"Hm?"
Inside Yuji's body, Sukuna, who was temporarily residing there, sat on a throne atop a mountain of bones with his chin propped on one hand, completely stunned.
He had been waiting for the moment Yuji lost consciousness, planning to pull him into his domain to prevent his complete death, then talk business and make a deal.
But what happened now made him frown hard, even forcing him to stand up.
From inside Yuji, Sukuna could see everything clearly.
There was not the slightest trace of cursed energy flowing at any point. That meant it was not reverse cursed technique. And on top of that, that man himself had no cursed energy at all.
So it was not that.
Another construct formed from nothing…
Creating weapons that could block his slashes was already absurd enough.
But now, right before his eyes, with nothing more than a light tap on the brat's back, the heart Sukuna had ripped out and discarded had appeared again inside the body.
No. Not reappeared.
A brand new heart had formed.
"Interesting. Very interesting. Don't die too early, Mukuro Fushiguro."
Although his plan had failed, Sukuna's face twisted into a crazed grin.
After a thousand years of waiting, another golden age had finally arrived. There was no way it would be boring.
* * *
Meanwhile, in the real world.
"Huh? Fushiguro, why are you here too? I thought I was already dead."
Yuji, who had been on the verge of losing consciousness, suddenly woke up.
Lying in Megumi's arms, their eyes met, and the question slipped out before he could stop himself.
"My uncle saved you."
Seeing that his friend was safe, Megumi quickly let go, though disbelief still flickered in his eyes.
The hole in Yuji's chest that had been spraying blood moments ago was gone. If not for the bloodstains all over the ground, no one would believe he had nearly died.
Megumi knew a little bit about his uncle's abilities.
What he did not expect was that Uncle Mukuro could use illusions so powerful they turned nothing into something real, even creating a heart out of thin air that functioned perfectly.
Could this really still be called an illusion?
"So that's how it is. Thank you so much, Fushiguro's uncle."
Yuji rubbed his completely intact chest and grinned at Mukuro.
He didn't know how it was done, but he had seen everything clearly from inside his body earlier. Even Sukuna had not been a match.
Someone like that having abilities he couldn't understand felt perfectly normal, just like Gojo-sensei.
"Let's go. Back to your school."
Mukuro nodded. He then placed a hand on Yuji's shoulder and took out his phone, dialing Ijichi.
* * *
One hour later.
Inside one of the morgues at Tokyo Jujutsu High.
"Fushiguro-senpai, why did we come here…"
Feeling the chill in the air, Ijichi couldn't hide his confusion.
"It's just closer for Shoko to come here."
Mukuro casually found a stool and sat down, waiting.
"Senpai? Did Ijichi-san know Uncle Fushiguro before too?"
Yuji scratched his head, his face turning into pure confusion.
"Well… I was actually a Jujutsu High student one year below Fushiguro-senpai…"
Even though he had answered this question many times, Ijichi still looked miserable every time.
Not only did he lack talent in jujutsu, he even looked older than all his seniors.
"What?!"
Yuji froze on the spot.
"Yuji, Ijichi just matured a bit early. He's not some old man."
From outside the door, Satoru walked in with bandages over his eyes. The moment he heard his students might be in danger, he used long-range teleportation and rushed back without stopping.
Only after receiving confirmation that everyone was safe did he head straight to Jujutsu High and arrive here.
"Gojo-sensei."
Seeing the man he admired most, Yuji broke into a pure, bright smile.
"You really didn't have to explain it for me like that…"
Ijichi had already squatted in the corner, drawing circles on the floor.
"I'm telling you, stop bullying Ijichi so much. He's already stuck between us and the higher-ups. That's hard enough as it is."
A slightly annoyed woman's voice rang out.
Shoko, twirling her hair, walked in. The dark circles under her eyes spoke volumes about her exhaustion and how rough this line of work was.
'Yes, that's right. Please say more…'
Ijichi's face flushed red as he completely sank into the bliss of being defended by Shoko.
"Alright. Let's talk business."
"Huh?!"
After Shoko spoke, Satoru paused for a moment and smoothly changed the subject, while Ijichi sighed in disappointment and confusion.
"So, why did you call me here, Fushiguro?"
Shoko walked over and sat beside Mukuro, casually resting a hand on his shoulder as she yawned.
"Use reverse cursed technique on this kid. Heal him while I remove my ability."
Mukuro patted Yuji lightly.
The heart he created with illusion was both real and unreal.
Under normal circumstances, Yuji could live, move, and even exorcise curses without any issue.
The problem was that if Yuji took serious damage, or if Mukuro himself ran into some problems, the illusion would disappear.
Aside from the heart, a large amount of blood inside Yuji had also been filled in by illusion. If anything went wrong, the boy would bleed out in seconds.
Though Sukuna would likely save him, Mukuro had no intention of giving that thing any chance to interfere and cause unexpected trouble.
"He doesn't look injured though…" Shoko muttered as she stood up.
A gentle and warm flow of cursed energy spread from her palm like a soft breeze as she placed her hand on Yuji's shoulder.
In that instant, she froze.
A massive amount of reverse cursed energy was being drawn into Yuji's body. It was clear he had suffered extremely severe injuries.
Yet from his appearance and mental state, he looked perfectly fine.
"As expected… this time we really were lucky you were here."
Seeing Shoko's reaction, Satoru immediately understood things had been far more dangerous than they appeared.
* * *
"It's disappearing. An illusion?"
Within Yuji's body, Sukuna rested his chin on one hand as he quietly observed the healing process.
Every time the heart created by Mukuro faded away, reverse cursed technique replaced it bit by bit, until the real heart fully took its place.
The lost flesh and blood were restored the same way.
"Interesting. Hahahahaha!"
Sukuna burst into manic laughter.
The stronger Mukuro was, the more he looked forward to the day his full power returned, when he could finally twist that man's head off with his own hands.
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