Strange. Based on his memories from his past life, Ryomen Sukuna should have taken over his body by now. Yuji had been fully prepared to wrestle control back at any moment.
But the takeover never came.
Can I actually control Sukuna's power freely?
Like Naruto and the Nine-Tails? Is Sukuna just going to sit inside me and act as my personal battery from now on?
Yuji shook his hand excitedly, studying the marks etched across his skin. If that was the case, he wouldn't have to start training from scratch—
Less than two seconds after that thought formed, the marks vanished.
"..."
Sukuna wasn't giving him an inch.
Yuji felt a pang of disappointment, but he wasn't discouraged. He'd figure it out eventually. Right now, the priority was convincing Fushiguro that he hadn't been possessed. Otherwise...
"According to jujutsu regulations, Yuji Itadori—I will now exorcise you!"
Megumi Fushiguro dropped to one knee. The dirt and stone beneath him transformed into pitch-black, viscous shadows. His cursed technique was called the Ten Shadows Technique, which allowed him to summon ten different types of shikigami from the darkness.
Damn it. I'm already at my limit, and the thing standing in front of me is the King of Curses from a thousand years ago—Ryomen Sukuna.
Can I even win? Me against Sukuna? Seriously?
Fighting through the pain, Megumi raised his hands and began forming a dangerous hand sign.
But if I leave him alone, innocent people in this town will get hurt. At this point, I have no choice but to use that move...
"Furube, Yurayura..."
"Hey! Wait—I really haven't been taken over! Fushiguro, believe me!"
Yuji recognized that hand sign instantly. Mahoraga. He scrambled backward, hands raised high to show he meant no harm.
If Fushiguro actually summoned Mahoraga, it was game over for everyone.
Meanwhile, in a certain space within Yuji Itadori's body.
The floor of the cavern was submerged in a thin layer of blood-red water. A pink-haired man leaned impatiently against a small hill of skulls and other remains. He looked exactly like Yuji Itadori—only the cursed marks across his body distinguished them.
This brat, Yuji Itadori... just who the hell is he?
"Tch..."
Every single one of Sukuna's fingers was a Special Grade cursed object. Swallowing one meant the consumer would be completely incarnated by him—possessed and overwritten.
But after several attempts, Sukuna discovered that his soul couldn't occupy this body at all. Instead, all of his cursed energy simply flowed outward, completely utilized by that brat on the outside. The whole process was as effortless as turning on a faucet.
Is he treating me like some kind of disposable tool?
At this moment, Sukuna felt an incomparable humiliation—the kind of embarrassment that made him want to claw his own face off.
"Damn it!"
"My late mother was a jujutsu sorcerer, so I know a bit about this stuff."
"Anyway, I'm completely fine. Look."
After a lengthy explanation, Megumi Fushiguro finally—reluctantly—believed him.
Yuji wasn't lying. His mother really had been a jujutsu sorcerer.
"A case like yours is practically unheard of. Once in a thousand years, maybe. I need to report this to my superiors."
"Sure."
Yuji nodded.
After swallowing Sukuna's finger, his body finally possessed cursed energy again. It was thin—barely a trickle—but it should be enough to perform some basic cursed energy manipulation.
Things like the Divergent Fist he'd relied on in his youth. And Black Flash. Even though this body was different, with sixty-eight years of experience under his belt, returning to the state where he could land a Black Flash with every punch would only take minutes.
Yuji found an undamaged bench and sat down. Nearby, Megumi was on the phone with someone. Crossing his arms, Yuji began to plan.
He needed to map out his future carefully.
First priority: collect Sukuna's fingers. All twenty of them.
Right now, his cursed energy was pathetically thin. Each finger he consumed would increase his total reserves. His biggest weakness at the moment was capacity—he probably couldn't even throw a proper punch without running on empty.
Second: train hard, get stronger, and deal with the four Disaster Curses. Mahito first. Then Hanami, Dagon, and Jogo.
Yuji hesitated for a moment. Should he tell Satoru Gojo about his time travel? Share everything he knew?
But he quickly made up his mind.
Everyone always dumped their responsibilities and problems on Gojo-sensei, treating him like a workhorse who never got tired. But Yuji refused to do the same. He wanted to lighten Gojo's burden, not add to it.
I'll exorcise the four Disaster Curses alone. I won't let Sensei worry about this. If I can't even handle something this simple, I have no right to call myself a jujutsu sorcerer.
