The Yasohachi Bridge curse

[Tsumiki]

Though she was Megumi Fushiguro's "older sister" without any blood relation, she was the most important person in his life...

She was also the reason he had become a jujutsu sorcerer.

After conducting a series of investigations at Megumi Fushiguro's old school, the four first-years could confirm that the "automatic door murders" since June had all happened because the victims had triggered the "Yasohachi Bridge curse."

Those energetic middle schoolers had never imagined that a "test of courage" would cost them their lives more than a decade later.

They had dismissed their loss of consciousness that day as a bout of illness and thought nothing of it...

"This is the place."

The black sedan stopped on the bridge. After dropping the four of them off, the assistant supervisor with dyed blond hair drove away without lingering.

She had no need to help them set up a "Curtain."

That was because the "Yasohachi Bridge curse" was a relatively rare "domain-type curse"...

"So stop trying to shoulder everything yourself. At least lean on us a little."

Behind Megumi Fushiguro, Itadori and Kugisaki both spoke with displeasure written across their faces.

The danger level of this mission had risen, and ordinarily, Grade 3 and Grade 4 sorcerers like Itadori and Kugisaki lacked the strength to take part in the exorcism...

But letting Megumi Fushiguro, a lone Grade 2 Sorcerer, enter the domain to exorcise the cursed spirit...

Neither as friends nor as jujutsu sorcerers could they accept that.

Especially now that his sister Tsumiki's coma had been linked to the "Yasohachi Bridge curse."

Forget lofty causes like exorcising cursed spirits and protecting world peace.

Fighting for a friend's family was reason enough for Itadori and Kugisaki to follow him here.

And honestly...

Even if something happened to all three of them.

There was still a "safety net" here who could cover for them...

"Don't look at me. You go in and handle the exorcism. I'm just gathering information and watching from outside."

When the three turned their eyes toward him, Hajime Kashimo merely waved his unfinished seaweed rice ball, making it clear that he had no interest in joining their little scuffle.

He had no intention of robbing these youngsters of a chance to gain experience. But out of his "duty as a senior," or perhaps the pity "the strong offered the weak," he still warned them gravely that the coming battle was no trivial matter:

"But let me remind you: crossing a river or a boundary to reach the other side carries extraordinary significance, both in the ordinary world and in the world of jujutsu."

"So the moment you cross the river beneath the bridge, you'll very likely come under attack."

"Don't die."

The instant Hajime Kashimo finished speaking, the three had already stepped across the river.

A faint wisp of black cursed energy rose from beneath their feet, and in the blink of an eye, all three vanished from Hajime Kashimo's sight.

"An incomplete domain...?"

Hajime Kashimo walked to the spot where they had disappeared and lightly pressed his fingertips against the rippling, fluid-like outer shell of the domain.

He could clearly sense that this was an incomplete innate domain. Judging by the strength of its cursed energy, the cursed spirit controlling it might not even have been born yet...

"Next up..."

Hajime Kashimo turned, finished the last bite of his rice ball, and looked toward the overpass in the distance.

It was time for him to leave.

He should have no part in this battle.

Kechizu and Eso.

These two half-human, half-cursed spirits born from the cursed womb: death paintings would become stepping stones in Itadori and Kugisaki's growth.

He should not interfere in this fight.

"With a solid foundation and talent, all it takes is a little pressure for a person to change."

Satoru Gojo's advice to Megumi Fushiguro was also the message Hajime Kashimo wanted to convey to Kugisaki and Itadori.

"I'll stop by the convenience store again. I don't feel full."

Bang-bang-bang-bang!!!

Unlike Hajime Kashimo, who was taking it easy outside the domain, the three inside had their hands full.

Though quality had been sacrificed for the domain's vast radius and the number of cursed spirits, this whack-a-mole approach to exorcism was still wearing them out.

"Fushiguro, behind you!"

At Itadori's warning, Megumi Fushiguro turned with his blade raised. But just as he locked onto the low-level cursed spirit behind him, a blue-green lump of flesh suddenly appeared in the corner of his eye...

"That's..."

The blue-green mass charged toward Itadori and Kugisaki like a runaway horse.

With his stocky torso and disproportionately long, thin limbs, neither Itadori nor Kugisaki could make sense of the unnatural posture he used to attack. They could only push off the ground and quickly scatter to either side.

"Huh... someone got here before me?"

The blue-green monster straightened himself. He had no head; instead, a shriveled, deathly pale human face was embedded at the top of his enormous body.

The human face wore a vacant expression, its empty eye sockets like dried-up wells. Yet the crimson tears continually spilling from them seemed to speak of the endless terror this body's former owner had endured...

But that was not the strangest or most horrifying part.

Beneath that "mask" of a human face, a huge maw split open in the flesh, packed with fangs-the true mark of his cursed nature...

"Another cursed spirit? I'll handle him."

"You two focus on exorcising the cursed spirits and dismantling the domain!"

Itadori was the first to charge, fists raised.

Judging by his movements, this bizarre blue-green monster seemed to be a cursed spirit that specialized in physical attacks.

And close-quarters combat was precisely Itadori's forte...

As Ryomen Sukuna's incarnated vessel, he possessed tremendous physical prowess. Combined with special traits even he knew nothing about, it took only a single exchange for his heavy punches to overwhelm Kechizu...

Even if Kechizu could use poisonous blood to restrict Itadori's movements, his poisonous blood cursed technique could not make up for his disadvantage in speed and reflexes.

But that advantage did not last long.

As the domain was suddenly breached by force, Kugisaki landed after destroying several low-level cursed spirits in midair. A powerful hand instantly seized her and dragged her away right before Megumi Fushiguro's eyes...

"Kugisaki!!!"

Fushiguro hurriedly ordered the Divine Dogs back to his side. Again-it was happening again. Kugisaki had suddenly been dragged away...

But just as he turned to pursue Kugisaki into the vortex, Kechizu and Itadori rushed into it ahead of him.

"Don't worry about us. Do what you need to do."

Itadori's bright smile and resolute gaze gave Megumi Fushiguro a shot of courage. As the vortex closed, he was left alone within the innate domain...

Outside, Kugisaki and Itadori would fight together, two against two.

Inside, Megumi Fushiguro was about to face the hardest one-on-one battle of his life...