Chapter 3: A Kidnapping in Broad Dusk
Outside the shop, Megumi, Nobara, Kanao and Kotori were ready to go toe-to-toe with the lower grade spirits, with the lives of the shop owners and customers at risk.
"Alright, guys," Nobara said to the other two. "Let's exorcise those spirits and rescue the hostages."
Megumi went up first, clasping his hands together to form the shape of wings. Almost immediately, the grand orange bird Nue emerged from his shadow, soaring into the skies above them.
"Nue!"
Nue swooped down toward the spider spirits with a full force; however, the spiders evaded it in the nick of time, to Megumi's disappointment.
"Damn it. They dodged Nue's attack," he snarled, as Nue soared back to its master.
It was Kotori's turn to make her move, as she channeled her cursed energy into her ofuda, and hurled the talismans at the spider spirits. At the snap of her fingers, they exploded on impact, freeing the customers as the spiders dissipated into ashes.
"Ofuda Technique: Spirit Bomb!"
"Thanks for the help, Yamato," Megumi said to her.
"No probs," Kotori replied with a grin. "Besides, friends are here to help each other and I'll be more than glad to have your back."
Meanwhile, Kanao leered crossly at the furred spirits holding the shop owners hostage, as she channeled her cursed energy into her fans and hurled them outward.
"Bladed Fan Technique: Boomerang!"
The cursed energy propelled the fans in midair, and one managed to slice through the spirit's left arm with ease, causing the spirit to cry out in pain as the female owner was finally able to escape. As for the other fan, it sliced through the other spirit's right arm, freeing the owner's husband.
"Nobara! Now!" Kanao called out to her classmate, as she caught the fans when they hovered directly back to her.
"Right!" Nobara replied, heading toward the arm.
She swiftly tossed a straw doll onto the furry spirit's left arm, and got into position as she aimed a nail directly at the doll. She then slammed it into the doll with her hammer with a vigorous force.
"Straw Doll Technique: Resonance!"
Almost immediately, the cursed spirit felt its heart being pierced, wincing in agony as black spikes protruded from its body. Seeing it suffer the pain and disappear into thin air made Nobara smirk confidently, and she was proud of herself for making that move.
Nailed it, she thought to herself.
"I'll finish this one off," Kanao said, as she channeled her cursed energy into one of her fans, ready for the killing blow.
With a mighty battle cry, she charged at the spirit and cut through the spirit, slicing it into two halves.
"Bladed Fan Technique: Chainsaw!"
All the spirit could do at this point was let out one final cry and it dissipated into thin air along with its severed arm, as Kanao panted in exhaustion from all the exertion she put herself through. Then again, it was worth it for her since she was willing to save the shop owners with Nobara by her side.
"Way to go, Kanao!" Kotori cheered, happy to see her best friend's triumphant victory.
"Thanks, Tori," Kanao replied with a confident smile.
With the weaker cursed spirits finally gone, all that was left was the special grade spirit, and with Yuji as its opponent, Kanao started to worry about her friend.
"I hope Yuji will be alright, fighting that special grade alone," she assumed, holding her hands close to her chest.
"Don't worry, Kanao," Kotori reassured her, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Yuji can handle this. Besides, he's stronger than he was before and you should have faith in him."
Though she hesitated at first, Kanao knew that her best friend was right; Yuji had become stronger as a sorcerer, thanks to the training he received from Gojo and the advice he learned from Kento Nanami and Aoi Todo. He didn't have to rely on Sukuna as often as he used to, since he was revived under the Binding Vow and he had to follow the two conditions Sukuna gave him in order to switch to him again.
She simply nodded to Kotori and they rushed to check on the shop owners, whereas the other two were aiding the customers to safety.
Back inside the shop, Yuji glared crossly at the special grade spirit standing in his way, his eyes burning with fury as his cursed energy was surrounding his fists.
"Bring it on, tough guy," he said to it. "I'll wipe you out in no time, and I won't let you lay a finger on the Beads of Hisako!"
A wide grin formed across the Finger Bearer horrendous face, as it charged at Yuji with a vicious roar. In return, Yuji lunged forward with his fists outward, ready to make his first move as he could feel his valiance raging throughout his entire body, which could add fuel to his cursed energy.
