Brothers reunited

Itadori heard only a ringing in his ears. He could clearly feel something slam into his brain.

"Ugh... my body... won't move..."

Seeing that the plan had worked, Nanako eagerly tore open the wrapping around the finger. Her move could briefly make someone feel as though they were dying, but it lasted only a moment-not even two seconds.

Still, with Mimiko's help, as long as they were fast enough, this move could counter Yuji Itadori's powerful body to some extent!

"Aaaah!!!"

Watching Itadori's eyes roll back, Choso stopped in his tracks and abruptly clutched his chest.

"My heart!!"

"This is...!"

A memory that did not belong to Choso appeared in his mind.

"Big brother! Open wide~"

"Hahahahaha! Thanks, little brother!"

"How dare you... how dare you make us brothers kill each other!!"

"Kenjaku!!!"

"Piercing Blood."

To stay on guard against Itadori, Choso had been maintaining Convergence the entire time, so this Piercing Blood struck Nanako's hand swiftly and accurately.

Before the delight could fade from Nanako's face, she watched her own wrist get shot through and pinned to the ground along with Sukuna's Finger.

Kinoshita immediately realized what had happened. Choso could sense his younger brothers' deaths. He did not know what Nanako and Mimiko had done, but whatever it was, it had briefly made Itadori feel as though he were dying.

That had allowed Choso to confirm Yuji Itadori's identity through his senses alone.

"Cough, cough, cough!"

With the cursed technique dispelled, Itadori coughed as he regained his senses.

Looking at the terrified Mimiko and Nanako, he no longer dared let his guard down. "Take this!"

Mimiko tried to use her doll again, but Choso had already been watching her. A single Piercing Blood shattered the doll.

"As long as I'm here, no one gets to hurt Yuji Itadori! I'm his big brother!"

Itadori's fist slammed squarely into Nanako's face, and he even snatched Sukuna's Finger as it fell.

Bam!!

It had been a long sequence of moves, but it all happened in a very short time.

Less than ten seconds.

Mimiko and Nanako were both knocked to the ground in an instant.

"Ah!" Mimiko looked at Itadori defiantly. "We have to... have to get Master Geto's body back!!"

Seeing that Itadori was unharmed, Choso breathed a sigh of relief.

"Thank goodness! Itadori, I really am your big brother!" Then he turned to Kinoshita and said gratefully, "Thank you. It's thanks to you that we brothers didn't end up killing each other!"

Kinoshita did not particularly care about that. He looked at the finger with some concern. "Bro, you'd better hurry up and eat it."

Itadori froze. "Huh? Is that okay?"

"Just one is completely fine."

"No, when it comes down to it, the only danger is eating too many fingers in a short time. As long as it's one a day, nothing will happen."

"Otherwise, if we leave this finger exposed out here, Jogo might still come," Kinoshita reasoned.

"Yuji, will you really... be okay?" Choso's eyes were full of worry.

After all, the moment he had confirmed Itadori's identity, no matter how much hatred or resentment he had felt before, his younger brother's safety became his only concern.

"Don't worry. I've already eaten several of these." Itadori felt a little awkward at the sudden concern.

He could not sense their connection, after all, so naturally he felt little attachment to this big brother who had suddenly appeared.

With a gulp, Itadori swallowed his fifth finger.

Then the three of them looked toward Mimiko and Nanako, only to find that the two girls had already fled to parts unknown.

"This should count toward my evaluation, right?"

"Even freeloaders get rewards, okay!" Kinoshita muttered.

Since he intended to stick around Itadori and Choso to earn a better evaluation, he needed to find opponents on their level-preferably ones who would not catch him in the crossfire.

First, anyone with a domain was out.

Once a domain opened, its guaranteed-hit, guaranteed-kill effect would kick in.

Forget things like Simple Domain or Hollow Wicker Basket; he did not even have a decent cursed technique at his disposal.

Sure, watching these guys fight in person was exciting, but getting killed by some random attack was definitely not!

"Let's go. We have to tell Maki, Panda, and the others. If what Mr. Kinoshita here... said is true, we can't keep fighting these cursed spirits inside the barrier."

"We have to find the guy who kidnapped Mr. Satoru Gojo..." Itadori clenched his fists.

"That's my boy, always listening!" Kinoshita slung an arm around Itadori's shoulders.

Choso's gaze immediately turned icy. Even he, Itadori's own big brother, had barely had any physical contact with him.

"By the way, Mr. Choso, I really did kill your younger brothers myself." Itadori lowered his head. "They didn't leave any last words, but they cried..."

"I'm really grateful for your help, but if you don't want to, Mr. Kinoshita and I can handle things ourselves!"

Kinoshita raised an eyebrow.

No, we couldn't.

Absolutely not.

We absolutely needed Choso's fighting strength.

Itadori was no weakling now, but if they ran into certain Grade 1 Cursed Spirits or curse users, he definitely would not be able to protect Kinoshita.

Still, as far as Kinoshita understood him, this hopelessly doting big brother would never leave Itadori's safety to chance.

"Yuji!"

"This isn't your fault." Choso's expression darkened. "If I hadn't taken the easy path back then, if I hadn't chosen to trust those cursed spirits, if I hadn't listened to that bastard Kenjaku..."

"My brothers' deaths were all my fault!" Choso patted Itadori's shoulder without thinking.

Itadori was a little dazed, but he said nothing.

"I really don't have an older brother, but thank you anyway." Itadori smiled.

"And you too, Mr. Kinoshita."

Kinoshita rubbed his nose. "It's too early to thank me..."

Before he could finish,

a bloody arm appeared before the three of them.

Choso's eyes shook. He looked at his right hand. That arm belonged to no one else-it was his own!

"Flowing Red Scale: Stack!!!"

In an instant, Choso's blood surged and his pulse raced, multiplying his reflexes and speed several times over!

Choso immediately twisted sideways, a torrent of blood bursting from his severed right arm to envelop the space behind him.

But once he spread his blood out, he discovered that there was no one behind him at all!

"Holy shit! Friendly here, don't hit me!!" Kinoshita had not even seen anyone yet, but the plea was already out of his mouth.

He rolled away, immediately putting distance between himself and the center of the fight.

Itadori realized something was wrong too, but everything had happened so fast that he had not even gotten a clear look at the attacker.

"He's gone!!" Choso retrieved his right arm and immediately scanned their surroundings. "He got that close without any of us noticing!"

"That speed, that strength-why can't I sense his cursed energy?!"

Itadori wrapped his entire body in cursed energy. His eyes narrowed slightly, and he blurted out, "Fushiguro...?"