Facing Sukuna

In Jujutsu High's livestream room, everyone stared in shock at the assistant supervisor who had burst in with the news. For a moment, no one could speak.

"How is that possible?" Kusakabe broke the silence first, his voice rising.

"Mr. Gu-Gu Yanzhi actually stole from Jujutsu High's Cursed Tool Vault?"

"And the Zenin Clan, Kamo Clan, and Gojo Clan's vaults were all looted too? Is he really no good after all? Is he a mole working for Kenjaku?"

Before he had finished, the others began recovering from their shock.

Itadori clenched his fists, his expression conflicted-he refused to believe that Mr. Gu, who had lectured him in the dojo until his voice went hoarse, would betray them, but the facts were right before his eyes.

The sudden upheaval left everyone at Jujutsu High at a loss. If Gu Yanzhi had betrayed them, their rear-line arrangements were in complete disarray. Not only would Jujutsu High have to fight Ryomen Sukuna on the front lines, they would also have to remain constantly on guard against Kenjaku's secret plotting.

Just then, Yuta Okkotsu stepped out of the crowd, sword in hand.

His expression remained composed. He looked at no one in the room, his eyes fixed on the streak of lightning fighting Sukuna on the screen-Hajime Kashimo, who had unleashed Mythical Beast Amber, had been torn apart by Sukuna's grid of slashes, and his fate was now unknown.

Watching this, Okkotsu said slowly, "Whatever the case, we have to act. Taking down Sukuna comes first right now."

On the Shinjuku battlefield, Hiromi Higuruma and Yuji Itadori descended from the sky.

Higuruma's domain expanded the instant he landed-Deadly Sentencing. Its barrier enclosed Sukuna, and the spectral form of a massive, black-bodied shikigami appeared within it.

Sukuna stood at the center of the domain, all four arms folded across his chest.

He listened to the judge read out the charges, then casually pleaded guilty, utterly unconcerned. "Hurry up and finish this boring process. I already learned how your cursed technique works while I was inside the brat. Just show me that sword."

The domain's effect activated, and the judge shikigami, with one eye open and the other shut, roared, "Guilty! Confiscation!"

The domain's barrier dissolved with a rumble, and the Executioner's Sword, blazing with brilliant golden light, appeared in Higuruma's hand.

Seeing Higuruma's domain activate successfully and the Executioner's Sword appear, everyone from Jujutsu High sprang into action, charging at Sukuna.

Sukuna smiled faintly. Several slashes formed at his fingertips, and a grid of Dismantle attacks shot straight toward Higuruma.

Higuruma showed little surprise. He merely let out a slow sigh, as though he had expected this result all along. "Just as we thought."

A figure descended from the sky. Yuta Okkotsu landed in front of Higuruma, shielding him as he met Sukuna's gaze across the battlefield. "So it's just as Mr. Gu said. Still, with that absurd cursed tool Kamutoke gone and this Executioner's Sword in our hands, things have shifted in our favor no matter how you look at it."

Sukuna's brow creased slightly. Higuruma intended to hand the Executioner's Sword to the stronger Okkotsu, but Sukuna clearly had no intention of allowing that. He had let Higuruma expand his domain because he wanted to see what the legendary Executioner's Sword looked like. That was only because he considered Higuruma wielding it no threat at all-a novice who had only recently learned jujutsu could not threaten him, even with a sword that guaranteed death.

But if Okkotsu wielded it, everything would become troublesome. Sukuna had assumed Jujutsu High would send Okkotsu to deal with Kenjaku, yet they had kept him here instead. With Okkotsu's immense cursed energy reserves, combat skills, and Domain Expansion, placing the Executioner's Sword in his hands would increase the threat he posed by several orders of magnitude.

Sukuna stopped treating the battle as a chance to toy with Jujutsu High.

He pressed one hand against the earth, pouring cursed energy from his palm deep into the ground.

Cleave activated. Cracks spread across the ground like a spiderweb, and the cutting attack shattered the earth across the entire battlefield. Boulders and chunks of asphalt tumbled out of the fissures.

The Jujutsu High fighters closing in on him instantly lost their balance, and the handoff of the Executioner's Sword was interrupted.

Without giving them time to recover, Sukuna closed in on Okkotsu and Higuruma and unleashed the slash that cut the world.

The terrifying pressure of space itself being severed swept across the battlefield. Okkotsu was forced away from Higuruma, while Higuruma failed to evade in time and lost his left arm, blood gushing from the stump.

Sukuna immediately followed up-he drove a cursed-energy-laced punch into Higuruma at close range, sending him flying, then added several ordinary Dismantle attacks that pursued him through the air.

As he flew backward, Higuruma activated Domain Amplification, barely neutralizing some of the slashes' damage. Even so, his body was already covered in wounds. Sukuna pursued him, intending to isolate the man who had summoned the Executioner's Sword from the other Jujutsu High fighters and kill him alone-as long as Higuruma died, the Executioner's Sword would cease to function, and Okkotsu would never get his hands on it.

Watching Sukuna rush toward him, Higuruma clicked his tongue.

He made his final decision-he hurled the Executioner's Sword at Sukuna. Sukuna easily sidestepped the straightforward attack, a contemptuous smile on his lips.

The Executioner's Sword brushed past a few strands of his hair, its golden glow tracing an arc through the air. A slash began charging in Sukuna's left hand, ready to deliver the finishing blow to Higuruma.

But Okkotsu arrived and caught the flying Executioner's Sword. He had rushed to where it would fall as fast as he could, closing all five fingers around its hilt. The sword's golden light illuminated his entire face.

Without pausing, he thrust its point straight toward Sukuna's back. The sight made the Jujutsu High fighters cry out-the Executioner's Sword, which guaranteed death, was now in Okkotsu's hands. One successful thrust would mean victory!

But

A flash of crimson flame shattered everyone's hopes.

Furnace: Open.

A terrifying wave of heat swept across the entire battlefield. Crimson flames erupted in a fan around Sukuna, their heat warping the very air. A horrifying pillar of red fire soared into the sky, bathing the battlefield in the colors of hell. Dust and debris still hanging in the air vaporized the instant they touched the flames, leaving not even ash behind. Fine cracks burst across the surfaces of rubble and concrete chunks as they burned into chalk-white powder.

Amid the towering waves of flame, Sukuna stood where he was, a mocking smile on his lips.

"That was close-you almost killed me."

In that instant, Sukuna had made a Binding Vow: in exchange for requiring longer casting motions for every subsequent Furnace: Open, he gained a single use with no windup, unleashed almost instantaneously.

The smoke and dust cleared completely. Sukuna stood where he was, his gaze sweeping over the Jujutsu High fighters as he prepared to attack again. Then his expression suddenly changed-his eyes widened.

At some point, a defensive formation made up of all sorts of cursed tools had appeared around the Jujutsu High fighters. Hundreds of cursed tools hovered in the air, arranged into curved steel walls in front of each person. After enduring that blast from the Furnace, most had melted outright, and some were still smoking.

A figure descended from the sky.

He landed firmly in the center of the battlefield, bending one knee slightly to absorb the impact before slowly straightening.

Gu Yanzhi stood at the center of the battlefield. Behind him, an army of cursed tools slowly spread out like a peacock's tail. A faint smile rested on his face as he pointed his right hand forward, his index finger aimed at Sukuna.

"Arrogant King of Curses, don't even think about harming my companions' scales!"