Vessel

He knocked off the hardened blood crystals one by one, ripping away any that clung to flesh and tossing them aside.

Finally, he reached inside and felt around for a while. Only after making sure nothing remained did he withdraw his hand and activate Reverse Cursed Technique.

Vast amounts of cursed energy gathered at the damaged area as though they had found their destination. Flesh sprouted from the wound like tentacles, intertwining and pulling together.

Bones, muscles... finally, skin appeared.

If not for the gaping hole in the chest of his tight combat suit, exposing his solid pectorals, no one would have believed this body had just been injured.

"Reverse Cursed Technique..." Sukuna murmured. He wasn't surprised that this guy knew the technique, but why did its healing lack the gradual spread typical of a human's?

Instead, he was like a cursed spirit...

Yet any cursed spirit that came into contact with the pure positive energy of Reverse Cursed Technique would inevitably be reduced to ashes.

And his recovery speed wasn't normal either.

Interesting... you've caught my interest!

"That black-haired shikigami user called you Kamo, right? Tell me your name."

Sukuna pulled himself out of the wall, sending chunks of stone and debris tumbling unceremoniously to the ground.

But Kamo Xu, his body now healed, ignored him completely. He picked at his ear as though something filthy had crawled inside and he was trying to get it out immediately.

What filthy thing?

Ah, the approval of a curse~

Utterly disgusting...

"Get your situation straight, scum." Kamo Xu withdrew his pinky and flicked the earwax off its tip. It didn't fly far, but it went straight toward Sukuna.

This was a provocation that disregarded every courtesy of combat, any mutual respect between the strong. He didn't even intend to give him a chance to talk.

Kamo Xu discriminated equally against all nonhumans and hated every curse.

Especially Sukuna, the [King of Curses].

"You're just a stray dog that happened to escape when someone opened its cage by chance. I don't need to waste time telling you my name."

"Before long, everything you are will vanish into the wind. Filthy things like curses should be like maggots in a sewer..."

"[Stay quietly out of the sunlight and scrape out your miserable existence.]"

Hmm, the ten seconds should be almost up.

"Itadori~ Don't just stand there. Stay out longer than ten seconds, and that spiky-haired boy will make your life difficult."

Sukuna hadn't even had time to retort to those vicious words, which had come close to being a curse themselves, before Kamo Xu told Itadori to take back his body.

"Ha! As if! This little brat couldn't possibly..."

Smack...

Itadori's hand suddenly pinched his own cheeks, forcing Sukuna's lips into a pout and cutting him off.

"What are you doing with someone else's body? Give it back."

Itadori's disgruntled words shocked Megumi Fushiguro and Sukuna once again.

"You... why can you still move?"

"What do you mean, why...? This is my body."

Unbelievable. Are all the people in this era so... bizarre...?

Damn it, my consciousness is...

Sukuna sank completely into darkness, and Itadori's flesh became a cage imprisoning a demon.

As that monster's consciousness faded, Itadori finally let out a long breath.

"Don't move!"

Yuji Itadori, who had just woken up: ?

Megumi Fushiguro struggled to his feet and clenched both fists again, his expression solemn and serious. "You are no longer human. Under Jujutsu Society regulations... Yuji Itadori, I will exorcise you!"

Ryomen Sukuna, I'll fucking take you down with...

Thump!

An iron fist slammed into the boy's head. Kamo Xu couldn't be bothered to waste words on this idiot.

Fuck, I'm still right here, and you're already trying to blow yourself up with him. Blow yourself up this, blow yourself up that. Can't handle a little pressure, huh?

Even if you can't, don't dump it on me!

After that punch, Megumi Fushiguro's body, already at its limit, could no longer hold out. His eyes rolled back, and he was lulled right to sleep.

Once that was done, Kamo Xu looked at Itadori nearby, still covered in tattoo-like markings.

Feels like something's missing...

Suddenly, his gaze fell on the boy's beige hoodie, and understanding struck.

Right, this kid's clothes didn't get shredded.

No wonder it felt weird~

With a wicked grin, Kamo Xu stared at the pink-haired puppy until bewilderment filled his face. "Mister? Mr. Kamo? Wh-what are you going to do?"

"Be good~ Listen to me and let me have a looook!"

"No! You... don't come any closer!!!"

A minute later, Itadori lay curled on his side on the ground, arms wrapped around himself. Despite his desperate resistance, he hadn't managed to save his beige hoodie.

That perverted old man had torn it to shreds!

Then he'd stared for ages at the markings that had inexplicably appeared on Itadori's body, only looking away once they vanished...

Grandpa... I've been sullied! QAQ!

Kamo Xu ignored the guy lying on the ground, looking as wronged as a young wife who'd just been bullied. What a wimp.

Now I just have to wait for Satoru Gojo... Oh? Speak of the devil.

Boom!

Unlike his silent entrance in the original story, Satoru Gojo had come at full speed this time.

He had used Blue's attraction to yank himself straight to the scene at top speed. His feet smashed the ground as he landed, making one spectacularly flashy entrance!

Most striking of all, he had removed the blindfold he usually wore and was gripping it tightly in his hand.

Those clear, brilliant blue eyes were fixed on Kamo Xu. "Why are you here?"

Apparently, he'd sped over the moment he sensed Kamo Xu's cursed energy. Unfortunately, everything was pretty much over already. He was late again.

"Exorcising cursed spirits. Isn't that obvious?"

Kamo Xu smiled at those Six Eyes and shrugged, answering casually, "As you can see, you screwed your student over by sending him to find a cursed object, and he happened to run into me while I was out hunting cursed spirits."

"Oh, come to think of it, you should thank me. Otherwise, your dear student would've just blown himself up along with me, a Grade 2 Cursed Spirit, and Sukuna."

"Is that what you normally teach your students? How to blow themselves up with stray dogs on the roadside? Some educator you are."

That barrage left Satoru Gojo speechless. He wanted to argue but had no idea what to say.

He silently looked at Megumi Fushiguro, who was sleeping soundly on the ground, and decided to put him through some hand-to-hand training once they got back, so he wouldn't try to blow himself up with someone whenever anything happened.

But... there were more important matters at hand.

"Asahi, you haven't hurt anyone since leaving Jujutsu High. With your strength and my influence, you could come back to Jujutsu High and join me..."

Here we go again. He's spent half a year searching everywhere for me like a madman, and every time he sees me, he says something this arrogant.

"How arrogant, Gojo..." Kamo Xu smiled and avoided his burning gaze. "You're so strong. Of course you don't understand why I'm so desperate to get stronger. You stand at the summit without even needing to try."

"You have no idea what it's like to feel that constant threat at your back. It's as though everything is always under your control."

"[But you and I are still nothing more than fate's playthings.]"

"I believe things will inevitably reach their final outcome. So before that moment comes, I have to grow stronger as quickly as possible."

With that, Kamo Xu kicked Itadori, who had been lying on the ground listening to their gossip. The boy immediately stopped playing dead and sprang up, showing no trace of having just been beaten senseless.

"Come on, say hello. This is Satoru Gojo. He barely qualifies as a teacher at Jujutsu High."

Satoru Gojo said, "Hey, what do you mean, barely?"

Then Kamo Xu turned and raised a hand to introduce the pink-haired boy. "This is Yuji Itadori, the miraculous boy who just ate Sukuna's Finger. If you piss him off, Lord Itadori will let the dog inside him out to bite you."

Yuji Itadori said, "Huh? I wouldn't do that!"