Battle for the Fingers

Uraume's expression darkened.

He knew Jie Jian was right.

With him alone, there was obviously no way to reclaim Sukuna's fingers.

He took two furious deep breaths and shouted toward the distance.

"Kenjaku, how long are you going to stand there watching? Without Lord Sukuna, how are you supposed to carry out the Culling Game?"

Following Uraume's gaze, everyone looked toward the distant corner.

Kenjaku, wearing Suguru Geto's monk robes, emerged from the corner with a smile.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Uraume, you really know how to order people around. Here I am, aren't I?"

Yuji's heart tightened at Kenjaku's appearance.

He looked at Kenjaku. "Have you been to the Tomb of the Star?"

The Tomb of the Star was where Tengen lived.

Before Yuji entered the Culling Game, he had gone there with the others to find Tengen.

In order to obtain information about the Culling Game, Choso and Yuki Tsukumo had remained at the Tomb of the Star to protect Tengen.

If Kenjaku was here, was Tengen at the Tomb of the Star still safe?

Kenjaku regretfully shook his head.

"You don't need to be afraid. I haven't gotten around to it yet."

After answering, Kenjaku smiled at Yuji.

"Yuji, since I answered your question, could you give Sukuna's finger to me?"

"I'll give you...!"

Jie Jian's words caught in his throat as he urgently swallowed the last word he had been about to say.

It seemed he couldn't say, "I'll give you your mom," since Kenjaku was Yuji's mom.

Kenjaku gave Jie Jian a strange look. For some reason, he felt that the way Jie Jian looked at him was rather odd.

He turned back to Yuji, hoping Yuji would voluntarily hand over the finger containing Sukuna's soul.

But Yuji obviously would not hand over the finger.

"But I refuse!"

Yuji's resolute voice rang out. Kenjaku was not surprised in the slightest.

He sighed somewhat helplessly.

"Ah, if that's the case, then we can only take it by force."

Kenjaku's words instantly made the atmosphere tense. Yuji immediately entered a fighting stance, Panda once again activated Gorilla Mode, and even Megumi Fushiguro was ready to call out "Divine Dog."

But at that moment, an arrogant voice rang out.

"Quit talking shit! Can you even beat us?!"

Jie Jian had somehow appeared behind Yuji. He patted Yuji's shoulder and shouted at Kenjaku.

"This is the Tiger Heavenly Emperor of Jujutsu High! So what if you're an ancient sorcerer? An ancient sorcerer still can't beat him!"

"Quit talking shit! All you can do is watch your Tiger Heavenly Emperor leave with the finger. That's what strength is, get it? Eat that! Hahahaha!"

Jie Jian's unrestrained laughter echoed above the hospital.

But Yuji, the person involved, was not nearly as confident.

He scratched his head awkwardly and laughed softly.

"Um... Brother Jie, don't drag me into your trash talk! When did I become the Tiger Heavenly Emperor?"

"Don't worry about such details." Jie Jian waved a hand. "It'll happen sooner or later!"

He looked at Kenjaku and shouted without a care.

"So what if there's one more of you? There are only two of you, while we have four!

The battle is four against two. The advantage is still ours!"

"Oh, really?"

Kenjaku's sinister voice came from ahead.

The next moment, Kenjaku slightly raised a hand, and a huge number of cursed spirits poured from his palm!

In no time at all, cursed spirits packed the entire sky above the hospital.

Jie Jian could even sense several cursed spirits with exceptionally powerful cursed energy among them.

These cursed spirits were none other than those controlled by Suguru Geto's Cursed Spirit Manipulation.

Kenjaku smiled at Jie Jian.

"Now, whose side has more people?"

"Despicable! You only know how to gang up on fewer people. If you've got the guts, fight me one-on-one!"

Kenjaku took a deep breath. He realized he was having trouble keeping up with Jie Jian's train of thought.

"Hey, hey, hey. Weren't you the one who tried to outnumber us just now? How did it become 'despicable' when I did it?"

"So what?" Jie Jian waved dismissively. "Can we even be compared? Ours is a righteous beatdown, while yours is evil bullying of the weak by the strong. It's different."

Jie Jian and Kenjaku continued chatting, but someone clearly could not wait any longer!

Uraume flashed forward and charged straight toward Yuji.

He had no time to listen to Jie Jian's nonsense. He had to immediately reclaim the finger containing Lord Sukuna's soul!

The instant Uraume moved, Megumi moved as well.

He formed the shape of a dog with his hands and shouted.

"Divine Dog: Totality!"

The next moment, a black dog with white paws burst from Megumi's shadow, heading straight for Uraume.

