Kamiyado returned to the rooftop, sitting cross-legged on the ground as he quietly watched the setting sun sink below the horizon, the curved moon gradually rising high into the night sky.
This was a sight he had never once seen during the thousand years he spent inside the Prison Realm.
Or perhaps, this was also a sight Sukuna had never seen during the thousand years he spent as a Cursed Object.
As night completely descended, he stood up and walked step by step down the stairs.
Meanwhile, inside a spacious, empty classroom on the fourth floor of the main building, Sasaki and Iguchi stood nervously gathered around a desk, illuminated by the faint, flickering glow of a single candle.
In her hand, Sasaki clutched a stick-like object wrapped entirely in sealing talismans, continuously digging at the edges of the paper with her fingertips in an attempt to peel the strip away.
Perhaps because the atmosphere was far too terrifying, Iguchi swallowed hard and spoke with a trembling voice: "Shouldn't we just turn on the light..."
Sasaki immediately stopped him, her movements becoming even faster: "No, it has to be like this! That's the only way to get the proper paranormal research atmosphere."
Iguchi had no choice but to sit quietly and keep her company.
Finally, after a determined effort by Sasaki, one corner of the sealing talisman peeled back.
The two exchanged a glance, both of their expressions filled with a mix of excitement.
Sasaki slowly continued to tear along the peeled strip, and strips of paper covered in all sorts of strange runes fell off, piling up across the entire surface of the desk.
The moment they clearly saw what was wrapped inside the paper, both of them sharply gasped.
It was a brownish-red finger, with extremely long fingernails that were a deep, dark black.
Every wrinkle on the finger was rendered with lifelike detail, yet this bizarrely eerie color made it look utterly terrifying.
Not to mention that the finger seemed to be wreathed in a chilling, tyrannical aura.
The hand Sasaki used to pinch the finger grew almost stiff, unsure whether her palm was trembling from fear or frozen by the chilling cold radiating from the finger.
She tried to liven up the atmosphere: "Is this a replica? It actually feels pretty good..."
Suddenly, as if the entire floor, or perhaps just the entire classroom, or maybe... simply the desk right in front of them, shook violently in that exact instant.
The fear they had been forcefully suppressing was instantly unleashed. Sasaki had no time to figure out the source of the vibration, letting out a startled shriek.
Her hand slipped, and the bizarre finger dropped onto the desk.
Only for Sasaki, reacting on instinct, to immediately clutch it back into her palm along with the fallen sealing talismans.
Behind her glasses lenses, Sasaki's pupils rapidly constricted and then dilated to the rhythm of her hurried breathing.
Aside from their own suppressed breathing, the classroom seemed to gradually fill with inhuman, subtle rustling sounds creeping out from the shadows beyond the candle's reach.
Faint and fragmented, yet allowing the two of them to perceive with absolute clarity that in this silent space, apart from them, something else was present.
Sasaki painfully forced three words past her throat: "Iguchi, hurry—" Turn on the light!
Before she could finish, the already flickering candle flame on the desk suddenly shivered twice and, under their horrified gazes, went out.
It went—out!
A cracked, shrieking scream tore from Sasaki's throat, only to abruptly cut off two seconds later, as if someone had directly choked it off at the source.
And—indeed, someone had directly choked it off.
Clutching her mouth and aided by a newly reignited flame, Sasaki stared at the figure that had suddenly appeared before her.
An old-style kimono, heterochromatic eyes, and a hollow expression—wasn't this precisely the "ghost" her school club, the Paranormal Research Society, and its president had spent a lifetime searching for?
She was terrified out of her mind, yet she didn't want to give up this chance to strike up a conversation.
Perhaps... it was also partly because the person was simply too handsome?
Sasaki tentatively spoke in a soft voice: "Um... excuse me, are you a ghost?"
Iguchi held his breath, utterly failing to anticipate that his companion could be this reckless; he nearly rolled his eyes back and passed out on the spot.
Kamiyado cast a flat glance at her, ignoring her question as he tapped the finger on the desk with his fingertip.
"This thing is dangerous. I'm taking it."
Short, concise, and completely devoid of emotion.
Sasaki instantly let out a breath of relief, then complained with a hint of disappointment: "What the heck, so you're human after all... Isn't this just a toy? How is it dangerous?"
Who would have thought Kamiyado would suddenly reply with serious and solemn earnestness: "This is not a toy."
