"I've memorized your presence," Sukuna said, a twisted smile spreading across his face.

  With that, he only o find the sorcerer arieve his fihat would be enough.

  As for whether the sorcerer's strength would be a problem?

  Sukuna didertain such thoughts. As the King of Curses, he had his pride. Even if the sorcerer iion was sidered the stro of this era, Sukuna didn't take him seriously.

  In Sukuna's mind, he was always the stro. The so-called "strong" of the modern era? To him, they were merely is who hadn't been born during his reign. Not worth his attention in the slightest.

  "Hey!"

  Suddenly, a voiterrupted Sukuna's thoughts.

  "You scheming again, huh?" Yuji's voice called out, clearly fused by the silehat had e over him.

  "…"

  This idiot, Sukuna thought bitterly.

  Outside the domain of Sukuna's mind, Yuji was staring at his own refle in a nearby window, w why Sukuna had gone silent. Every time the curse king got quiet like this, it couldn't mean anything good.

  "Sensei!" Yuji turo call Gojo Satoru, who stood o him along with Megumi Fushiguro, who had retly awakened his Ten Shadows Teique.

  Megumi g Gojo for reassurance. Earlier, while on a mission to exorcise a cursed spirit, Yuji had suddenly appeared, eager to help. The cursed spirit had beeed, but instead of leaving with the cursed object, the finger of Ryomen Sukuna—Yuji had eaten it.

  Megumi had been worried, thinking Yuji might be in grave danger. But to his surprise, Yuji seemed fine, even managing to suppress Sukuna's will.

  "Are we sure it's okay? He just ate the finger of the Cursed King from a thousand years ago," Megumi asked cautiously.

  Gojo waved his hand dismissively, his carefree grin never wavering. "Don't worry. I'm here, after all."

  Megumi, still ed, looked at Yuji, who was standing in front of them. Gojo had taken quite an i in the boy. He was intrigued, Yuji had eaten Sukuna's finger a mao keep his mind intact, something no one else had ever done.

  "If Sukuna goes berserk, it could be really dangerous," Megumi tinued, but Gojo interrupted him with a casual shrug.

  "We'll win."

  "Huh?"

  Megumi stared in shock, but Gojo's tone remained rexed, even lighthearted.

  "No matter who the oppo is, I'll win. Because I'm the stro."

  "…"

  Megumi sighed. Gojo's fidence was staggering, but it was hard tue. As narcissistic as his teacher could be, Gojo was undeniably the stro sorcerer alive.

  "The stro? Ha!" Sukuna's voice rang out suddenly.

  A mouth formed on Yuji's cheek, and Sukuna's voice spilled out from it. "Are all the sorcerers of this era as ignorant and arrogant as you? Just anyone call themselves the stro?"

  In Sukuna's time, he was the undisputed stro. Those who challenged him barely sted a sed under his attacks. So hearing Gojo procim himself as the "stro" made Sukuna scoff with disdain.

  Before Sukuna could tinue, Yuji quickly spped his hand over his mouth. "Sorry about that, he just likes to run his mouth."

  Gojo waved it off nontly. "It's fine. He's just a loser without a bht now. I'd probably talk nonseoo if I were in his position."

  Even with Yuji's hand over his mouth, another one appeared on the back of Yuji's hand.

  "A loser? You dare call me that?" Sukuna hissed. "I've decided. Once I'm fully resurrected, the first person I'll kill is you, Gojo Satoru!"

  Gojo simply ughed, his eyes twinkling with amusement. "Looking forward to it."

  With that, Gojo waved his hand and signaled fumi and Yuji to follow him.

  "Wait, I have to e too?" Yuji asked, surprised. Up until retly, he had been a regur high school student.

  "Of course," Gojo said. "You ate a cursed object, after all. Are you ready to go to jail?"

  "Jail?!" Yuji's face drained of color, his fusion quickly turning into panic.

  Gojo smirked, clearly enjoying himself. He was only teasing Yuji, but it was still important t him back to Jujutsu High.

  What none of them realized was that not long after they left, Kenjaku appeared, watg them from the shadows with a smile on his face.

  "The pn is in motion," Kenjaku muttered to himself. Finally, things were beginning to fall into pce.

  inally, he had po wait before f Ryomen Sukuna's reemergence. But with ret events, Kenjaku could no longer afford to wait.

  "The remaining fingers…" Kenjaku mused. He had already collected two of Sukuna's fingers over the years, but there were still more out there, hidden and scattered.

  Among those, two had been pced in a space that even Kenjaku couldn't access—Ryuji's dimension. Finding the rest would be crucial.

  "The stro? What a joke," Kenjaku chuckled as he turo leave.

  For a long time, Kenjaku had viewed Gojo as the biggest obstacle to his pns. But now, after seeing Ryuji's strength firsthand, Kenjaku felt genuine fear for the first time iuries.

  Ryuji hadn't even used his full power wheacked, a Kenjaku and his allies had barely survived. If Ryuji had gone all out, they likely wouldn't have lived to see another day.

  Still, Kenjaku was fident. Everything roceeding as pnned. Ryomen Sukuna's revival was iable.

  ---

  By the time school ehat day, Ryuji was in the service club, yawning as he prepared to leave.

  The girls in the room looked at him in surprise.

  "You're leaving already?" one of them asked. Normally, if Ryuji had nothing else to do, he would hang around the club for a while.

  "Yeah, I've got some things I o practice bae," Ryuji replied, stretg as he stood up.

  "Practice?" They exged curious gnces.

  Ryuji grinned. "I've been w on something that'll allow you to bee sorcerers."

  "…"

  The room fell silent as the girls stared at him, stunned.

  "Wait, you figured it out already?" one of them asked, wide-eyed.

  Ryuji nodded. "Yep, I found the teique."

  Raising his hand, Ryuji summohe power of Idle Transfiguration into his palm. "This is a special teique that modifies the soul. It's even more powerful tha when it es to healing."

  He expihat this ability could not only heal the body by maniputing the soul, but also transform a person's brain into that of a sorcerer, enabling them to use cursed energy.

  "Modify the brain?" one of the girls asked, sounding a bit uneasy.

  Ryuji nodded. "Yeah, but that's why I o practice. I don't want to actally turn any of you into idiots," he said with a teasing smile.

  The girls couldn't help but ugh at his blunt hoy.

  "Thanks for w so hard, Ryuji!" one of them said, beaming at him.

  "Wait, did he just say 'my women'? Does that include me?" anirl asked excitedly, her cheeks flushing.

  The mood in the service club was filled with ughter, the atmosphere light and carefree.

  Ryuji couldn't help but smile too. This was what youth was all about.

  ---

  When Ryuji got home, he noticed something immediately—Mimiko and Nanakone.

  They must've left while he was at school. A note was left oable, and he picked it up to read.

  "We didn't sneak away. There's just some business we o hah the anisation. Don't worry, it's nothing major, and it'll be over soon. We'll be back within three days—well, actually, we'll be ba two. And after that… we won't leave again."

  The handwriting became messier toward the end, as if the writer's emotions had gotteter of them.

  "Uedly cute," Ryuji chuckled as he set the note down.

  It seemed that they really didn't pn on leaving for long. In that case, he had some time to practice Idle Transfiguration while they were away.

  ---

  Because Ryuji had left the service club early, the girls had dispersed quickly that day as well. Though no oio aloud, they all khe real reason the club gathered was because of him. Without Ryuji there, the club just didn't have the same energy.

  "I always feel like the club is b without Ryuji," Yumiko remarked as she walked with Yui and Hina after school.

  "Ryuji really is the most important part," Yumiko said, not g what ahought. For her, it was clear that Ryuji was the one she cared about the most.

  As they walked, their paths began to diverge.

  "Alright, I'll head home from here," Yumiko said as they approached a crossroad.

  "See you tomorrow, Yumiko!" Yui and Hina waved as Yumiko headed off in the opposite dire.

  With Yumiko gone, Yui and Hina tinued walking together, their footsteps eg in the quiet streets.

  "So… haven't decided yet?" Hina asked, gng at Yui out of the er of her eye.

  Yui lowered her head, unsure of how to respond. The truth was, she still felt flicted.

  Hina sighed, shaking her head slightly. "If you don't make up your mind soon, I'm going to move first."

  The casual tone in Hina's voice made it clear she wasn't joking. She had already given Yui time, but she wasn't going to wait forever.

  Yui's eyes widened, and a small sense of panic welled up inside her. "I-I do it!" she blurted out, her voice a bit shaky. The thought of bei behind, of losing her ce, was too much for her to bear.

  "Are you sure?" Hina asked, her eyes narrowing slightly. "You've beeating for a while now."

  Yui swallowed hard, trying to gather her thoughts. She had beeant, but seeing Hina so resolute made her realize that if she didn't act soon, she might lose her opportunity.

  "I've made up my mind," Yui finally said, her voice firmer now.

  Hina smiled. "Good. The's do it this week."

  "Th-this week?" Yui stammered, caught off guard by the suddenness.

  "Why not? Waiting won't ge anything. If you're serious, let's aow." Hina's tone was decisive, as always.

  After a long moment of hesitation, Yui nodded slowly. "Alright… this week it is."

  "Great!" Hina said, her smile widening as she waved goodbye. "See you ter, Yui. Don't back out."

  Yui watched as Hina walked away, leavianding alone ireet.

  "Bye… bye," Yui muttered, feeling a mixture of nervousness aermination.

  She began walking toward her home, but her thoughts kept swirling. Could she really do this? Was she really ready to take this step?

  "It's okay… it'll be okay," she whispered to herself, trying to keep her ce up.

  ***

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