As the door opened, sunlight streamed in, revealing an empty corridor.

Otaki, an assistant manager at Jujutsu High, entered the house cautiously, holding only a flashlight, which he used to illuminate the areas where the sunlight couldn't reach.

“What the fuck... Having to come here alone.” Muttering in annoyance, he snorted as he reached the kitchen.

After the "curtain" was lifted, he was sent to Yoshino Junpei’s house to check on him and his mother. Otaki thought this was unnecessary—after all, the last report was from just a day ago, and everything seemed fine.

But Ijichi, being cautious as always, wanted to make sure everything was all right, leading to Otaki being sent alone.

This irritated him, but he didn't dwell on it; work was work.

“Miss Yoshino? Are you here?” Shining the flashlight into the room, Otaki raised an eyebrow in suspicion as he announced his presence. “I’m a community worker! I was sent due to some anonymous complaints about the strong smell of cigarettes in your home.”

Met with complete silence, Otaki narrowed his eyes. No one had mentioned that the woman had left the house.

“That’s strange...”

Walking back down the corridor leading to the bedrooms, Otaki approached the room that was supposed to belong to Mrs. Yoshino, and without hesitation, impatiently opened the door.

Though he felt something was off, he could never have anticipated what he found inside.

“Jun...pei!”

Otaki’s face twisted in horror, his mouth falling open in disbelief as his eyes scanned the room.

What used to be a beautiful woman in her forties...

Now was something unrecognizable from her former self.

A mass of flesh, muttering her son’s name, as if pleading with God to see him one last time.

“My son... Junpei!”

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

Boom!

Punching the gym door, Itadori sent it flying like a bullet. His clothes, once clean, were now soaked in blood.

His fists dripped red, while his face was smeared with the remains of what had once been innocent students.

But while his appearance was menacing, it wasn’t his bloodstained clothes that stood out most at that moment.

It was his eyes, which gleamed with a dangerous light, revealing his current intentions. The same intentions as a predator when hunting.

The purest intent to kill.

“Oh... That’s quite surprising,” Mahito, who was waiting by the window, remarked, his tone filled with amusement. “I didn’t think you’d kill them so brutally! Maybe I’ll have to change my plans—”

!

Jumping when a projectile narrowly missed him, Mahito landed gracefully, turning to where he had been standing to see a hole blown through the concrete.

“Boy... That was scary!” Mahito smiled, turning to see Itadori staring at him with a deadly expression. “Boring! You didn’t even let me finish!”

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Mahito's grin widened, and he pulled something out of his pocket that looked like a strange piece of wood to Itadori.

But thanks to his meta-knowledge, Itadori knew exactly what those objects were.

Reshaped human souls, now nothing more than toys for Mahito to play with.

The sight made Itadori’s expression darken with disgust.

“You didn’t even let me show you my newest creation!”

Throwing the object forward, Mahito snapped his fingers, his mocking smile never fading.

“I present to you: Yoshino Junpei! In his new form!”

Itadori’s eyes widened as the object deformed before him. His hands clenched, blood dripping from his palms as he recognized the only remaining feature of Junpei—the hair that still covered the hole where his eyes should have been.

'Junpei...' Guilt filled Itadori’s eyes, and as he bit his lip, his hatred grew when the transfigured form of Junpei collapsed face down, showing no signs of life.

“Aww... Looks like he got a bit tired! Crap, maybe I changed his shape too abruptly. Well, my mistake—”

Boom!

Mahito choked as Itadori’s fist slammed into his face, teeth flying from his mouth as blood spurted from his nose.

'That...' Falling backward, Mahito immediately stood up, shock written across his face. 'You actually hurt me!'

But as the surprise settled in, his usual expression returned quickly.

'I see... He can perceive the outline of the soul.' Wiping the blood from his nose, Mahito ran his tongue over the place where one of his teeth used to be. 'If he can hit my soul, I’d better avoid being hit.'

!

Dodging as a knife flew toward him, Mahito raised his guard to block a punch, his forearms stinging from the impact.

'Unexpectedly...'

As Mahito tried to attack with his newly transformed arm, now shaped like a drill, Itadori closed the gap between them and landed a punch straight to his solar plexus, sending him crashing into the school’s wall.

'I'm facing my natural enemy!'

Smiling, Mahito enlarged his arm and sent debris flying toward Itadori, who didn’t flinch as he advanced.

“I said I’m going to kill you, you son of a bitch.” Itadori struck a piece of concrete with his hand, the cursed energy radiating from his body, making him even more menacing. “So stop running away.”

Itadori closed the distance with a powerful punch, but Mahito disappeared.

“I’ve heard that before, asshole.” Mahito, appearing behind him, raised his arm, now transfigured into a blade. “Now get transfigured—”

Itadori ducked at the last second, countering with a swift kick to Mahito’s chin.

'Damn.'

Blood spurted from Mahito’s mouth as Itadori stood before him, eyes burning with fury, cursed energy building in his fist.

'This is starting to get annoying.'

Boom!

Mahito was sent flying again, but before he could go any further, he felt a grip on his wrist. Itadori stood over him, his eyes glowing with deadly intent.

“Do you think it’s over?”

Itadori raised his fist once more, cursed energy gathering.

“It’s just beginning.”

Boom!

Mahito’s face hit the ground as Itadori pressed him into the floor, standing imposingly over his beaten form.

“All right, that’s enough!”

Just as Itadori was about to continue his assault, his eyes widened as the ground beneath him shook, and Mahito’s voice echoed beneath him.

!

As Itadori prepared to leap away, cursed flesh wrapped around his waist, slamming him into the ground before suspending him upside down.

“Stop being a nuisance. Just get transfigured already.”

Even after being beaten, Mahito wouldn’t admit defeat to Itadori. He still wanted to stick to his plan, despite the boy’s unexpected attitude and power level.

Having caught him, Mahito quickly placed his palm on Itadori’s chest.

But he couldn’t have anticipated the fierce reaction from the king of curses.

“So, you intend to touch my soul, huh?” Mahito’s eyes widened as he suddenly found himself in the center of Sukuna’s innate domain, the king of curses sitting on his throne of bones. “You amused me with what you did to the boy, so I’ll forgive you this time.”

“But know your place, fool.”

!

Mahito blinked rapidly, sweat dripping from his forehead as he came back to reality, realizing that he had faced the one considered the king of curses.

“Hey, asshole.”

Though Mahito was still disoriented by what had just happened, his attention slowly shifted to Itadori. The hairs on the back of his neck stood up when he noticed the boy pointing his finger in his direction.

‘What is this feeling?’ Mahito wondered, shock coursing through his body as his eyes remained fixed on Itadori.

“You should be more worried about me.”

Feeling his whole body tremble with fear, Mahito prepared to toss Itadori aside, but the boy was quicker with his words.

“Disma—”

Boom!

Before Itadori could finish his sentence, Mahito was suddenly struck by a sharp blow to the neck, his body sent flying as Itadori was freed from his grasp.

“Nanami!” Recognizing the one responsible for the attack, Itadori cracked a small smile as he stood up.

“I’ll scold you later. For now, we have something more important to deal with.”