Hostage exchange

The shattered Teaching Building.

Araki Itsuki planted one foot on a collapsed wall, standing at the height of the fourth floor as he surveyed the plaza below with the absolute authority of a king.

"Not bad, Mahito. You've beaten Itadori. Now try taking me on!"

Araki Itsuki wasn't worried that Mahito would kill Yuji Itadori in desperation. Ryomen Sukuna would never allow it.

By now, Ryomen Sukuna had seen enough interesting things to keep him entertained, and he was still waiting to seize Megumi Fushiguro's body and return to the world.

Mahito clearly knew they needed Ryomen Sukuna, too, so it had no intention of killing Yuji Itadori.

It slapped a palm against Yuji Itadori's abdomen, intending to activate Idle Transfiguration and force Ryomen Sukuna out.

Only by creating even greater chaos could it slip away in the confusion.

Thump.

Mahito's pupils contracted. The instant it activated Idle Transfiguration, it entered Ryomen Sukuna's innate domain.

Ryomen Sukuna, the King of Curses, stood atop ruins littered with bones, looking down at it with the same contemptuous bearing.

"You can touch my soul?"

"Idiot. If you want to use me, you should know your place first."

Ryomen Sukuna flicked a finger, and a wound deep enough to expose bone appeared across Mahito's chest without warning.

Its consciousness returned to reality.

Yuji Itadori, who had been limp and exhausted, suddenly grabbed Mahito's head and slammed his forehead into it.

"Didn't I just tell you?"

"I'm going to kill you!"

Bam!

Still dazed, Mahito saw stars from the impact.

It lost its balance, staggered back two steps, and fell to the ground.

Meanwhile, the wounds piercing Yuji Itadori's body and his mangled palms were slowly healing.

An intrigued expression crossed Araki Itsuki's face. He recognized Ryomen Sukuna's handiwork.

"After failing to establish a binding vow in exchange for reviving him, he's offering more help to tempt Itadori?"

Below, Yuji Itadori seized the opportunity. His right leg whipped through the air in a blur, striking Mahito's face and sending it flying.

Then he examined his healing wounds in puzzlement. "They're actually healing. Did that bastard Ryomen Sukuna grow a conscience?"

A grotesque mouth appeared on Yuji Itadori's right cheek. "Brat, savor this gift."

Inside his innate domain, Ryomen Sukuna smiled smugly. "Not bad. Looks like this brat really did forget the binding vow."

With a hideous wound across its chest, Mahito crashed through several flowerpots and landed in the ornamental green shrubs.

Leaves and dirt rained down over it, mingling with its spilling blood and leaving it utterly bedraggled.

But it had no attention to spare for that. Endless hatred filled its heart.

Just as Araki Itsuki said, there's no place for the weak in the eyes of the strong.

Whether it's Araki Itsuki or Ryomen Sukuna, they see me as nothing more than a pathetic clown.

Just as it regarded those monkeys, they looked down on it from a position of absolute strength.

For Mahito, the leader of the cursed spirits, that brought indescribable rage and hatred.

Araki Itsuki...

Ryomen Sukuna...

I will have my revenge!

Mahito rose from the shrubs, its battered figure covered in leaves and dirt.

This cursed spirit, toyed with by Araki Itsuki and looked down upon with contempt by Ryomen Sukuna.

Its usual twisted smile was gone, replaced by boundless coldness.

"Feel my rage... and my hatred!"

"Domain Expansion: Self-Embodiment of Perfection!"

Mahito stretched its mouth open to the limits of a human body.

Tiny but real arms grew within the depths of its mouth.

Their hands joined in pairs, forming eerie signs.

A pitch-black barrier technique surged toward Yuji Itadori, while terrifying giant hands appeared behind Mahito, stacked in an eerily orderly formation.

It intended to destroy Yuji Itadori before Ryomen Sukuna could attack, taking revenge on them both!

But Ryomen Sukuna had already left a safeguard inside Yuji Itadori. His innate domain acted first.

Slash!

