The Fifth Finger

Red candlelight filled the mountain cave.

Human skins had been stitched into a huge soft carpet across the ground. Strange curses tangled together across it, spreading in grotesque patterns. Countless human heads covered the walls, and broken white bones had been built into the ceiling with a beauty so absurd it looked like a painting from hell.

The ground began to crumble under the pressure inside the cave.

"Shuten-doji," Kappa said carefully, eyes wide as it swallowed. "Do not be angry. Maybe Yuki-onna will come back soon."

It had told Kappa not to be anxious earlier.

Now it looked more anxious than anyone.

"Hm?"

Shuten-doji turned. The demonic light in its eyes looked as if it could burn a clan to ash.

Kappa ducked away and retreated to the corner.

Only the two of them remained in the cave. The cursed spirit that had come to report the news had already been crushed by Shuten-doji's pressure.

Shuten-doji knew anger was useless. It could only hope Yuki-onna returned soon.

Even if she did not, she had to bring the finger back.

Otherwise, death would not be enough to pay.

The relationships between cursed spirits were complicated. Cursed spirits born from humanity's negative emotions and imaginary cursed spirits born from human legends had competed for thousands of years, each side looking down on the other. Neither had truly decided superiority.

There was also a special category: cursed spirits left behind after sorcerers died.

Most were weak.

Ryomen Sukuna was the exception.

In his lifetime, he had ruled the jujutsu world with overwhelming power and stood at its peak. After his death, his fingers did not rot. They became special-grade cursed objects.

That made them something both sides wanted to seize.

Their purpose was simple: gain a helper.

But now, of the three fingers Shuten-doji possessed, one had been taken by Yuki-onna. She had been gone for seven days.

How could it not be furious?

"Go find her. Even if she is dead, bring the finger back."

"Yes."

High above the bright sky, in an independent space ordinary humans could not see, two figures sat across from each other.

A chessboard rested between them.

Neither spoke. They only placed pieces.

Black fell.

White was immediately hollowed out across a large area.

Wailing followed the move.

Neither player cared. This was clearly not the first time.

"I won," Folly said.

Its tone was flat, as if describing something unimportant.

"Yes," the elder opposite it said. "You won. What do you want to say?"

Folly had been here for some time. Since entering, it had done almost nothing except play chess with this being. It had thought its skill was decent, so it had not refused.

Only after beginning did it realize how much there was to learn.

After several days of fighting across the board, it had finally won once.

One victory was enough.

"I want to know everything about Ren Zenin."

After a long silence, Folly brought the topic to Ren.

It wanted to know why that human was so strong. Several of its superiors had suffered losses because of him.

The elder thought briefly.

White mist rose around him. Soon, starlight appeared inside the mist, one point after another, until the whole fog shone like a sky full of stars.

The elder did not speak. He lifted his head, and his ancient gaze seemed to pierce the limit of time, searching through a river no one else could see.

The stars in the white mist began to turn.

Faster.

Faster.

Then a blinding white light appeared and swallowed all of the mist.

The elder covered his eyes and lowered his head in pain. Black liquid seeped between his fingers and dripped slowly.

Folly stared in shock.

Ren Zenin was this strong?

Even this being could not see his foundation?

Shock faded into hunger when Folly saw the liquid. A pale-blue hand quietly reached out and caught as much of it as possible.

As the liquid entered its body, Folly's color began changing from pale blue toward a clearer blue.

Not good.

This was not the place to evolve.

The change woke Folly instantly. Growing stronger now was no different from asking to die.

It forced the impulse down, and its color slowly returned.

After a long while, the elder opened his eyes.

There were no pupils left inside.

"I cannot answer that question," the elder said. "Ask another."

Folly thought his temper was quite good.

"Why are you not preparing for the revival of the King of Curses with the others?"

The elder smiled faintly.

"The King's return cannot be avoided, but it cannot be forced either. What they do is only for a reward from the King. I do not need that."

"Those cursed spirits were born from human negative emotions. They have thoughts of their own, but they still cannot escape human habits. You can see that from the way they look down on imaginary cursed spirits."

"I was born from time. For me, moving forward with time is the greatest reward."

He looked at Folly.

"Is that not right?"

Folly nodded without committing.

They were similar in some ways. Folly only needed to continue absorbing knowledge to feel endless pleasure.

Both had been born from fear, but the gap between them was like an abyss.

Folly clenched its fists.

It seemed to have found a way to raise its strength.

"Human knowledge has already been exhausted for me," it said. "Outside, I can no longer improve. Can I follow you here and study for a while?"

