Sensory Overload

The curse reeked of malice and decay, its bloated body looming like a grotesque shadow over the ruined corridor. Gojo hadn’t arrived yet. Not just yet.

Far below, amidst crumbled concrete and panic, Itadori was crouched beside Sasaki, gently lifting her limp body into his arms. Something fluttered from her skirt—aged paper, dark and wrinkled.

“Woah,” Itadori muttered, spotting the talisman.

He plucked it from the ground, holding it up as if it might dissolve in his grip.

“This it?”

Fushiguro, bloodied and worn, confirmed with grim urgency.

“Yeah. That’s the special-grade cursed object, Ryoumen Sukuna’s finger.

It’s a miracle it didn’t get swallowed.”

Itadori’s brow furrowed.

“Why would anything eat it? Does it taste good?”

Fushiguro’s voice sharpened, though pain strained his words.

“Don’t be stupid. You’d do it to gain stronger cursed energy.

It’s dangerous, so hand it over already.”

“Sure, sure.”

As Itadori extended the finger toward him, a curse’s hand lunged from the darkness above. Fushiguro acted on instinct, shoving Itadori aside.

“Ah…!

Run!”

Dust exploded outward. The curse that had stalked them earlier revealed itself again—massive, twitching, a nightmare incarnate. Its grotesque fingers curled around Fushiguro, dragging him into its grasp.

“Fushiguro!” Itadori shouted, heart thundering.

“Nue!” Fushiguro tried to summon, but the curse hurled him like a ragdoll into the wall with a sickening crack.

“Gah…! Ugh…”

His demon dogs vanished as he slumped. Itadori’s eyes widened as his friend was tossed clean out of the building and onto a nearby rooftop.

“Damn it… I can’t think straight…” Fushiguro gritted.

Before the curse could strike again, a desperate blur crashed into its skull. Itadori.

“Ngh…!”

Fushiguro groaned, disbelief and anger warring in his voice.

“Itadori! Why can’t you understand to take those two and run?!”

“You’re in big trouble yourself!” Itadori barked back, gripping the curse’s arm.

The beast responded violently, whipping him through the air like a doll.

“Ngh… Ugh… Ah… Ahh!”

Fushiguro yelled over the roar of debris:

“Only curses can exorcise other curses! You can’t beat it!”

“Is this the time to be saying that?! You’re going to die at this rate!”

Itadori charged up the monster’s arm.

“If I went home now, I’d be having nightmares!

Besides… I have my own…”

His grandfather’s words echoed in his ears.

(Help others…)

“…troublesome curse already!”

He narrowly dodged an attack, but another blow struck him hard. Sukuna’s finger slipped from his grip. As he spiraled downward, the curse grabbed him midair.

“Ah… Guh!”

In that moment—madness or clarity—Itadori shoved the finger into his mouth.

“You idiot! Hand it over to me or you’ll be eaten, too!” Fushiguro cried, desperation raw in his throat.

But Itadori held firm, struggling in the curse’s jaws. He remembered.

(Why would anything eat it? Does it taste good?)

(Don’t be stupid. You’d do it to gain stronger cursed energy.)

His fingers moved. With one final thought, he launched the finger into the air.

“There is a way to save everyone!

I just need some cursed energy, right, Fushiguro?!”

“Don’t… Don’t do it!”

Too late. Itadori ate the finger.

Fushiguro’s thoughts spiraled in horror.

(Ryoumen Sukuna’s finger…! A special-grade cursed object! A deadly poison! He’ll die for sure!

But… there’s a one-in-a-million… a one-in-a-million chance…)

Power erupted.

Itadori—no, something else—emerged from the curse’s grasp with terrifying ease. He flicked his arm.

The curse exploded.

And there he was: Sukuna.

“Fufu… Hahaha… Hahahaha!

Ah, I knew it! The light feels best in the flesh!”

Fushiguro stared in frozen shock.

(This is the worst! A one-in-a-million chance… and the worst-case outcome!

The special-grade cursed object has incarnated!)

“A cursed spirit’s flesh is so boring,” Sukuna mused, stretching Itadori’s limbs.

“Where are the people? The women?!

What a wonderful era to be in. Women and children are crawling everywhere like maggots.

Marvelous! It’ll be a massacre! Hahaha!”

But then—suddenly—Itadori’s hand gripped his own face.

“Oh? Huh?” Sukuna muttered in confusion.

The body turned.

“What do you think you’re doing with my body? Give it back.”

“How are you able to move?” Sukuna sneered.

“I mean, it’s my body,” Itadori said flatly.

(He’s… suppressing me?)

Fushiguro, his hands trembling, stepped forward.

