"My son... Junpei!"

"I want my son!"

"Please, Junpei!"

Itadori could feel the agony radiating from what had once been a loving, protective mother.

Nagi Yoshino—that’s what she used to call herself.

At least, that's who she had been before Mahito turned her into a grotesque mass of flesh, alive only because of her desperate desire to see her son one last time.

Itadori had no words for what he saw.

Watching her suffer only made him feel even more guilty.

All of this—the deaths at the school, Junpei's death, and his mother's tragic fate—was his responsibility.

There was no escaping it; from that day forward, it was something he would carry for the rest of his life.

And he understood that all too well.

As an adult, he knew he had responsibilities and that his actions affected not just him, but everyone around him.

But now, as Itadori, he had to understand that his actions didn’t just endanger those close to him.

They also endangered people who had nothing to do with him.

Curses, especially Mahito, wouldn’t hesitate to kill thousands just to get to him.

The only thing that mattered to them was Sukuna, and Itadori had to bear the weight of that.

He was now a sorcerer, and many people would depend on him.

The future of his allies, and the lives of countless others, depended on how far he could go, on how much of an advantage he could bring to the sorcerers’ side.

He knew he couldn’t do it all by himself, but as long as he grew stronger, he felt confident that he wouldn’t let something like this happen again.

"..."

Stepping closer to the deformed woman, Itadori gently placed his hand on her skin.

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For a moment, she stopped calling for her son, and the silence hung heavily in the air.

"Forgive me, Miss Yoshino." Itadori apologized sincerely in the quiet. "I couldn’t save your son."

In that situation, there wasn’t much he could do to save her from her condition, but... the least he could do was allow her to rest in peace.

He couldn’t bear to keep her alive, knowing she would continue to suffer.

"But I promise you, I will avenge him, so please rest now."

Letting cursed energy flow from his arm into her body, Itadori closed his eyes as her breathing began to slow.

"I hope you can find your son on the other side."

"..."

As the woman slowly closed her eyes, entering her eternal sleep, Itadori's eyes shot open when a female voice, different from the distorted one before, spoke to him.

"Thank you very much."

And with that final thank you, the beautiful woman bid farewell to this world.

Happy, at least, with the hope of reuniting with her son.

"Goodbye, Miss Yoshino."

.

Slowly opening his eyes to a blood-stained scene, Sukuna observed the endless rows of ribs, like the framework of a skeleton, stretching around him.

This was his innate domain—the place where he was confined, as long as he was tied to the boy.

Yuji Itadori.

"So, in the end, he really did assimilate part of my cursed technique." Sitting on his throne, Sukuna scratched his chin, his expression indifferent. "How interesting."

Watching the boy use his cursed technique had surprised Sukuna. It wasn’t something he had expected, but it seemed the boy’s body was truly something special.

As interesting as that was, it was also irritating.

Even though Itadori had piqued his interest, seeing him use his technique so carelessly annoyed him.

What's more...

"For such an insignificant boy to use my technique... It gets on my nerves."

He couldn’t stand the idea that the boy might eventually fully assimilate his cursed technique.

That would be a blow to his pride.

Sukuna refused to allow it.

"But it doesn’t matter... It’s only a matter of time."

Letting those words hang in the air, he rested his chin on his fist, his eyes slowly closing as he returned to sleep.

.

"Congratulations, Yuji!"

Walking through the corridors of the house where he was staying, Itadori was startled when Gojo suddenly appeared behind him.

"Oh, Gojo Sensei!" Turning to face him, Itadori saw the man with a small smile on his lips.

"You’ve gotten a lot stronger, Yuji! Congratulations!" Gojo, in his usual cheerful tone, pulled something from behind his back and showed it to Itadori. "A brand-new knife!"

Itadori blinked, looking at the blade being held in front of him. Taking it from Gojo’s hands, he noticed there wasn’t anything particularly special about it.

"Uh... What’s that supposed to mean?" He quickly realized it wasn’t really a gift, glancing at Gojo, who cracked a mischievous smile.

“We still have 15 days until the goodwill event, so until then, you’re going to learn how to perfectly imbue cursed energy into a cursed object.”

"..."

Itadori didn’t react much to the teacher’s words, his eyes wandering over the blade for a moment before he looked back at Gojo.

"And I’ll warn you right now, it’s not going to be easy! Follow me!"

As Gojo turned and started sprinting away, Itadori glanced at the clock on the wall, which read exactly 11:00 p.m.

"...Has he gone mad?" Scratching his head in frustration, Itadori began to follow his teacher.