Chapter 56: Smile~
"What's your name?"
"My name is Itadori Yuji."
"Is there anything unusual with your body?"
Gojo Satoru asked with a smile, then began to stretch and warm up.
"Uh? Not really…"
Itadori Yuji, though confused about why this white-haired man suddenly started stretching, answered honestly.
"Can you swap with Sukuna?"
"Sukuna?"
"Oh, that should be fine."
"Let me think… thirty seconds. We'll switch back after thirty seconds."
After finishing his stretching, Gojo Satoru was eager to try.
"Eh? But…"
"It's fine, after all I'm the strongest."
The man smiled confidently.
Well then, let's see which one is the real Ryoumen Sukuna.
Itadori Yuuji closed his eyes and called forth Ryoumen Sukuna from within him. Black lines began to appear on his face and body, and as his four eyes opened, a crimson light flashed in them.
A fierce, evil aura instantly radiated from Itadori Yuuji.
No, he should be called Ryoumen Sukuna now.
His figure vanished in the blink of an eye. Fushiguro Megumi, who had been watching Sukuna closely, quickly looked up and shouted, "He's above!"
The figure leaped into the air and dove down, claws outstretched toward Gojo Satoru.
Boom!
When the figure landed, the ground cracked beneath it, sending up a cloud of dust.
As the dust settled, Fushiguro Megumi, who was sitting on the ground, and Ryoumen Sukuna exchanged glances. Gojo Satoru, however, was sitting on Sukuna's back as if he were a chair.
"Just as I thought, this kind of behavior where things turn violent without warning fits the Sukuna described in the records."
Gojo Satoru pulled out his phone. "I should take a picture to show Hayashizaki."
He leaned back against Sukuna while holding up his phone with one hand, making a peace sign with the other.
"Say cheese!"
The flash went off, capturing the image of a squinting, smiling Gojo Satoru and a stunned Ryoumen Sukuna.
"Looks like I'm underestimated!"
Ryoumen Sukuna sneered and swung his arm, but his attack once again missed its mark as Gojo Satoru had already appeared five meters away.
He immediately got up to chase him, but Gojo Satoru clapped his hands together and dodged Sukuna's attack once more.
Sukuna tried several times, but he couldn't even touch Gojo Satoru's clothing.
Incredible speed? No, that's not it…
Just as Ryoumen Sukuna was analyzing Gojo Satoru's speed, he suddenly felt a weight on his shoulder. An arm reached over, and the phone's flash went off again.
Gojo Satoru grabbed Sukuna's shoulder and took another selfie.
"Hey, do you have any twin brothers or something? I recently met someone really interesting~"
Ryoumen Sukuna gritted his teeth and elbowed backward, but once again, Gojo Satoru dodged.
The white-haired man appeared behind him, grabbing one of Sukuna's arms and throwing him into the air.
Gojo Satoru put one hand in his pocket and raised the other, forming a finger gun, with a bright red light shimmering at his fingertip.
"What is that!?"
Feeling the cursed energy gathering at Gojo-sensei's fingertip, Fushiguro Megumi couldn't help but widen his eyes.
Is Gojo-sensei angry? Why? Does he want to kill Sukuna here?
"Reverse Technique: Red."
Red light shot from his fingertips, speeding straight toward Ryoumen Sukuna, who was suspended in midair with nowhere to escape.
The dazzling red light enveloped his view, forcing Sukuna to cross his arms in front of him to block Gojo Satoru's attack, but the price was his vanishing arms.
Just after blocking Gojo Satoru's attack, Sukuna heard a mocking voice from behind him:
"Are you really Ryoumen Sukuna? Why are you so much weaker than the other one?"
A leg strike, faster than a whip and as powerful as being hit by a train, slammed into Sukuna's back, sending him crashing to the ground and embedding him into the floor of the overpass corridor.
Gojo Satoru scratched his cheek as he slowly descended: "Oops, maybe I went a bit too far?"
"Your attack was a bit too harsh, don't you think?"
Fushiguro Megumi remarked.
