Humans. Cursed Spirits.
Kechizu and Eso did not understand those things, nor could they tell what difference there was between the two.
Nine pregnancies, nine miscarriages—they were children of a human and a Cursed Spirit. They had been cursed from the moment they were born, accepted by neither side.
And so they had only one another, brothers bound together by blood.
'Kechizu lives for Eso.'
'Eso lives for Choso.'
'Choso lives for Kechizu.'
That was the oath they had made, the promise they had decided to carry for the rest of their lives.
Helping the Cursed Spirit Faction search for Ryomen Sukuna's Fingers had also been a conclusion reached through rational judgment. No matter what, the world the Cursed Spirits described was more suitable for the brothers to live in. It had nothing to do with good or evil, right or wrong.
Their brothers were everything to them.
But now they had begun to doubt whether helping the Cursed Spirit Faction had truly been the right decision.
Were jujutsu sorcerers in this era all this powerful?
That man looked utterly ordinary, like some background character who could be found anywhere. There had been nothing about him that inspired the slightest vigilance, and yet he was this strong!
He seemed more like a curse than they did!
Kira Nanami strode across the wild-grass-covered earth. The wind pressure from his cursed energy made every pebble tremble. As his feet fell and rose, the stones rose and fell with them. Then a black streak flashed across the lush field—that was the afterimage left by Kira Nanami's sprint, pebbles and fragments of grass flying up in his wake before dropping back down.
Closer. Closer...
"Scatter!"
Eso cried out in alarm.
But it was already too late. Kira Nanami crossed the remaining distance in only a few strides and stopped before him. The afterimages abruptly collapsed into a single man, and a fist wrapped in black flame had already slammed into Eso. It carried the momentum of a hundred-meter sprint, the eruption of Black Flash, and the lethal strike of Collapse.
There was no strength held back in this blow, no mercy whatsoever. Clean, direct, overwhelming.
Time seemed to slow at that instant. Eso's body bent slightly, and particles in the air compressed and gathered beneath the pressure of the fist. Then—
Eso became an afterimage and was blasted backward like a shell fired from an antiaircraft cannon.
"Brother!"
Bloody fluid poured from Kechizu's empty eye sockets. He drew a slight breath and spat out a thick liquid mixed with blood, sending it over Kira Nanami like a vast net.
Kira Nanami looked at the black liquid rushing toward him and sensed the curse within it. He frowned and raised his hand—only to discover that his movement had become stiff.
Snake Head!
That ancient Cursed Spirit.
At some point, Kira Nanami had fallen under its technique again, the technique that locked down movement.
The bloody fluid was already almost against his face, and Kira Nanami could barely evade it.
He could feel the curse carried within that blood. Even Reverse Cursed Technique would have difficulty healing its effects.
He could not touch it, could not block it, and no longer had time to dodge.
At the very last instant—
'Stray Cat.'
He leaned back slightly and called out in his mind.
'Meow!'
The air in front of Kira Nanami churned into a huge vortex, gathering the black pus-like fluid into a small sphere.
Killer Queen appeared behind him. Its right hand flicked backward, releasing a tiny pebble that shot into the black sphere.
Boom.
An invisible explosion blossomed from within and obliterated every trace of blood.
Then cursed energy gathered throughout Kira Nanami's body and concentrated in his right arm as he forced it against the restraint locking him in place.
'Collapse.'
Overwhelming strength could trump technique. Bones cracked out of alignment and flesh twisted with wet, tearing sounds as his right hand broke through the restraint and struck violently toward Kechizu.
His hand did not actually touch Kechizu's body. It stopped just before his abdomen—if Kira Nanami's fist landed directly, it would punch straight through him.
He stopped short because he was wary of touching Kechizu's blood.
But his cursed energy continued outward and struck Kechizu's body.
Power erupted from a single concentrated point. Layer after layer of flesh burst apart as Kechizu wailed.
'Kechizu lives for Eso.'
Light glimmered in his empty eye sockets. Black blood erupted again as he cried out, opened his mouth, and sprayed it toward Kira Nanami.
A transparent barrier of air kept the blood out.
It was Stray Cat, hiding inside Kira Nanami's coat pocket with an extremely smug expression.
"Kechizu lives for Eso."
Kechizu looked into Kira Nanami's azure eyes. He was not as clever as his brothers. Among the nine brothers, he was the weakest and the most foolish. He did not know what the future was, did not know what meaning there was in the things he did, and did not know what hatred meant.
He was simple. He knew only one stubborn truth.
Kechizu roared and suddenly accelerated forward, charging straight into Kira Nanami's cursed energy, into the fist flowing with black flashes, into those sharp nails!
'Kechizu lives for Eso!'
Kira Nanami's right hand pierced through Kechizu's body, passing completely through his torso. Blood burst from the wound.
Kira Nanami stared in surprise at his right hand buried in flesh, at the ugly Cursed Spirit before him, watching his life slowly fade, watching him slowly breathe his last.
Then he suddenly noticed tears at the corners of Kechizu's eyes.
Could Cursed Spirits cry too?
The curse invaded him in an instant, using Kechizu's blood as its medium. Ring after ring of strange, gorgeous patterns spread up Kira Nanami's arm, covering his shoulder, his neck, and then his cheek.
Agonizing pain followed.
Kira Nanami yanked his right hand free. Kechizu's corpse collapsed with it, striking the ground and splashing blood.
"K-Kechizu!!"
"I'll kill you!!!"
A despairing roar suddenly came from deep within the forest, accompanied by gusting wind, swaying branches, and the sound of tear-like fissures ripping across the earth. A shadow blazing scarlet crashed down before Kira.
Behind Eso, bright red lines twisted and gathered, all of them stabbing toward Kira Nanami!
"Maximum: Wing King!"
Crimson exploded outward. Only now could its true nature be seen—it was blood pouring like a torrent, splashing everywhere and destroying everything in its path.
Kira Nanami was blasted backward through the bloody mist. He twisted several times in midair, evading the incoming lines of blood, then landed lightly on the ground.
His expression became grave as he looked at the enemy before him.
Eso stood with his head lowered, fire smoldering in his eyes, occupying the spot where Kira had just stood as he stared at Kechizu's corpse. On Eso's back was an ugly human face, and those blood-red lines extended from his back, swaying through the air.
"This is the cursed technique we brothers share. Once our blood stains you, no matter who you are, you will die within ten minutes. It looks like poison, but it isn't actually poison. It only simulates the effects of poisoning."
"I heard that after explaining it like this, the effect activates even faster."
He spoke calmly, his gaze fixed on the ground the entire time.
Tch...
Kira Nanami raised his hand and looked at the beautiful patterns. Suddenly, he felt his movements growing even stiffer.
He looked up.
A gigantic python stood behind Eso, scarlet eyes lowered as it flicked its tongue and calmly watched Kira.
How interesting.
Kira looked at his watch.
——