Time returned to several minutes earlier.
"Then~ hand over your points already. Don't worry, you can keep a little for yourself."
After peacefully reaching an agreement with Uro without anyone dying, Yuji happily stretched out his hand to collect the points he earned as the "winner."
"Whatever."
Uro had no objections. Aside from keeping one point for herself, she had Kogane transfer all her remaining points to Yuji.
After all, if the fight had continued earlier, the loser would definitely have been her. Her cursed technique was already in burnout and her cursed energy reserves had dropped too low.
BOOM!
Suddenly, a massive explosion echoed from the distance like artillery bombardment. Even the ground beneath them trembled faintly.
In the sky far away, the clouds themselves were being blown apart by violent cursed energy clashes while thunder roared endlessly.
"That direction... it's Kashimo. What kind of person could push him that far..."
Uro looked shocked.
Having stayed inside this colony for so long, she naturally knew about Kashimo's existence. And because she often flew around using Sky Manipulation, she had personally witnessed him slaughtering players effortlessly.
To avoid unnecessary trouble, she deliberately chose to stay on separate territory from him and avoid interfering with one another.
But the disturbance happening now was completely beyond her expectations.
"It has to be Okkotsu-senpai!"
The moment she said that, Yuji immediately thought of Yuta, who entered the colony together with him. Without wasting another second talking to Uro, he and Todo rushed toward the battlefield.
"Modern sorcerers... maybe they aren't as pathetic as I thought..."
Uro did not follow them. Instead, she found a comfortable spot among the ruins and leaned against the rubble to rest.
She was tired.
However, neither she nor the two people running away noticed the faint chill quietly approaching.
* * *
Back in the present.
After seeing who the victor was, Yuji and Todo finally let out sighs of relief and slowed their pace.
"So this guy is Hajime Kashimo? If he managed to push you this far, then he really is a rare monster."
After sizing Kashimo up, Todo reached the exact opposite conclusion from Uro.
She did not know Yuta well, so she believed the battle being that intense proved Kashimo's greatness. But Todo was familiar with Yuta and fully acknowledged his strength as a special grade sorcerer.
As such, he found Kashimo even more shocking.
The reason was simple; the cursed energy flowing from Yuta right now was absurdly low compared to normal.
This was a genius whose cursed energy reserves surpassed even Satoru's by double. For him to end up like this meant he had used Domain Expansion and exhausted every last trump card he had.
And anyone capable of forcing a special grade into that state had to possess overwhelming strength themselves.
"Kashimo is really strong. If not for Rika helping me, I honestly would've lost."
Yuta scratched the back of his head and grinned sheepishly, remaining as humble as ever. At the same time, he increased the output of Reverse Cursed Technique with his other hand, finally healing Kashimo's injuries completely.
At this moment, all of them were nearly out of cursed energy.
"Enough nonsense. Tell me where Sukuna is already. At least tell me something about him."
Now that his body had recovered somewhat and he regained a bit of strength, Kashimo sat up and spoke coldly. Every few sentences somehow circled back to Sukuna, like a child obsessed with a favorite toy.
"Eh? You're looking for Sukuna—"
"Well... when the right time comes, naturally we'll..."
Seeing the confused looks on Todo and Yuji's faces, Yuta hurriedly waved his hands and interrupted the completely defenseless Yuji before he could accidentally reveal anything.
With Kashimo's battle-crazy personality, if he learned right now that Sukuna lived inside Yuji, they would only be inviting trouble themselves.
"Judging from your reactions... don't tell me Sukuna reincarnated inside one of you two?"
That suspiciously awkward attempt at hiding the truth immediately caught Kashimo's attention. After examining all three of them carefully, he slowly pointed toward Yuji, who looked visibly guilty.
Yuta had just fought him directly. If he were Sukuna, he would have already appeared.
As for the large shirtless Todo covered in injuries, he looked nothing like the terrifying King of Curses Kashimo imagined.
That only left Yuji, who looked a little dumb but at least still clean and unharmed.
Because of that, Kashimo stared at him sharply as though determined to uncover the truth.
Cold sweat instantly covered Yuji's forehead. His eyes darted around nervously while he barely dared breathe.
"No matter how I look at it, you seem incredibly suspicious..."
And Yuji's reactions only seemed to confirm Kashimo's suspicions.
"Well... um..."
"But thinking about it carefully, if Sukuna had truly reincarnated completely, there'd be no way he'd let someone else control the body."
Just as Yuta desperately tried to smooth things over, Kashimo suddenly denied his own theory after thinking more deeply.
"Exactly! Just like you said—"
Yuta hurriedly tried agreeing with him, only to be interrupted by an unexpected voice.
"Being discussed however you please like this is really annoying."
A small mouth with sharp fangs suddenly appeared on the side of Yuji's face.
Though Sukuna did not release much cursed energy, the arrogant and sinister tone instantly made Kashimo shiver.
"So it really is you... Sukuna?!"
His entire body trembled with excitement. His breathing unconsciously became heavier.
Four hundred years.
For four hundred years, the "strongest" existed only in stories told by others.
And now, that man finally appeared before him.
"Wait! Sukuna can't come out right now. Even if you want to fight him, you'll have to wait until he gets the chance to separate from Itadori first!"
Yuta immediately stepped in front of Kashimo.
Even though Kashimo probably could not defeat Yuji in his current condition, Yuta still wanted to stabilize the situation first and explain everything clearly.
"Who said this isn't my chance already?!"
However, Sukuna's voice suddenly became much louder.
The words stunned everyone present.
"Ice Formation Technique: Frost Calm."
In the next instant, powerful cursed energy rushed toward them from behind.
Both Kashimo and Yuta had consumed too much cursed energy from their earlier battle and failed to react in time. Within a single moment, everyone except Yuji became frozen in solid ice from the chest downward.
A white-haired girl wearing a kimono slowly emerged from the cold mist spreading through the air.
"Long time no see, Uraume!"
For the first time, genuine joy appeared in Sukuna's voice.
The newcomer was Uraume. Ever since Yuji entered the colony, she had secretly watched him the entire time. Just like before, she chose to follow Sukuna once more across a thousand years.
"Please forgive me for arriving so late, Sukuna-sama."
After reuniting with him after a thousand years, Uraume could not suppress the smile on her face. Even so, she still respectfully bowed toward Yuji.
"The timing is perfect."
Sukuna's small mouth curled into a grin.
He had noticed Uraume following them long ago. That was why he deliberately raised his voice earlier.
He wanted her to act. And just like before, she understood him perfectly without needing things spelled out.
"Rika!"
With Yuta and the others in their current state, defeating Uraume was impossible. So he immediately called for help.
Although Rika was born from his curse, she no longer depended on Yuta's cursed energy to exist independently.
She could absolutely defeat the girl before them.
"Girl... hate!"
As soon as Yuta called her name, Rika burst out from empty space instantly.
And after seeing that the person attacking her beloved Yuta was actually a beautiful woman, her tone became even more furious and twisted.
"Great! Then I'll help break the ice off everyone..."
Feeling like the only useful one left, Yuji stepped forward to smash the ice trapping the others. After all, he was the only person unaffected by Uraume's technique.
But just before his hand touched the ice, his movements suddenly stopped.
Because Sukuna spoke.
"Enchain."
**
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