I'm not as scared as I used to be, so I'll give it all I've got!
With his fist coated in a thin layer of cursed energy, Yuji struck the Finger Bearer in the face, causing its head to twist clockwise.
"Divergent Fist!"
He then grabbed the face and slammed it into a glass display, shattering it into millions of shards that scattered on the floor. Yuji then leaped back, waiting to see if it would stay down.
Although it was a good move for Yuji to start, the Finger Bearer twisted its head back, smiling cruelly at him as it rose up. It had a love for toying with others, much like Sukuna himself.
"Damn it…," Yuji snarled. "That's not enough, and I used a powerful force to knock it down. Looks like I'll have to try again."
He channeled his cursed energy into his fists once more, and he charged at the Finger Bearer as he held out his left fist this time around. However, the Finger Bearer had an attack of its own up its sleeve, as it unleashed a powerful blast of cursed energy at him. Yuji narrowly evaded the attack, and he lunged at the Finger Bearer with a battle cry of determination as he slammed his fist into its abdomen, increasing his power by channeling more of his cursed energy into it.
"DIVERGENT FIST!"
That was powerful enough for Yuji to send the Finger Bearer flying, and it crashed into the front door, shattering the glass windows surrounding it and the window above the doorknob. The door itself was also obliterated, creating an opening as the Finger Bearer collapsed onto the ground.
Yuji panted in exhaustion, as he was eyeing on his opponent with the hopes that it would stay down this time. Unfortunately for him, the Finger Bearer swiftly rose upward and leaped in front of him, laughing darkly as if it were saying: "Is that all you've got?"
I used more power this time, but that Finger Bearer still won't quit! he thought, a bead of sweat running down his face as his eyes leered at the special grade in vexation.
All of a sudden, Yuji jolted when he heard the sound of howling coming from outside. It was Megumi's Divine Dog: Totality, and he had planned to use the shikigami to give Yuji the signal when the time was right. Now, with Yuji in a corner, Megumi had to use the signal straight away, since no one else was around in the building.
The signal from Fushiguro! he thought. It's time to switch with Sukuna now!
Soon, black markings appeared on Yuji's face, and another set of eyes opened up underneath Yuji's, as his pink hair rose upward. Sukuna had finally taken over, and he was eager to eliminate the special grade spirit.
"Well, well, brat," he said of Yuji. "You may have switched with me at the right moment, but you are foolish enough to have forgotten about the conditions I gave you. I'll have to reprimand you for that later. Anyway, I'll be glad to deal with this spirit, since it ranks at the same level as me."
The Finger Bearer gasped in surprise at the sight of Sukuna, as it waved its hands in front of it. He could tell right away that it was alarmed to see him; however, Sukuna had make a proposition to make in hopes of ending the fight swiftly.
"Alright, special grade… shall we go out and kill the kids and these other foolish people?"
Even though the Finger Bearer sounded gibberish as it was glaring at him, it was clear to Sukuna that it wouldn't bother working with him to eliminate the other four sorcerers and the civilians. He found it to be a displeasing response, as he frowned at the spirit.
"Is that so?" he questioned it, cocking his head slightly. "Well…"
In less than a second, Sukuna sped forward and grabbed hold of the Finger Bearer's face as he declared:
"I'll end you here!"
He slammed the spirit into a large glass display, shattering it into tiny shards and the jewelry flying along with them. The Finger Bearer refused to stand down, as it leaped in front of Sukuna and chuckled deeply at him.
It's not letting up, Sukuna thought, smirking deviously. Heh… But I won't let up either.
He slammed his foot into the Finger Bearer's face, causing further damage to the glass display and the floor began to crack. However, the Finger Bearer suddenly rose up and snatched Sukuna by the left ankle, swinging him around once before it was ready to toss him out. But in a swift moment, its left arm was suddenly ripped off, and Sukuna landed on the floor right in front of the special grade, holding the arm outward.
"Come on," he taunted the special grade. "Is that all you've got? You're just as weak as the other Finger Bearer I fought a little while back. Come to think of it, that brings memories of it back to me."
