The next day, on Takeshi Street.
"Sorry for the wait. Oh — your uniform made it in time," Gojo said.
It was slightly different from Fushiguro's.
"Uniforms can be customized on request," Gojo said.
"But I didn't—"
"I put in the order," Gojo said with a grin.
"…Cool," I muttered.
"Well, if you want to change anything, just ask."
Itadori nodded in agreement.
"Oh, it looks like she's here'"
Hearing the teacher's words, Itadori and Megumi turned to see a girl with short brown hair seeming to argue with a man.
"So that's the transfer student?" Itadori, even knowing the answer, asked more as a way not to seem too indifferent. "She seems lively."
"I feel like this one's going to be troublesome." Megumi commented with a sigh.
"Hey, over here!" Gojo, ignoring his students' comments, called the girl, who immediately noticed him.
Approaching the group, the girl stopped in front of them, her hand on her hip while her face filled with pride.
"My name is Nobara Kugisaki. I am the beautiful flower in a group of merry boys."
"Ugh." Megumi murmured, while Itadori seemed quite indifferent to the girl's presence.
Itadori didn't have much to say about Nobara. He thought she was a good person. He thought she was a good person, but he didn't pay much attention to her when he watched the anime. He was a little shocked by her death , but it didn't go much beyond that.
"My name is Yuiji Itadori." Itadori introduced himself with a friendly smile.
A stark contrast to Megumi, who seemed completely uninterested in the situation. "I'm Fushiguro Megumi."
"I see I wasn't very lucky." With a sigh, Nobara looked disheartened. Itadori blinked at this attitude. 'What was she expecting?
Gojo led us to Roppongi. A massive, abandoned building loomed near an old cemetery.
"There's a curse here," Gojo said. "They pop up around places people associate with fear and uneasiness."
"Like schools… and cemeteries," I said.
Gojo nodded. "Field test time. Nobara, Yuji — exorcise the curse inside. Fushiguro, stay here." Looking at that building exuding cursed energy from its interior.
I activated my Jugan.
"
Walking down the dim corridor, Itadori kept his grip firm on the cursed-energy–imbued knife, eyes scanning everything with quiet focus.This was his first field test. Gojo had insisted he carry the blade.
His steps were silent. Controlled.
Then the hairs on the back of his neck rose.
Jugan flickered to life.Something was behind him.
Yuji lunged forward—just as a claw sliced through the air where his neck had been a heartbeat ago.
That was close.
He spun.The Jugan locked onto the attacker: a curse shaped like a grotesque grasshopper, its forearms curved like bloodied scythes.
"This will do," Yuji murmured, rolling his shoulders. "Perfect for testing cursed energy manipulation."
The curse screeched and lunged.
Yuji ducked low.The Jugan slowed the world, tracing the flow of cursed energy through its body in glowing threads.
He sidestepped effortlessly, letting it carve into the wall.
"Fast," he muttered. "But not fast enough."
He slammed his elbow into its thorax, then drove the knife through its skull.A crack of cursed energy lit the air—then silence.
Yuji exhaled softly."Too weak."
He didn't celebrate. He couldn't afford to.
Curses weren't just monsters—they were born from human fear and hatred. Killing them was like erasing someone's nightmare.He didn't enjoy it.He could just accepted it.
If something threatened him or others, he would eliminate it.Simple. Clean. Efficient.
Jugan's Warning
Then—Jugan flared.
Yuji froze mid-step.
Halfway down the corridor, something pulsed—massive, cursed energy coiled around something smaller, weaker.A hostage.
And next to that faint, trembling signature… a familiar voice.Muffled. Frustrated.But unmistakable.
Nobara.
Yuji's eyes narrowed.Found you.
He tightened his grip on the knife and sprinted.
"Jugan—Target Lock."
The cursed energy trail sharpened in his vision, glowing like a thread.He followed it straight into the wall and—
BOOM!
The blade pierced the curse's skull before it could react.The wall exploded outward as the creature collapsed, black fluid splattering across the floor.
Yuji crouched, gently lifting the trembling boy the curse had been holding hostage.
"It's okay now, kid," he said softly."No monsters will hurt you."
Reunion
"Damn… how the hell did you go through that wall like it was nothing?"
