Yuji's shout echoed through the hospital.
Megumi Fushiguro also stared silently at Jie Jian on the ground.
He did not know what he was supposed to think. At first, he had actually been somewhat wary of Jie Jian.
Yet the person he had been wary of had been split in two by Sukuna to keep him from becoming Sukuna's vessel.
Just as the atmosphere at the scene grew heavy enough to freeze, Panda timidly raised a paw.
He pointed at Jie Jian on the ground.
"Um... why do I feel like Jie's heart is still beating?"
Panda's words immediately snapped Yuji and Fushiguro out of it.
As jujutsu sorcerers, they immediately gathered cursed energy and looked toward Jie Jian.
With a jujutsu sorcerer's hearing, they clearly heard Jie Jian's faint heartbeat.
Though it was weak, it truly existed!
"Huh! Big Brother Jie is still alive?!"
Just as Yuji was wavering in disbelief, Jie Jian, who had been lying motionless on the ground, started yelling again.
"Pain! It hurts so much!"
He propped up his upper upper body and hurriedly shouted at Panda.
"Quick, quick, quick! It hurts like hell! Bring me my lower half already—I'll reconnect it with the Reverse Cursed Technique!"
Jie Jian's two halves were different from how Satoru Gojo had been bisected at the waist.
Gojo had been struck across the waist, which happened to be the source of a jujutsu sorcerer's cursed energy—the dantian, so to speak.
Although Gojo knew the Reverse Cursed Technique, his dantian had already been destroyed. The Reverse Cursed Technique could not regrow his lower half.
But Jie Jian had been split across the chest. It was fatal, but not that fatal!
With the cursed energy remaining in his upper body, Jie Jian had barely preserved his life.
As long as he reattached his lower half in time and could once again mobilize the cursed energy in his waist, he would recover.
Panda did not dare delay. He hurriedly brought over Jie Jian's lower half and fitted it beneath him.
The instant Jie Jian's upper and lower halves were joined, cursed energy began pouring continuously into his upper body.
Before long, his severed body had been completely reconnected!
Panda had seen his fair share of storms, but this was the first time he had seen the Reverse Cursed Technique used this way.
He scratched his panda head.
"So the Reverse Cursed Technique can't just grow a new lower half? Turns out you have to put yourself back together first."
"Not exactly." The reassembled Jie Jian stood up and checked his body. "I don't have enough cursed energy to directly regrow a lower half. Reattaching it makes it easier to use the cursed energy from my lower body."
Yuji stood there blankly.
How could he possibly not understand now? That bastard Jie Jian had fooled him!
No wonder Sukuna had said he would remember him before falling asleep, and that he would kill him second after waking up.
So Sukuna had seen through it long ago—Jie Jian was fine!
Yuji smiled helplessly.
Fine, he had been fooled. As long as Jie Jian was okay, that was all that mattered.
After confirming that his body was fine, Jie Jian looked at Yuji and pointed at his severed pinky.
"Yuji, you should bandage your finger. It's still bleeding.
Too bad I can't use Reverse Cursed Technique: External Release, or I could treat you directly."
Seeing that Yuji was injured, Panda immediately jogged off to find gauze for him.
Fortunately, this was a hospital. Panda quickly found supplies for bandaging wounds.
After wrapping Yuji's finger, Jie Jian looked at the pinky that had once belonged to Yuji and now housed Sukuna's soul as a cursed object.
"Yuji, what are you planning to do with this finger? Eat it again?"
Yuji's pinky had now become a cursed object containing Sukuna's soul.
And unlike the fingers Yuji had encountered before, it was not merely one finger.
Strictly speaking, this finger directly contained the power of sixteen of Sukuna's fingers!
If any ordinary person ate it, Sukuna's soul would probably take over their body instantly.
Even Yuji would likely run into trouble.
Yuji could only ensure that Sukuna would not take over his body when he swallowed the fingers one by one.
If he swallowed too many fingers in succession, Sukuna might still forcibly seize control of his body.
That was what had happened in Shibuya before. He had swallowed too many fingers at once, causing Sukuna to briefly lose control.
After thinking for a moment, Yuji shook his head.
"Better not. Eating so much of Sukuna's power at once is too dangerous. We should wait until Gojo-sensei wakes up."
Jie Jian nodded.
Indeed, judging from Sukuna's performance, Satoru Gojo was currently the only one who could suppress him completely.
Yuji was worried something might happen. Even if he was going to eat it, he would have to wait until Satoru Gojo was there to watch over him.
If something truly went wrong then, Satoru Gojo could stop Sukuna.
Although Jie Jian was here now, Yuji did not believe he could stand against Sukuna.
"Then put it away for now. Better safe than sorry."
Jie Jian answered casually, but he was somewhat curious inside.
If Sukuna stayed asleep from now on, what would happen to his mission to challenge Sukuna?
Did that one minute of fighting Sukuna just now count as a challenge?
It should count, right?
After all, he had given Sukuna a solid slap across the face.
Just as Jie Jian was thinking, he suddenly raised his head.
He kicked Yuji beside him away and used the momentum to retreat.
"Enemy! Watch out!"
The next instant, an enormous mass of solid ice erupted from the place they had just scattered from.
A girl-like figure dressed in monk's robes, with snow-white hair, flashed into view.
Jie Jian, who had met her once before, immediately recognized her. It was none other than Sukuna's loyal servant.
The ancient jujutsu sorcerer, Uraume.
Uraume stared fixedly at the severed finger in Yuji's hand and raised a hand toward Jie Jian.
"Ice Formation: Frost Calm!"
A mountain-sized iceberg formed on the spot, instantly freezing Jie Jian inside.
Uraume turned toward Yuji and lunged at him, his target the pinky containing Sukuna's soul in Yuji's hand.
Not long ago, he had sensed Sukuna's power and rushed here immediately.
But by the time he arrived, Sukuna's soul had already fallen dormant once more.
However, as Sukuna's most loyal servant, Uraume immediately recognized that the finger in Yuji's hand contained Sukuna's soul.
Uraume's objective changed at once.
Instead of welcoming Lord Sukuna, he would seize the finger containing Sukuna's power!
Yuji's expression changed when Uraume attacked.
He instantly realized Uraume's target and turned to retreat with the finger.
However, just as Uraume was about to close in on Yuji—
A mocking voice came from behind him.
"Hey, hey, hey! Don't forget about me!"
The next moment, thunder boomed from within the ice.
The solid ice freezing Jie Jian shattered instantly.
A flash of lightning streaked past, and Jie Jian's powerful hand clamped directly over Uraume's head.
At the same time, a thunderous force surged from Jie Jian's hand and slammed Uraume's head downward.
Uraume was viciously driven into the ground, smashing a deep crater into the floor!
At that moment, a chill crawled up Jie Jian's arm from Uraume's head.
Jie Jian had no choice but to release Uraume's head and retreat.
Uraume rose from the ground again and looked at Jie Jian with loathing.
This person had interrupted him from reclaiming Sukuna's finger. His crime was truly unforgivable!
Jie Jian glanced at the pinky in Yuji's hand, then smiled at Uraume.
"You're trying to steal Yuji's finger, right?"
Yuji's palm tightened as he fiercely gripped the finger in his hand.
Jie Jian pointed at Yuji, Fushiguro, Panda, and himself.
"But, Uraume, there are four of us and only one of you. Are you sure you can take it?"
"In terms of battle strength, it's four against one. The advantage is ours."
Before you continue