He recalled his fight with the Cursed Womb Finger Bearer in the detention center, when Yuji was overwhelmed by it and had to rely on Sukuna to take it down, with the signal given to him by Megumi. To Sukuna, that spirit was an easy task; however, it also came with the serious side effect of Yuji unable to switch back.
"Alright. Enough of the nostalgia," he said aloud, just as the special grade spirit regenerated itself, forming a new left arm in place of the one Sukuna tore off.
"Too bad I can't use that arm as my trophy," Sukuna said jokingly, just before smiling malevolently again and giving the Finger Bearer a vigorous kick that sent him crashing into the back of the store. Boxes, crumbling walls and glass windows were among the debris that came with the strong assault.
With the special grade spirit now completely down, Sukuna was ready to make the final move that would guarantee his victory, and he knew just how to do it. He approached the wounded cursed spirit as he said to it one last time:
"Now, to put an end to you once and for all."
He closed his eyes and performed a hand sign, before opening them up again as he incanted:
"Domain Expansion…"
The area soon went dark, and a faint drop of water soon followed as an evil red aura of a demon opened up its mouth to reveal Sukuna standing before a grand Buddhist shrine standing behind him. It was disfigured, with horns protruding from the roof, skulls dangling from the corners, and mouths coming out on each side of the shrine. There were piles of bull skulls surrounding Sukuna, and to him, it felt like his innate domain.
"Malevolent Shrine."
The special grade spirit winced in pain as it could feel an immense force coming from Sukuna, and its body split up into four halves as a result of the immense power from Sukuna's Domain Expansion. Its arms and legs had diced up into multiple pieces, as because they were unable to handle such an incredible power. Sukuna's eyes lit up at the sight of a finger from within an open core, earning a wicked smile of victory on his face.
"Ahh… another finger of mine," he breathed, taking the finger out of its core. "I will be taking that as my prize. And I believe that there is another prize waiting for me…"
As the Finger Bearer dissipated completely, Sukuna swallowed the finger in one gulp, and he could feel more power flowing throughout his body as a malevolent smile formed on his face and he broke into a wicked laughter that was loud enough to bring a chill up Kanao's spine.
"What's wrong, Kanao?" Kotori asked her, whilst she was helping the male shopkeeper.
"I have an uneasy feeling…," Kanao answered her, sounding grim. "I believe that it may be about Yuji. I have to go back there to check up on him."
She soon took off, heading back toward the store as she passed by the others, and Megumi knew right away that she would soon be in jeopardy if she were to see Sukuna again.
"Wait! Tsukiyama!" Megumi called out to her.
"That special grade spirit may have just been exorcised, but my concern is that Tsukiyama is putting herself in danger by getting close to what was supposed to be Itadori," Nobara said to him, raising concern from both Megumi and Kotori.
With one vigorous punch, Sukuna shattered the glass display case and reached inside, grabbing hold of the beads. He pulled them out, and let out a deep chuckle as he held them up before him.
"The Beads of Hisako…," Sukuna breathed, his four eyes gazing into the pearlescent beads that shimmered in the sunlight peeking through the shattered windows. "They have held up their luminous beauty, after all of those years. With them finally in my hands, I will use them to revive my long-lost love, Hisako. However… that requires the perfect vessel."
Just then, Sukuna heard the voice of Kanao calling out to supposedly her friend:
"Yuji?"
Kanao peered her head through the doorway as she cautiously stepped inside the shop. The fight had reduced the place to rubble, with glass shards, destroyed merchandise and crumbling pieces of the walls scattered across the floor.
"Is everything alright in there?" she asked him worriedly, as she surveyed the damage throughout the building. "You were able to defeat the special grade spirit, weren't you?"
Sukuna remained silent, standing still like a statue to make it look like it was Yuji who Kanao was talking to.
That's strange…, Kanao thought, feeling concerned about him. Normally, Yuji would respond right away, and it's not like him to give anyone the silent treatment.
Her eyes lit up at the sight of the beads in his hand, and she breathed out a sigh of relief as she said:
"Oh, good! You've got the beads! Now we can head back to school, and—"
Unfortunately for her, it was not the Yuji she knew anymore. Sukuna swiftly turned around, exposing his sinister Cheshire Cat-like smile and his bulging red eyes to her. Her violet eyes widened greatly in horror, and a silent gasp escaped her lips as she could feel another chill of trepidation running up her spine.
