One year later
The box sat on Shien's desk, covered in layers of talismans that glowed with malevolent cursed energy in the dim light of his room. Inside, sealed within concentric rings of binding seals, rested Sukuna's finger.
Shien had been studying it for months now.
The soul, he thought, staring at the malevolent cursed energy that pulsed from within the sealed container, is the core of a sorcerer's being. It exists separate from the body, inviolate and eternal. Damage to the soul cannot be healed by Reverse Cursed Technique alone.
He'd learned this through countless hours of study, pouring over ancient texts and experimenting with his own cursed technique. The soul and body were one and the same—inseparable, two aspects of a single existence according to the laws of Jujutsu.
Only those who could perceive the soul could perform true Reverse Cursed Technique. While Shien had absolute confidence in his ability to heal himself, he could not guarantee he could do the same for someone else. Especially when it came to lives that were so precious to him.
Shien had this ability. He suspected this was due to his nature as a reincarnated being. Shien's domain expansion targeted the soul, enabling him to bypass durability.
But Maki and Mai presented a puzzle that troubled him deeply.
Two bodies, one soul, he thought, staring at the sealed box. That's the only explanation that makes sense. Maki has little cursed energy because their shared soul resides primarily in Mai. But how does that work? Can a soul truly be split between two bodies? A soul was not a plant that could be trimmed and groomed.
He didn't know.
And he wasn't willing to risk their lives to find out.
Sukuna must have understood this, Shien mused, shifting his thoughts back to the finger. His fingers aren't just vessels of cursed energy—they're fragments of his soul, preserved across a millennium. Twenty fingers, twenty pieces, scattered and sealed because no single container could hold his complete essence. Motherfucker made a horocrux !
The problem Shien faced was simple yet insurmountable: he couldn't create a cursed tool from the finger.
Not yet anyway.
I would need to bind the sword, the hilt, and the finger together, then seal the entire construct in a mandala for one hundred and four days to properly transform it into a cursed tool. But no material I've tested can contain Sukuna's cursed energy. Every hilt I've tried—wood, bone, reinforced metal—crumbles under the pressure within weeks. Every attempt cost him lots of time and effort.
He'd tried seventeen different materials. All failures.
Until I find the proper material for the hilt, this finger remains unusable.
Frustrating, but not unexpected. Sukuna was called the King of Curses for a reason.
I need answers, Shien resolved. The Soul Split Katana, which was no longer in Zenin possession. Shien knew the sword was the closest thing to the cursed tool that he wanted to make. After years of evasive answers about the sword, Shien managed to wring the answer out of his father. The tool was taken by Toji Zenin. Toji Zenin was Jinichi's older brother, a man born with no cursed energy and a heavenly restriction. Although the members of the Zenin clan still spoke of him with scorn, Shien could sense the fear underneath.
The more Shien heard about Toji Zenin, the more astounded he was. Mei Mei, when asked, had told him how Toji had defeated both Gojo and Geto in the same day. Shien was shocked someone with no cursed energy could be so strong. Could Maki get that strong? Is the fact that she has some cursed energy holding her back?
Shien was utterly disgusted with his own clan. Their backwardness had cost them a man that powerful. Someone who could slip in and out of any barrier in jujutsu society, who was all but invisible to sorcerers who relied so much on cursed energy to perceive the world. Bunch of fucking cowards his clan members were. When Toji walks into the clan and takes away millions of dollars worth of cursed tools, they sit and do nothing. Geto Suguru has all those cursed tools, and the clan does nothing. Gojo Satoru humiliates them publicly, and they still do nothing. They lick the boots of people stronger than them while shitting on people they think are beneath them, all the while clinging to nonsensical traditions that do nothing but hold them back. Scum!
Shien had decided to help Maki after learning this fact .Maybe she is has a chance
For the past year, he'd been training in Aokigahara Forest aside from his missions with Mei Mei.
Aokigahara, the Sea of Trees, stretched across thirty-five square kilometers at the northwest base of Mount Fuji. Dark and utterly silent, the forest had its own eerie kind of beauty. It was a place of death.
For centuries, Japanese people had come to Aokigahara to die. The forest was known as the perfect place to disappear, to fade from existence without being found. Bodies hung from trees, rotted in hidden clearings, turned to bones in the shadowed undergrowth. The suicide destination was so popular that authorities posted signs at the entrances, pleading messages: Your life is a precious gift. Please reconsider. Please call this hotline to help you.
But the signs did little to stop them.
The collective weight of a nation's despair, generations upon generations choosing this forest as their final resting place, had transformed Aokigahara into something more than just a forest. It was the Japanese version of the forbidden forest, full of powerful and dangerous curses spawning faster than they could be killed.
