Jujutsu Kaisen: I Can Manipulate Time.

"Sukuna, if I die, you die too. If you don't want to die, then help me."

"I refuse."

Inside his innate domain, Ryomen Sukuna watched with keen interest. After hearing Yuji's words, his mouth stretched into a cruel grin, his eyes burning with pure malice.

"They're just two soul fragments. Did you misunderstand? Sure, if you want to switch, I can let you—but the moment I'm out, I'll kill Megumi Fushiguro first, then that woman. Your expression at that moment will be priceless. Hahaha."

Without Sukuna's intervention, if things continued this way, Megumi and Nobara—who likely hadn't escaped far—might actually be killed by him. Yuji had to stall for time.

Despite this, he could barely withstand the current attack. Yuji was sent flying by a punch from the Cursed Spirit—so fast it was nearly invisible—breaking through the wall and crashing into a more open area. If this newborn Cursed Spirit hadn't been toying with him, death would have come already.

You must protect others.

The Cursed Spirit clasped its hands eagerly, like a child anticipating a game. Terrifying cursed energy gathered in its palms. The instant it struck, Yuji's grandfather's words surfaced in his mind.

"But this pain... it's unbearable. Am I going to die here? Would dying like this be considered a 'proper death'? If I hadn't eaten that finger back then... No, I can't dwell on that."

"I don't want to die."

Yaga Masamichi's voice from enrollment days echoed alongside his grandfather's dying words. Faces of Megumi, Nobara, his seniors, and that poor mother flashed before him.

"That man was right. No Jujutsu Sorcerer dies without regret. If that's true, then I want to say I died for a good cause. I'll gather all this anger, fear, and regret, and shatter it."

A ball of blue cursed energy ignited on Yuji's right fist, despite his missing finger. He slammed it fiercely toward the Cursed Spirit's face. Though he channeled cursed energy, the gap in strength was too great to overcome through willpower alone.

The Cursed Spirit easily blocked the strike. It made strange, almost playful sounds as if entertained, then waved its hand, sending Yuji crashing into the ground.

Shards of stone flew as Yuji spat out blood. Thanks to his exceptional physical resilience and Sukuna's passive cursed energy protection, his organs remained intact. Otherwise, he would have died instantly.

Lying on the ground, his vision blurred, Yuji prepared to accept death calmly. Megumi and the others should have escaped. Then, suddenly, bright sunlight poured through the broken ceiling.

"Where's that light coming from? Oh, the ceiling's broken."

The Cursed Spirit reached to grab Yuji but was suddenly struck, crashing to the ground. A figure blocked the light above, a voice speaking nearby.

"I'm not too late, am I? How did you get involved in this mission?"

Yuji, lifted gently, felt warmth flood into his body. His consciousness cleared, and strength returned. The figure before him was none other than senior Kamihara Hajime himself. Off to the side, Yuji also saw the Cursed Spirit sprawled on the ground, a massive wound rapidly healing.

Hajime descended from above, piercing the Cursed Spirit with an arrow. Seeing Yuji lying on the ground, he used Reverse Cursed Technique to stabilize him first, then patted his shoulder.

"Don't worry. I'll take it from here."

The playful Cursed Spirit now lost its composure. It rose, wounds healed, glaring at Hajime with an unknown roar.

"Stop barking," Hajime said calmly. Without activating any technique, he closed in and kicked the Cursed Spirit back with such force it blurred.

The monster crashed through multiple walls, stirring up a huge cloud of dust.

"So powerful," Yuji muttered, eyes wide. Having seen his own attack parried earlier, he knew how overwhelming that kick was.

From the dust emerged the Cursed Spirit, claws sharp and cursed energy gathering for another attack aimed at Hajime's face.

Suddenly, the scene shifted. Hajime was now behind the Cursed Spirit, and its claws pointed at himself, but the attack never came.

Hajime grabbed the nape of the Cursed Spirit's neck and slammed it into the ground. Concrete and rebar shattered, momentum carrying them down to the next floor.

Yuji, falling with him, was caught just before hitting the ground, suspended in the air, then gently set down. Not far away, the Cursed Spirit lay deformed.

Hajime looked at it with disappointment but understood why. This was an ordinary newborn Special Grade Cursed Spirit—probably lacking much intelligence. The gap between Special Grades could be wider than between Special Grade and Grade 1.

He stomped on the Cursed Spirit, cracking the ground beneath. One last chance.

"Can you use Domain Expansion? If so, open it. If not, you're done."

The Cursed Spirit roared and struggled under his foot but showed no signs of Domain Expansion.

"No value," Hajime thought, releasing cursed energy. With a sharp crack, the Cursed Spirit shattered into fragments like brittle bones.

The remains skipped decay, turning to ash that drifted away in the wind.

"Huh? What's this? Is this Sukuna's finger?"

Hajime picked up Sukuna's finger quietly resting on the ground and walked over to Yuji lying nearby. Seeing his dazed expression, Hajime smiled gently.

"Don't worry about your injury. If it's just physical damage, Reverse Cursed Technique can fix it. Let me heal you, or it'll look strange."

"Thank you, senior..."

Yuji watched in surprise as his severed hand and finger miraculously regrew, restoring him to full health.

"Mission complete. Let's get out of here."

Yuji hesitated but then spoke.

"Senior, I want to bring a victim's body to his family. There are two others whose status is unknown."

Hajime sighed.

"If you want, go ahead. But there's no need to search for survivors anymore. Except for us, there's no one left alive here."

Yuji nodded. The Cursed Spirit was exorcised, the innate domain vanished. The orphanage was safe again.

"Masao..."

At the white-covered body, Okazaki Masao's mother knelt, crying. Hajime watched silently.

Megumi Fushiguro and Nobara Kugisaki approached, seeing Yuji unharmed. Without looking back, Yuji said, "I don't want to dwell on complicated things anymore. If I can help others even a little, that's enough."

Megumi said nothing. Nobara noticed his hand. Megumi glanced at Hajime talking with Ijichi.

"Just report to Gojo-sensei later. If I hadn't come, people would have died here. Missions with Special Grade Curses usually include survivor searches. How come the higher-ups didn't tell me?"

Hajime sneered. Ijichi wiped sweat from his forehead, dreading the report to Gojo Satoru.

"Wasting a precious finger to test Sukuna, and it failed. Sukuna didn't even appear. Was this your plan, Suguru Geto?"

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