Silly author note: BREAKING NEWS: Locals say Sukuna Uses More Binding Vows Than Attacks, Analysts Confirm This Is Technically Cheating.
===
The car ride was uncomfortably quiet.
Ijichi drove like his life depended on it, which it probably did the guy sweated more than any human should reasonably be able to. His knuckles were white on the steering wheel, and he kept glancing at the rearview mirror like he expected something to jump out at them.
Not that Shinra blamed him. In this world, something might.
"Alright," Ijichi began, his voice trembling slightly. "The mission objective is the Eishu Detention Center. It was sealed three weeks ago after a series of unexplained deaths among the staff and inmates."
Yuji leaned forward, eyes wide. "A haunted prison? That's sick!"
"It's not 'sick,' Itadori-kun," Ijichi said weakly. "It's a confirmed Special Grade curse nest. The higher-ups have classified it as an Special grade mission."
Megumi's expression didn't change, but his jaw tightened. "Special grade? For first-years?"
"The decision came from... above." Ijichi's voice dropped. "There was a Finger Bearer sighted inside. One of Sukuna's fingers is being used as a catalyst."
Nobara snorted. "So they're sending the new kids to clean up their mess? Classic."
No one disagreed.
"Our window is limited," Ijichi continued, pulling up to the facility. The building loomed ahead concrete, brutalist architecture, completely dark. "Once the 'Curtain' is complete, you'll be on your own. No communication in or out. Please..." His voice cracked. "Please stay safe."
"Yeah, yeah." Nobara hopped out, adjusting her hammer holster. "Go in, find survivors, get out. We got it."
Yuji piled out after her, cracking his neck. "Let's do this!"
Megumi followed silently, trying not to summon mahoraga (A/N: it's a joke y'all).
Shinra was last.
He stood by the car for a moment, looking up at the building. Even from here, he could feel it the malice, the wrongness. Cursed energy oozed from every window like sweat from a fever dream.
He reached up. Unclasped the Akatsuki cloak.
Ijichi blinked. "Shinra-kun?"
"Take care of this." Shinra handed it over. "I'll take it back when I'm done."
Ijichi held the cloak like it was made of glass, then nodded at him.
"alright let's go see what type of bull shit we got in there."
He turned and walked toward the entrance without waiting for a response.
---
The moment they crossed the threshold, the world broke.
One second they were in a normal prison hallway fluorescent lights, grey walls, the smell of despair. The next, reality folded.
The hallway stretched into infinity. Pipes sprouted from walls that shouldn't have pipes. Doors floated in midair, opening onto brick walls or empty space or screaming darkness. Stairs led up to ceilings and down to nowhere.
"What the" Yuji spun around. The door they'd come through was gone. Replaced by a wall of pulsating flesh. "Where's the exit?"
"There is no exit," Megumi said quietly. "Not until we find the core."
Suddenly, the floor beneath Nobara shifted.
Not shifted opened. A massive mouth yawned where concrete should be, lined with teeth that looked like broken glass.
"CRAP!"
She didn't have time to jump. The mouth swallowed her whole, the floor sealing shut behind her like nothing happened.
"NOBARA!" Yuji lunged forward, fists swinging at the floor. It didn't budge. "NOBARA!"
"Don't!" Megumi grabbed his collar, yanking him back. "It's a domain. If we die here, she's dead too. We have to find the core first!"
Yuji's fists trembled. His eyes were wet, but he nodded. "Okay. Okay. Core. Right."
Shinra stood back, arms folded inside his sleeves. His eyes were closed.
Through Soul Perception, he could feel her Nobara's soul, bright and sharp like her usual self. It was far away, deeper in the labyrinth, but it was bright. Alive. Fighting.
She wasn't dead yet.
DING!
[NEW MISSION: The Sukuna Special, Part 2]
Objective: Do NOT kill the Finger Bearer. Let Sukuna out to play.
Reward: 100,000,000 Yen (That's right, cold hard cash)
Failure Penalty: You stay broke forever. No more ramen. No more vending machine coffee. No more "accidentally" impressing girls with your mysterious aura.
