CHAPTER 10: ORIGIN OF EVIL

The sky above Shinjuku was shredded by raw cursed energy. Gojo and Sukuna—two monoliths of power—had been tearing into each other like natural disasters for over an hour now.

Every punch Gojo threw created shockwaves that flattened buildings.

Every slash from Sukuna left behind fissures in the earth.

Yet, in a moment of sudden stillness…

Sukuna stopped.

Gojo, panting slightly, tilted his head. "What, tired already?"

But Sukuna's eyes were… hollow. Darker. For once, he wasn't grinning.

"Do you want to know," Sukuna said, "why the hell I became so evil?"

Gojo raised a brow. "Hm. Evil monologue break in the middle of a deathmatch? Sure, I've got five minutes."

They both landed on separate towers, hovering with cursed energy. Standing still. Silent wind blowing between them.

And then…

Sukuna spoke.

—

"It was a thousand years ago. I was fifteen or sixteen. Just a kid. My mother… she was kind. She was all I had."

His voice was detached—like he was reciting someone else's memory.

"My father… was a monster in human skin. He would beat her, humiliate her, hurt her every day. I was too weak to stop him."

Gojo watched, quiet.

"One day, they accused her of something. I don't even remember what. Theft, witchcraft, maybe just being too kind. The whole village gathered. She cried, begged, screamed… they didn't care."

Sukuna's fists clenched.

"They tied her up. Set her on fire. Burned her alive. And I stood there—watched it. I couldn't stop it."

Gojo's jaw tightened.

"When she screamed, they cheered. My father… he laughed in my face and said, 'She was pathetic. Just like you.' Then he cast me out."

His eyes sharpened, filling with rage and twisted pride.

"That's the day I changed. I let every cursed spirit in. I became what they feared."

He spread his arms wide.

"I returned to that village and erased it from existence. Men, women, children. I didn't care anymore. And I realized—humanity is the true curse."

"I don't kill for sport, Satoru. I kill because the world needs cleansing. No more fathers like him. No more blind villagers. Just cursed spirits under my will. No sins. No betrayal. Only power."

—

A long pause.

The wind blew between them, picking up dust from the shattered city.

Gojo closed his eyes.

Joined his hands.

And whispered, "For your mother's soul… may she find peace."

Sukuna blinked. "What the hell are you doing?"

Gojo opened his eyes. "Praying. For her. Not for you."

He stepped forward. Calm, but unyielding.

"What they did to her was inhuman. I'll never forgive it either."

"But this path you've taken? It's not hers. It's your father's. He broke you, and now you're breaking the world."

Gojo's eyes glowed with cursed energy—Six Eyes burning.

"Your mother wouldn't want this."

—

Sukuna's cursed aura surged violently.

"Don't you DARE speak about her!"

His voice shook the city. The towers beneath them cracked and collapsed. A black aura exploded from his form as rage overtook reason.

"You know NOTHING! Who the hell are YOU to give me sympathy, Gojo?!"

Gojo cracked his knuckles, smiling softly.

"The guy who's going to stop you."

Sukuna roared—and with that, their cursed energy collided once again in a symphony of destruction.

The pause was over.

The war of gods resumed.