Jujutsu Kaisen: False Dawn

The screaming started too early.

Utahime Iori ran, her sandals clapping hard against the broken tile floor as the air grew thicker behind her—damp, warm, soaked in cursed energy. Her lungs burned. Her throat ached. Behind her, five shadows followed, all running. But she didn't need to look to know they were already fewer than when they started.

The curse was changing.

The cursed object—Ryomen Sukuna's Finger—was still clenched in its mouth, half-chewed, leaking spiritual bile like it was bleeding dread into the air.

She'd seen it firsthand. There was no mistaking it.

A special grade cursed object.

How?! How did they lose something like that!?

It didn't matter.

Because the curse that had found it and eaten it was evolving.

It was now the size of a cow, easily, but lurching. Its four arms were twisted and unnaturally long, flailing with thin skin stretched over bone like wet paper. The lower body—an enormous fish tail—dragged across the floor, soaking everything in cursed water.

And the faces…

One human-like, warped with fish eyes and bloated lips, twitching as it chewed.

Two more jutted from its shoulders, like screaming tumors—silent, mouths agape, but their eyes darting and twitching.

It was crying. Or laughing. Or screaming in pain. Utahime couldn't tell anymore.

It let out another shriek. Wet, vibrating. Like a conch horn being strangled.

And then—

Swoosh!

Utahime's head snapped around. Too late.

Blood sprayed.

One of the students—Kuroda—his leg was gone. Clean cut. He collapsed, shrieking in horror as he hit the floor.

"What—!" Utahime turned, horror overtaking her.

The curse had flung one of its skeletal arms and launched a slash of cursed water—sharp, impossibly fast.

Another sorcerer—a second grade—barely had time to blink before a blade of pressurized water carved through his neck. His head lolled sideways. He collapsed like a puppet with no strings.

"KAITO! KURODA!" she screamed.

Another hand grabbed her.

It was one of the second-grade sorcerers—Jin. His face was calm and cold, like he knew.

"We have to go!" He shouted and shoved her toward the exit.

Utahime stumbled forward, eyes wide in disbelief.

This wasn't a retrieval mission.

This was a massacre.

The group sprinted toward the exit—the rusted double doors of the building were now twisted half open.

And then—

WHOOSH.

BOOM.

A roar like thunder split the air.

A jet of high-pressure water blasted from the curse's shoulder, ripping through the air like a cannon. The blast shattered the doorway. Debris flew. One student was thrown into the air like a doll. The roof caved partially.

Utahime hit the ground. Hard.

Dust filled the air. Screams pierced through it—one of the students, still alive but broken, was howling for help.

Only two of the five remained standing. The others… lost to screams or silence.

Her hands trembled.

She couldn't breathe.

The curse was evolving faster than she could think.

If it finished eating that finger, it would become a special grade. A real one.

Everyone here will die.

The curse's wet footstep slapped against the tile. It was crawling through the broken doorway now, pulling its mass toward them like a drowned god reawakening.

Utahime pushed herself up, just in time to see the monster raise one of its arms.

A blade of water—larger, sharper, and far too fast.

It was coming straight for her.

She froze.

And then—

She was yanked.

Hard.

A tight force wrapped around her torso, her arms, and her waist and yanked her back like a hook had caught her soul. She flew backward, tumbling, and landed just outside the reach of the blade.

The attack crashed into the ground where she'd just been.

Dust and stone erupted.

She coughed, gasping, trying to find the shape of the thing that saved her.

And then—

A figure stood there.

Just ahead.

Ahead of her, someone stood—a figure in a hoodie, wearing school uniform pants. One hand was tucked into his pocket, while the other remained half-raised. He turned his head slightly, and she recognized him instantly.

That back. That slouch.

He spoke, his voice cutting through the tension. "Ah… what are you doing here, lady? Don't you know places like this are dangerous?"

The one with the strange cursed energy.

Her breath caught in her throat.

It was him—the boy from the shrine. But now, he stood between her and death.