Surrounded

Junpei's room in the Yoshino House.

Chiyo Shin slept alone on the bed, with Stillness active and enveloping the entire room.

Yuji Itadori and Junpei Yoshino sat on the floor watching Human Earthworm, occasionally discussing the plot in hushed voices.

Outside the Yoshino House.

"What's the rush? Do we have to find out what kind of soul Chiyo Shin has today?" Mahito toyed with a shrunken human in his hand.

Kenjaku hid his face beneath a hood and held out a Sukuna's Finger. "Better to know sooner than later. If Chiyo Shin's soul doesn't belong to either type, things could get troublesome."

Mahito stared at Sukuna's Finger for a long while before finally accepting it. "What a waste of Sukuna's Finger."

The transfigured human in Mahito's hand twisted into a flying gnat, clutched Sukuna's Finger, and flew into the Yoshino House through a gap in the window.

"Emerge from darkness... purify that which is impure." Kenjaku chanted as he lowered a Curtain.

Chiyo Shin's eyes snapped open, and he sprang up from the bed.

His sudden movement startled Yuji Itadori and Junpei Yoshino on the floor.

"What's wrong, Chiyo?" Yuji Itadori paused the movie and asked.

"Itadori, call Mr. Ijichi right now. We can't wait until tomorrow. We need to move tonight." Chiyo Shin was already off the bed, opening the door and heading out.

Yuji Itadori hurriedly took out his phone and called Ijichi.

Worried about his mother's safety, Junpei Yoshino quickly got up and followed.

He reached his mother's side and only relaxed a little after seeing that she was all right.

When Chiyo Shin entered the living room, he saw a mosquito several times larger than an ordinary one flying toward Nagi Yoshino with a finger clutched in its legs.

Stillness spread rapidly, freezing the mosquito in midair and preventing it from moving another inch.

Chiyo Shin walked over, caught the mosquito in his hand, and examined it closely.

Sukuna's Finger.

No, why would it be Sukuna's Finger?

That wasn't the presence I sensed just now.

And this mosquito...

Chiyo Shin inspected the mosquito more closely and noticed a distorted human face on its abdomen.

A transfigured human!

"Chiyo, Mr. Ijichi said he'll be here in half an hour." Yuji Itadori entered the living room after finishing his call.

"Itadori, Yoshino, Mahito is probably nearby. Be careful." Chiyo Shin held out the transfigured mosquito for the two of them to examine.

Veins bulged on Yuji Itadori's forehead when he saw the human face on the mosquito. Another innocent person had fallen victim.

Junpei Yoshino lowered his head, a jumble of emotions churning inside him.

Chiyo Shin patted Junpei Yoshino and smiled. "It's all right, Yoshino. Wake your mom up and explain what's going on. We'll leave as soon as Mr. Ijichi gets here."

"Oh, okay." Junpei Yoshino gently shook his mother.

Chiyo Shin walked to the window and looked outside. This was a Curtain.

Not good. He turned back, about to warn the other two.

A sandworm-like Grade 1 Cursed Spirit burst out of the ground and swallowed all three people in the living room.

Then it swiftly burrowed underground and fled through its tunnel.

Chiyo Shin propelled himself with counter-vibrations, rapidly closing in on the tunnel the Sandworm had dug.

"Worry about yourself."

From outside the window, Mahito flung a massive transfigured human from his hand and knocked Chiyo Shin out of the house.

Chiyo Shin landed from midair and dug both hands into the ground, sliding several meters before coming to a stop.

He stood up and surveyed his surroundings.

Chiyo Shin cursed inwardly.

Fuck, I miscalculated. They planned this in advance.

The Curtain surrounding the area covered roughly eight or nine houses.

Since when did cursed spirits get this cunning?

His immediate priority was finding Itadori and the others.

Junpei's mother couldn't stay inside a cursed spirit for too long.

Not daring to waste any time, Chiyo Shin pushed his Vibration Cursed Technique to full power and searched underground for Itadori and the others.

The vibration waves he sent out soon returned feedback. The Sandworm cursed spirit was near the edge of the residential area and hadn't left the Curtain yet.

Activating Stillness, Chiyo Shin used counter-vibrations to skim silently along the ground toward the Sandworm cursed spirit.

"Did you forget about me, jujutsu sorcerer?"

Mahito turned both arms into wings and flew through the air, throwing three more transfigured humans at Chiyo Shin.

Skimming swiftly along the ground, Chiyo Shin turned the instant he heard the voice and clapped his hands toward Mahito.

