"Ijichi-san!"
Yuji ran out of the sewer and found Kiyotaka Ijichi at the intersection.
"Itadori-kun, I was just looking for you. Who is this?"
Yuji slowly placed Junpei in the back seat of the car and said, "A Special Grade Cursed Spirit has appeared. This is Junpei Yoshino, the person I mentioned before; he got caught up in this. Nanami is still fighting the enemy alone. I have to go back and help him."
"A Special Grade Cursed Spirit after all?" Ijichi stopped him and said, "Nanami-san called earlier and asked me to request reinforcements. I've already contacted Gojo-san; he should be able to make time to get here soon. It's better if Itadori-kun stays here and waits for him. A Special Grade is far too dangerous."
"Gojo-sensei is coming? That's great!" Yuji instantly felt a surge of security. "Then I definitely have to go back and help! I'll work with Nanami to stall the enemy until Gojo-sensei arrives. Don't worry, in an emergency, I'll let Sukuna out."
"I'm counting on you to look after Junpei Yoshino."
Yuji waved and ran off before Ijichi could stop him.
"Itadori-kun, be careful of your own safety too!"
"I know!"
After running a certain distance, a mouth appeared on his cheek and said, "I advise you not to go back and throw your life away. I can't save you this time."
It was Ryomen Sukuna, who could perceive the outside world from within Yuji's body.
"Even you can't win?"
"How rare. If I were at full strength, I wouldn't fear him, but the current me only has the power of three fingers. It would be a miracle if I could win."
"Tch! You cowardly bully."
"This is called 'the wise man knows when to retreat.' Going to your death when you know you can't win... you might even be humiliated by that guy with the terrible personality before you die. I'm not a fool like you." Sukuna saw through Aosora's essence immediately because they were very similar.
"Is he really that strong?"
"Just the abilities he's shown so far are enough to kill you a thousand times over. That suit-wearing guy might be a corpse before you even get back. Just stay put and wait for that man to arrive. Except for him, everyone else is trash. Going there is just feeding the enemy."
"Shut up! You cowardly bully, I'm definitely going to save Nanami!" Yuji cursed again. Instead of slowing down, he accelerated.
"Suit yourself. Looks like I'll have to find a new vessel again."
With that, the mouth on his cheek vanished.
Inside Yuji's inner world, Ryomen Sukuna's expression wasn't as calm as he let on. He couldn't hide his excitement: "A god? Hahahaha, a mere Cursed Spirit dares to call itself a god? Interesting! I really want to tear him into pieces and see if a god's blood is any different."
"You'd better stay alive until I'm resurrected, God."
Yuji sprinted back to the hole at a speed that would make even Usain Bolt blush and jumped down without a second thought, shouting, "I'm back!"
His voice echoed through the sewer, but there was no other sound. The enemy was gone. Only Kento Nanami remained, collapsed in a pool of blood.
"Na... Nanami!" Yuji lost control of his body and knelt on the ground, tears streaming from his eyes.
...
In a certain house, seemingly ordinary on the outside but containing a vast lake and beach within, the domain of a certain Cursed Spirit served as their hiding place.
"Huh, how did you end up like this?"
"Mahito?!"
Having barely escaped with his life, Mahito had returned, but his body had shrunk significantly, looking like an infant.
"Haha, I ran into a grumpy old senior who gave me a thorough beating. I almost died. I've consumed too much cursed energy and can only maintain this form. Now Jogo and I are brothers in misfortune. But it's okay, I'll recover soon."
Mahito, having fled for the first time, didn't yet know this would become a recurring theme. He laughed lightheartedly, lying on a lounge chair with a relaxed expression.
"Idiot, what is there to be happy about?!" Jogo, the Cursed Spirit with the volcano head, grumbled. After being disciplined by Satoru Gojo, he had mostly recovered.
"An old senior? A Cursed Spirit?" A man wearing monk's robes with stitches across his forehead asked, rubbing his chin.
"Yes. He calls himself the incarnation of 'Heaven,' and his strength is off the charts. I was smug for a while because he didn't have a way to attack the soul at first, but I didn't expect him to pull out a move that countered me in the end."
