Even though Mahito’s head had been cut off, Nanami didn’t let his guard down.
For some reason, Itadori and Yoshino Junpei had been driving that bastard back together, but that had been dangerous just now.
The bastard’s technique was a death touch. The moment his [Domain Expansion] was unleashed, you died.
"My attacks won’t work. Don’t stop, Itadori-kun!"
"Yes, sir!"
Just as Nanami had expected, the head that had been severed was already back in place.
"That was my last trump card, damn it. If it’s come to this, I’ll squeeze out every last bit of power I’ve got!"
Mahito began inflating his body to a grotesque size.
And even then, he didn’t forget to tear off the core of his soul and hide it away.
With that one move for survival taken out of him, the attacks from each side landed on Mahito.
There was no room for reading the flow anymore.
All that was left was to smash transparent killing intent together with everything they had.
The finishing moves that would decide this battle were unleashed.
Ten Shadows Cursed Law - Rattle Rattle
Convergent Fist
Kan
-Pwoooom!
The swollen body burst like a balloon.
But the familiar feel of a clean hit never came.
"He’s not dead! I definitely pierced him, didn’t I?"
"What is this hollow feeling!"
-Tap!
Something had gone wrong. What should have been the decisive blow had missed its mark.
Only Nanami, who had keenly sensed the flow of cursed energy, ran toward the fallen fragment.
"Bye-byyye. That was fun!"
"Stop right there!"
"Mahitoooo!!!!"
-BANG!
They slammed the sewer grate, but Mahito had already escaped.
"Damn it. We should’ve caught him here."
Grinding his teeth, Nanami quickly took out his phone and called Ino Takuma, who had been left behind in the sewer.
"Ino-kun. The mastermind escaped through the drain."
"Understood! Should I search this area?"
"Yes. Search thoroughly to the southeast from the place where I was with you. If you move now, you should still be able to exorcise him."
Nanami was about to turn and say, Let’s go after him too.
But then his eyes fell on the two boys’ condition.
"Hah... hah..."
"Uwaaah..."
Itadori was pierced and slashed all over, blood streaming from his body.
Junpei was in better shape than Itadori, but his naturally frail body had him breathing hard and raggedly.
Itadori was on the verge of passing out from blood loss and damage, and Junpei’s cursed energy was nearly exhausted.
The fear of death, the nonstop fighting, the mental strain caused by Mahito’s horrific ability.
The moment tension was released, the body stopped moving too.
If he left these kids here and chased after Mahito now, he might still be able to catch him.
But what if that bastard pretended to flee, then came back to target them?
Results and the children’s safety hung on opposite ends of the scale.
The adult’s hesitation didn’t last long.
"...Let’s withdraw for now. I think it’ll be fine to leave the search to Ino-kun."
"I’m fine, Nanami."
"Don’t be reckless. You look like standing up is already hard enough. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: it’s my duty to protect you."
There was still the matter of that boy over there, after all.
Meeting Nanami’s cool gaze, Junpei reflexively shut his mouth.
He was different from Itadori, who had seemed loose and approachable despite being a jujutsushi.
This man was an adult among adults. The kind who didn’t get swept away by emotion and could make cold, rational judgments.
"I’m sorry for the late introduction. I’m Nanami Kento, grade 1 jujutsushi."
Yoshino Junpei.
You are under arrest on suspicion of jujutsu-related terrorism and collusion with a special-grade vengeful spirit.
------------------------
In a filthy section of sewer that Ino Takuma’s eyes had not yet reached,
"Haah... hahahaha...."
Mahito laughed under his breath, clutching his restored body.
That’s the King of Curses, Ryomen Sukuna.
Itadori Yuji.
Junpei.
And that 7:3 sorcerer’s interference.
He had been pushed back, but if he’d only had enough time, he could have won.
In fact, the biggest damage he’d taken had come from the slash Sukuna, inside Itadori Yuji, had unleashed.
The level of the soul is different.
If he revived, then even if Mahito’s side were wiped out, the age of curses would surely arrive.
Even though he hadn’t managed to place a binding vow, simply witnessing that power with his own eyes had been a harvest in itself.
But two thoughts collided inside Mahito’s mind.
I want to kill Itadori Yuji so badly it hurts.
Revive Sukuna.
"Mm, annoying. Still, whatever. It’ll be fine."
There was no need to kill Itadori Yuji just to vent his anger.
Wasn’t there a perfect target left over?
Yoshino Junpei.
"Because you’re still alive."
Next time, he wouldn’t make a mistake.
------------------------
"Nanami, do we really have to do this?"
Even after all this, he’s still worried about that kid.
