Ryomen Sukuna

It was five in the afternoon, shortly after the dismissal bell rang at Sugisawa Third High School in Miyagi Prefecture.

Yuji Itadori walked out of the school gates alone, his bag on his back, the setting sun stretching his shadow far behind him.

He had only just taken his grandfather to be cremated that morning. The ceremony had been simple, attended by only the staff, Mashiro, and himself.

The urn was being kept at the hospital for now. He needed to pick it up.

What was Mashiro doing right now?

The thought suddenly popped into his head. Even now, remembering what had happened last night made his ears burn a little.

No, no, no. Since when did I get so soft?

As his thoughts wandered, the phone in his pocket vibrated. He took it out and saw a LINE message from Sasaki, his upperclassman.

"Sasaki": Itadori! Ten tonight, clubroom! We're breaking the seal on that thing today!

Itadori looked at the message on his screen, thought for a moment, then replied.

"Itadori": Sorry, I've got something to do today. How about tomorrow?

He sent the message, and her reply came almost immediately.

"Sasaki": No worries, no worries. Iguchi and I can handle it ourselves! (￣▽￣*)b

She sure was excited.

The corner of Itadori's mouth twitched, and he put his phone away.

That works, too. I'm really not in the mood today. I haven't even brought Grandpa's ashes home yet. I'll ask them tomorrow whether they ran into anything real.

He breathed out, his breath spreading white through the chilly air.

It was already April, and it was still this cold.

Itadori tugged his collar tighter and headed toward the hospital.

At Miyagi Prefectural General Hospital, Itadori finished the paperwork and accepted an urn from a staff member.

It wasn't large or particularly heavy. He cradled it in both hands, his fingers gripping it tightly.

This was all that was left of Grandpa.

That was what he thought.

Once the flames had died out, the final weight of a person amounted to so little-a small handful of dust placed inside an exquisite container.

"Mr. Itadori, I'm sorry for your loss," the staff member said softly.

"Yeah. Thank you." Itadori came back to himself and nodded, then turned toward the exit with the urn in his arms.

That was when he heard footsteps.

Steady footsteps approached him at an unhurried pace.

"You're Yuji Itadori, right?"

Itadori raised his head and looked toward the voice.

A boy in a black uniform, with an unusual hairstyle, stepped out of the shadows and stopped a few paces in front of him.

"I'm Fushiguro, from Jujutsu High. Sorry, but we don't have much time." His expression was cold, his sharp eyes fixed on Itadori. "The cursed object you have is dangerous. Hand it over right now."

"Cursed object?" Itadori frowned. "What do you mean?"

Itadori remembered Mashiro's words: someone might come looking for you soon.

Was this the person she meant?

Fushiguro took two steps forward, pulled out his phone, and opened his photo gallery. "You have this, don't you?"

"Hm?" Itadori leaned closer and took a good look.

Wasn't that the box I found?

"Yeah, I found it." He nodded. "I don't really care about it, but my upperclassmen like it. You've got to at least tell me why, right?"

"Ugh." Fushiguro rubbed his head and sighed, then explained the relationship between curses and cursed objects.

Itadori's expression grew serious, too. "They said they were going to break the seal at school tonight. Is that bad?"

Fushiguro's face darkened completely. "It's more than bad. They'll die."

He immediately turned, his movements crisp and decisive. "Lead the way. Hurry."

Itadori looked at the urn in his hands and gritted his teeth.

Grandpa, this is an emergency. I'm sorry.

Without further hesitation, Itadori set the urn down at the nurses' station. "Sorry. I'll come pick it up tomorrow."

Then he ran toward the school, moving so fast that he caught up with Megumi Fushiguro in an instant.

At that same moment, Mashiro stood on the school building's rooftop.

Her eyes were closed, and her cursed energy surged like a tide, silently enveloping the entire clubroom.

She could clearly sense every movement inside.

"Yes! Finally got it open!" Candlelight flickered, illuminating Sasaki's face and revealing her expression as it shifted from excitement to terror.

"A human finger? Is it real?"

Above them, a dark shape descended without a sound. A cursed spirit was attacking.

Space Cutting.

Mashiro acted without hesitation, slicing the cursed spirit apart with invisible cursed energy and blocking the first wave of attacks for them.

"Sorry, I can't save you right now. But I promise you won't die."

Murmuring to herself, she summoned her cursed energy again, secretly clearing an escape route for the two of them.

She was waiting for Fushiguro and Itadori to arrive.

Not long afterward, while she was clearing out the weaker enemies and secretly protecting the pair, Fushiguro arrived with his shikigami.

"Divine Dogs, attack!" He formed a dog-shaped shadow puppet with his hands. Two canine shikigami lunged forward, one on each side, biting through the cursed spirits blocking the way.

Good. They were finally here.

Mashiro withdrew her cursed energy, concealed her presence, and slipped into the darkness to await Itadori's awakening.

What was I afraid of?

Itadori slammed a fist into his own leg. His grandfather's words echoed in his ears again.

You're strong. Help others.

He drew a deep breath and slowly released it. The next second, he vaulted into the school in a single bound.

Where were they now?

As Itadori ran, his ears caught the commotion inside the school building. "Over there."

He lowered his center of gravity and drove hard with his legs, smashing through the glass like a cannonball.

"Itadori?"

That guy Fushiguro looked like an idiot. What was so surprising?

Itadori didn't answer. He twisted in midair and drove a vicious kick into the cursed spirit, saving Sasaki and Iguchi.

The cursed spirit let out a deafening roar and charged at them in a rage.

"I'd like to ask why you came, but good work." Fushiguro moved first to intercept the cursed spirit. His cursed technique flashed in his hands, successfully exorcising it.

He bent down and picked up the cursed object from the floor, his expression grave. "This is Ryomen Sukuna's finger."

Before he had finished speaking, the ceiling exploded!

An even stronger cursed spirit descended from above, its body filling the entire corridor.

"Run!" Fushiguro shoved Itadori away, only to be seized in the locust-like cursed spirit's crushing grip.

"Nue!" Fushiguro gritted his teeth and tried to summon his shikigami, but the cursed spirit gave him no chance to breathe, smashing him hard into the wall. Blood spilled from the corner of his mouth.

"Gah!"

The cursed spirit pressed its attack. With a thunderous crash, it knocked Fushiguro clean out of the school building, sending rubble flying and dust billowing.

"You okay?" Itadori temporarily drove the cursed spirit back with a punch and reached Fushiguro's side.

"It's useless. Someone without cursed energy can't kill a cursed spirit."

"What? Then all I need is cursed energy of my own, right?"

His gaze fell on the shriveled finger lying on the ground.

Without hesitation, he bent down, picked it up, and swallowed it whole.

Immediately afterward, a savage surge of cursed energy erupted from within him.

Mashiro leaned against the wall, her scarlet eyes glowing faintly in the darkness as she stared fixedly at everything unfolding opposite her.

The instant Itadori swallowed the finger, she pushed her cursed energy perception to its limit.

When that cursed energy erupted, her heart still clenched violently despite all her preparation.

After waiting so long, he was finally here!

She murmured under her breath, her voice trembling with excitement she couldn't conceal.

The strongest in history, the Four-Armed Overlord, Two-Faced, the King of Curses, the Loan Shark, The One Who Loves Absolute Solitude-the one who taught you the World-Cutting Slash was...

"The King of Curses, Ryomen Sukuna."