"Mukuro Fushiguro."
Mukuro casually sat on a mushroom across from the woman. For the first time, he finally answered her curiosity.
"Never heard of you. But if you can enter my domain, you must be a sorcerer with at least some skill, right?"
The woman rested her chin in her hands. Her pale, long legs swung back and forth as she asked the question she'd wanted answered most ever since taking over the girl's body.
"Has Sukuna awakened?"
"Who knows? Besides, even if he has, it probably has nothing to do with you."
Mukuro's reply was calm and flat. But to Yorozu, those emotionless words felt full of mockery.
"What would you know... The bond between Sukuna and me isn't something a brat like you could ever understand! Only I understand him... Only we understand each other! The only person who can be with him is me!"
Her expression turned wild as she slapped her chest and shouted back, trying to prove with sheer force that she and Sukuna had once been close.
"Is that so?"
This time, seeing her desperately argue like that, Mukuro laughed.
Love?
Sukuna was the King of Curses. There was no way he'd play some romance game with a woman like her.
"You little brat..."
Yorozu's anger spiked so fast it was almost visible.
Normally, she didn't care what ants thought. If she didn't like someone, she would just crush them. If a man like this had existed a thousand years ago, back in her era, he would've been nothing more than a head hanging from a tree as decoration.
But she couldn't tolerate anyone laughing at her feelings for Sukuna.
'Something's off...'
Fueled by rage, she was about to create something and activate the guaranteed-hit effect carved into her domain.
Then she froze. Inside her own innate domain, there was no target she could lock onto.
No guaranteed-hit.
That sudden discovery made Yorozu calm down little by little.
"Don't tell me you said all that on purpose, just to make me attack you. And then you'd use that to break the binding vow that keeps me from being killed?"
This woman, who usually solved everything with her fists, had actually thought it through in just a few seconds.
Even if she was strong, she still hadn't fully incarnated. And this man clearly wasn't simple. If she broke the vow, the outside world could kill her just by killing the host body.
Before she could reunite with Sukuna, she wasn't going to die in some random place like this.
"You're pretty calm."
Mukuro smiled as his little plan was seen through. A soul that had lived for over a thousand years still had some brains, no matter what.
There was no point wasting time looking for other people anymore. If they could wake up later, he could always cripple them and test things slowly.
"Goodbye."
Mukuro stood up and waved, ready to leave this boring space.
"Wait! You still haven't answered my question!"
Yorozu jumped off the mushroom and strode after him, her long legs moving fast.
Her half-incarnated state already proved Kenjaku's plan was close. Still, she wanted a clearer answer from someone on the outside.
She had waited a thousand years for this.
"He's awake, but he's also going to die soon."
Mukuro stopped and slightly turned his head as he answered.
A gentle smile rose on his face, as if he were talking about stepping on an ant.
"Modern sorcerers really are…"
Yorozu tried to say more, but Mukuro's figure had already vanished from her sight.
* * *
Back in reality.
"Saori!"
The woman screamed in despair. Nobara clenched her fists too.
Right in front of them, the girl on the bed closed her eyes again, as if everything earlier had just been a dream.
"Fushiguro-senpai, how did it go?"
Only Ijichi looked at his senior the moment Saori closed her eyes.
"She won't die, but for now, even I can't exorcise what's inside her."
The first half felt like a shot of relief. Then the second half dropped them right back into darkness.
"Even you can't do it..." Nobara's heart sank. Her eyes turned red as she stared at the woman on the bed.
If even a special grade sorcerer couldn't solve it, then almost nobody in the world could help.
And seeing the person she once admired become like this made her feel powerless.
"Kugisaki-san, be more careful with your words. Fushiguro-senpai just said he can't remove it right now."
Ijichi spoke up at the right moment, breaking the heavy silence.
"Then that means..." Nobara froze, about to ask in excitement.
But the woman beside her suddenly dropped to her knees with a heavy thud.
"Sir! No matter how much it costs, I'll do anything you want. Please, you have to save my daughter!"
She looked like someone drowning, finally grabbing onto the one piece of hope she could reach.
She was willing to give everything for it. Even if she had nothing left.
"Wait for a trigger. You're lucky. No matter what happens, she won't be able to hold it back. It shouldn't take too long."
Whether the Culling Game began or not, Sukuna's full return would definitely make Yorozu unable to stay this calm.
Mukuro reached out, helped the woman up by the arm, then walked toward the door.
"Then we'll be taking our leave. Once the time comes, we'll return to help you."
Ijichi nodded politely and followed after him.
Nobara took one last look at the girl on the bed. Then she turned to comfort the woman before leaving.
"Ma'am, please don't worry. We'll definitely find a way to wake Saori as soon as possible!"
* * *
Once the three of them got back into the car, Nobara couldn't hold it in anymore.
"Fushiguro-san, what exactly is happening to Saori?"
"It's hard to explain quickly. Just think of it like this. She's been chosen as a vessel, but she hasn't been incarnated yet. And to solve it, we have to wait until the incarnation actually happens," Mukuro answered in the simplest way possible.
* * *
Elsewhere.
After investigating until late into the night, the trio of Yuji, Megumi, and Junpei finally worked together to exorcise the curse at Yasohachi Bridge.
At the same time, Megumi awakened his Domain Expansion while fighting an unexpected special grade.
"Jujutsu High lost several of Sukuna's fingers a few days ago. Give this one to Gojo-sensei. Don't eat it."
Megumi, the main force behind taking down the special grade, was exhausted. He handed the finger to Yuji.
Using a Domain for the first time was brutal on his body, especially since he wasn't used to it. But it was worth it. He had finally stepped out of his father's and uncle's shadow, and gained real power of his own.
A strong future he could actually see.
"What are you saying? Do I look like some kind of freak who eats that stuff?"
Yuji reached out with a disgusted look.
But the next moment...
A small mouth appeared in his palm and swallowed the finger whole.
"Sukuna?!"
The three of them cried out in shock.
**
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