Aside from the "Infinity Castle," Narume also had another Blood Demon Art ability: creating a ton of eyeball-like objects to monitor and keep tabs on everything happening outside the castle. It's kind of like Gaara's "Sand Eye" from Naruto, but with way more eyeballs, giving her a much wider range of vision.
Half the credit for Muzan's group finding Yushiro Ubuyashiki's mansion goes to Narume.
And because of that…
She had a pretty good idea of what went down during that massive battle that night.
She'd honestly thought Muzan was done for this time, and that she'd go down with him. So, she just stayed quietly in the Infinity Castle, eyes closed, waiting for the end.
But then…
Muzan somehow survived.
After days of living on edge, Narume was yanked out of the Infinity Castle by Muzan himself, only to be handed over to someone else… and that new master? None other than "Yoriichi Tsugikuni," the guy who took down Kokushibo with a single strike.
For a split second, Narume even wondered if Muzan was annoyed that she'd survived thanks to the Infinity Castle and was trying to get her killed through someone else.
—That's totally something Muzan would do…
But her survival instincts kicked in. Clutching her biwa, Narume bowed even lower, speaking softly to Hikari Uchiha.
"Your humble servant Narume greets Lord… Hikari. Please guide me."
"Hm, lift your head."
Hikari Uchiha rubbed her chin, sizing Narume up with a scrutinizing gaze. She stepped forward, towering over her, and gently brushed aside the hair covering Narume's forehead with the back of her hand.
The moment Hikari saw Narume's true face, her eyelid twitched slightly, and a faint smile appeared. "…Well, aren't you a unique little thing?"
If you only looked at Narume's slender figure and pale skin, you might mistake her for a stunning beauty.
But in reality…
She was big in certain ways, sure, but "beautiful"? That's a stretch.
Narume's face lacked normal features. Instead, a massive eyeball took up half her face, with a tiny cherry-like mouth below it. If she showed up in the modern world, she'd probably scare people to death on the spot—no makeup needed for a horror movie role.
"You'll be with me from now on. Forget about that overgrown baby of a former master."
"For now, there's nothing I need you to do. But I'll take you to meet someone soon," Hikari said casually.
Among Muzan's followers, Narume was one of the more loyal ones.
In the original story, she diligently maintained the Infinity Castle, carrying out every single one of Muzan's orders to the letter. It wasn't until the final battle, when Yushiro used his talismans to control her,
So, besides the whole "Infinity Castle" deal, Narume's got another Blood Demon Art up her sleeve. She can whip up a bunch of creepy eyeball-like things to keep tabs on what's happening outside the castle. Think Gaara's "Sand Eye" from Naruto, but with a ton more eyeballs, letting her spy on a much bigger area at once.
Muzan and his crew finding Yushiro Ubuyashiki's mansion? Yeah, Narume gets at least half the props for that.
And that's why…
She had a pretty good idea of what went down during that epic showdown that night.
Honestly, she thought Muzan was toast this time, and she'd go down with him. So, she just chilled in the Infinity Castle, eyes shut, ready for the end.
But then…
Muzan somehow pulled through.
After days of sweating bullets, Narume got yanked out of the Infinity Castle by Muzan himself, only to be handed off to someone new… and that new boss? None other than "Yoriichi Tsugikuni," the guy who sliced up Kokushibo like it was nothing.
For a hot second, Narume wondered if Muzan was salty that she'd dodged death thanks to the Infinity Castle and was trying to get her killed by proxy.
—Sounds like something Muzan would totally pull…
But survival instincts kicked in hard. Clutching her biwa, Narume bowed even lower, her voice barely above a whisper as she addressed Hikari Uchiha.
"Your loyal servant Narume greets you, Lord… Hikari. Please guide me."
"Hm, look up."
Hikari Uchiha rubbed her chin, eyeing Narume up and down like she was sizing up a new summon. She stepped closer, looming over her, and gently pushed aside the hair covering Narume's forehead with the back of her hand.
The second Hikari saw Narume's real face, her eyelid twitched just a bit, and a faint smirk appeared. "…Well, aren't you a quirky little thing?"
If you just glanced at Narume's sleek figure and pale skin, you might think she's some drop-dead gorgeous type.
But in reality…
She's stacked in some ways, sure, but "gorgeous"? Yeah, that's a hard pass.
Narume's face doesn't have normal features. Instead, there's this massive eyeball taking up half her mug, with a tiny cherry-like mouth below it. If she popped up in the modern world, she'd probably send people running for the hills—no makeup needed for a starring role in a horror flick.
