Chapter 9
Josefu sprinted far away from Jujutsu High to an abandoned building. There, an alternate perspective came to him, assisted by the forces who relished Josefu's panic. In this alternate perspective, he saw the world through the eyes of Sukuna, the King of Curses. Sukuna just destroyed the special grade curse and discovered Yuji couldn't take control of the body for a while, so he went to the surface. Sukuna was about to harass Megumi, just as he did in the original story when he began feeling odd pressure in the air. Sukuna turned and noticed the source of this pressure was farther than he anticipated. The King of Curses didn't know if the source of this pressure was a curse or a sorcerer. Yet, one thing was clear for Sukuna; no matter which it was, he would seek it out and conquer or enslave this entity to prove his superiority in the art of jujutsu. So, ignoring Megumi, Sukuna ran toward the pressure with a wide smile.
After witnessing these events, Josefu readied himself to face Sukuna as he suddenly heard a voice ask, "And who are you supposed to be?" Josefu looked behind him and saw Sukuna. The King of Curses smirked at Josefu's slender form, eying up his prey. Josefu pivoted with a determined glare. "Getting straight to the point? Interesting. It's almost as if you were expecting me," Sukuna mentioned, digging his hand into his chest and pulling out Yuji's heart before eating the third finger. "Oh?" Sukuna commented, noticing Josefu's lack of a reaction, "Not even a flinch…" "Why did you come here?" Josefu questioned, remaining stiff and cold towards Sukuna. At the sound of this, Sukuna laughed in amusement. "You have some nerve, brat. Questioning me like this," Sukuna interjected, "Especially considering your lack of fear. You humans ought to know your place." Josefu, using his curse energy, immediately predicted Sukuna would punch him, so he dodged beforehand, avoiding the attack. Sukuna continued to smile, glaring at Josefu maliciously. "Speed won't save you, brat!" Sukuna mocked, pivoting to strike Josefu once again.
This time, Josefu put 100% of his curse energy into reinforcing his body, entering a clash with Sukuna, who was delighted by the exchange of blows. Josefu Hanto, the grade two Jujutsu sorcerer, and Ryomen Sukuna, the King of Curses, weaved around each other's punches. Each combatant tanked a few from their opponent, earning a few wounds each and still going at each other. "Not bad, brat," Sukuna stated, acknowledging Josefu's strength. After a few more attacks, Sukuna grew bored and decided to use his dismantle technique to end the fight. Josefu's cursed energy picked up on Sukuna's formation of his curse technique, so Josefu dodged it once Sukuna released his dismantle technique, effectively avoiding a connection with it.
Sukuna stood in place after the attack, unmoving. "Hey, we haven't even scratched the surface of your power. What are you waiting for?" Josefu asked. Sukuna was silent, staring at Josefu with consideration before he started to laugh excitedly, something Josefu understood as a sign of Sukuna's growing interest. Sukuna's curse technique, dismantle, was a quick slash attack often used on sorcerers and cursed spirits without issue. Yet, Sukuna rarely met an opponent who could dodge dismantle using simple curse energy reinforcement with little effort. Sukuna took it as a sign to turn up the heat and readied a new attack. Josefu noticed a change in Sukuna's stance and braced himself, using his curse energy to perceive what Sukuna wanted to do next. Sukuna manifested cleave, a slash attack that adapts to the opponent. Reading this move, Josefu had his curse energy recede from Sukuna's position, formed several small strands around his person to detect Cleave's immediate form, and waited for the attack. After Sukuna released cleave through a quick tap on Josefu's chest, Josefu used a splint second to utilize his absolute control over his curse energy to move it at the speed of thought to front of the slashes before they had a chance to adapt a second time, blocking the attack. However, Josefu went flying from the impact and speedily moved his curse energy to his back to shield him from the collision with the wall.
While Josefu fell, his intuition finally activated his Fire Tyrant technique. Josefu already used the two weakened hits he had from the alternate perspectives in the close-up brawl, so transporting himself to a safe place using his firebombs would be risky. Despite the risk, Josefu clenched his teeth and got ready to maneuver, knowing it would sting. Meanwhile, Sukuna mused over the response Josefu had to cleave, his first thought being that Josefu's technique was a powerful precognition effect, only to see Joesfu maneuver in the air by using a mix of his firebombs and curse energy reinforcement to propel himself away from the building. Sukuna's smile grew wider at the sight, fully understanding that Josefu didn't even give him the honor of witnessing his curse technique firsthand. The King of Curses lept out of the building, pursuing Josefu and laughing as he did so.
"There's no way I'm letting you escape after giving me a good thrill, brat!" Sukuna exclaimed, the desire for combat beating proudly in his soul. Josefu knew this would happen after he caught Sukuna's eye, so he decided to take the fight further away from the non-sorcerers and into the forests surrounding Mount Mushiro to force Sukuna to navigate quickly and buy time for Yuji to retake control of his body. Josefu and the King of Curses zipped through the forests, with Sukuna in hot pursuit. Meanwhile, Josefu continued to dodge Sukuna's attacks and threw a few attacks toward Sukuna to keep the King of Curses from realizing Josefu's exploitation of the ticking clock.
However, Sukuna suddenly disappeared into the shadows, putting Josefu on edge. "Stop holding back, brat, or I'll find those little friends of yours and destroy them with my bare hands," Sukuna threatened. Josefu calmly stretched his curse energy to search for any sign of movement that came at him. In Josefu's mind, this fight became a strict do-or-die scenario. If Josefu didn't keep Sukuna engaged, he would likely cause the deaths of Megumi or Nobara despite everything he has done to keep Sukuna away. Therefore, he finds Sukuna's position and rushes the King of Curses aggressively, acting upon his desire to end the fight quickly, even considering the threat Sukuna poses. The result of this choice ends with Sukuna caught off guard due to the jarring change in Josefu's fighting style. Yet, the King of Curses recovered, malevolently smiling, until he began to fizzle away, leaving Yuji in his place, on the brink of death. Josefu stared at Yuji solemnly, contemplating the first true deviation from Jujutsu Kaisen's narrative.