Outside the high school gates.
The blond boy with the ear studs looked baffled. Was there something seriously wrong with this guy? He actually claimed this planet belonged to him. More importantly, he had dared to mock him.
"You little punk! Want a taste of my iron fist?!"
The blond, who was used to throwing his weight around, swung a fist at Araki Itsuki, determined to teach him a lesson.
He actually wants to hit me?!
Araki Itsuki chuckled in disbelief. Though he moved second, his hand struck first, slapping the blond across the mouth.
Smack.
The blond's right cheek instantly swelled and reddened. The slap left him dazed and questioning his life choices.
"Now pick up the cigarette butt on the ground."
His head buzzing, the blond clutched his swollen cheek. Not daring to argue, he hurriedly picked up the cigarette butt and tossed it into a nearby trash can.
Araki Itsuki clapped his hands in satisfaction.
"Be civil and set a good example. Don't litter on my planet again."
"I'm sorry! I'm sorry!"
The blond gave Araki Itsuki a frightened look, then turned and ran.
Meanwhile, elsewhere.
Yuji Itadori was saying goodbye to his grandfather.
"You're strong. Help others, as long as they're within your reach. Save whoever you can. Even if you're lost, even if no one thanks you, save them first."
"Die surrounded by others. Don't end up like me."
It had something of a "with great power comes great responsibility" feel to it.
Then, without giving Yuji Itadori time to answer, his grandfather quietly departed this world.
Just after handling his grandfather's funeral arrangements, Yuji Itadori met Megumi Fushiguro, who had come looking for him.
"You're Yuji Itadori, right?"
"I'm Fushiguro from Jujutsu High. Sorry, but we're running out of time. The cursed object you have is dangerous. Hand it over to me immediately."
He then showed Yuji Itadori a photo, only to receive an empty box!
Yuji Itadori had already given the finger to his upperclassmen, who planned to remove the talismans wrapped around it at school.
Seeing Fushiguro's grave, anxious expression, Yuji Itadori scratched the back of his head and said awkwardly, "Uh... is that bad?"
"Bad doesn't begin to cover it! He's going to die!"
Alarmed, the two hurried toward Sugisawa Third High School.
Inside a classroom.
In the deep darkness of the room, only a faint candle flame flickered, struggling stubbornly against the shadows threatening to snuff it out.
Sasaki was concentrating on removing the sealing talismans, though her efforts were clearly clumsy.
"Why won't this open?!"
Iguchi, a second-year student, asked helplessly, "Why did we have to sneak into school just to unwrap it?"
"Idiot! It's all about the atmosphere!"
"I know nothing's going to happen. That's why we need a more exciting setting."
But just as she focused all her attention on the cursed object-
Pat.
A slender hand suddenly landed on her right shoulder.
"Don't unwrap it!"
Startled, Sasaki let out an ear-splitting scream.
"A ghost!!!"
She shuddered violently and spun around, only to find a handsome, graceful young man.
Araki Itsuki had an arm resting on Sasaki's shoulder and wore an embarrassed expression.
Sasaki's scream was like a sonic attack, making even Araki Itsuki's hair flutter.
Once she realized he was an ordinary person, Sasaki complained:
"Who are you? Why did you scare me like that?!"
Araki Itsuki waved his hands helplessly.
"Don't you like this creepy atmosphere? I was just playing a little joke. Exciting, wasn't it?"
Sasaki flushed and said conflictedly, "It really was exciting, but don't do that again."
"And who are you? Why won't you let me unwrap it?"
Araki Itsuki took two steps forward and took the talisman-wrapped cursed object from her hands. "Let me introduce myself. I'm Araki Itsuki."
"As for why I won't let you unwrap this cursed object, it's because there's an evil demon's finger hidden inside.
"Remove these talismans, and all that misfortune and calamity will be unleashed."
Sasaki was deeply skeptical. "You're making that up, right?"
Iguchi was a little afraid of Araki Itsuki. He had been sitting opposite Sasaki the whole time, yet he hadn't noticed Araki Itsuki appear.
The room wasn't dimly lit. There was no way he could have missed someone walking over.
"Be careful, Sasaki. There might really be ghosts. Araki just appeared behind you out of nowhere."
