Chapter 42

Chapter 42: Not Grand, Enemies Attack! Yuji Itadori's shouts echoed inside the hospital.

Megumi Fushiguro also stared silently at Jie Jian on the ground.

He did not know how to process his thoughts. At the very beginning, he had actually harbored a certain amount of wariness toward Jie Jian.

Yet someone he had guarded against like this had been split into two pieces by Sukuna in order to keep him from being possessed.

Just as the atmosphere at the scene grew frigid to the freezing point, Panda at the side weakly raised a kitty paw.

He pointed at Jie Jian on the ground.

"Um... why do I feel like Jie-chan's heart is still beating?"

Panda's words instantly snapped Yuji and Megumi out of their dazes.

As sorcerers, they immediately focused their cursed energy and looked at Jie Jian.

Relying on a sorcerer's hearing, they clearly heard Jie Jian's faint heartbeat.

Though very faint, it truly existed!

"Huh! Big Brother Jie is still alive?!"

Just as Yuji was suspended between doubt and shock, that motionless Jie Jian on the ground began to make a fuss again.

"It hurts, it hurts so much!"

He propped up his upper body and reached out a hand, calling out hurriedly to Panda.

"Quick, quick, quick! It hurts like hell, hurry up and bring my lower body over, I'll reconnect it with Reverse Cursed Technique!"

At this moment, Jie Jian's two halves were still different from the waist-cut Satoru Gojo had suffered.

The spot where Satoru Gojo received the slash was his waist, and the waist happened to be the source of a sorcerer's cursed energy, which could also be understood as the lower dantian.

Even though Satoru Gojo knew Reverse Cursed Technique, his dantian had already been shattered, and Reverse Cursed Technique could not make his lower body grow back.

Yet the place where Jie Jian was severed was his chest; although fatal, it was not that fatal!

Relying on the cursed energy remaining in his upper body, Jie Jian had barely managed to protect his life.

As long as he reattached his lower body in time and allowed him to mobilize the cursed energy in his waist again, he could recover.

Not daring to delay, Panda hurriedly fetched Jie Jian's lower body and pieced it against Jie Jian's underside.

The moment Jie Jian's upper and lower bodies reconnected, cursed energy began pouring endlessly into Jie Jian's upper body.

Before long, the originally severed body was directly fused back together!

Although Panda was a bear who had seen strong winds and huge waves, this form of Reverse Cursed Technique treatment was the first time he had ever seen it.

He scratched his bear head.

"So Reverse Cursed Technique can't directly grow back a lower body? After all this fuss, you actually have to piece it together yourself."

"That's not really it." Jie Jian, now patched back together, stood up and felt his body. "Directly growing a lower body doesn't leave enough cursed energy; piecing it together makes invoking the lower body's cursed energy simpler."

At this moment, Yuji stood frozen in place.

How could he fail to understand now? He had just been scammed by this motherfucker Jie Jian!

He wondered why Sukuna had said before falling asleep that he remembered him and vowed to kill him second upon waking up.

Turns out Sukuna had seen through it all along—Jie Jian was totally fine!

Yuji smiled helplessly.

Whatever, being scammed is fine, as long as he's okay.

Confirming that his body was fine, Jie Jian looked at Yuji and pointed at his severed pinky finger.

"Yuji, you should bandage your finger; it's still bleeding.

Too bad I don't know Reverse Cursed Technique: External Release, otherwise I could have healed you directly."

Seeing Yuji injured, Panda immediately trotted off to find him some gauze.

Luckily this was a hospital, and after a moment Panda found the bandaging supplies.

After wrapping Yuji's finger, Jie Jian looked at the pinky finger beside them that had originally belonged to Yuji and now housed Sukuna's soul as a cursed object.

"Yuji, what are you planning to do with this finger? Are you going to eat it back down?"

At this point, Yuji's pinky had turned into a cursed object harboring Sukuna's soul.

And unlike what Yuji had encountered before, it wasn't just a single finger.

Strictly speaking, this single finger directly housed the power of 16 of Sukuna's fingers!

If any ordinary person were to eat it, they would probably be instantly consumed by Sukuna's soul.

