It was already 6 p.m., the faint orange glow of sunset bleeding into the hallways of Sugisawa Third High School. The once-busy corridors were eerily silent—until a crash echoed through the upper floors.
Yuji Itadori sprinted up the stairs, heart pounding like a war drum. The screams of his clubmates ripped through the quiet building.
Yuji (thinking): "Sasaki! Iguchi! Hang on!"
He burst into the Occult Club room, and the sight before him froze his breath.
The room was torn apart — lockers bent like paper, the walls smeared with something dark and wet. Iguchi lay on the floor, arm twisted at an unnatural angle, his face pale, barely conscious.
Yuji: "Hey! Can you hear me!?"Iguchi: "R-Run… Yuji… it's… coming…"
A scream pierced the air — Sasaki's voice — from behind the fallen locker. Yuji turned sharply and froze.
Something unseen had lifted her into the air. Her body flailed, grasping at nothing.
Yuji (shocked): "What the hell… what's happening!?"
Then he remembered — the goggles from Kurotsuki Industries, gifted to him last month for a school competition. He pulled them out with trembling hands, slipped them on—
—And immediately wished he hadn't.
A monstrous figure loomed before him, skin black as tar, its mouth splitting open into four jagged lines. It held Sasaki in its hand, drooling, preparing to swallow her whole.
Yuji (furious): "Let her go!"
He launched himself forward with inhuman speed, fist connecting with the creature's face. The curse howled as its body smashed into the opposite wall. Yuji caught Sasaki mid-fall, panting heavily.
Yuji: "Sasaki! Wake up! Hey, come on!"
She was unconscious, breathing but shaken. Yuji turned toward the exit — only to see three more curses slithering through the broken windows, blocking his escape. The one he punched was already regenerating, its face reforming, grinning wide.
Yuji (thinking): "Dammit! Punching's not enough! These things… they don't die!"
He dashed through the halls, curses following in a grotesque parade of limbs and laughter. Every step echoed through the darkening school.
He burst through the rooftop door, gasping for breath, the sky painted in red-orange hues. He laid Sasaki down gently.
Yuji (breathing hard): "You'll be fine. I'll… figure something out."
Then, something rolled out of her jacket pocket — a rotted black finger, its nail long and twisted, wrapped in what looked like dried blood.
Yuji picked it up, inspecting it with confusion.
Yuji: "This thing… is this what those freaks want?"
The air grew heavier. A cold chill ran through his spine as he felt eyes on him. Turning slowly, his stomach dropped.
Eight curses crawled onto the rooftop, their grotesque shapes blocking every possible escape route.
Yuji (thinking): "You've got to be kidding me..."
The nearest curse lunged—
CRACK!
Lightning split the air. A thunderous roar followed as a massive bird-like creature descended from the sky, striking the curses with bolts of electricity.
Yuji shielded his eyes as smoke filled the rooftop.
From the haze, a boy with dark hair and sharp eyes stepped out, his expression cold and calculating.
Megumi: "Stay behind me. I'm Megumi Fushiguro, National Curse Defense Division. You're holding a cursed object — give it to me now."
Yuji: "Cursed object? You mean this gross finger?"
Megumi: "That's not just a finger. It's one of Sukuna's — the King of Curses. If a curse eats it, it'll evolve into something far beyond human comprehension."
Yuji looked at the grotesque finger again, the curses twitching violently, their focus entirely on it.
Yuji: "Then we destroy it, right?"
Megumi: "We can't. Only a special-grade sorcerer can erase something like that. Until then—"
He was cut off as the air rumbled. The rooftop door exploded open — a hulking, veiny curse emerged, dwarfing the others. Its face split in half like a grotesque flower, oozing cursed energy so dense it made Yuji's chest tighten.
Megumi (grimly): "Grade 1... it's way too strong and destructive."
More curses emerged behind it, drawn by the overwhelming energy of Sukuna's finger.
Megumi stepped forward, teeth clenched, summoning his Divine Dogs beside him.
Megumi: "I'll hold them off. You need to run."Yuji: "Like hell I will! My friends are in there!"
The curses surrounded them again, snarling. One reached for the unconscious Sasaki — Yuji's eyes widened in rage.
Yuji (thinking): "If these things want this finger so bad…"
He looked down at the rotting finger in his hand, Megumi realizing his intention too late.
Megumi: "Wait—don't—!"
Yuji's expression hardened. "If this can save her… then I'll take the risk."
He swallowed the finger whole.
For a moment, silence.
Then —
BOOOOOM!!!
A massive shockwave burst from Yuji's body, the curses thrown back like leaves in a storm. The air itself seemed to twist, the rooftop trembling.
Megumi stared in horror at his eyes.
Megumi (thinking): "He actually… survived the cursed energy surge?"
Yuji's body convulsed. His veins turned black, tattoos spreading like living ink across his face. His hair spiked slightly, and when he opened his eyes—
—they were not Yuji's.
Sukuna: "Hah… This air... this stench of filth and fear... how long has it been?"
His grin was wicked, his voice dripping with ancient malice. Around him, the curses trembled — and then, one by one, they exploded into shredded pieces.
Cleave.Dismantle.Cleave.
In seconds, nothing but dust remained.
Megumi stood frozen, sweat dripping down his temple. The thing before him wasn't Yuji anymore.
Sukuna: "Pathetic creatures. All of them. …And this body—hmm, not bad. Flexible. Strong."
He flexed Yuji's fingers, admiring the sensation. Then, his grin widened as he looked directly at Megumi.
Sukuna: "So… what era is this?"
Megumi didn't answer. His instincts screamed run, but his legs refused.
Meanwhile — Tokyo, Jujutsu High.
Gojo Satoru suddenly paused mid-laugh, ice cream spoon halfway to his mouth. His expression darkened.
Gojo: "...That cursed energy."
The ground beneath him trembled faintly, the pressure so overwhelming that even far away, students felt their stomachs tighten.
Gojo (smirking): "Ohhh… It's him. After all this time… Sukuna's back."
Panda blinked. "Wait, who's Sukuna?"
Gojo: "Let's just say… the world's about to get a lot more interesting."
Back on the rooftop, Sukuna stood atop the railing, laughing into the night sky.
Sukuna: "Finally... after a thousand years… I breathe again."
The moonlight reflected in his crimson eyes, and for the first time in centuries, the King of Curses smiled.
To Be Continued...