Chapter 3: III
GENERAL POV.
Yuji Itadori had long since woken up. He was now in a secret hidden basement with his beloved teacher, Gojo Satoru. The two were going through the basics of Cursed energy and its applications.
Right now, Gojo had given Yuji a puppet Masamichi Yaga, the principle of Jujutsu High had created to train manipulating one's cursed energy.
"Hey, Yuji, did Sukuna talk to you about anything? Like a contract of sorts." The 15-year-old boy hummed, feeling like there was a gap in his memory… But there were in fact, two things he remembered.
"Uh, I'm pretty sure we talked about something. I'm not sure what though…" Gojo hummed, "Okay." He turned, about to walk away as he had a meeting with that very same Principle in less than a couple hours.
He was stopped as Itadori called out for him. "Gojo-Sensei. There was this other guy… He was tall, about as tall as you if I had to guess." Satoru stopped, his brows furrowing under his blindfold as he turned back.
"What?" 'That's impossible. Yuji hadn't encountered any other special grade cursed objects.' He took a good look at Itadori, causing the boy to stiffen. "A-And he and Sukuna talked, they didn't seem to be allies or anything cause Sukuna tried to kill him! He got cut in half, but he just glued right back together!" Itadori shuttered, remembering the way Rune' blood pulled his body together.
"…Did he give you, his name?" Satoru asked, leaning against the brick wall as his mind began to turn. 'Another incarnation inside Itadori…? That shouldn't be possible. His soul isn't strong enough for that. At this rate…'
"Rune. I think that's what he said at least." Satoru' frown deepened even more. That name rang in his head but there was not a single record he could remember that mentioned anyone named Rune.
"Okay! Thanks for telling me. I'm sure you'll be fine. After all, Sukuna isn't weak. In fact, by now that new guys probably dead." Waving Yuji's worries away. "Do you think you can switch with that guy?"
Yuji shook his head, "I tried multiple times, but I think he resisted it or something. I can't switch with Sukuna though either." Gojo' eyes widened.
"Y-You tried to switch with Sukuna? Ha! You're crazy!" Shaking his head with laughter, Satoru once again waved and with his back turned, addressed the boy.
"If that's the case then maybe they're busy fighting each other to the death. Either way, you'll be fine. If anything does happen, I'll be here to stop them." Yuji relaxed, feeling all the worry in his body subside a bit.
'Right, he's "The Strongest."' The door closed behind Satoru and Yuji was left alone. His only goal being to keep the doll in his lap from waking up and to finish the movies his teacher brought him.
Even though he trusts his teacher… A nagging feeling that something is wrong plagues his mind.
…
RUNE POV.
I don't know how long we've been fighting, but I'm starting to get the grasp of hand-to-hand combat. I'm able to keep up and even counter Sukuna all while slowly siphoning and bathing myself in his cursed energy. At this rate, his techniques will be mine sooner than I expected.
The more I fight him and get him to hit me with cursed energy infused attacks, the more I siphon off him. I'm sure he notices it, but I don't think he cares. 'What a crazy guy!' I mentally note, slapping away one of his punches.
His crazed smile is infectious. But his murderous intent is just as strong. Everything he's showing me, I'm picking it up instantly. 'I never knew my aptitude would be this good.' It made the smile on my face more genuine just thinking about how fast I'm improving.
I haven't even begun to use a large amount of my own cursed energy to battle this guy. My physical abilities are already stronger than his without it. But to make sure he stays engaged; I always ramp mine up a little higher than his own output.
Even though I'm actively trying to speed up imprinting his cursed technique on my own soul, I don't think that my idea of acquiring it is any better than letting time do its thing.
Itadori in the original manga still hasn't shown any signs of adopting it except for that one wild, but reasonable theory.
'That cut could've been from anything after all.' But even though I have my doubts, I still feel something from what I'm doing… I'm growing as a cursed spirit.
'This must be how Mahito, and the other disaster curses felt.' It feels amazing… Exhilarating even.
"What are you smiling about! You shouldn't be distracted!" Sukuna' roar brought me out of my thoughts, his pose was completely different than when he would use Cleave or Dismantle, his hands and arms as well as body positioning looked as if he were about to shoot an arrow…
'Black box!' This could be my biggest boon yet! If I don't time it correctly, I'll have to wait until the next time I can force him to use it, but if I time it just right, this could be my way into absorbing the most cursed energy from him I possibly could.
