In the main building of Tokyo Jujutsu High, all the teachers and students present for the Goodwill Event were gathered. They were all awaiting news from Gojo with bated breath after his sudden confrontation with Sukuna.
They didn't know how the situation might end, weighed down by the terrifying uncertainty of Sukuna's power versus the absolute certainty of Gojo's. Still, every single one of them hoped Satoru Gojo would come out on top.
As they sat there, the tension thick enough to cut, Gojo suddenly teleported into the center of the room, raising a hand in a casual gesture.
"Yo! I'm back," Gojo smiled, slipping his hands into his pockets.
"Gojo-sensei! What happened with Sukuna?!" Yuji was the first to ask. Having sworn to handle the burden of Sukuna from the very start, he couldn't hold back.
"Oh, he's gone," Gojo said cheerfully, shocking the room.
"You killed him that quickly?!" a few of them blurted out.
Gojo shook his head. "Nothing like that—although I thank you for the vote of confidence. Not that I'm surprised, being the strongest and all. However, I couldn't risk fighting him when you all were so close. You'd definitely get caught in the crossfire and, well, likely die," Gojo explained, casually calling them all weak.
"So, I had to convince Sukuna that we'd have our little one-on-one some other time when we have a more open space to work with. He agreed pretty easily and left."
"You let him get away? How irresponsible!" Principal Gakuganji barked as Gojo turned toward him.
"Are you deaf, old man? I only let him go because the lot of you are so useless you'd die before I could even let loose enough to put him down," Gojo said, clearly annoyed by the geezer's yapping.
"Anyway, that's not the important part. What is important however is training all of you so you can defend yourselves better. I have a feeling things are about to get much more chaotic soon."
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For the next few weeks, everyone worked tirelessly. Gojo pushed them to their absolute limits in combat. Even without using his Infinity, they never managed to land a single hit on him.
Their teamwork improved drastically, but the grim truth remained obvious, if they couldn't even touch their sensei while he was holding back, how could they possibly hope to fight a Sukuna who was actively trying to kill them?
'Lightning Ray!' Megumi fired a piercing beam of lightning down at Gojo from above.
"Not fast enough, Megumi-chan," Gojo's voice echoed from right behind him. Having already closed the distance in a flash, Gojo leapt up, grabbed Megumi by his shikigami's wing, and hurled him directly into Yuji, who was attempting a blindside ambush from behind.
"Oof!" Yuji grunted as the two slammed into the dirt. Gojo landed silently beside them, flashing a grin.
Suddenly, Gojo tilted his head by a fraction of an inch, casually dodging a strike from Maki's wooden training sword.
"Don't Move!" Inumaki shouted. The severe recoil hit the boy instantly, coughing as his cursed speech barely managed to stun Gojo for half a second.
Gojo spun, kicking Maki away before rushing Inumaki. Panda swiftly threw himself into the line of fire, taking the brunt of the blow and sending himself flying. It only stalled Gojo for a moment, however, and within seconds, Inumaki was laid out flat beside his friends.
"Alright, guys and gals, I'd say that was some nice training for today!" Gojo gave a cheerful thumbs-up as his beaten and sore students began to push themselves up.
"You sure you don't want to join in the training, Nobara?" Gojo asked over his shoulder, noticing her sitting on a nearby bench.
"No thanks. I'd rather you not mess up my beautiful face," she said, casually sipping her drink. "Besides, I do my own training anyway."
"Suit yourself. Alright, young people, off you go. I've got some business to take care of with someone important." Gojo pressed his hands together and vanished in a blur of blue light.
"Nice work today, Megumi. You're definitely faster and stronger than you were before," Yuji said, patting Megumi on the back. Megumi winced, entirely sore from the brutal session.
"Don't do that right after training..." Megumi complained, though Yuji just laughed it off.
"We should go see Miss Shoko for healing."
"Yeah, I think I can taste my own stuffing," Panda groaned, a bit of fluff leaking from his head.
As the group walked away from the training grounds, Yuji's smile faded. He looked down at his hands, tightly clenching his fists into white-knuckled balls.
'I've got to get stronger! Even with all this training, it's not good enough...' He grit his teeth, forcing the frustration down before jogging to catch up with his friends. 'No matter what, I can't afford to lose!'
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Meanwhile, Sukuna was walking the streets of Tokyo. Over the past few days, he had been thoroughly enjoying his freedom. Eating at various high-end restaurants, taking in the sights, and effortlessly slaughtering any sorcerers foolish enough to try and stop him, it was paradise.
Yet, boredom was already creeping back in. The modern cityscape didn't hold much appeal beyond the novelty of his first few hours awake. The Sukuna half of his memories held no interest in the architecture either, beyond noting it looked somewhat decent.
