Sugisawa Third High School.
Late at night, the school was silent, save for the occasional chirping of insects from the bushes.
A sea-urchin-headed boy wearing a high-collared black school uniform slipped quietly through the school gates into the deserted campus.
He weaved his way to a secluded patch of open ground behind one of the buildings, where he found his destination.
Staring at the completely unobstructed, unlocked louvered box in front of him, the boy let out a scoffing mutter: "To think they'd leave a Special Grade Cursed Object in a place like this. What a joke."
Remembering his mission, he stepped forward and pulled open the box's door.
Inside lay... an alluring patch of empty air.
The boy's half-closed eyes widened abruptly.
He searched around frantically for a moment, then even shut the louvered box and opened it again.
As if that might somehow bring the missing Special Grade Cursed Object back.
After a few futile attempts, he wore a grim expression as he pulled out his phone and called a certain good-for-nothing teacher.
With a beep, the boy spoke into the line with utmost seriousness: "I didn't find it!"
A crackle of static came from the other end, followed by a light, casual, yet remarkably pleasant voice: "Seriously? Did it go out for a night stroll?"
The boy clicked his tongue: "I'll punch you... What do we do now?"
The good-for-nothing teacher delivered the death sentence in the most relaxed tone imaginable: "You aren't allowed to come back if you don't find it, Megumi-chan~."
Before the boy could speak again, the person on the other end abruptly hung up.
The boy gripped his phone tightly and muttered a fierce complaint: "I'm definitely going to beat him up next time!"
With that, his figure flickered, and he bolted across the campus, searching everywhere for the presence of the Special Grade Cursed Object.
What he didn't know was that after he left, a young man wearing a vintage kimono arrived at the louvered box.
It was none other than Kamiyado, who had gotten hopelessly lost and spent a full half-day walking to this school.
He silently made a decision in his heart: next time, I really should just stop and ask someone for directions...
The Six Eyes didn't seem entirely reliable—
Of course, the user of the Six Eyes who had heard "Sugisawa Third High School is in that direction" and sprinted off without a second thought wasn't particularly reliable either.
Still... at least in the current situation, the Six Eyes could still prove immensely useful.
The "Six Eyes" could track and predict the trajectory of Cursed Energy.
Kamiyado didn't even need to step closer; he could acutely perceive the residual cursed energy left behind in this space.
The object was no longer here...
Kamiyado closed his eyes for a moment, but he didn't leave immediately.
He opened his mind and heart to sense that faint, agonizingly familiar wave of cursed energy.
It was as arrogant, violent, and ferocious as ever, as overwhelming and tyrannical as Sukuna himself.
Rampant, capricious, and haughty, sitting upon a divine throne and looking down upon all living things, maintaining the posture of one who reigns supreme over heaven and earth.
Yet, having been turned into a cursed object, it now carried an additional chill of dark, evil malignancy.
Like a cold wind blowing up from the depths of the abyss, sending shivers down anyone who touched it.
Kamiyado didn't shiver; he merely pressed his lips together, feeling a different kind of emotion: irritation.
Sukuna... shouldn't be like this.
Nor would he allow Sukuna to become like this.
Since he had returned, he would restore everything to its original state!
Kamiyado looked away and carefully sensed the trajectory of Sukuna's residual cursed energy.
A moment later, Kamiyado frowned, his attractive brows knitting together.
He couldn't track it...?
Before he could puzzle it out, a presence suddenly rushed rapidly toward his location.
Kamiyado formed a hand seal, activated his Cursed Technique, and vanished into thin air in an instant.
Half a minute later, Megumi arrived fashionably late, greeted only by a trail of strangely shaped footprints at the scene.
"These are... wooden clogs? Who was here... One of the Three Great Families?"
"Tch, I didn't find anything, but I ended up soaking in that thick cursed energy all night."
"To think someone else got involved... I wonder if they're friend or foe...?"
"Whatever, I'll leave for now and check it out tomorrow."
Agile as a beast, the black-haired boy vaulted over the school's front gate and made a swift retreat.
Up on the rooftop of a campus teaching building, Kamiyado leaned silently against the concrete wall, his heterochromatic eyes gleaming brightly in the night.
He watched the black-haired boy's retreating figure vanish from sight.
"Jujutsu Sorcerers... truly, they turn up in every era."
He held no hostility toward Jujutsu Sorcerers, or rather—he had no concept of what "hostility" even meant.
Of course, if these people intended to exorcise Sukuna, he could hardly stand by and do nothing.
Kamiyado had no idea what had happened to Sukuna after he faked his death a thousand years ago.
However, he was certain of one thing: none of the notorious atrocities passed down through history were committed by Sukuna.
Because the person who had truly participated in that so-called war between Ryomen Sukuna and the entire Jujutsu society was—himself!
He was the former head of the Gojo family who had colluded with the curse Ryomen Sukuna, becoming an outlaw hunted and expelled by Jujutsu society, willing to pay any price to have him killed.
Kamiyado was also certain that after he faked his death, Sukuna had not killed a single human being.
