In the end, Yuji and Nobara cleaned up all the curses present in the building, and Gojo and his students went out to eat since the job was done.
However, it didn't take long before a news report in West Tokyo City, about a cursed womb being spotted by both jujutsu scorcerers and non-scorcerers in the Eishu Juvenile Detention Center's exercise yard.
"Our windows confirmed a curse womb approximately three hours ago," a man in a suit with short black hair said as he adjusted his glasses.
"When the evacuation process was at 90%, the decision was made to close off the facility as a whole until it was dealt with. Currently, there are five inmates trapped inside along with the curse, and cursed womb that grow and change shape, can be expected to become a curse close to that of special grade."
"Special Grade!" Megumi and Nobara thought as Yuji was confused.
"Uh, I'm not sure what that special grade thing is all about," Yuji said as Nobara looked with disbelief.
Ichiji then took some time to explain the curse grading system to Yuji before continuing.
"Normally a Jujutsu Scorcerer will be assigned to a curse of similar grade."
"Gojo sensei would be called in today for example," Megumi said as Ichiji asked, "And where's the man himself?"
"On a business trip; to be honest, he's probably not someone who should be wasting time at a place like Jujutsu High."
"Our line of work is always lacking manpower, and being overwhelmed by missions is common place. This time, however, it's an extraordinary emergency," Ichiji said as he got more serious.
"DO NOT ENGAGE! When confronted by a special grade, the options are to run away or die. Listen to your fear; do not forget your mission is to locate and evacuate any survivors, nothing more."
That's when a woman's voice called out beyond the police tape. "Hey! Excuse me! Is Tadashi... is my son okay?" she asked, a look of worry on her face.
Ichiji, seeing Yuji's expression, explained, "She came by for a visit with her son; there's a possibility that poison was spread in the facility. We cannot disclose any more information at this point."
She froze. "It can't be..." she said, tears flowing from her eyes as Yuji found himself determined.
"Fushiguro, Kugisaki. We have to save him!"
"Of course," Nobara said as Megumi just nodded.
"Alright, I'm going to lower the curtian. Be careful and good luck. Emerge from darkness, blacker than darkness, purify that which is impure," Ichiji said, making a hand sign as a thick black liquid-like barrier began closing in from the sky.
"Woah, it's turning into night!" Yuji said, watching the process.
"It's because of the curtian; the residential area is nearby so it acts as a barrier to hide us from the outside world," Megumi explained as he began walking towards the door.
Forming a dog shadow puppet with his hand, a large white divine dog shikigami came out of his shadow. "If the curse gets close, it'll let us know."
"Good doggy," Yuji said, petting it and giving it scratches.
"Let's do this!" Yuji and the team focuses before entering.
"Huh? What's going on? Isn't this supposed to be a two story dorm building?" Yuji was confused, and for good reason. The space inside the building was much larger, seemingly going on forever.
There were many buildings and large pipes all along the walls, some with walkways between them and windows that lead nowhere.
"The door!" Megumi quickly turned around and the door was gone, countless pipes blocking the path back.
"The door is gone! How?! We just came from there!" Yuji shouted as he and Nobara walked in a circle chanting, "What to do? What to do? What to do?"
"We can track the scent of the exit," Megumi said, gesturing to his divine dog.
"Oh my!" Yuji and Nobara cheered as they hugged and let the dog—who enjoyed the attention.
"What a good doggy! Beef jerky, you'll get all the beef jerky!"
"Hey, stay sharp," Megumi reminded them as Yuji smiled.
"You're so reliable, Fushiguro. You saved a lot of people. Including me!" Yuji praised as they all began following the dog through the innate domain.
However, the somewhat cheerful mood was instantly ruined as, not long after they went deeper, they came across three brutally mutilated bodies. Two of them were folded in on themselves like balls, and the last was missing his arms and lower half entirely.
"That's brutal..." Megumi said.
"Are those three over there... people?"
Yuji, still silent, walked over and read the name on the least mangled corpse and grit his teeth.
"Tadashi Okazaki," he thought—the son of that woman. He could remember her words and how he vowed to himself to save her son, or at least bring him back so she could have closure.
"His face isn't that messed up. She's not going to be satisfied if we just tell her that her son is dead," Yuji said as Nobara interrupted.
"But..." Before she could finish, Megumi grabbed Yuji by the back of his shirt.
"We have to confirm that the other two are dead. Leave him."
"Every time we look back, the path is different. How're we gonna get back here?" Yuji asks, staring intensely at Megumi.
"I never said 'we'll come back.' I said 'LEAVE HIM,'" Megumi said, making his stance on the matter clear.
"He's not even worth saving alive; why should I save his dead body?"
He said only for Yuji to grab his shirt as well.
"What're you talking about?"
"This is a juvenile detention center. We jujutsu scorcerers receive all sorts of information about a location before infiltrating. This guy was driving without a license and hit a girl who was walking home from school. That was his second time driving without a license," Megumi said, annoyed.
"You always want to save as many people as possible... and focus on going out with a natural death. But who's to say that someone you save won't kill someone in the future?"
"Then why did you save me?!" Yuji shouted as Megumi was silent.
"Knock it off! This isn't the time or the—"
Nobara's voice was cut off as she was suddenly pulled into a black liquid that pulled her within as Yuji and Megumi looked over.
"Kugisaki?"
"It can't be; my divine dog should be..." Megumi thought, turning to see the divine dog dead and stuck inside the wall, blood pouring from its eyes and mouth.
"Itadori! RUN!" Megumi shouted. "We'll look for Kugisaki after we get away!"
But then they both froze. They weren't standing here alone anymore; a pale face with 4 black stripes and four eyes was between them with a grin.
"There's no mistake; it's special grade..." Megumi thought. "I can't move..."
Inside Yuji's mind, he was mentally screaming at himself to move, or do anything, when his grandfather's words echoed in his mind again: "Help people!"
With this resolve, Yuji snapped from his trance and violently swung the cursed tool Gojo game him at the cursed spirit at full force.
RRSHHHH!
Yuji froze, his eyes turning to the arm that once held the cursed tool only to find nothing but his own blood pouring from the stump that remained.
Kink
Clang
His hand landed some feet away, the cursed tool shattered, all before he or Megumi could even perceive its movements.
With Nobara, she was in a completely dark void. She didn't know where she was, and it was too dark to make out any details whatsoever.
"I sense a curse!!"
"How many?" she thought as she turned, seeing many eyes and pale faces surrounding her in the darkness as she readies her hammer and nails.
"I won't die here..."
Sukuna, within Yuji's mind, was sitting in his innate domain with a smile.
"It seems I'll get a little time to mess around pretty soon... Shame, that brat Yuji was still to weak even after taking small fractions of my own enhancements due to the connection between our souls at the moment."
"Doesn't matter; I'll cause him some trouble as thanks for letting me borrow his body."