His gaze sharpened.
Finally: Kenjaku and the Culling Game. Those required long-term planning. The enemy operated from the shadows while Yuji stood in the light. Tracking down that old fox wouldn't be easy. As long as he could prevent Gojo-sensei from being sealed, everything else would fall into place.
"Itadori."
"?"
Fushiguro's voice snapped him out of his thoughts. Yuji looked up.
"The higher-ups have made their decision. You need to come back to Jujutsu High with me. Now."
"Jujutsu High?" Yuji feigned ignorance.
"Tokyo Metropolitan Jujutsu Technical High School."
"..."
Yuji went to the hospital first to say goodbye to his grandfather. After receiving the old man's final wish—to die surrounded by people—his grandfather passed away peacefully. Only then could Yuji leave with a clear conscience.
Rest easy, Grandpa.
Yuji thought of his tragic past life.
Back then, he'd lost too many friends. Experienced too many farewells. His closest companions and seniors had all died at the hands of the enemy.
But this time, I'll keep your promise.
Yuji stared at his palm.
He was sitting in the back seat of a black luxury sedan, traveling from Sendai to Tokyo. The scenery outside the window blurred past. Up front sat an auxiliary manager in a suit and the ever-taciturn Megumi Fushiguro.
They wouldn't reach Tokyo until late at night. Although Sukuna's existence gave him some insurance, true strength had to come from within. During the drive, Yuji decided to test his innate technique.
He narrowed his eyes and gathered every drop of cursed energy in his body, condensing it into his palm—
A small scarlet orb of blood materialized before him. A bead of cold sweat rolled down Yuji's face. The orb was barely the size of a walnut. With his cursed energy reserves this low, even this much was a struggle.
Blood Manipulation.
But a grin slowly spread across his face. Just as he'd hoped—this technique still worked.
Blood Manipulation was his innate technique. Back in his youth, his cursed energy had been too weak to properly activate it, so he'd never discovered its existence.
It wasn't until he consumed the Cursed Womb: Death Paintings that these cursed objects resonated within his body, finally allowing him to perceive this powerful ability.
The Death Paintings represented the nine stages of a decaying corpse. The eldest brother, Choso, represented the bloated stage—which was why his technique was Blood Manipulation. As decomposition progressed, flesh and blood disappeared, leaving only bone. That was why the younger brothers' techniques all related to skeletal matter rather than blood.
Logically, Yuji represented the Tenth Stage—the state of a person before death. So his technique was also Blood Manipulation.
Yuji let the smile fade, and the blood orb dissipated with it. But at that moment, Megumi Fushiguro—who had been resting with his eyes closed in the front seat—caught the scene in the rearview mirror.
The spiky-haired boy froze. Then he spun around, his normally narrow eyes going wide.
"Wait—was that Blood Manipulation just now?!"
Isn't that the inherited technique of the Kamo Clan? One of the Big Three Sorcerer Families? You can use it?
"Itadori... you actually know Blood Manipulation?"
Blood Manipulation was every bit as famous as Satoru Gojo's Limitless and the Ten Shadows Technique that could summon Mahoraga. Together, they were considered the three great inherited techniques.
It lacked the flashy visual impact of the others, but any sorcerer who possessed Blood Manipulation could reach Grade 1 at minimum. Its floor was extraordinarily high.
The straightforward Fushiguro didn't let his thoughts drift anywhere suspicious.
Yuji quickly played dumb. "Blood Manipulation? Is that what it's called? I've been able to control blood since I was a kid, but when I asked my mom about it, she refused to explain. Sigh."
"...I see." The shock on Megumi's face slowly faded. He turned back around and nodded to himself. "Perhaps your mother was a distant relative from a branch family that left the Kamo Clan generations ago."
"Yeah, that's probably it."
The corners of Yuji's mouth curled up ever so slightly.
Fushiguro was a smart guy. Yuji didn't even have to explain—the other boy filled in the blanks with his own imagination.
Knowing that his defensive options hadn't disappeared eased some of Yuji's tension. Convergence, Piercing Blood, Supernova, Flowing Red Scale. He could use Piercing Blood for long-range attacks and throw punches up close. Blood Manipulation had virtually no weaknesses. At the very least, he wouldn't have to rely solely on his fists for damage output like in his past life.
Thinking about it, Yuji felt his future looking bright.
Mahito. Just you wait.
I'm coming for you.