Jujutsu Kaisen: I have everything I need now!

Shibuya, a deep, charred pit.

The sound of a heartbeat was unusually jarring in the silent ruins.

Yuujin Itadori sat up abruptly from the pile of rubble, gulping down the rusty air. His chest, where the longsword had pierced him, now bore only a twisted pink scar, throbbing faintly in the chilly morning wind.

"Cough...cough cough!"

"woke up?"

A gentle voice came from the side.

Itadori looked up and saw a somewhat melancholy face with slightly dark circles under his eyes. Yuta Otsuko was slowly sheathing the katana, which was wreathed in cursed energy.

"Yotsuku...senpai?" Itadori's memory was still stuck on the moment his heart stopped beating. "Weren't you going to kill me?"

"Killed him, just three minutes ago." Yuta Otsukotsu crouched down, his tone as calm as if discussing the weather. "I released a reversal spell the instant I pierced your heart. In the higher-ups' logic of 'binding,' Yuujin Itadori has already died once. The one standing here now is a death row inmate who has already served his sentence."

"Mr. Gojo mentioned you to me." Otsuko paused, a hint of sadness flashing in his eyes. "He said that if he were ever gone, I must come and see you. He said you were a gentle child."

"The play is over, so let's stop with the sentimentality."

A hoarse, magnetic voice drifted down from above.

Etotsu Yuta's pupils instantly shrank to the size of pinpoints.

too close.

Even with his magical senses, he failed to detect the person's approach beforehand. It didn't feel like someone was walking towards him, but rather like something that had always been there suddenly manifested.

"Splash—"

On the first day of the twelfth month, the levitation force of the [Chicken] talisman was removed, and he landed heavily on the rubble. His current appearance was extremely gruesome: his clothes were torn, and his body was covered with spiderweb-like bloodstains, wounds left after forcibly activating his domain that had not yet fully healed.

"You're the 'variable' that Gojo-sensei mentioned?" Yuta Otsukotsu's hands didn't stop moving, but he was already in a state of extreme combat readiness. "December 1st."

"What did Gojo-sensei say about me?" December leaned against the broken wall, grabbed a bottle of mineral water that hadn't been shattered, tilted his head back and took a big gulp, swallowing it down with blood in it.

"He said you have an 'interesting' technique, even comparable to his." Yi Gu You Tai looked directly into December's eyes.

"That's a really high compliment." December 1st grinned, revealing a sinister smile.

This was their first formal meeting. One was a "top-tier genius" in the world of sorcery, the other a "rule-breaking outsider." The air thickened where their eyes met.

"Saku! How are you?" Hisahito Itadori exclaimed in surprise.

"Thanks to you." December 1st looked northwest, his eyes turning cold.

"Da, da."

Footsteps sounded. Fukuro Megumi dragged his weary figure out from the depths of the ruins. Behind him was Zhang Xiang, whose face was gloomy, but who always stood guard on his side.

"Senior Yigu." Fushiguro Megumi bowed slightly.

"Megumi." Yuuta Otsuko nodded. "I heard the details on my way back. Gojo-sensei was sealed away, and Gokumon-sensei was taken away..."

"We need to find Tengen." Fushiguro Megumi looked at everyone, her eyes more determined than ever before. "The higher-ups have gone mad. Principal Yagami has been sentenced to death, and Saku has been put on the arrest list. At this juncture, only by finding Tengen-sama's forbidden treasure can we possibly find a way to break Gojo-sensei's seal."

"The extinction migration has begun," Zhang Xiang said in a low voice, staring at Itadori. "The barrier is forming throughout Japan. If the Rasengan is not stopped, everyone will be swept up in that endless cycle of flesh-eating and slaughter."

"Let's break up. I have more important things to do." December 1st crushed the empty water bottle and casually threw it on the ground.

Fushiguro Megumi frowned. "You're going to the barrier alone?"

"No." December turned around, the sunlight shining on his pale profile, outlining an extremely dangerous curve. "I'm going to the Zen temple."

"Zen-in Naoya was here just now," December 1st stated calmly. "He didn't come here to arrest me, nor to rescue anyone. He came to kill you. That old man from Naohito must be in very bad shape right now, creating a power vacuum in the Zen-in family. If Naoya wants to inherit the position of head of the family, he must eliminate all unstable factors."

Fukuro Megumi's face instantly turned extremely ugly. He knew very well what kind of family they were—people without magic, women, or rebels were not even worth as much as weeds in their eyes.

"Maki and Mai-senpai have gone back," December continued, her voice as cold as ice. "If nothing unexpected happens, the Zenin family will eliminate them."

"What did you say?" Fushiguro Megumi took a sudden step forward, her fingertips digging deep into her palm from the force.

"In the eyes of those decadent old fogies, twins are an ominous sign. Their father still wants to compete for the position of family head, so killing them is undoubtedly the best option." December Shuo recalled Zhenyi's face, which always carried a mocking yet melancholic air.

In the original story, Mai sacrificed her life to forge Maki's final longsword. That tragic aesthetic, in the eyes of this outsider, was utter nonsense.

"I'm going to Zen-in-ya." December 1st emphasized again, his eyes showing no sign of hesitation, "I'm going to save Senior Zhenyi."

"But your body has reached its limit." Yuji Itadori looked at December 1st with concern. "The backlash from forcibly activating a domain cannot be withstood by willpower alone."

December 1st waved his hand and stepped into the edge of the ruins without looking back.

The sunlight fell on his back, stretching his figure very long.

At this moment, the air in Tokyo became unusually oppressive. A group of people headed towards the Kikuku of the High School, seeking that glimpse of omniscient wisdom; while one person rushed towards the mansion of a Zen master.

"Mani-senpai... hang in there!"

The new moon flew over the ruins. His heart was pounding, and the pain was stimulating his nerves, yet it also gave him an unprecedented sense of clarity.

Meanwhile, at the Zen family residence.

Inside the antique-style corridor, the air was filled with a strong sandalwood scent, but it couldn't mask the putrid stench of blood beneath.

Zenji Naoya sat on his high seat, casually toying with the short dagger in his hand. His long, dyed hair gleamed arrogantly in the shadows.

"Lord Naoya, Maki has already entered the forbidden area." A sorcerer from the "Kumuri-tai" knelt below, his voice trembling. "Lord Naoya and Lord Ogi are already waiting over there."

"Oh? That girl, Makoto, is in there too?" Naoya revealed a cruel smile, his body swaying slightly—the rhythm of a projection spell at a low frequency. "How convenient. Getting rid of these two defective products together will at least clean up the Zenin family's reputation a little."

He stood up and slowly walked towards the treasury in the backyard. In his eyes, this was just a belated "cleanup."