If he had no little brother, there was no reason to live.
Conversely, if there was still a little brother alive somewhere, then that became the very reason he had to live.
"Little brother! Wake up!"
Choso cried as he ran with Yuji in his arms.
Yuji was still breathing, but in no way could his condition be called good.
They had to get him out of here as fast as possible.
"Where do I go? Geto said there was a camp for the jujutsushi somewhere, didn’t he!"
It was frustrating not being able to wake the unconscious Yuji and ask him.
Shibuya was a den of monsters now. He could handle most curses or transformed humans on his own, but what if one of the major forces still left here saw him like this?
"No! I finally found my little brother!"
If it was Dagon, maybe not, but if they were unlucky enough to run into Jogo, they’d both be dead meat.
What’s more, Mahito, whom they had left behind at the station, might come after them too.
"Choso~ what do you think you’re doing right now~?"
It almost felt like Mahito’s disgusting voice was whispering in his ear.
Growing anxious, Choso kept darting his eyes around, looking for somewhere to hide.
Then white lilies bloomed from Yuji’s body.
Fwoooosh
"This is...?"
The button Nobara had been entrusted with before entering the station.
The cursed energy flowing in from the medium coursed through Yuji’s body and repaired his shattered flesh.
For a moment, Choso could only marvel at the sight, and then Yuji opened his eyes and sat up.
"Ugh...."
"Yujiiiiiii!!!"
"Gah! Who are you?"
Yuji shoved away the sobbing Choso who clung to him.
He remembered passing out after fighting Mahito.
He knew Nobara’s reversed technique had healed him, but who on earth was this person he’d never seen before?
"Thank goodness.....thank goodness....."
Seeing that the location had changed, Yuji figured this man must have saved him and brought him here.
He was clearly being kind to him, but the excessive attention was seriously uncomfortable.
It was almost like that gorilla with the topknot from the sister school.
To keep him from coming any closer, Yuji took a careful step back, and Choso made a face like a discarded puppy.
"Yuji...?"
"Um, thank you for saving my life, but who are you exactly?"
"Ah....."
Shocked by Yuji’s slightly cold reaction, Choso then remembered that this was their first time meeting.
Right. That made sense. He hadn’t introduced himself.
If he explained it slowly, Yuji would understand too.
Wiping away his tears, Choso folded his arms and struck the most solemn pose he could manage.
"Who am I, you ask."
"Yes."
"I’m your big brother!"
"????"
Of course, they were still in a hurry.
----------------------------------
Blood-mixed technique.
The influence of a technique tied to blood.
Just before Mahito killed him, an impossible memory had flowed in.
After hearing the full explanation, Yuji shook his head with a dubious expression.
"No matter how you look at it, there’s a 150-year gap between us. There’s no way we’re brothers."
"No. I know it. You are my little brother."
"Maybe you’re just confused."
"At least try calling me big brother."
Choso still kept going on about big brother this and big brother that, completely ignoring Yuji’s reaction.
From Choso’s point of view, it felt like the collapsed sky had been stitched back together.
He had found the youngest brother hiding somewhere out there. That alone gave him a reason to live again.
'I’ll fulfill my duty as big brother with everything I’ve got!'
On the other hand, Yuji found Choso uncomfortable.
Putting aside the fact that he kept insisting on being his big brother for reasons Yuji couldn’t understand...
He had sided with the curses and helped seal Gojo, and he was the brother of those two who had died back then.
For now he was showing Yuji boundless goodwill, but what would happen if he met Junpei or Nobara?
From the way he talked, he seemed to care deeply about his brothers, so there was a high chance he’d try to kill them for revenge.
And if it came to that, Yuji would probably have no choice but to side with Junpei.
He was grateful for the help, but they couldn’t travel together.
That was Yuji’s conclusion.
"Choso... was it?"
"Big brother."
"Right, big brother, or whatever. Thanks for helping me, but let’s split up here."
"Whaaaat?! Why?!"
At Yuji’s cold words, Choso dropped to his knees in despair.
Yuji’s heart wavered at the pitiful sight, but his answer did not change.
"Why... You were on the curses’ side, weren’t you?"
"Not anymore. I only cooperated with those bastards for my brothers. The moment I tried to kill you, I had no more business with them."
"Even if you say that, my friends will feel differently. Don’t expect me to side with you just because we’re traveling together."
