Sukuna felt this body's stamina nearing its limit.
But he couldn't stop.
Stopping meant death.
He had no idea how strong the lunatic chasing him was, but Sukuna knew perfectly well that, right now, he was only a little stronger than an ordinary person.
For fuck's sake, kid, you're not even Grade 4?!
How can you sleep at night at your age? Nine years old and not even Grade 2-what have you been doing all these years? While you're running for your life, why don't you think about whether you've actually put in any effort???
Did you spend your nine years living as a fucking dog?
No, I'll let you off for now.
Having cursed energy at all is good enough at this age. What more can you ask for? Run! Stop thinking about nonsense!
Move, you useless legs!
Wait, there's a steep downhill slope up ahead.
If I fall, I won't be able to get back up. But what if I fall on purpose? That's a natural speed boost!
In a flash of inspiration, Sukuna slammed himself down on his ass. Ignoring the risk of a broken pelvis and the certainty of bruising his backside, he slid straight down on the water!
What a rush!
The old veteran let out a hearty laugh.
Not enough. Faster, faster!
"In exchange for this body's future health, I demand as much cursed energy as possible to increase my running speed!"
It didn't work.
"In exchange for this body's future potential, I demand as much cursed energy as possible to increase my running speed!"
Still no luck.
"In exchange for this body's future lifespan, I demand as much cursed energy as possible to increase my running speed!"
It still didn't work.
Okay, boys, we've scored another handout.
No, boys, no. Something's wrong!
I can't even take out a fucking loan!
How can anyone be unable to use binding vows? Did someone borrow everything this body's owner had from the moment he was born???
Sukuna refused to give up and tried several more times. Still nothing? Fine, you win. You win.
At last, his smile gradually twisted, filling with agony. It hurts. It hurts so much. If I can't take out a loan, you might as well stab me to death, brother.
Fine, fine, fine. So this is where you get me.
Any binding vow that offered something belonging to Yuji Itadori as payment failed. From the perspective of binding vows, this child's body had clearly undergone modifications that defied all reason. Not a single drop of his blood was genuine. He was nothing but a living, human-shaped puppet.
Since nothing belonged to him, there could be no possibility of growth either. No matter how he tried to borrow, he was merely asking nothingness for nothingness. Jujutsu itself would never recognize such an absurd transaction. No cheating allowed.
No matter. If I can't borrow against yours, I'll borrow against mine!
"In exchange for temporarily being unable to seize control of this body, I demand as much cursed energy as possible!"
"In exchange for temporarily being unable to harm this body, I demand the greatest possible increase in my running speed!"
"In exchange for temporarily refraining from using this body to kill anyone at will, I'll sprint with everything I've got. Go!"
It still wasn't enough.
Is this still not enough, Yuji Itadori?!
Such a worthless body, such a fragile vessel. I may never forget you for as long as I live.
Sukuna steeled himself.
He had just noticed a strange aura around the person chasing him. When the Red Crystal Carving Knife in that person's hand cut him, there was an instant, as the wound appeared, when Sukuna actually felt he was about to die.
So he absolutely could not let himself be caught.
Otherwise, this finger would surely be lost.
Through some unknown chain reaction, if he died, the other fingers might not survive either.
The perfectionist King of Curses could wait a very, very long time to revive. He could endure death and endure waiting, but the one thing he could not tolerate was being incomplete and humiliated.
If he died, all his efforts would go to waste.
At a time like this, there was no room for reluctance.
"In exchange for never... never being able to use this person as a vessel to reincarnate, I demand cursed energy and speed."
The moment he finished speaking, the power arrived as promised.
Okay, the deal went through!!!
Cursed energy came into existence from nothing. The sensation was wonderful, as though every heartbeat delivered power and will beyond this era into his body.
A Grade 4 Sorcerer.
A magnificent Grade 4 Sorcerer!
This level of strength, which Sukuna had once dismissed as no more than an ant he could crush without even half a move, now filled him with heartfelt joy. This is power. This is true power!
