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Itadori had no time to savor his achievement of being able to manipulate cursed energy.

There was a world of difference between sensing cursed energy and being able to use it in battle.

Under normal circumstances, he wouldn't have been able to learn to manipulate it so quickly, but he was in a desperate situation where he had little choice but to keep trying until he succeeded.

Fortunately, understanding how to manipulate it came to him more simply than expected.

It was still incomplete, and its flow was volatile. He felt like he was wasting too much cursed energy, but for what he was about to do, he hoped it would be enough.

Defeating a special grade curse was far beyond his current abilities, even though he could now enhance his attacks.

He just needed to survive long enough.

Boom!

Jumping back to escape a blast of pure power, Itadori gritted his teeth as he raised his defense to block a barrier that extended until it hit him.

With the boy being thrown away, the curse immediately advanced towards him, its claws reaching for Itadori's stomach with the intent to pierce it.

But anticipating this, Itadori quickly spun his body and kicked, striking the curse's neck and sending it flying away.

'This curse is too strong.'

Landing on the ground, he wiped the blood from his lips, the cursed energy flickering around his fists as he watched the curse rise with minimal damage.

'But it continues to underestimate me.'

Rolling to the side to narrowly escape an advance, Itadori quickly turned and counterattacked with a punch, his fist hitting the curse's torso squarely.

"..."

But despite making the creature's body tremble for a moment, it seemed to cause no significant damage, the curse smiling as it struck him with a punch coated in cursed energy.

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!

Colliding with a wall, Itadori spat a bit of blood as he landed firmly on the ground, his breathing becoming labored from the accumulated damage.

'Damn... My punch didn't even cause damage.'

Placing a hand over his ribs, Itadori growled as a shock of pain surged through his body.

'Broken ribs... That's great.'

Turning his gaze back to the curse, Yuji clearly saw a disdainful smile on its face, his brow furrowing as he returned to his fighting stance.

'It seems I'll have to do something I've been avoiding for a while.'

Jumping back as the curse spat a projectile of pure cursed energy at him, Itadori growled as a bolt of pain from his ribs made him freeze.

And that brief moment of hesitation due to pain was more than enough for the curse to reach him in an instant, hitting him with a powerful swipe coated in cursed energy.

Boom!

Scraping his back on the ground, Itadori dug his fingers into the dirt to stop his momentum.

"Hey, Sukuna." Struggling to stand, Itadori prepared himself as the curse threatened to advance once more. "Help me with this. You don't want to die, do you?"

"I refuse."

With a new mouth appearing on Itadori's cheek, Sukuna simply declared as the boy backed away to escape an explosion of energy.

"So much for avoiding me, and now you're here, asking for my help... How pathetic."

Having his arm pierced by the curse's claws, Itadori gritted his teeth as he grabbed the creature's wrist and threw it away.

"Well, extreme situations require extreme decisions." Yuji commented with irritation.

Gripping the wound on his arm, Itadori gritted his teeth as he saw the curse land calmly on the ground.

"Anyway, my soul is split into 18 more parts, so even if you die here, I can still come back."

Itadori frowned at that, a sigh escaping his lips.

"And you're really going to risk losing two parts of your soul? After all, after this, you'll never be complete again." Itadori gave a disdainful smile, his eyes fixed on the curse, which began to walk calmly towards him.

"..."

"How about this, Sukuna?"

Retreating quickly, Itadori used the pillars around him to hide from the curse, in order to buy as much time as possible.

"I'll eat all your fingers, and when that happens, how about we find out which one of us will prevail?"

Jumping to the side as the curse swiped one of its claws at the pillar, Itadori quickly moved to another.

"Will it be me who dominates you, or will it be you who takes control?"

Widening his eyes as a claw grazed his cheek, Itadori nervously smiled as he kicked the pillar, his leg crashing through it and hitting the curse on the other side with enough force to push it away.

"Tempting, isn't it?"

Receiving no further answers, Itadori ran to another pillar, but the curse was too quick to intercept him, appearing in front of him in an instant.

!

*Howl

With the howl of a wolf echoing in the distance, Itadori gave a confident smile as the curse seemed distracted by the strange sound.

"Think carefully about what I said, king of curses!"

"..."

As the curse turned to Itadori, its eyes widened as it encountered a completely new presence staring back at it.

"You irritating little brat... Using me like this."

The king of curses was now on the battlefield.

"What do you think I am?"