He added silently to himself: This is my dearest friend.
He didn't voice out something that sounded so bizarre, choosing instead to pick up Sukuna's Finger with utmost care and tuck it away safely, thinking to himself in secret:
So... you need to hurry up and recover your human form—
If you stay like this and keep attracting hideously ugly deformed entities, he's going to—he's going to—have to kill Curses every single day.
How exhausting is that, seriously?!
Kamiyado raised his head to look at the ceiling, where the residual cursed energy of the Semi-Grade 1 Cursed Spirit he had injured with his cursed power still lingered.
He swept his gaze across the classroom once more, where low-grade Cursed Spirits were swarming everywhere, all drawn in by the aura of the Special Grade Cursed Object.
Yet the low-grade Cursed Spirits within the school had already been thoroughly cleared out by Kamiyado's cursed power early this morning, which meant—
These Cursed Spirits had converged on the school from much farther away!
Kamiyado sighed silently, yet chose not to use his cursed power to clear the scene.
He didn't like doing meaningless things.
Although he didn't know what "liking" felt like, this was what Sukuna had taught him.
"Don't do things you don't like; live a little more as you please."
Having the desire to do something and feeling happy about it—was that probably what "liking" meant?
Therefore, he disliked doing meaningless things.
No matter how many times Cursed Spirits were exorcised, they would simply regenerate from human negative emotions.
He didn't possess the moral compass to strictly follow jujutsu regulations anyway; otherwise, he never would have run off to become friends with Ryomen Sukuna in the first place.
"Let's go. Outside. It's dangerous here."
Without waiting for either of them to reply, he took the lead and walked out of the classroom.
The two stared blankly at each other for a moment, and only after the strange young man had completely vanished from sight did they realize...
The strange sounds lurking in the darkness of the classroom hadn't stopped at all.
Blank, terrified, the two sprang up in unison and bolted through the doorway in a single, fluid motion.
"Mister, wait for us ahhhhh!"
——————
Meanwhile, Itadori Yuji was rushing back toward the school at top speed alongside Fushiguro Meguni.
Itadori Yuji's grandfather had passed away that afternoon, and his body was received at the hospital in the evening. Before he even had time to mourn or grieve, Fushiguro had tracked him down to the hospital.
Having changed back into his black school uniform, Fushiguro pulled Itadori aside with a grave expression to talk face-to-face.
He got straight to the point: "You're Itadori Yuji, right? I'm Fushiguro Meguni, a student at Jujutsu High."
"The Special Grade Cursed Object in your possession is extremely dangerous. Hand it over to me right now, immediately."
With that, he took out his phone and pulled up a photo of the box containing the Special Grade Cursed Object to show Itadori.
Itadori glanced at it and answered quite casually: "I found it, so I don't really care, but the upperclassmen really like it... Besides, what's a Cursed Object?"
Fushiguro's expression darkened, and he spoke concisely: "A Cursed Object is a type of Curse. It's lethal poison that attracts bad things... No matter what, hand the thing over to me right now."
Itadori still looked puzzled: "A Curse? Then why would you keep bad things like that in a school?"
Realizing there was no way around it without a full explanation, Fushiguro suppressed his growing anxiety and patiently explained the meaning of a Curse.
Then he answered Itadori's second question: "Because a Special Grade Cursed Object is a lethal poison that deters other Cursed Spirits, serving to ward off evil, but..."
"This warding effect is just an old superstition passed down from ancient times. Once the seal on a Special Grade Cursed Object loosens, the lethal poison turns into bait that attracts Cursed Spirits and accelerates their growth."
"In short, this is an emergency. Hurry up and give me the item!"
It. was Itadori's first encounter with such supernatural tales, and he found it hard to believe a single word, his attitude turning somewhat casual.
He simply pulled a box out of his pocket, tossed it to Fushiguro, and turned to leave.
Fushiguro caught the box and opened it, only to find that the Cursed Object inside was long gone. He quickly grabbed Itadori by the arm to stop him.
"Where's the thing that was inside?!"
Itadori impatiently brushed his hand away: "I told you, it's with the upperclassmen..."
As he spoke, Itadori suddenly remembered something, his expression freezing: "Speaking of which, the upperclassmen mentioned something about peeling off those paper strips on the school building tonight."
Fushiguro stepped back abruptly, his expression turning completely grim.
