Chapter 298: Chapter 298: Rematch with Uraume
Sitting in the back seat of a car, Fushiguro Megumi suddenly narrowed his eyes sharply. His face showed shock and disbelief.
"...Dad?"
Just a second earlier, a rush of strange memories had suddenly flashed through his mind—scenes from his childhood that he had never recalled before.
In those memories, his so-called dad came back during Megumi's first year of elementary school after abandoning him, said a bunch of weird things, and then took him and Tsumiki in.
Fushiguro Toji… or was it Zenin Toji?
During the attack in Shinjuku, the curse user who used a spirit-summoning technique—the person he summoned was actually Megumi's biological father!
Fushiguro Megumi was momentarily stunned. A mix of emotions rose inside him—confused and conflicted.
But more than anything, what were these strange memories all about?
Now wasn't the time to be distracted. They were rushing toward Ginza at full speed. Fushiguro Megumi pressed his lips together and decided to push these thoughts aside for now.
But then, a sudden and very important question hit him.
What about Tsumiki?
Could her situation have changed too?
As hard as it was to accept, if his biological father—the same Zenin Toji who had taken him in—was also the one who had taken in Tsumiki,
Could that have stopped the curse that took hold of her?
Just thinking about it with no proof made the spiky-haired boy feel restless. The soft seat under him felt like it was covered in nails. He wanted to jump out of the car and rush to check on Tsumiki right away.
Sitting next to Fushiguro Megumi, Itadori Yuji noticed something was off and asked with concern, "Fushiguro, what's wrong?"
"…It's nothing."
Fushiguro Megumi slowly let out a breath, forcing himself to calm down.
Now wasn't the time. Once everything was over, he could go see Tsumiki then.
"Ah, don't tell me you're nervous?"
The orange-haired girl in the front passenger seat turned her head and grinned as she teased him.
"Of course not, idiot," the spiky-haired boy shot back, clearly annoyed.
"You do seem nervous…" said Yoshino Junpei from the back seat, sitting on the other side of Itadori. He had his hands clasped tightly. "Aren't you guys nervous at all?"
He was the weakest among the four. Even though he had trained with Nanami, he still had a long way to go compared to the others.
During the last attack in Shinjuku, he hadn't been able to do much—he only held off a weak curse user.
This time, now that he was a little stronger, he hoped he could do more than last time.
"What's there to be nervous about?"
Kugisaki Nobara leaned back with her hands behind her head and said casually, "We've got Gojo-sensei and Yukinoshita-senpai with us. Those two are like monsters—we're just tagging along for the ride."
"You can't think like that," Itadori Yuji replied. "Even Gojo-sensei and Yukinoshita-senpai can't be everywhere at once. There'll be things we need to handle too."
"Itadori's right," Ijichi Kiyotaka chimed in from the driver's seat. "This attack isn't some small thing. Choosing Christmas Eve for it was part of the enemy's plan—they're clearly prepared. There's a chance they already have a way to deal with Mr. Gojo, so we can't let our guard down."
"If that weren't the case, we wouldn't have mobilized everyone from the school."
As he finished speaking, Ijichi stepped on the brake and pulled the car over to the side of the road.
In front of them stood Nitta Akari, who was helping other support staff keep the barrier up and stop enemies from breaking in.
Everyone got out of the car, and Itadori Yuji greeted her warmly, "Long time no see, Miss Nitta!"
"Oh, it's you guys," Nitta Akari nodded and said, "To make the barrier as wide as possible—so we can trap the curses inside but still let the civilians escape—we made a binding vow. The barrier doesn't stop anyone from going in or out, even curse users."
"Hurry up and get in. Yukinoshita is already inside. We can't let her fight alone."
That scene of the black-haired girl saving her earlier—how cool she looked, how smooth her movements were—it was burned into Nitta Akari's memory.
From today on, she declared herself Yukinoshita Yukino's biggest fan.
As for Gojo Satoru? She barely remembered the guy.
Now that backup had finally arrived, Nitta Akari couldn't wait to send them in. She didn't want her idol to overwork herself.
"No problem, we're going in right now!" Itadori Yuji rolled his shoulder and gave a big smile.
But just then, Fushiguro Megumi, who had been quiet the whole time, suddenly sensed something. His eyes went wide, and he shouted, "Hey! Get out of the way!"
Before he even finished speaking, a shadow spread under their feet. A toad's head popped out from the shadow on the ground.
Before it even fully appeared, its tongue shot out like an arrow, stuck to Itadori's back, and yanked him away.
"Whoa!"
Itadori Yuji was startled by the sudden move, but in the next second, a sharp flash of icy blue light streaked through the air and stabbed into the concrete where he had just been standing.
Everyone turned to look and saw it clearly—it was a sharp ice spike, giving off waves of cold air.
Itadori instinctively held his breath. A chill ran down his spine.
He had almost died without even knowing how.
Fushiguro Megumi was just as confused.
His body had moved on its own before his mind could catch up. The move he used earlier was an incomplete summon of a shikigami... but when did he even learn to use that kind of technique so smoothly?
"Thanks, Fushiguro," Itadori Yuji let out a deep breath and thanked his friend.
"Cut the talk, the enemy's here."
The two turned around at the same time and looked up at the rooftop of a nearby three-story building. "It's that ice-curse user from the last time at the school."
There, standing against the bright full moon, was a white-haired girl with a round, bob haircut. She looked down at them coldly.
There was no doubt—her target was still Ryoumen Sukuna, sealed inside Itadori Yuji.
When she saw Itadori saved in time by Fushiguro, Uraume clicked her tongue in annoyance, her face cold as ice.
"I was hoping to save some effort... whatever."
One or two attacks, doesn't make much difference anyway.
Uraume stepped off the rooftop and let herself fall, pulled down by gravity. The moment she landed, sharp ice spikes shot up from the ground and spread quickly toward Itadori Yuji and Hayato.
Everyone dodged. Only Itadori stepped forward and threw a punch. The cursed energy wrapped around his fist exploded out, shattering all the ice spikes in front of him.
"You again!"
The pink-haired boy stared at Uraume, his eyes full of determination. He said seriously:
"This time, there's no way you're letting Sukuna out that easily again!"
...
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