Less than two hours had passed since Sukuna ripped out Yuji Itadori's heart and he returned from the dead through a binding vow.
Itadori sat on the hospital bed, his fingers repeatedly clenching and releasing the sheets.
The pain of having his chest pierced still lingered, but the helplessness he had felt as death approached weighed even heavier. He could not even protect his own life, let alone protect Fushiguro, Nobara, or anyone else.
Hearing footsteps in the hallway, he immediately leaped off the bed and rushed out, intercepting Satoru Gojo and Qingxiao just as they finished dealing with the aftermath of the incident.
"Gojo-sensei! Gu Yue-sensei!" A thin sheen of sweat still clung to the boy's temples, and his fingers unconsciously pressed against the site of his old chest wound.
"I want to get stronger! Strong enough that I won't hold anyone back anymore, strong enough to protect the people around me!"
Qingxiao looked at him with a measure of approval.
"That's a pretty big claim."
This kid recovered already? As expected of the protagonist-he really could take a beating.
Satoru Gojo, however, grinned and reached out to ruffle Itadori's hair, draping his other arm over Qingxiao's shoulders and pulling him closer.
"Perfect timing. We were planning to help you catch up on the basics anyway.
"Come on, let's go to the underground training room and broaden your horizons. Once you've made some progress, we'll give Fushiguro and the others a surprise."
"Sure, you get to play the nice guy."
Qingxiao shrugged his shoulders but failed to shake him off. He did not seriously try to break free either, letting Gojo lead him along with an arm around him.
He gets to play the good guy every time and leaves all the bad-cop work to me.
The so-called