The field of vision trembled twice, and the next moment the two figures vanished, darting like an arrow released from a bow through the dense forest.
The speed was so blinding that the surrounding scenery blurred into a mass.
Eagerness, panic, terror… These strange, swirling emotions also plunged the spectator—Ryomen Sukuna himself—into turmoil.
He did not know how long or how far they had run before the field of vision finally stopped.
Before them lay a scene of a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood.
The pungent stench of blood was suffocating. Swarms of vultures, flies, and carrion-eating creatures circled and fluttered over the bodies, while bizarre, newly born Curses wandered about at will, resembling a living hell.
Looking as far as the eye could see, there was no end to the shattered flesh, severed limbs, and jagged white bones.
Ryomen Sukuna remained completely unfazed by such a sight; he had long since grown numb to red blood and white bone.
Yet right now, he was being tormented by a surging, desolate despair that gripped him so fiercely he clenched his teeth hard.
This strange emotion…
Sukuna clicked his tongue, raising a hand to press hard against his chest, trying to suppress the discomfort that swelled and contracted as if it would burst through his ribcage.
The vision paused for a brief moment before resuming its high-speed movement, accompanied by shouts that grew louder and more frantic.
"Kamiyado!"
"Kamiyado!!"
"I'm giving you three seconds to come out!"
"Stop playing hide-and-seek here, my patience has its limits!"
"Come out… please…"
"I'm begging you…"
Yet—no matter the shouts and roars, the vision presented only frozen faces and broken bodies; that person did not come out.
Nor could he ever come out again…
The gaze suddenly lowered, and the self in the memory seemed to sink to its knees in a pool of blood.
Ryomen Sukuna let out a soft, mocking laugh as he watched.
How utterly pathetic…
Sukuna closed his eyes and tilted his head back, calming the palpitations that were choking him of breath.
Suddenly, another malignant, gloomy, and hoarse voice echoed from deep within his body.
"What's wrong? It's truly rare to see you looking like a stray dog in such a pathetic state!"
"I told you long ago, you and I are of one body, destined to eventually assimilate with one another."
"You are a born outcast, yet you actually dared to delusionally reach for human emotions?"
"Simply laughable! Hahaha…"
Sukuna lifted his eyelids slightly, only to close them again.
Daten, was it? Just a defeated foe who had wanted to devour him and was ultimately devoured by him in return.
Trying to kick him while he was down—that certainly fit its style.
Besides—he was merely a receiver of memories, with no power to interfere with how the past had unfolded.
Yet he could already roughly guess the reason why he had sealed away this memory.
Judging by the person he would later become, he could state with absolute certainty: he had certainly not chosen to seal this memory because of Daten.
It was because… the loss of Kamiyado was something he fundamentally could not accept.
Could Kamiyado possibly matter this much to him…?!
Sukuna's palm remained pressed against his heart, where the boundless pain and suffocating tightness continued to spread.
He had not felt this sensation in nearly a thousand years; he had even thought he had never experienced it at all.
Now it seemed that it had simply been too painful, and he had chosen to forget.
Even the current him… felt a pain so fierce he wanted to bury this memory away forever…
Sukuna heard the self in his memory speak in a hoarse voice, sounding like a battered, worn-out bellows forced to work, dragging out only cracked sound waves.
"Shut up…"
"Hahahahaha! This state of yours brings me immense joy, brat!"
"Stop trying to deceive yourself, he was killed by you!"
"Because of your weakness, your ignorance!"
"I told you to shut up… He is not dead, he cannot be dead…"
Though he fought desperately to deny this "fact," he could not stop the terrifying realization from gradually branding itself into his mind.
His "Kamiyado" was truly dead—
The steadily fading memories became the final straw that broke him.
The self in the memory suddenly clutched its head and collapsed into the pool of blood. Sukuna, currently enduring his own intense pain, also let out a muffled groan and raised a hand to tightly grip his temples.
The sensation of his head being torn apart and his soul being pulled came not only from the past version of himself, but was deeply felt by his present self as well.
In an instant, the already violent pain multiplied manifold, looping infinitely.
It hurt so much that Sukuna's ears rang, his eardrums felt as though they had burst, and the metallic taste of blood welled up from his throat and nose. His entire head felt as if it were on the verge of exploding.
Amidst the throbbing pain, countless fragments were forcefully crammed into the dull, uninteresting memories.
The figures that had been deliberately erased finally parted the blurry fog and truly stepped into Sukuna's mind.