A noble Grade 4 Sorcerer does not die while running for his life.
Watch closely, kid.
This run is going to look awesome!
Sukuna's speed soared once again. He felt the wind lift his heavy body. From this moment on, my feet can fly. Fly! I'm flying, flying, flying, flying, flying, flying, flying!!!
On the deserted street, Sukuna's feet left afterimages. The picturesque scenery swept past at incredible speed. The dim yellow streetlights and drifting threads of rain never paused, offering their blessings to his flight and watching him disappear into the distance.
It felt like racing with the wind and lightning.
Slide, jump, slide-a long-distance escape!
Run like a thoroughbred, Sukuna.
Even with a ninety-nine percent chance of failure, that still leaves a one percent chance of victory. Complete the final piece of the puzzle with skill. Nothing in this world is impossible.
[Escape Technique]
[Burn the Boats]
[Iron Will]
[Determined Straight Downhill]
[Brilliant Meteor!]
[Never Give Up the Lead!]
[Ul! Ti! Mate! Em! Per! Or! Dance! Steps!]
Filled with an inexplicable resolve, Sukuna felt he had learned the secret to running. The three goddesses are still watching. How could I possibly stop moving forward? (What are you talking about?)
Sukuna was grateful he could still use binding vows, grateful he was at least a Grade 4 Sorcerer, and grateful that Yuji Itadori, that miserable little brat, had at least worn sneakers out today, so the road wouldn't wear his soles flat halfway through the escape.
His blood boiled.
Well done, brat. You've done great. Everything is heading in the right direction now. As the one carrying your hopes, I promise you:
"Until my cursed energy runs out..."
"I will never be caught!"
The strongest Grade 4 Sorcerer, Sukuna, the King of Curses, declared his victory as he raced through the downpour, having strengthened himself with binding vows immediately upon incarnating!
Sukuna, you're riding high.
You're riding high, you magnificent old veteran.
Watching him disappear alongside the passing scenery was Xia Xia, who had been pursuing him. Seeing Sukuna choose to mortgage himself for a nitro boost, he finally smiled in relief.
All his preparations had been worth it.
Twins were a concept that simply defied rules and reason. As long as he lived, as long as his life had not ended, Yuji Itadori would remain an incomplete person, a jujutsu sorcerer destined to be incomplete.
Binding vows? Forget it.
Besides, there was so much more he could do. The jujutsu barriers and jujutsu science passed down from the Heian Era by Mother Kenjaku and Tengen were amazing, weren't they?
As long as Sukuna entered a binding vow with Yuji to survive, then, barring any accidents, he would never be able to turn things around for the rest of his life. Everything afterward would be simple.
Given Sukuna's current circumstances, there were only a few binding vows he could make, and they would necessarily prevent him from freely taking Yuji's body or using it to cause harm.
That was enough.
Whatever happens next, Yuji, you have to survive. You will survive.
"Forgive me, Yuji."
"Hate me a little more, Yuji, if that will make you feel any better."
Xia Xia closed his eyes.
He pointed the carving knife at himself.
On March 20, 2012, the curse user Itadori Xia Xia brutally slaughtered every member of his family except his younger twin brother, creating a horrifying massacre.
That same year, all of Ryomen Sukuna's Fingers that had already surfaced were stolen. By the time personnel from Jujutsu High found them, they had all been destroyed. The cause was unknown, and restoration was impossible.
After all the other fingers were annihilated, Sukuna never sent Yuji Itadori another message.
Eventually, during a moment of carelessness on Yuji Itadori's part, Sukuna left his body without causing any casualties. Utterly despondent, the King of Curses chose to become a curse and never revive.
To keep Itadori Xia Xia in check, Jujutsu High dispatched Satoru Gojo to take his younger twin brother, Yuji Itadori, into custody. The original plan called for immediate execution, but through Satoru Gojo's unilateral intervention and guarantee, Yuji Itadori joined Jujutsu High as a student, remaining in custody under observation.
