Chapter 237: Don't Worry About Megumi, You're the Challenger!

Twilight, the hour when demons walk. The corridors of Advanced Nurturing High School were steeped in a mellow, amber-orange glow from the dying sun.

A breeze lifted the fallen leaves at the edge of the sports field and sent them spinning through the hush, rustling softly.

Chris propped his chin on one hand. His gaze drifted past the distant scenery and came to rest on a petite figure with her back to him, as if she’d melted into the dusk.

Maybe his gaze was simply too intense. Or maybe some kind of tacit understanding connected the two of them.

Even though Chris had softened his steps and hidden even his breathing, the girl seemed to sense something anyway. She turned and locked her eyes on him.

Her pure, faintly dazed face was gently bathed in orange light.

“Chris-kun…?”

Hiyori Shiina parted her lips slightly and blinked, a little surprised. “When did you get here?”

Chris thought for a second, then smiled and answered casually. “I just finished handing the items over to the Student Council with Ryuuen. Ran into you on my way back.”

“It looked like a nice picture, so I stood there for a while… Hmm, not that long, I think?” As if to prove his innocence, he made a show of raising his hand to check the time.

Hiyori watched him and puffed her cheeks out a little.

Her first reaction wasn’t any urge to scold him for “peeking.”

Phone in hand, she tucked her arms behind her back and lowered her eyes, oddly shy. Her voice was soft. “Sorry… Actually, I noticed you right away. I just didn’t think you’d watch for so long… and eat into your rest time.”

“I was just a little curious…”

“Curious about what?” Chris asked.

The girl didn’t answer. She swallowed the rest of the sentence and gently swept a strand of silver-blue hair back behind her ear.

Curious about what?

Naturally, about how long you’d let your gaze linger on me.

Faced with Hiyori’s almost-shy confession, Chris showed no embarrassment, no sign of being caught out.

He just rubbed his chin and took a step forward, turning the tables. “Shiina…” He paused. He’d caught the way her shoulders tightened slightly at the surname, and he corrected himself smoothly, his tone softening. “Hiyori, you really don’t need to put yourself so low.”

“The way things stand now, we’re the ones chosen by the Black Sphere and the Presiding God’s Space. That makes us this world’s last insurance.”

“You’re an indispensable member of this team. You’re a genuine savior. Have a little more confidence in yourself.”

Hearing that, Hiyori’s eyes brightened, and her tone turned subtly playful. “I’m actually quite confident, Chris-kun.”

“Otherwise… I wouldn’t have stayed right here, pretending to be deep while admiring the sunset, when I knew full well you were watching.”

Chris couldn’t help laughing.

He nodded, stepped up beside her, and stood shoulder to shoulder with her, curious. “But now that you mention it, how did you find me, Hiyori?”

“I’m running Ki at all times, even at school, you know.”

“When it comes to hiding my presence and lowering my profile, I’d like to think I’m not bad at it.”

He studied her half-jokingly. “Don’t tell me you found some bug I don’t know about, and you’re using your angel on campus?”

Hiyori pressed her lips together, and a faint smile slipped out at the corners.

She tapped a finger to her forehead and said with exaggerated seriousness, “Mm… I suppose my sixth sense felt something approaching.”

“But that approach didn’t make my body feel any ‘danger’ or ‘alarm.’ So…”

She didn’t go on, but her meaning was crystal clear.

Because it made me feel safe, I knew it was you.

Chris looked at her earnest expression and privately found it funny.

Of course he knew Hiyori’s level of training wasn’t enough to detect him. She’d simply used the “rogue feature” of the Advanced Nurturing phones, the one that lets you view a friend’s real-time location once you add them.

But so what?

Chris had zero intention of exposing the little trick.

If everyone around him were nothing but stiff, by-the-book puppets, this long game would be unbearably dull.

A harmless, even adorable little scheme like Hiyori’s had a charm of its own.

It made her feel even cuter and more alive.

Still, just as Chris knew, Hiyori was a girl with a sense of the big picture. The real reason she’d turned to break the calm was that she’d realized something far more serious.

