So-called curses, in essence, are negative emotions like human resentment, regret, pain, and shame.
Those emotions gather into a curse, and that curse then turns destructive toward humans. It is extremely dangerous.
But curses are not as simple as that.
Shun had looked through plenty of related literature.
Looking back at the past, and viewing "curses" through a lens of historical materialism, you could find that the path of a "curse" evolving was not nearly as mysterious or terrifying as people imagined. Instead, it felt more like the process of a god falling into hell.
It was born from communication between gods and humans.
Then, as the ages shifted, it gradually became what people now called a "curse."
So unlike the mainstream view, Shun believed that a true curse was closer to an extreme kind of prayer, one that demanded a price.
For example, the one on his own body, the one Satoru had judged as Special Grade, something like a "system" from a novel.
Back then, when he'd gone through that accident, it had been born from his fierce will to survive.
Over these years, his research into curses had taken him a long time.
And today, when it came to the curses cast by most cursed spirits, he could undo them with ease.
Rather than a jujutsu sorcerer, he was more like a curse-breaker.
But there was one kind he still had no real clue about.
The kind like his, the kind that did not resemble what ordinary sorcerers thought a "curse" was.
There were simply too few samples. He had no chance to test anything at all.
"I kind of want to capture that cursed spirit now, and study it properly."
Shun rubbed his right fingertips together, slow and thoughtful.
If the normal methods wouldn't work, then he would use something special.
"Is it… to get revenge for me?"
Kurumi Tokisaki asked with difficulty.
Shun shook his head. "No. I'm just curious about her."
"..."
Just let me die already.
Kurumi's feelings twisted into something complicated.
If only this man could be a little more gentlemanly, a little gentler.
Shun bit down on his fingertip.
Blood welled up from the skin.
Kurumi blinked, watching him with a strangely delicate expression.
Shun sighed, helpless. "Doing it this way really has zero challenge."
He carried that Special Grade curse himself, the one that felt like a "system" out of a story.
In a sense, he existed somewhere between human and cursed spirit.
Of course, Shun considered himself pure human.
Because of the Special Grade curse's nature, Shun's cursed energy was different from ordinary people's.
To cursed objects, it was like poison.
To jujutsu sorcerers, it was like a curse.
You could say he hit everything equally hard.
And yet, even in that situation, he could remain safe, keep his human mind intact.
That was probably thanks to his constitution.
His physical strength might not be absurdly high, but he could avoid the intrusion of curses.
He could make use of a curse's effects, yet strip away their negative influence.
Sometimes Shun even joked that he might as well go absorb Sukuna's fingers.
"When I run into this kind of curse, I still want to solve it on my own."
Then he added, mercilessly, "Too bad you're about to die."
Shun slid his finger slightly.
The blood on it faintly scattered a strange, delicate glow.
His blood, reinforced by his own bodily traits and the boost from that Special Grade curse, could basically dispel almost any curse.
Unless one day a curse appeared that surpassed Special Grade, something even his body couldn't withstand.
And the curse on Kurumi was, at most, just unusual in how it worked.
Its actual rank was not high.
His blood could erase it easily.
"As expected, I really need to catch that cursed spirit later."
Shun's determination hardened, and it was not about saving Kurumi at all. It was about capturing her.
It was rare enough to encounter a cursed spirit similar to his own curse. How could he not grab it and keep it?
"Mm..."
Kurumi stared at him, eyes locked on his face.
Inside the girl, something subtle shifted.
Was she really not as attractive to him as that cursed spirit was?
He had brought that cursed spirit up again and again.
"Hold on. It'll hurt a little."
Shun lifted his finger. Under that faint glow, the bead of blood seemed to give off an eerie power.
Kurumi even caught a scent, sweet and irresistible, like something that made the throat tighten with desire.
Want to eat...
Shun's hand came down, fast as lightning.
A crimson streak flashed through the air.
His blood-stained fingertip landed on Kurumi's shoulder.
"Szzz!"
In an instant, it was as if scarlet lightning was crawling across her left shoulder.
"Ah!"
Kurumi cried out in pain.
And the curse on her shoulder, the moment it met Shun's blood, behaved like a rat that had seen a cat. It began shrinking frantically.
The once-large mass of curse was contracting at a speed visible to the naked eye.
Shun remembered those old zombie movies from his previous life.
Very quickly, the curse on Kurumi's left shoulder grew paler and paler, then gradually vanished.
The girl's left shoulder was smooth as jade, pale with a soft flush, the kind of skin that made you want to lean in and bite it once.
And the small smears of blood on Shun's finger seemed to leave a rather striking mark on that shoulder as well.
If you want to know who's the best at breaking curses, Sendai Jujutsu: Gojo Shun!