Shinra stared at the screen.
...A hundred million.
Yep.
Yen.
Yen.
That's like...
A lot. You can buy so much stuff. Drip. Food. A car. Multiple cars. A small apartment. A lifetime supply of pocky.
Shinra thought about his empty wallet. About the 1,247 yen to his name. About being broke in Tokyo.
I'm making BAG after this mission.
That's the spirit!
"Shinra!" Yuji's voice cut through. "What do we do?"
Shinra opened his eyes. Looked at the two of them Yuji, desperate to save his friend. Megumi, calculating, already planning five steps ahead.
"I'll find Nobara," Shinra said. "You two find the core. We meet back when it's done."
Megumi's eyes narrowed. "Alone?"
"I'll be fine." Shinra turned, already walking toward a side corridor. "Don't die before I get back."
And then he was gone, swallowed by the labyrinth.
---
Yuji and Megumi moved deeper.
The domain twisted around them, endless and hostile. Curses crawled from shadows fly-heads, mostly, easy to dispatch. But with every step, the pressure grew. Something big was waiting.
They reached a massive chamber.
Cathedral ceilings. Pillars of bone. And in the center, floating above a pool of black liquid
The Finger Bearer.
It was wrong. Humanoid, barely, but stretched and twisted like someone had melted a person and let them reform wrong. Four arms. Too many eyes. And radiating from it, cursed energy so thick it felt like drowning.
Megumi froze.
"Run." His voice was barely a whisper. "Yuji, we have to run. This isn't something we can handle."
The Finger Bearer's head snapped toward them.
Too late.
---
Shinra watched from the shadows.
Not because he was hiding okay, yes, because he was hiding. But not like a coward. Like a strategist.
This feels familiar, he thought, crouched behind a pillar. Bush camper energy. Yuta would be proud.
The Finger Bearer moved.
It was fast faster than anything Yuji had faced. One moment it was floating, the next it was there, its four arms swinging in combinations that would turn normal people into paste.
Yuji blocked. Took hits. Gave some back.
CRACK. A punch to the curse's face.
SMASH. An elbow that should have broken something.
THUD. The curse's fist connecting with Yuji's ribs.
They were outmatched.
Megumi summoned shadows divine dogs, trying to buy time. The Finger Bearer shredded them like paper. Its attention was fixed on Yuji, on the vessel, on the finger inside him.
Yuji realized it too.
"We can't win," he gasped, blood running down his face. "Megumi find Shinra and Nobara get out."
Megumi's eyes widened. "What are you"
"Once you're outside, give me a signal." Yuji's hand went to his chest. To the place where Sukuna lived. "Then I'll let him out."
"You'll lose control!"
"Maybe." Yuji grinned through the blood. "But at least you'll live."
Megumi hesitated. One second. Two.
Then he ran.
---
Shinra watched him go.
Good kid, he thought. Stupid, but good.
Yuji had a cursed tool, megumi had given him from his shadow's, Slaughter Demon, the one from the school's stash. He swung it at the Finger Bearer with everything he had.
CRACK.
The blade shattered.
The Finger Bearer's fist connected with Yuji's face. His body flew across the chamber, hit a pillar, crumpled to the ground. He tried to get up. Couldn't.
The curse loomed over him.
Come on, Shinra thought. Any second now.
---
Outside, Megumi ran.
The labyrinth twisted around him, but he didn't care. He found Nobara fighting a pack of curses, her nails flying, her hammer swinging. She was winning, barely.
"Megumi!" She spotted him. "Where's"
"No time!" He grabbed her arm. "We have to go NOW!"
They ran. The exit appeared the Curtain had thinned just enough. They burst through, gasping, into the real world.
Ijichi was there, pale as death. "The others"
Megumi didn't answer.
He tilted his head back.
The divine dog howled.
The sound echoed across the night, raw and desperate.
We're safe. Do it.
---
Inside, Yuji heard it.
Through the pain.
He smiled.
"Your turn," he whispered. And let go.
---
The world shattered.