Without even looking at the result, Chiyo Shin headed straight for the Sandworm cursed spirit.

A visible, high-speed vibration wave tore through the transfigured humans in midair with devastating force.

A mist of blood rained down, staining the street.

After destroying the transfigured humans, the vibration wave continued toward Mahito without losing any power.

Mahito hadn't expected his transfigured humans to be so fragile. He hastily spread his body outward into a ring.

The vibration wave arrived just as he finished transforming. Though it passed through the opening in his body, the violent airflow twisted Mahito into a corkscrew.

Unable to maintain flight any longer, Mahito fell from the sky.

Upon landing, Mahito returned to his original form. "What incredible destructive power. A casual clap, and just getting caught in its wake did this to me.

"If you weren't concerned about the residents' safety, I'd probably be dead already.

"What a shame. You jujutsu sorcerers always love sticking your noses into other people's business."

As he spoke, Mahito spat out several more transfigured humans, enlarged them, and sent them after Chiyo Shin.

Chiyo Shin had reached the Sandworm's hiding place. He unleashed Annihilation at full power, tearing through layer after layer of earth.

The underground pipes and cables buried nearby were destroyed along with it.

The transfigured humans that came to stop him were also reduced to powder by the residual waves from Chiyo Shin's Annihilation.

Water spouted from the ruptured ground, and every light in the surrounding area went out.

The Sandworm underground sensed the danger as well and burrowed deeper.

Chiyo Shin knew this game of cat and mouse put him at a severe disadvantage.

Every extra moment Junpei's mother spent inside the cursed spirit brought unpredictable danger.

"I'll use you to test my newest move."

Chiyo Shin steeled himself. At worst, I'll get hurt. I can heal myself with Golden Repair.

Better than letting her be tainted by a curse.

He placed his hands one over the other, and a faint white glow slowly appeared before them.

Chiyo Shin gritted his teeth and took the gamble. A beam of white light as thick as an arm shot out instantly.

Mahito watched from nearby with a smile, making no move to stop him.

Guided by vibration waves that constantly corrected its course toward the Sandworm cursed spirit, the white beam quickly caught up and disintegrated it into dust.

Yuji Itadori, Junpei Yoshino, and the still-terrified Nagi Yoshino-

All fell from the cursed spirit's dissolving body into the tunnel it had dug.

Chiyo Shin increased Annihilation's output and soon reached them as well.

"Itadori, Yoshino, how's your mom? Can she still move?" Chiyo Shin first helped Nagi Yoshino up and activated Golden Repair.

After examining her, Chiyo Shin breathed a sigh of relief. Thankfully, she hadn't been cursed.

"What on earth is going on, Chiyo?" Nagi Yoshino asked, clutching her chest.

Once Chiyo Shin confirmed that Nagi Yoshino was unharmed, he examined Itadori and Junpei Yoshino as well. Fortunately, neither had suffered much harm.

"Mrs. Yoshino, now isn't the time to explain. Once things settle down,

"We'll explain everything. Right now, our priority is getting out of here safely."

Nagi Yoshino looked at her son. When Junpei Yoshino nodded, she understood.

"All right."

"How's the chat going? Should I give you a little more time?" Mahito slowly descended with both arms shaped like a parachute.

Nagi Yoshino saw Mahito in the air as well. His grotesquely deformed body made her cover her mouth, afraid to utter a sound.

"Mr. Mahi..." Junpei Yoshino looked at Mahito descending from above-the Mahito who had given him power, the Mahito who had acknowledged him.

He could no longer bring himself to call him "Mr. Mahito."

The Mahito before him was a murderous monster, an enemy.

For Mom. The Moon Dregs shikigami appeared behind Junpei Yoshino.

Chiyo Shin fired two improved Cursed Energy Bullets at Mahito overhead.

Mahito changed his parachute into a hang glider and nimbly dodged. "Hahaha! Missed me, missed me! Here are some bombs for you."

Mahito spat five more transfigured humans out of his mouth and dropped them below.

The five transfigured humans didn't attack upon landing. They simply surrounded Chiyo and the others.

The cramped bottom of the tunnel instantly became crowded.

White light shone in Chiyo Shin's hands again. "Itadori, I know you can't bring yourself to do it. You and Yoshino protect his mom. I'll handle these five."

"Got it." Yuji Itadori stepped back, forming a triangle with Junpei Yoshino and the Moon Dregs shikigami around Nagi Yoshino.

Mahito sprouted spider-like legs from his body and clung to the tunnel wall, watching the scene below.