Sukuna! she thought, beads of sweat running down her face. It can't be him again! The first time I saw him, he ripped out Yuji's heart right in front of me and Megumi! And he even took Yuji and me as his hostages!
The scene soon flashed back to her and Megumi's encounter with Sukuna outside the detention center, with her horrified at the sight of Sukuna ripping out Yuji's heart, taking him as his first hostage. Soon after, when Megumi was overwhelmed by him, Kanao saved him using her Bladed Fan Technique: Boomerang. Sukuna was intrigued by her, due to her striking resemblance of his lost love, and he easily overpowered her, knocking her unconscious and taking her as his second hostage.
Once the scene shifted back to the present, Kanao could feel herself trembling in fear, paralyzed by the sight of Sukuna.
"Hello again, friend of the brat," Sukuna breathed darkly. "Or should I say… Kanao Tsukiyama? Your face resembles that of my deceased woman, and that's why… YOU'RE PERFECT AS HER VESSEL!"
In a flash, Sukuna lunged toward Kanao and he scooped her into his right arm, and her frantic scream immediately grabbed the attention of the other students and the people they rescued.
"That came from inside our shop!" the female owner exclaimed.
Sukuna leaped through the shattered window, laughing maniacally as he passed by them with an incredible amount of speed. Megumi's instinct told him straight away that the real Yuji would never take his own friend hostage, as he spotted Kanao in his arm.
"Itadori?! What do you think you're doing to Tsukiyama?!" he cried, only to recognize Sukuna's face instead the moment he glanced at the shikigami summoner.
"It can't be…!"
"No! Kanao!" Kotori cried, her yellow eyed widening in shock.
"Look! He's got the beads!" Nobara exclaimed, pointing to the beads in Sukuna's left hand.
"You're not getting away, Sukuna!" Megumi shouted, as Nue soared toward the special grade spirit and his captive. Almost immediately, Sukuna slammed Nue with a powerful fist, sending it away.
"Nue!"
He immediately dismissed Nue, for the sake of preserving his cursed energy, disgruntled by how effortlessly Sukuna took down the shikigami.
Kotori pulled out her Spirit Bomb ofuda, and she hurled it at Sukuna in an attempt to stop him in his tracks; however, the special grade swiftly held out his left hand and grabbed hold of the talisman, effectively blocking it by snuffing it out.
"He obliterated my Spirit Bomb!" Kotori exclaimed.
Her protective instincts soon turned on, her eyes leering with a blazing rage as she snarled under her breath:
"I can't let that bastard take my best friend away from me!"
Kotori immediately took off after Sukuna, ignoring protests coming from Megumi and Nobara. She had to resort to shoving some people walking by her, as she sprinted as fast as she could to catch up to Sukuna.
"GET BACK HERE!" she shouted at him. "GIVE HER BACK TO ME RIGHT NOW!"
A devious smile plastered across Sukuna's lips as he swiftly turned around and gave Kotori a powerful kick in her abdomen, sending her tumbling across the street and crashing into the front side of a parked car sitting in front of a building. Kotori groaned in pain as she recuperated, and all she could do was gasp in horror as Sukuna leaped upward to the rooftop of a building not far from the crash site. People were exclaiming at the sight of his immense agility, and to them, they had never seen anyone that swift in their entire lives.
"Tori!" Kanao called out to her best friend, reaching out toward her.
She could only hear Kanao's cry for her ricochet across the street, as Sukuna let out one last laugh before disappearing completely out of sight.
By the time Megumi and Nobara finally caught up to Kotori, it was too late for them. Sukuna had gotten away, with both Kanao and the Beads of Hisako in his possession.
Devastated by losing her best friend to Sukuna, Kotori's body trembled as she stood up from the ground, and she let out a strident scream at the top of her lungs, which echoed throughout Harajuku:
"KANAO!"
With Kanao and the Beads of Hisako in Sukuna's possession, a race against time to find them is on for the other three sorcerers. Will they beat the clock, or will it be too late?!