The elder said nothing. White mist rose again.

Then he screamed.

The mist vanished as soon as it appeared.

"What happened? Are you all right?" Folly asked quickly. "I have medicine that can repair a cursed body."

It took out a tube. It had prepared the drug for emergencies.

After using it, the elder improved. His eyes still had no pupils, but at least the stabbing pain stopped.

"Fine," the elder said. "There is not much you can learn from me. We can continue playing chess."

He did not trust Folly. For now, however, his eyes hurt, and he could not use his technique again in a short time. Delaying was acceptable.

"By the way," he asked, "what kind of human is this Ren Zenin?"

Folly smiled faintly.

"Him? Only a slightly powerful human."

At the Jujutsu High meeting room, the higher-ups sat in awkward silence.

For many of them, it was the first time holding a meeting somewhere this bright.

"How does everyone feel coming to Jujutsu High?" Gojo asked.

He sat as if he had returned home, folded across the chair in a way that should have been impossible for someone his height.

After the Haruto Nakatsui incident, he had moved meetings here.

He no longer wanted to meet like rats in a sewer.

"Satoru Gojo," the elder said, coughing. "Why did you call us here?"

"All right. Since no one else has anything to say, I will get to the point."

He tossed a finger onto the table.

"Ryomen Sukuna?"

"Where was this finger found?"

"Seal it immediately. It will draw countless cursed spirits."

"Another finger. I would like to study it."

The room immediately filled with discussion.

"During the continuous snow around Christmas, Geto went to investigate the cause," Gojo said. "He found an imaginary cursed spirit, Yuki-onna, and exorcised her."

His gesture made the meaning clear: the finger had dropped after Geto exorcised Yuki-onna.

"Yuki-onna? A special-grade imaginary cursed spirit?"

"Special-grade cursed spirits appeared too often last year."

"It almost feels like the end of the world."

Several people shook off the thought. Sorcerers should not believe something so ridiculous.

"This object was found by you," the elder said. "You may decide how to handle it. My advice is to seal it. Otherwise the cursed energy it emits will invite trouble."

Generally, Sukuna's fingers were sealed and handed to Tengen.

When it came to seals and barriers, who was more reliable?

Gojo tossed the finger into the air.

A small cursed spirit could not resist the temptation and lunged at it. Gojo flicked it away with one finger.

"I have no use for it," Gojo said. "If I brought it here, it was to ask what you wanted done."

He did not care much about Ryomen Sukuna.

No matter how strong Sukuna had been, he was a monster from the past. If he truly revived, Gojo and Ren could suppress him.

If Ren did not hate trouble so much, Gojo might have wanted Sukuna to find a body and fight them.

The thought flashed through his blue eyes.

Would Ren agree?

The room suddenly felt cold.

Everyone looked at Gojo.

"Relax," Gojo said. "I will not go find a body for Sukuna just because I want to challenge an old unbeatable monster."

The others stared at him in silence.

"In that case," the elder said carefully, "I will take this finger to Tengen for sealing."

"Agreed."

"Seconded."

The meeting ended soon after. When the others left, an elderly man at the end of the table approached respectfully.

He had delivered such objects before. Naturally, he expected to go again.

"You go back," the elder said. "I will deliver it this time."

The old messenger paused but did not dare ask why.

The elder sighed.

"It is time we met."

Not long after, he arrived at Tengen's residence.

When he opened the door, he froze.

He had known Tengen had rearranged the room, but not to this degree. Television, phone, game console, computer, even an arcade cabinet in the corner.

Was this still Tengen?

The young body in the room carried unmistakable vitality. Seeing that, the strange room became a little easier to accept.

"Lord Tengen," the elder said, "I need your help."

Tengen opened his eyes calmly.

"Hideki Shimizu. Why did you come yourself today? Has the world ended?"

Hideki Shimizu paused, then gave a bitter smile.

Tengen had truly changed. He even made jokes now.

"No. We found another of Ryomen Sukuna's fingers. I would like you to seal it and guard it."

With this one, Tengen would now hold five fingers.

If cursed spirits learned that, they would do everything possible to break in and steal them, even though the guardian was Tengen, a being said to be as old as the jujutsu world.

"Fine," Tengen said. "It is not the first time."

He closed his eyes again.

Shimizu trembled slightly. A sentence stuck in his throat, but he did not know how to say it.

"Then I will return."

After he left, Tengen placed the finger before him and felt the immense cursed energy inside.

Greed flashed briefly in the depths of his eyes, then disappeared.

"Ryomen Sukuna, hm?"

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