Massive wards had been erected around the forest's perimeter, ancient seals maintained by multiple jujutsu families to prevent the curses from spreading beyond the trees. The forest was effectively quarantined, a sealed tomb of malevolent spirits.
Its isolation made it a perfect training ground for Shien to practice techniques he would want no one to know about.
Shien had been coming here for a year, using the constant threat of curse spirits to sharpen his skills, to push his limits, to refine his domain expansion. The Zenin clan knew, of course—Naobito had given his permission and did not even ask Shien to take an escort with him, just Hayato to drive him around.
Today, though, would be different. He was taking Maki with him. Maki had not given up despite his scolding, and Shien had decided he might as well take her out on her first mission to see how she performed in the field. If he pushed her limits maybe she could awaken some latent ability.
Maki stood in the courtyard, her new cursed glasses perched on her nose, naginata strapped across her back. The glasses were a recent acquisition—special lenses that allowed someone without cursed energy to see curse spirits clearly. They'd cost a fortune, but Shien had purchased them without hesitation.
"You're sure about this?" Sayo asked quietly, worry evident in her voice. She stood beside Mai, who was dressed in combat gear and clutching a modified pistol loaded with cursed energy-infused bullets.
"I'm sure, Mama," Shien said. "Training dummies and sparring don't prepare you for actual curse spirits. If she insists on becoming a sorcerer, then she better learn!"
"But Aokigahara—" Sayo's expression tightened. "That forest is dangerous, Shien-chan. Maki is not you."
"Which is why I'll be there." Shien's tone was confident, dismissive of her concern. "Nothing in that forest can threaten me."
Maki's jaw tightened, but she didn't protest. Over the past six months, their relationship had settled into an uneasy equilibrium. She trained relentlessly, pushing her body to its absolute limits, while Shien watched with clinical detachment and occasional advice. He'd crushed her dreams of being a sorcerer, but she'd responded by becoming the strongest non-sorcerer she possibly could.
Shien had to respect her stubborn determination.
"I'm coming too."
Everyone turned to look at Mai.
"What?" Shien said flatly.
"I'm coming," Mai repeated, her voice firmer this time. "I'm not staying behind while Maki goes on a mission. I can fight. I have cursed energy. I should—"
"Mai, no—" Maki started.
"I'm coming," Mai insisted, cutting her sister off. Her hands clenched into fists. "I'm tired of being left behind. I'm tired of being useless."
Shien studied her for a long moment. Mai's cursed energy level was that of a third-grade sorcerer, and that was a very generous estimate. If she really trained hard and applied herself, she might even make grade two.
Might as well, Shien thought. Real experience would benefit her.
"Fine," he said, surprising everyone. "But you follow my orders exactly."
Mai's face lit up. "Yes! I understand. I'll—"
"And you carry the supplies," Shien added. "If you're coming, you're useful."
Mai nodded eagerly, already moving toward the storage room to pack provisions.
Maki scowled at her sister's retreating back. "This isn't a picnic, Mai!"
"I know that!" Mai called back. "I'm not stupid!"
Sayo sighed, already moving to help Mai pack. "If she's going, she'll need proper food—all of you will. The forest will be very cold, especially this time of the year. And medical supplies, just in case..."
Two days of preparation followed.
Shien reviewed his equipment: the sealed box containing Sukuna's finger, extra talismans, weapons, emergency seals. Maki sharpened her naginata to a razor edge. Mai practiced her shooting under Ranta's supervision, her accuracy improving with each session.
Sayo packed enough food to feed a small army, despite Shien's protests that they'd only be in the forest for a day, maybe two at most.
Finally, on the third morning, they were ready.
Hayato drove them in silence, the clan's black SUV cutting through early morning mist as they traveled toward Mount Fuji. The drive took three hours, the landscape gradually shifting from urban sprawl to rural countryside to the wild, untamed forests at the mountain's base.
Maki sat in the back seat, methodically checking her equipment. Mai clutched her supply bag, trying to hide her nervousness. Shien was intently focused on his Nintendo.
They reached the forest's edge just after ten in the morning.
Hayato parked at one of the official entrances—a small clearing with warning signs posted in multiple languages. Your life is precious. Please reconsider. Seek help. The words were meant for suicidal visitors, not sorcerers hunting curses, but the irony wasn't lost on Shien.
"Be here at this time in two days," Shien commanded as they exited the vehicle. "I will give you a call."
Hayato bowed. "Yes, Shien-sama. Please be careful."
Shien nodded and turned, heading toward the forest's entrance, the sealed box tucked under his arm, a rucksack on his back.