Nobara's voice cut through the dust.Despite her deadpan tone, relief flickered across her face.A kid dying on her first mission would've crushed her.
Yuji grinned."I ate my vegetables when I was younger."
Carrying the boy, he walked toward her with a teasing smile."Maybe splitting up wasn't such a good idea after all."
Nobara scowled."What? You think I can't handle myself?"
Yuji opened his mouth. "I do—"
"Shut up, idiot!" she snapped, crossing her arms.Then, quieter: "…Still. Thanks."
She ruffled the boy's hair gently, then looked at Yuji.
"If this kid had died, I don't know if I could've kept going. Seriously. Thank you."
Yuji just smiled and nodded."Anytime."
Then—his sclera bled to black, irises flaring dark crimson.
The world warped.
Lines of cursed energy webbed through the walls.Every heat signature glowed in sharp relief.
Gojo praised us, and we returned the child home, and then the group went to eat.
After Returning to jujutsu high
Back in my room, I sat cross-legged on the floor, the day's sweat still drying on my skin.
Before training, I had asked Gojo-sensei about cursed techniques—how they worked, how to build them, how to shape cursed energy. He'd just handed me a thick book and said:
"Read this. Every sorcerer can do these things if they're talented enough. The rest… you figure out yourself."
The book covered everything from basic to advanced concepts:
Cursed Energy Reinforcement — strengthening the body
Cursed Energy Manipulation — shaping and controlling the flow
Domain Expansion and Innate Domains
Black Flash, Barrier Techniques, Simple Domain
Cursed Energy Flow, Output, Detection, Suppression, Residuals
Binding Vows, Heavenly Restrictions, Maximum Techniques
Reverse Cursed Technique, though it said little—because those who mastered it were usually prodigies who couldn't explain it…and those who weren't didn't live long enough to pass it down.
I closed the book and exhaled slowly.
Cursed energy wasn't like chakra or ki from other worlds. It was more… volatile. Emotional. Gojo once said it was like electricity—raw and dangerous. He was probably right.
I knew that if I wanted to reach the next level, I had to do more than just fight harder. I needed to create an Innate Domain—a world within my mind, a foundation for my future Domain Expansion.
Forging My Domain Hours passed as I meditated, visualizing landscapes, symbols, fragments of my soul taking shape. My Jugan helped me map it, copying Sukuna's own domain as a framework, then twisting it into something of my own.
By the time I opened my eyes, my cursed energy felt different—denser, heavier, alive.
Tomorrow, I would face a Special Grade curse. And I would be ready.
But first… I needed to talk to Sukuna.
The Deal
"Hey, Sukuna! I have a deal for you," I called out.
Silence.
Then the world tore apart around me.
I opened my eyes to find myself standing in a land of blood and bones. The sky was pitch-black. Sukuna sat on a throne made of skulls, power radiating off him like fire.
I stepped forward. "I want to make a deal."
He smirked. "What could a brat like you possibly offer me?"
"Simple," I said. "When you take control of my body, you won't harm my friends or any innocent people."
He raised an eyebrow. "And what do I get?"
"Power. And a little freedom," I said. "If you get all your fingers, you might take over my body. Or we might both die. But even then… there are eighteen of your soul fragments scattered in this world. I could still bring you back."
Sukuna laughed mockingly, then lazily flicked his hand.
Cleave slashed toward me.
I sidestepped easily. "Seriously? How petty can you be?"
His grin sharpened.
"You'll get weak," I continued. "I've already eaten two of your fingers. Who knows if you'll ever find another vessel who can contain you? We're in the same boat. You help me, I help you. In return… I'll let you fight, once in a while. But no killing innocents. No sorcerers."
"Deals are made between equals," Sukuna said darkly. "You're not my equal."
My eyes flared crimson.
Behind me, a throne rose from black flames, a blood-red moon hanging above it. My Innate Domain surged into being, clashing against his like two kingdoms fighting for territory.
His smirk faltered as he felt the pressure. My domain, though copied from his, stood equal.
"I'll give you time to think," I said calmly. "But I know who you are. The King of Curses. I heard you were human once… and I think someone as evil as you could've only be created by corrupting someone who was once truly good."
For the first time, Sukuna's grin faded. His expression darkened into something serious.
And then I vanished from his domain.