" H-Has the masked man completely changed? "
" What is happening? "
" It is flying... "
The words barely left trembling lips while chaos spread around them. Amid an endless number of voices and thoughts interweaving in a disconcerting murmur, Mui remained paralyzed, with eyes wide and mind trapped in a vortex of disbelief. Every flash of energy seemed very different from the chakra he knew, it was the same energy emitted by that child, and he, helpless, could only witness the astonishment and despair reflected on the emaciated faces of the prisoners. Along with the euphoria of the other advisors of the Grass Village
The power emanated from counselor Yukao with an almost palpable intensity. It was a strange and mysterious force, as unusual as it was imposing, capable of transforming the atmosphere into a canvas of infernal shadows and lights, at least that is how all the prisoners present perceived it. Could this perhaps be the wish that the box had fulfilled? That idea seeped into the minds of those present and of more than one advisor, provoking whispers of amazement and an almost feverish joy among the counselors.
" At last! This damned farce is over! We will rule the ninja world once again! Everyone will fall at our feet! " exclaimed the ram-head, raising his arms with delirious euphoria, while his eyes shone with the promise of a long-awaited revenge. His cry was lost in the echo of an atmosphere steeped in tension and fear, where every face seemed to mark the beginning of an inescapable nightmare.
Yukao, now with his face uncovered, showed an astonishing transformation. His skin, once marked by the lines of time so far removed from youth, now radiated an unusual vitality. Every wrinkle seemed to vanish under the power of a unique resonance that coursed through his body, endowing him with a volatile and turbulent energy. With an acute and penetrating vision, as if every detail were minuscule before his eyes, he observed his hands and his surroundings; in every blink the same energy that had turned him into something desired was visible, something that incited within him an insatiable thirst for power.
However, the thought of that man was no longer solely of the one who had physical power, that very same counselor. This new being, fed by a corrupt and perverse energy, possessed its own thoughts. Its existence had been confined in a dark nest of origin, a prisoner of time, so long that he did not know where he was now, but with a primitive emotion, and now, until the last offering of those filthy humans was presented as the supreme delicacy, what was needed to be reborn from the shadows, without delay, he devoted himself to absorbing every fragment of that dark energy, revitalizing himself to the point of feeling how his former, weak aura reemerged with a terrifying prominence, finally breaking free from the prison where it fed on the despair and accumulated resentment in every soul and pure energy from which it had become accustomed to taking, at least not now that it was filled with another that it did not even want to let go.
" Yukao? What will we do now? Just command us and we will mobilize immediately! " shouted the monkey-head counselor, her trembling voice imbued with a mix of desperate hope, already eager to mobilize and wanting everything to depend solely on that man, the chief counselor, just by seeing him with that force and aura with which he himself is capable of levitating, something that no ninja can do, only one in the world and he is the Rock Ninja.
The man, with an abyssal expressionless face, stared at her. The tension was such that a shuddering silence fell, while the soft wind played with the remnants of an energy that seemed to want to escape the horror of the moment. It was then when, in an almost supernatural way, the sky darkened. Dense and threatening clouds swirled, as if foretelling the arrival of a catastrophe. With an almost imperceptible gesture, ' Yukao ' ordered the box, the movement as subtle as the dance of his hand, from which dark whips emerged that were launched with inhuman speed, devouring the counselor in an instant. Her cry of surprise was choked by the violence of those lethal ribbons, leaving only the echo of an imminent tragedy.
Mui, unable to contain his terror, opened his eyes wide and instinctively recoiled, while his mind tried to comprehend the surrealism of the attack.
" Yukao, what the hell are you doing?! " he exclaimed, his voice laden with astonishment and despair, one of the other counselors.
Amid the chaos, a being with an appearance as strange as that of a demon rose from the shadows of the buildings; first it was a bubbling mass emitting the presence that had left Yukao's body, and with a disturbing calm, its eyes scanned each one of those present, while a smile devoid of emotion spread on its face. That smile, far from being compassionate, reflected the inescapable desire for a dark rebirth.
" That man perished by yielding to me. You, who longed to conquer the ninja world, will see your wish fulfilled " it stated in an imposing voice " The ninja world will kneel, and I will be the architect of its destruction, just as you have desired "
Terror gripped the counselors, who began to scream in fury and despair. " You! What are you, demon?! " one shouted, while his body visibly trembled, as if every fiber waged a battle between horror and disbelief. In front of him, behind the body that once was Yukao, had been transformed into a feathered monstrosity, resembling a colossal owl. A mouth full of sharp, torn fangs gave way to a grotesque image, as immense and slender as a bijuu, with reliefs that evoked unspeakable horrors.