Maki and Mai followed.
Winter had transformed the forest. A fresh layer of snow blanketed everything, turning the twisted landscape into something almost beautiful. The trees, normally dark and oppressive, were frosted white, their branches heavy with snow that sparkled in the pale sunlight filtering through the canopy. Icicles hung from crooked limbs like crystal ornaments.
The silence remained, but it was different now—the hush of fresh snowfall rather than the oppressive quiet of death. Mai could hear things: the occasional rustle of a rabbit darting between trees, the flutter of wings as a crow took flight from a snow-laden branch, the soft patter of deer tracks visible in the pristine white powder.
Life existed here, despite everything.
It's beautiful, Mai thought, surprised. The forest's cursed nature hadn't changed—she could feel the malevolent energy saturating the air, thick and cloying—but the winter landscape created a paradox. Beauty and horror existing in the same space, neither canceling out the other.
"The forest changes with the seasons," Shien said, noticing her expression. "Winter makes it look peaceful. Don't be fooled. The curses don't care about snow."
As if to prove his point, Mai saw a Grade 4 curse slithering beneath the snow-covered undergrowth, its formless body leaving a trail of melted ice in its wake.
Maki gripped her naginata tighter. Through her cursed glasses, she could see dozens more lurking among the beautiful, frozen trees. "I can see them. They're everywhere..."
"These are nothing," Shien said dismissively. "The weak ones congregate near the entrance. The real threats are deeper in the forest."
He led them forward, moving with confident strides through the twisted landscape. Occasionally, they passed signs of death—a frayed rope hanging from a tree, a pile of clothes rotting in the underbrush, once, a human skull half-buried in moss.
Mai made a small, frightened sound and pressed closer to Shien, making him laugh. "We can turn back if you girls are scared." "I am not scared! It's just cold, that's all," Mai said, clinging to Shien's arm, making him chuckle. Maki's expression hardened, but she said nothing.
They walked for an hour, penetrating deeper into the forest, until they reached a clearing that Shien recognized. He'd used this spot before. "Here," Shien said, stopping in the center of the clearing.
He set down the sealed box and began carefully removing the talismans, layer by layer, until only the innermost seal remained. The cursed energy radiating from Sukuna's finger intensified with each removed barrier, a malevolent pressure that made the air shimmer.
"What are you doing?" Mai asked, taking an involuntary step back.
"Drawing them in," Shien explained calmly. He removed the final talisman and opened the box.
The cursed energy exploded outward like a beacon.
Sukuna's finger sat in the center of the box, a withered, mummified thing that pulsed with impossible power. The malevolent energy radiating from it was overwhelming, a pressure that made Mai stumble and fall to her knees.
"Shien-chan!" she gasped. "It's too much—I can't—"
"Then get up," Shien said without sympathy. "This is why you're here. You are not a child anymore."
All across the forest, curse spirits sensed the finger. The promise of such immense cursed energy drew them like moths to a flame, an irresistible lure that overrode every survival instinct.
They came.
First, the Grade 4 curses—formless blobs of negative energy, shambling things with too many mouths and not enough form. Dozens of them, emerging from the trees in a grotesque tide.
Then, the Grade 3 curses. These had more defined shapes: a woman with elongated limbs and a face frozen in a scream, a child-sized thing covered in eyes, a centipede-like creature thirty feet long with human hands for legs. They moved with purpose, with hunger, drawn inexorably toward Sukuna's finger.
And finally, the Grade 2 curses.
A massive creature that resembled a twisted tree, its bark formed from compressed human bones, its branches ending in grasping hands.
A curse spirit that looked like a swarm of insects held together in a vaguely humanoid shape, each insect bearing a tiny, screaming human face.
A shapeshifting horror that continuously melted and reformed, cycling through dozens of tortured expressions.
More kept coming.
Within minutes, the clearing was surrounded. Dozens of curse spirits, their collective malevolence creating a pressure that made the air thick and hard to breathe.
Maki, who had been confident earlier, now looked genuinely frightened. Her hands trembled slightly on her naginata. "Shien... there are too many."
"There are exactly the right amount," Shien corrected. Shien was suppressing his cursed energy to minimal levels to not scare the curse spirits, who were emboldened by his apparent weakness.
Maki's eyes widened behind her cursed glasses. "What are you doing?"
"I have been suppressing my cursed energy," Shien said. "If I showed my full power, they would not approach us. Even to claim the finger."
Mai struggled to her feet, pulling out her pistol with shaking hands. "Shien-chan, we need to run—"
"No running. This is where your training begins," Shien said calmly. "Domain Expansion."
The world shattered and reformed.
"Lotus Pyre Mandala."