9 Chapter 09

Itadori was, in Sukuna's eyes, an interesting person.

Of course, he disliked the boy simply because he was trapped in his body, but the fact that he was capable of being so restrained was enough to interest him.

Itadori seemed to be the perfect prison to contain someone like Sukuna, since there were a few things that made it the perfect container.

Sukuna was unable to access any of Itadori's memories or thoughts, limited only to observing what was happening outside through his eyes.

For Sukuna, it was as if he was trapped in a cell, limited to just looking outside through a small window.

Itadori also seemed naturally able to prevent him from manifesting himself in any way, whether by thoughts or through a manifestation of his mouth.

It was annoying, but at the same time quite interesting. Someone being able to hold someone else's soul captive in this way was definitely not something that should be possible naturally.

What's more, Itadori seemed quite talented, since he had been able to manipulate cursed energy in a short period.

Sukuna could see all this. Itadori was definitely someone who could become powerful in the future.

But the idea of letting this happen left a bad taste in Sukuna's mouth. 

He was someone who liked to nip problems in the bud. He had no intention of letting someone like Itadori grow to such an extent.

Itadori's existence irritated him simply because it was a perfect prison for him. 

Compared to someone like Gojo, Itadori was insignificant when it came to Sukuna's return, but the mere fact that he was able to imprison his soul made him a target that Sukuna should eliminate, or at least dominate his soul in order to gain full control of his body.

"What an annoying boy."

But those were plans for the future. Sukuna had more important matters to attend to.

.

Opening his eyes, Itadori suddenly found himself in an environment filled with darkness, his eyes narrowing as he looked around cautiously.

"So that's what it's like inside my soul?" Frowning, he sighed when he could find nothing but pure darkness that stretched on endlessly. "How boring."

Sitting down on the floor, Itadori put his hands together while taking a deep breath. 

In the end, he had been unable to face the special-grade curse without Sukuna's help. Fortunately, he wasn't like Itadori, who was too affected by the fear of death, making it difficult for him to regain control of his body.

Itadori still felt his bond with Sukuna, and didn't feel that he would have any trouble making the switch. In fact, he was even surprised at how easily he could do it.

This led to a question that Itadori periodically took time to think about.

What had really happened to the soul of the original Itadori?

Mark, now Itadori, had a few theories about this, but they were all based on guesswork on his part.

The first was that he and Itadori had had their souls fused, which somehow ended up strengthening them when transformed into one. That would be a great answer as to why he was able to contain Sukuna much more effectively, since unlike the original Itadori, he could not only contain Sukuna's manifestations, but also switch at will.

This had some counterpoints, as apart from the memories of the original Itadori, he had nothing else to prove it, since he felt more Mark than Itadori, despite having his temper affected by the memories of the kind Itadori.

The second was that his own soul had swallowed Itadori's soul, which in the end would result in the same thing as the first theory.

The third was that the soul of the original Itadori had been completely replaced, leaving only his body and memories behind.

A theory that Mark didn't believe to be true, simply because he didn't believe that his soul alone would be able to contain Sukuna any better than Itadori, who had been generated with this purpose in mind.

Besides, it would go by the very logic of that world, since the soul was the body and the body was the soul.

Itadori scratched his chin, his mind clearing of those thoughts as Sukuna began his fight against the special-grade curse.

"I guess I can think about that later, right now I should concentrate on absorbing as much as possible from this fight."

.

With the special grade curse finally defeated, Sukuna turned calmly as he walked away, his gaze hardening as he stopped for a moment.

"Hey, kid! If you're going to change, come on!"

"..."

"Little shit?"

Without receiving an answer, Sukuna gave a huge devilish grin, his body turning to leave.

!

But before he could move, a strange sensation ran through his body, his smile disappearing completely.

"I cheated on you."

With the marks disappearing from his face, and his second pair of eyes closing completely, Itadori regained control of his body, much to Sukuna's annoyance.

"Did you really think I wouldn't come back? How innocent." With a mocking smile, Itadori started walking towards the boarding school exit.

"You piece of shit." With a second mouth opening on Itadori's cheek, Sukuna spoke with an irritated tone, which drew a smile from Yuji. "I'll savor killing your friends when-"

*Slap

"Shh! I want to enjoy freedom." Shutting him up with a slap, Itadori continued on his way with a satisfied smile on his lips.

'The only reason I paid so much attention to this fight was to observe the use of reverse cursed energy.'

Rubbing his chin, Itadori frowned.

'And seeing Sukuna use it, I could understand...'

"..."

'I could understand that I didn't understand anything.'