My smirk widened, "Give it your best shot, Sukuna!" I roared back, my arms outstretched to my sides in a t-pose. This is without a doubt the most disrespectful thing I could've possibly done to the man, but do I really care?
'I feel it! It's right there, it's within my grasp!' Sukuna scowled, his murderous intent growing stronger within an instant.
"You may be able to regenerate… But it's no use if you're destroyed entirely!" He taunted, doing his chant, and forming the flame arrow. The amount of cursed energy gathered within that ability is more than enough…
At least it should be.
With a maniacal grin, Sukuna released the arrow, and it flew at super sonic speeds through the air. My eyes widened, I didn't expect it to be so fast, but it's something I can still handle.
With my arms still wide open, I let the arrow hit me and upon impact, I grit my teeth as I felt it began to expand and release the cursed energy within it all throughout my body, as if it were trying to take over me.
The explosion was contained and as I let the cursed energy in, I began to circulate it, mixing it with my own. His dark red cursed energy mixed with my own, creating an even darker, more malevolent mixture.
I could feel Sukuna waiting patiently, most likely thinking I was done for. But I wasn't too focused on him… I felt something.
I felt something within my chest and stomach- Within my soul. My gears were turning, and my soul's makeup was shifting. A metaphysical lock had been broken and a dam had been relieved of its duties. All the cursed energy I had siphoned off the King of Curses had flooded my soul at once and mixed into a whirlwind of power.
I'm sure Sukuna could feel the change in my cursed energy, he's the most experienced out of everyone with this energy- Besides maybe Kenjaku.
Then it happened.
The energy compressed into a little, tiny core within my soul and cracks began to form. The shell casing broke off and dissipated back into my cursed energy stream, forever changing my genetic material… Leaving me with a superficial scar on my very being.
'It worked…!' "Ha… Haha! HAHAHA!" I broke out into laughter, my eyes opened wide, and something was clearly different. I could see better- It was like my eyesight doubled in quality.
"…You're one interesting curse." Sukuna' voice broke through my crazed laughter. "I was curious about what you were doing, so I played along. Trying to get a grasp on what you were trying to achieve. This was something I expected, but not this soon." He shook his head.
His hands in the pocket of his traditional Kimono.
"Was the reason you popped up in my domain, so I could essentially teach you everything I knew?" He asked, his voice lacking the familiar sarcastic, abrasive, and mocking tone.
It was replaced with a sense of respect.
"Yeah." I replied, finding no reason to be cryptic. "Circumstances led me to find you. I had goals I wanted to achieve." I shrugged, feeling the information about everything his cursed technique was capable of.
Black Box was essentially just one of his unnamed moves. It was still apart of his initial arsenal… However, his true cursed technique seems to be much crazier than I assumed.
'[Destruction…] His technique is nothing but destruction, and death. He's the harbinger for it- Hell, the avatar of Death even.' His existence was no doubt created due to the peoples fear of death and war back then.
I don't know much about his era, but I don't think it was always doused in war and destruction until he came along to spice things up.
"I see." He replied, his tone fell flat. "I had fun. Too bad I wasn't at full power. Maybe it would've been a bit more enjoyable. But you showed me something that I've never seen before. Be proud." He says with a nod.
And my only response?
[Cleave.]
The King of Curses falls into two. Split straight down the middle like he did to me when I first popped up in here. Everything that was his, is now mine. His experience, his abilities. Everything that he had thought precious to him was coursing through his cursed energy.
His expertise in domain expansion… Simple domain, it was like he WILLINGLY transferred everything he had to me through that last attack- "No way…" A realization hit me.
"You motherfucker." I say with a sardonic smile. 'He was already knowing he'd lose no matter what. Especially since I'm immortal and can fight forever. My strength and cursed energy output was better than his the entire time we were fighting and my only path from where I started was up.'
'He gave up.'
...
GENERAL POV.
As Sukuna died, his innate domain stayed the same. Something that essentially confused Rune. He was sure that the stability would be shattered due to the lack of a catalyst. However, what he didn't know, is that Sukuna essentially put his "Trust" in him.
The King of Curses was no more- For the time being, but he still had other soul fragments. While he did transfer all his experience and knowledge to Rune with every cursed energy attack he mustered through their week long fight, he was slowly educating the newborn curse.
Something resonated within Rune that Sukuna could relate to. What that was? Not even he knows.
But what Sukuna does know, is that soon- There can only be one King of Curses, and only one can live to tell the tale.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone