Sendai City, Miyagi Prefecture. Sugisawa Third High School. Night.
"Keeping a Special Grade Cursed Object in a place like this... is just stupid."
Megumi Fushiguro stepped slowly out of the shadows, muttering under his breath as he prepared to open the Stevenson screen. But the moment he reached out, he froze.
"It's not even locked..."
Finding the box empty, Megumi was momentarily speechless. He dropped to the ground, searching the area meticulously. Finally, in a desperate gamble, he shut the box, took a deep breath, and flung it open again. "Haa... still nothing."
Losing a cursed object of this caliber was a nightmare. Unsure of what else to do, he pulled out his phone to contact his superior.
"I couldn't find it."
"Huh?"
"The Stevenson screen is empty."
"For real? That's hilarious. Maybe it went out for a night walk?"
"I'm going to punch you."
"You can't come back until you have it, you know." With that characteristically irresponsible remark, Satoru Gojo hung up.
The afterglow of the sunset bathed the boy's face, highlighting his messy pink hair. Yuji Itadori sat fiddling with a flower vase, arranging the white and yellow blossoms.
"I have a bad feeling about this."
"Yuji."
A frail, raspy voice from the hospital bed broke his train of thought. Yuji turned to look at his grandfather.
"You're strong. Go help people."
"It doesn't have to be everyone. Just help those within your reach. Save as many as you can. It's okay to be lost, and don't worry about being thanked."
"You... you should die surrounded by a crowd."
"Die?" Yuji didn't quite grasp the meaning, but then he heard one final sentence.
"Just... don't end up like me."
Then, a lonely silence.
After the old man passed away, Yuji processed the death certificate with a heavy heart. He was chatting with the receptionist when—
"Are you Yuji Itadori?"
He looked toward the voice and saw a boy with spiky hair wearing a strange high-collared uniform.
"According to Jujutsu regulations, Yuji Itadori... as a Curse, I will now exorcise you."
On the rooftop of Sugisawa High, a bloodied Megumi stood before Yuji, whose body was now covered in intricate black tattoos.
"Huh? But I'm fine."
"More importantly, we're both covered in injuries. We should get to the hospital."
"I can't tell if the one speaking is the cursed object or Itadori," Megumi thought grimly. "Damn it, what am I supposed to do?"
Things had unfolded exactly as one might expect. The missing object—a Special Grade Cursed Object created from a finger of Ryomen Sukuna—had been swallowed by Yuji after a fierce internal struggle.
Though he had successfully killed the curse attracted by the finger, Yuji had undergone a transformation. The pitch-black tattoos and the abnormal aura of Cursed Energy made it clear: in Megumi's mind, it was highly likely that Yuji had undergone Incarnation.
But Megumi, as a relatively new sorcerer, still lacked a certain ruthlessness. Furthermore, the two had shared a moment of camaraderie while fighting the curse together. Most importantly, he believed Yuji was just an innocent civilian caught in the crossfire.
He was trapped in a dilemma—unwilling to kill an innocent person, yet bound by the sorcerer's code to exorcise curses.
Fortunately, someone arrived to save him from his indecision.
"What's the situation here?"
Carrying a shopping bag, Satoru Gojo appeared behind Megumi like a ghost.
"Gojo-sensei? Why are you here?" Megumi exhaled in relief, dissipating his gathered Cursed Energy. He knew better than anyone how powerful the white-haired man was; no matter how strong a curse might be, it was nothing before this teacher.
"I wasn't planning on coming," Gojo said, looking down at Megumi and pulling out his phone to snap a few photos. "Look at you, all beat up. I've gotta show the second-years."
"Tsk." Megumi clicked his tongue, trying to raise an arm to block the camera.
"The higher-ups would nag me to death if a Special Grade went missing, especially since you're my student. Besides..." Gojo pocketed his phone, having sent the photos to who-knows-who. "Teacher here made a big mistake recently, so I have to be present for stuff like this. Cheer up! I'm technically restricted in where I can travel, but luckily, Sendai is on the 'approved' list."
"So, did you find it?"
"That..." Yuji raised his right hand like a schoolboy answering a question. "Sorry. I ate it."
"For real?"
"For real!" Megumi and Yuji answered in unison.
"Hmm...?" Gojo rested his chin on his hand, observing the pink-haired boy. Yuji had a lean, muscular build, and Cursed Energy leaked from his body in a steady stream, just like a normal sorcerer.
"Hey, hey, you're too close." Yuji's face flushed slightly as the blindfolded man leaned in until they were almost nose-to-nose. Luckily, Gojo wasn't actually hitting on him; he just inspected him closely before pulling back. "Saved..."
"It really did merge with him. Hilarious." Gojo used the Six Eyes to confirm that the Cursed Energy inside Yuji was now fundamentally different from a normal human's, though he'd never seen a manifestation quite like this. "Any abnormalities with your body?"