“Come to think of it…” Hiyori’s smile faded, and worry that wouldn’t clear settled between her brows. “It’s long past the time the upperclassmen’s exam was supposed to open, isn’t it?”

“But when I checked my phone just now, there was no new notice from Ichinose and the others in the group chat…”

“I hope nothing has happened to everyone taking the test.”

Chris stood beside her, watching the red sun sink with her, and tried to reassure her softly. “They should be fine.”

“After we left, Karuizawa, Horikita, and the others only had thirty-some minutes left, tops.”

“They’re carrying a lot of the gear we left behind, and all the high-scoring monsters in the exam room have already been cleared out. There’s no reason for them to run into trouble.”

Chris paused, his eyes narrowing. “Unless… they wandered into the Backrooms again, ended up on some strange floor, and got tangled up in its eerie rules, so the system couldn’t pull them back on time.”

“Like back in the Chainsaw Man world… Because Makima had control over them, the system couldn’t teleport them out directly until a price was paid.”

Hearing that analysis, Hiyori lowered her head to the phone in her hand, its screen still dark, and fell into thoughtful silence.

Meanwhile, in sharp contrast to the peaceful campus dusk…

The Jujutsu Kaisen world, a hidden spot inside the Tokyo barrier.

Before the “Mystery Shop” interface that Orianna, the Lady of Clockwork, and her automatons had opened.

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka’s eyes swept rapidly over the details of the newly added items.

When he finished reading, one eyebrow lifted, so slightly it was almost invisible. He seemed a little surprised.

“The newly added exchangeable items for this test…”

“Apart from the low-scoring Origami magic paper slips, which can serve as early-game stopgaps, the only truly high-tier combat gear left is [Venom Symbiote], [Hogyoku], and [Mjolnir].”

“The problem is, according to the codex, [Hogyoku] is tied to Zanpakuto and only reaches its full effect when paired with a Soul Reaper from Bleach. [Venom] needs a host whose mind and body are strong enough to avoid being consumed by it. And [Mjolnir]…”

[Mjolnir] could only be lifted, quite literally, by a [perfectly pure, righteous person].

Even if they could afford it, nobody present was likely to meet such a harsh, idealistic condition.

Worse, its price tag was the highest of any starting item they’d ever seen, even more than Adam Smasher’s cyberware package. Buying something they couldn’t use would be a total waste.

“So it seems the Black Sphere isn’t planning to spawn a targeted solution item in the shop this time, like it did when we were up against the Darkness Devil?”

Noticing that Ayanokoji had stopped to think, Kouenji Rokusuke, who had been sizing up the sorcerers around them, chuckled. He didn’t hold back as he spoke up.

“Hahaha… Ayanokōji Boy, don’t limit your gaze to this refresh’s merchandise.”

“True, the presiding god didn’t provide a targeted item this time, but if I’m not mistaken, the cursed tools that dropped from the airdrop items when we faced Jikku in the midterm will absolutely work in this world, which is overflowing with cursed energy.”

Kouenji turned his head, arms crossed, his posture bold and confident.

“Besides, with a group of pseudo-Intruders like us, each holding nearly a hundred S Points at least…”

“Facing a Ryomen Sukuna with a 168-point price tag, if you’re still hoping the Black Sphere will spoon-feed you a targeted solution like it did when we were weak and facing the Darkness Devil…”

“That’s a bit of a pipe dream. The presiding god doesn’t raise weaklings.”

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka didn’t get angry at Kouenji’s arrogance.

He just nodded in agreement, then took out the [Special Grade Cursed Tool: Split Soul Katana] that Ryuuen had left with him and examined it carefully in his hands.

Meanwhile…

With Amikura Mako and Nanase Tsubasa talking him through it, taking turns to explain, Gojo Satoru had just gotten a grasp of the Backrooms.

Suddenly, he caught a familiar whiff of something.

Gojo yanked off his blindfold, spotted the broad-bladed cursed tool in Ayanokoji’s hands that looked oddly familiar, and instinctively leaned in closer.

“Huh? This… looks like Fushiguro’s cursed tool, doesn’t it?”