The pink-haired boy, who had been carefree just a moment before, looked at Fushiguro's gloomy expression and finally grasped the severity of the situation: "What's wrong? Will something happen?"
Fushiguro pressed his lips into a tight line, glancing at him: "More than that... They're going to die!"
That led to the scene of the two sprinting like the wind out of the hospital and rushing back toward the school.
Along the way, Itadori reminded Fushiguro to take a shortcut, and Fushiguro asked: "Do you know where they are?"
"The main building, fourth floor!"
Running at a dead sprint, the moment they reached the base of the main building, even Itadori—who was merely an ordinary person—could feel the bizarre, oppressive aura emanating from throughout the entire structure.
While Itadori stood there dazed, Fushiguro vaulted over the fence in a few fluid motions and raced into the building.
Itadori hurriedly grabbed the iron railings and shouted after him: "Hey! You just went in like that, what about me?!"
Fushiguro paused his steps without looking back, leaving behind a single sentence: "What comes next isn't something an ordinary person like you can get involved in. Wait here!"
Watching the figure vanish into the stairwell, Itadori wanted to leap over the fence and chase after him as well, but his body—usually so full of strength—felt as though it had gone into shock.
He couldn't summon even an ounce of energy.
Raising his eyes, Itadori stared blankly at the main building shrouded in its bizarre atmosphere, falling into a daze.
What is this feeling...
I'm actually afraid... Am I afraid of this aura reeking of "death"—
Yes, when all is said and done, he was only a fifteen- or sixteen-year-old high school student who had just sent off his stubborn grandfather that afternoon, and now he was facing the prospect of his two upperclassmen meeting an unknown fate.
The concept of death suddenly crystallized in his mind, and an irrepressible panic made Itadori's hands and feet nearly go weak.
What should he do... How on earth was he supposed to fix this?
Suddenly, his grandfather's dying words flashed vividly through his mind.
"Itadori, you have great strength. Go help others, and don't end up like me."
Help others... Right! He, too, was carrying the burden of a troublesome curse!
He had to help others!
Just as Itadori finally made up his mind and moved to climb the fence, Senior Sasaki's voice suddenly echoed beside his ear.
"Itadori, what are you standing here daydreaming for?"
Itadori whipped his head around so hard his cervical spine produced a loud crunch, nearly giving Sasaki the fright that her junior might twist his head right off.
Turning back, Itadori saw three people standing there.
His upperclassmen stood off to the side, completely unharmed, alongside a strange, heterochromatic-eyed young man in an odd kimono who was watching him with an inscrutable gaze.
"Hey, you guys are okay!" Itadori let out a long breath, feeling a profound sense of survival-born relief.
Iguchi chuckled and spoke up: "We probably... should have been in trouble, but thankfully this gentleman brought us out."
He casually gestured toward Kamiyado standing beside them.
Itadori shifted his gaze back to Kamiyado, inadvertently locking eyes with the young man's inexplicable stare.
He shivered all over, quickly averting his gaze as he asked his upperclassmen: "That's amazing! By the way, what about that thing? That thing is very dangerous, let me hold onto it for safekeeping first."
Sasaki pointed at Kamiyado and whispered, "It was put away by this gentleman."
Having failed to divert his attention, Itadori had no choice but to face Kamiyado once more.
Enduring the young man's oppressive gaze, Itadori felt as though his voice was about to crack: "Y-y-y-you hello, that thing is v-very dangerous! You, you shouldn't carry it yourself, leave it for the professionals to handle!"
If it weren't for how bizarre the situation felt, he might have even wanted to bow deeply to this young man.
Hearing this, Kamiyado didn't speak immediately; instead, he was busy processing the countless streams of information sent back by the Six Eyes regarding "Itadori Yuji."
He discovered that this boy didn't merely share a striking resemblance to his own Sukuna; there was some even deeper connection between them.
He couldn't quite pinpoint the nature of this deeper connection right now, but intuition told him—
This boy might just be able to serve as a vessel to hold Sukuna.
Although doing so was no different from murder, everyone had their own selfish desires.
He wanted to see Sukuna.
He wanted to, so very much...
Upon seeing Itadori's face, which bore such a strong resemblance to Sukuna's, his mind was almost entirely consumed by the emotion of "yearoning," leaving no room to process anything else.