“Don’t move. You’re no longer human.”

“Huh?” Itadori blinked.

“Under Jujutsu regulations, Itadori Yuuji… I will exorcise you as a curse!”

Gojo arrived.

He took in the rooftop scene like a casual tourist—Fushiguro barely upright, Itadori clearly still himself, but laced with fresh danger.

“What’s the situation?”

“Wha… Gojou-sensei?! Why are you here?” Fushiguro choked.

“Hey.

I wasn’t planning on coming, but man, you’re roughed up. I should show the second-years.”

He grinned, camera already in hand.

“Hahaha… Face this way.”

Fushiguro clicked his tongue as Gojo snapped photos.

“The higher-ups wouldn’t shut up with a special-grade cursed object gone missing, so I stopped by while doing some sightseeing.

So, did you find it?”

“Um…” Itadori hesitated.

“Hm?”

“Sorry, but I ate it.”

“For real?”

“For real,” both Itadori and Fushiguro confirmed in sync.

Gojo peered at Itadori, amused.

“Haha… Damn, it really did combine with you. That’s hilarious.

Anything off with your body?”

“Not particularly.”

“Can you swap out with Sukuna?”

“Sukuna?”

“The curse you ate.”

“Oh… Yeah, I think I can do that.”

Gojo gave a serene smile.

“Then give us ten seconds. Once ten seconds are up, come back to us.”

While doing his famous open thighs squat stretch like Sukuna was nothing.

“But…”

“Don’t worry. I’m the strongest.”

Then, as casually as one might pass popcorn, he tossed a bag to Fushiguro.

“Hold on to this.”

“What is it?”

“Kikufuku from Kikusuian. It’s Sendai’s specialty, and it’s super good. I recommend the zunda and cream flavor!”

(This guy actually bought souvenirs while people were dying…) Fushiguro thought.

“It’s not a souvenir. I’m going to eat it on the bullet train home.”

Seconds later, Sukuna returned—and Gojo greeted him with all the gravity of a host welcoming a party guest.

Sukuna lunged. Gojo laughed, dodged, swatted, toyed. Pure dominance.

“My student’s watching, so I’m going to show off a little.”

Sukuna raged, striking with all the fury of a demon unchained. But Gojo moved like water—light, fluid, unstoppable.

“Seven… Eight… Nine…”

Then, just like that—it ended.

Sukuna faltered.

(Damn it… Again? I can’t take over.

Who the hell is this… Itadori… brat?!)

Itadori returned, dazed.

“Oh, was everything okay?”

“I’m shocked. You really can control it!”

“He’s kind of annoying, though. I can hear his voice.”

Gojo tapped his forehead.

“It’s a miracle that’s all he’s doing.”

And then—tap. Itadori slumped unconscious.

“What did you do?” Fushiguro asked.

“Knocked him out.

If he isn’t possessed by Sukuna when he wakes up, he might have potential as a vessel.”

He glanced at Fushiguro, expression serious for once.

“Now, I have a question for you. What should we do with him?”

Fushiguro’s answer came immediately.

“Even if he is a vessel, jujutsu regulations demand Itadori be executed. However… I don’t want to let him die.”

“Your personal feelings?”

“Yes. Please do something about this.”

Gojo’s smile deepened.

“Hehehehe… Now it’s a request from a precious student. Leave it to me!”

Present. A sealed room.

Gojo sat before a stunned Itadori, grin as bright as ever.

“With that, allow me to say it once more. You’re being executed.”

“Wha…”

“Hey, I did my best.

The execution’s still on, but I got your sentence suspended.”

“Suspended? So you’re not killing me right away?”

“Yep. I’ll explain from the top.”

Gojo raised a finger—Sukuna’s finger.

“This is the same as the cursed object you ate. There are twenty in total. We possess six of them.”

“Twenty? Oh, each finger and toe?”

“No, Sukuna has four arms.”

With casual flare, Gojo tossed the finger into the air—and blasted it into the wall.

“Erk…”

“As you can see, we can’t destroy them. The curse is just that powerful.

The curse grows stronger by the day, and the seals of modern-day jujutsu sorcerers can’t keep up.

That’s where you come in.”

“Huh?”

“When you die, the curse inside you will die, as well.

Our elders are cowards. They’re demanding we kill you right away.

But that would be a waste, wouldn’t it?”

“A waste?”

“There’s no guarantee another vessel capable of handling Sukuna will ever be born again. So I proposed this—

If we’re going to kill you anyway, why not kill you after you’ve absorbed all of Sukuna?

The higher-ups agreed. So now you have two options before you:

You can die right now…

Or you can find all the parts of Sukuna and die after you’ve absorbed them.”