I'm Not Dead Yet

[At that very moment, in the gap between life and death, Satoru Gojo's consciousness was falling through darkness.]

[In that brush with death just moments earlier, he had focused all his energy on "Reverse Cursed Technique."]

[For an instant, he seemed to grasp something: the sensation of multiplying negative cursed energy by negative cursed energy to produce positive energy.]

[But... he was too tired. His brain was starved of oxygen, his consciousness hazy. That formula was like a lighthouse in the fog, flickering, liable to go out at any moment.]

[Just as that final spark was about to vanish into the darkness, a warm, powerful, extraordinarily pure surge of positive energy suddenly flooded roughly into him from outside.]

[It was like rain arriving just in time, not only nourishing his parched consciousness but also serving as a model answer laid directly before him.]

[The energy from the Reverse Cursed Technique you poured into him coursed through his brain as it hovered on the verge of shutting down, clearly tracing the path that power followed.]

[Ah... so that's how it works.]

[This is... Reverse Cursed Technique.]

[I just have to follow this feeling... negative times negative makes positive.]

[In the real world.]

[Your cursed energy was being consumed in vast quantities by your rough use of "Reverse Cursed Technique," and overwhelming dizziness left you swaying on your feet.]

[Looking at Satoru Gojo's still-unresponsive face, your eyes reddened with guilt and despair. A bead of cold sweat mingled with the moisture at the corner of your eye and fell onto his cheek.]

[Causing someone else's death through your own mistake was far more unacceptable to you than dying through your own carelessness in the previous simulation.]

["Damn it... please... don't die..."]

[Just as you thought everything was over and were preparing to accept this hopeless ending.]

[A blood-soaked hand rose without warning and clamped tightly around your wrist.]

[Its strength was astonishing, like an iron vise almost crushing your bones.]

[You abruptly stiffened, your heart skipping a beat.]

[Those tightly shut eyes opened.]

[Their once-clear azure now seemed to burn with a flame bordering on madness.]

[Reflected in his pupils was no longer the narrow sky above Jujutsu High, but some more distant, more profound truth that transcended the boundary between life and death.]

[That was... a god awakened.]

[Vast cursed energy surged back out of his body like a volcanic eruption!]

[Not only did it instantly repair the fatal wound to his windpipe, it also forced your nearly depleted cursed energy straight back out.]

[Satoru Gojo sat up. He neither immediately pursued Toji Fushiguro nor paid any attention to his tattered uniform.]

[He merely raised a hand, casually wiped the blood coating his eyes away with his thumb, then tilted his head to look at you kneeling before him, your face covered in blood from your nose, utterly bedraggled.]

[The corners of his mouth slowly spread into a signature grin, now tinged with wildness.]

[At that moment, he was in a "high" state of extreme mental exhilaration.]

["Hey..."]

[His voice was hoarse, yet carried a pleasure that sent shivers down the spine.]

["Quit howling. You're so damn loud."]

[As Satoru Gojo looked at your expression, as though the sky had fallen, an unprecedented, extraordinarily complex emotion flickered in his eyes: the acknowledgment only someone pulled back from the brink of death could give.]

[He leaned closer, his Six Eyes almost touching your glasses, his tone teasing yet soft as a whisper.]

["I'm not dead yet."]

["Anyway, Shunchen... what's with that face? You look awful."]

[He parted his lips to reveal bloodstained teeth, his smile unrestrained and brazen:]

["You're not... about to cry, are you?"]

["..."]

[You were silent at first, then spoke.]

["Of course not. Or do you think the strongest needs that...?"]

["Let's go, Shunchen."]

[Satoru Gojo did not pursue the question. In his state of extreme exhilaration, he grabbed the back of your collar and lifted you like a chick.]

["Since you're right here, I'll let you see in a moment."]

["What that 'positive energy' you shoved into my brain actually looks like when it's used in a cursed technique."]

[Before you could even refuse, he swept you along toward the entrance to the Tombs of the Star Corridor at an unbelievable speed.]

[There, at the end of the passage, Toji Fushiguro, wearing a tight-fitting shirt and carrying a long blade over his shoulder, was preparing to leave.]

[The Sorcerer Killer, who had just defeated Suguru Geto and slaughtered the Star Plasma Vessel, showed genuine shock for the first time when he saw the white-haired boy still standing despite being drenched in blood.]

["Huh?"]

[Toji Fushiguro stopped, his brows tightly furrowed and disbelief in his eyes.]

["...Satoru Gojo? You're alive?"]

[He was certain that his blade had severed Gojo's throat and that another strike had pierced his head. How could he possibly still be alive in that condition?]

["Hey, long time no see."]

[Satoru Gojo was in no hurry to attack. With wildness written across his face, he greeted Toji Fushiguro as casually as if he had run into an old classmate on the street.]

["Seriously?"]

["Thanks to you, I feel fantastic right now. Not only am I not dead, I feel fucking amazing."]

[As Satoru Gojo answered, he lifted his hair, revealing the blade scar still lingering on his forehead, not yet fully healed.]

[At the sight of that tender pink scar, Toji Fushiguro had already guessed why Satoru Gojo had come back to life.]

["Reverse Cursed Technique?!"]

[Toji Fushiguro's gaze passed over Satoru Gojo and settled on your pale face as you dangled from Gojo's hand.]

["Tch, I see... was this that healer brat's doing?"]

[Looking at the blood on Toji Fushiguro that had yet to dry, and the bloodless weapon in his hand, an extremely ominous premonition suddenly rose in your heart.]

[That direction... he came out of the lowest level of the Tombs of the Star Corridor.]

[If he's come out, then Riko... and Geto...]

["Let go of me!"]

[You violently broke free of Satoru Gojo's hand, desperate to rush into the depths of the Tombs of the Star Corridor.]

[Your movement caught Toji Fushiguro's attention.]

["Tch, troublesome healer."]

[Though he did not know whether you could bring back the dead, Toji Fushiguro's killer instincts made him decide to eliminate the unpredictable factor first.]

[Since killing you once had not finished the job, he would just cut you to pieces.]

[His figure vanished in an instant. When he reappeared, the Soul Liberation Blade, which had once been drenched in the blood of countless Jujutsu Sorcerers, was already swinging toward your neck.]

[Too fast. It was a speed that even your dynamic vision, in your current exhausted state, could not fully track.]