When Megumi discovered that his sister had gone to the bridge, he couldn't help but freeze.

The mere possibility of his sister ending up becoming a target of the curse left him with a sense of urgency, but considering the pattern of the attacks, he knew he still had enough time to deal with it.

And as he and Nobara were about to inform the school about the events, a strange message halted them.

A message in the group composed of the two of them and Itadori, created with the purpose of communicating during missions or even casually.

Normally, they wouldn't care much, Itadori tended to send funny pictures from time to time, for no particular reason.

But the content of the message left them quite worried, especially considering that the boy should still be at the bridge.

Pink Idiot: ELP NE!

What the hell was that supposed to mean?

"Did he mean 'help me'?" Nobara observed the message with a pensive look.

Megumi, beside her, just pondered on it for a moment.

Perhaps the girl was right, or it was just another of the boy's oddities.

But considering all the circumstances, it was best that they went to him as quickly as possible.

If Itadori had indeed asked for help, the enemy must be strong.

"Let's go to the bridge."

.

Eso scanned his surroundings urgently. He had hesitated, fallen into a trap that would be difficult to escape.

But how could he expect someone so young to be capable of expanding their domain? Having an innate domain was rare enough, being able to expand it put him on a level above common sorcerers.

Eso could never have foreseen this.

Perhaps he was guilty for not finishing off the boy when he had the chance, but at this point, there was no use lamenting further.

He needed to keep himself and his brother alive.

"Big brother!"

Eso's eyes widened when his brother's voice came from afar, sounding as if he were just a few meters away.

"Little brother!" Eso shouted, using his hand to shield his eyes from the snowstorm as he began to walk toward the voice.

"Help me, big brother!"

Again, his brother's voice, this time more desperate, as if he were in danger.

Eso noticed it, and picking up the pace of his steps, he began to run, hoping to reach him.

"I'm coming, little brother! Just hold on a little longer!"

Receiving no response, Eso accelerated, kicking the snow under his feet that sought to hinder his movement.

"Brother?! Answer me, brother!" He tried to get a response, but he realized that even if he received one, the sound of the increasingly intensifying storm would prevent him from hearing it. "Damn it, damn it, damn it!"

He cursed, his head turning from side to side as he tried to decide which direction to follow next.

With the growing strength of the storm, spotting any trace in the distance became increasingly difficult. Eso, who wanted to find his brother above all, felt fear growing in his heart.

A fear that, unbeknownst to him, awakened something in that domain.

Something that even the owner of this domain did not know.

Eso froze when he felt a gaze upon him, as if someone were watching him maliciously. This put him on alert, his blood wings spreading as he looked around for his pursuer.

But there was nothing, even if he strained his vision, he was unable to find anything.

But that did not dispel that feeling, someone was still watching him, from somewhere, even in this heavy snowstorm.

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"..."

And realizing this, he froze, his gaze slowly moving upward, hoping not to find anything, as it had been with his surroundings.

But to his surprise, breaking his expectations, his gaze landed on something strange.

Something terrifying, even for him, who had seen quite strange things.

"What is this?"

An eye hovered in the sky, watching him in a terrifying manner, never diverting its attention from him.

The meaning of this? Eso did not know, and he couldn't even guess. Perhaps it was simply a way to scare him? Or maybe it would unleash an attack that would annihilate him in a second?

Eso could only theorize, but if the eye hadn't done anything yet, he shouldn't worry about it for now.

Finding his brother was his main goal.

"Hey!"

But as he was about to return to search for his brother, his body stopped when a voice sounded from behind him.

"I found you."

Eso immediately turned, the blood of his wings preparing to attack, only for a powerful punch to hit his stomach, his body contorting as he fell to his knees.

A single blow, a single blow made him fall, that's what he thought.

He had fallen before a single attack.

"You damn..."

Eso cried out, blood dripping from his chin as he clutched his stomach urgently.

And raising his head to face his attacker, he could see that boy, staring at him with authority, as if Eso were nothing but a nuisance.

"What did you do to my brother?!" He demanded to know, and Itadori, watching him in that state, just remained silent.

Eso growled at this, and understood that the chance of his brother being dead at that moment was very high.

If that were indeed true, he would refuse to die without taking the boy in front of him with him.

