"Hey."
In the evening, before Itadori Yuji started his training, Sukuna hesitated for a moment, then opened his mouth to ask Gojo.
"Just doing this training isn't enough, right? Aren't you going to assign Yuji some missions?"
Preferably the kind that pays well!
"Hmm..." Gojo stroked his chin. "If you don't mind it being Special Grade..."
His mission list only contained Special Grade and suspected Special Grade missions; even Grade 1 missions were rare.
Sukuna: "..."
Should he say he minded or not?
Of course, he had no problem taking action against a Special Grade, but wouldn't that expose the fact that he wasn't asking for a mission for Yuji's sake? Poverty was something he should keep to himself; he couldn't let others know!
"I can do it!" Yuji raised his hand. "With Sukuna here, there's no danger. I also want to see a Special Grade Cursed Spirit!"
Gojo: "..."
I think you want to see the path to the Bridge of Helplessness.
You've gotten too cocky after just a few days. You're doing well if you can handle a Grade 2 now. If you encounter a Special Grade, you'll just be instantly killed, okay? The kind where you don't even have time to switch.
Itadori Yuji can now handle Grade 2 Cursed Spirits on his own.
After his Cursed Energy volume grew explosively, he successfully learned how to incorporate Cursed Energy into his physical techniques, developing the move called Divergent Fist.
This unique double-damage technique—one normal hit followed by a delayed burst of Cursed Energy damage—became Itadori's new weapon.
Grade 2, huh... Gojo stroked his chin.
Hmm... It looks like I can ask around to see if anyone has Grade 2 missions they can't finish.
"Alright, I'll help you look..."
Gojo Satoru immediately took out his phone and called a certain money-loving Jujutsu Sorcerer.
"Hey, Mei Mei, do you have any extra Grade 2 Curse missions?"
Mei Mei's lazy voice came through the phone: "Calling me this late? My fee is very expensive... Grade 2... Is this for your student again?"
Gojo: "Of course. I'm a good teacher who takes excellent care of his students~"
Mei Mei: "Let me think... I do happen to have a Grade 2 mission I'd rather not do that I can give to your student. I'll send you the details shortly. Remember the usual—transfer the money."
"OK, OK!"
Hanging up the phone, Gojo gave Yuji an OK gesture.
"Alright! We'll head out in a bit."
Gojo waited for a moment and received a text message from Mei Mei.
Looking at the message content, his expression changed subtly. He now knew why Mei Mei didn't want to take this mission.
But for Yuji... it shouldn't be a big problem... right?
"Yuji, come on, I'll take you."
"Okay~"
Yuji skillfully leaned into Gojo's embrace, starting to look forward to tonight's mission.
Then quickly, he regretted it... Upon arrival, Yuji looked at the Grade 2 Curse in the distance, then turned back and silently looked at Gojo-sensei, who was N meters away.
He remained silent for a few seconds, then said, "Gojo-sensei..."
"Hmm?"
"Are you sure this is a Grade 2?"
"Of course~ Although Mei Mei is a bit greedy for money, she doesn't mess around with intelligence."
"Then why are you standing so far away?"
Gojo: "..."
Guess why?
At this moment, they were a full 100 meters away from the target Grade 2 Curse.
The air was filled with a faint fragrance mixed with the stench of decaying corpses.
After putting Yuji down, Gojo quickly retreated outside the safety distance of that strange odor.
Leaving Yuji alone to gaze at the Grade 2 Cursed Spirit in the distance.
Rafflesia arnoldii, also known as the Corpse Flower or the Rafflesia. Its dark red giant petals can open up to over a meter in diameter, making it one of the largest flowers in the world.
Although called the Corpse Flower, it actually doesn't eat people or even insects. During its short four-day bloom, it only releases a strong stench of decay to attract flies for pollination.
The stench, a mixture of corpse and feces odor, is not poisonous but is extremely pungent, causing all other creatures to avoid it at all costs.
It belongs to the type that isn't very harmful, but is extremely insulting... Not very harmful... really?
Yuji could see from afar that the center of the Rafflesia Curse, whose petals were spread over five meters wide, had dense, sharp teeth in its gaping maw—he reserved judgment on this piece of information.
A Curse is a Curse after all; it's better not to apply information about real-world flowers to it.
Furthermore, if he could smell the stench even from this distance, he couldn't imagine how strong the smell would be once he got close to that Curse.