Yuji Itadori, standing behind Gojo, froze for a second and chimed in. “Sensei, this Fushiguro you’re talking about… is he Megumi’s father?”

Gojo nodded slightly.

A touch of melancholy, rare on his usually carefree face, crossed it. “Yeah.”

“A Special Grade cursed tool that ignores all physical defense and cuts the soul directly.”

“He never used this blade right in front of me back then, but in a way… it’s a cursed tool I personally really, really hate.”

Hearing Gojo’s assessment…

Amasawa Ichika, who had just finished buying her items nearby, strolled over with light steps.

The red-haired girl wore a sweet, harmless smile as she probed. “Gojo-sensei~ Since you know so much about cursed tools, would a Special Grade tool like this work against that King of Curses, Sukuna?”

Ichika pointed at Orianna’s shop interface.

“If it does, we actually pulled two Special Grade cursed tools in the midterm: the [Inverted Spear of Heaven] and the [Black Rope].”

“If we need them, we can buy them right out of Miss Clockwork’s Mystery Shop anytime.”

“The Inverted Spear of Heaven and Black Rope?!”

Gojo couldn’t help clicking his tongue.

Yuji was just as stunned. “Black Rope? Isn’t that what Tengen-sama told us could be used to force open the Prison Realm?!”

Gojo reined in his surprise and explained in a low voice. “That’s right. The Inverted Spear’s power is forcibly canceling an active technique. As soon as its blade touches the technique itself, even my Limitless can be dispelled. And the Black Rope can disrupt and forcibly negate any cursed energy or technique it touches.”

“There’s no question. Against Sukuna… or against me, or against any sorcerer in the entire jujutsu world, these are extremely powerful tools made for the job.”

Frankly, if the Black Rope were in his hands right now…

Even if every one of Sukuna’s Fingers were returned and Sukuna were restored to his full form…

Gojo was confident he could whip Sukuna like a spinning top, make him twirl through the streets of Shinjuku without stopping!

Should he say that the resources in these otherworldly students’ hands were enviable?

Then again, if he hadn’t destroyed the Inverted Spear in a fit of temper after Toji Fushiguro died back then… the jujutsu world might have had a completely different ending by now…

Gojo’s mouth twitched, and inwardly he gave his hotheaded younger self a hard sneer.

Then he quickly pushed the strange feeling down, put on a serious face, and turned to Ichika and the others. “As much as I hate to admit it, the answer is a definite yes.”

“And those two items are, without a doubt, the best solution you have for Sukuna right now.”

Gojo chuckled. “I was actually worried. If I didn’t step in myself, sending a bunch of students with barely any domains to face Sukuna alone would be a real hassle.”

“Seems I was worrying over nothing.”

At this, Yuta Okkotsu, who had been standing silently in the back, frowned.

He stepped forward and asked, worried, “Gojo-sensei, the way you put it… you’re not planning to fight Sukuna yourself? Is that really okay?”

As one of the few people present who truly understood Gojo’s loneliness, Yuta knew Gojo was not the type to shrink from a battle, or to be so careless as to joke around with the fate of the whole world.

After all, just a few hours before these otherworldly students showed up, Gojo had been geared up and ready for a fight to the death with Sukuna!

Facing his students’ confusion, Gojo just held up one finger and shook his head with a smile. “Well… can’t be helped, Yuta.”

He looked at Ayanokoji and the others. “Going by the score marked on Sukuna, the Black Sphere clearly counts him as the ‘mission target’ of Nagumo and Kiryuin’s official exam.”

“I’d love to have a good, satisfying fight with him and teach him a lesson, but…”

“If I actually took him out myself, those hundred-plus points on him would go to waste!”

Gojo spread his hands, looking every bit the careful accountant. “A resource that valuable? It’d be a bit of a shame.”

Yuta opened his mouth, then turned to exchange a look with Yuji. Both of them were baffled.

Has Gojo-sensei lost his mind?

That’s Ryomen Sukuna, the King of Curses! Not some Special Grade cursed spirit you can dispatch with a flick of the wrist!

And he has this much faith in students he’s barely even taught?!

