"Absolutely not!"
Megumi Fushiguro immediately stepped in front of Yuji Itadori.
"That's Ryomen Sukuna's Fingers. It's lethal poison. If you eat it, you'll die for sure!
I'll hold it off. Take those two and get out of here!"
"But won't that put you in danger too?"
Megumi Fushiguro knew Yuji wouldn't just obediently run, so he changed his approach.
"Then at least get the civilians somewhere safe first. If you still want to come back after that…Please."
[Get Yuji Itadori out first. Then find a way to draw the Cursed Spirits away…]
Yuji Itadori glanced at Sasaki and Iguchi beside him and gave a firm nod. He bent down to pick them up, ready to leave.
But the instant he lifted his foot, the floor around them was suddenly covered in bloodstained steel nails and razor-sharp blades. The abrupt trap left him with nowhere to step.
"Which one of you wants to eat this finger first?"
[The blades and nails… and that black pillar that brought us up here earlier. Is that this Cursed Spirits' technique? What exactly is this thing?]
"If you're going to kill us, just say it! There's no need to play these pointless games, Cursed Spirits!"
Megumi Fushiguro swiftly formed the hand signs for [Max Elephant] and [Piercing Ox].
"Chimera Shikigami—[Nether Elephant]!"
A five-meter-tall elephant rose from Megumi Fushiguro's shadow. Its skin was dark, its eyes glowed red, and four massive tusks jutted from its mouth. The moment it appeared, it charged toward Kōkyū like a bolt of lightning.
Kōkyū quickly assessed its size and momentum, confidently raising one hand to stop the attack.
He miscalculated.
[Nether Elephant] carried an overwhelming, inexplicable force. The impact blasted him backward, and with a thunderous crash, the Cursed Spirits was smashed deep into the nearby wall.
"Got him!"
Megumi Fushiguro immediately turned to urge Yuji to go, then dismissed [Nether Elephant].
He stayed calm. That attack alone wouldn't be enough to kill the enemy. The previous strike had borrowed the power of the [Piercing Ox] technique. But now the Shikigami and the Cursed Spirits were too close together—there was no way to recreate the same setup.
Yuji patted Megumi Fushiguro on the shoulder.
"Mm…"
"Why aren't you leaving?"
"We can't…"
Megumi Fushiguro turned around.
Kōkyū, who should have been embedded in the wall, was now standing at the staircase leading downstairs.
[When did he get there?]
This time, Kōkyū didn't speak. The steel sand beneath him surged and gathered, forming four massive hands that instantly seized the four of them.
"Since none of you will volunteer, I'll try you one by one."
...
Megumi Fushiguro's body was already mottled with bruises from the crushing grip of the black hands. He gritted his teeth and tried to break free using the [Nue] technique.
If that still didn't work…
Just as he was about to move, a figure suddenly dropped from above, the tachi in his hand flashing as it cleanly severed the four massive hands.
Megumi Fushiguro looked up. A man dressed in white stood there, his expression faintly melancholic. Relief finally washed over him. The excessive use of Cursed Energy and his injuries made his vision blur.
"Okkotsu-senpai!"
Yuta Okkotsu flicked the blood from his tachi with one hand while holding a phone in the other.
"Yeah, Rika, I'll hang up now…
Ah… don't worry. I'll be fine."
He only ended the call after a soft "mwah" came from the other side.
Yuta Okkotsu crouched down and quickly checked their condition.
"Sorry. I'm a little late."
"Not at all. You came at the perfect time. But weren't you on a Special Grade mission?"
Yuta Okkotsu smiled.
"It's already done.
Actually, Gojo-sensei was worried since you hadn't been back to school for so long, so he asked me to stop by and take a look.
He told me not to mention that part, though…"
"Huh?"
"Gojo-sensei cares a lot about his students' safety. He just doesn't always say it out loud.
Honestly, the three Senseis stopped seeing us as just students a long time ago."
Yuta Okkotsu found himself thinking back to when he was younger.