Great, tonight is another night Sukuna absolutely won't come out.
At this moment, he realized with absolute clarity—in the future, he would definitely have to rely on himself to fight Curses. Given the types of Curses they faced, there wasn't a single one Sukuna would dare to emerge for!
Sukuna: Huh?
Sukuna: ...You're right.
Yuji took a deep breath, then immediately stopped, switching to shallow breathing.
With the resolve of facing death, he advanced toward the Rafflesia Curse.
Any smell eventually becomes unnoticeable if you are exposed to it long enough. By the time Yuji reached twenty meters from the Rafflesia, although he could still smell the odor, it wasn't as terrible as he had imagined.
Any further, and he would be within the Curse's attack range. This thought flashed through his mind, and he immediately took a stance.
Cursed Energy, a mixture of azure blue and black, appeared on his fists. Cursed Energy, much denser than before, flowed through his body. He kicked off the ground and immediately rushed toward the Curse.
Swoosh—
A vine as thick as an arm suddenly shot out from the root of the giant flower, whipping rapidly toward Yuji.
The speed was so fast it only left an afterimage, yet Yuji keenly caught the trajectory of its movement and quickly threw a punch. With a loud "Crack," the vine snapped immediately.
But more vines shot out like snakes. The young man weaved and dodged among the vines, breaking them one by one.
However, he quickly realized that the vines he broke regenerated and continued to attack him.
—It's the regenerative type. If this continues, it will never end.
[Regenerative Cursed Spirits like this all have a core. Just find it and destroy it.]
Sukuna's voice sounded in his mind. Yuji immediately poured Cursed Energy into his feet and quickly rushed toward the center of the flower body.
Since it was a flower, the core must definitely be at the root beneath that gaping maw.
Sensing the threat, the Curse slowly turned its flower body toward him. Several thicker, mucus-covered tentacles suddenly extended from the two-meter-wide mouth, which was lined with sharp teeth. The tips of the tentacles were sharp stings resembling hollow needles.
Waves of stench, even stronger than before, emanated from them, causing Yuji's breath to catch.
His movement stopped abruptly, and his mind raced.
To destroy the flower's core, going through the giant mouth and punching through the bottom of the flower body was probably the fastest method—if he were alone, he would likely choose this.
But he was certain that if he went inside and got touched by that mucus, Sukuna absolutely wouldn't come out for three days straight!
Yes, it was that serious.
He changed his strategy, abandoning the central attack, and instead smashed a punch into the huge, bright red petal beside him.
—By peeling away the outer layers one by one, he should also be able to reach the core.
[Below!]
Sukuna's voice suddenly rang out.
A vine, clinging to the ground, violently wrapped around Yuji's ankle and yanked upward.
Yuji's body was lifted into the air. He quickly kicked out, snapping the vine wrapped around his foot, and using the recoil, he rapidly landed on the ground, simultaneously dodging several sharp stings aimed at him.
So many of them—
He looked up and saw dozens of vines of various thicknesses attacking him, mixed with mucus-covered sharp stings.
He immediately braced himself, focusing all his attention on the vines. Blue-black Cursed Energy surged fiercely in his hands, ready to be powerfully unleashed—
Bang—!!
A massive heavy blow suddenly came from behind his head, instantly making Yuji dizzy.
Damn it—
Yuji's mind went blank.
—He forgot about the doll on his back!
[Yuji!!]
Sukuna, who had been observing inside the body, saw the sharp stings about to hit Yuji and the young man's tottering figure, and immediately switched places without hesitation.
Reverse Cursed Technique surged, healing Yuji's struck head, while simultaneously, the mucus-covered sharp stings were right in front of him.
It's over...!
Sukuna stared at the sharp stings in front of him. Even if he used Cleave to cut the vines now, the mucus on them would splash onto him.
His Cleave couldn't cut the mucus along with it.
He wouldn't be injured... but he would stink!
A strong feeling of repulsion came from his entire body and soul—
He didn't want it... absolutely, didn't want it—
To get stuck with this mucus! Ahhh—!
The excessively strong psychological resistance even drove the flow of Cursed Energy throughout his body.
Click—
A crisp, faint sound appeared within his body.
The scene before his eyes suddenly became incredibly slow, as if time had stopped at that moment—
He felt as if something had suddenly shattered deep within his heart, and a special kind of energy emerged.
He instinctively opened his mouth, uttering unfamiliar syllables.
