The person was chanting a curse, but their hands were wielding the black magic.

"...Why?"

Shi Liulong seemed to have seriously considered the weight of the question, and finally patted Fu Hei's bare shoulder heavily beside him, saying loudly in a matter-of-fact tone:

"Because we are brothers..."

"That's not what I was asking!!!"

The black egret had fainted from shock at the loss of its brotherly bond.

"That's something I've never understood either." Nissan agreed and joined the discussion.

He looked calmly into Fu Hei's dark eyes and asked seriously:

"Can you tell me your reasons for not killing me?"

The sound of the sun-dried car was calm, as if it had no more concern for life and death.

"Not kill?"

Lu Ziyun scoffed, and the purple lightning around her began to flicker impatiently again.

"I've wanted to refine you all into cursed power for a long time. If it weren't for Fuhei stopping me, you bunch of..."

"Alright, Lu Ziyun 1."

Shi Liulong stopped Lu Ziyun from lashing out in time, turned his gaze to Fu Hei, and finally could only sigh.

"The rest."

"Let Fushiguro speak."

All eyes immediately focused on Fu Hei.

Fu Hei took a deep breath, and the slightly cool air, carrying a burnt smell, rushed into his lungs.

Slowly turning his neck, he calmly met the eyes of the sun-kissed man, which were filled with sorrow.

"Riche, why do you think society needs prisons?"

Nichisha paused slightly, clearly not expecting such a question. But almost without thinking, he answered in that lawyer's tone ingrained deep within his soul:

"In order to punish crimes, maintain order, and... give criminals an opportunity to reform and atone." The last half of the sentence was spoken slowly by Nichisha, as if he was savoring the weight of the word.

"so,"

Fuhei nodded, stepped forward, and closed the distance between himself and Riche Kuanjian.

"On behalf of the world of sorcery, I will also give you a chance to atone for your sins."

"But I..."

For the first time, Hiroshi Nichisha's eyes showed a noticeable change in expression:

"My crimes are far too grave."

"According to the law, this is enough to warrant the death penalty. I should...accept the appropriate punishment."

Faced with this sudden, role-reversed trial, Fukuguro did not answer immediately.

Instead, slowly close your eyes and stir up those blurry yet clear fragments of memory deep in your mind that belong to "another self".

……

He recalled Hisahito Itadori from the original work, after the Shibuya Incident, who was overwhelmed by guilt and constantly condemned himself as an accomplice of Sukuna and the Shibuya murderer.

What did Fushiguro Megumi do back then?

The answer given by Fushiguro in the original work is:

"Save me first."

He did not deny the painful realization that Huzhang compared himself to a "cog," even though he knew that such psychological burden was extremely unhealthy and almost distorted.

Instead, he used the act of saving Tsumiki to give Itadori a goal, a reason to live.

For "sinners" who still have a conscience and are still struggling with pain.

Death may be the simplest and most thorough form of release.

But it is also the cheapest and most worthless end.

Fu Hei never considered himself a saint with lofty ideals. He was filial to his father, he schemed against his older sister, and he would stop at nothing to achieve his goals.

But in this journey of death and destruction, in this desperate situation where everyone could get lost and their hands could be stained with blood.

He is willing to do everything in his power.

Give lost souls like Suncha a chance to live again and atone for their sins in another way.

"No."

After a long silence, Fukuro decisively rejected Hiromi Hitsugaya's almost self-abandoning negativity.

"The death penalty is too lenient on you."

"..."

Riche fell silent for a moment, his eyes wandering, seemingly unsure of Fuhei's thoughts, which left him feeling more confused than ever before.

"Of course you'll fight Nuo fiercely alongside me!!!"

"Let's fight!!!"

"Sukuna!!!"

The three of them sang in harmony, instantly dispelling the heavy and oppressive atmosphere in the room.

The person least prone to internal conflict.

Shi Liulong and Lu Ziyun gave their answers.

"What...?"

It was obvious that the honest man was completely out of sync with the three men's thought processes.

"You must have seen it during the trial just now, right?"

Fu Hei's smile faded, and he looked at Ri Che again, his tone becoming serious:

"The calamities, massacres, destruction, and deaths of tens of thousands caused by Hisahito Itadori's body in Shibuya, Tokyo..."

"These were all crimes committed after Ryoumen Sukuna forcibly controlled his body."

"That level..."

Nichisha's pupils constricted as he recalled the evidence presented during the trial of Mokuro, detailing his battle with Kosei Sukuna in Shibuya.

His face instantly changed from bewildered to extremely solemn and pale.

"Therefore, I need you, Nichisha."

Fukuro spoke clearly and frankly in the most honest and unadorned tone:

"I need your strength."

"Come help us."

