Kugisaki froze completely, her eyelids twitching wildly.
This guy couldn't be... their last teammate, could he?
She glanced sideways. Itadori, his mouth stuffed with beef, and Fushiguro were sneaking away hunched over like thieves. As for their white-haired teacher... his seat was already empty.
Their visibly unreliable white-haired teacher's only redeeming feature was his handsome face.
Yuji Itadori, the tacky, pink-haired gorilla strong enough to punch through a wall.
Megumi Fushiguro, the sea-urchin head wearing what he thought was a cool, aloof expression.
And this last one was in a league of his own, so bizarre that words couldn't even describe him.
These were the teammates she'd be spending every day with?
Kugisaki suddenly felt that her future as a sorcerer looked bleak.
Seeing Uchiha Super Saiyan Jiahao still enjoying his feast across from her without a care in the world, Kugisaki let out a long, deep sigh and said stiffly, "My name's Nobara Kugisaki."
Jiahao set down his knife and fork, elegantly pulled a handkerchief from his breast pocket, and dabbed at the corners of his mouth. "Hello, Kugisaki."
"You may call me... King."
[Grandeur points +69]
Several days later, Itadori and the others received their first field assignment.
Mission location: Eishu Juvenile Detention Center.
Mission objective: rescue as many survivors as possible.
On the drive to the Juvenile Detention Center, Itadori, Fushiguro, and Kugisaki studied the reports in their hands with serious expressions.
Itadori, who now had a basic understanding of curses, scratched his head. "Isn't this mission way above our level?"
Kugisaki was even blunter. "A suspected grade one, with a chance of running straight into a fully developed special grade cursed womb!"
"This isn't above our level. They're sending us to our deaths!"
The Assistant Supervisor driving the car, Kiyotaka Ijichi, explained gravely, "Unfortunately, understaffing is the norm for jujutsu sorcerers."
"Receiving assignments beyond your capabilities is common, and this happens to be an unexpected emergency."
"Of course, your mission isn't to exorcise the cursed womb. It's to locate and rescue any possible survivors inside the Juvenile Detention Center."
In the back seat, Fushiguro read the report in his hands, a trace of unease rising within him.
Normally, a mission that might involve a special grade cursed spirit should have been handled by Satoru Gojo personally. Yet their superiors had sent him overseas on business just yesterday.
And that wasn't all... early this very morning, Jiahao had also received orders from above to carry out an urgent mission in Kansai.
Wasn't that a little too convenient?
"Hopefully, I'm overthinking it."
Fushiguro pressed his fingers against his brow and muttered to himself.
"From darkness, darkness is born, deeper still than darkness."
"Exorcise every trace of tainted cursed residue."
Upon arriving at the mission site, Ijichi immediately erected a barrier to conceal it from the outside world.
The three entered the barrier together and searched their way up to the rooftop, where they found severed limbs and chunks of flesh piled haphazardly in a corner.
At that moment, Fushiguro's foreboding reached its peak.
"Kugisaki!!"
Kugisaki, standing beside him, was swallowed by the shadow beneath her feet. The White Divine Dogs he had summoned to scout and keep watch died instantly.
Their expressions changed drastically. Fushiguro and Itadori had barely turned their heads when they found themselves facing the special grade cursed spirit's two gleaming rows of bared teeth.
Slash!
In an instant, Itadori's left arm, still holding his cursed tool, was severed.
"Hee hee hee!"
The humanoid cursed spirit, wearing a loincloth, swayed back and forth before them like a wobbling toy, letting out mocking, cruel laughter.
Damn it!
Forget exorcising the curse before them. Even escaping under its watch would be incredibly difficult.
Itadori threatened Sukuna, demanding his help, only to be flatly refused.
"Fushiguro, get Kugisaki and run!"
Forcing down his fear, Itadori pulled off his belt and used his teeth to cinch it tightly around the wound. "If I let Sukuna out now, you'll be in danger too! Get Kugisaki far away, then send me the signal!"
Fushiguro knew Itadori couldn't possibly defeat the special grade cursed spirit before them, but he couldn't think of a better way out of their predicament.
"Hang in there. Don't die!"
Gritting his teeth, Fushiguro left him with those words, summoned a new Ten Shadow Shikigami, and rushed to the lowest floor to find Kugisaki.
Several minutes later.
Panting, Fushiguro carried the badly injured Kugisaki back to the car. "There's no time to explain. Mr. Ijichi, please notify the nearby residents immediately and expand the evacuation zone!"
"If you can... find a way to get a grade one or higher jujutsu sorcerer here. I'll stay and wait for Itadori!"
After confirming that Ijichi and the badly injured Kugisaki had left the danger zone, Fushiguro immediately had the Black Divine Dogs give the signal.
"Awooo!!"
Shortly after the signal sounded, a series of explosions erupted from the Juvenile Detention Center's main building.
The simple domain enveloping the site was torn apart in an instant by another surge of powerful cursed energy.
"Drip, drip..."
Beyond the barrier, a light rain fell from the dark sky.
Watching the raindrops drift down before him, Fushiguro couldn't help thinking of someone.
Rain brought Jiahao to mind.
Fushiguro clenched his fists. "If that guy were here..."
"Oh, you mean that arrogant brat?"
The same face, but an entirely different, sinister presence.
Looking at the tattooed Itadori who had suddenly appeared beside him, Fushiguro felt his heart sink.
"Itadori..."
Cold sweat poured down Fushiguro's body as he spoke tentatively.
"Heh heh heh. Unfortunately, that brat isn't coming back."
The cold laugh coming from Itadori's mouth shattered Fushiguro's last shred of hope.
"I imagine that piece-of-trash cursed spirit beat this brat so badly that he subconsciously believed he was dead and lost consciousness."
"But just to be safe..."
Under Fushiguro's horrified gaze, Sukuna plunged his hand into his chest and pulled out his heart, then casually tossed the steaming organ aside like garbage.
Sukuna paid no mind to the hole in his chest or the blood trickling from his mouth. "I can manage without a heart. But if this brat dares to take his body back, the only thing waiting for him is death."
"And now, for the final nail in the coffin."
Sukuna took out a third finger, a special grade cursed object, and swallowed it whole. "Now I'm finally free!"
"Hahahahaha!"
The curse at the Juvenile Detention Center was most likely a special grade created by the influence of Sukuna's Finger.
Now that Itadori's body held the combined cursed energy of three fingers, it would be even harder for his own consciousness to awaken.
And there was the issue of his heart...
Bad. This was bad in every possible way!
At this point, there was only one way to save Itadori.
Force Sukuna to go all out and repair his heart, then let Itadori seize that opening to regain control of his body.
Ordinary moves wouldn't work on Sukuna at all. Only that move...
Memories of his time with Itadori flashed through Fushiguro's mind as he brought his hands into position to form a seal.
Just as Fushiguro was about to begin his suicide ritual, several steel nails infused with cursed energy shot through the rain toward Sukuna's limbs.
Clang!
Sukuna evaded the attack as casually as if he were taking a stroll, his amused gaze turning toward the entrance. "Heh. Another one here to die."
"Kugisaki?!"
"What happened? Didn't Ijichi take you to get treated?!"
Kugisaki's arrival forced Fushiguro to cancel his suicide ritual.
"I ran into that smug freak on the way. He healed me."
Kugisaki answered quietly.
Her gaze swept over Sukuna's open chest, then the blood-red heart still beating on the lawn nearby. Her pupils abruptly contracted before she sneered. "Hah. The strongest jujutsu sorcerer in a thousand years? The King of Curses?"
"A thousand-year-old monster facing a superstrong gorilla who's barely come of age, and all you can do is resort to dirty tricks like this?"
"What a grand joke!"
Kugisaki raised the hammer in her hand. "But even so, that guy will definitely come back, even if he knows it'll kill him!"
"You're giving this brat far too much credit."
Despite her taunts, Sukuna kept his hands in his pockets and his delighted smile on his face. "He's only a little sturdier than most people, a little better at taking a beating. Just now, he was trembling in terror at the thought of death."
"Kugisaki, Kugisaki!"
Rather than joining in the trash talk, Fushiguro scanned their surroundings and asked quietly, "What happened after he healed you? Where is he?"
With Yuhao joining them, the three of them might actually be able to force Sukuna to repair his heart and fight at full strength.
Kugisaki frowned. "No idea. He disappeared right after healing me. I thought he'd gotten here before me!"
Normally, someone might hide in a nearby corner, conceal their cursed energy, and wait for a chance to launch a surprise attack.
But that guy clearly wasn't normal, so right now, he was...
Kugisaki said, "Don't tell me..."
Fushiguro said, "The Broadcast Room?!"
At that thought, Kugisaki and Fushiguro couldn't help glancing toward the Juvenile Detention Center's loudspeakers.
The next second, powerful BGM suddenly blared across the entire grounds.
"My grand spirit soars to the heavens!"
"Who can rival me!"
At this turn of events, not only Kugisaki and Fushiguro but even Sukuna fell silent.
Before you continue