Seeing through their private worries, Gojo poked his head between them, hooked an arm around each of their shoulders, and grinned. “Hey, don’t look so glum.”

“If you really want to, you’re welcome to join the team going after Sukuna!”

“After all, this is their life-or-death exam. As the host and a teacher, I’ll naturally be sitting nearby watching.”

“With the strongest standing by as your safety net, go all out! Nobody’s going to die, I promise.”

Hearing that…

Yuji sighed and clenched his fists. “But Fushiguro…”

“Forget about Megumi, Itadori.” Gojo’s smile vanished, and he cut Yuji off flatly. “Go with them. Don’t hold back. Just kill Sukuna for good.”

“Huh?!”

Yuji’s eyes went wide. He wondered if there was something wrong with his ears.

Watching Yuji’s world-is-ending expression, Gojo only smiled and waved a hand, offering no explanation.

As one of the teachers specially hired by the Black Sphere to teach a few classes at Advanced Nurturing High School, Gojo hadn’t spent long in Chris’s world.

But thanks to the intel from Koro Sensei and the Chairman, he knew exactly that Ryūji Kanzaki and Shiranami Chihiro existed as “revived ones.”

He naturally knew, too, that in the Black Sphere Space, a hundred S Points could bring a dead person back at full health.

True, the jujutsu world he was in now had no such thing as a Black Sphere.

But judging by the transcendence the Black Sphere displayed…

Gojo firmly believed that as long as he could pay enough S Points…

Never mind reviving Megumi.

Even Suguru Geto, Riko Amanai, and the other long-lost regrets weren’t entirely beyond repair!

As long as he could earn enough points… this sacrifice was worth it.

Gojo made up his mind in silence.

The concept of reviving the dead was too much to follow for a hot-blooded fool like Yuji, who only half understood the Black Sphere. Gojo didn’t want to waste time explaining it before the decisive battle.

While the teacher and his students talked, Ayanokoji and the other students had made their decisions too.

Though the [Inverted Spear of Heaven] and [Black Rope] weren’t especially expensive, only 80 S Points combined…

This was an official exam on the upperclassmen’s home turf, and it would have been out of line to make Ayanokoji and the other Intruders foot the bill.

So the upperclassmen paid for the two items themselves.

After a short exchange period, the whole team’s gear got an upgrade.

Kei Karuizawa and Shiraishi Asuka, the support in the back row, played it very safe. They exchanged for the [Magical Girl Mystery Box] to boost their self-defense, and also bought [Golden Apple] and [T-Virus], survival items that raise the margin for error.

Amikura Mako, Yotsuya Miko, and Akane Tachibana found the idea of shouting embarrassing catchphrases with every magical girl transformation too much, so they settled for the next best thing: gacha-style [Heroic Spirit Class Card] or [Gaia Memory].

As for Amasawa Ichika, Suzune Horikita, and Nanase Tsubasa, they burned through all their S Points on the Date A Live system’s [spirit crystal], gaining the powerful ability to use [Astral Dress] and summon an [angel].

As for Ryūji Kanzaki, Kouenji Rokusuke, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka, and the like…

The boys couldn’t pick the [spirit crystal], which had the best value for money right now but was limited to girls…

True to his “perfection” theory, Kouenji Rokusuke exchanged for the [Hogyoku].

Ryūji Kanzaki, steady but with a gambler’s streak, chose an unknown [Devil Fruit].

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka spent his points on the [Venom Symbiote], the [Steel Balloon], and… [Aatrox’s Greatsword], which would erode and take over his body.

Taken individually, none of the three was priced especially high. You could even say they lingered in the middle-to-lower tiers of the Mystery Shop.

But Ayanokoji Kiyotaka believed that the three together would be anything but weak.

Once everyone had finished exchanging, Kiriyama Ikuha, speaking for the upperclassmen, addressed the group.

“I trust everyone already has a rough understanding of the Culling Game’s rules from before we came down.”

“The condition for opening our exam is to collect a hundred points from this damned game, or… directly kill the Culling Game’s creator!”

“Players are living people who were dragged in. Unless absolutely necessary, we don’t want to hurt innocents.”