Besides, this wouldn't really count as murder; it would merely allow Sukuna's soul to claim dominance over this body.
Later on, he could simply use Cursed Technique Construction to forge a brand-new physical body and extract Itadori's soul into it independently.
With a placid expression, Kamiyado rapidly formulated a plan in his mind while simultaneously abandoning his original idea.
His original plan had been to gather all of Sukuna's soul fragments, spend time crafting a body perfectly suited for Sukuna using Cursed Technique Construction, and then bring Sukuna back to life.
Yet he couldn't guarantee how long that would take. Even though his Cursed Technique Construction was exceptionally unique, researching a physical body that perfectly matched a specific soul was far from easy.
A week, a month, a year, several years... He couldn't be sure if he could wait that long, nor did he want to make Sukuna wait that long—
Therefore, he would leave this period of waiting to the boy named "Itadori Yuji."
Without a shred of moral or ethical constraint, Kamiyado made this decision in his heart and immediately put it into action.
He pulled "Sukuna's Finger" out from his wide sleeve, handed it to Itadori, and then pointed toward the building, speaking in a flat tone: "You need to go in, and save him. The people inside are in danger."
In a single sentence, he completely scrambled the minds of all three people present.
Itadori was caught in a state of bewildered relief—relief that this bizarre individual was actually willing to return the finger, yet utterly baffled by—
This guy had managed to walk out with two completely defenseless dead weights, yet Fushiguro Meguni, who looked so capable, was actually in danger inside?!
Sasaki and Iguchi, on the other hand, had entirely failed to notice that anyone had snuck back into the main building.
Sasaki poked Iguchi in the waist and muttered, "Huh? So Itadori didn't come here by himself? I thought he was the only one!"
"Wait, since this gentleman walked out with us, how does he know someone went back in?"
Iguchi shrugged wordlessly, signaling that he had no idea either.
After processing this for a moment, Itadori finally caught the main point: "Ah?! Fushiguro is in danger? Then I have to hurry in and save him. Mister, please look after my upperclassmen!"
With a rapid-fire declaration, he vaulted over the fence with a whoosh and charged back into the building.
The only thing echoing in his ear was the gentleman's meaningful parting remark: "In a moment of crisis, you can... swallow that finger, and you'll gain cursed power." Of course, the "you" at that moment might no longer be you...
Kamiyado left that last sentence unsaid; even if he had spoken it, that hurried individual probably wouldn't have heard it anyway.
Once Sasaki and Iguchi snapped out of their blank state on the spot, they turned in unison to look at Kamiyado.
Kamiyado's eyes drifted lightly across the two of them as he said blandly, "You may go home now."
Sasaki fought down the powerful impulse to turn and sprint away, managing to ask: "Th-that person and Itadori, they'll be okay, right?"
Standing under the moonlight now, this gentleman truly looked—even more like a ghost than actual ghosts!
That hollow expression, those hollow eyes, that hollow tone. Eek—so terrifying.
Upon receiving an affirmative reply, the two of them retreated at warp speed.
Kamiyado raised his head to look at the moon tonight, pondering for a moment, yet seemingly thinking of nothing at all, simply staring blankly at the moonlight.
Roughly five minutes after Itadori entered the building, the sound of a wall shattering under a massive explosion echoed out.
At the sound, Kamiyado looked over to see the black-uniformed young jujutsu sorcerer being blasted out of the main building amid a flurry of flying rubble, crashing violently onto the rooftop of an adjacent building.
A cursed spirit with an ugly form, six eyes, eight arms, and a torso resembling a maggot immediately burst out of the main building, charging at a mad sprint toward the fallen young sorcerer.
Kamiyado frowned as he watched, a calm thought crossing his mind.
The jujutsu sorcerers of this era really are—pitiably weak.
This curse, enhanced by "Sukuna's Finger," was merely at a semi-grade 1 level, barely scraping the border of a grade 1 curse, and after being battered by his cursed power tide, it had plummeted straight to the bottom tier of grade 2 curses.
To think it could still beat a jujutsu sorcerer into this state...
Still, this worked out well. Only under such circumstances would that boy be given a reason to swallow "Sukuna's Finger" and obtain power.
Losing interest in the sorcerer, Kamiyado instead turned his gaze toward the figure closely tailing the curse.
Countless ripples flashed through his heterochromatic eyes before fading back into stillness an instant later.
Do your best... Curse.