Testing the Waters

The night wind howled through the ruined school buildings, whipping up dust and smoke.

Itadori-no, he was Ryomen Sukuna now.

He slowly straightened, joints that had slept for a thousand years readjusting to movement.

He raised a hand and examined his palm in the moonlight, opening and closing his fingers to confirm his resurrection.

Then a grin stretched across his face from ear to ear. That crazed, delighted smile looked all the more terrifying on Itadori's usually sunny face.

"Ah, just as I thought!" He sighed in satisfaction. "Moonlight feels so much better when you have flesh to bask in it."

He rolled his neck, his vertebrae cracking, and glanced at Megumi Fushiguro, who lay among the rubble, blood spilling from his mouth and nose as he struggled to get up.

He curled his lip. A jujutsu sorcerer of that caliber wasn't worth even a passing acknowledgment.

"Hmph, cursed spirit flesh is so dull!" He spread his arms toward the distant residential district and burst out laughing. "Wonderful! Time to slaughter them all!"

"-But before that."

His wild laughter stopped without warning. He turned his head, his gaze passing over the ruined school buildings to fix on the edge of the opposite teaching building's rooftop.

It looked empty, but Sukuna could sense someone standing there.

They had been watching him brazenly ever since he manifested, their cursed energy unnaturally steady, as though his appearance hadn't surprised them at all.

"Oh?" Sukuna's lips curled again, the crimson markings along his face glowing faintly. "Now that's interesting."

He completely ignored the gravely injured Megumi Fushiguro at his feet, focusing all his attention on that rooftop.

"You've been watching for quite a while." Sukuna raised his voice, letting it carry clearly into the distance, teasing like a cat toying with a mouse. "Why not come out and say hello, little rat skulking in the shadows?"

At the edge of the rooftop, within the shadows.

The moment Sukuna's gaze swept toward her, Mashiro still couldn't help holding her breath for several seconds.

He found me. Not that I was planning to hide.

Her crimson eyes narrowed slightly in the shadows. She could feel Sukuna's cursed energy sweep casually over her position.

Her heart pounded heavily in her chest. Her fighting spirit blazed to life, but reason held it firmly in check.

That's Ryomen Sukuna!

Her battle-hungry instincts roared, sending tingles through her fingertips.

It took everything she had not to charge straight out, deliver some outrageous declaration, and immediately launch into an elbow-throwing brawl.

But a moment later, an even greater surge of cursed energy approached from afar.

That completely unrestrained cursed energy belonged to Satoru Gojo.

Realizing Satoru Gojo was on his way, she could no longer suppress her smile.

Then let's do this. Satoru Gojo will be here any moment. There's someone to fall back on.

Taking on the strongest in history one-on-one, right in front of the strongest of today? How did I get this lucky?

Besides... I just can't hold it back. That thrill seeping out of my very bones when I face something like this.

Mashiro stepped out of the shadows.

Moonlight spilled over her, illuminating the Dharma Wheel above her head, her long silver hair, her cool little face, and crimson eyes that seemed to burn in the darkness.

"A rat?" she said. Her voice wasn't loud, but it carried clearly through the wind. "I was just watching a supporting actor onstage. You've been putting some effort into your performance."

Complete! And! Utter! Victory!

Mashiro reveled in the exhilaration.

For a moment, the air went still.

Megumi Fushiguro looked up in disbelief at the silver-haired figure on the rooftop.

Who is she? When did she get there?

She has cursed energy, but it feels strange.

More importantly, what is she saying to that monster?

Sukuna's grin widened, his cursed energy growing increasingly savage.

"A supporting actor?" he repeated. "Interesting, brat. You really don't think anything of me, do you?"

"You don't have much time left," she said. "The lead has taken the stage."

Sukuna raised an eyebrow, his interest in Mashiro deepening.

"What do you mean?" Sukuna chuckled, his shoulders shaking, his laughter thick with scorn. He raised his left arm and pointed at Mashiro. "A skulking brat like you, who only knows a few cheap tri-"

His voice cut off.

Mashiro had vanished from the rooftop.

The next instant, the air behind Sukuna's left side shrieked as something sharp tore through it.

A silver arc appeared without warning, slashing toward the left arm he had just raised!

The blade's gleam was condensed to the utmost, not a trace of cursed energy leaking out. Every bit of its all-cleaving edge was contained within that arc, thin as a cicada's wing!

"It means you're the challenger." Mashiro's fighting spirit soared, along with her urge to put on a show.

An elegant, beautiful slash swept in with ferocious speed.

Sukuna's crimson pupils contracted sharply, but he didn't dodge. He merely angled his arm slightly, coated it in cursed energy, and took Mashiro's attack head-on.

Clang!!!!!

An explosive metallic ring erupted, mingling with the splintering sound of space being torn apart!

