Sōjun Minamoto exited the basement.
He didn't leave immediately, but first went to wash his hands.
There had just been skulls, shoulder blades, jawbones—human remains. Even though they'd long since become cursed objects and were no longer the same in nature, knowing what they used to be still triggered a bit of a compulsive need for cleanliness.
After carefully scrubbing up, he headed into the living room and took a seat by the coffee table.
Kenjaku had already brewed tea for him.
Sōjun picked up the cup without hesitation, took a light sip, and set it down.
The taste wasn't bad. Well, the guy had lived long enough to pick up a little of everything.
Kenjaku also held his cup, seated across from him.
Neither spoke much. They simply drank in silence. In some ways, they were alike—there was a quiet understanding between them that didn't need words.
Sōjun knew Kenjaku had been persuaded. He'd start working on preparations for the spiritual site soon...
Maybe he'd already started long ago.
Either way, now that Sōjun was involved, things would definitely move a little faster, and maybe shift in a slightly different direction.
All that remained was to see when the butterfly's wings would stir up a storm.
After finishing his tea at a leisurely pace, Sōjun was about to leave.
But Kenjaku suddenly pushed his teacup aside with a finger, then calmly pulled something out from his robes—
A strip-shaped cursed object, wrapped tightly in talisman paper.
He placed it on the table.
"Here. You hold on to this."
Sōjun glanced at it.
He recognized it immediately. Not long ago, during a trip to the Forbidden Vault, he had seen several just like it.
Six, to be exact.
He knew exactly what it was—
Sukuna's finger.
This particular cursed object was documented in Jujutsu High's archives and was infamous throughout the upper echelons of the jujutsu world. It was a high-grade curse, considered so dangerous it had to be sealed with the utmost caution.
Information about it flashed through his mind.
Its origins stretched back over a thousand years.
During the golden age of jujutsu, there had been a Curse User so destructive he was practically a natural disaster. At the time, every sorcerer had joined forces to fight him—and failed.
The elite power of all the major factions, including the Three Great Clans, had been devastated.
It left the jujutsu world in a prolonged slump, casting a psychological shadow so deep that even now, the mere mention of his name silenced entire rooms.
His power had completely outclassed everything else. He was the undisputed King of Curses.
Before he was even born, he'd devoured his own twin in the womb. Born with two faces and four arms, both his appearance and his strength were monstrous—thus he was named after a demon god:
Two-Faced Sukuna.
He reigned over an entire era.
Maybe it was the loneliness of absolute power, or maybe there were other motives, but he never pursued immortality. Instead, he sealed his own soul.
After countless years, his remains became cursed objects, yet even now, no sorcerer—past or present—had managed to control them.
All they could do was seal them away...
That was what the official records said.
Now, one of those cursed objects sat right in front of them.
On a perfectly ordinary coffee table.
And yet, neither of them showed even the slightest reaction.
"Leave it to me?" Sōjun Minamoto gave him a strange look, then suddenly understood. "You're planning to send your kid to Jujutsu High in the future, aren't you?"
"His name is Yuji Itadori," Kenjaku replied without denying it.
Sōjun nodded.
He recalled Kenjaku mentioning the materialization of soul-based cursed objects—techniques originally pioneered by Sukuna.
Unlike others, Sukuna didn't need anyone to awaken him. He could revive himself at will.
But that was both the strength and the problem.
Sukuna was so overwhelmingly powerful that while he could awaken on his own, no vessel could withstand him.
Kenjaku had inherited his technique, which meant it was up to him to find a compatible host.
And not just compatible—it had to be an exceptionally high match.
They must have established a Binding Vow based on this.
Sōjun thought it over.
Someone like Sukuna, who also understood the intricacies of Binding Vows, would never leave the reins entirely in Kenjaku's hands.
The terms binding them were likely extremely strict, and the consequences of breaking them severe. Kenjaku had no choice but to honor the deal:
Sukuna's host would be Kenjaku's own child—born from his union with the reincarnated soul of Sukuna's fraternal twin.
Looked at that way, Kenjaku was probably deeply invested in the whole arrangement.