Sasaki knew Iguchi wouldn't team up with a stranger to trick her, and she grew frightened too.
"Then are you here on official business to confiscate the cursed object, seal it away for good, and lock away all that calamity and misfortune?"
"Seal it away for good?"
Araki Itsuki shook his head, flashing a bright, boyish smile. "Of course not."
Then, under Sasaki and Iguchi's terrified gazes, he removed the talismans without hesitation.
"I came here for one simple reason."
"The gears of fate should turn by my hand!"
As the wrapping talismans fell to the floor, a grotesque, twisted finger came into view.
It reminded Araki Itsuki of cured meat hung from a string to dry. Hideous.
The tip of its nail was exceptionally sharp, shaped like a fountain pen, as though it could slice through anything in the world.
I wonder if it can slice through dimensions!
Sasaki and Iguchi recoiled in shock. "A... human finger!"
At the same time, chittering noises came from the ceiling. Horrified, they looked up.
A dark vortex broke open in the ceiling, and countless misshapen arms and cursed spirits emerged from it.
Hiss, hiss, hiss!
"Wh... what are those?!"
Araki Itsuki stepped forward, shielding the two terrified students behind him.
"Curses. Ordinary people usually can't see them, except when they're about to die or under other special circumstances."
Sasaki trembled all over, nervous sweat beading on her forehead. "Then doesn't that mean we're going to die?"
"Relax. You've got me."
Araki Itsuki smiled confidently, giving them some reassurance.
A cursed spirit covered in black hair, resembling a frog standing upright, approached them.
It kept muttering to itself.
"What... time is it?"
A deep purple light flashed in Araki Itsuki's eyes. His figure instantly vanished from in front of the two students and appeared beside the cursed spirit.
A dazzling purple-black sheen that devoured all light coated his slender hand.
Darkness, madness, fear, curses, resentment, death, decay!
Every negative emotion in the world surged from Araki Itsuki like a tide, seemingly unstoppable as it engulfed everything around him.
"You should learn to check a clock yourself."
Araki Itsuki's hand became a blade, slicing as smoothly as a hot knife through butter. He killed the cursed spirit instantly, cutting it to pieces.
He grasped at the air with his right hand, devouring all the negative emotions in the cursed spirit-all its cursed energy.
Ryomen Sukuna's finger was now drawing the surrounding cursed spirits toward it in a frenzy, giving Araki Itsuki the perfect chance to slaughter them and feast on humanity's negative emotions.
This was how he grew. The Death Omen Star was the dark side of the universe, a terrifying existence revived after the death of a galaxy.
"If I can't have the stars' fear, you'll have to do as appetizers."
Like a tiger among sheep, Araki Itsuki savagely slaughtered the cursed spirits converging from every direction.
By the time Yuji Itadori and Megumi Fushiguro arrived, the floor was covered in foul blood and mangled chunks of flesh.
Sasaki and Iguchi stood in the corridor in disbelief as a handsome boy held a massive cursed spirit several times his size in an iron grip.
Megumi Fushiguro could clearly sense that the boy possessed no cursed energy whatsoever.
Yet what he saw defied comprehension.
A purple-black shadow arm mercilessly clamped around the cursed spirit's body, lifting it into the air.
The negative emotions composing the cursed spirit streamed endlessly into the purple-black shadow arm, as though returning home.
The cursed spirit thrashed wildly in the air, the many hideous faces on its body howling in agony all at once.
Countless tiny arms clawed at the dark shadow, trying to break free of its restraint.
Yet its body gradually shriveled and withered, becoming covered in dense wrinkles like a crumpled plastic bag.
All its negative emotions and vitality were devoured, leaving nothing behind.
A crazed, savage, vicious voice echoed through the corridor.
"Not enough! Still not enough!"
"Let my soul drink its fill!!!"
Then the dissatisfied boy violently wrenched his arms outward, brutally tearing the enormous cursed spirit, several times his size, in two.
A filthy rain of blood poured down. The boy bathed in it like an incarnation of chaos.
Fushiguro crouched on the blood-soaked floor, staring warily at Araki Itsuki, ready to unleash his jujutsu at any moment.
"There's no mistaking it."
"That boy is a monster!"
Before you continue