Gojo-sensei had guided his Cursed Energy control and Cursed Technique development. Geto-sensei had drilled him in Taijutsu. Akira Zenin had taught him Barrier techniques and the principles of Binding Vows, even explaining the Zenin Clan's internal Barrier systems.
They liked to joke that they were playing "Pokémon Battles," but in reality, they had poured everything into teaching them.
"Hey. You over there, human."
Yuta Okkotsu didn't even turn around. He only tilted his head slightly, glancing at the Cursed Spirits from the corner of his eye.
"What is it?"
Kōkyū instinctively took a step back at that glance.
The overwhelming Cursed Energy radiating from Yuta told him immediately that this Jujutsu Sorcerer wasn't on the same level as the one before. What he hadn't expected was that a single look could carry this much pressure.
Yuta Okkotsu stood up and gently kissed the ring on his left hand.
An almost transparent Barrier expanded outward from him in an instant, enveloping the entire school building.
Anchored by the ring and powered by the "love" he shared with Rika Orimoto, this was a memory-based recognition Barrier. Under normal circumstances, it was used to record the Cursed Techniques Yuta Okkotsu had copied.
When Akira Zenin and Gojo-sensei had designed this Barrier together and said its source would be "love," Yuta Okkotsu hadn't understood. Wasn't a Jujutsu Sorcerer's Cursed Energy born from negative emotions?
Gojo-sensei had casually offered his own view:
"In my opinion, the essence of love is the collapse of reason. It's completely irrational.
For a Jujutsu Sorcerer, love is the most twisted curse of all."
After it formed, the Barrier appeared as a faintly glowing white hemisphere. Six points of light were positioned at six directions, with one point at the center.
Standing at that center, Yuta Okkotsu reached into the light and pulled out something resembling a megaphone, its surface etched with strange incantations.
"Blow away!"
Before Kōkyū could react, he was sent flying straight into the distant forest.
Once the battlefield had been moved away from the school and nearby residential area, Yuta Okkotsu followed.
Kōkyū shook his head, trying to piece together what had just happened.
But Yuta Okkotsu was already upon him, giving him no time to think. A blade plunged into his arm.
Yuta Okkotsu reinforced the sword with Cursed Energy, pinning Kōkyū in place. At the same time, his other fist smashed toward the Cursed Spirits' head.
In Kōkyū's understanding, weapons should always be stronger than bare hands.
But that punch felt like it could kill him outright.
It was lethal.
Without hesitation, Kōkyū severed the arm that had been pinned, barely dodging the strike.
Seeing the attack miss, Yuta Okkotsu withdrew the externally projected Reverse Cursed Technique from his hand. It had been too obvious. With his current mastery, he only needed to activate it right before impact.
Kōkyū immediately realized how bad the situation was.
Unlike Jogo—the one who fancied himself the strongest and constantly sought high-level fights—he knew his limits.
If your attacks barely scratch the opponent, but one hit from them means death, how are you supposed to fight?
The moment Yuta Okkotsu saw Kōkyū turn and run, he reached out and touched the ring on his left hand.
A small Barrier appeared, enclosing only his hands.
If the large one was gone, he would simply deploy another. If a large Barrier was inconvenient, then he would use a small one.
When had Barriers ever been something troublesome? (Akira Zenin's teaching.)
Another megaphone materialized in Yuta Okkotsu's hand.
"Get down!"
A crushing pressure slammed Kōkyū to the ground mid-escape.
He turned his head just in time to see Yuta Okkotsu rapidly closing the distance.
[So be it. You forced me into this.
If I can't touch you…
Then I'll kill you from a distance!]
Kōkyū began forming hand seals.
The coffin behind him creaked open, and endless black particles poured out.
"Domain Expansion!"
The black particles gathered and formed a sphere, enclosing both of them.
Inside, it looked like a once-prosperous town.
But on closer inspection, every building was made of coffins linked together by iron chains. The sky was dim, the sun pitch-black, and crimson rivers flowed across the ground, releasing waves of heat.
"[Mantra of the Vengeful Dead]."