“Domain Expansion, Malevolent Shrine.”
As Ryomen Sukuna’s chant rang out, the ruins of a shrine rose from the ground, while the skeletal remains of unknown creatures slowly emerged from beneath the earth.
Even the sky seemed to darken, turning a murky blood-red.
At the same time, countless slashes descended upon Tōru Azuma.
The sensation of his body being repeatedly split open and carved apart nearly made him cry out in pain.
Without a Domain of his own, all he could do was repeatedly use Simple Domain and Falling Blossom Emotion to counter the sure-hit effect while desperately using Reverse Cursed Technique to repair his body, just as Satoru Gojo had done when his Cursed Technique burned out.
Yet no matter how fiercely he attacked Sukuna, every attempt was effortlessly neutralized, followed by an even more powerful counterattack.
After an unknown amount of time, Sukuna seemed to grow bored.
He kicked Tōru Azuma away, then remained where he stood and formed a hand seal.
“Dragon Scales, Repulsion, Paired Falling Stars.”
As the chant ended, an excruciating pain erupted from Tōru Azuma’s waist, as if his very soul had been sliced apart.
When he looked down, his body had been severed horizontally at the waist.
The flow of Cursed Energy through his body was completely cut off, and his consciousness began to fade.
The next second, his eyes flew open.
Tōru Azuma gasped heavily for breath.
Realizing that he seemed to be lying on a bed, he immediately sat up, lifted his shirt, and checked his waist.
Only after seeing that there wasn’t a single obvious wound did he finally breathe a little easier.
Thank goodness…
That had apparently just been a dream.
He had often joked about things like “me fighting Sukuna” and “is this for real?” before, but only after facing the true King of Curses in a dream did he realize just how powerless and insignificant he was.
But…
Where was he?
After confirming that his body was intact, Tōru Azuma finally looked around.
The room resembled an infirmary.
He was lying on one of several metal-framed beds lined up in a row.
A cabinet beside him contained all kinds of medicine, while a black desk stood nearby, covered with books, strange instruments, and various unfamiliar tools.
There was no one else in the room.
He was completely alone.
But the sunlight warming his skin and the unmistakable texture of the mattress beneath him both told him that this was a real world.
This was not a dream.
But that made even less sense.
‘This shouldn’t be possible…
Why?
Why was I suddenly thrown into the world of Jujutsu Kaisen…?’
Tōru Azuma didn’t rush to leave.
Instead, he remained sitting on the bed and began going over everything he had experienced.
His last clear memory before waking up ended when he faced the Cursed Spirit and threw that desperate punch with everything he had.
After the punch, he vaguely remembered seeing a flash of black-red light.
Then he lost consciousness.
Before that…
He had met Utahime Iori.
She had enhanced him with her Cursed Technique and given him some basic instruction on how to control Cursed Energy.
Before even that, he had suddenly encountered a Cursed Spirit, which had immediately targeted and attacked him.
Thinking about it now, perhaps the reason the Cursed Spirit had gone after him was because he possessed Cursed Energy but had no idea how to control it, causing the energy to leak out and draw its attention.
After all, someone who possessed Cursed Energy but had no idea how to use it would probably make excellent food for a Cursed Spirit.
If it devoured him, perhaps it could even evolve and become a stronger Cursed Spirit.
And before that…
As Tōru Azuma reached even further back into his memories, his pupils suddenly contracted.
He remembered.
He finally remembered what had happened before he inexplicably appeared in that subway station.
He had only been home for a short while.
After dinner and a shower, he had been comfortably watching a Jujutsu Kaisen commentary video while chatting with someone he had recently met online.
“I recently designed a Cursed Technique.
It’s really interesting, and it’s insanely strong too.
If I had this Cursed Technique, I could definitely fight Sukuna.”
As he said that, he sent the other person the description of the Cursed Technique he had designed.
The other person quickly replied.
“This Cursed Technique really is pretty interesting, but are you sure it can actually fight Sukuna?”
“Of course!”
“If you got the chance, would you want to try?”
Tōru Azuma had assumed the other person was joking, so he laughingly agreed.
“Sure.
This time, I’ll be the one fighting Sukuna.”
And then he had appeared in that damn subway station.
Wait.
Could someone explain to him why some random person he had met online had the ability to send people through transmigration?
Had the world he came from really been the real world in the first place?
And if everything that person had said was true…
Did that mean he now possessed the Cursed Technique he had created?
The thought had barely crossed Tōru Azuma’s mind when he prepared to get up and test it.
At that moment, the infirmary door opened.
A middle-aged woman with extremely noticeable dark circles under her eyes walked inside.
She paused when she saw that he was already awake.
“You’re awake?”
“…Yes.”
Tōru Azuma froze briefly when he saw her face, then remembered what time period he had transmigrated into.
If this was when Utahime was still in high school, then it made perfect sense for Shoko not to be here.
In the original story, Shoko eventually became a physician at Jujutsu High, and her Cursed Technique was certainly well suited to the job.
But while she was still a student, she probably wouldn’t have been stationed in the infirmary full-time.
