Chapter 129 – The Agreed Final Battle, and Uraume the Hostage
Hearing the news Uraume brought, Sukuna's expression finally shifted—just slightly.
Kenjaku, that old bastard… was dead.
That meant Kenjaku's grand plan was about to collapse. Sukuna had never intended to help him complete such a tedious, meaningless scheme anyway.
"I can return this body to you all—intact.
But not now. Give me about three days.
Three days later, I will release him myself."
Fushiguro's technique was intriguing—full of potential. Yet Sukuna wasn't completely sure that regaining his peak strength would guarantee victory against this monster standing before him.
More importantly… when his full power returned, his opponents might not just be this freak.
There might also be that white-haired sorcerer—and maybe even more jujutsu sorcerers.
That part was… somewhat troublesome.
He had full confidence in his strength, yes—but only under the condition that he faced one equal opponent.
If there were two… or more… things could get messy.
Fortunately for him, Uraume had brought wonderful news.
Kenjaku was dead.
Tengen belonged to him now…
"I see. That's acceptable."
Zen'in Shinsuke scratched his ear thoughtfully. "In that case, let's set the final battle for… December 24th."
He recalled the date Gojo Satoru and Sukuna had originally agreed upon.
"I'll give you time to recover. Same place—Shinjuku.
How's that? A solid month should be more than enough for you to regain your full power."
"Tch. The 24th… what a disgusting date."
Sukuna's face twisted with distaste, as if the number itself offended him.
"Relax. I'll be there. On time… challenger."
With that, Sukuna activated his technique, summoning a massive Nue. He stepped onto its back, preparing to leave with Uraume.
But in the next instant—
Shinsuke vanished and reappeared beside Uraume, seizing her by the throat and lifting her effortlessly like a helpless chick.
"What are you doing?! Let go of me!"
Uraume's face contorted in fury. She grabbed at Shinsuke's arm with both hands, legs kicking wildly in the air as an eruption of chilling frost burst outward, an attempt to freeze him solid.
BOOM!
Terrifying heat exploded from Zen'in Shinsuke's body, instantly crushing the wave of frost that Uraume had unleashed.
He ignored her struggling completely. His calm eyes remained fixed on Sukuna as he said lightly,
"Until my nephew returns safe and sound, she'll serve as the hostage."
"You dare threaten me?"
Sukuna's voice was flat—expressionless, emotionless, not a flicker of change in his gaze.
"Sukuna-sama! Don't worry about me!"
Uraume was still thrashing desperately, but the more she fought, the more she resembled a helpless chick caught by the neck.
"It isn't a threat," Shinsuke replied, "I simply don't trust you. After all… your words were: humans are weak, and easily deceived."
Sukuna fell silent.
He had been using Fushiguro's body to deceive Tsumiki not long ago. Considering that, their lack of trust was perfectly reasonable.
"You're quite underhanded," Sukuna finally said, lips curling in amusement, "but I don't dislike it. Relax. I'll keep my word.
Three days from now, the boy will return to you unharmed."
He added,
"And during that time, I don't want a single scratch on Uraume."
Leaving behind those words, Sukuna mounted Nue and vanished into the sky.
No one else in this world could threaten him.
Except Uraume—his servant since childhood.
She held a place no other being did.
Once Sukuna was gone, Shinsuke released her.
"Looks like your 'Lord Sukuna' cares about you more than I expected."
"Hmph."
Uraume snorted, saying nothing, but the proud expression on her face betrayed her mood.
Her heart brimmed with happiness—yet also guilt.
Her situation had forced Sukuna to accept a hostage exchange.
"Sukuna left already?"
Kashimo and the others hurried over.
"Uncle, Megumi…?" Tsumiki asked anxiously.
Seeing everyone's worried faces, Shinsuke didn't drag it out.
"Don't worry. If nothing goes wrong, Megumi will be back within three days."
He pointed at Uraume.
"We have a hostage. Sukuna won't break his word."
"Let's return to Jujutsu High and release Gojo. We need to prepare for the battle on December 24th."
"So the final battle is set?"
"With Zen'in-sensei and Gojo-sensei on our side, this should be an easy win, right?"
Nobara asked.
She didn't understand why such a one-sided fight needed such ceremony.
"That's because you've never witnessed Sukuna-sama in his prime!"
Uraume snapped.
"With just these two? They could never hope to defeat Sukuna-sama!"
"Shut it! You're a hostage. You don't get to speak!"
Nobara barked right back, giving Uraume zero face.
"Hey, hey, that's not the point!"
Kashimo complained. "I'm the one who came here specifically to fight Sukuna!"
"No. It should be me! Sukuna must die by my hand!"
Hikari interjected angrily.
At this point, neither of them even had a guaranteed spot in the fight.
"Enough."
Shinsuke waved a large hand dismissively.
"You'll all get your chance. We'll go together. Whoever lands the finishing blow—that's your luck."
With that, he led the group away.
So many fighters on their side—just swarm Sukuna. The man had four arms, after all.
---
Meanwhile—
Sukuna, riding Nue, arrived at the place Uraume had described: one of the colossal Purification Barriers cutting across the nation from east to west.
In this curse-saturated country, there existed realms even stronger than ordinary barriers—Purification Barriers constructed by Tengen to suppress curse births and assist in training and supervising barrier techniques.
Among them, the four most important were:
• the Purification Barrier centered on the Imperial Palace
• the Kosei Shrine Barrier centered on Tokyo Jujutsu High
• the imperial Kyoto Mountain-Mausoleum Barrier
• and the Hida Spirit-Mountain Barrier—where Sukuna now stood.
These were the foundations upon which the Culling Game's domains were constructed.
Meaning—if Tengen had chosen to release these Purification Barriers earlier, the Culling Game would have collapsed instantly, destroying Kenjaku's plan.
But releasing them would also revert barrier techniques to their archaic, millennia-old levels—the very reason Tengen had never chosen that option at the start.
The Culling Game had no true operator.
But if one had to choose, it would be Tengen.
And now that Tengen was gone, the Culling Game would continue endlessly—even though Megumi's group had created rules that made it nearly impossible for the game to harm players.
Sukuna stepped into the depths of the colossal barrier, eventually reaching a cavern.
There, he found a figure dressed in ancient clothes—a perfectly preserved corpse from a thousand years ago.
His own mummified body.
Sukuna looked at it expressionlessly.
Then he turned his gaze to the curled-up figure beside it—Tengen's true body.
His lips slowly curved upward.
"What a delightful gift… Uraume."