" I am your worst nightmare... " murmured the being, in a cold voice that chilled the blood " You will provide me with the energy I need to live fully "
With those words, the creature emerged from the darkness, and a piercing shriek, like that of a fierce bird, soared into the air. Black and sharp feathers scattered in all directions, destroying everything in their path. Cries of panic, mixed with sobs and shouts for help, spread through the air, while the prisoners fled without finding refuge. Some were left stunned, in a shock that rendered them immobile, impaled by the edge of the feathers; others were dragged mercilessly toward the same box that seemed to devour them with an insatiable hunger.
The prison buildings, once so sturdy, began to yield under the pressure of the disaster. Fragments of concrete and metal crashed to the ground, mingling with blood and the weeping of the people. In the midst of that devastation, the semi-human being soared, levitating with a chilling coldness, observing the extent of its destructive soul unfolding in every corner of the place, with its enormous legs grabbing the surviving humans and throwing them into the box, into the total abyss of darkness.
Chaos had completely taken over the environment. Yūji, with his heart racing, clenched his fists while his eyes, wide with surprise and disbelief, tried to capture every detail of that nightmare. His breathing became increasingly labored; he could only think that this was nothing more than a cruel joke, a trap from which he never imagined he could escape. How was it possible that curses resurfaced in this new world? Why had that box, which had remained sealed for so long, enclosed such an immense curse? Does any of that even make sense? It is supposed that in that world curses do not exist, he could be the only one to create them, he did not understand...
" Th-This... must be a lie " he stuttered, not letting go of his surprise, while disbelief mixed with terror, he refused to believe it; he had just been born eight years ago... it makes no sense that there would be a cursed womb inside that box.
" As I see it, it is a curse " affirmed Sukuna, whose red eye narrowed as he looked more intently at the semi-human curse, which slightly reminded him of the blue-haired man, what was his name? " Well, what a surprise it has taken us. So, if indeed ancient curses exist, do these despicable humans not know how to use cursed energy? They should know how to mobilize the basics to fight it, chakra will not harm it, from what I see... " he said upon seeing one of those animal-headed counselors launch an earth jutsu, but nothing seemed to harm him.
The question slipped into the air, almost imperceptibly, while Yūji let his thoughts become tangled in the mess of the disaster, truly a soul-destroying mess in his mind as he tried to find logic in what his eyes dictated.
The humanized curse, impassive, observed the spilling of blood and death with a calm bordering on apathy. Every life that was extinguished bored it, since it was its soul extension that did everything, and its pale face barely showed any emotion.
Although it barely made a movement of an eye when it heard the voice of a man very close by, " Fire Style: Demon Lanterns! " exclaimed Mui, and suddenly, around him, fireballs with anguished faces appeared, launching themselves with determination toward the curse. But, in an instant, that dark, deformed hand like solidified darkness of the semi-human transformed into a lethal claw, dispelling the jutsu with an ease that denoted its immense power. The chakra, at that moment, proved impotent, incapable of causing harm to the creature, it was the second one that attacked it with that disgusting energy.
" The food is really annoying... " murmured the curse in an almost mocking yet apathetic tone, while it looked disdainfully at that human who could barely contain his gasps. It glanced sideways at its enormous soul part that began to instill more fear in the people.
After a long and silent moment in which it seemed that the world had stopped, the creature finally made its move. Soaring into the air, its arms stretched out and merged with the shadows hanging over the castle. With each gesture, it spread darkness into every corner, touching those who had found refuge, and even those who were out of reach, even after everything, fear cannot be hidden in its presence; any fear they possess that betrays them in their cursed energy, it will know. In a low and chilling voice, it whispered the words that sealed the fate of everyone, the first technique that had just come to its newborn mind
" Primordial Horror "
Barely uttered, those words became a sentence. A prisoner, hidden among the ruins and trembling with pure terror, clutched himself, hoping not to be discovered by that living monster. He kept looking back repeatedly, while the echo of laments and tearful, heart-wrenching screams mingled with the clamor of the disaster. Then, his eyes fixed on his feet, which were sinking into a dark, shifting mass that oscillated between an unsettling purple and a crimson red, as if something inhuman were being gestated at that very moment.