"...Are you talking about Yoshino Junpei?"
Even though he hadn’t mentioned him on purpose, Choso hit the mark.
Yuji’s expression faltered a little.
Noticing that feeling, Choso went on in a calm voice.
"Don’t worry. I have no intention of fighting."
"...Can you swear to that?"
"I won’t forgive that man. Still, I won’t do anything my brothers hate."
If they didn’t run into each other, he’d endure it.
If you don’t want him to die, then I’ll do that.
"If you still can’t trust me, you can even place a [bond]."
"Why would you go that far?"
"Because that’s what brothers do."
Everything I am exists for you, Yuji.
Choso’s expression was steady as he said it.
There was a burning sincerity in those blazing eyes.
"Man, seriously....."
What was he supposed to do?
He had issues, sure, but he seemed like a good guy.
It felt wrong to just abandon someone so devoted.
Then it happened.
Kuaaaang!!!
A massive burning meteor fell from the sky and slammed into one side of Shibuya Station.
"!!"
"Jogo?"
Ash and smoke rose into the night sky, carrying a horrific stench of burning flesh.
Even from quite a distance, the heat and impact were strong enough to reach them here.
Yuji’s face, which had been scratching his head in confusion, hardened all at once.
"I have to go."
"Over there...?"
"My friends are fighting."
He had lost, but he wasn’t broken.
Now that his body had recovered, there was still something he could do.
As Yuji stepped forward with resolve, Choso blocked his path.
"Move."
"No. Jogo is a monster. You’ll die too!"
"I don’t care. Rather than leave after doing nothing, I’d rather fight and die together."
No matter how frantically Choso tried to coax and persuade him, Yuji had no intention of backing down.
Even while they argued, Yuji’s feet kept moving forward, one step at a time.
In the end, Choso was the one who gave up first.
Reading the unyielding will in Yuji’s determined stance, Choso felt his chest grow tight.
'So this is how strong his heart is. Our youngest.'
He didn’t want to send him there.
If he lost the last brother he had left too, he would surely go mad.
So he had tried desperately to stop him. If necessary, he’d even have knocked him out.
But blocking the path of a brother who was trying to go forward was not something a big brother should do.
'What an unbelievably selfish big brother I am. Instead of helping, I tried to stop him under the pretense of worrying about him.'
He couldn’t stop Yuji from going.
But he couldn’t repeat the same mistake again either.
In his self-reproach, Choso remembered the role he had to play as the eldest.
"No matter what I say, you’re going to go anyway."
"If you know that, then..."
"I’m going with you too."
In front of Yuji, who looked at him in surprise, Choso wiped away his tears.
He really did seem to be crying a lot today.
"I left you to die earlier. I didn’t know it then, but now that I think about it, it tears my heart apart."
"....."
"I won’t let you fight alone anymore."
"Are you sure? You said you used up a lot fighting Fushiguro."
"Is that a reason not to risk my life for you?"
Choso was just as unable to back down.
"...Fine. I’ll trust you for now."
"Thank you...!"
With a grin, Choso followed Yuji and headed toward the burning avenue.
Choso and Yuji. The two of them—
The strongest brothers.
'We were definitely... destined to fight together.'
As Choso was moved to tears by the birth of this historic duo, a new intruder appeared.
"!!"
That alien cursed energy.
Before he could even react to the feeling, an attack blanketed the area and came crashing down.
[Frost Calm]
Crack!
"Yujiiiiii!!"
"I’m fine!"
The two of them were trapped inside a massive glacier.
Before Yuji, now bound by ice and unable to move, someone walked out.
"I can wait no longer."
It was Uraume, the Frozen Star.
'They’re strong! Probably as strong as Mahito, or even stronger!'
'If that bastard is here now...!'
The tense pair tried desperately to break free of the ice, but they were already exhausted, so it wasn’t easy.
Uraume, looking considerably more haggard than before, pulled a large scroll from within their robes.
Realizing what they were about to do, Choso thrashed desperately.
"You bastard!! Stop!! Don’t touch my little brother!!"
"Stay still, insignificant thing."
Crk!
The ice covering half of Choso’s body instantly swelled, freezing everything below his neck.
As Yuji tried to break the ice and get free, Uraume’s white hand clamped tightly around his jaw.
In Uraume’s other hand, held against Yuji, were...
10 fingers of Sukuna.
"Eat them all."