"I suppose it's time I find Kenjaku's little crew of misfits... what do you think?" Sukuna asked, glancing down at a middle-aged sorcerer bleeding out on the pavement.
"Fuck... you..." the man wheezed, glaring up with pure hatred.
"Eh, no thanks." Sukuna smiled.
With a casual flick of his wrist, a net of invisible Dismantles instantly turned the man to paste.
Sukuna stood from his seat and left the ruined restaurant facade behind him. A group of sorcerers, a few Grade 2s led by a Grade 1, had tried to ambush him while he was dining. It was foolish, no doubt a desperate play by the Jujutsu Higher-Ups to neutralize him before he stirred up real trouble. But sending such weaklings to assassinate the King of Curses? It was downright insulting.
Stepping outside, Sukuna's four crimson eyes suddenly took on a sharp, multi-colored, rainbow shine. He activated the Search quirk.
He already knew they were hiding inside Dagon's Innate Domain, accessing it through various cursed doors hidden across Tokyo, if not all of Japan. But with Search, finding the exact entry point was trivial. His Search vision expanded in his mind, immediately bypassing the space-bending barrier.
'Unfortunately for you, I can see everything.'
Sukuna vanished from his position, moving far across Tokyo in a terrifying burst of speed until he arrived at a rundown, abandoned motel. He walked up the concrete stairs, stopping precisely in front of a completely ordinary wooden door.
Through the lens of his quirk, a cluster of glowing, tracking stars illuminated the center of the wood, pinning down exactly where the curses were gathered.
'The whole gang is together. How cute.'
Without hesitation, Sukuna turned the handle and stepped through.
The dingy motel vanished, instantly replaced by a peaceful, sunny beach. Mahito, Jogo, Kenjaku, and Hanami were lounging on beachside chairs while Dagon, still an incomplete cursed womb, splashed around happily in the tide.
The moment Sukuna stepped onto the sand, the entire domain was violently engulfed by his sheer presence. The air turned heavy, suffocatingly dense with an ocean of cursed energy that Sukuna wasn't even bothersome enough to fully suppress.
Before Sukuna could speak, a white-haired figure immediately dropped to one knee before him, a genuine, reverent smile breaking across their face.
"Sukuna-sama. You've truly returned. I didn't believe it when Kenjaku told me... please forgive my doubt," Uraume said softly.
Sukuna's expression softened into a genuine smirk. "Uraume. Loyal as ever, I see. Tell me, did you actually get any stronger while I was gone, or have you been slacking off in my absence?"
"I am always growing stronger, Sukuna-sama. I know well how much you loathe the weak," Uraume replied, rising smoothly to take a place at his side.
Sukuna's gaze drifted over the rest of the occupants on the beach.
Mahito was staring at him, though the patch-faced curse subtly shifted his weight back, tracking Sukuna's movements with an involuntary flinch. He clearly remembered the brutal reality check Sukuna had handed him previously, and he wasn't about to risk a repeat performance. Yet, beneath the caution, there was a childlike awe in his eyes fascinated by the living pinnacle of curses standing before him.
Hanami remained perfectly still. She had been present during his initial revival and knew the terrifying scope of his strength. Jogo, meanwhile, looked genuinely pleased. To him, Sukuna's swift, independent return meant their dream of a world ruled by curses was rapidly approaching.
As for Kenjaku, he simply wore his usual, artificial smile.
"Lord Sukuna," Kenjaku greeted smoothly. "I must admit, I am deeply curious about the method you used to achieve a true, independent reincarnation without absorbing your vessel. Would you mind enlightening me sometime?"
"I thought your entire gimmick was body-snatching," Sukuna retorted smoothly, staring at Kenjaku with complete disinterest. "What use would a technique like mine be to a parasite?"
Kenjaku chuckled, unfazed. "That's fair, I suppose. Tell me then, do you still plan on waiting for our agreed-upon event? Or do you plan to launch a violent rampage like the days of old?"
"I'll wait for your little merger project to finish," Sukuna stated, walking over to sit down. Uraume immediately stepped forward, attending to him with the perfect deference of a seasoned servant. "I want to fight your masterpiece to the death. Until then, I'll lend a hand here and there to speed things along. So long as your little experiment doesn't disappoint me... I won't kill you."
"I am glad to have your assistance. I assure you, I won't disappoint," Kenjaku said, relaxing back into his chair. He internally checked a box; Sukuna was a wildcard, but for now, their interests aligned. That left only one catastrophic obstacle in his way.
"Hey, Sukuna."
"Huh?" Sukuna opened a single eye, staring at Kenjaku with utter disinterest.
"Do you think you could kill Satoru Gojo for me? It would speed up my timeline significantly."
Sukuna closed his eye again, a cold smirk playing on his lips. "Sure thing. Just set the stage. I've already promised him he'd be the first person I slaughter anyway."
"I see, I can work with that..."