Yoshino Junpei had unexpectedly cooperated with the arrest without resistance.
Nanami still wasn’t sure whether he had decided to cooperate or had simply given up, but it was a relief not to have to waste any more energy on him.
After a simple treatment, Nanami had him detained in an interrogation room, where a battered Itadori came to find him.
"Yes. We do. He carried out large-scale terrorism against civilians who couldn’t see curses. On top of that, we still haven’t determined what his relationship was with that ragged curse spirit."
"I told you, that bastard was trying to use Junpei to do something to me."
"Even so, no. We can’t let him go until we hear it confirmed from his own mouth."
"........"
"Don’t worry. We won’t be rough with him."
"Nanami...!"
"We’ll talk later."
Please.
Leaving Itadori bowed low behind him, Nanami entered the interrogation room with Ijichi in tow.
Junpei, looking even more put together than before, was waiting for them.
"This won’t take long, as long as you cooperate."
"......Don’t worry about that."
So he really did intend to cooperate.
"Good. First, your name, age, and affiliation. We already know, but we have to go through the motions."
"Yoshino Junpei. Seventeen. Second-year at Satozakura High School."
"When did you first become able to see curses?"
"...I thought I already explained all that to Yuji."
"That was before we knew you could use a technique. It’s not impossible that you lied."
"I don’t remember exactly when. I could only see them vaguely, and I only recently realized they were real."
"What was your motive for carrying out terrorism at Satozakura High School?"
"I’d been bullied for a long time. That’s why I stopped going to school for a while. And... I thought the real culprit who cursed my mother would be there."
When his mother came up, Junpei’s expression trembled ever so slightly, and Nanami didn’t miss it.
The fact that Yoshino Junpei’s mother had been killed by the curse spirit lured in by Sukuna’s finger had already been reported after the situation had settled down.
Best not to press that further.
"What was your relationship with that ragged curse spirit?"
"He was my teacher. He was also the one who helped me awaken my technique."
At that, Nanami was greatly surprised, though he didn’t show it.
So he hadn’t originally known how to use a technique?
Was that really possible?
"A technique?"
"He said my brain was that of a non-sorcerer, but that the technique was engraved in the body. Then he told me he’d kneaded my brain with [Idle Transfiguration] so I could use jujutsu."
I’ll have to discuss this with Gojo-san later.
This wasn’t something he could handle on his own.
He couldn’t report it to headquarters. Not only could he not trust them, but if Junpei’s case was taken up the chain, Itadori’s survival would be exposed.
If a non-sorcerer could be turned into a sorcerer, then cursed tools could be produced at any time.
It could lead to more chaos than anyone had expected.
"Understood. Next question. Please explain your technique."
"My technique is ‘poison’... and I can summon and control a jellyfish shikigami."
Even Junpei himself still seemed unsure about his own ability as he explained it.
"Show me once."
"Hold on, Nanami-san."
"It’s fine, Ijichi-kun. I don’t sense any hostility. Even if he were to act up, I could subdue him."
"I’m not planning to act up...."
Grumbling softly, Junpei summoned a small jellyfish in midair.
Nanami narrowed his eyes at the jellyfish floating through the air.
"Junpei-kun, saying your technique is ‘poison’ is incorrect."
"Huh?"
"Poison is a property of your cursed energy. Rather, the shikigami is what should be considered your technique."
"You mean my cursed energy has a poison property?"
"That’s right."
Some jujutsushi possessed cursed energy with special properties of its own.
Yoshino Junpei had the rare ability for his cursed energy to function as poison.
It just hadn’t stood out much because his opponent was Itadori, who was resistant to poison, and Mahito, against whom ordinary attacks didn’t work.
Did Mahito not know that? Or did he deliberately lie to deceive me?
The reason Mahito had called Junpei’s technique “poison” was that he himself, having only recently been born, didn’t know much about that unusual cursed energy.
He hadn’t exactly meant to deceive him, but Junpei simply decided to believe that he had.
It gave him one more reason to hate him, so there was no need to correct the misunderstanding.
"Well, let’s leave it at that for now. This is still an interrogation, after all."
"Yes....."
"Then, why did you fight that curse spirit at the school?"
"It tried to kill me. It was also the one who put the cursed object in my house and killed my mother."
So that was why Itadori-kun had said they weren’t in a cooperative relationship.
After that, Nanami asked a number of miscellaneous questions, and Junpei answered them earnestly.
Ijichi, sitting beside them, diligently wrote down their conversation.
Time passed, and by the time the sun had set, the interrogation was over.
"Good work."
"No, well..."
