Opening his eyes as a gentle breeze hit his skin, Itadori suddenly sat up, hugging his own body as an icy gale threatened to freeze him with its ferocity.

"How the hell did I end up here?" He stood up, shivering from the cold, and was surprised when, feeling the soft ground, he turned around to find his shoes covered in what could only be snow. "Hell, is this another Gojo-sensei training session?"

Raising his head to survey his surroundings, he was startled when the snowstorm prevented him from seeing more than 10 meters ahead. His eyes turned skyward, only to be greeted by the vastness of the black universe, dimly lit by stars.

"That's weird..."

As Itadori looked around cautiously, he couldn’t help but find the whole situation strange. Gojo had never put him through anything like this before, so what was the point now?

Itadori was unable to decipher his sensei's mind, but he was sure that if Gojo were to send him to a remote and deadly place, he would at least give some sign of his intention.

"Besides, he's supposed to be traveling."

Kicking his legs to clear the snow, Itadori raised an eyebrow when the snow seemed to slowly return, engulfing his feet again.

This made Itadori narrow his eyes in suspicion. This was definitely not a normal place.

"What the hell is going on?" Unable to see very far, Itadori once again turned his attention to the dark sky. The sound of the gale, accompanied by his breathing, was the only thing his ears could pick up.

"..."

As he watched the starry sky, his eyes widened when something caught his attention—a bright star that seemed to slowly deform before his eyes.

"What... What's that?"

While Itadori was shocked by this phenomenon—after all, it was something completely unusual—the star continued to change, slowly taking on a shape that made the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end.

An eye, with a menacing glare, seemed completely focused on him.

"That's scary." Swallowing dryly, his attention never left the strange eye that had previously been nothing more than a star.

!

But while he was distracted by that sinister thing, he didn't notice when a huge figure emerged from behind him, casting a massive shadow that immediately made him shiver.

"..."

Slowly turning around, Itadori felt his body freeze when he noticed two orange orbs staring at him with deadly intensity. A loud snort from a giant snout made him realize what the creature was.

A bloody direwolf.

"Fuck..."

Seeing the wolf staring at him in complete silence, Itadori gave a nervous little smile.

"I think I'm screwed."

!

Opening his eyes and immediately sitting up, a startled Itadori looked around frantically, his heart slowing down the instant he realized he was back in his own room.

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

"Hmm...."

Holding his chin thoughtfully, Itadori took a deep breath as he pondered what he had just experienced.

"Was that my innate domain?"

----------------------------------------

Two days had passed since what happened at Junpei's house.

With the low-level sorcerers watching the boy's house and not reporting anything major, Itadori should feel at ease.

But Itadori was far from feeling that way.

He knew Mahito's personality and knew that the curse wouldn't give up so easily. He would definitely attack, with or without Junpei.

It was just a matter of knowing where and when.

And that's what made Itadori increasingly anxious.

Even though Nanami told him that there was no point in stressing over something he couldn't control, Itadori couldn't stop himself from feeling this way. After all, it was his fault that everything could turn out differently, whether positively or negatively.

He just hoped things wouldn't be as tragic as they were originally supposed to be.

"We have a problem."

While lost in his thoughts, Itadori was taken by surprise when Ijichi suddenly entered the room where he was, causing Nanami, who was sitting in an armchair, to turn around curiously.

"A curtain has been lifted!"

From the looks of things, Itadori didn't have to wait long to find out what changes his actions had caused.

----------------------------------------

Even when Nanami clearly told him not to move, and Ijichi tried to stop him, Itadori just shrugged and moved as fast as he could.

The place Mahito chose, as convenient as it seemed, was the same school he was originally supposed to target—the school Junpei attended.

Did this mean that the boy had decided to side with Mahito? Itadori couldn't say for sure.

The only thing he knew for certain was that he had to get there as soon as possible, or things could be worse than he expected.

And so he did. Strengthening his already naturally powerful body, he soon reached the school. His eyes narrowed the instant he stepped through the "curtain," only to find the purest silence.

A dead silence, which made Itadori realize that the situation couldn't be further from under control.

And that made him move again, his eyes fixed on the gymnasium, as the cursed energy of the place seemed to concentrate mainly there.

"Shit... I hope it's not too late."

Opening the doors to the gymnasium, Itadori quickly entered. His eyes widened when he found countless students sprawled on the floor, all of them still breathing but showing no signs of waking up any time soon.

But while he believed that things wouldn't differ from the original story, he was surprised when he found no sign of Junpei.

'What does that mean?'

"..."

About to crouch down to check the vital signs of one of the students, Itadori froze when a strong pressure of cursed energy exploded behind him, causing him to immediately turn around to see Mahito at the entrance to the gymnasium.

"You took longer than expected, Mister Vessel." Mahito commented with disdain in his tone, a mocking smile on his lips, which drew an angry grunt from Itadori. "You know, I hate it when someone tries to deprive me of something."

Itadori flinched as Mahito stepped forward. Even though he knew Sukuna would not allow his soul to be touched, the human curse was still a dangerous opponent.

"And that's why I'm going to punish you for trying to steal my toy."

Mahito smiled menacingly, making Itadori feel the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end.

"Making you feel the despair of being unable to save people!"

Slap!

Clapping his hands together, a smiling Mahito stepped back, the doors of the gymnasium closing, leaving Itadori alone with the countless students, who suddenly began to convulse around him.

'What?'

As the bodies of each student deformed before his eyes, Itadori stood in complete awe, watching as all those children stood up, revealing completely distorted versions of themselves.

A hellish sight for someone like Itadori, who had tried to change their fate for the better.

But in the end, he had been unable to do so...

And in reality, he had made everything much worse.

With the creatures surrounding him, a frozen Itadori stared at the door through which Mahito had left in silence, completely ignoring the transfigured students as they advanced toward him with the intent to attack.

"Bastard..."

Receiving a full punch to the face, Itadori clenched his teeth tightly as blood dripped from his lips, his eyes filled with an animalistic fury that could be felt even by Mahito, standing a few meters away from the building.

"I'm going to kill you!"

Hitting one of the creatures with a punch, Itadori sent it flying across the gymnasium, his murderous intent exploding from his body, making even the now-irrational students freeze for a second.

At that point, the one in the center of that gymnasium could no longer be considered Itadori Yuji, or even Mark.

His animalistic rage had made him someone completely different.

He was now just...

A predator hunting its prey.