Curse Return: Swordsmith Start

The situation was instantly reversed. No matter how powerful Tiger was, he was just a novice who had only been in the world of magic for three days. Facing a top-level cursed spirit after losing his arm and weapon, he unsurprisingly felt the fear of death.

But he made all of this himself, so he can't blame anyone else.

It was after he felt he could handle the situation that he sent Fushiguro to find Kugizaki, who might be in danger. It was also because he thought the enemy in front of him was not so invincible that he chose to fight him one-on-one. However, reality taught him a harsh lesson: never underestimate your opponent.

In the time that followed, the unrestrained laughter of the cursed spirit made Tiger truly understand the fact that in this world called curses, he was just a weakling.

Regret, sadness, anger, helplessness...

After succeeding, the curse became rampant, its power bombarding Tiger's body, tearing it apart bit by bit. Unparalleled pain and fear assaulted Tiger's consciousness, like a resounding slap across the boy's face. Suddenly, the image of Yue Ren saying, "Maybe we'll encounter a top-tier enemy on the next mission," flashed through his mind.

So what my senior said was true. A truly powerful enemy is not something a newcomer like myself can handle.

His unwavering belief, which had not yet been truly tempered, began to waver under the fear of death.

The brief loss of consciousness caused the cursed spirit to kick around the human it had rendered 'threatening' like a child who had received a toy.

Tiger began to question the meaning of life through repeated close encounters with the ground.

Only then did he realize how ridiculous his so-called "enlightenment" was in the face of a fist that could kill an ordinary person instantly with each strike.

The reason why Tiger is still alive is simply because his body possesses extraordinary strength.

Humans instinctively avoid pain. Perhaps successfully enduring it will strengthen their will, but most people cannot. Once they choose to give up, their will weakens and their spirit becomes corrupted.

However, there are always special people in the world.

Those with unwavering determination, when their will is about to be consumed by negative emotions, will have their hidden will ignited, and they will choose a completely different path, refusing to allow it to be tainted.

Tiger was that kind of person; in this painful moment when he was about to lose consciousness, he remembered his grandfather's words.

"You are strong, so you should help others; in doing so, you are also helping yourself!"

At this moment, those words that were once just light words have gradually gained real weight after the painful trials.

Sometimes, a person's inner potential is only fully developed when they truly face a life-or-death crisis.

Gojo Satoru values ​​this more than Echigo, so his training methods are more focused on practical combat.

In a sense, neither of them was right or wrong; they just had different approaches and focuses. At that moment, Tiger did indeed experience spiritual growth.

Under this soul-shaking attack, Yuujin Itadori truly stepped into the world called "Jujutsu World," and his identity and self-awareness changed.

Having grown, Tiger stood up from the ruins on his own initiative. Even though he was seriously injured and exhausted, he still chose to use his "broken" body to throw a punch in resistance against "death".

......

Outside the battlefield, Ijichi, who was outside the "tent," clearly sensed that something was wrong. The inside of the barrier was too quiet, and the signal that the three boys were supposed to send on time had not appeared. Based on his years of experience, he had a bad feeling that something was probably wrong.

What should we do? Where can we seek help now...?

Just as he was extremely anxious, the "tent" in front of him suddenly moved.

Fushiguro helped the injured Kugizaki out, and Ijichi looked delighted.

For Fushiguro now, as long as he doesn't encounter a top-tier cursed spirit, there's almost no need to worry about his safety. And indeed, that's the case. He perfectly completed the task that Itadori asked him to do, finding Kugizaki.

Meanwhile, because Kugizaki had upgraded her equipment, when Fushiguro encountered her, she had already taken down the surrounding minions with the endurance granted to her by her weapon. The only price she paid was depleted spell power and minor injuries.

This relieved Fushiguro, who had found Kugizaki.

Originally, Kugizaki, being a righteous person, planned to go with Fushiguro to support Itajitsuki. However, considering that the other party was a Special Grade Cursed Spirit and that Itajitsuki had entrusted him to take the others out, Fushiguro ultimately did not agree. Instead, he directly sent Kugizaki and the victims out, while sending a 'signal' to Itajitsuki, who was still at the scene.