He had formed a Gojo Binding Vow with Sukuna, a vow he had even reinforced using his Innate Technique, capable of affecting the soul.
One of the clauses was: "As long as Gojo Kamiyado lives, Ryomen Sukuna shall not end any human life with his own hands; should he violate this, Gojo Kamiyado dies."
He had spent a millennium inside the Prison Realm yet had not died, which alone proved everything.
No matter what, he would correct this misrepresented piece of history and bring the real Sukuna back.
He would pay any price to achieve it...
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——————
Early the next morning, the school returned to its bustling routine of people coming and going.
Yet who could know that beneath this lively surface lay hidden countless dangers invisible to ordinary eyes...
Kamiyado had spent the entire night on the teaching building's rooftop admiring the moon and keeping company with Cursed Spirits.
Cursed Spirits were a form of "curse," born and nurtured from humanity's negative emotions, and they were especially prone to appearing in places like schools and hospitals.
Once a Cursed Spirit reached a certain grade, it possessed the power to directly injure or even kill people.
Naturally, high-grade Cursed Spirits weren't something one ran into just anywhere.
Though the Cursed Spirits bred within this school were numerous, they were all nothing more than trifling "Flyheads," not even qualifying as Grade 4 Cursed Spirits.
Those "Flyheads" had fluttered about freely through the night when nobody was around, yet not a single one dared approach within fifty meters of Kamiyado.
And now, with dawn broken and students arriving at school, the spirits hovered around the laughing students, greedily sucking up the cursed energy unconsciously radiated by ordinary humans.
Bizarrely shaped and hideously ugly.
As expected... they were hideous no matter the era.
You mustn't turn into something like this, Sukuna.
Kamiyado muttered expressionlessly to himself, then unbuckled the katana at his waist.
The scabbard tapped lightly against the ground, and in an instant, an ocean-vast expanse of cursed energy erupted outward from the teaching building, sweeping across the grounds in wave after wave.
Every single "Flyhead" was pulverized into fine dust by that surge of cursed energy in the span of a heartbeat.
The students couldn't feel the flow of cursed energy; they only felt a gentle breeze wash over them, leaving their shoulders and brows feeling inexplicably much lighter.
Having accomplished his deed and brushed off his robes, Kamiyado—who concealed his merits and fame—tied his sword back to his waist and leaned once more against the wall.
Problem solved... No, wait, there was still one injured Semi-Grade 1 Cursed Spirit left.
Kamiyado shifted his gaze toward a specific spot.
That was the school's rugby field.
A flash of light crossed his azure and scarlet pupils as he noticed something else.
That Jujutsu Sorcerer from last night was here too...
Meanwhile, Megumi, currently standing on the rugby field, was holding his breath slightly.
Not only because of the extremely dense cursed energy lingering over the rugby field, but also because of that sudden, tyrannical wave of cursed energy that had just emanated from within the campus.
That cursed energy had felt like wave after wave of pure, indiscriminate sweeping, exorcising all formed and unformed curses across the entire school.
Even this Semi-Grade 1 Cursed Spirit, which his intuition told him was an absolute pain to deal with, had been battered by that indiscriminate attack, leaving its presence vastly weakened.
Megumi wore a solemn expression as he sensed the cursed energy around him, which had suddenly thinned out drastically, and looked back toward the teaching building.
Just who was it...?!
A thought flashed through his mind as he recalled the trail of footprints he'd seen last night.
If it really was someone from the Three Great Families, then they were in trouble.
Teacher Gojo had always been on bad terms with the higher-ups of Jujutsu society, and losing the Special Grade Cursed Object "Sukuna's Finger" this time was already handing them ammunition.
If those close-minded, conservative old fossils managed to find the Special Grade Cursed Object first, there was no telling how those so-called higher-ups would spin this into an issue!
He really knows how to cause me trouble, Teacher Gojo!
Megumi clenched his fists tightly, resolving to give that good-for-nothing teacher a thorough beating the next time he saw him.
He hurried his pace of investigation, rushing out of the rugby field and making his way step by step toward the track and field.
He suddenly noticed that the track and field was unexpectedly lively, with countless students swarming around the shot put throwing area, as if watching some kind of competition.
Thinking that the crowd might be a good place to ask if any students had picked up the box from the louvered box as lost property, Megumi walked over.
As he approached, the chattering discussions of the surrounding people drifted into his ears.
"Look, look! Takagi, the track and field club advisor, is having a shot put contest with Itadori from Nishichu!"
"I wonder who's going to win!"
Megumi glanced at the two figures in the center of the field.
One of them wore a sleeveless tank top, was tall and solidly built, and had an old-looking face. He clearly wasn't a student and must have been Takagi, the track and field club advisor.
The other wore a bright yellow jacket, capri jeans, and had a distinctive head of cherry-blossom-pink messy hair. He looked youthful and full of vitality, radiating the raw innocence and high-spirited energy of a youth.
This must be Itadori.
But... with that kind of physique difference, they're throwing shot put?! Are you sure this isn't an adult bullying a kid?
Megumi was mentally complaining when someone nearby voiced his exact doubt out loud.