“In other words, our top priority for breaking this deadlock is that curse user called Kenjaku.”

Truth be told…

If Miyabi Nagumo were here right now, or if only they were present, with none of the underclassmen like Gojo Satoru, Yuji, and Amikura Mako at their side…

Kiriyama Ikuha wouldn’t have minded hunting weak, wild Players to gather the hundred points the fastest way and get the qualified ones into the exam room quickly.

Because that was the lowest-risk route.

But the situation was different now.

They’d already found the Mysterious Merchant. The team had Gojo Satoru, the ceiling of combat power, and a group of monstrously strong “Intruders” like Ayanokoji Kiyotaka.

The risk of killing Kenjaku had dropped to almost nothing.

Compared with slaughtering innocents and wrecking their overall image in Gojo’s eyes, killing Kenjaku was clearly the better choice.

And as for the proposal to deal with Kenjaku first…

Gojo Satoru’s verdict: no objection at all. In fact, he’d been itching for it!

In fact…

Almost the moment he learned the students’ exam-opening condition…

Gojo had already locked onto Kenjaku’s location using the Controller radar in Horikita Manabu’s hands.

Then, without so much as a word of warning, he vanished on the spot.

Leaving everyone behind to stare at one another.

A few seconds later…

In a dense, hidden forest on the outskirts of the Tokyo barrier…

Kenjaku was using Cursed Spirit Manipulation to set up lookouts, planning to watch the final showdown between Gojo and Sukuna, “the strongest of the modern era versus the strongest in history,” in comfort.

But the moment he turned around…

He found himself face to face with a white-haired Gojo Satoru, hovering in front of him, killing intent pouring off him.

“Oh my…”

Panic flashed in Kenjaku’s eyes, but he quickly covered it with his deceptive smile.

“What an unexpected turn.”

“I thought you’d be long gone to Shinjuku by now, putting on a showdown for the ages with Sukuna.”

“How could you leave the King of Curses waiting and come all the way out to this godforsaken wilderness to find me?”

He spread his hands, looking unfazed, and kept running his mouth to stall for time.

“Rather than settle things with him, you’d rather come here first and settle the old score of me taking your best friend’s body?”

“You finished off Suguru Geto with your own hands back then, yet you still can’t let go of that ridiculous guilt… Could it be you actually think you can’t beat Sukuna?”

Kenjaku spoke with breezy calm, though he was sweating buckets underneath.

It couldn’t be helped. As the strongest of the modern era, Gojo had cursed energy fluctuations that were practically spilling out of him. Anyone but Sukuna would be nervous looking at it.

Gojo had no intention of answering his nonsense.

He just coldly raised his right hand, middle finger crossed over his index finger.

“Domain Expansion…”

“Unlimited Void!”

Hmmmm—!

In an instant, an infinite flood of information was forced into Kenjaku’s brain.

Under the impact of that unprocessable mass of junk information, Kenjaku hadn’t even had time to think about resisting before his whole brain crashed.

And so…

In under a minute…

Gojo Satoru was carrying the unconscious Kenjaku back to the base building where Yuji Itadori, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka, and the others waited.

Yuji, seeing this, opened his mouth, a little worried.

He’d meant to remind his teacher: using up that much cursed energy, what if it affected his condition for the final battle with Sukuna?

But when Yuji turned his head…

He saw [Skull Knight] sitting astride a skeletal warhorse wreathed in ghostly flames beside Horikita Manabu and Ayanokoji Kiyotaka. On the other side, the Ex-Machina [Shuvi] was chatting with Orianna, who was made entirely of machinery.

In the end, Yuji couldn’t get the words of dissuasion out.

The shock to his worldview in such a short time had been too great!

It was no less than someone leaping out and telling him that all the blood, tears, and sacrifices he’d been through had been a film shoot. Once the director yelled “Cut,” everyone would wrap up, grab their lunch boxes, and go back to normal life…

Gojo didn’t notice Yuji’s expression.

He simply laid the unconscious Kenjaku gently on the ground.

Kenjaku’s crimes were unforgivable, but this body had once belonged to his best friend, Suguru Geto.

