Selection and Graveyard

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Shibuya was a grand stage.

If you had a life to lose, you could step onto it.

Itsuki's role at the moment was that of a stage manager.

He needed to silently adjust the deviated script back toward the shape it should have.

Kenjaku had to awaken the sorcerers from a thousand years ago and lay down ten barriers wide enough to cover half of Japan.

The Culling Game was the beginning of Itsuki's path to the throne.

A necessary road toward becoming a god.

If the plot deviated, that did not matter.

Violence was the best correction tool.

"Move."

The flat word carried no emotional fluctuation, yet it exploded by Jogo's ear like thunder.

Jogo turned stiffly, and his terrified single eye met those utterly indifferent eyes.

It was the gaze of someone looking down at an ant crawling past his foot.

Dead or alive, it did not matter.

It was the same way Jogo looked at ordinary humans.

The last shred of dignity he possessed as a new human was humiliated.

Jogo leaned forward and shot away, moving like lightning.

He rushed toward the level above.

It had nothing to do with emotion or reason.

The scream of his survival instinct forced his feet to move.

"Brother Itsuki..."

Maki spoke unconsciously, then opened her mouth without knowing what else to say.

Ask why he sealed Satoru Gojo?

Beg him to release Gojo?

Nanami, Megumi, and the others were the same.

Facing an opponent at this level, what could they do besides wait in silence for his arrangements?

None of them had the ability to shake the sky like ants.

Ignoring Nanami and the others, Itsuki looked at White Zetsu and spoke calmly.

"I don't care about your personal feelings."

"But keep a close eye on those three."

When White Zetsu fought as he had earlier, even opening his domain, the consequence was that he could not divide his attention to monitor the entire barrier.

Itsuki controlled the overall direction as the manager of the stage.

White Zetsu was the acting coach.

Whenever a smaller scene was about to go wrong, White Zetsu had to step in and adjust it.

"Yeah, yeah. I know."

White Zetsu answered unhappily.

The three people Itsuki mentioned were Kenjaku, Yuji, and Mahito.

The first had to be watched as a precaution.

The latter two needed to grow, and if necessary, White Zetsu had to protect their safety.

Itsuki had already instructed him about all of this.

His gaze paused briefly on Megumi and Maki.

Then Itsuki took one light step into the void.

...

Second basement level, subway ticket gate.

Thin, long cuts from sharp weapons covered the floor and walls, and large patches of red blood remained in them.

In a dim corner beneath flickering lights, Yuji lay unconscious and near death.

Jogo pinched Yuji's chin and stuffed ten of Sukuna's fingers down his throat at once.

If cursed spirits were to stand proudly in the world...

If curses were to become the true rulers of this world...

If they were to deal with the monster called Itsuki Zenin...

Jogo placed all his last hope on the King of Curses trapped inside Yuji.

His peripheral vision swept over Nanako and Mimiko, who had escaped the flames.

Jogo rose, preparing to finish them off, only to freeze in that instant.

He stared blankly at the smooth cut on his right wrist as purple blood flowed soundlessly from it.

The pain arrived a beat later.

At the same time, a terrifying wave of cursed energy erupted from Yuji's body.

The body called Yuji Itadori slowly stood.

In Jogo's trembling eye were reflected the black markings on Yuji's face and four eyes that looked down on everything in the world.

This was...

Sukuna.

Feeling the crushing presence from another dimension, the two girls and one cursed spirit found it difficult even to breathe. Cold sweat instantly spread over their bodies.

Their survival instincts erupted.

Jogo could not stop himself from flashing sideways to Nanako and Mimiko's side.

Unlike the strength of Satoru Gojo and Itsuki Zenin, Sukuna's existence carried an evil that made the soul tremble.

"Your heads are too high."

Sukuna brushed his bangs back with one hand and spoke calmly.

Nanako and Mimiko, who were supporting each other, and Jogo, whose body trembled, immediately knelt to the ground.

The next second...

Boom!

All three raised their heads in a daze and stared at the huge hole overhead.

The Sukuna who had terrified them beyond words...

Had been blasted out of the subway station by a single strike from the enormous shikigami with a wheel above its head.

Step. Step.

Under the flickering lights, a pair of blood-tinted eyes slowly approached.

Whoosh.

Jogo abruptly stepped back, and Nanako and Mimiko beside him were swallowed by invisible space.

Whether they lived or died was unknown.

Jogo looked at the person before him, his pupil shaking violently.

Itsuki Zenin.

"Let's change locations."

"This place is too lonely for a graveyard."

One light step.

Wind howled.

By the time Jogo came back to himself, he and the monster were already on top of a different steel high-rise.

His peripheral vision moved to the long fingers resting on his shoulder, and his heart turned ice-cold.

"Graveyard..."

Looking up into those cold blood-red eyes, Jogo seemed to realize what his ending would be.

Even so...

Boom!

Flames capable of burning human bodies to ash exploded from the top of the building all the way down to the ground.

Like a rocket launched in the heart of the city, the pillar of fire lit up Shibuya in an instant.

"Aaaah!"

Roughly thirty thousand ordinary humans remained trapped in Shibuya.

Only a tiny number could see the bodies of cursed spirits.

But this bombing, which felt like a terrorist attack, terrified them even more.

Crowds fleeing through the streets scattered from the burning tower in dense waves.

On the rooftop...

Jogo breathed roughly, partly from the earlier outburst, but more from Itsuki's pressure.

Staring at the figure standing on the flames, Jogo could not stop trembling.

Unharmed.

Itsuki narrowed his eyes slightly and spread both arms.

The void opened beside him, devouring mouthfuls of cursed energy filling the barrier and the negative emotions of the fleeing crowd.

Those devoured negative emotions flowed back into his scarlet left eye.

The pleasant warmth made Itsuki's expression turn faintly satisfied.

This was the reason he had brought Jogo to the center of Shibuya instead of killing him instantly.

It was Jogo's last remaining value.

How many died in that strike?

Three hundred?

Four hundred?

Itsuki tilted his head toward Jogo and smiled.

"Come on. Your final chance to show off."

Looking at the nearly despairing little volcano, Itsuki added,

"For your next attack, I promise I won't use phasing to dodge."

"This is your only chance to hurt me. Treasure it."

Itsuki did not care how many ordinary humans died.

He was very satisfied with the panic Jogo had created.

Staring at the expression on Itsuki's face, Jogo silently mobilized every bit of cursed energy in his body.

He could not tell whether Itsuki was telling the truth.

But refusal meant death.

He might as well try.

Perhaps he could injure this monster once.

'I suppose I will not get to witness the great age of curses after all.'

With death already in his heart, Jogo's face twisted as he squeezed out all of his cursed energy.

Terrifying cursed energy shot straight into the sky.

The final strike carrying all of Jogo's hope shone with blinding red light above the city.

"Maximum: Meteor!"

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