Whispers of the Black Flame

The night stretched endlessly, its darkness wrapping around the city like a silent predator. The encounter with Sukuna still clung to me like an unshakable curse, his words lingering in my mind. Kurayami Clan... Incomplete... I'll be watching.

I clenched my fists as I moved through the deserted streets, the weight of his presence still pressing against my soul. No matter how much I tried to ignore it, there was an undeniable truth in what he had said. My cursed technique was incomplete. The golden seals I used—they were fragments of something far greater, something that once belonged to my lineage. But that lineage was nothing more than dust and forgotten whispers now.

The Kurayami Clan no longer existed.

At least, that was what I had believed.

Until now.

 *******************************************

The abandoned shrine stood on the outskirts of Tokyo, hidden in the depths of an overgrown forest. Moonlight cast eerie shadows across its ruined pillars, the air thick with a cursed presence that had long been undisturbed. As I stepped forward, my cursed energy stirred on its own, responding to something unseen.

The shrine recognized me.

A sudden pulse of power vibrated through the ground beneath me, and my vision blurred. For a split second, I wasn't in the present anymore. I was standing in a battlefield drenched in blood, the scent of iron thick in the air. Shattered talismans and broken seals littered the ground, flickering with dying embers of cursed energy.

And in the center of it all—a woman stood tall.

Her hair was dark like mine, her robes billowing in the wind as golden sigils burned around her. Her eyes, cold and merciless, locked onto a monstrous entity in front of her.

"You will not pass. The Kurayami will not fall."

The voice rang through my skull, familiar yet distant. Before I could move, before I could comprehend what I was seeing, the vision ripped away, and I was back in the present, gasping for breath.

What the hell was that?

My hands trembled. The cursed energy in the shrine had awakened something deep inside me, something I wasn't sure I was ready to face. My fingers curled into the dirt, my nails digging into the earth as my mind reeled. If that vision was real—if what Sukuna said was true—then the Kurayami Clan hadn't been wiped out completely. Something remained. Something unfinished.

And I had just unlocked the first piece of it.

 ****************************************

The soft glow of a desk lamp cast long shadows across the cluttered table as I flipped through the thick stack of papers Nanami had handed me. The clock on the wall ticked past midnight, the room heavy with the scent of old documents and faint traces of coffee.

Jujutsu High: Student Profiles.

Nanami had been thorough, his notes scrawled in sharp, methodical strokes.

Yuji Itadori – Unpredictable. Strong, but still reckless. Potential for immense growth. Dangerous, considering his vessel.

Megumi Fushiguro – Disciplined, tactical. Tenacious in battle. Inherited the Zenin clan's shadow technique but shows little regard for his lineage.

Nobara Kugisaki – Fierce and headstrong. Exceptional close-range combatant. Less experienced, but her instincts compensate for it.

Gojo's students.

They weren't just names on paper anymore. I had seen Yuji fight firsthand, seen the raw power he barely had control over. The other two… I only knew them through Nanami's words, but something about their descriptions gnawed at me.

"They don't know anything about me, do they?" I muttered, flipping to the next page.

Across the table, Nanami sighed, adjusting his tie. "No. And it should stay that way."

I glanced up at him. "You don't trust them?"

"I don't trust the situation," he corrected. "You're walking a fine line, and you know it."

I leaned back in my chair, exhaling through my nose. "It's not like I have a choice."

Nanami's eyes lingered on me for a second longer before he spoke again. "If Sukuna is interested in you, then Itadori is not the only problem you need to worry about. You know what happens when something catches his eye."

My fingers curled over the edge of the paper. Oh, I knew. And that's exactly what worried me.

A heavy silence settled between us. Nanami wasn't the type to lecture, but his concern came through in the quiet weight of his words.

I flicked my gaze back to the profiles, scanning over Megumi's name again. Zenin clan. Shadow technique. I had no interest in sorcerer politics, but even I knew the weight that name carried. If anyone was paying attention, he was probably being watched just as closely as Yuji.

But right now, all eyes were on Sukuna's vessel. And, by extension, on me.

Closing the file, I pushed it away. "I should get some rest."

Nanami hummed in agreement, though his expression remained unreadable. "I'll be expecting a report next time you interfere in one of my missions."

I smirked, standing. "Sure. I'll even use your favorite stock phrases—'reckless behavior, unnecessary risks, and generally annoying.'"

He let out a slow, tired exhale. "I don't say 'generally annoying.'"

I gave him a knowing look. "You don't have to."

For a moment, something close to amusement flickered across his face before he shook his head, standing as well. "Stay out of sight tomorrow. That's not a request."

I didn't answer.

Because we both knew I wouldn't listen.

 ****************************************

The next day, I found myself lurking around Jujutsu High, keeping my distance as I watched Yuji from afar. He had no idea what had happened that night, no idea what Sukuna had whispered to me. He moved through the campus like everything was normal, laughing with Megumi and Nobara, unaware that the thing inside him had already set its sights on me.

I wasn't sure how long I stood there, watching, but then I felt it. A sharp prickle at the back of my neck.

I wasn't alone.

Slowly, I turned my head, my gaze scanning the rooftops, the trees, the shaded corners where eyes could hide. Nothing. But the feeling remained, crawling under my skin like an itch I couldn't scratch.

Someone was watching me.

I clicked my tongue in irritation. If it was Sukuna, he wasn't making himself known. But something told me this was different. This was something else.

That night, as I lay in my apartment, staring at the ceiling, Sukuna's voice slithered into my mind again, uninvited.

"The past is coming for you, little sorcerer. Do you think you'll survive it?"

I exhaled slowly, forcing my pulse to steady. He was trying to get under my skin. I wouldn't let him.

But as I closed my eyes, all I could see was the battlefield.

The woman.

The golden seals burning like wildfire.

And the blood that soaked the earth beneath her feet.

To Be Continued…