Countless wounds deep enough to expose bone opened across Mahito's chest. Its domain instantly collapsed, and it fell to the ground, its fate unknown.

"What happened..."

Faced with his enemy's sudden collapse, Yuji Itadori experienced a brief moment of confusion before a clear realization struck him.

I can kill it!

Terrifying cursed energy wrapped around his iron-hard fist. He knew this was his final opportunity. There was no need for tactical maneuvering anymore, only boundless killing intent.

But just as Yuji Itadori was about to finish Mahito off.

Ring, ring!

His phone suddenly let out a shrill ring.

Yuji Itadori wanted to ignore the call, but his instincts warned him that failing to answer would bring unexpected tragedy.

"It's Nanamin? Weren't they going to deal with the transfigured humans Mahito left behind?"

Araki Itsuki appeared beside Yuji Itadori in a flash.

"What is it?"

Yuji Itadori shook his head. He didn't know what was happening either.

"Hello?"

The moment the call connected, an impatient, furious voice shouted from the other end. "You little bastard, let Mahito go right now!"

"We have those two jujutsu sorcerers!"

Even over the phone, Araki Itsuki could feel Jogo's barely contained fury.

Araki Itsuki reached out and took the phone. "Hello, hello. Jogo, buddy, why is it you?"

"Where's Nanamin?"

Time rewound.

When Mahito lowered the Curtain, Suguru Geto, who had already left, kept feeling that something was wrong. Was Araki Itsuki really that easy to fool?

The plan had gone far too smoothly, as though an unseen hand were helping it along from behind the scenes.

As a schemer with a thousand years of experience, he knew that feeling all too well. Suguru Geto immediately headed to Junpei Yoshino's home.

In the original story, Jujutsu High's personnel only discovered Junpei's mother's body after the incident at the high school began.

Looking at the mutilated corpse preserved with ice packs, Suguru Geto began to suspect he was overthinking things.

Junpei Yoshino's mother's death was real. That couldn't be faked.

Yet just as he was about to leave, the black-clad Suguru Geto saw the corpse tremble and then disappear!

Sensing that familiar purple-black energy, Suguru Geto immediately pictured Araki Itsuki's smiling face, as though it were mocking his helplessness and foolishness.

Bam!

Suguru Geto's expression turned cold, and terrifying gravitational pressure swept down around him.

The refrigerator, television, table, sofa, ice packs, and everything else were instantly crushed to the floor, twisted into knots as though mangled by a massive invisible hand.

It was none other than Itadori's mother's gravity cursed technique.

"Araki Itsuki!"

Mahito's cursed technique, Idle Transfiguration, was far too important to him. He could not afford to lose it.

Suguru Geto's eyes were icy. He had considered killing Araki Itsuki himself. The man was even more troublesome than Satoru Gojo.

But he had far too little information on Araki Itsuki to be confident of success.

Besides, sealing Satoru Gojo required this body of Suguru Geto's to make him freeze for a moment.

The Prison Realm's seal required one minute to pass within the target's mental world.

Over the course of a thousand years, he had been defeated several times by the Gojo Clan's Six Eyes. Even when he did everything possible to kill their bearers young, another would appear to obstruct his plans.

So to achieve his goal, he had to seal Satoru Gojo!

Through his intelligence network, he knew Kento Nanami had taken a younger schoolmate, a Grade 2 Sorcerer, to deal with the transfigured humans Mahito had left behind.

Thinking quickly, Suguru Geto spotted an opportunity.

Exchange hostages!

Kento Nanami was close to both Satoru Gojo and Yuji Itadori. Moreover, Yuji Itadori was deeply compassionate and willing to sacrifice himself for others.

He would never be able to abandon Kento Nanami.

With that thought, Suguru Geto immediately contacted Jogo and the others.

"Mahito is in danger. Go to its old transfigured human base immediately. There will be two jujutsu sorcerers there. With your strength, you can handle them easily."

"Then exchange hostages with Araki Itsuki!"

"First, do not kill those two jujutsu sorcerers under any circumstances!"

"Second, use their phones to call Yuji Itadori. Remember, call Yuji Itadori!"