"Kill Su Nuo."

Kill Su Nuo.

These four words, like the final weight, slammed heavily onto Hiromi Hitsugaya's scales, which were tilted by guilt.

The air fell silent again, with only the howling of the wind.

After a long silence, Hiromi Nichisha finally broke free from it.

Shedding its coldness and prejudice, it reveals a relieved clarity.

"I see."

"I'm sorry to ask you to consider my future at this time, given my guilty conscience."

"At this time,"

A genuine smile of pleasure finally spread across Fu Hei's lips. He stretched out his hand, palm up, and steadily presented it to Ri Che.

"What I should say is thank you."

Nichisha looked at the hand extended in front of him and paused slightly.

Then, he reached out his trembling hand and tightly grasped Fu Hei's hand.

One pull.

The sun car widens and stands up with the help of the force.

He stood alongside the figures of the three.

The warmth and pressure conveyed by the palm are enough to prove the promise and weight contained within.

Although they were fighting to the death in the field just moments before, Lu Ziyun only clicked her tongue in displeasure at the sight of this scene, and finally awkwardly extended her hand to express goodwill to Ri Che.

"Don't hold us back..."

"Also, if we're going to fight Su Nuo, I have to be the first one up."

At least, a temporary, fragile, yet purposeful atmosphere began to permeate the four men.

however.

"You're just going to your deaths!!!"

A mocking and angry scream abruptly shattered the brief harmony.

"Life driven by the promises of all humanity, of righteousness, of others—such a life will ultimately crumble under your own arrogance!"

"Not living for yourself, but challenging Sukuna?"

Wu Lu's chest heaved violently, whether from anger or fear, it was hard to tell.

"So eager to die? I'm not going to play along!"

"I'm leaving, don't stop me!"

She turned abruptly, tightened her ill-fitting uniform, and strode toward the other side of the ruins, adopting a resolute stance of leaving.

however.

Indeed, no one tried to dissuade her or stop her.

There was nothing but silence behind him.

Only the mournful sound of the wind blowing through the ruins and the ominous glow of the distant barrier of the sky could be heard.

This complete disregard caused Uruko a stinging sense of being scorned, more so than any obstruction.

"Hello!!!"

She finally couldn't hold back any longer, abruptly stopped, turned around angrily, and roared at the four men who were actually just watching her walk away, even starting to whisper about their next move:

"How dare you ignore me like this!?"

This turn of the head finally made Fu Hei, who had been scheming in his heart, unable to keep his inscrutable expression.

This kind of haughty auntie is the easiest to please.

"Hey, when did I ever plan to invite you, a woman, to share a meal with us brothers?"

Despite being severely reprimanded by the dung monster, the Stone Flow Dragon still couldn't forget its previous humiliation and refused to let the Black Heron sit on the table.

"Miss Wulu, I'm just respecting your opinion."

Fuhei spoke at just the right moment, putting on an indifferent expression, and continued to tease Wulu's emotions.

"What?!"

"If there's nothing else, we'll be leaving now. Please make yourself at home, Miss Uru!"

Fuhei once again used the Inch Stop tactic, without the slightest hesitation, and turned around first, directly ending the topic. He then led Lu Ziyun, Shi Liumulong, and Riche toward the depths of the Tokyo Barrier.

……

Pat, pat, pat.

Not long after.

A deliberate sound of footsteps followed closely behind.

The sound was loud, sometimes heavy, sometimes soft, and completely arrhythmic, like a sulking child deliberately increasing the force of his steps, trying to attract attention in this clumsy way.

Listening to the undisguised, even somewhat comical, footsteps, I followed closely behind them, stepping on the rubble of Tokyo's broken streets.

Fu Hei's usually expressionless face finally broke into a long-lost lighthearted expression.

"Welcome to the newest member, Uru."

Fu Hei slowly turned his head.

He bowed slightly, adopting an extremely formal, even somewhat ceremonial, posture, and spoke clearly to Uruhiro.

There was nothing else to it; I just wanted to see the expression on Wu Lu's face.

"snort……"

Uruhiko abruptly turned her face away, forcefully pulling at her overly wide collar to try and cover her slightly reddened ear tips. Her voice still carried a forced stiffness and awkwardness:

"I... I just had nowhere else to go for the time being..."

Though she said that, her bare little feet betrayed her true feelings.

They deliberately maintained a small distance, keeping a safe distance and steadily following at the back of the four-person team.

Although she had already recovered enough magical power to easily use the [Sky] spell at any time to tear open the plane of space and return to her most familiar and comfortable state.

But the egret still gladly accepted the oversized garment.

His gaze wandered aimlessly around.

As Tokyo's twilight began, I walked into a night that felt hundreds of years removed from the world I knew.

……

……

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