"Heaven? That doesn't sit well with me at all," Jogo, the incarnation of the Earth, said.
"Why would he attack you? Aren't you Cursed Spirits on the same side?" the man in the robes asked.
"Because he considers himself a god and looks down on us," Mahito shrugged helplessly.
"Just like you humans, there are different factions among us Cursed Spirits. In that case, let's just ignore him for now. Completing the mission is our priority." Although Mahito was the nominal leader among the four Special Grade Spirits, it was Jogo who had actually brought them together.
"It's good that you're so sensible. We'll wait here for the right moment," the man in the robes said, squinting. A god? Truly intriguing.
...
"Don't worry, Nanami is out of danger."
Satoru Gojo had once again arrived a step late. When he reached the sewer, he only found the collapsed Kento Nanami and the sobbing Yuji. After Nanami was sent to Shoko Ieiri, the doctor at Jujutsu High, his life was finally saved.
"Yes, thank you!" In the infirmary, Yuji bowed to Shoko Ieiri.
"Nanami already told me. You should save your thanks for him," Shoko waved them off and left the room.
Inside were Yuji, Satoru Gojo, Kiyotaka Ijichi, and the conscious but immobile Kento Nanami.
"Yo, Nanami, it's great you're okay. Yuji was almost drowned in his own tears," Gojo said in his usual flippant tone.
"Gojo-sensei, I was not drowned in tears!" Yuji waved his hands frantically, then his voice dropped. "I just feel like it's my responsibility."
It's all because I'm too weak that I dragged Nanami down.
"Itadori-kun, please don't think that way. In the sorcerer business, death comes sooner or later; I was already prepared. This was my own choice and has nothing to do with you or anyone else, so don't blame yourself."
"Nanami..."
Clap clap clap.
"Well said, Nanami! You have real potential as a teacher. Want to come back to the High School?" Gojo clapped.
"I refuse," Kento Nanami gasped weakly. "Please show some consideration for an injured man and get to the point."
"Okay, okay." Gojo sat backward on a chair, rocking it while leaning on the backrest. He gestured, "Let the performance begin."
"I'll start," Kiyotaka Ijichi pushed up his glasses and read from his phone. "According to Junpei Yoshino, the murders at the movie theater were committed by another Special Grade Cursed Spirit named Mahito. He has long blue hair, stitches on his face, and claims to be a curse formed from the hatred humans feel toward each other."
"The Special Grade Spirit that severely injured Nanami-san is named Aosora. He appears as a man in a tattered tracksuit, possessing an extraordinary aura and a perfect appearance. He's the kind of being you'd notice instantly. He claims to be a curse formed from human fear of the Heavens and styles himself as a god. This Cursed Spirit appeared suddenly and engaged Mahito in battle. The fight was completely one-sided. After a final destructive move, Mahito disappeared, and his status is unknown."
"Oh!" Yuji realized, clapping his hands. "I witnessed that move when I first saw Aosora. So it was curse infighting."
"Mm, so the Special Grade Spirits aren't a united front. That's good news."
"1, 2, 3, 4," Gojo counted on his fingers. "Four unregistered Special Grade Spirits have appeared recently. They must be plotting something big. How exciting."
"This is not something to be excited about," Nanami said. "I have two points to add. One, Aosora is clearly a step above Mahito and the others in strength. Based on his words, it's not hard to see his arrogant personality and his contempt for the weak. Thus, I deduce Aosora is an individual actor, while Mahito is the one allied with the other two spirits."
"Makes sense," Yuji agreed. Given that guy's personality of hitting whoever he sees, who would team up with him?
"Two, their techniques. Mahito has the ability to distort humans into monsters; the principle is currently unclear. Aosora's demonstrated abilities are diverse. His melee combat is particularly powerful; I was severely injured by just a few of his punches."
"Yeah, I can vouch for that. That guy's body is insanely strong. I was taken down before I could even see him move," Yuji raised his hand. "And his ranged skills shouldn't be underestimated. I saw with my own eyes that his palms can fire a shockwave with lightning. It's super scary."
"Shockwave? Kamehameha?" After making that quip, Gojo touched the scars on his neck. "A powerhouse in melee, huh? My least favorite type."
"Also, a transparent barrier appeared in front of him during our fight. It was very sturdy; it only broke after I used the Ratio Technique."
"Junpei Yoshino said Aosora's body glows. At the time, he felt a sense of being 'purified'."
"A Cursed Spirit... purifying? That sounds like a total mismatch."
"Anything else?" Gojo asked. "Regarding his motives, goals, and so on."
"Nothing specific. Maybe becoming a true god?" Yuji said uncertainly.
Nanami thought for a moment and said, "Now that you mention it, Aosora didn't show killing intent toward Itadori or me. It was more like punishment or venting, or perhaps he was just bored and wanted to play."
"Nanami, you were almost killed! That doesn't count as killing intent?"
"Because relative to him, we were too weak. If he had been serious from the start, neither Itadori-kun nor I would have made it out alive."
Yuji thought of Sukuna's words and nodded thoughtfully. "I guess you're right."
"Alright." Gojo stood up and clapped. "I've got the gist of it. I'll handle the follow-up. Nanami, get some rest. Yuji, go back to training. I'm going to be extra tough this time, so don't get drowned in tears."
"Who's getting drowned in tears?!"
...
On the bustling streets of Tokyo, crowds were coming and going, yet no one could see the "god" above them.
Is this what it feels like to be invisible? It's pretty great.
Aosora stood atop a street lamp, looking down at the crowd, enjoying a rare moment of quiet without being hounded by fans. After carefully injuring Nanami, he had followed his intuition to this place, as he was unfamiliar with the area.
Aosora was quite disappointed that he hadn't managed to see a Black Flash during the battle. Black Flash is a high-level combat technique in Jujutsu Kaisen. It is a spatial distortion that occurs when cursed energy is applied within 0.000001 seconds of a physical hit, making the attack much more powerful than a normal one. Moreover, a sorcerer who has performed a Black Flash will be on a different level of cursed energy perception and manipulation compared to those without the experience. No one can master this technique at will, but the current record holder is Kento Nanami, who performed four consecutive Black Flashes in a battle a year ago. Aosora had hoped to get lucky, but unfortunately, Nanami wasn't in top form today.
"So, what should I do next?"
For him personally, there are two main priorities when entering a dungeon world.
First, kill as many monsters as possible to earn more points and experience. In this world, Cursed Spirits are clearly the monsters to farm. Not only that, but when he beat Nanami into submission earlier, he was able to gain points and experience. However, normal humans didn't count. This meant that both sorcerers and cursed spirits were "mobs" with health bars; he had to defeat as many as possible. Sometimes, Aosora felt lucky that the system had restricted him from gaining rewards for killing humans. Otherwise, he might have already discarded his crumbling principles; not a single one of the ant-like people before him would have escaped.
Second, absorb the unique combat techniques of the dungeon world. Even if he couldn't learn them, it was good to learn by analogy. In Jujutsu Kaisen, Domains, Black Flash, and many wondrous Cursed Techniques were his targets. However, the full names of Cursed Techniques and Domains are "Innate Techniques" and "Innate Domains"—they are engraved on the body from birth and generally cannot be learned later. He wasn't sure if his status as a Cursed Spirit would allow him to break these rules, so he needed to investigate further.
In summary, it would be best for Aosora to directly take over an existing power, using his overwhelming strength to seize leadership and gain access to various resources and manpower.
He first ruled out the Cursed Spirits and Tokyo Jujutsu High. The former had too few resources, and the latter had Satoru Gojo, who would be difficult to fight. That left only the other Jujutsu High in Kyoto and the three ancient clans that had existed since olden times.
In less than a second, he made his decision: "That place is probably better."
Having chosen his target, Aosora prepared to leave and find someone knowledgeable to gather information. Just as he stood up, he saw two people in the crowd who were clearly different from the rest. Coincidentally, they spotted him a moment later. Their eyes met, exchanging unspoken messages.
"Jujutsu Sorcerers? What a coincidence."
"A Cursed Spirit? What bad luck."