A faint thought began to take root in his heart

"Geto-what's the deal with that Sukuna you told me about? He suddenly attacked me-!"

Mahito burst into Dagon's domain, shouting at the top of his lungs. Kenjaku, who had been sunbathing on a beach chair, frowned slightly.

...Sukuna attacked Mahito?

He looked up, only to find Mahito bouncing around as lively as ever, with no sign that he had been attacked.

"Weren't you going to leave a finger at Junpei Yoshino's house? How did you run into Sukuna?"

"How should I know? I was just getting ready to watch the fun for a while, and then Sukuna suddenly fired a Dismantle right at me!"

As Mahito shouted, he raised his arm and thrust it in front of Kenjaku.

"Look!-"

Kenjaku frowned down at the arm. After a long search, he finally found a tiny cut-

Yes, the sort of cut that would have healed if he'd looked a little later.

He rubbed his brow, feeling a headache coming on.

"Are you sure Sukuna was attacking you?"

If he'd actually attacked you, you'd already be Mahito sashimi. How could you have come running back, alive and kicking?

"And where's his finger?"

Mahito paused, finally remembering the finger he had forgotten.

"Uh, I left it on the table..."

Kenjaku's headache worsened. "And the curse that the finger attracted?"

Mahito paused again, his voice growing quieter.

"I think the Dismantle killed it..."

At that, Kenjaku lowered his hand and gave him a sidelong look.

Slow on the uptake, Mahito finally realized something was wrong.

So...

...he...

...hadn't been targeted by Sukuna...he'd just been caught in the crossfire?

B-but could anyone blame him for that?-

He had been crouching by the wall, minding his own business and getting ready to enjoy the show, when he felt a terrifying presence unlike anything he had ever encountered, one that chilled him to the depths of his soul-suddenly closing the distance and appearing before him faster than he could perceive!-

For an instant, he thought his soul was about to vanish!

Forget the curse and the finger. He had fled straight back-

And, for the first time, he had felt the power of the legendary King of Curses, Sukuna.

He looked down at the arm he still hadn't managed to repair. The cut had injured not only his body, but his soul as well.

...Come to think of it, Sukuna had only recovered a tiny fraction of his strength, hadn't he? Two fingers, or three? And he was already this strong?

...He really was worth bringing back...just as Jogo had said, with him around, they would surely usher in the golden age of curses.

...But...why had he helped the Yoshinos kill that curse?

"He probably didn't want his own finger falling into another curse's hands."

Kenjaku answered casually.

...Still, I hadn't expected him to be so eager to recover his fingers already...should I find an opportunity to send Sukuna a few more?

He sighed.

Unfortunately, he had originally hoped Jujutsu High would recover this finger. It held Mahito's cursed energy, so once someone from Jujutsu High put it in the cursed warehouse, they could use it to retrieve all the fingers stored there in one go.

Now that this finger had fallen into Sukuna's hands, he would most likely absorb it directly.

He would have to prepare another one.

Meanwhile, Sukuna had discovered the cursed residue Mahito had left when he was injured, beside a crack in the wall outside the house.

He carefully committed the signature of that cursed energy residue to memory.

If they ran into that curse again, he would recognize him at a glance!

Unfortunately, the residue was too faint. They followed the trail for only a short distance before it vanished completely, leaving them unable to find the Special Grade curse.

After discussing it, Itadori and Sukuna decided to go with Junpei later to the place where he had mentioned meeting that curse before.

So when Itadori spotted Nanami through the window, arriving to join them after having his injuries treated, he took Junpei and sneaked out the other side-

With Nanami away and only Ijichi there, he hadn't felt comfortable leaving.

And he didn't dare let Nanamin know they were going to the curses' base. He would definitely stop them.

With Sukuna there, Itadori wasn't worried about their safety, but he felt that even if Nanamin knew about Sukuna, he would never agree to let the two of them sneak off there.

Well, Nanamin was an adult, after all. Throughout their time together over the past few days, he had always treated Itadori like a child.

Even if adults knew children could protect themselves, they would never agree to let them walk into danger.

When they entered the sewers, the thick, terrifying presence of curses filled every corner.

The horrific state of the transfigured humans left scattered everywhere made Itadori's heart tremble.

There were so many...this was nothing like what he'd imagined...

...There were far too many victims.

[That's right. This is the place.]

Sukuna sensed a presence identical to the residue he had memorized earlier, confirming that they had come to the right place.

And Junpei finally saw the horror of this scene from another perspective.

A fear he had never felt before began to rise within him.

He staggered toward the place where he had spent time with Mr. Mahito.

There was no one there. Mahito wasn't here.

Staring at the empty space, Junpei's heart finally went completely cold.

He tore the last shred of wishful hope from his heart.

When the two returned home, Nanami gave them a particularly stern scolding, just as they had expected.

Then came all the follow-up work: dealing with the bodies in the sewers, and arranging protection and relocation for Yoshino and his mother.

"Once everything on your end is sorted out, I'll come visit you and Aunt Yoshino!"

Itadori quietly told Junpei before he was taken away.

As someone who had been in close contact with a Special Grade curse, Junpei would inevitably be taken to Jujutsu High for questioning.

But he hadn't done anything wrong. Apart from learning about curses and awakening a Cursed Technique, he wasn't much different from the other victims, so he wouldn't be treated too harshly.

"Okay."

Junpei nodded.

He needed to face what had happened during this time, too.

As he watched Itadori walk away, a faint thought began to take root in his heart.