Cursed energy exploded outward ancient, malevolent, absolute. The Finger Bearer, mid-strike, froze. Its countless eyes went wide with something it hadn't felt since it came into the world.
Fear.
Yuji's body rose. Not Yuji's Sukuna's. Tattoos spread across skin like living things. Eyes opened not Yuji's eyes, never Yuji's eyes.
The King of Fraud's looked at the Finger Bearer.
And grinned.
"Well, well." Sukuna's voice echoed through the chamber. "A parasite trying to use my finger? How amusing."
The Finger Bearer tried to run.
It didn't make it two steps.
DING!
[MISSION COMPLETE: The Sukuna Special, Part 2]
Reward: 100,000,000 Yen (Deposited directly into your account, the account Rob made for you just now.)
Shinra felt the notification more than saw it. A warm glow in his chest. The sweet, sweet feeling of being rich.
I'm never being broke again.
You're welcome. Now go do the thing.
Shinra moved.
One moment he was hidden. The next, he was there blurring past Sukuna, past the frozen Finger Bearer, his hand extended.
Kakashi style.
His arm drove through the Finger Bearer's chest from the front.
The curse didn't even have time to scream. Shinra's hand closed around something the source, the catalyst and pulled.
A finger. Wrapped in cursed energy, pulsating with malice.
He held it up. Dripping black residue. Completely intact.
The Finger Bearer collapsed. Dissolved. Dead.
Shinra landed softly, the finger in his hand, and turned to face Sukuna.
---
Silence.
Sukuna stared at him.
Not with rage. Not with immediate violence. Just... staring. Those ancient eyes cataloging everything the speed, the precision, the absolute lack of fear.
"You," Sukuna said slowly, "are interesting."
Shinra held up the finger. "You want this?"
"I already have two of them inside this brat. One more changes nothing."
"True. But it's the principle." Shinra twirled it between his fingers. "Also, I'm supposed to give it to you."
Sukuna's eyes narrowed. "Supposed to?"
DING!
[NEW MISSION: FINALLY GETTING YOUR TECHNIQUE]
Objective: Give the finger to Sukuna. Fight him. Survive.
Reward: Choose ONE power. It will become your Cursed Technique. Permanently.
Restrictions: Nothing too OP. No "instant win" buttons. No reality warping. ROB has standards (somehow).
Options (Choose Wisely):
· Limitless (Stripped Down): Basic version of Gojo's technique. Infinity-lite. Still requires massive CE control.
· Ten Shadows (changed): Not Megumi's version yours. Different shadows. Different summons. Your creativity matters. (you ain't getting big Raga in this)
· Energy manipulation (kinetic): manipulate kinetic energy as you will.
· Projection Sorcery (Fixed): Naobito's technique without the 24fps limit. 60 frames Max.
· Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan (Sasuke's version)
· Construction (Refined): Yorozu's technique but actually usable. Build anything you understand.
· Shadow clones ( maximum 50 ) you can create clones of yourself like in Naruto.
· Disaster (Elemental): Pick one element fire, water, earth, wood. Master it.
Shinra stared at the list.
These are... all powers/techniques and if I pick one it will be my cursed technique?.
Yes.
I get to pick only one?
If you give Sukuna that finger and fight him. Survive the fight. Then yes.
Shinra looked at Sukuna. At those ancient, curious eyes.
"Alright," he said. "Catch."
He tossed the finger.
Sukuna caught it without looking. His grin widened.
"You're not afraid of me."
"Nope."
"Most people are."
"Most people are idiots." Shinra settled into a stance Flowing Water, Crushing Rock. "You want to fight or talk? I've got places to be."
Sukuna laughed.
It was genuine. Surprised. Delighted.
"I like you," he said. "I'm going to enjoy this."
Then he ate the finger. Sukuna's power surged not much, just enough. Three fingers now. Still limited. Still playing.
But playing was all he needed.
He moved.
And Shinra moved to meet him.
[END CHAPTER 8]
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A/N: if you guys want to read more chapters, 300 Power stones = 1 extra chapter but for now if we reach out first 100 Power stones I'll upload another chapter.
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Current Power stones
(75/300)