Yuji sat in silence, sulking over the recent events and just grateful of Yuta for stopping him. He had regained control of his body after Sukuna was beaten, but the damage had already been done, he didn't care his body was badly beaten, he healed fast enough but what he cared about the city, Shibuya was as good as gone.
Sukuna had taken over, rampaged through Shibuya, and would have killed countless innocent people—if not for Yuta's intervention.
"If not for him then all those people by now would have died, Non-sorcerers and my friends, it all becuase I couldn't control Sukuna..."
Choso sat nearby, watching Yuji with a concerned expression. After learning that Yuji was one of his brothers he was staying with him. "It's not your fault, it's Sukuna we are talking about, he is the strongest curse there ever existed, not to mention this wouldn't have happened if that curse user hadn't been playing with all of us from the start," Choso said, half consoling Yuji while after angry on what Geto did. Of course, he also knew by now that it was Kenjaku.
Choso understood Yuji's pain better than most. He had lost his brothers, and even though he had once been an enemy, he now saw Yuji as family. "And that friend of you's stopped you right," Choso said firmly. "There was no harm done, so stop sulking."
Yuji wanted to believe that, but he couldn't shake the fear inside him. What if next time, there was no one like Yuta to stop Sukuna? The fact that Yuta was missing and Gojo was sealed didn't help him in this regard. He didn't believe that Yuta was killed, the boy has pulled a vanishing act before only to come back after mastering Super Saiyan...
So he made a decision—he would distance himself from others. Until he could suppress Sukuna, he couldn't risk being around people he cared about. If he isolated himself, he wouldn't put anyone in danger.
But fate had other plans. While they were hiding someone came looking for Megumi. And just like that, Yuji was once again pulled into the chaos, whether he wanted to be or not.
Naoya Zenin had only one goal—to find and kill Megumi Fushiguro. With his father, Naobito Zenin, dead, the position of the Zenin Clan head was up for grabs. According to his father's will, Megumi was the rightful heir though, and of course, he can't have that now can he? So, he did what people have done since the dawn of time, kin slaying...
He had assumed that Megumi would be with Yuji Itadori, so he tracked Yuji's whereabouts, hoping to find both of them together. But when he arrived at his target location, Megumi was nowhere to be seen. Instead, he found Yuji and Choso.
Naoya had not come with the intention of fighting Itadori, but seeing him there, he decided he might as well test his abilities. He also saw Choso where and unfortunately he had no information on him.
However, he didn't care, he was a powerful first-grade sorcerer in his own right. He didn't care about some no-name sorcerer or curse user.
"Where did he go" Yuji's eyes widened and suddenly Naoya standing in front of him vanished like a ghost only for him to appear right behind him.
'He's fast...' Choso sensed him first and he didn't like the initial speed comparison between them and the enemy.
Naoya's Projection Sorcery gave him an overwhelming speed advantage. By creating 24 frames per second of movement, he was able to outmanoeuvre both Yuji and Choso with ease. Every time Yuji tried to land a hit, Naoya had already moved. Even Choso, despite his Blood Manipulation and years of experience, struggled to land a hit, someone had said it right, speed defines the winner in most cases.
However, just like most typical Shonen protagonists, Yuji had one big trick under his sleeves, it wasn't plot armour, in this case, my man might be the worst off if Protagonists were concerned, no he had the ability to adapt mid-battle, and while he was no Mahoraga with the wheel on his head but he soon started to get used to Naoya speed to the point he actually was able to handle him.
However, Just when it seemed like things were getting slightly better, a new presence arrived.
"Yuta..." Yuji shouted seeing the familiar face in front of him.
"Are you Itadori Yuji." However, what the boy said didn't make sense. And that was also when Yuji realized like others that the curse energy radiating out of the boy in front of him was nothing like Yuta, Yuta felt like Maki in many senses, no even worst than Maki, he let out no curse energy.
While this boy here, he was completely drenched in it, so much so that his presence itself would put pressure on low-level curse spirits.
"You, you are Okkotsu," Naoya said, though he hadn't seen Yuta but he was aware how what the youngest Special Grade Sorcerer looked like and that was Okkotsu. And while he knew that both shared the name but he didn't know that they also looked alike.
More than anything, he didn't believe that it was Yuta Hiro who defeated Sukuna. If his father hadn't died when maybe he would have told him. But took those higher-ups nonsense over what rest of the jujutsu society was saying.
Okkotsu's sudden appearance shifted the balance of power immediately. Okkotsu a special-grade sorcerer, was a far greater threat than either Yuji or Choso alone. Unlike them, he was someone Naoya knew he couldn't take lightly.
However, what happened next was even he didn't believe...
"I'm here to kill Itadori Yuji... don't interfere," Okkotsu said while looking at both Naoya and Choso.
Naoya Zenin hearing Okkotsu smirked as he watched Yuta Okkotsu step onto the battlefield. He hadn't expected to see the special-grade sorcerer here, but when he saw Okkotsu following the execution order, he was surprised but only for few seconds.
"Well, well, so you're here to kill Sukuna's vessel, huh?" Naoya said, his tone amused. He glanced at Yuji, who was catching his breath, and Choso, who was glaring at him. "Can't say I care much about this brat, but I've got my own reasons to be here."
He turned to Okkotsu, with a smile like they were friends. "How about a deal? I'll handle curse user—" he gestured toward Choso "—while you take care of Itadori. But, I have one small request."
"Don't report his death to the higher-ups just yet. I need to lure someone out. What you say?"
He tilted his head. "It's not like Itadori's going anywhere, right? Once he's dead, he's dead. No harm in keeping it quiet for a little while."
Naoya waited for Okkotsu's response, and to his relief Okkotsu nodded.
"Fine," Okkotsu said and then rushed as Yuji.
xxx
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