The following year, acting on his own initiative, Satoru Gojo took Yuji Itadori as his disciple and placed him under the Gojo Clan's protection. The original elimination plan was abolished entirely.
Yuji Itadori's innate cursed technique remained unknown. It was suspected to be the same technique as that of Sukuna, the King of Curses from a thousand years ago, but the likelihood was low-Yuji Itadori was merely a Grade 4 Sorcerer, completely incapable of using the full Slashing Cursed Technique, and unable to inflict any effective damage on humans under normal conditions.
The higher-ups agreed to continue observing him indefinitely.
In 2017, the special grade curse user Suguru Geto, wielder of Cursed Spirit Manipulation, launched the "Night Parade of a Hundred Demons." During the incident, Satoru Gojo killed Suguru Geto, who died at the age of twenty-seven. His remains were cremated and personally buried by Satoru Gojo in the Gojo Clan cemetery.
In 2018, Satoru Gojo killed four special grade cursed spirits, whose true names were Jogo, Hanami, Dagon, and Mahito. The incident caused no casualties. Afterward, Satoru Gojo became the strongest in both name and fact.
On December 21, 2018, the curse user Itadori Xia Xia went to Jujutsu High and launched an attack for Yuji Itadori's sake...
Xia Xia's body had reached its limit.
Though he was only sixteen, his hair was entirely white, his face pale as paper, and his breathing faint, like a hollow human shell, a corpse returned from hell.
In exchange for this dreadful physical condition, his cursed energy had grown to an incomprehensible level-with power of this magnitude, even completely annihilating the King of Curses' fingers and ending the lives of special grade cursed spirits was within reach.
No one knew how he had lived through those years, nor did anyone know what he had done.
He had succeeded, hadn't he?
Nothing else mattered.
When Yuji Itadori approached him with hatred filling his eyes and demanded a fight to the death, Xia Xia agreed.
"Do what you want to do, Yuji."
"Show me how much you've grown over the years. Otherwise, become nourishment for my evolution."
Speaking words befitting a curse user, Xia Xia drew that sinister Red Crystal Carving Knife.
Because of Yuji Itadori's unique status as Satoru Gojo's disciple, no one knew what Satoru Gojo had taught the boy. The world's memory of him remained fixed on the Grade 4 Sorcerer he had once been.
Then Yuji Itadori landed a Black Flash.
The first punch, the second, the third...
Every punch that followed struck with Black Flash.
A miracle ordinary jujutsu sorcerers could never achieve in an entire lifetime had become a basic attack in Yuji Itadori's hands.
His cursed energy surged, already firmly at the special grade level.
Satoru Gojo watched quietly from the sidelines. He could tell that Itadori Xia Xia harbored no killing intent whatsoever. His body had long since exhausted its reserves, and he was at death's door.
He had come here to die.
As Yuji Itadori's fist slammed into his skeletal chest, punching through his ribs and shattering his body, Itadori Xia Xia smiled with quiet contentment.
In the final moment of his life, he reached out and gently touched two fingers to Yuji Itadori's forehead, just as he had when they were little-so tender, so reluctant to let go.
"Forgive me, Yuji... this is the last time..."
"I'm giving your life back to you, Yuji."
He swallowed a mouthful of murky blood.
"You're free... Yuji..."
As Itadori Xia Xia died, all his memories surfaced before Yuji Itadori's eyes. Those unspoken hardships, those weighty hopes, were all passed to him along with pure cursed energy-one of the twins had died.
Everything that remained was an inheritance.
Memories, power...
Itadori Xia Xia's final tenderness was the poignantly beautiful smile he wanted to leave in Yuji's eyes even as he went to his death, the love and despair that had never changed from the very beginning.
Yuji Itadori became a true Special Grade Sorcerer, one whom even Satoru Gojo praised with a smile. Yet he was not happy at all. His heart would never feel joy again.
His great revenge was about to be fulfilled, yet his heart held nothing but heaviness.
In the torrential rain, Yuji Itadori's sobs rang out.
Before you continue