Even with the knowledge that enough S Points could bring a person back…

Gojo still didn’t toss it aside like garbage.

He stood up, dusted off his hands, and looked up at Ayanokoji Kiyotaka, who had one eyebrow raised as though he were mulling something over. Gojo began to explain.

“With that Controller item you’ve got, I’m sure you’ve already scanned Kenjaku’s secrets.”

“Once he dies, the tens of thousands of cursed spirits he’s subdued and stored inside his body will lose their restraints at once and burst out in a rampage.”

“You’ll have two minutes to kill him with no interference. As for the tide of cursed spirits that pours out after Kenjaku dies, that can be your source of points to open the exam…”

“Gojo-sensei, if we let a huge tide of cursed spirits run wild here… should I step in and help suppress it?” Yuta suddenly raised his hand and asked.

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka stepped forward at that moment and answered. “No need to trouble yourself. We have the [Mountains and Rivers Map].”

“This item works as a sealing barrier. It can swallow Kenjaku and every cursed spirit that bursts out after his death.”

“Inside it, as long as the user doesn’t allow it, not a single cursed spirit can escape.”

Nanase Tsubasa heard that and spoke up. “But before you unfurl the Map, remember to let out the classmates and Intruders stored inside first.”

“We still don’t know whether the Black Sphere took them away directly! If any of them got left inside and locked in with the cursed spirits, that’d be a disaster.”

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka nodded slightly, showing he had it under control.

Amasawa Ichika stroked her chin and looked up at Akane Tachibana, who was holding the Inverted Spear of Heaven, her voice crisp. “Senpai, we’re short on time. If you don’t want Gojo-sensei to waste more of his precious cursed energy on cleaning up the cursed spirits afterward, you’d better decide quickly who gets the credit for killing Kenjaku.”

“After all, as Intruders from a different year, we’re limited by the Black Sphere’s mechanics. We can’t rack up too many points in your main exam room.”

“Kenjaku’s main body alone is worth a full hundred points. We’ll just have a sip of the soup and collect the points from the cursed spirits.”

Akane Tachibana tightened her grip on the dagger and turned to Horikita Manabu, standing silently in the back, about to speak.

Horikita Manabu only shook his head calmly.

“Although I used to be your Student Council President, I’m someone who dropped out long ago. On a matter of point distribution that affects your own interests, I can’t overstep and command as a leader.”

“How to divide it is something only you can decide.”

Seeing this, Kiriyama Ikuha decisively broke the stalemate.

“Stop hesitating. Give the points to Akane Tachibana Senpai.”

“It’s only a hundred S Points. Given everything you’ve done for us all this time, Senpai, I’m sure nobody will say a word about it.”

Beside them, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka had already calmly released every remaining human from inside the [Mountains and Rivers Map]. Watching it happen, he said quietly, “You can go ahead.”

Akane Tachibana took a deep breath.

She turned and looked at Amikura Mako and Nanase Tsubasa, who were giving her warm, encouraging looks, and in the end she didn’t put on a show of refusing again.

She walked up to Kenjaku.

And drove the blade down hard.

…

At the same moment Kenjaku was finally eradicated…

Miyabi Nagumo and Fūka Kiryūin, the official examinees, had already used S Points in the Presiding God’s Space to upgrade themselves accordingly.

Then the group rushed to the jujutsu world without a moment’s rest.

By now, the deadline for the Shinjuku showdown that Gojo and Sukuna had agreed on had actually passed some time ago.

Yet the battlefield in Shinjuku remained calm.

Mostly because Gojo had never had any intention of showing up for the appointment.

After dealing with Kenjaku cleanly and efficiently…

He took the Ex-Machina girl Shuvi with him.

He tracked down Nagumo and the others, who had landed in the various Tokyo barriers, one by one, and brought them back to the temporary base where Yuji Itadori, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka, and the rest were gathered.

When Miyabi Nagumo touched down…

and saw Ayanokoji Kiyotaka standing in the crowd, he was genuinely surprised at first.

Luckily, with his long-honed instincts, he soon pieced the scattered intel together and understood the situation.

Why the first-years still hadn’t returned to school, even though their test time had ended quite a while ago.