A fissure opened in the cursed energy gathered over Sukuna's arm. The silver blade continued unabated, grazing his skin and opening a wound.

"To think you could manage that much. Tell me your name."

Even as Sukuna spoke, his counterattack began the instant the wound appeared.

Without even looking toward the incoming slash, he casually swept his free right hand backward.

Boom-!!

A blast of tightly compressed cursed energy erupted, instantly pulverizing a vast area behind him. The shock wave spread, sending dust billowing into the sky.

But Mashiro was no longer there.

"Kujo Mashiro. The name that will haunt your nightmares. Make sure you remember it."

She appeared atop a broken wall twenty meters away, standing proudly with Murasame angled toward the ground and the Dharma Wheel above her head spinning into a blur.

"Hmph. You're quick, but you're still just a brat with a big mouth." Sukuna slowly turned and raised his left hand, inspecting the wound on his arm as roiling cursed energy rapidly repaired it.

He licked the corner of his mouth, his grin turning vicious. "A decent blade, too. That irritating feeling... is it a special grade cursed tool?"

He looked at Mashiro and took a fighting stance, murderous intent spilling out. "I've changed my mind. Tearing you apart with my own hands sounds more entertaining."

"That's more like it, Sukuna." Her excited voice reached him, utterly unaffected by his murderous intent.

Atop the broken wall, Mashiro spun gracefully, her silver hair flying beneath the night sky. A hint of madness shone in her crimson eyes as she spread her arms toward Sukuna.

"Come, let's dance to our hearts' content in this beautiful moonlight."

Before her words faded, Sukuna's figure blurred.

Here he comes!

Mashiro twisted sharply, her waist bending into a graceful arc as she planted both hands on the ground. A slash skimmed past the back of her neck, severing several strands of flying silver hair.

A second attack followed. She pushed off the wall with her toes and floated upward as the broken wall shattered beneath her.

Mashiro flipped twice in midair, opening a ten-meter gap by the time she landed.

"Is that all? Sorry, but you're the challenger."

Then she crouched, her left hand lightly touching the ground, her right gripping her sword as she poured cursed energy into her legs.

She kicked off.

The ground cracked. Her figure vanished, and when she reappeared, she was already in front of Sukuna, her blade sweeping upward!

Screech!!

Murasame collided with a clawlike hand wrapped in pitch-black cursed energy, throwing off dazzling sparks and a teeth-grating screech.

The tremendous force shattered the masonry beneath her feet. She used the momentum to slide backward.

"Trying to tickle me?" Sukuna's voice was ghostly. At some point, he had appeared in her retreat path. He opened his right hand, palm aimed at her, cursed energy compressing into a single dazzling point of light. "It's over, brat."

It was only the most basic release of cursed energy, but in Sukuna's hands, its power and speed were terrifying.

Mashiro's pupils shrank sharply. She flicked her wrist, and a pillar of flame erupted from Murasame's blade, rushing straight at Sukuna's face!

"Take this!"

"Wha-?" Sukuna crossed his arms, shattering the pillar of flame.

That opening is enough!

Mashiro coated her body in cursed energy and took the hit head-on.

Bang-!!!!

The beam of cursed energy exploded, filling the air with the smell of concrete and rebar mixed with a scorched stench.

Dust and smoke surged up again. Sukuna narrowed his eyes, gathering cursed energy in his hand once more.

The thick smoke cleared. No one was there.

"Gone? No, above!"

Mashiro appeared overhead, falling upside down. She gripped Murasame with both hands and thrust downward. Her silver cursed energy was no longer contained; it wound around the blade and burned into a stream of fire, trailing a brilliant slash of light through the night sky.

"Useless." Sukuna sneered. Without even looking up, he casually raised a hand.

Even more immense cursed energy gathered in his palm, forming a constantly spinning black sphere.

This attack was far more powerful than the last.

Yet just as his attack was about to take shape-

"Urgh... ah...!"

Sukuna's body jerked violently, and the crazed grin on his face suddenly twisted.

"You... bastard..." A boy's furious voice emerged from within his body. "Give me back my body!"

It was Yuji Itadori.

Mashiro immediately checked her attack. The flames on her blade went out, and she turned halfway around in midair, landing lightly. Two little hops later, she came to a steady stop.

Sukuna's composure vanished completely. Looking shocked, he said to Itadori, "How can you still move?"

"It's my body in the first place, isn't it?"

Sukuna felt his consciousness sinking, unable to retain control of this body. He glared at Mashiro. "You get to keep your life, brat."

Mashiro looked at him and smiled mockingly. "You're the one who gets to keep his life. The King of Curses isn't much after all."

"Next time we meet, I'll kill you."

Sukuna left those final words behind as his consciousness sank away.