"I didn't expect him to be that weak. Hayashizaki is much stronger," Gojo Satoru replied, equally surprised.
While the two were talking, Sukuna pulled himself out of the floor. He had already healed his injuries using the reverse technique, and his vanished arms had grown back: "...Not bad, sorcerer."
He grinned, showing his sharp white teeth: "Let's have another round."
"Too bad~ The time is almost up."
Gojo Satoru smiled as he started the countdown, "3, 2, 1."
Ryoumen Sukuna's eyes widened suddenly as a sense of helplessness spread through his limbs, his consciousness being suppressed and making it hard to control his body.
He slowly closed his eyes, and Itadori Yuji abruptly looked up: "Is everything okay?"
"Everything's fine, everything's fine~"
Gojo Satoru laughed, relaxing as he walked over to him.
This is getting interesting; two Sukuna vessels appeared at the same time... No, regarding Yukinoshita Yukino, Hayashizaki's identity still couldn't be confirmed, but it should be possible to differentiate it from Ryoumen Sukuna here.
"This guy is a bit annoying; I can hear his voice in my head."
Itadori Yuji complained as he patted his head, seemingly trying to quiet the Ryoumen Sukuna in his mind.
"Only this much influence is already a miracle."
Gojo Satoru said with a smile, "I'll take you to meet your senior another day."
"Eh? A senior? Has anyone else eaten Sukuna's fingers?"
He paused, asking curiously.
"Well, I guess so," Gojo Satoru didn't go into detail, as he wasn't sure about the situation with Yukinoshita Yukino, but it was worth mentioning that he hadn't reported the matters of Yukinoshita and Hayashizaki to the higher-ups.
He pointed his finger and gently tapped Itadori Yuji on the forehead. The latter felt an overwhelming wave of drowsiness wash over him, and he closed his eyes, drifting off to sleep.
"What did you do?"
Fushiguro Megumi asked.
"I knocked him out."
Holding the unconscious Itadori Yuji, Gojo Satoru explained with a smile, "If he wakes up and isn't taken over by Sukuna, that means he's Sukuna's vessel, a rare talent…"
That didn't seem quite right, considering there was already a Yukinoshita Yukino around.
But that girl didn't seem to have as much control over her body.
"Is this Sukuna related to Hayashizaki in any way?"
Fushiguro Megumi also thought about Yukinoshita Yukino, whom he met last week.
"I don't know. The situation over there is much more mysterious."
Gojo Satoru shrugged. "The investigation results regarding the Yukinoshita family show they are just an ordinary family with no connection to the sorcery world at all."
"Then here's the problem: how do we handle him? I hid the details from the higher-ups because Yukinoshita and Hayashizaki don't know the specifics, but Itadori Yuji is different. He actually swallowed a special-grade cursed object; we can't keep that a secret."
"Even if Itadori is a vessel, according to sorcery rules, he will still be executed…"
Fushiguro Megumi said, raising his head. "But I don't want him to die."
"Is it personal?"
"It is personal. Please think of a way!"
"OK!"
Gojo Satoru threw Itadori Yuji over his shoulder and gave Fushiguro Megumi a thumbs-up. "After all, it's a request from a cute student. I'll take care of it!"
…
…
Meanwhile, in Yukinoshita Haruno's car.
Sitting in the passenger seat, Yukinoshita Yukino looked at her suddenly lit phone screen, puzzled. She unlocked it and saw that someone named [Dead White Hair] had sent her several photos on LINE.
When she opened them, they were pictures of Gojo Satoru and a pink-haired boy.
One of them had a mischievous grin, while the other wore a sour expression, clearly unwilling.
It looked like he had been forced to take the picture by Gojo Satoru.
More importantly, the boy's face had the same black markings and four eyes that Yukino showed when fully possessed by Hayashizaki.
"Pfft!"
Hayashizaki, of course, saw the photos and immediately laughed.
Yukinoshita Haruno, sitting in the driver's seat, couldn't help but glance over.
As expected, she still couldn't get used to Yuki-chan suddenly having an extra mouth on her face or something.
…
…
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