So they’d been dragged into the upperclassmen’s exam room!

But calling it an “intrusion” wasn’t quite accurate.

After all, going by the Black Sphere’s usual habits, random Intrusions only target one person or a very few unlucky souls. It would never be so generous as to keep the entire first-year test group, whole pot and all.

Rather than a system-determined Intrusion…

it was more likely that this group, through the Backrooms or by triggering some hidden rule, had been forcibly stranded here!

Nagumo shook his head, marveling inwardly at how star-crossed these underclassmen were.

He was about to stride forward and give Horikita Manabu a big hug as their way of greeting after so long apart.

And then maybe find an excuse to catch up a little.

That was when Shuvi, who had been quietly watching from the side, suddenly spoke. “Notice.”

“Twelve hundred meters above this base.”

“Detected unit containing ‘high-concentration negative energy,’ approaching at Mach 3.”

Gojo felt that suffocating malice at almost the same moment and turned his head to the sky.

There, Ryomen Sukuna, who had taken over Megumi’s body, stood steadily on the back of a shikigami with Uraume at his side.

He gazed coldly down at the crowd below, his eyes bored, as if he were looking at a herd of pigs awaiting slaughter.

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka saw this and fell back behind the group.

Without hesitation, he opened the [Mountains and Rivers Map] and let out the classmates who’d been racking up points inside a moment ago.

And up in the sky…

Sukuna seemed to lose his patience and leapt down from the shikigami’s back.

“BOOM!”

Like a meteorite striking the earth, the force of the impact smashed a deep crater into the road.

Before Gojo could even start taunting him, Sukuna spoke, visibly displeased.

“Kenjaku’s cursed energy has vanished.”

“Did you miss our decisive battle over something this trivial?”

“You really are a disappointment, Gojo Satoru.”

“For once I felt generous and set aside every little matter to wait for you in Shinjuku, and you stood me up over him?”

As he spoke, the anger on Sukuna’s face twisted into a warped, wild laugh.

He covered his face with a hand, and his shoulders began to shake uncontrollably.

“Heh heh heh… Hahahaha!”

“Could it be that you used that so-called Six Eyes of yours to see the future and confirmed there’s no chance whatsoever of beating me?”

“So you wanted to spend your last moments like a coward, sweeping away the trash you find eyesore, making one last struggle?”

Sukuna chuckled.

“Heh, don’t worry.”

“When you crushed Kenjaku, I also crushed a sorcerer who dared challenge me with a lightning technique. I won’t take advantage of you on that count.”

Sukuna bent his knees slightly and took an attacking stance.

“So, have you prepared your last words, Gojo Satoru?”

“Are you ready to die?!”

Faced with Sukuna’s arrogance…

Gojo wasn’t angry in the slightest. If anything, he sighed as though resigned.

He looked up at the other with total seriousness.

“I think you’ve got it wrong, Sukuna. The reason I dealt with Kenjaku first wasn’t because I was afraid.”

“It’s precisely because I know… that in the coming fight, you won’t have any room to resist.”

Gojo held up one finger.

“Let me be honest with you. Right now, you… can’t even beat the students behind me.”

Hearing that absurd provocation, the smile on Sukuna’s face didn’t change.

He contemptuously let his gaze slide past Gojo and sweep over the assortment of people standing behind him.

Yuta Okkotsu? Yuji Itadori?

Two kids who hadn’t even grown up yet. They weren’t a one-hit match for him.

As for those high schoolers who had barely any cursed energy…

They were trash, not even worthy of being seen as food!

The only ones who stirred even a flicker of curiosity in Sukuna were Shuvi and Orianna, who had no cursed energy at all yet gave off an oppressive aura.

Cursed tools from somewhere? The designs were rather unique.

Sukuna rolled his wrist, unconcerned. “Never mind. I’ll just cut them to pieces.”

Just as Sukuna looked away and prepared to open with a single [Dismantle] to sweep away the pests around Gojo,

Gojo saw through his intent and beat him to it. “Looks like you’ve misunderstood something. Let me tell you, just for the record.”

“In this fight… you’re the challenger!”