“Please wait here for a moment.”
The middle-aged woman nodded to him, then called toward the hallway.
“Utahime Iori, come in.
He’s awake.”
Before long, the high school-era Utahime Iori entered the infirmary.
When she saw that the person who had been unconscious was now awake and seemingly full of energy, surprise and relief briefly appeared on her face before giving way to a complicated expression.
Tōru Azuma didn’t notice.
It was only when a familiar character once again appeared right in front of him that he finally felt, with absolute certainty, that he truly existed in this world.
“You’re the one who helped me yesterday, right?
Thank you so much.
If it weren’t for you, I probably would’ve died at the hands of that monster.”
His gratitude toward Utahime was completely sincere.
After all, that online acquaintance had simply dumped him without warning into a subway station where a Cursed Spirit was running rampant.
He had genuinely been driven into a hopeless situation.
If Utahime hadn’t appeared and taught him the basics of controlling Cursed Energy, he probably never would have made it out alive.
Forget fighting Sukuna someday, or getting beaten senseless by Sukuna.
Compared with Utahime, that online acquaintance was unbelievably unreliable.
The difference between them was enormous.
Besides, Utahime Iori was one of his favorite female characters.
She was more charming as an adult, of course, but her younger, more inexperienced appearance was pretty cute too.
Being thanked so sincerely made Utahime Iori feel a small flicker of happiness, but the boy’s excessive enthusiasm still left her somewhat uncomfortable.
After a brief pause, she spoke in a slightly awkward tone.
“You don’t have to thank me.
I do have a lot of questions I want to ask you, but for now, come with me…
Someone wants to see you.”
Tōru Azuma noticed that Utahime’s attitude toward him seemed a little strange, but he didn’t think much of it.
He simply followed her toward one of Jujutsu High’s academic buildings.
Before long, they stopped outside an office.
After Utahime knocked, a deep and stern middle-aged male voice came from inside.
“Come in.”
The moment Tōru Azuma entered and saw the middle-aged man sitting behind the desk, wearing square black sunglasses with his hair tied into a bun, he immediately recognized him.
Masamichi Yaga.
The principal of Tokyo Metropolitan Curse Technical College at the beginning of the original story.
On the surface, he was a stern, intimidating hardass with an uncompromising demeanor.
Beneath that tough exterior, however, was genuine passion and kindness.
As Tōru Azuma studied him, Masamichi Yaga was studying him as well.
To be frank, when Masamichi Yaga first heard everything that had happened from his student and the assistant managers, he had wondered whether someone was telling him a story from a novel.
An ordinary person who knew absolutely nothing about Jujutsu had managed to control Cursed Energy and injure a Cursed Spirit after receiving nothing more than guidance from a third-year student.
Not only that, he had even triggered Black Flash and instantly destroyed a Grade 2 Cursed Spirit.
The entire sequence of events sounded almost absurdly fantastical.
But when Masamichi Yaga later saw the unconscious Tōru Azuma in person, he realized that the boy probably did possess extraordinary talent.
The Cursed Energy within him was so dense that it seemed on the verge of overflowing from his body.
Even a brief perception of it was enough to reveal an astonishing amount, comparable to that of a Special Grade Jujutsu Sorcerer Masamichi Yaga had once encountered.
But if that was true, the situation became even more suspicious.
An ordinary person with such extraordinary potential had just happened to appear at the scene of a Cursed Spirit attack orchestrated by a Curse User.
Then, by yet another coincidence, he had come directly to Jujutsu High’s attention.
More importantly, when they contacted the police and attempted to investigate the boy’s identity, they found absolutely nothing.
Domestic databases returned nothing.
Foreign databases returned nothing.
The result was zero across the board.
Taken together, the circumstances were far too strange.
If this boy were a spy planted in Jujutsu High by a group of Curse Users, or by someone with ulterior motives and some hidden scheme, then everything would suddenly make sense.
But when Masamichi Yaga finally met him in person and looked into those clear eyes, which carried an unmistakable trace of sincerity, he discarded his previous suspicion.
In his view, some things simply couldn’t be hidden.
But if that was the case…
Then this situation had become even more troublesome.
Masamichi Yaga put those thoughts aside and spoke.
“I’m Masamichi Yaga.
This is Tokyo Metropolitan Curse Technical College.
I apologize for calling you here when you’ve only just regained consciousness.”
“We have several questions we need to ask you.
Your answers will determine how we handle your situation from here.”
Hearing his stern tone, Tōru Azuma finally realized what the problem was and forcibly suppressed his excitement at seeing another character from the anime standing before him.
Right.
How had he forgotten?
He might know these people extremely well, but to them, he was a complete stranger.
Not to mention that the higher-ups of the Jujutsu World had always seemed extremely concerned about security issues of every kind.
When a completely unexpected variable like him suddenly appeared before them, there was no chance their first response would be to welcome him with open arms.
If anything, he was far more likely to face an extremely strict investigation and careful scrutiny.
Plenty of events in the original story had already proven that.
“I understand.
Please ask.”