Summary:
Yuji tries to reach what’s left of Junpei’s heart with both his fists and his words. He promises to bring him back to jujutsu high to make things right, but just then… Mahito descends to enforce his will.
Plot:
Yuji calls Nanami and tells him that he is going to Satozakura High School. Nanami stands with Takuma Ino as they are surrounded by transfigured people in the sewers of the city and replies that she can’t because the Band-Aid Curse is probably alive and in the school if the curtain is cast there. He tells Yuji to stay alert and asks Ino to deal with all the shapeshifters. Ino isn’t very sympathetic to the idea at first, but Nanami says that she’ll put in a recommendation for a rank 1 promotion, which excites the rank 2 wizard.
Yuji decides to leave regardless, but Ijichi tries to stop him. He doesn’t want Yuji to get hurt like he did on their first mission, but the cheeky student leaves for school anyway. Yuji arrives to see Junpei attacking Shoto Ito, one of the students who bullied him in the past. The two wizards clash and Yuji struggles to deal with Junpei’s jellyfish shikigami Moon Dregs. His soft body absorbs the impact of each of his blows and protects Junpei as he hides within it.
Junpei tells the jujutsu wizard to stay out of it, stating that there is no reality in indiscriminate salvation. He does not believe that people have hearts and that all rules of morality are a delusion. The Moon Dregs use their tentacles to tie up Yuji while Junpei states that no one has the right to stop someone else from taking their own life. Junpei learned jujutsu from Mahito, who taught him how to summon shikigami using a poison-cursed technique that he can control using his cursed energy.
Yuji reaches out from the mass of jellyfish and grabs Junpei from behind. He runs away, but Yuji hits a shikigami on Junpei, pushing them both out the window. Outside, as Junpei recovers, he thinks about his mother and tells Yuji to stop interfering. Yuji jumps down and the jellyfish tries to stab him with its stingers, but he counters. His sensei Gojo told Yuji to go after the user whenever he faced someone using a shikigami. He shoves Junpei back in and says that everything he’s saying is just an excuse and not worth throwing a life away. Yuji says that he could never say these things to his mother, but Junpei insists that people don’t have hearts. If people had a heart, it means that someone cursed him and his mother with it.
Unable to tell right from wrong anymore, Junpei uses his shikigami to wield himself. Yuji allows his stingers to pierce his body, surprising Junpei. The Moon Dregs are distracted and Yuji uses words to get to his friend. She promises to take him back to jujutsu high, help him calm down, and promises to find the person who killed his mother. Just as Yuji’s pleas start to get to Junpei, Mahito comes down the school steps towards them, interrupting them.
Yuji cannot recognize Mahito and hesitates. This allows the curse to pin him to the wall, forcing Yuji to realize that this is the very person Nanami warned him about. He begs Junpei to run away regardless of how he knows this curse. Junpei initially insists that Mahito is not a bad person, but realizes that he was wrong all along. Mahito places a hand on Junpei’s shoulder and immobilizes Yuji. He whispers in Junpei’s ear that he is just as stupid as those he looks down on and that is why he will die.
Mahito uses Idle Transfiguration to mutate Junpei and force him to fight Yuji. Desperate, the ship pleads with Sukuna for help, only to be denied in healing Junpei. Mahito is surprised as he thinks Sukuna will want to find a way to a favorable binding promise. Little does he know that Sukuna has already done this and Yuji also lost his memory of the event. Mahito longs for what’s to come no matter what, so he and Sukuna laugh out loud at Yuji’s expense. This makes Yuji realize once again that these people are cursed.
In his final moments, Junpei asks Yuji to “Help me” as his transformed body gives way and dies. Yuji’s dreams of having him in the class are dashed when Mahito laughs at the fact that Junpei died from such an aggressive mutation. More enraged than ever, Yuji delivers a powerful right hook that crushes Mahita’s face. Curse quickly recovers and begins to explain how physical attacks won’t work, but blood suddenly starts pouring out of his nose. Mahito realizes that there are two souls in Yuji’s body, so he can naturally sense the contours of the soul.
As a mixture of pain and anger fills the air with Yuji’s negative energy, he thinks about how his next words made it seem like every other thing he said had no value. Yuji says that he will kill Mahito, to which the curse replies that he should say exorcism. Yuji attacks and Mahito dodges by changing the shape of his body to be more mobile. His goal is to drag Yuji into a battle he can’t win and drive him into relying on Sukun, which will lead to him forming a binding vow. This is in hopes of getting on Sukun’s good side, but it is assumed that Mahito is stronger than Yuji.
When they back off after an initial exchange, they both come to a conclusion on how to kill the other. Yuji prepares to smash Mahito into nothing while the latter changes his arms into blades, a form more suitable for murder. The curse blasts through the building until Yuji dodges out and then fires a drill arm at him. Yuji caught the flesh connecting Mahito to the drill, but it suddenly grew spikes. The sorcerer doesn’t let go even though the spikes pierce his hands and throws Mahito to the ground while still holding his hand.
They trade close range blows again and Mahito stabs Yuji’s body and stuns him. He attempts to touch Yuji’s soul in an attempt to force him to switch. However, Sukuna takes this as an insult and tells Mahita to know where he is. This time he’ll forgive it just because they enjoyed laughing together, but there won’t be a second time. Back in reality, Yuji says he won’t switch, but he will kill Mahita. He repeatedly beats Mahita in the face with the stocks and seems to have the upper hand.
Just as Yuji prepares to finish, Mahito suddenly appears behind Yuji and nearly rips his head off. Luckily, Nanami arrives in time to deflect Mahito’s attack. He says he will lecture Yuji another time and asks for a status update. Yuji reveals that he failed to save two people, but Nanami is more worried about him. Nanami notices Mahito’s nose bleeding and asks how it happened. He reveals to Yuji that his cursed technique doesn’t work on Mahita, but Yuji’s attacks do. He also deduces that for whatever reason Mahito cannot touch Yuji’s soul. Together they can create openings for themselves to fight and defeat the curse. Ready for round two,the 1st-level wizard declares that he must exorcise the curse here and now.
Juju Stroll
In Juju Stroll, we see three transformed people getting a bit confused when they see a Pop-up Pirate toy in a children’s playground. They observe some plastic knives scattered nearby and try to insert them into the slots of the barrel containing the pirate doll. After inserting the knife into a particular slot, the pirate doll suddenly shoots into the air, causing everyone to get scared and run away from her. Finally, the doll descends and lands near the barrel.