Even Yuji himself would likely run into trouble.

Yuji could only guarantee that he wouldn't be possessed by Sukuna when swallowing the fingers one by one.

When he continuously ingested too many fingers, there was also the possibility of being forcefully possessed by Sukuna.

... ...

The previous incident in Shibuya was like that; he had been fed too many fingers at once, directly causing Sukuna to briefly spin out of control.

After thinking about it briefly, Yuji shook his head.

"Forget it, eating this much of Sukuna's power all at once is too dangerous. I'd better wait until Teacher Gojo wakes up to talk about it."

Jie Jian nodded.

Indeed, judging by Sukuna's performance, currently only Satoru Gojo could steadily suppress him.

Yuji worried something would go wrong, and even if he were to eat it, he had to wait until Satoru Gojo was watching nearby.

If something really went wrong then, Satoru Gojo could also stop Sukuna.

Although Jie Jian was here now, Yuji didn't believe in his heart that he could block Sukuna.

"Then pack it away for now, just to be safe."

Jie Jian answered casually, but inside he felt a bit curious.

If Sukuna couldn't wake up ever again, what would happen to his mission to challenge Sukuna?

Did the one minute he had just spent fighting a great battle with Sukuna count as a challenge?

It should count, right?

He had given Sukuna a solid slap across the face, after all.

Just as Jie Jian was pondering this, he suddenly snapped his head upward.

He kicked Yuji aside and leveraged the momentum to retreat backward.

"Enemy! Watch out!"

The next instant, right where they had just scattered, an immensely massive chunk of solid ice sprouted in place.

A person wearing monk robes with snow-white hair flashed into appearance.

Having crossed paths once, Jie Jian immediately recognized that the newcomer was none other than Sukuna's loyal servant.

The ancient sorcerer, Uraume.

Uraume's gaze locked onto the severed finger in Yuji's hand, raising a hand to launch an attack straight at Jie Jian's position.

"Ice Formation: Frost Calm!"

A mountain-sized iceberg generated on the spot, directly freezing Jie Jian completely inside.

Uraume turned to look at Yuji and lunged forward directly, targeting the pinky finger in Yuji's grasp that housed Sukuna's soul.

Not long ago, Uraume had sensed Sukuna's power and rushed over at the very first moment.

Only, by the time Uraume arrived, Sukuna's soul had already grown dormant once more.

Even so, as Sukuna's most loyal servant, Uraume immediately recognized that the finger in Yuji's hand harbored Sukuna's soul.

Uraume's goal instantly shifted.

From welcoming Lord Sukuna to seizing the finger that housed Sukuna's power!

Seeing Uraume pounce, Yuji's expression shifted.

He instantly spotted Uraume's target and turned to retreat with the finger.

Yet, just as Uraume was about to close in on Yuji's body.

A taunting voice came from behind.

"Hey, hey, hey! Don't you go forgetting about me!"

The next moment, a roar of thunder erupted from the block of ice.

The solid ice that had frozen Jie Jian shattered instantly.

A flash of lightning cut through the air, and Jie Jian's strong, powerful hand slammed directly onto Uraume's head.

At the same time, an overwhelming force like a thunderbolt surged from Jie Jian's hand, pressing Uraume's head straight downward.

Uraume was forcefully slammed hard into the ground, and a deep crater was violently blasted into the pavement!

At that moment, a wave of biting cold crept up from Uraume's skull along Jie Jian's arm.

Jie Jian had no choice but to release Uraume's head and leap backward.

Uraume stood back up from the ground, glaring at Jie Jian with loathing.

This person right here had interrupted the retrieval of Sukuna's finger—truly heinous to the utmost degree!

Jie Jian glanced at the pinky finger in Yuji's hand, then smiled as he looked at Uraume.

"You're trying to snatch Yuji's finger, aren't you?"

Hearing this, Yuji tightened his grip, clutching the finger fiercely in his palm.

Jie Jian pointed around at Yuji, Megumi, Panda, and himself.

"But Uraume, there are four of us on this side, and only one of you. Are you really sure you can snatch it away?"

"Combat forces: four against one for you. The advantage is ours."