It was a young man who looked exactly like Kamiyado, whose gaze always carried a faint light and whose face always wore a gentle smile.
The youth appeared in frame after frame of the memories they had shared…
Sukuna cradled his head, carefully processing the returning memories, no longer paying attention to the continuing retrospective vision outside.
After all, compared to the memories concerning Kamiyado, this memory he had sealed away himself seemed far less important.
Besides—it was far too painful…
Meanwhile, in the memory…
"Sukuna" lay sprawled in the pool of blood. As the memories continued to fade, the spark of life in his eyes shifted from boundless pain and despair to a completely empty, emotionless void.
He raised a hand to touch his cheek, wiping away the traces of tears with a hand stained entirely in blood.
He did not need to know the reason for the tears.
He only knew that something belonging to him had been taken away.
He was going to take it back—
Daten's mocking laughter echoed near and far, but he could no longer hear it.
He simply cupped a handful of crimson blood in his palm, silently watching the murky red fluid trickle down his fingertips.
He suddenly murmured in a low voice: "Daten…"
"Let's slaughter all the humans in this world."
Daten had never imagined that its day of turnaround would come so quickly and so suddenly.
Filled almost with disbelief and joy, it poured every last ounce of its remaining strength into corrupting the soul of "Sukuna."
Seeing the human offer zero resistance, wholeheartedly accepting its vicious, tyrannical, bloodthirsty, and cruel negative energy, Daten nearly burst into laughter.
That damned Six Eyes brat?! So what if he suppressed me for fifteen years? So what if he beat me half to death before leaving?
In the end, this brat had still yielded…
A blood-black storm mixed with evil Cursed Energy densely wrapped around "Sukuna's" soul.
"Sukuna" closed his eyes, listening to the countless whispers of malicious intent by his ear. His mind gradually drifted into a blank state, leaving behind only a single thought.
Kill… Burn… Leave not a single one behind…
Since none of them wanted him to have what was his, then no one else would have it either…
Slaughter… as long as there was slaughter, it was enough—!
Daten laughed viciously, feeling that the plan was proceeding with exceptional smoothness. It might even be able to completely suppress "Sukuna's" consciousness and become the master of this body.
It truly had that Six Eyes brat to thank…
Wait?! What was that… the Six Eyes?!
At the center of the crimson-black storm enshrouding "Sukuna's" soul, a dreamlike, peerless pale-blue light suddenly burst forth.
Daten's eyes split wide with rage: "Even in death, you still come to meddle, you damned Six Eyes brat!!"
Vast and boundless Cursed Energy bloomed alongside the light, scattering all the negative energy that had been deliberately forced into "Sukuna's" mind.
"Sukuna" forced his eyelids open just a crack. Having forgotten everything else, he felt only that the blue light before him was warm, holy, familiar, yet unfamiliar.
He reached out with a trembling hand, wishing to grasp that formless halo.
The blue light spiraled around his arm, gently swaying beside his cheek.
It felt like a warm hand stroking his taut, nearly snapping nerves through flesh and skin.
"I will come back for you."
"Until you see me again, you are not allowed to lose, Akn."
A gentle murmur drifted into "Sukuna's" ears, causing his fingertips to tremble.
Who are you—never mind, it doesn't matter—
What am I supposed to be doing—that doesn't seem to matter either—
However… someone was waiting for him—
And he still had someone to wait for!
The blue light slowly contracted, finally transforming into an ellipsoidal chunk of ice that encased a pale-blue eyeball.
"Sukuna" abruptly raised his hand, gripping the piece of ice tightly.
He could not lose—!
………………
"Sukuna" climbed out of the pool of blood, first opening his palm to take a look.
The pupil of the azure sky sealed within the ice was still there.
He did not know what this eye represented, but looking at it brought a sudden sense of calm to his heart.
He tucked the item close to his body and looked out at the vast expanse of corpses blanketing the land.
"Kitchen, Open!" A low, hoarse Cursed Speech incantation rang out.
With a slight twitch of his fingertips, an arrowhead constructed entirely of flames slowly condensed. The extreme heat caused the pool of blood around him to bubble and boil, evaporating into thick mist.
Then, as he drew back his arm as if pulling a bowstring, the arrow shot forth violently, crashing into this human hellscape.
Exquisite and alluring purple-red flames bloomed from the mountain of corpses and sea of blood, instantly igniting everything that existed there.
While burning away those decaying remains, it also burned away his violent, hateful desire for slaughter…
The memory sequence abruptly cut off, but Ryomen Sukuna was still receiving the fragmented, chaotic memories.