This was their agreement: once Kugizaki was returned to safety, they would have their shikigami "Tamainu" bark to remind Itajō that the restrictions could be lifted if necessary.

Everything seemed to be going as they wished. Tiger, who was already on the verge of his limit in the center of the battlefield, did not hesitate to switch to Grandpa Su Nuo to take over after hearing the bark of the Jade Dog.

Although his will awakened, it was ultimately no match for the fact that he was already exhausted. After confirming that it was indeed the signal sent by Fushiguro Megumi, he made what he believed to be the right choice.

Unsurprisingly, his actions thoroughly angered our Master Su Nuo.

"Tch, this kid is really annoying, he completely looks down on me."

Su Nuo, who had switched out of the game, stretched his shoulders.

Bow down.

The right arm is gone.

Blood was still flowing from the cut, and it was warm. The boy hadn't had time to do anything about it, and now he was at risk of losing too much blood. In addition, other parts of his body were missing.

He'd been dealt with terribly. His battered body made Su Nuo feel a little better; it seemed this little brat had suffered quite a bit.

He glanced at it, without even frowning, and showed no intention of helping to heal it with the Reversal Technique.

While pondering how to make Tiger suffer even more, he approached the severed arm.

Ignoring the severed arm, he picked up the short knife he was still holding.

Looking at the exquisite design, an interested smile appeared on his face.

(Interesting. That interesting kid actually has such skills. Is it a legacy passed down from that time? He's quite strong too, like that white-haired guy? And this design... it seems that kid has quite the ambition. Hahaha, this is getting interesting!)

Although he couldn't control this body inside Hu Zi, he knew everything Hu Zi saw. Naturally, he also knew exactly who Yue Ren was, just like Hu Zi did. He found the boy increasingly interesting.

As the cursed king from a thousand years ago, Sukuna's observational abilities are undoubtedly terrifying; he even discovered the special features of this "cursed artifact" without needing to know much about it.

It absorbs the surrounding curses at all times, storing them as positive energy after the reversal of the spell, while the excess dissipates. Is this how it tries to "purify" the environment? What a foolish and laughable act.

(Forget it, we'll talk about that brat later. Right now, we need to figure out how to make him despair. If we just go straight there, we'll probably be switched out halfway. So the best way is to have this guy next to me deal with his partner. Hmm, that's it...)

Having thought things through, Su Nu waved to the trembling, top-tier cursed spirit beside him, as if directing his own dog.

"Let's go, I'll take you to deal with another brat, consider it a walk."

But Dai Tian, ​​who was opposite him, did not stand still. Instead, he jumped away as if he had been frightened.

Having just been born and not yet possessing sufficient intelligence, it could not regard the creature before it, which was not a "curse," as one of its own.

Faced with this enemy who suddenly belittled and looked down on it, coupled with the fear brought by the opponent's pressure, it did not hesitate to fire out a spell energy cannon that it was most proficient in.

Su Nuo offered his most honest opinion on this reckless behavior.

"idiot!"

Suddenly, flesh began to wriggle at the site of the severed right arm, and in less than a second, the right arm regenerated successfully.

This energy cannon shot was easily blocked by Su Nuo.

"Oh no, help him heal this arm too. Oh well, the cursed spirit wouldn't leave its birthplace anyway. Since that's the case, then you can just die."

Su Nuo's lips curled up, and in the next instant he appeared beside Dai Tian, ​​grabbing his head and slamming it to the ground before the other could react.

The ground shattered instantly, and the cursed spirit was severely injured. But it wasn't over yet. Su Nuo followed up with another kick, directly crushing the reinforced concrete ground and descending to the next level.

Dai Tian barely managed to escape from the air, the terror on its face becoming more and more obvious. It sensed an extremely ominous aura, something indescribable—like prey suddenly encountering a hunter, as if being watched by death.

Driven to its wits' end by this feeling, it threw a punch.

That punch, aimed at Su Nuo's face, carried a piercing shriek that tore through the air, and the power to shatter a building.

Su Nuo raised his hand, his five fingers spread open.

It caught.

