A cursed energy total of 79!
He was only six points away from the special-grade threshold of 85. In terms of the main story, he could absolutely sway events however he liked during the early stages.
That sudden jump in cursed energy let Kana Shizumi feel