"You're with me now. Forget about that whiny man-baby of a former master."
"No tasks for you just yet, but I'm gonna take you to meet someone soon," Hikari said, cool as a breeze.
Out of all Muzan's lackeys, Narume's one of the most loyal.
In the original Demon Slayer plot, she kept the Infinity Castle running like clockwork, following every single one of Muzan's orders to a T. It wasn't until the big final battle, when Yushiro slapped some talismans on her to take control, that she briefly broke free. That led to Muzan frying her brain and killing her. In a way, she was used up and tossed aside like yesterday's bento.
For Hikari Uchiha, though, the connection between Narume and Muzan had to be cut, no matter what.
Who knows if Muzan might one day get a wild hair and try to off Narume with a single thought? If that happened, even slicing Muzan into a thousand pieces wouldn't be enough to settle the score.
Hikari's plan was to track down Tamayo first and see if she could pull off what she did before—use some kind of drug to slowly free Narume from Muzan's grip.
As for the next steps, that could wait until they made some headway on studying Muzan.
A few days flew by.
On the third day, Brand popped by to say hi to Hikari before heading back.
He'd taken some time off for this trip, having just spent a couple of weeks in the Dragon Ball world, so he couldn't stick around too long.
Kikyo and the others were still hanging out, though.
On the other side…
After some serious thought, Tamayo finally came to Hikari and said she'd take her up on her offer.
As for Narume, Tamayo agreed to help with the drugs to gradually break her free from Muzan's control.
Hikari saw that coming a mile away.
She was ready to bring Tamayo to Dr. Gero, where she'd work alongside him, mainly on the "Muzan Slicing Project." Plus, she could keep an eye on Gero to make sure the mad scientist didn't whip up any crazy new inventions behind her back.
Perfect timing, too.
The Demon Slayer Corps had just finished tallying up the casualties from the big battle.
After sealing a few new bodies and souls into ice coffins and talismans, Hikari was set to head back to the gods to talk about resurrection plans—whether they'd come to her or she'd go to them.
Right then…
The group chat lit up with a few new messages—
[Tiger of Nishinaka: Um, Miss Hikari, Miss Bulma, and Tanjiro, can I ask you guys for a favor?]
[Tiger of Nishinaka: I heard you mention those Dragon Balls can bring people back to life, and there's no limit on how many, right? So… could we maybe add one more person?]
[Bulma: Huh? What's going on, Yuji-kun?]
[Tiger of Nishinaka: …A friend of mine was killed recently…]
"Friend?"
Back at the headquarters mansion…
Hikari Uchiha narrowed her eyes, thinking it over.
Yuji Itadori's got a lot of friends.
The guy's a total jock with a knack for getting chummy with just about anyone. Plus, he's got this weird passive ability to plant "fake memories" in people's heads, and he's the type to go all-in for his buddies. If it weren't for Sukuna chilling inside him, making him a target for the jujutsu world's big shots, he'd probably have even more friends.
As for friends who got killed, there's a bunch.
Some went down in the Shibuya Incident, like Nobara Kugisaki, one of Gojo Satoru's students.
Others bit the dust in the Shinjuku Showdown, like a certain "invincible" top-tier sorcerer and another of Gojo's students, Megumi Fushiguro.
But at this point in time…
Maybe some high school kid who stumbled into the jujutsu world by mistake?
As if to confirm Hikari's guess, Yuji's next message came through:
[Tiger of Nishinaka: His name's Junpei Yoshino, a friend I made recently at Satozakura High. We even planned to catch Earthworm Man 4 together, but last night, he was killed by a curse named Mahito… right in front of me…]
Yuji took a moment to explain the whole deal.
Hikari already knew this plotline—honestly, she knew it better than Yuji did, since he didn't know Junpei's backstory before they met—so she wasn't fazed.
But Bulma and the others? They were feeling all kinds of mixed emotions.
[Kikyo: I see… So, these "cursed spirits" are born from human negativity? Sounds a bit like Naraku's vibe…]
[Bulma: Doesn't matter how that thing was born—what it's doing is straight-up vile! Toying with people's souls and bodies like they're playthings, even targeting high schoolers and little kids who've got nothing to do with the jujutsu world? What's the difference between this guy and Muzan Kibutsuji?!]
[Nameless: Well… honestly, Muzan might be slightly better, like, by a hair.]
No lie there.
As villains go, Muzan at least had some kind of ambition, even if his values were totally warped.