"Idiot, even if I die, I won't deactivate the effect of my poison! Your body will decompose until there's nothing left!"

But what Eso didn't know was that his poison had no effect on Itadori, who was immune to any toxin. In his eyes, the fact that the boy was still moving was simply due to a very high tolerance.

But what he believed was that even though he was tolerant, decomposition still existed in his body.

Unfortunately for him, Itadori knew better.

"Your poison doesn't work on me." And declaring that, Itadori let the cursed energy dance in his fist, Eso's eyes widening. "And don't worry, I'll make sure you're reunited with your brother."

"You bastard!!!"

Eso's wings expanded, ready to attack.

Boom!

But before he could even send a single jet of blood, the boy's fist descended upon his head, smashing it to the ground and sinking it into the snow.

An attack that declared the end for the man who only wanted to save his brother.

"..."

Itadori watched the lifeless body of the man for a few seconds, before his attention turned to the side, when a huge figure slowly approached in the snowstorm.

The giant wolf that resided in his domain revealed itself, its lips and chin fur stained with blood, indicating the fate of his other two opponents.

"Well done, big guy."

Itadori stroked the wolf's snout, which pleased with the caress, closed its eyes in appreciation of the affection.

"Well done..."

Itadori pondered about this whole situation, but didn't dwell too much on what he was feeling.

These two should be his brothers, even though very distant, still brothers, somehow.

But Itadori didn't feel much about their deaths.

Even if they had some relation, they weren't part of his life.

He wouldn't cry for their deaths.

But there was something that had intrigued him.

In the face of danger, a Jujutsu sorcerer tends to evolve. Itadori could sense that, because moments before he used his domain expansion, some new information had emerged in his mind.

Some very important information.

Looking at his hand, Itadori focused on the blood dripping from some wounds on his arm, his eyebrow raising in surprise when he noticed the blood moving slightly before he lost control.

"My wolf is capable of devouring the soul..." He declared, confirming the information he had received. "Because of that, I'm able to extract the target's innate technique after devouring them."

"So now, I should be able to use blood manipulation..." Itadori rubbed his chin, pondering over that new information. "Well, that also makes me able to use Hanami's abilities, doesn't it? The wolf may not have devoured her completely, but it swallowed one of her arms... That would explain why she was unable to regenerate it, since it was a direct attack on the soul. Only Mahito should be able to recover from damage like that."

Itadori sighed. These were new things to think about, and he felt he should ponder them later. His wounds were starting to hurt too much, and he just wanted to go back to the dorms and rest.

Petting the wolf one last time, he smiled. "Thanks for the help, big guy."

Receiving a howl in response, Itadori dispelled his domain, blinking when he didn't feel the same exhaustion he was used to.

"My cursed energy reserves are full?" He felt the cursed energy coursing through his body. "So this is the result of a successful hunt?"

"Itadori!"

The boy turned when he heard his name, seeing Megumi and Nobara running toward him, which made him realize that he was no longer in the cave, but back at the small stream under the bridge.

"Damn, you look awful." Nobara remarked when she saw the injuries scattered across the boy's body, along with his torn clothes.

"Did you exorcise the curse?" Megumi questioned as he approached, Itadori nodding as he held his injured shoulder.

"Yeah, I had some trouble because it seemed to have reinforcements, but I was able to deal with them."

Megumi nodded in understanding, his eyes moving to a body a few meters ahead.

"Was that the reinforcement you mentioned?" Nobara asked as she walked toward Eso's lifeless body, noticing his partially crushed head. "Damn, you didn't give him a chance, did you? And he also seems to be flesh..."

Nobara froze, her head turning to Itadori, who sat on the ground and took a deep breath.

"Yeah, I noticed..." He said undisturbedly, his hand moving to the pocket of his pants as he grabbed an object, pulling it out to reveal one of Sukuna's fingers. "I retrieved one of Sukuna's fingers, he was after it too."

The two colleagues approached, Itadori putting it away again.

"And are you okay with that?" Nobara seemed worried, after all, killing a curse and killing a human were different things. She knew that doing so could negatively affect her friend.

"I..." But Itadori really didn't want to talk about it for now. He would have time to think about his own feelings later. "Let's go."

"..."

Nobara and Megumi watched him silently, both sighing as they nodded in agreement.

"Okay."