Negotiating with Choso

"What?"

Itadori was even more confused now. He pointed at Kinoshita, his voice full of doubt. "You can handle a special grade cursed spirit?"

Kinoshita nodded.

"It's almost time. The main reason I've told you all this is that I want you to trust me!" Kinoshita looked down below, his expression earnest.

The time had slowly ticked over to 22:08.

Sure enough, a muscular young man approached. His black hair was tied into his signature skyward twin tails, and he had pale skin, crimson eyes, dark circles around them, and a black marking across the bridge of his nose.

The instant he saw Itadori, his face twisted with rage.

Blood immediately spurted from the black marking on his nose, and cursed energy began gathering in his hands.

"Convergence!"

It was a cursed technique that compressed blood.

Just as the blood was about to burst forth-

"Shit!" Looking at Choso below the escalator, Itadori raised his arms with lightning-fast reflexes.

"Hold on a second!!"

Kinoshita's shout startled them both.

But instead of stopping, Choso pressed his palms together and fired a stream of blood.

"Piercing Blood!!!"

"Yuji Itadori, you killed my brothers!"

As Choso faced his brothers' killer, his eyes held nothing but boundless hatred.

He hated not only Itadori, but also himself for failing to protect his younger brothers.

A sharp ripping sound followed, echoing through the vast, empty station as the blood tore through the air.

Kinoshita spoke again. "Are you going to kill your only remaining brother too? What kind of big brother are you?!"

"What?" Distracted, Choso looked toward Kinoshita.

But Piercing Blood had already been fired. Luckily, Itadori seized that opening and twisted sideways, escaping with only a graze on his arm.

"So fast!" Itadori exclaimed.

Choso didn't attack again after firing Piercing Blood. Itadori first retreated a short distance, then shouted to Kinoshita, "Get back! It's dangerous!"

At Kinoshita's words, the anger in Choso's eyes seemed ready to spill over.

No one had the right to question his love for his brothers, much less this human who had appeared out of nowhere.

"What do you know? Take that back!"

Seeing that Choso was finally willing to acknowledge him, Kinoshita actually breathed a sigh of relief.

"He's your younger brother too. You're all Kenjaku's offspring... though you might know him better by another name-Kenjaku!" Kinoshita continued.

Instead, Choso slowly raised both hands, pressing his fingers together and aiming them at Kinoshita.

"How do you know all this?"

Kinoshita shrank back. He had just been crushed to death by a rock; he had no desire to be instantly killed by Piercing Blood next.

"Itadori!"

"Aren't you curious about why you became Sukuna's vessel?"

Itadori clapped his hands together, never letting his guard down.

He was even planning to interrupt Choso the next time he used Piercing Blood.

"I'm the one who killed your brothers. He had nothing to do with it." Itadori's expression was grave. "If you've got a problem, take it out on me!"

Choso frowned, looking at Itadori with even greater loathing.

Seeing that talking wasn't getting through to them, Kinoshita could only step between the two and shout, "You're biological brothers with different fathers and mothers, damn it!! Stop trying to kill each other!"

Those words genuinely stunned them both.

Choso looked especially bewildered, even lowering the hands he had been about to use for another Piercing Blood.

What is this guy talking about?

Even someone as thickheaded as Itadori couldn't help asking, "Are you speaking Japanese?"

Seeing that they were finally willing to listen, Kinoshita continued his explanation. "The real culprit behind Satoru Gojo's sealing is Kenjaku-a curse user who's lived for a thousand years."

"The guy with stitches across his forehead!"

Kinoshita gestured vigorously at his own forehead.

"He's spent a thousand years changing identities. One of them was Kenjaku."

"To create a body capable of housing Sukuna, he created you Nine Brothers!" Kinoshita looked at Choso.

Choso gritted his teeth. What Kinoshita said was mostly correct, and even he was hearing some of those deeper motives for the first time.

"What's that got to do with me?" Itadori asked again.

"You're the successful result!" Kinoshita turned back toward Itadori. "Your mother was Kenjaku too!"

"So you're biological brothers with different fathers and mothers! If you don't believe me, Choso, try making contact with Itadori. You might sense something!"

Choso's gaze had begun to waver. Clearly, he had a faint feeling that Kinoshita might not be lying.

Itadori, on the other hand, wasn't particularly bothered. What Kinoshita was saying was simply too absurd.

Besides.

Biological brothers with different fathers and mothers? Was that really something a human being could say?

Kinoshita noticed Choso's hesitation. After all, his younger brothers always came first in his heart.

Even if there was only a one-percent chance, he would give it a try!

"Where did you hear all this? Who are you, anyway? Why have I never heard Suguru Geto mention someone like you?" Choso wanted more evidence to support Kinoshita's claims.

Kinoshita kept a straight face. He might be a smooth talker, but that was all he had going for him.

After all, in the original story, Choso only recovered some sense of their brotherly bond after beating Itadori to the brink of death.

Did he actually have any evidence...?

He couldn't exactly have Itadori smash his own balls right now to bring himself to the brink of death, could he?

"I really did kill your brothers. Whatever you've got to say, take it out on me!" Cursed energy began gathering in Itadori's hands.

Choso's brows knotted tightly. He was torn. Itadori's identity as his brothers' killer was already confirmed, while the claim that Itadori was his younger brother rested on nothing more than a stranger's words.

Watching Itadori being so painfully honest, Kinoshita felt helpless.

He knew what the kid was like. Whatever he had done, he would freely admit it.

But even so, in their current situation, that was practically forcing Choso to attack!

"Did my brothers... have any last words?" Choso sighed, activating Convergence again.

Itadori thought back and shook his head. "No, but..."

"You can confront Suguru Geto first!" Seeing that he couldn't persuade either of them, Kinoshita immediately cut Itadori off before he could provoke Choso any further. "If I lied to you, you can kill me before killing Itadori!"

"But what if I didn't lie?"

"Think carefully about your responsibilities as a big brother!" Kinoshita shouted at Choso below the escalator.

Choso froze again. Images of Eso, Kechizu, and his six other younger brothers kept flashing through his mind.

He had already made one mistake, getting Eso and Kechizu killed.

He wouldn't blame anyone else for that. It was all his own fault.

He, Choso, had chosen the wrong side. He had taken the easy path, and his brothers had died as a result.

"Tch..."

"Yuji Itadori, what's your objective?"

Seeing Choso lower his arms, Itadori's eyes widened. "Uh... to protect the ordinary people still in the station."

"Tch!"

The next instant.

Blood gathered across the bridge of Choso's nose once again!!!