But Mahito from the Jujutsu Kaisen world? He's just pure evil. Killing, manipulating, twisting souls… it's all just a game to him for kicks. Emotions are like a luxury he doesn't even get, so it's no shock he'd pull off something horrific.
Speaking of which…
Hikari was actually kind of curious about Mahito's "Idle Transfiguration" technique, wondering what kind of power it really was.
But now wasn't the time for that.
[Nameless: Junpei Yoshino's case might be tricky. Since Mahito turned him into a transfigured human before he died, his soul and body got pretty messed up. Even the Dragon Balls might struggle to bring him back… But if you really need it, Kikyo and I can swing by to check things out and confirm.]
[Miko Yotsuya: If you need me, I can help too. I can't fight cursed spirits, but my eyes might pick up something, like the state of his soul.]
[Tiger of Nishinaka: Alright.]
Hikari and Kikyo were both at the Demon Slayer Corps' headquarters mansion.
After a quick chat and a brief "we'll be right back" to Esdeath, Eri, and the others, they both sent requests to join Yuji's world.
[Nameless has requested to enter Tiger of Nishinaka's world]
[Kikyo has requested to enter…]
A flash of light.
Hikari Uchiha closed her eyes, then opened them, and the scene had changed.
She was standing in a long, spacious corridor, probably inside some building. One side had rooms, the other had windows. Through the half-open glass, she could see sunny weather outside, with lush trees in a courtyard—probably summer, by the looks of it.
"Where are we…?"
"This is Gojo Satoru's private place. It's where I've been staying lately."
"?"
Hikari followed the voice and spotted Yuji Itadori a few meters away.
He looked pretty much like he did in the anime, though a bit shorter than she'd expected. She'd figured he'd be around six feet, but he was closer to five-seven—still tall compared to her and Kikyo, though.
On the flip side…
Yuji was curiously checking out her and Kikyo.
Even though he'd been in the group chat for a while, Yuji hadn't joined any group activities, so this was his first time meeting Hikari and Kikyo face-to-face. A quick round of small talk later…
Kikyo cut to the chase: "Mr. Itadori, where's this friend you mentioned?"
"…Follow me."
Yuji gestured for them to follow, leading the way.
As they walked, he added a bit more context—
"Sorry I haven't dropped by to visit you guys before. When I heard you were fighting 'demons,' I really wanted to help Tanjiro out, but I'm technically a dead man right now. Gojo Satoru's got me on this secret training regimen, and he checks in on my progress every day, so I can't just wander off…
Plus, there's this seriously evil thing sealed inside me—like, super evil. I can't control it, and if something goes wrong, it could cause some serious collateral damage…"
"Oh?"
Hikari thought back—
Yeah, that tracks.
Not long after enrolling, Yuji ran into a special-grade cursed spirit while on a mission with Megumi Fushiguro. To take it down, he had to let Sukuna take over his body. But then Sukuna tried to kill Megumi, so Yuji decided to go out with him, leading to Sukuna ripping out his heart and leaving him dead.
But, you know, being the "protagonist" comes with some perks.
At the last second, Sukuna pulled Yuji's soul into his mental world, made a binding vow, and brought him back to life.
Yuji doesn't remember that whole "death" episode.
Gojo, meanwhile, kept Yuji's survival under wraps to protect and train him, only bringing him out as a secret weapon for the "Kyoto Sister School Exchange Event" later on.
As for this Junpei incident, it happened during one of his secret training missions.
"…Got it."
Kikyo frowned slightly after hearing Yuji's story. "So, this Sukuna thing… it's an evil spirit too, right? Can you see it in him, Miss Hikari?"
"Nope."
Hikari shook her head flat-out.
Her Sharingan boosts perception, but it's not X-ray vision. Plus, Sukuna's chilling in Yuji's body as a soul, kind of like a Jinchuriki from Naruto. Even if she could see through him, she wouldn't spot Sukuna lurking in his organs.
That said…
If she really wanted to meet Sukuna, it wouldn't be hard. Just dive into Yuji's mental world.
In fact…
Sukuna was probably watching her and Kikyo right now through Yuji's eyes.
"…"
Kikyo looked down, her face thoughtful, like she was scheming how to lure Sukuna out and take him down. Keeping a thing like that inside you might let you borrow its power, but it doesn't exactly feel great.
"…We're here."
Yuji stopped in front of a room and pushed the door open. "Come on in."
The AC in the room was cranked way down.
As soon as the door opened, a chilly vibe hit them.
Two steps in, and they saw a body sealed in a cold storage unit.
"…This lump is Junpei Yoshino?"