Immediately, someone answered with great enthusiasm: "Then you're severely underestimating Itadori Yuji! He's one of the few people to ever clear SASUKE, known as Mirko Filipović reborn, and dubbed the 'Tiger of Nishichu'!"
A girl pouted and complained: "Mirko isn't even dead yet... and besides, that nickname is so lame!"
Megumi stood to the side, quietly watching as the teenager took the heavy iron shot put and innocently asked the advisor: "Can I throw it however I want?"
Takagi nodded confidently and struck a pose he thought was very cool: "Throw it however you want, it won't be counted as a foul. Sorry, Itadori, I chose a field you're not good at for our match."
Itadori Yuji took a deep breath, assumed a baseball-pitching stance, and hurled the shot put away with a single arm!
At that moment, the entire field fell utterly silent.
The student measuring the distances ran out to where the shot put had landed far beyond the throwing boundary, turned back, and shouted at the top of his lungs: "About thirty meters! Itadori wins by a landslide!"
Takagi's eyes widened in a shell-shocked expression of shattered ideals, standing frozen in place for a long time.
Itadori Yuji wasn't overthinking it; he clenched a fist and gave a low cry: "Yosh! I won!"
Then, with his hands shoved into his pants pockets, he walked over to the girl who had just been complaining about his nickname being lame.
As the boy passed by, Megumi quietly sized up the pink-haired individual, feeling a jolt of shock.
To think someone could achieve this kind of result using pure physical strength without relying on cursed energy at all... Truly terrifying!
Megumi quickly snapped back to his senses; after all, he still had an arduous mission at hand.
He looked around for a student who looked approachable, intending to ask some questions.
After bustling about blindly for a little while, he had nothing to show for it.
Sighing with a headache, Megumi stood at the entrance of the track and field and began to contemplate life.
By this time, Itadori Yuji seemed to have finished chatting with two people who looked like companions, bid them farewell, and headed out of the track and field.
Megumi happened to be standing right at the entrance, and seeing someone approach, he instinctively raised his head, locking eyes in an intense gaze with Itadori Yuji.
Megumi froze, and not for any ordinary reason.
It was because—he actually sensed the evil, tyrannical aura of a Special Grade Cursed Object coming from this person.
Coming back to his senses, Megumi hastily called out: "Hey! Wait!"
Yet Itadori Yuji didn't seem to hear him, sprinting away like the wind.
Megumi bit his lip in speechlessness.
Damn it! This guy runs way too fast!
No, he had finally found a lead; he couldn't afford to lose him.
Megumi hastily bolted out of the school, attempting to keep pace with Itadori's footsteps.
The girls and boys who had watched the whole spectacle looked at each other in bewilderment.
One of the girls asked: "Hey, was that guy a friend of Itadori's? Do you know him, Iguchi?"
Iguchi shook his head: "Never seen him... By the way, Sasaki... Are we really going to tear off that paper talisman in the teaching building tonight while Itadori isn't around?"
Sasaki scoffed: "Of course! As his seniors, how could we let that brat look down on us? You're not allowed to skip out tonight!"
The two of them hit it off and separated near the teaching building.
Neither of them noticed a handsome young man in a kimono lingering in the shadows, who had no idea how long he had been listening to their conversation.
Kamiyado sat on the windowsill of a classroom, looking through the glass at the girl named Sasaki.
He could feel it: Sukuna's presence on her was extremely dense.
That Special Grade Cursed Object, "Sukuna's Finger," was likely in this girl's possession as well.
Let's wait a little longer... He was worst at interacting with others.
Once these two realized that messing with things casually was dangerous, they would naturally hand the object over to him.
As Kamiyado thought this, he suddenly recalled the appearance of the boy named "Itadori Yuji."
His heart softened for a brief second.
That boy bore a fifty to sixty percent resemblance to Sukuna in his youth.
Only, he lacked the cold, exquisite black curse markings on his face, lacked that hardened maturity, and lacked that razor-sharp arrogance and wild abandon capable of piercing through everything.
Their temperaments were different, too; Itadori Yuji was full of vitality, optimistic and cheerful.
Whereas Sukuna had experienced the coldness of human nature from childhood, radiating a dead aura long before he met him, steeped in a profound weariness of the mundane world.
Though he later stayed by Sukuna's side and changed Sukuna a great deal, he ultimately never got to see Sukuna develop such an optimistic personality.
Because he had already chosen to fake his death and get sealed away in the Prison Realm.
Seeing an optimistic boy who looked like Sukuna all of a sudden made Kamiyado think—
If he hadn't chosen to do that, but had instead stayed by Sukuna's side all along, would he have been able to see this kind of Sukuna as well?
The immensely surging yet suppressed emotions deep within his heart told him that he truly regretted it.
Kamiyado let out a sigh.
Then, suddenly sensing something, his figure vanished into thin air once more.
Two seconds later, a student rushed hurriedly back into the classroom, muttering under his breath: "Good thing I realized my homework wasn't in my bag before I got home, or I wouldn't have come back... Phew! I'm exhausted!"