"You're not Itadori! Sukuna?"
Megumi's nerves instantly tightened. He recognized those markings on Itadori's body—they were identical to the ones Sukuna had manifested back at Sendai School!
The moment he realized this, Fushiguro instinctively tried to retreat.
But before he could move, Sukuna's hand shot out like lightning, gripping his throat.
"Heh!"
Sukuna grinned with twisted amusement, malice gleaming openly in his eyes.
"Running away? You're next!"
Without giving Fushiguro even a second to react, Sukuna tore off one of Itadori's fingers—the crimson digit, infused with his full power, resembled the cursed remains of a death wax.
Without hesitation, Sukuna shoved the finger into Fushiguro's mouth, forcing him to swallow it.
As soon as he finished, Itadori Yuuji's body collapsed limply to the ground, as if all strength had drained from it.
Meanwhile, Fushiguro, forced to swallow the finger, stared wide-eyed in disbelief. His expression twisted into something darker than ever once he realized what it was.
He tried to speak, but before he could, his vision blacked out. His consciousness plummeted into an abyss, his head slumping forward helplessly.
When he raised it again—
The same black cursed markings that had adorned Itadori now etched themselves across his face.
A wild, unrestrained laugh burst from his lips—sinister, arrogant, and brimming with unhinged arrogance.
"Hahahahaha...! Perfect, just perfect! Now this is the vessel I've been waiting for!"
"That brat Itadori Yuuji could withstand my power, but he was like a damn prison, keeping me locked up tight. Could barely even come out for a breath—what a pathetic failure of a creation by Kenjaku. How the hell is that a perfect vessel?"
"But this kid, Fushiguro Megumi? He can handle my power, but he can't resist me. No matter what I want to do, he can't stop me. Could there be a more ideal vessel than this? Hahahaha!"
Sukuna laughed uproariously, his madness unrestrained.
Though he wore Fushiguro's body, he was nothing like Fushiguro.
Sinister, arrogant, deranged—unrestrained, self-serving, and utterly unpredictable. His very presence reeked of malevolence, as if he had transcended humanity itself. The air around him seemed tainted, thick with danger.
He was a ticking time bomb, ready to explode at any moment. Just standing there, he radiated terror, sending shivers down the spines of anyone nearby.
BOOM!
A deafening explosion shattered the icy monolith in the street. From within the wreckage, a black-haired man emerged, his gaze locking onto Sukuna's manic laughter.
The moment he saw him, Fushiguro Toji's face twisted with uncontrollable fury.
"You piece of shit—get away from my son!"
Barely able to contain his rage, Toji raised his cursed tool and charged at Sukuna.
"This is your son?"
Sukuna tilted his head, taken aback by his words.
"I see. Then this truly is a gift delivered right to my doorstep, hahaha!"
A malicious grin abruptly spread across Sukuna's face.
Instead of retreating, he advanced toward Toji Fushiguro with overwhelming killing intent.
Facing the cursed tool blade swung by Toji, Sukuna didn't dodge or evade—he even moved his head toward the blade's edge.
Toji's eyes widened slightly as he instinctively pulled back his weapon.
"Heh!"
Seeing this, Sukuna's face twisted into a mocking smile.
Slipping past the cursed tool blade, he drove his fist straight toward Toji's chest.
The air erupted with a violent explosion, faint smoke rings swirling around him as he outpaced even the sound barrier. His punch carried the force of splitting mountains and shattering stone, mercilessly striking the body of the Heavenly Restriction's tyrant.
"BOOM!"
With a tremendous roar, a figure was sent flying like a missile, smashing through several buildings at speeds invisible to the naked eye.
"Ugh—cough!"
Toji lay amidst the rubble, his chest burning with intense pain, his breathing ragged.
A metallic taste rose in his throat, and he spat out a mouthful of blood, staining his clothes like a dying sunset.
After a fit of violent coughing, he slowly rose from the wreckage.
Dust from the collapsed buildings filled the surrounding air.
"My son has grown so strong—I should be proud... Too bad the one who punched me wasn't my son, but some lowlife squatting in his body!"
Toji smirked, wincing as the movement aggravated his chest injury.
"Not just muscle damage... A couple of broken ribs, at least. Thankfully, no internal injuries."
A few broken bones wouldn't hinder his fighting.
But if his organs had been damaged, he'd have needed several minutes to recover.
Damn, this monster is something else.
His punch—both speed and power—completely surpassed mine!
Even Satoru Gojo back then only beat me with his technique!
Is it his immense cursed energy reserves?
Or his absurd output?
No.
It must be both!
"Cleave!"
Toji's ears twitched.
His sharp hearing picked out the sound of the atmosphere tearing amidst countless screams. Without hesitation, he leaped aside, smashing through reinforced concrete to escape.
An instant later, an enormous invisible slash swept past, bisecting the entire building.
Concrete, steel, people—everything was sliced apart like paper.
With a thunderous crash, the building collapsed backward.
As Toji burst out from the wreckage, he was met with the twisted, sinister face of Megumi Fushiguro.
Clicking his tongue, Toji spat out blood and raised his cursed tool blade, his piercing gaze locking onto Sukuna.
