December 5.
Half a month of special training had passed.
Inside the underground training facility of Tokyo Jujutsu High.
Yuji Itadori stood alone before a reinforced training target.
His breathing was steady.
His eyes calm.
Slowly, he raised his hand.
"Blood Manipulation — Piercing Blood."
A droplet of blood condensed at his fingertip.
Then—
WHOOSH!
A crimson projectile shot forward like a laser.
It struck the target dead center.
Not only perfectly accurate—
The speed and penetration far exceeded what he could do weeks ago.
"Not bad."
Behind him, Choso approached.
He placed a hand on Yuji's shoulder.
"You've grasped the core of Blood Manipulation."
"You still lack the Kamo clan's fine control…"
"But as a supplementary technique, it's already excellent."
Yuji smiled.
"Thanks, big brother."
Choso scratched his head awkwardly.
"Don't thank me."
"We're family."
Then his expression turned serious.
"What about the other technique?"
Yuji blinked.
"You mean…"
"Sukuna's technique."
Yuji inhaled slowly.
He raised his right hand.
A thin layer of black cursed energy formed around his palm.
But it wasn't reinforcement.
The energy carried a cutting property.
Yuji whispered:
"…Dismantle."
There was no dramatic explosion.
Just a small motion of his hand.
But—
A thin crack appeared on the reinforced alloy target.
Then—
CRACK.
The entire target split cleanly in half.
The cut was smooth as glass.
Choso's eyes widened.
"Incredible…"
That was Cleave and Dismantle.
Even without a Domain Expansion.
Yuji had reproduced Sukuna's cursed technique purely through understanding and cursed-energy control.
The boy was terrifyingly talented.
But Yuji frowned.
"…Something's wrong."
"What?"
"It's not fast enough."
Choso blinked.
"That slash was already extremely fast."
Yuji shook his head.
"I mean something else."
"I want to combine both techniques."
Choso's eyes widened.
Combine them?
Blood Manipulation and Sukuna's slash were completely different cursed techniques.
But Yuji demonstrated immediately.
He raised his left hand.
Blood condensed into a blade.
"Blood Edge."
Then his right hand gathered the cursed energy of Dismantle.
"If the slash is embedded inside the blood…"
"Or if blood moves like a slash…"
Yuji slammed his hands together.
Two completely different cursed energies collided.
A sharp vibration echoed through the room.
But instead of exploding—
The energies merged.
In Yuji's hands appeared a red-black blade.
The blade flowed like liquid blood.
But its edge contained terrifying cutting power.
"Crimson Slash!"
Yuji swung forward.
BOOM!!
A massive blade wave exploded outward.
The training hall wall split open—
A trench several meters deep carved through reinforced concrete.
Even worse—
The wound continued bleeding with cursed corrosion.
Choso stared silently.
"…That's insane."
This wasn't just stronger.
It was a new technique.
Blood Manipulation's penetration.
Combined with Sukuna's cutting property.
And fueled by Yuji's monstrous physical strength.
Even special-grade curses would struggle to survive that attack.
Yuji looked at his weapon.
"This…"
"…is my technique."
Not Sukuna's.
Not borrowed power.
His own.
Clap. Clap.
Applause echoed.
At some point Satoru Gojo had appeared behind them.
"Yuji."
"You're a genius."
He grinned.
"Even I didn't think of combining those techniques."
Yuji scratched his head.
"Hehe… thanks, sensei."
Gojo's expression suddenly changed.
"But…"
"That move drains a lot of cursed energy."
Yuji looked down.
His reserves were nearly empty.
Combining two high-level techniques consumed massive energy.
"So."
Gojo reached into his pocket.
He pulled out a weapon.
A short blade wrapped in black cloth.
Yuji blinked.
"What's that?"
Gojo smiled.
"A present."
"This weapon…"
"Was reforged from fragments of Playful Cloud."
Yuji's eyes widened.
Playful Cloud.
The special-grade cursed tool once wielded by Maki Zenin.
It had been destroyed during later battles.
"I had the fragments reforged."
Gojo continued.
"It's weaker than the original."
"But it has a new feature."
"It stores cursed energy."
"And it can adapt to the user's cursed energy property."
"Try it."
Yuji accepted the weapon.
It felt heavy.
He infused it with cursed energy.
WHOOSH.
The blade extended instantly.
Transforming into a long polearm.
Red-black cursed energy flowed along its edge.
It perfectly resonated with Yuji's Crimson Slash technique.
Yuji swung it experimentally.
His eyes sparkled.
"This thing is amazing!"
"With this weapon…"
Gojo nodded.
"Your stamina problem is solved."
"And with your current physical ability…"
He smirked.
"Even Sukuna won't be able to ignore you."
Yuji gripped the weapon tightly.
"Thank you, sensei."
Gojo waved casually.
"Just make sure you perform well on December 24."
"Save Megumi."
Yuji nodded firmly.
"I will."
"Even if it costs my life."
Training continued.
Day after day.
Yuji's improvement was explosive.
From barely controlling Blood Manipulation—
To freely combining techniques.
His growth rate was monstrous.
And every drop of effort had a single purpose.
One enemy.
Ryomen Sukuna.
Yuji clenched his weapon.
His eyes burned with determination.
"Just wait."
"This time…"
"I won't lose."
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