Eso trembled as he raised his hands, the sensation at his fingertips feeling real and warm.
The cursed whispers that had haunted his ears for a century had vanished.
The inferiority and hunger he had carried his whole life dissipated along with them.
Although scars remained and he was battered from battle.
He could clearly feel that what flowed through his veins was no longer cold venom, but boiling human blood.
"Brother..."
A timid call came from behind him.
Eso spun around.
There stood his younger brother, Kechizu. Once a frog-like deformity capable only of strange croaks, he now stood there dazed.
Though his back was still somewhat hunched and his features weren't exactly handsome, he now possessed truly human limbs. Those eyes, once cloudy and violent, were now filled with a clear sense of bewilderment.
"Kechizu... you..."
Eso's eyes immediately reddened.
As incarnated vessels of the Cursed Womb: Death Paintings, they had been defined as curses from the moment of their birth.
Sealed in a dark storehouse for a hundred and fifty years, awakened by that bastard Kenjaku, and used as mere tools.
What they wanted was actually very simple.
They just didn't want to be separated; they just wanted to live as individuals.
Even if they had to kill for it, even if they had to become curses.
But now, the man standing in the moonlight had used only a single strike.
It wasn't an execution, but salvation.
"Why?"
Eso knelt before Yoru once more, pressing his forehead hard against the dirt-covered ground, his voice cracking with emotion.
"We killed people... we are curses... we even tried to kill your companions just now..."
"Do beings like us truly have the right to live?"
The forest was deathly silent, save for the rustling of leaves in the wind.
Yoru didn't answer immediately.
He silently wiped the blade of Shiranui, its surface reflecting a cold but not piercing light under the moon.
In his crimson pupils, the humble and trembling figures of the two brothers were reflected.
"Worth is never something granted by others."
Yoru's voice was soft, yet it carried an undeniable weight.
He sheathed his sword with a crisp click.
"If you feel you have no right, then use the time you have left to atone."
"Use these human bodies to feel the sunlight, to feel pain, and to protect the weak."
"Instead of lashing out with claws like beasts just to survive."
Yoru paused, glancing toward a certain direction deep in the forest.
Toward the Tokyo Jujutsu High.
"Furthermore."
"You have another brother waiting for you."
Hearing this, Eso snapped his head up, his pupils shrinking violently.
"Brother?!"
"You mean... Big Brother Choso?!"
Of the nine brothers, the one they respected and loved most was their eldest brother, Choso.
The man who would sacrifice everything for his siblings.
Yoru nodded slightly.
"He's looking for you. While he might still be lost or misled by certain people, the bond of blood cannot be severed."
Eso and Kechizu looked at each other, their eyes igniting with an unprecedented light.
It was hope.
"We have to find Big Brother!"
Eso tried to stand up in excitement, but then he thought of something, and his face turned pale.
"But... that man Kenjaku is still controlling him... If we show up, would it just put him in danger?"
Moreover, though they had become human, in the eyes of the jujutsu world, they were still incarnated Special Grade Cursed Spirits that had to be exorcised.
Once exposed, only death awaited them.
"That's why you need to disappear."
Yoru seemed to have expected this. He pulled a slip of paper from his pocket with an address and contact information written on it.
It was one of Mei Mei's secret safe houses.
That woman would do anything for the right price. While greedy, her word was gold, and she was exceptionally good at hiding people.
"Go here."
Yoru handed the paper to Eso.
"I'll arrange for someone to meet you. Until the time is right, don't reveal yourselves or try to contact Choso."
"Wait until that day arrives."
"I will reunite you brothers, and then..."
A cold murderous intent flashed in Yoru's eyes.
"Together, we will go and settle the score with that 'Brain' who toyed with your lives."
Eso took the paper with trembling hands, as if he were holding the weight of life itself.
He kowtowed deeply once more.
"Lord Yoru!"
"From this day forward, our lives belong to you!"
"Even if we have to go through hell and high water..."
Yoru waved his hand, cutting off the oath.
"I don't need people to die for me."
"I only hope that the next time I see you..."
"...you'll be standing tall in the sunlight like human beings."
With that.
Yoru turned and walked toward Yuji Itadori and Nobara Kugisaki, who were staring blankly from a short distance away.
"Let's go."
"The mission is over."
Yuji scratched his head, looking completely lost.
"Uh... Senior Yoru, that's it? What about them?"
"They've been exorcised."
Yoru's voice was flat, devoid of any emotion.
"Huh?"
Nobara's eyes widened as she pointed at the two living people clearly still kneeling there.
"But they're clearly..."
Yoru stopped and looked back, a hint of amusement in his red eyes.
"Nobara."
"What do you see?"
Nobara blinked, reflexively wanting to say 'I see two naked guys,' but she suddenly understood something when she met Yoru's gaze.
It was a certain understanding.
A lie that only comrades could share.
She took a deep breath, holstered her hammer, and a mischievous smirk curled on her lips.
"Tch."
"What else would I see?"
"Nothing but cursed spirit residue all over the ground."
"Man, this mission worked up quite a sweat. Gojo-sensei better treat us to a huge feast when we get back!"
Although Yuji was a bit slow on the uptake, he caught on too.
He chuckled and gave a thumbs-up.
"That's right! Cleanly exorcised! Not a single scrap left!"
Yoru watched his two sensible juniors, his lips curling up slightly.
"Good."
"Let's head back then."
"Megumi is still waiting for us over there."
...
The next day.
Jujutsu High, General Headquarters.
A report regarding the 'Yasohachi Bridge Special Grade Cursed Spirit Incident' was submitted.
The report stated:
The Special Grade Cursed Spirit was exorcised by Megumi Fushiguro alone.
Two incarnated vessels of the Special Grade Cursed Object, the Death Paintings, were confirmed by Yoru to be completely exorcised, with no remains left at the scene.
Some higher-ups were skeptical since not even a corpse was found.
But considering it was Yoru—the man with a terrifying breathing technique that could burn curses to ash.
It seemed perfectly reasonable that nothing would remain.
Moreover, with Satoru Gojo's forceful intervention and Yoru's growing deterrence, even if those Rotten Oranges had their doubts, they didn't dare cause trouble at this critical juncture.
After all.
No one wanted to test just how sharp Shiranui, the blade capable of cutting through domains, truly was.
For Yoru, this was just a small step in his master plan.
In the impending catastrophe.
Every person he saved and every fate he altered would become a crucial piece in turning the tide.
But for now, he hadn't yet realized...
...what kind of fruit the seeds of the cause he sowed would bear in the future.
...
One week later.
Inside a secret apartment.
Mei Mei looked at the massive sum that had appeared in her account, her eyes narrowing into slits as she smiled.
"Yoru-kun is quite generous."
"Though..."
She turned her gaze to Eso and Kechizu, who were sitting on the sofa in modern clothes, still looking somewhat stiff.
A sharp glint flashed in her eyes.
"Turning incarnated Special Grade Cursed Spirits into humans..."
"If that ability were put up for auction, the entire jujutsu world would probably go mad, wouldn't it?"
"What a... terrifying man."
Mei Mei licked her lips and drained her glass of red wine.
"This investment..."
"...is definitely the best decision I've made in my life."
Outside the window.
Tokyo's nightscape remained as bustling as ever.
But beneath that prosperity, an invisible undercurrent was surging.
There were less than two months left until that Halloween...
...the one destined to change everything.
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