"Can you bring yourself to strike down your own son?"
Sukuna spread his arms wide, sneering at him.
"I never saw him as my son to begin with."
A deranged grin stretched across Toji's face, his eyes turning icy cold.
"Want to test that?"
"Ha!"
Sukuna tossed his head back, letting out a mocking laugh.
Then, in a flash, he lunged forward like lightning, his fist tearing through the air as if nothing stood in his way, barreling straight toward Toji.
Toji was fully alert, his senses heightened to the maximum. The moment Sukuna moved, he slashed forward without any defensive stance, engaging in an all-or-nothing attack aimed at mutual destruction.
Sukuna didn't dodge. His massive cursed energy wrapped around his fist as he smashed it directly into the blade.
Clang!
The broken blade spun away like a shard of metal.
Sukuna's fist was harder than steel, like a sledgehammer—just one punch shattered Toji's weapon head-on.
Toji had no choice but to accept it.
Ten years ago, when he was still alive, he had gathered almost all the powerful cursed tools in the world—Ten Shadows, Soul Liberation Blade, Idle Cloud… all the top-tier cursed tools had been in his possession.
But the moment he died, those tools were either destroyed or scattered, their whereabouts unknown to this day.
He had only been resurrected for three months now. Not only did he lack the money to buy powerful cursed tools, even if he had the funds, there simply weren't any high-grade cursed tools available for purchase.
These days, there were no strong cursed tools to be found!
The sword in his hand was just a crude weapon he had snatched from some random blacksmith, something barely passable for dealing with curses.
"'Heavenly Restriction's Tyrant,' huh? So this is what you're capable of!"
Sukuna scratched his temple, as if sifting through Fushiguro Megumi's memories.
"Stronger than most humans, sure. If I only had fourteen or fifteen fingers, we might've had a decent fight—could've debated the merits of pure physicality versus cursed energy and all that… But too bad. Right now, I'm infinitely close to my prime!"
At this point, his cursed energy output alone was enough to terrify every sorcerer of this era.
Toji didn't respond. His lips twisted as if resigned to reality, his fist clenched as he silently drove it toward Sukuna's chest.
Sukuna didn't flinch. His fist met Toji's like a mountain-shattering force.
In a contest of raw strength, as long as his cursed energy held out, Sukuna was confident he would never lose to anyone.
Even without watching the clash, he already knew the outcome.
But the instant before their fists collided, Toji suddenly shifted his weight, evading the center of Sukuna's attack and seizing his wrist instead.
"Huh?"
Sukuna let out a puzzled grunt.
A sharp glint flashed in Toji's eyes. Pivoting on his feet, he used Sukuna's own momentum to yank him off-balance before slamming him to the ground with a brutal suplex.
Every muscle in his body tensed like a coiled rope, pinning Sukuna down for just a moment. In that split second, he twisted the broken blade in his grip and stabbed it straight into Sukuna's chest!
Thud!
The blade sank into flesh, the broken edge burying itself deep until only the hilt remained outside.
Sukuna glanced down at his chest.
His lips curled into a bored smirk.
"Why not aim for my heart?"
The blade had pierced his chest but veered slightly off-course just before reaching his heart. Instead of striking the vital organ, it had grazed past, likely puncturing a lung.
Sukuna scoffed, his eyes brimming with scorn.
As if mocking Toji for his hesitation at the critical moment.
"Not that it would've mattered even if you had stabbed my heart. I wouldn't have died either way."
Still sneering, Sukuna reached out and grabbed Toji's arm.
Cursed energy surged, preventing Toji from retreating.
"Cleave."
Rip!
The slash tore through flesh like paper, severing Toji's arm clean off.
Toji's face paled slightly as he clutched his severed limb and leapt back.
"That move just now was a bit unexpected. It's a martial art developed after my death, called Jujutsu, right?"
Sukuna stood up from the ground, pulling the broken blade from his chest.
Before any blood could even spill, the pierced hole rapidly healed on its own.
"I've already seen through that technique. It only worked this once. Next time... Well, looking at your sorry state, there won't be a next time!"
Sukuna sneered mockingly as he eyed Toji's severed arm.
His slashes came in two forms. The first was "Dismantle"—a flying slash whose power scaled with his cursed energy output. The stronger the output, the greater the destruction—a straightforward, brute-force technique.
The second was "Cleave," which had to be delivered at point-blank range. It automatically adjusted its power based on the target's durability—stronger against tougher foes. A single hit meant certain death!
Even the body of the Heavenly Restricted powerhouse couldn't withstand a point-blank "Cleave" that adapted to its strength.
Sukuna lunged forward again, his hands like the soul-reaping hooks of the underworld's enforcers, clawing through the air toward Toji.
Toji had no choice but to retreat.
If he still had the Inverted Spear of Heaven, he might have stood a chance.
But now, he couldn't find any way to defeat Sukuna.
Even if he could win—
Would the result still be the same as before? Unconsciously veering away from Sukuna's vitals?
"What the hell am I doing?"
Toji himself found his behavior bizarre.
"Didn't I decide to abandon everything and live only for myself?"