"None," Yuji said, brushing the dust off his clothes.
"Can you swap with Sukuna?"
"Sukuna?"
"The curse you swallowed."
"Oh. Yeah. I think so."
Hearing this, Gojo immediately dropped into a deep lunge to stretch.
"Ten seconds, then. Come back after ten seconds."
"But..." Yuji was worried. Swallowing the object had granted him power far beyond anything he'd ever known; he wasn't sure if the blindfolded man could handle the soul of the King of Curses.
As if sensing Yuji's concern, Gojo flashed a brilliant, confident smile.
"Don't worry. Boku... I'm the strongest."
Now, some might wonder: Hasegumo knows the plot, so why didn't he stop Yuji from swallowing the finger?
First of all, while he knew the events, he didn't know the exact date.
Secondly, since his arrival in this world, history had already undergone unpredictable changes. There was no guarantee things would unfold the same way. He couldn't very well spend every waking moment stalking Jujutsu High, waiting to save some kid he didn't even know yet.
He had better things to do with his time—like completing missions. The time wasted waiting around could be spent saving countless people who would otherwise die at the hands of curses.
In his eyes, Yuji Itadori was no different from anyone else.
Besides, it was "just" Sukuna. Hasegumo didn't consider the King of Curses to be any stronger than himself. Even if the Incarnation was complete, there were always more solutions than problems. If Sukuna became a nuisance, he'd just find a way to kill him.
Furthermore, he had his own life to lead and his own problems to deal with.
While Gojo and Sukuna were busy trading blows on the rooftop—making an indelible contribution to the school's "Renovation Fund"—what was Hasegumo doing?
He was looking for a house.
Even though Yu Haibara had explained that the palace built by Novski was technically legal, Hasegumo was still uneasy. Moreover, it felt wrong for just two people to live in such a massive complex.
Combined with the recent disciplinary action from the Jujutsu Association—which had suspended his fixed salary—his already modest savings were looking even more pathetic.
And so, Hasegumo was looking for a side hustle.
Exorcising curses on missions went without saying; that was his job, and those payments were still being processed as usual. In fact, after the Hiroshima and Nagasaki incidents, the massive wave of panic and conspiracy theories had caused curse numbers to hit record highs. Hasegumo's income was actually skyrocketing.
But a human's energy is finite. He could only choose the most powerful curses with the widest impact to exorcise. Without Gojo's convenient teleportation, even if he worked 24/7, he wouldn't earn enough to buy the kind of house he wanted in a short time.
He still had to do his ten thousand daily Gratitude Punches, train Toge Inumaki, and spend time with his wife...
While he had plenty of ways to make quick cash with his power—legal or otherwise—he didn't want to go down that path. If a person lives their whole life just chasing money, they lose their sense of purpose.
His philosophy was simple: pursue his dreams, do something meaningful along the way, and hopefully make his life a little more comfortable while he was at it.
Which is why Hasegumo was currently facing the crisis that makes every middle-aged man tremble:
"Real estate prices... they're scarier than Special Grade Curses."
The Star Corridor. Located beneath Tokyo Jujutsu High.
Despite being in the business for over fifteen years, this was Hasegumo's first time here. It was said that only the core figures of the Jujutsu world were allowed access to this information.
"Does this make me a man standing at the peak of power in the Jujutsu world? I don't even have any kickbacks to show for it." He mocked himself. Though he was publicly recognized as the strongest, his actual authority hadn't changed—or if it had, he hadn't noticed or used it.
In the center of the vast underground palace stood a white-haired woman. The circular wall surrounding the space was densely packed with thousands of doors, illuminated by the flickering, dancing light of wall-mounted candles.
Shadows ebbed and flowed.
"You've come," Tengen's raspy, grating voice echoed. "Are you here to claim your cursed tools from the Cursed Warehouse?"
"...That's right." Hasegumo thought to himself, Well, obviously. You don't usually let me in here, it's not like I came to kill you.
"Let me double-check," he said, walking toward the center. "Are there any restrictions on how I use the tools I claim?"
"None."
"Whether you give them away or sell them, it is your choice." Tengen answered as if reading his mind.
I'll pick some tools with high utility then... hmm, I could sell them to Nanami. That guy spent years in finance; he must be loaded.
Even though being read so easily was a bit annoying, Hasegumo was still in high spirits. If I sell all five, it should be enough to buy a nice place in the city.
"Before that, I have a favor to ask." Sipping her tea, Tengen patted the rattan chair beside her, gesturing for him to sit.
"What is it?"
"Help me test a certain Cursed Tool. The reward is ten million yen."
Tengen's offer was essentially half a house in one go. For the cash-strapped Hasegumo, it was like charcoal delivered in a blizzard.
Testing a tool was a minor task for someone of his level, so he agreed without a second thought.
"Sure, why not."
...
"Prison Realm—Open."