Sukuna watches.
Yuji Itadori stands over a corpse—a cursed spirit that once wore the face of a child. Its body twitches once before going still, dissolving into ash and regret. Blood drips from Yuji's knuckles. His breath comes in ragged bursts. His shoulders tremble, but he doesn't fall.
His eyes shimmer with something Sukuna hasn't seen in centuries.
Grief.
And then, Yuji laughs.
Not a joyful laugh. Not a cruel one. It's the laugh of someone who's broken and refuses to shatter. A laugh that says, I'm still here. I'm still fighting. A laugh that dares the world to try again.
Sukuna is intrigued.
"You laugh at death," he whispers from within. "Are you mad, or magnificent?"
Yuji doesn't answer. He doesn't even hear him. But Sukuna feels the boy's heart—steady, defiant. It pulses with resolve, not fear. It's irritating. It's impressive.
Later, in the training yard, Yuji spars with Megumi Fushiguro. His movements are clumsy but improving. He learns fast. Too fast. Sukuna watches every punch, every dodge, every moment of hesitation. He studies the boy like a puzzle he wasn't meant to solve.
"You're adapting," Sukuna murmurs. "You're becoming dangerous."
He begins testing the vessel again.
During sleep, he floods Yuji's dreams with visions—temples burning, friends dying, the world drowning in cursed energy. He whispers promises of power, of control, of vengeance. He shows him what it could be like to rule. To reshape the world. To never lose again.
Yuji wakes screaming.
But he doesn't break.
He trains harder. Fights smarter. Laughs louder. He carries grief like armor. He wears hope like a blade. Sukuna watches, restless.
"Why do you resist?" he asks one night, manifesting in Yuji's mental domain—a throne of bone and flame, suspended in a void of crimson mist. The air hums with cursed energy. The walls pulse like veins.
Yuji stands before him, fists clenched.
"Because I'm not like you."
Sukuna rises from his throne, towering, monstrous. His four arms crackle with power. His two mouths curl into a grin.
"You will be."
They clash in the dreamscape.
Sukuna doesn't use his full power—he doesn't need to. He's testing. Probing. Yuji fights with desperation, with fury, with heart. He moves like someone who knows he'll lose but refuses to surrender. His blows are wild, unrefined, but honest.
And for a moment… Sukuna falters.
The boy lands a blow.
It's weak. Symbolic. But it stings.
Sukuna laughs.
"You amuse me, brat. Keep fighting. It makes your fall more entertaining."
Back in the real world, Yuji wakes with a nosebleed and a smile.
He's not afraid.
Sukuna watches, silent.
He's beginning to understand: Yuji isn't just a vessel. He's a challenge. A contradiction. A boy who laughs at death and dares to defy a god.
And Sukuna—Ryomen Sukuna, the King of Curses—has never been more curious.