From the ground emerged a being that seemed to materialize all his nightmares in one. Its face was the reflection of every lost soul, every life snatched away. Its limbs merged into a grotesque amalgam, with multiple eyes opening in various parts of its body and mouths capable of devouring any being in a single bite.
" WHY, WHY DID YOU KILL US?! THE VILLAGE ONLY USED YOU! " cried voices intermingled in a desperate outcry, trying to drive away the reality of a horror that seemed immutable. Voices that did not seem to end.
The cry of that prisoner rose with force, as he struggled to free himself from the terror of seeing his own nightmare incarnate. Every person in that place lived their own version of terror, their pure screams trying to escape with all their might from what was materializing before them.
Daigo, for example, saw his father, the third Raikage, the very same, emerge from a dark mass that seemed to extend from his feet. The image, as surreal as it was devastating, every pore and detail, as he remembered it, was the same, as if he were truly standing before him, filling his heart with a mix of fear for the first time.
" F-Father... " whispered Daigo, astonished to see him there alive, his eyes emitting that disappointment, but above all, fury.
" You are the disappointment of everyone, you are my disappointment, I should never have had you as my son; now... I will make amends for this error, by finishing what I should have done since you were young " he said with a seriousness, the same coldness known by the man of the third Raikage, while his body was flooded with a dim chakra, yet endowed with an undeniable strength. Every word seemed to resound in Daigo's soul, who, for the first time, felt an internal shudder, subtle but profound.
Horror seized every being. Some saw monsters, others relived ghosts of the past; however, deep down, every gaze reflected the deepest fear, the despair in the face of the unknown. Yūji, immersed in his own skepticism, could barely believe what he saw: until even his own feet began to vanish into a voracious shadow. From there, as if emerging from an abyss, dense and murky forms arose, taking on the shape of monsters and human figures that seemed to reemerge from a past that in his heart he feared would return.
Fear, the curse, it seems, is even stronger with fear.
" It seems that this curse may be even more entertaining than those I have faced, I cannot believe what it has created... " mused Sukuna, letting out a soft, barely perceptible laugh. However, the echo of his voice was enough to fill Yūji's eyes with a subtle fear, while his mouth twisted into a grimace of pure terror. He did not want to turn around at that moment; his body told him not to, remaining in that position in which he refused to do anything.
Suiren saw Yūji's behavior, moving her head in a subtle motion; her eyes blinked slightly with curiosity, but seeing strange beings emitting unknown cursed energy made her cover Yūji like a shield.
The masses, once chaotic and formless, began to take defined contours. A head with the imposing figure of a volcano, a curse in which the eyes would be situated in wooden horns with a muscular body full of dark, stretched lines, a man in a traditional monk's robe adorned with a stitch on his forehead, a blue-haired being speckled with stitches and, lastly, a creature that evoked the figure of a humanized octopus. Each of these appearances was an experience of perdition, a reflection of past mistakes and of Yūji's darkest fears, of which, despite having overcome them, his fear was that in this world he would encounter beings like them again, perhaps not curses, but types with the same conviction.
Amid the general confusion, someone asked in a bewildered voice, possessing the same personality just as Yūji remembered them, swallowing nervously without turning around.
" Where are we? Weren't we killing in Shibuya? "
" It seems that we were indeed " responded another, while Yūji, tense and with his heart pounding uncontrollably.
Yūji, with his gaze lost ahead, turned his back on those beings; they all had the same voices ' they are not real, it is because of the technique of that curse, it is only the technique of that curse ' the child thought, trying to muster courage.
Amid that confusion, Sukuna let out a bitter laugh
" They are just as stupid " he commented, while Yūji, on edge, tried to stifle his disbelief by covering Sukuna's mouth. It was then that Mahito, the blue-haired curse, turned toward where the voice was heard, and encountered a red-haired child with a pronounced stitched smile; he approached, bending over to speak to him amid the confusion of where they were.
" Little child, do you know where we are? " asked Mahito with a smile that bordered on the macabre, hoping that the child could see him, delighting in the child's lost innocence, but to his surprise, before he could touch and disfigure him, he saw that the child did seem to react to his presence, simply remaining tense. For some strange reason, Mahito felt the need to play with that child. " Uh, can you see me? Eh? Can you see me? " the curse chirped, pausing before disfiguring him in order to get a reaction from the child.
