Mahito's provocation proved effective. With Itadori's will so scattered, there was no way he would grant Sukuna's request to control his body. Sukuna could only consume more power to forcibly trade for a certain degree of mobility.
Sukuna took over Itadori's body, restoring his left arm with a highly efficient Reverse Cursed Technique. Simultaneously, he fired a Cleave at Mahito, canceling out Mahito's slash while leaving a deep wound on Mahito's Idle Transfiguration arm, causing blood to spray instantly.
But Mahito didn't care; this level of damage was nothing to fear. The hand gripping Itadori's head instantly entered a localized Idle Transfiguration state, erupting with powerful force to slam the head heavily into the ground.
A loud bang echoed as the ground cracked directly from the impact.
"Aren't you looking down on me a bit too much?"
Mahito said, directly tanking the Cleave Sukuna released and cutting off the arm he had just restored once more, smiling as he spoke.
"Let's test it out then, and see how long you can last against me once you gain full control over this brat's body~"
As Mahito spoke, his attacks didn't stop for a second; he thrust the Cleaver directly into the lower back of the fallen Itadori.
Sukuna suddenly realized what Mahito's attack was doing; he seemed to be searching for the location of Sukuna's power within Itadori's body.
Only when split into cursed objects did Sukuna possess the trait of being indestructible by external forces. After being swallowed by Itadori and merging into his body, Sukuna had transitioned from the state of a cursed object to the state of an incarnated Itadori.
"...You bastard." Sukuna's mouth, appearing on the back of Itadori's neck, spoke displeasurably.
Seeing that Sukuna still hadn't taken control of the body, Mahito knew this level was still not enough!
He needed to keep raising the stakes and put more pressure on Sukuna!
And this time, Mahito thought of a way that could truly threaten Sukuna.
Since he couldn't use Idle Transfiguration directly on Sukuna without suffering a backlash, he would use another medium to cast Idle Transfiguration, preventing Sukuna from using his soul to counterattack!
Mahito directly used "Cursed Technique Extension: Idle Transfiguration," expanding its effect onto the Cleaver in his hand.
This time, as the Cleaver churned inside Itadori's body, it not only exerted the weakness-striking effect of Collapse, but also took effect directly on Sukuna's soul due to the Idle Transfiguration effect.
After feeling his fundamental soul being attacked, Sukuna lost his previous composure. He directly pulled Itadori's spirit into the Innate Domain within his heart.
Sukuna grabbed Itadori's collar and hoisted up the boy, whose spirit was somewhat unstable due to intense pain, anger, and sorrow.
"Brat, give me the body!" Sukuna roared at Itadori.
But Itadori acted as if he hadn't heard a thing, merely hugging himself and muttering incessantly.
"Nanamin is dead... it hurts so much... I'm going to be killed by Nanamin... Nanamin killed Nanamin..."
Sukuna finally realized it was because the guy outside was doing this while wearing Nanami's appearance. Itadori, who was hit by a strong emotional shock from the start, had lost his sanity further under the combination of severe pain and soul damage, eventually falling into this abnormal state.
[Mahito's previous strike didn't just harm Sukuna; it dealt a heavy blow to Itadori's soul.]
"Tch."
Sukuna clicked his tongue in annoyance. Aside from his food-based fondness for children, he couldn't muster any other emotion.
Three of his fingers (actually four) had already merged into Itadori's body. If he didn't do something, he might really be completely killed by that guy.
Losing three-twentieths was already a significant loss in power. Indeed, the only path left was to use the Pledge to temporarily take over the body.
Take full control of the body and deal with Mahito within one minute.
Originally, this was something Sukuna saved for later to seize Megumi Fushiguro's body, which possessed the Ten Shadows Technique. He would just have to find another time to make such an agreement with Itadori later. Anyway, based on the effect of the binding vow, Itadori wouldn't remember this, so he could just repeat the trick later.
At least, in the eyes of Sukuna as he recited the Pledge, that's how it should develop.
The moment Sukuna took control of the body, Mahito felt it. Especially seeing Itadori's wounds begin to heal instantly, he knew Sukuna must have been forced to use the Pledge.
And Mahito's reaction? An all-out attack? Risking the time Sukuna spent restoring his body to try and decapitate Itadori during the opening when he couldn't release his Cursed Technique?
Mahito did no such thing. Instead, during this time, Mahito turned tail and ran, while throwing the Cleaver above Itadori's body.
He accomplished what Nanami wanted to do but failed: creating a cave-in to delay Sukuna's movements.
Since he knew the Pledge Sukuna made with Itadori only granted a brief minute of body control, Mahito didn't feel any need to take risks.
Moreover, there were only four fingers in Itadori's body right now. With the enhancement of Idle Transfiguration, he was confident he could outpace Sukuna in speed and even kite him.
Even if Sukuna turned and ran, he wouldn't get far in a minute. After that minute, he would once again become a target for Mahito to slaughter at will.
Now it was Sukuna's turn to feel annoyed. After inexplicably putting him under pressure and forcing him to use the precious opportunity of the Pledge, Mahito had just run away without looking back?
Sukuna was well aware he only had one minute, but running away was not an option for him. He chose to blast away the obstructing rubble and chase in the direction where Mahito's Cursed Energy remained.
But while chasing, Sukuna was also wondering why Mahito had undergone such a drastic change in behavior.
Was he strong at three fingers?
Fairly strong, but definitely not to the point of completely crushing Mahito—at least, that was the impression given.
But in an actual fight, with the binding vow operations Sukuna was familiar with, he didn't think there would be any problem killing just one eyesore of a Cursed Spirit.
But after twenty-some seconds passed, Sukuna gradually noticed something was wrong. The Mahito ahead always gave him the feeling that he was about to catch up, but in reality, after several seconds of chasing, although the distance would shrink, it would always return to the original distance after some fluctuation.
It was at this moment that Mahito, in Nanami's form, suddenly turned around. After flashing a mocking smile at Sukuna, his body instantly disintegrated into small pieces of flesh. Those pieces then immediately transformed into flies, cockroaches, and other creatures fitting for a sewer setting, quickly departing in completely different directions, leaving only Nanami's bloodstained clothes on the spot.
"..."
Sukuna's expression was terrifyingly grim. He was currently not at the level of the sixteen-finger level from the Shibuya Incident, capable of instantly unfolding a Malevolent Shrine with a two-hundred-meter radius.
Sukuna could now clearly tell that he had been fooled by the opponent. He was well aware of his current power level and the fact that he was helpless in the face of the current situation.