Gulp!
"S-stop..."
Gulp!
Pressing down on the resisting Yuji, Uraume silently shoved the fingers into his throat.
One, two, three.....
As the number of fingers swallowed increased, Yuji’s mind kept flickering on and off, and his struggling grew weaker and weaker.
"Yujiiii!! I said stop it!!!"
Even as Choso screamed tears of blood, Uraume did not stop.
Gulp!
The final, glorious tenth finger slid down Yuji’s throat, and soon Yuji lost consciousness and bowed his head.
"Ahh....."
"Ahh....."
The exclamation was the same, but the meaning behind it was different for each of them.
Choso was in despair. Uraume was in ecstasy.
Amid those crossed reactions, Yuji’s head slowly lifted.
"At last....!"
A sharp gaze.
Hair swept upward.
Tattoos carved along the contours of the face.
The being before them was no longer Itadori Yuji.
"No way....."
"You’ve done well, Uraume."
The unmistakable King of Curses had descended here.
----------------------------------
Backlash from swallowing ten fingers in a single day.
As a result, Yuji’s soul could not withstand the rebound and was driven beneath consciousness.
And then,
the mind of Ryomen Sukuna that had taken its place rose to the surface.
"How long has it been."
Breaking out of the ice, Sukuna spread his arms and savored the moonlight with a sinister smile.
Light was always best when received through flesh.
"I apologize with my life for being unable to receive you properly."
"It’s fine. Between you and me, can’t you endure even this much?"
Sukuna brushed off the remaining ice shards and turned his head.
His gaze met Choso’s, and Choso was still weeping blood in agony.
"Give Yuji his body back...!"
"You bastard, who do you think you’re talking to...? Should I kill you?"
"Leave him be. That one was entertaining enough in his own way."
Pulling the brat out of that ragdoll.
That tearful little brother act too.
"That’s your reward for keeping me from being bored. Be grateful."
"Aaaaaah!!!"
Sukuna laughed at the screaming Choso.
After laughing for a while, he turned his eyes toward the very place Yuji had originally been heading.
"Lord Sukuna."
"Wait a moment, Uraume. I understand your joy at seeing me again after so long, but there’s something more important first."
Taking Uraume with him, Sukuna immediately flew into the air and headed for the burning avenue.
He landed on a nearby high-rise and took out popcorn he had somehow obtained, starting to munch on it.
"Lord Sukuna...?"
"Stay still. You’ll be seeing something interesting soon enough."
"I’m afraid my foolish mind cannot grasp what you mean."
"Oh, it looks like it’s starting."
KWAANG!!!
With a thunderous roar, the surrounding buildings collapsed.
At the same time, an enormous presence could be felt. The overwhelming pressure made a chill run down Uraume’s spine.
"What in the world is that...?"
"Kehahahahaha!!! Uraume!!! Look at that!!!"
The being Sukuna had been waiting for all this time.
The fruit he had waited to ripen.
The result appeared through the collapsing building.
Wobble
A giant jellyfish made of black mist.
On top of it, Junpei was laughing wildly as he mocked someone falling below him.
"Was that all you had, curse!"
At last, the black-mist jellyfish revealed itself.
What had been hidden deepest inside his inner self finally manifested with awakening.
A power fit for the name Sea God, far beyond any shikigami Junpei had shown until now.
To its master, who had cut through every ordeal and even achieved his own burning sacrifice by his own power, it gladly granted itself.
Because it is empty, it can be filled; because it is whole, it does not change.
I am you, and you are me, so through me you become complete.
Young Sea God, call my name.
A
ka
sa
yu
ra
yu
ra
Void-Form, Unchanging Demon Sea Moon Jellyfish.
Akasa anuttara mapari.
Overwhelmed by the spirit radiating from so far away, Uraume forgot they were standing before Sukuna and collapsed to the ground.
Impossible. How could an individual, one person, possess that much power?
It was a thought a servant should never have, but this was almost like...
'Isn’t this like Lord Sukuna...!'
"Kehit, kehihihit!!"
It had been a thousand years since he’d felt this way.
The tension he had first felt in that turbulent age.
To think that merely seeing it could make even me, the King of Curses, tremble...!
"You’ve captivated me splendidly, Yoshino Junpei!"
Sukuna’s satisfied laughter echoed across all of Shibuya.
At last, the end of this long war was drawing near.
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