"「■」「Kai」"—
—The Cursed Energy throughout his body suddenly boiled as the syllables sounded!
In an instant—
Flames shining in red, yellow, and purple suddenly ignited out of thin air, engulfing everything in front of him.
Whether it was the flower body or the vines, they disintegrated in the burning flames before they could even react.
The three-colored flames were exquisite and dazzling, fluttering like butterfly wings, consuming everything in an instant.
Sukuna stared at the scene before him, momentarily stunned.
This is... fire?
Fire... used by him?
—He could actually use fire?!
Wasn't his Cursed Technique Cleave? Did he actually have two Cursed Techniques?
...This is a bit different from what Gojo said... Sukuna thought for a moment and shook his head.
Gojo wouldn't lie to him about something like this. Perhaps the records from a thousand years ago didn't document it, or maybe they were lost over time... Wait, with Cleave and fire...—Could he actually be a chef?
Not far away, Gojo, who had been floating in mid-air observing the battle, was slightly surprised.
Fire?
Sukuna has two Cursed Techniques?
Normally, a person should only have one Cursed Technique imprinted in their body. Was Sukuna special?
Or perhaps... this is just a different manifestation of his Cursed Technique?
Just like his "Lapse: Blue" and "Teleportation," which look like two different abilities at first glance, but are actually just different ways of using Infinity.
However, the difference between fire and Cleave is quite large. He couldn't think of what kind of Cursed Technique could achieve both effects simultaneously... Could Sukuna be similar to Yuta, the type who can use others' Cursed Techniques?
If so, the danger level would increase... The Curse was exorcised.
Sukuna stared blankly at the dazzling flames for a while, then withdrew them.
Gojo, descending from the air, used a small "Lapse: Blue" to level the area, completely erasing the traces of the flames tainted with Sukuna's residual Cursed Energy.
"An unexpected surprise, huh."
He turned to Sukuna, his eyes inscrutable.
Finding Sukuna standing there looking thoughtful, Gojo raised an eyebrow: "What's wrong?"
"I was thinking..."
Sukuna raised his hand, stroked his chin, and said seriously:
"...No wonder I was the strongest a thousand years ago—I not only have healing ability, physical attacks, and ranged attacks, but now I even have magic attacks. Combined with the ultimate move of Domain Expansion, one person is worth a whole squad."
With such a complete configuration, how could I not be the strongest?
Gojo: "..."
You play games quite well. You spend three hours logging in every day just to play games, right?
...Should he check Yuji's phone to see if any strange software has been downloaded?
However, the Curse had been exorcised. Although Yuji didn't defeat it, the mission was considered complete.
Next time they fight a Curse, maybe he should have Yuji take off the backpack first... This kind of soul attack from behind is harder to guard against than the enemy.
Gojo called Mei Mei back to explain the mission status.
Sukuna waited on the side for a while, but didn't get the reaction he wanted... Hmm?
...What's going on?
Gojo, did you forget something?
Where's my mission reward money? Where is my substantial mission reward money?
He stared at Gojo's back for a long time, then simply logged off and switched back to Yuji.
[Go ask him for the reward money!]
Yuji: "..."
He felt like he couldn't bring himself to ask, especially since he wasn't the one who resolved the Curse... "Ahem, Gojo-sensei..."
Yuji coughed awkwardly a few times, his eyes wandering, and finally asked vaguely.
"Sukuna was curious and just asked me if there was a reward for completing this mission..."
Sukuna: [...]
???
You sold me out that quickly?
Gojo was equally stumped.
Could he tell them that he had actually paid 100,000 yen out of his own pocket to buy this mission from Mei Mei?
"..."
So that's it... He suddenly realized—
That's what this was all about!
He wondered why Sukuna would suddenly ask him for a mission...—He actually forgot to give Yuji and Sukuna pocket money!
Negligence, negligence. He hadn't been a good guardian.
"...Of course there is!"
He quickly pulled out his wallet, took out ten 10,000 yen bills, and handed them over.
"I'll find more missions for you two in the future."
He said with great emotion.
—He needed to buy more missions so he could find more excuses to hand out pocket money!~
...Watching Yuji take the money and put it away, Sukuna felt delighted.
Sure enough, earning money through his own ability was a pleasant thing.
Hmm, in the future, he must do more missions and earn more money. He also needed to improve Yuji's strength so they could get Grade 1 missions sooner!
Sukuna was envisioning his beautiful future blueprint in his heart~