"What a load of crap! You learned in three days! I expected you to take at least until the festival!"

In the middle of the training room, Itadori watched the cursed energy flicker around the knife Gojo had given him.

But unlike before, when the cursed energy flowed chaotically, this time it coursed through the blade in a controlled manner, a sign of his newfound mastery over his cursed energy.

Gojo, standing a few meters away, was both pleased and slightly annoyed. He had planned for this training to last at least a week, so now he had to come up with something else to do instead of relaxing, which had been his plan for the rest of the week.

Another mission, perhaps?

No, the last one had been too chaotic. Gojo wanted Itadori to put those memories aside for now and focus on something else.

In fact, that had been the entire point of this training. Itadori already had decent control over his cursed energy flow; teaching him to imbue cursed energy into weapons wasn’t truly necessary, since Gojo had realized the boy’s real strength lay in his fists.

But Gojo wanted to distract his student’s mind. Itadori might have been good at hiding his thoughts, but the sorcerer could tell he was deeply troubled by the recent events.

Now, Gojo’s plan had fallen apart after Itadori had learned so quickly.

Scratching his head, Gojo was clearly thinking about what to do next.

Meanwhile, Itadori seemed distracted by something else.

‘To think I actually managed to use Sukuna’s technique.’

Itadori hadn’t stopped to think much about what had happened at the school in the past few days, as the events still weighed heavily on him.

Gojo’s training had served to distract him for a while.

But now, he couldn’t ignore the new ability he had just acquired.

A technique that could completely change the course of future battles.

The Innate Technique of the King of Curses.

"..."

Staring at his hand with little emotion, Itadori recalled the feeling of using Dismantle for the first time.

The sensation of a massive chunk of his cursed energy being consumed in an instant, only to end up with a cut that hadn’t even succeeded in halving a weakened Mahito.

Even with access to the technique, it would only serve as a support for Itadori.

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He could tell that because his body hadn’t been fully enveloped by Sukuna’s technique, the cuts he produced were still too weak.

Using them in the same way Sukuna did would be a waste of energy.

Cleave might work better, but Itadori doubted he could master it anytime soon. It was a level beyond what he had achieved so far.

No, this wasn’t a technique to focus on just yet. Maybe he could use it occasionally to better understand it, to practice throwing slashes with more control.

But doing so wouldn’t deepen his connection with Sukuna’s technique. That would only happen by consuming more fingers.

Besides, there were other things to focus on.

His own innate ability.

"Hey! Earth to Yuji? Anybody home?"

Blinking as a hand waved in front of his face, Itadori turned to look at Gojo with a small smile.

"You’re thinking too much."

"..." Itadori, hearing this, slowly looked down at his palms.

His Innate Domain...

Itadori wasn’t supposed to have one. It was something completely new, something exciting.

But it was also troubling since he had no knowledge of it and didn’t think he could unlock it anytime soon.

Maybe that’s why he had been able to use Sukuna’s technique so quickly? Was this his innate ability? The power to assimilate the techniques of both sorcerers and curses?

Itadori had no idea. He was the last person who could answer these questions.

Fortunately, he had someone who could shed some light on the matter.

He was considered the most powerful sorcerer of the modern era.

Gojo Satoru, who was standing right in front of him.

"Sensei, I need to tell you something."

And what kind of idiot would he be if he didn’t take advantage of that?

.

When the door of a restaurant opened, a bell rang, drawing the attention of most customers inside.

Curious, their attention soon returned to their own tables when they saw a boy dressed in a peculiar uniform, his black, unusually combed hair giving him an "emo boy" vibe.

Most thought there was nothing special about the new visitor.

"Hey, Fushiguro! Over here!"

Megumi, who had been looking around, turned when he heard his name and spotted Itadori waving at him from a table.

"You didn’t waste any time, did you?" Megumi remarked as he approached the table, narrowing his eyes when he noticed a bowl of ramen in front of Itadori.

"Uh, sorry about that." Itadori scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "You were taking too long, and I was hungry."

Sighing, Megumi sat down across from him as Itadori signaled for the waiter to bring a menu.

"How’ve you been?" Megumi quickly asked. It had been over a month since they’d last seen each other, so it was only natural to check in.

"..." Itadori hesitated for a moment before a small smile appeared on his face. "I’m doing fine. How about you and Kugisaki?"

No... something was off. Megumi could sense it clearly. He had already suspected something when Gojo avoided discussing Yuji’s missions, but now he was certain.

Something bad had happened.

Sigh

But with a sigh, Megumi let it go. He wasn’t the type to force someone to share their burdens.

"We’re doing fine. We’ve been practicing for the upcoming exchange event with the second-year students."

Itadori nodded, taking a bite of his noodles before looking back at Megumi.

"You look stronger," Itadori observed, studying his friend a bit more closely. "It seems like you’ve been training hard."

Megumi crossed his arms, staring at the table for a few seconds, lost in thought.

He hadn’t stopped thinking about the events at the school.

Even though he knew they had no chance of winning, he couldn’t shake the guilt.

In the end, Itadori had stayed behind to give him and Nobara a chance to escape. Megumi had abandoned his friend to save himself.

It was pathetic, even for someone like him.

He... he didn’t want that to happen again.

He wanted to grow stronger, not just for himself, but for the people close to him.

"Itadori, I’m not going to lose anymore."

That was his goal, at least for now.

Itadori blinked at the sudden declaration, his smile widening as he nodded.

"That’s good, because I don’t plan on losing again either."