"For now, we won’t keep you locked up. Instead, Itadori-kun will stay by your side until we decide what to do with you."
From talking with him, Nanami had learned enough.
A pitiful, foolish child.
A child whose heart had died after being shunned by the world.
What he had done was certainly wrong, but there had been no casualties.
That, along with the fact that no aftereffects had been found in the unconscious students aside from Ito Shota, who had been directly attacked, had a major influence on the decision.
And in the end, he had even joined forces with Itadori and driven Mahito to the brink of defeat, so there was enough room to take his circumstances into account.
Yoshino Junpei had not yet crossed the line, and he deserved a chance.
"One last question. This has nothing to do with the interrogation, so answer freely."
"What is it?"
"If you were given a chance... what would you want to do from here on?"
Junpei, who had always been smart to begin with, quickly understood Nanami’s intent.
He was probably saying, in a roundabout way, that Junpei wouldn’t receive harsh punishment. He was also checking whether Junpei was prepared to become a sorcerer.
If he gave some obvious answer here, it would be disappointing, but he could probably get through this smoothly.
But he didn’t want to.
"Do you believe humans have hearts?"
At the absurd question, Nanami frowned.
So he’s answering a question with a question. Is he bold, or just not as clever as I thought?
"Then they don’t?"
"Until now, I thought they didn’t. I’d seen how cruel a person’s heart could become. I wanted to deny it. That’s when I met Mahito."
Humans have no hearts.
And so everything in the world is worthless and meaningless, so you can live however you want.
"Looking back, it was nothing but sophistry. I just wanted to believe I was right. Once I got power, I wanted to do that, and I rationalized it and gave it a reason."
And so he was given Mahito, an inverse punishment.
The punishment one receives from praying to gods and buddhas for something that does not accord with reason.
He was salvation to Junpei, and at the same time, punishment.
"I was punished. Maybe it was the price of a fool who didn’t know his place and coveted power."
I’ll probably never forget my mother’s death for the rest of my life.
It was a tragedy born from my ignorance and arrogance, a sin I’ll carry until the day I die.
"So... if I’m given another chance, I want to prove it. Whether I, the one who got my mother killed, am really worth saving, and whether Yuji’s choice to save someone like me was wrong."
"......."
"I know now. A heart definitely exists. So... I’m going to save people so that no idiot like me ever appears again."
My atonement won’t be over until I kill Mahito with my own hands.
That is the true heart I found for myself.
-------------------------
Nanami had said Junpei could go home, but Junpei didn’t head there.
He didn’t want to go home and have his mother’s face come back to him again.
It was too painful to look at the memories they shared, the scent that lingered, the furniture worn smooth by her hands.
"So you came to my room?"
"Yeah. Is that a problem?"
"Nope, not at all! We’re going to be stuck together for a while anyway."
"Just so there’s no misunderstanding, I hate homosexuality."
"Huh?! I do too, you know?!"
Junpei snickered and sat on the bed opposite Yuji’s.
He would have to go home at some point to pack his things and collect his mother’s remains, but not now.
At the very least, he wanted to see what would happen to him first.
While rummaging through his clothes to get ready for bed, he found a familiar object in his pocket.
His mother’s cigarettes.
"Uh...?"
"Wait, is that... ?"
"Yeah. It’s Mom’s."
"...In a way, that’s a keepsake too."
Junpei stared at that utterly useless vice for a long time.
The cigarettes his mother always had in her mouth. The cigarettes that had burned his forehead.
He usually couldn’t stand the sight of them, but the still-warm paper pack stirred up a strange nostalgia.
"I... I’m going out for a bit."
"Huh? Sure."
Opening the door, Junpei stepped outside on the first floor and let out a long sigh.
He didn’t even know why he was doing this, but he desperately wanted to smoke that cigarette.
If he tried one, would he understand why his mother could never quit?
Thinking that, Junpei awkwardly put the cigarette to his lips and lit it with a lighter.
-Chik, chik. Sssshhh...
"Cough! Cough! Khheek!"
Of course a non-smoker like Junpei couldn’t possibly smoke properly the first time.
The unfamiliar smoke hit his lungs and his body reacted immediately.
His throat stung and it hurt, but for some reason he didn’t want to put it out just yet.
"Huff, huff."
-Sssshhh
"Keh!"
And so Junpei kept smoking to the end, even while coughing.
Even as his head swam and his throat prickled, he didn’t stop.
After sucking it down to the filter, he muttered with a bitter expression.
"I still don’t really get it....."
If he kept smoking a little longer, would he understand someday?
Even after making such a fuss, mother and son really did seem alike.
Junpei thought he probably wouldn’t be able to quit smoking either.
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