The next moment, Dai Tian froze. Suddenly, it began to vomit blood. Looking at its fist again, it realized that it had been removed from its body by the other party.

"In this era, people like you and me are called 'top-tier,' right? But do you know that's just a lazy label used by that bunch of trash?"

Su Nuo's voice was soft, with a hint of teasing, as if he were playing with his pet.

Dai Tian's attack paused for a moment.

In that instant, fear completely engulfed it.

It stopped attacking, retreated frantically, and created distance. It looked at the man standing still, his breathing perfectly steady, at his smiling face, at his scarlet eyes, and chose the same method it had used against Hadana before.

Raise your hand.

Bring your index and middle fingers together and aim them at Su Nuo.

Make a shooting gesture.

Su Nuo raised an eyebrow.

"Oh? Is there a surprise...?"

Something was gathering at Dai Tian's fingertips.

That's cursed power, is it going to be fired from the fingertips? What? This is even weaker than the previous attack...

In Su Nuo's bored gaze, it pulled an invisible trigger.

The next instant, without warning, a bloody hole exploded in Su Nuo's chest.

Blood splattered out...

Su Nuo's half-closed eyes widened slightly as he looked down.

There was a fist-sized wound on his chest, running from the front to the back, and blood was gushing out of the hole, staining Haddō's clothes red and dripping onto the ground.

He smiled, then looked up at Dai Tian.

"Interesting, this is... a spell?"

"Did you do it yourself? No, this sense of incongruity is like a part of it being forcibly incorporated... It was given to you by someone else, hahaha, interesting. Has such an interesting cursed spirit actually appeared in this era?"

Completely disregarding his injuries, the demon named Sukuna, excited by discovering something interesting, laughed wildly.

Dai Tian, ​​who was opposite him, was completely dumbfounded.

It looked at the man who had been shot in the chest, watching the wound heal at a speed visible to the naked eye. It couldn't understand why the killing move its 'partner' had given it had failed.

Why could the other person heal themselves just like me after suffering such injuries? Isn't the other person human?

Unfortunately, its newly developed intelligence is insufficient to support it in solving such complex problems on its own.

"Well done, Cursed Spirit. I thought it would be boring, but you actually have something interesting about you. Hmm, I'm very satisfied. Bring out anything else. If it pleases me, I might not let you off the hook."

But clearly, this is this guy's last trump card.

After several rounds of stimulation and confirming that there were no other methods, Su Nuo finally felt bored.

"The opportunity is perfect. As a 'thank you' for making me happy for a moment, I'll show you what real 'curse magic' is. After all, neither you nor that brat know anything about so-called 'curses'!"

Feeling threatened with death, Daitian was terrified. It wanted to run, but its legs wouldn't obey it.

It could only stand there, watching the man put his hands together in a mudra.

"Domain Expansion—"

Like a drop of water falling into a calm lake, creating ripples, the surrounding space sways slightly like the water's surface.

"The Demon-Slaying Chef"

The shrine of the evil god appeared behind the man, and its full manifestation seemed to take a second, but in reality, before he even realized it, the super-grade cursed spirit that had turned Tiger into a dead dog had already been instantly cut into five pieces, even with Su Nuo holding back his power to the extreme.

Sometimes the gap in reality is just that huge. It is indeed a top-tier spell and has been enhanced, but if it were to encounter an ordinary sorcerer, even a level one sorcerer like Mingming, it would be possible to kill it by using a killing move that the opponent does not know about.

Given more time, it's not impossible for it to evolve into a cursed spirit on par with the Four Great Calamities.

But even with such strength, even if it could immediately form its own domain, it was unlucky. In front of the true King of Curses, it was still no different from an ant, despite being a strong special-grade cursed spirit.

Su Nuo stopped in front of it.

I raised my hand and placed it on its chest.

"Interesting. A portion of another cursed spirit has mixed into your body. The effect is similar to a 'catalyst,' enhancing your strength to the point of 'sublimation,' allowing you to condense a forced attack technique. However, the price... hehe, you're completely controlled by that cursed spirit without even realizing it."

"Everything is unilaterally open, so-called complete control... Interesting cursed spirit."