That child—Yuji Itadori—could perfectly contain Sukuna's power. There was no more ideal vessel.
Now, only two conditions remained unmet: Itadori was still young, and Sukuna had twenty fingers. Kenjaku didn't have them all yet.
The first would resolve with time. As for the second...
The fingers were scattered across the land in small cursed objects, sealed and disguised so they couldn't be identified by sight alone. Kenjaku had no easy way of locating them.
So he turned his attention toward Jujutsu High.
"The fingers are too hard to find. Jujutsu High has six sealed, right? Add this one, that's seven. Still missing thirteen," Kenjaku said flatly, showing no hint of frustration.
Sōjun wasn't surprised. Kenjaku knew a lot about the inner workings of Jujutsu High. Between the school and the Headquarters, he had plenty of informants—and Sōjun himself was one of them.
"So you're planning to leverage Jujutsu High's resources?" Sōjun asked.
In truth, the school knew about more than just six fingers. Some were being circulated externally for surveillance purposes. It was just that only six were stored in the Forbidden Vault.
"You really think the school will take the initiative to find the rest, and then willingly hand them over to Itadori?" he asked.
"They will…" Kenjaku said with a faint smile. "And even if they don't, you're still around, aren't you?"
"That's why I'm asking you to hold onto this for now."
He smiled as he spoke.
Clearly, he had more cards up his sleeve.
Sōjun didn't care about the rest. He didn't respond right away, just casually picked up the cursed object and examined the thick layers of sealing talismans wrapped around it.
The material was unusual, but what stood out most were the inscriptions—a sealing technique known as [Demon-Rousing Curse of Resentful Binding], also called [Turning Dharma Wheel Technique]. One of the highest-level sealing arts in the jujutsu world.
Sōjun knew how to use it too.
This seal, however, had clearly degraded over time and was barely holding up.
The moment he touched it, a massive surge of Cursed Energy pressed against him, leaking a heavy aura that was constantly trying to escape the seal.
He didn't pay it much attention.
He continued peeling away the talismans, layer by layer, finding the edges, unwrapping them in circles. Where they stuck together, he gently separated them with his fingers.
Soon, the talisman papers formed a pile on the table, revealing the object beneath.
In an instant, a violent black aura swept through the living room, casting it in darkness. Countless black threads twisted and surged through the air, stirring up a fierce wind and pressure.
Whispers echoed faintly in Sōjun's mind, tempting him...
Eat it.
"Heh~"
Sōjun chuckled, and just like that, everything returned to normal. The table, the teacups—they were all still in place.
The room was bright again.
It was just an illusion—a sudden surge of Cursed Energy disrupting the senses of whoever came into contact with it. It had no effect on Sōjun.
Nor on Kenjaku.
Sōjun looked down at what he held.
A shriveled, black-purple finger. Likely the index. It had a waxy texture, and from the severed end, several fleshy tendrils extended like roots, endlessly drawing in Cursed Energy from an unseen source...
And releasing it just as continuously.
This formed a dense cursed field in the surrounding space.
A field that irresistibly attracted Cursed Spirits...
Only seconds had passed since he opened it. Just as he lifted the finger to examine it more closely, a Grade 2 Cursed Spirit had already appeared behind him, jaw unhinged, hungrily eyeing—
The finger in his hand.
It couldn't hold back anymore. It lunged, aiming to sink its teeth into Sōjun's upper body.
Sōjun didn't react. His attention remained on the finger.
The curse bit into a sky-blue glow, passing through him harmlessly and diving toward the coffee table. It nearly struck—when suddenly its body slammed to the floor, as if crushed under an invisible weight.
Its cursed-flesh body buckled and sank... then imploded into black mist and vanished.
Gravity.
Kenjaku had used a Reverse Cursed Technique to increase the force on the spirit.
"Try not to wreck my house," he said mildly, drawing a line through the air with his finger.
A thin barrier flared to life, covering both of them—and sealing in the Cursed Energy radiating from the finger.
Outside, the Cursed Spirits that had been closing in suddenly lost their target. Confused, they hovered in place, circling aimlessly.
...
(40 Chapters Ahead)
p@treon com / PinkSnake