The underground cavern had fallen silent.
The battlefield was unrecognizable.
Corroded rock.
Blackened pools of blood.
Fragments of bone slowly dissolving under the lingering effect of the Rot Technique.
A harsh smell of burnt flesh and poisonous decay filled the cave.
Standing at the center of the destruction—
Yagami Sora calmly bent down.
Between two fingers he picked up a shriveled object.
A finger.
Blackened.
Covered in dried cursed energy residue.
The unmistakable presence of Ryomen Sukuna radiated from it.
Sora examined it briefly.
Then snorted.
"The second one."
"These things are like cockroaches."
"You can never kill them all."
With a casual motion—
He stored the finger inside his system space.
Behind him, footsteps approached.
Yuji Itadori, Megumi Fushiguro, and Nobara Kugisaki walked forward.
The fight had ended quickly.
Too quickly.
But the aftermath left a strange heaviness in the air.
Yuji looked down at the two dark stains on the ground.
Those stains had once been Eso and Kechizu.
"…They really cared about each other."
Yuji spoke quietly.
"That last moment…"
"He risked everything to protect his brother."
Sora didn't turn around.
His voice remained flat.
"So what?"
"Wolves protect their cubs too."
"That doesn't make them innocent."
"If wolves kill sheep…"
"…the sheep don't thank them for loving their family."
He began walking toward the cave entrance.
"Sentimentality won't help you survive."
"Let's go."
"Kiyotaka Ijichi is still waiting outside."
Yuji sighed softly.
But he followed.
Nobara clicked her tongue and walked after them.
Megumi stayed behind for a moment longer.
He stared silently at the place where the two Death Painting brothers had died.
Then—
He turned and left.
None of them noticed something small.
On the ground—
Where the poisoned blood had eaten through the stone—
A faint trace of cursed energy remained.
Extremely weak.
Barely detectable.
The last remnant of Kechizu's cursed energy.
It slowly drifted upward.
Carried away by the air.
Elsewhere — Tokyo
Inside an abandoned warehouse—
Darkness filled the room.
A lone table stood at the center.
On it sat two cups of tea.
Both long since cold.
Every morning—
He prepared them.
For his two younger brothers.
Even though they had never truly sat together.
Then—
Suddenly—
The man sitting in the darkness opened his eyes.
It was Choso.
And pain exploded through his chest.
Not physical pain.
Something deeper.
A blood connection severed.
"Eso…"
"Kechizu…"
His voice trembled.
He could feel it clearly.
Both presences had vanished.
The bond connecting the Death Painting Wombs had been broken.
Blood tears ran down his face.
Choso raised his hand slowly.
In the air—
A faint residue of cursed energy drifted.
The last trace left behind by Kechizu before his death.
Choso touched it gently.
Inside that trace—
He felt something else.
Another presence.
Cold.
Overwhelming.
Absolute.
An energy signature unlike anything he had felt before.
The power that had killed his brothers.
Choso did not know the name.
Yagami Sora.
But the cursed energy itself—
He would never forget.
Choso bit his finger.
Blood flowed freely.
"Blood Manipulation Technique — Blood Trace."
The blood droplet floated in the air.
Then ignited with cursed energy.
It transformed into a thin red thread.
The thread writhed like a living creature.
Then stretched outward.
Pointing toward the distance.
Toward Tokyo.
Toward the one responsible.
"…Found you."
Choso slowly stood.
The tears on his face had already dried.
Only hatred remained.
Pure.
Cold.
The hatred of a brother who had lost his family.
"The one who killed my brothers…"
He clenched his fist.
Blood dripped from his palm.
Each drop hit the ground with a quiet sound.
Like a vow being carved into stone.
"I will find you."
"And when I do…"
"I will drain every drop of blood from your body."
He didn't scream.
He didn't rage.
He simply stood there.
Like a statue carved from grief.
But inside his eyes—
A fire burned.
A fire that would not fade.
—Wait for me.
—Wait until I come for your blood.
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