With one hand clutching his chest and the other pinching the bridge of his nose, his brow knitted tightly as disordered light and shadow flashed before his eyes.
He had expected there to be another segment of memory, but the next instant he was pulled straight back into his own Innate Domain.
Looking at the crimson world before him, Sukuna felt a faint sense of surviving a catastrophe, coupled with a trace of quiet lingering regret.
The young man beside him wore a look of mild concern, leaning in to support his waist: "Sukuna, what's wrong with you?"
Sukuna turned his gaze to look deeply at him, then stepped forward directly—pulling the youth completely into his embrace.
Feeling the youth's genuine warmth and breath washed away much of the panic and lingering palpitations that had plagued him after the memories ended.
Sukuna's arms held him with immense strength, his chin resting against Kamiyado's head as his deep, hoarse voice flowed softly into Kamiyado's ear: "Why… why did you do that?"
Why give it all, only to ruthlessly take it back…
Having once possessed it was far more painful than never having possessed it at all.
Kamiyado bit his lip and stammered in response: "I'm sorry, I thought that after I took the memories away, you wouldn't feel so much about my 'death'…"
Sukuna abruptly interrupted him with a deep bark: "Shut up!"
"If you say that word 'death' again, I'll really throw you out!"
Seeming to feel that this threat lacked sufficient force, Sukuna repeated: "I'll beat you up first and then throw you out!"
Kamiyado's expression fell, and he said dejectedly: "I'm sorry…"
Sukuna clicked his tongue and said with considerable irritation: "You're not even allowed to say sorry!"
"I don't want to hear it! Say it again and I'll throw you out too!"
Kamiyado completely dared not speak now, simply waiting quietly for Sukuna's mood to calm down.
After holding the person and breathing him in for a moment, Sukuna finally rid himself of those ravaging, bizarre feelings. He immediately gripped the youth's shoulders with both hands and pushed him back slightly.
Then he fixed his four crimson eyes firmly on him.
Kamiyado found the gaze rather baffling, but felt no fear.
His Kuna wasn't fierce at all; he just threw little tantrums on occasion.
Sukuna scrutinized him closely for a long while before suddenly asking: "Is this… resurrection? In the form of a human or a Cursed Object? Will there be any aftereffects?"
Kamiyado burst out laughing: "Are you worried about me?"
Sukuna instantly averted his gaze, turned around, and sat down nearby, letting his actions express the consequences of guessing wrong.
Kamiyado hurried over in a few steps and sat down right beside him: "Don't be mad, I was just teasing you!"
He let out a soft sigh and offered a gentle, heartfelt expression of gratitude: "Actually, if I was able to survive, I have you to thank. It was you who kept me alive."
Sukuna paused, instinctively frowning in denial: "What does that have to do with me? I'm certain I haven't seen you once in these past thousand years."
Kamiyado continued with a smile: "You certainly haven't seen me."
"I spent a thousand years inside the Special Grade Cursed Object 'Prison Realm'."
"There is no concept of time or space in there."
"As for how you saved me…"
"There are a few Binding Vows between us, you know."
"One of them is: 'Gojo Kamiyado lives for Ryomen Sukuna for all eternity. If Sukuna lives, Gojo Kamiyado lives; if Sukuna dies, Gojo Kamiyado dies. The reverse is not true.'"
"You carried your soul within a Cursed Object and passed it down through the millennium, living on that way… and so I did not die either."
Hearing this, Sukuna pressed the corners of his mouth down and asked in a raspy voice: "Why on earth would I make such a… such a stupid Binding Vow with you?"
Kamiyado replied with a rather nonchalant tone: "This was a Binding Vow we made the very first time we met—it was actually just my way of getting close to you!"
The first time?!
Just from meeting for the very first time, he could go to such lengths for someone he didn't even know?!
Does that mean—anyone could receive this kind of treatment from him?!
Sukuna had never imagined that such a possessive thought would ever arise within him.
Yet after hesitating for a split second, he simply followed his heart.
Accustomed to doing as he pleased, whatever he wanted had to be his—and it could only belong to him alone.
"You treat everyone like this?" Then I'm going to start killing!
Sukuna's piercing gaze locked tightly onto the handsome youth.
Kamiyado seemed stunned for a moment, before a lovely smile slowly bloomed across his face: "How could that be?"
"You are different, of course."
Kamiyado narrowed his heterochromatic eyes and spoke the words that struck straight to Sukuna's soul.
"Because—we are each other's only and best friend!"