But Kenjaku clearly had no intention of letting Divine Dog: Totality get through so easily.

With one palm strike, he knocked Divine Dog: Totality back and smiled at Megumi.

"Don't interrupt them. I'll fight you two instead."

In Kenjaku's view, all he had to do was hold Megumi and Panda back.

The remaining two were Yuji, who had entered the Jujutsu Society less than half a year ago, and some unknown passerby who had only become a sorcerer after the Culling Game began.

Meanwhile, Uraume was at least an ancient sorcerer who had been reincarnated through incarnation.

At his level, he should have been able to handle them. There was no need for Kenjaku to help.

Yet in merely an instant, a figure came flying backward.

It was none other than Uraume, who had just charged in!

Kenjaku lowered his head and looked at Uraume, who had slid to his feet.

"Master Uraume, are you all right?"

Uraume glared at Kenjaku, immediately got back up, and stubbornly replied.

"I'm fine! The ground is just really slippery!"

The smile at the corners of Kenjaku's eyes faded as he seriously looked at Jie Jian in the distance for the first time.

Only after sensing the cursed energy Jie Jian had released when he sent Uraume flying did Kenjaku realize that Jie Jian seemed to possess an astonishing amount of cursed energy!

He had only seen cursed energy reserves of this level on Sukuna.

Who is this guy? His cursed energy reserves are almost on par with Sukuna's. Could he also have a shikigami like Rika?

Rika Orimoto was a Special Grade Vengeful Cursed Spirit created when Yuta Okkotsu cursed her.

She possessed nearly limitless cursed energy, and as Rika's owner, Yuta could indirectly wield cursed energy of that level as well.

At present, however, Kenjaku did not know whether Jie Jian's cursed energy was naturally this immense or the result of some external assistance.

He waved toward Megumi, then walked toward Jie Jian.

His meaning was obvious: Uraume would handle Megumi and Panda, while he would test Jie Jian's abilities himself.

Uraume did not object.

In terms of strength, Kenjaku was stronger than him.

Letting Kenjaku take over would make reclaiming the finger easier.

Before leaving, though, Uraume gave Kenjaku a "friendly" reminder.

"Master Kenjaku, the ground is very slippery!"

The battle quickly erupted once more.

The two sides immediately clashed!

Megumi and Panda fought Uraume, while Yuji and Jie Jian fought Kenjaku.

The moment they exchanged blows, Kenjaku felt that something was off about Jie Jian's strength!

No matter how he looked at him, Jie Jian did not seem like a newcomer who had only recently become a sorcerer.

Boosted by his speed, Jie Jian flashed to Kenjaku's side and kicked him flying.

Kenjaku rolled across the ground several times. After getting up, he twisted his body, which had been slightly numbed by the lightning attack, and looked at Jie Jian warily.

"Have you really only been a sorcerer for a little over ten days? You don't look like it."

"Genuine, no fake." Jie Jian nodded and pondered. "Maybe it's because I'm a genius? Hahaha."

Kenjaku did not refute him.

If what Jie Jian said was true, then he truly was a genius.

And not just any genius. His talent no longer merely rivaled Satoru Gojo's—it had already surpassed Satoru Gojo's!

Nearby, Uraume's expression immediately turned grave as he watched Kenjaku fall into a disadvantage.

Could it be that Kenjaku was no match for that brat either?

Then how were they supposed to reclaim Sukuna's finger?!

Unlike Uraume, Yuji and the others were incredibly excited.

They even began to imagine whether they could use this opportunity to take down Kenjaku, the mastermind behind the Culling Game, in one go!

At that moment, Jie Jian was also overjoyed.

As expected of me. My moves are just too clean! Even Kenjaku isn't my match?

He waved at Yuji.

"Yuji, stand down for now. Watch me take on this little punk Kenjaku one-on-one!"

Kenjaku was so angry that he laughed.

After living for so many years, this was the first time someone had looked down on him so much!

He had to show Jie Jian what it meant to be a true mastermind!

"Brat, you're awfully confident. I'm a Special Grade Sorcerer, you know?"

Jie Jian waved dismissively. "So what if you're a Special Grade Sorcerer? It's not like I'm not one too."

Kenjaku narrowed his eyes at Jie Jian.

"Oh? You think you're a Special Grade Sorcerer?"

"I think I am."

"Whether you are or not isn't up to you." Kenjaku's cold voice came from ahead.

He fixed his gaze on Jie Jian. "Let me test your level."

The next moment, he slowly raised his hands and formed a gesture with the backs of his hands pressed together.

"Domain Expansion: Womb Profusion!"