Jujutsu Kaisen: I Can Manipulate Time.

"I've always believed that improving in combat comes from constant fighting, so let's start by feeling it through the blade in your hand."

Maki and Megumi Fushiguro stood facing each other, each holding a wooden sword. The lesson began quickly, and before long Megumi was at a disadvantage, barely managing to defend himself in a flustered way.

While Maki attacked fiercely, she also offered advice on what he should do. After watching for a while, Hajime, wanting to avoid being bothered by Maki later, greeted Panda and the others, then slipped away.

"Gojo Satoru seems to need me for something. I'm heading out now, bye."

Hajime wasn't lying; Gojo had messaged him. When he arrived, he saw Gojo talking to Yaga Masamichi.

"Gojo-sensei, did you call me for a mission?"

Gojo leaned back on the sofa. "That's right. This time, the target is a Curse Master, quite infamous in the Jujutsu world. He travels around, creating or inciting malicious incidents to breed vicious Cursed Spirits."

"Previously, this person fled abroad, but recent intelligence shows he's returned to the country and is active again."

Hajime took the papers Gojo handed him and quickly scanned them. The information was clear.

There was a criminal imitating the modus operandi of a former serial killer. It was crude, and his tracks were quickly discovered.

But then strange events derailed the case. The murderer violently resisted arrest and was shot dead at the scene by police, but two days later reappeared and committed another bloody crime.

The police, barely suppressing the news, sought help from relevant parties. Investigators soon found the Curse Master's whereabouts.

Further investigation confirmed this dangerous Special Grade Curse Master was involved, and the report ended up in Hajime's hands.

"No Special Grade missions?" Hajime flipped through the intelligence. Though threatening to ordinary sorcerers, he showed a bored expression.

Gojo chuckled, scolding, "You brat, where do you expect to find so many Special Grade Cursed Spirits to exorcise? This one's already good. His actions are vile—you can exorcise him on the spot, no detention needed."

Hajime waved the papers nonchalantly. Yaga Masamichi, nearby, wanted to comment but held back. After Hajime left, Yaga said to Gojo, "Gojo, your student is only a first-year..."

Gojo chuckled softly, eyes hidden behind the blindfold. "He's almost second-year."

Seeing Yaga raise his eyebrows, Gojo continued before he could speak, "I know what you mean, don't worry. Hajime is much more capable than you think; he has the resolve."

…

Standing in front of an abandoned factory on the outskirts, Nitta Akari looked at the photo in her hand and said to Hajime, "This is it—the last place the culprit committed a crime. Intelligence suggests there might still be traces of Cursed Spirits inside."

Hajime nodded, formed a hand seal, and chanted a spell to erect a barrier. Amid Nitta Akari's "May your martial prowess flourish," he stepped forward.

The place had been abandoned for years; weeds grew waist-high. What should have been desolate was now marked by tire tracks and footprints leading toward the factory.

Hajime entered through the gate and immediately frowned. The overwhelming Cursed Energy felt like piercing wails of vengeful souls, making him uneasy.

"That's not right…"

Looking around the dilapidated workshop, Hajime noted unnatural cracks, damaged rusty machinery, and Cursed Energy residue everywhere—proof of a battle between Jujutsu Sorcerers or Cursed Spirits.

"If the intelligence is correct, I'm the first Sorcerer to handle this. These battle traces can only be related to the mission target."

"The police just left here yesterday, and now these traces appear. Did that Curse Master return to fight an unknown enemy? Is he that arrogant?"

"Clang…"

A sharp sound echoed through the empty factory, catching Hajime's attention.

Black magatama earrings dangled with wisps of mist, and Totsuka-no-Tsurugi slid out, caught by Hajime's hand.

He walked toward the sound and found a heavily rusted thick door. As if sensing Hajime's footsteps, the unknown entity inside suddenly slammed into the iron door with a deafening roar.

Hajime raised an eyebrow and sneered, "Want out so badly? I'll help."

The Totsuka-no-Tsurugi in his hand trembled slightly, and the iron door shrieked as it was sliced into pieces by four-way slashes.

A shadow rushed out. Hajime didn't move immediately but studied the strange creature.

"Is it a Cursed Spirit?"

The figure was roughly humanoid, but its face was twisted unnaturally, as if parts rotated and flipped. Its two arms were uneven—one large, one small—and a purple-skinned hand protruded from its abdomen.

Its body was covered in hard, spiky skin, and its lower limbs bent backwards at the joints.

Most striking was the thick left arm's hand, which wasn't really a hand but a heavy blade fused with flesh. That must have caused the earlier clang.

Hajime's confusion came from subtle differences compared to other Cursed Spirits.

Before he could think further, the monster charged. The swift, thunderous impact was immediately reversed as the monster trembled violently, slammed to the ground by immense force.

A vibrating hum followed, and the culprit—Totsuka-no-Tsurugi—was deeply embedded in the monster's chest, piercing the earth.

The sword in Hajime's hand had already become Onikiri. He observed the monster struggling to rise. The organ that might have been a mouth muttered indistinctly… Hajime listened closely, barely catching the words:

"Kill… kill you…"

He stomped the monster, which was trying to break free, back down. The concrete cracked underfoot, dust spreading.

Then, Hajime raised his sword and severed both arms with two slashes, saving effort. Using the tip of his blade, he prodded the clothes nearly fused with the monster's flesh.

Closer inspection showed it was wearing clothes. Hajime pierced an intact pocket on the upper garment, and from it fell… a notebook.

The monster instinctively tried to grab it but couldn't. Hajime picked it up. The notebook was palm-sized. He flipped open a page, his expression growing strange.

After quickly paging through, he disgustedly threw it aside. Now he knew: this monster was the resurrected murderer.

"His name was Matsumoto Den, right?"

The notebook contained vivid pencil sketches, but their content was deeply disturbing.

The intelligence was right—this depraved killer left behind "artworks" as traces, scenes that would sicken most but intoxicate him.

"Four words: unforgivable crimes. You got off easy."

He placed Onikiri's blade on the monster's—Matsumoto Den's—forehead pinned underfoot. With slight pressure, the sword could pierce the brain and shatter it.

But Hajime hesitated, pondering: ordinary people turn into Cursed Spirits after death, though they may lose their original selves.

But this one still wore clothes from life, carried real objects, and bled… and gave off an unusual feeling.

Hajime took out his phone, opened the camera, and took a photo of the monster. Then the photo showed the monster's full form clearly.

Ordinary people cannot see Curses, and some technologies like cameras don't capture Curse traces. So only one possibility remained: this monster wasn't a Curse formed from Matsumoto Den's death, but a creature made from his flesh.

"This situation… it's that Cursed Spirit!"

Hajime recalled a Special Grade Cursed Spirit that had left a deep impression: Mahito. Its Technique could alter the souls of those it touched, causing physical changes.

He carefully examined Matsumoto Den's condition. Since it was his first encounter with such a thing, he hadn't identified it at first. Without these signs, he might not have thought in that direction.

Remembering the fate of such victims, the outcome seemed irreversible. Even if there were ways to save him, Hajime wouldn't act. Death was already mercy enough.

He cut off the monster's head with one slash; the body went still. Pulling out Totsuka-no-Tsurugi, another question came: Matsumoto Den was here, so where was the Curse Master?

The traces around didn't look like they came from one monster alone. At least, Matsumoto Den had fought the Curse Master or his Cursed Spirit.

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