Tokyo Outskirts – Abandoned Cursed Storage Facility
The sky was clear.
Too clear.
Yuji stood at the center of the open field near the long-defunct cursed object vault, now buried beneath layers of soil and silence. In his hand, the black dagger once dormant now pulsed with life. Every time he touched it, he saw fragments of another world.
Shadows. Monsters. A throne of death.
He hadn't told Megumi everything. Not yet. Not until he was sure the dagger wasn't cursed.
But he knew something was coming.
And he wasn't the only one who felt it.
Kyoto – Training Grounds
Maki Zen'in moved like a demon through dummies enhanced by artificial cursed barriers. Megumi had developed a crude cursed-core simulation machine cheap and unstable, but enough to keep their reflexes sharp.
Megumi stepped back, analyzing the readings. "Cursed energy levels around the globe have dipped by another 0.2% this week. It's not dying it's being replaced by something else."
"Replaced by what?" Maki asked, panting. She adjusted her grip on her dual blades.
Megumi looked up, dead serious.
"I don't think it's cursed energy anymore. It feels... older. Deeper. Like primordial magic."
Jujutsu High Underground Vault
Panda and Inumaki, now the last two remaining instructors at the half-collapsed school, were reactivating old wards, fueled by sheer will.
"Salmon," Inumaki said grimly.
Panda nodded. "Yeah. Something's breaking through. Our world's not just being watched... it's being invaded."
They both looked at the sky above the campus dome.
The clouds no longer moved naturally.
Meanwhile Gojo's Hidden Refuge
Deep within a spatial void where time crawled, Gojo Satoru meditated, suspended mid-air. The Six Eyes had stopped reacting to cursed spirits months ago but now, they pulsed with a foreign signal.
Gojo opened his eyes slowly.
He grinned.
"So… the king of death finally found us."
He stood up and stepped into the light.
"I should probably say hello before he starts thinking I'm one of the bad guys."
Tokyo Moments Later
Yuji, Maki, Megumi, and Panda stood on the outskirts of the vault, facing a flickering veil in the air like a ripple in reality itself.
The black dagger in Yuji's hand burned. Shadows swirled faintly around his feet.
Something was crossing over.
Panda growled, crouching low. "I think it's time."
Yuji narrowed his eyes.
"We prepare like it's the end."
Maki smirked. "I've been waiting for something to punch."
Megumi unsheathed a cursed blade. "Let's hope we survive long enough to ask it questions."
And then
The air split open.
A black boot stepped through.
And behind it, the shadows followed.
The veil tore like paper.
Out stepped a man clad in black from head to toe his coat fluttering like a banner of war, his obsidian armor glinting even without light. His presence was overwhelming. Not cursed energy. Not something the Jujutsu sorcerers had ever felt before.
Pure death. Pure command. Pure shadow.
Behind him, the shadows moved alive, sentient. Humanoid silhouettes with glowing eyes lined up like soldiers behind a general.
Yuji's instincts screamed.
He dropped into a low stance, black dagger reversed in his grip. Maki raised her blades. Panda and Megumi stepped into formation, ready to unleash their strongest techniques.
But the man didn't move.
He stood there, eyes glowing violet, calm as the grave.
Then, he spoke.
"I'm not your enemy."
His voice was deep, emotionless, yet something in it echoed truth.
Still, Yuji didn't lower his weapon.
"Then what are you doing here?" he asked, steady but tense.
The figure tilted his head.
"Your world is under false peace. And whoever made it that way... is hiding something they don't want either of us to see."
Megumi narrowed his eyes. "False peace?"
Jin-Woo glanced at him.
"The natural order of your world is broken. Death doesn't flow. Cursed energy doesn't move. It's not peace it's paralysis."
Yuji lowered the dagger slightly. "...How do you know all that?"
The stranger raised one hand.
From behind him, a figure emerged from the shadows Igris, kneeling, his crimson eyes glowing beneath his helm.
"I've walked through a thousand worlds," the man said. "Watched many fall. But never have I seen a world frozen like this."
"I am Sung Jin-Woo. Shadow Monarch."
He stepped forward, and the dagger in Yuji's hand responded vibrating violently, glowing with black mist. The shadows beneath Yuji twisted.
Everyone tensed.
But Jin-Woo didn't react to their fear.
Instead, he stopped just a few feet from Yuji and looked down at the dagger.
"That doesn't belong to your world."
Yuji's fingers tightened. "Then what is it?"
Jin-Woo answered with grim certainty.
"It's the tooth of a Monarch. One who shouldn't exist anymore."
Silence.
A new presence rippled in the air. Stronger. Ancient. Mocking.
Gojo Satoru's voice echoed across the field, even before his body arrived.
"Interesting. So the king of shadows finally steps onto the board."
Everyone turned.
Gojo stood atop a half crushed lamppost, blindfold glowing faintly with Six Eyes' power.
He smiled.
"Guess it's time we figured out who's playing god in our world."
