Watching the nearly destroyed school building and "Itadori" plummeting into a crater and kicking up a cloud of dust, Fushiguro, who witnessed the entire event, was completely dumbfounded.
Fushiguro knew exactly why Itadori's demeanor had changed: the person before him wasn't Itadori but the Special Grade Cursed Object he had swallowed. That Cursed Object was a Ryomen Sukuna finger, meaning the person now controlling Itadori's body was none other than Ryomen Sukuna, the King of Curses from the golden age of Jujutsu a thousand years ago! But what was he seeing? The legendary Sukuna had clearly awakened, yet he was continuously getting beaten!
Fushiguro knew that if he told anyone what he'd seen, no one would believe him.
Sukuna, who had been smashed all the way from the fourth floor to the first, was equally furious. As a Special Grade Curse, even with only one-twentieth of his full power, he wasn't someone who could be easily taken down. But from the beginning of this fight, he, Ryomen Sukuna, had been taking a beating—something completely beneath the dignity of the King of Curses.
Sukuna realized that Seiya might not know much about Sorcerers, but his combat experience was richer than expected. Seiya's relentless pursuit, which looked reckless, was actually a strategy to disrupt Sukuna's rhythm and prevent him from using his Cursed Techniques. If his speed is fast enough, I won't have time to use a Cursed Technique. Furthermore, with the Cursed Energy of just one finger, even if he did manage to use a Cursed Technique, it might not be enough to kill his opponent.
Though it felt like overkill, Sukuna only hesitated for a moment before deciding to use a sledgehammer to crack a nut against the insulting Seiya.
"Hey, you with the two blank faces, are you planning to use a Cursed Technique now? I thought you were a man, seeing how cocky you were talking earlier. That's why I purposely held back my Shikigami, hoping for a man-to-man, fist-to-fist battle. But if you're going to use a Cursed Technique first, then I won't hold back either."
Seeing Seiya standing in the hole on the fourth floor, looking down and speaking to him, Sukuna, who was about to activate his Domain Expansion, immediately lowered his hands.
The reason was simple: Ryomen Sukuna was a Curse with dignity. It was true that Sukuna loved freedom and acted solely on his desires. But it was well known that villains with a chuunibyou streak typically had very high self-esteem. With only one finger's worth of Cursed Energy, Sukuna could only use a small fraction of the power of his Domain, Malevolent Shrine, but even that small fraction would be more than enough to easily dispose of Seiya.
Sukuna was planning to use his Domain to instantly kill Seiya and wash away the shame of being beaten. However, Seiya's challenge immediately made Sukuna abandon that plan. Are you kidding me? Didn't the brat just say he was holding back his Shikigami for a man-to-man brawl? If he, Ryomen Sukuna, used his Domain now, wouldn't that imply that Ryomen Sukuna wasn't a man?
He was Ryomen Sukuna! A being who considered himself "Heaven and Earth, I alone am the honored one." If he were to be so blatantly mocked and then kill Seiya with a Domain, how could he show his face in the Jujutsu world ever again?
"Hmph. Even without a Cursed Technique, I can still easily slaughter you!"
Undeniably, Sukuna was proud. Seiya's provocation thoroughly enraged and put a target on his back, but it also ensured that Sukuna would likely never use a Cursed Technique in this fight, or any future one against Seiya. Given Sukuna's personality, after being humiliated today, he would only kill Seiya in a field he deemed Seiya to be skilled at, much like a certain volcano-head Curse.
He crushed the ground with a single foot. Using Itadori's superhuman physical strength, amplified by his Cursed Energy, Sukuna launched himself in a single leap, rocketing from the first floor to the fourth. He unleashed a punch infused with Cursed Energy. Caught off guard, Seiya could only cross his arms in defense. Nevertheless, Seiya was sent flying by Sukuna's blow!
If Seiya had used a flying kick to send Sukuna into the ground before, Sukuna now used a punch to send Seiya into the air. Itadori's physical ability was already ridiculously strong, and with Sukuna's amplification, his next move was a Divergent Fist. The powerful shockwave not only made Seiya's defending arms numb but, as he was sent flying, his back smashed through two layers of ceiling, launching him several meters into the sky.
Just as Sukuna curled his lip in contempt and leaped again to pursue the airborne Seiya, Seiya finally recovered and unleashed a punch of his own toward the rapidly approaching Sukuna.
The two combatants, suspended in mid-air, threw their punches at almost the exact same moment, and their fists landed on each other's faces almost simultaneously. Under the heavy blows, both of their heads snapped to the side, and in the next second, the resulting shockwave repelled them in opposite directions.
The recoiling Sukuna flew dozens of meters, snapping a large tree on the school grounds before landing in the schoolyard. Seiya fared no better; he crashed directly into another school building, his body buried under the resulting rubble and debris.
"Damn it! What the hell is Itadori doing? Why hasn't his consciousness taken back the body? This is absolutely nothing like the original plot!" Seiya stood up from the rock and debris, his face grim as he watched the distant Sukuna climb to his feet again.
The recent brawl looked evenly matched, but only Seiya knew he was at a massive disadvantage. Sukuna was a Curse; even if he lost a limb, he could regenerate. Fighting blow-for-blow looked cool, but as a human, Seiya was losing the exchange. Furthermore, Sukuna was not lacking in combat experience or skill; he only took a beating earlier because he was still adjusting to Itadori's body. As time passed, Sukuna was becoming more comfortable in his new vessel and growing more adept.
Seiya had initially believed that as long as Sukuna didn't use his Domain, he could hold his own against the one-finger version of the Curse. Even if Sukuna used his Domain, a one-finger Sukuna could only maintain a fleeting Malevolent Shrine, which Seiya, with his ability to neutralize lethal damage, might survive.
But now, he realized he had been naive. Escaping from a one-finger Sukuna might not be a problem, but defeating him was proving to be too difficult.