In that moment, Yūji could barely process the magnitude of the horror ' Sukuna, what is happening! Shouldn't you not have any memory!? ' Yūji moved slightly away from the blue-haired man, and then saw from the others that their fears had also appeared, they were behaving like mindless monsters.
' I am just like you, because when I looked at the others, they have no consciousness at all and only want to kill; they should not have consciousness. '
The newly born curse felt a strange fluctuation from what it had done; in making its technique emerge, it no longer needed to invoke its soul part like the feathered monster. Its eyes moved in a specific direction, that place, for some strange reason, began to sink into the energy that it found delicious and that it took for its birth. Its eyes narrowed, finding a red-haired child alongside other beings from which it had formed its technique; however, it found something that made its apathetic expression change into one more expressive, it was, above all, a surprise.
" Does it have its own consciousness? " murmured the curse, moving slowly toward the child, its eyes narrowed with a disturbing glimmer, but it remembered the energy, that energy it saw in the child was the same it had taken in desperation.
A smile appeared on its face, revealing the excitement of having found something new. Something that when using its technique for the first time it did not think would bring forth something that made it feel enthusiastic.
" That child will be the best " it continued in a low voice " I will not kill him, but rather imprison him in the box. He will be my inexhaustible source, what will give me the power I have always desired, unlike those other filthy humans, and that energy, which is very pure and to my liking... "
Yūji, realizing the magnitude of what was happening, took a small leap and, with sudden seriousness, prepared to act. He did not know if those curses would retain the strength of old, but he cared little: what he desired was to face the threat once and for all.
" Sukuna... did you want fun? Well, here you have it kill them painfully... do it and do not hold back... "
From Yūji's side, he was not truly eager to face all five, and only fought with Mahito, taking into account all that he had suffered because of him; he only wanted Sukuna to give them the most painful death possible, if they even had consciousness, it did not matter to him.
Sukuna, reading every thought in the air, appeared with a disturbing happiness, letting the atmosphere fill with a laugh that was both a mockery and a promise " Since you ask... " he replied, letting his voice echo amid the clamor.
The child, suddenly, became motionless, his gaze closed in a lost gesture, while Kenjaku, still absorbed in analyzing his surroundings and his own body, felt strange, as if he did not belong to that specific place.
" Were we really in Shibuya? " he asked quietly, looking up at the red-haired punk and then at the place from which torn screams and moans emanated. The environment, far from being the bustling, chaotic city they knew, had transformed into a desolate wasteland, dominated by an imposing fortress erected in the middle of nowhere, with the sea as the only witness to humanity's decline. Then vast plains with fantastically enormous trees, it was strange.
Where are we now?
With a voice full of inexplicable unease, Kenjaku announced while still moving his eyes in all directions; he saw cursed energy, but it was strange, his intuition kept telling him that he was in an unknown place " This is not Shibuya, I do not know where we are right now "
While the curses, still confused, paused to listen to his words, Kenjaku turned his gaze toward the child who remained still, that child strangely behaved differently, though his surprise lay in what he had around his neck—a face that threatened them.
It was a curse, but this one felt different, what is that energy that hovers about it?
" What a... strange curse "
" This place also emits a disgusting energy, very pure unlike the cursed energy " the one-eyed being spoke, baring its black teeth in disgust.
" Someone like us is coming over here " Hanami said, causing Dagon, Jogo, and Kenjaku to turn around, while Mahito, who had been bothering the red-haired child, also looked toward the fluctuation.
It was a curse of disastrous grade like them, Hanami felt, but for some strange reason...
This curse felt more dangerous than they were.
" Who are you supposed to be? Were you the one who brought us here? " Jogo exhaled smoke from his volcano-like head, pointing at the semi-human curse as far as he could see.
Mahito, upon seeing that his appearance was somewhat similar to his, got excited, leaving the child, happily greeting " Oh, hello! Why did you pull us away from the fun? "
The newly born curse looked at them expressionlessly, but its mouth barely curved into a smile " I did not believe you had consciousness... you would only be led by the fear of the person... I suppose it is due to this delicious energy " it raised its hand gently, showing its cursed energy, which was of a greenish color but with blue lines almost blindingly white; Kenjaku opened his eyes in surprise at noticing the singularity.
" That is not just cursed energy... what is it supposed to be? What is your name! " the monk almost shouted, wanting it to say, but the curse that sat above them looked at them.
" ... Satori " its whisper was soft
" And you... are my puppets "