The shadows simmered around Jin-Woo as Gojo stood above them, arms crossed, eyes behind the blindfold glowing with veiled intensity. Yuji and the others were tense, ready to react at a moment's notice.
Jin-Woo, unbothered, looked at all of them.
"You think your world is at peace," he began, "but it's being manipulated… by a force you cannot see."
He stepped toward the cracked earth where the dagger had first pulsed.
"There is an entity above monarchs, above gods called the Absolute Being. It created balance in my world… and then broke it. Just like what's happening here."
Yuji frowned. "You're saying this 'Absolute Being' did this to our world?"
"No," Jin-Woo replied. "The Absolute Being was destroyed. But something is imitating it. Mimicking its control."
Maki narrowed her eyes. "And we're just supposed to take your word for it?"
Jin-Woo looked directly at her, calm but unwavering. "I've fought its echoes across other worlds. It uses peace as a prison. It silences death to hide what grows beneath."
Megumi looked down at the dirt, cursed energy flowing weakly under his fingers. "And what is growing beneath?"
Jin-Woo didn't hesitate.
"A new vessel. One forged from this world's suppressed chaos. A throne is being built here… but not for me."
The wind howled unnaturally.
Gojo chuckled darkly. "A cosmic god, silent war, shadow kings. You're painting a nice apocalyptic picture."
He leapt from the lamppost and landed softly beside Yuji.
"But here's the problem"
He tilted his head toward Jin-Woo.
"I don't trust anyone who walks through dimensions with an army of corpses."
Yuji finally spoke again, quieter this time.
"Even if what you're saying is true… how do we know you're not the one who froze this world?"
Jin-Woo's expression darkened, not with anger but with a quiet sadness.
"I would never steal a world's freedom."
His shadow shifted, and hundreds of eyes gleamed within.
"But I will burn down anything that already has."
The tension peaked. Every sorcerer's cursed energy flared. The air buzzed.
And then
The dagger in Yuji's hand cracked.
A thin stream of black smoke leaked out, forming a grinning mouth with four eyes familiar, ancient, and mocking.
"Heh… talking about gods again?"
Yuji stumbled back, eyes wide.
Megumi's expression froze.
Maki tightened her grip.
And Jin-Woo's eyes narrowed.
"That voice..."
From the smoke, a shape began to rise.
A fragmented spirit one that should not exist wrapped in the scent of death and kingship.
Sukuna... was awakening.
As the cursed mist twisted into Sukuna's echo, Sung Jin-Woo stepped forward not in fear, but with firm purpose. His eyes glowed brighter, shadows rippling like a living tide behind him.
Gojo narrowed his gaze. "What are you?"
Jin-Woo raised his hand. The ground trembled.
"Domain Expansion"
But not a Jujutsu Domain.
A Monarch's Domain.
Reality bent.
The sky blackened, and the sun vanished behind a dome of eternal night. The earth shifted into a scorched battlefield of ash and bone. Giant shadow soldiers stood frozen in time, swords drawn, like statues from a forgotten war.
Yuji and the others gasped. This wasn't cursed energy. It was primordial authority.
Jin-Woo floated above the group now, cloaked in power. His voice echoed across the darkened dimension.
"This is my Realm. My truth. And now… you will understand why I'm here."
The shadows moved, and a massive mural formed in the sky etched in writhing mist.
A vision played above them.
The Origin of War.
They saw the Absolute Being, a colossal figure shrouded in divine light, crafting two factions: Monarchs, born from destruction, and Rulers, born from order.
Then came betrayal.
The Rulers turned against their creator. The Monarchs followed war.
But then, one Monarch refused to follow fate and that was Sung Jin-Woo.
The mural shifted showing a new being: Itarim, the "final Monarch," cloaked in void and crowned in death.
Jin-Woo's voice grew darker.
"Apostles of Itarim was never meant to awaken. He is a twisted creation born from the Absolute Being's fractured soul. The one now pulling the strings in your world."
Yuji's eyes widened.
"Then the peace… the disappearance of curses…"
Jin-Woo nodded.
"It's a smokescreen. Itarim's Apostles are replacing your cursed energy with ancient magic. Once the transition is complete, this world will be harvested to fuel his rebirth."
Panda growled. "You mean… this entire world is bait?"
"Yes," Jin-Woo confirmed coldly. "And the dagger in your hand, Yuji… it's one of the keys."
The mural above cracked revealing black spires rising from within Earth's core. A throne was forming crafted from silenced souls.
Gojo clenched his fists. "And you expect us to believe you after throwing us into this nightmare zone?"
Jin-Woo's Domain began to fade.
"I expected you to listen," he replied. "But belief? You'll understand that soon enough."
As the world returned to normal, a shockwave erupted from the cursed dagger.
The fragmented voice of Sukuna cackled through the smoke:
"Looks like the game just started again."
The battle-ready echoes of cursed kings and foreign monarchs filled the air.
And just like that the silence of the world shattered.