Chapter 142 — Kusakabe: I WANT TO RUN!
"What do we even do now!? Is that thing still considered normal!?"
"I vote we run. We absolutely should run."
Kusakabe shuffled step by step toward the exit, trying to be as inconspicuous as possible.
Sukuna had transformed into something beyond comprehension—he couldn't imagine any strategy that could defeat that monster.
Rather than die pointlessly, better to run far, far away.
Even dying later was still better than dying now.
"I'm going to help."
With that, Yuki Tsukumo shot out the door like a bullet.
Right after her, Okkotsu Yuta, Itadori Yuji, and Higuruma Hiromi all dashed toward the battlefield.
"If we can't kill Sukuna, we die sooner or later anyway. Might as well bet everything we've got!"
More and more people poured toward the battleground—almost like a ritual march toward death—with grim resolve lighting their eyes.
Nanami quietly drew his short blade.
"…I hope this won't be my last overtime shift. I still want to visit Marancia."
"I don't really care," Riko Amanai shrugged, hoisting her massive sniper rifle.
"I was supposed to die ten-plus years ago. I've already profited."
Maki, Mai, Toji, and practically everyone else prepared themselves for a final showdown.
Running was pointless.
With Sukuna's power now, even if they fled to the ends of the earth, he could still find them.
---
"Do I finally get to fight beside Big Bro Shinsuke!?"
Zen'in Naoya sprinted out, face flushed with excitement—like a crazed fan finally getting to sing onstage with his idol.
Zen'in Naobito downed the rest of his sake.
"Come on. I've been wanting to kick Sukuna for ages."
Hearing that, Zen'in Ogi and Zen'in Jinichi hesitated—then followed.
---
"Let's go. We can't escape anyway."
Principal Yaga grabbed Kusakabe's shoulder, dragging him along.
"H–hey hey hey! I can walk myself!"
Kusakabe's face twisted in annoyance.
Fight Sukuna? Him?
What a joke.
This was no different than telling a regular human to go fight a kaiju.
---
Meanwhile, from the observation tower:
"Should we run too?"
Ui Ui asks Mei Mei, tugging her sleeve.
"With my ability—so long as Sukuna doesn't target us—he'll never find us."
Mei Mei was silent for two seconds… then smirked.
"We're going too."
Her black crows had all been vaporized by Sukuna's earlier energy burst, cutting off her livestream.
She needed to get closer, find a safe spot, and resume streaming.
If the sorcerers won—great.
More profit.
If they lost…
"…Don't worry. We're not going there to die. If things go south, we run. Our safety comes first."
"Yes, Sis."
A blush spread across Ui Ui's face.
He didn't care how strong Sukuna was.
Right now, his sister was terrifyingly… cool.
---
It was only two or three kilometers from the viewing deck to the battlefield.
As soon as Sukuna burst out of the cursed-energy cocoon, everyone had set off—within minutes, they would arrive.
---
Shinsuke was still trying to negotiate.
"Sukuna, I think we can just sit down and talk thi—"
"Shut up."
Sukuna swung one colossal arm.
A massive slash—thick enough to split the sky—tore toward him.
Shinsuke blinked away, appearing several dozen meters to the side.
"KR–R–RRAA!!"
The slash grazed past him, carving open a five-to-six-meter-wide trench that stretched on for a full kilometer.
Despite his monstrous size, Sukuna's speed hadn't slowed.
If anything—his physical stats had exploded sky-high.
Seeing Shinsuke dodge his casual strike, Sukuna didn't mind at all.
He was satisfied with the destructive power.
He could throw out six of these slashes effortlessly.
Add a chant behind them?
Even he wasn't sure what would happen.
---
"Tch… This just isn't fun anymore. Don't tell me I have to use Death Gate and risk blowing myself up…"
Shinsuke frowned.
Even with superior healing and heavenly restriction, he wasn't confident he'd survive using the Dead Gate.
Before he could think further—
"Hollow Technique: Purple!"
Gojo fired.
Sukuna's eyes narrowed.
A second spatial-cleaving slash erupted from his arm—cleanly splitting Gojo's attack in half and sending the divided beams crashing into the ruins on both sides.
A violent tremor followed, hurling clouds of dust into the air.
Their attack hadn't even reached Sukuna before being neutralized.
"Don't be impatient," Sukuna rumbled, his monstrous voice buzzing like a vibrating engine.
"I told you—I'll let you die slowly… properly… one piece at a time."
His tone was so deep it no longer felt human—merely closer to the creature he had become.
---
"Garuda!"
A football-sized orb shot toward Sukuna.
In the instant he paused, the ball struck his massive frame—its layered pseudo-mass smashing a hole clean through him.
But only for a moment.
A surge of cursed energy blasted the technique away, and the gaping wound regenerated instantly, as if rewinding time.
Sukuna turned his massive head toward the horizon, lips curling into a crooked smile.
"So everyone's arrived?
Good. You can all serve as burial offerings… for these two."
A thought flashed through his mind—twisted, malicious.
"I just had a more entertaining idea.
If I kill all of them one by one… will the two of you break?"
He wanted to see.
Were these two truly like him—or were they weaklings bound by meaningless attachments?
"Or perhaps… if you kill all the sorcerers for me… I might consider sparing your lives."
At that line, the approaching sorcerers all felt their faces twitch.
Was Sukuna's brain even functioning at this point?
This wasn't insanity—it was perversion on a conceptual level.
---
"Gulp…
How the hell did Sukuna become this thing…?"
Kusakabe and the others stopped several hundred meters away.
Seeing the monster up close, they involuntarily sucked in freezing breaths.
Watching it through a screen looked exaggerated.
Seeing it in person…
That was terror.
Deep, instinctual terror that suffocated the lungs and froze the spine.
A body big enough to blot out the sky.
A cursed aura thick enough to choke.
A presence so wicked it felt like staring directly into a natural disaster.
No one dared move.
---
"Why did you all come?"
Shinsuke glanced at Yuki Tsukumo and the others who had arrived, unable to hide his exasperation.
He and Gojo had been trying to stall for time—hoping these idiots would run.
But now?
They all came marching straight into death.
"It's just dying.
If we're dying anyway, we better carve a chunk out of Sukuna first!"
"Exactly! We're not scared of death. Shinsuke, Gojo—let's go all in!"
One after another, they shouted in agreement, eyes filled with grim resolve.
They were terrified—but fear solved nothing.
A cornered animal had only one choice: fight.
Only Kusakabe looked like he wanted to cry.
He absolutely did not share their enthusiasm for suicide missions…
But he couldn't exactly say that out loud right now.
---
"How touching…
You fragile little humans…"
Sukuna gazed down at them from above, unmoved—like a giant regarding insects crawling at its feet.