Jujutsu Kaisen: Purple

Chapter 14: Syringes

A mouldy miasma contaminated the squalid room. Blood-stained streaks of previously light blue paint peeled from the walls, overlooking the splintered syringes paving the ground. Slivers of moonlight crept through a shattered window; a man wearing a dark grey beanie knelt on his hands and feet, pressing his forehead against the floor.

"I did as I was told!" grovelled the man — his voice strained with desperation. "I injected ten people with the syringes you gave me!" Tears formed a tiny puddle beneath his face. "Please give me the stuff I asked for!"

A humanoid figure loomed over the man. One of its three mouths contorted into a sick smile. "Very well."

The man raised his head. He gasped as a cadaverous hand seized his throat, its grip tightening within milliseconds. A snapping sound echoed throughout the building. The man choked on his saliva, his limp body striking the ground.

I... can't move!

Three gangly fingers forced the man's right eye open. His pupils tracked the needle of a medical syringe — its point steadily approaching his cornea.

Wait, what is he...?!

A chorus of crazed chuckles emanated from the silhouette's mouths. "Here's the dose you requested!"

No... stop!

The man's eyeballs rolled into the back of his skull, the right sclera dyed by crimson droplets. He spasmed, foaming at the mouth.

Eventually, the man's vision darkened.

"You and Kana are extremely lucky to have survived last night's encounter," declared Mrs Yokiuji. "Based on your description of Yukou Tsugomorii, Japan's population may be in danger."

Yukari and the principal stood inside the building where they first met; it was approximately midday.

"However," continued the woman, "there exists a special-grade Jujutsu Sorcerer by the name of Itsuka Shinidare. She is a teacher at the Kyoto Institution, and is known as the Death Sentence Sorcerer."

The teenager felt a shiver crawl down his spine.

"I vehemently believe Itsuka is capable of eliminating Yukou Tsugomorii — even at the cost of her own life."

A candle went out.

The boy flinched. He turned his head and glanced at the extinguished candle, its former flame's faint fumes vanishing into thin air. Mrs Yokiuji sighed.

"That reminds me," stated the principal. She retrieved a wooden splint from one of the candle holders before holding it over a nearby flame. "Kana recommended you for promotion earlier today." The woman brought the burning splint to the smouldering candle wick — reigniting it. "As such, you have been promoted to second-grade. Well done!"

Yukari blinked. "Thank you."

Mrs Yokiuji nodded and slid the partially-charred splint back into the candle holder. "Do you have any questions or concerns?"

The teenager stared at the floor. After several seconds, he looked up.

"Is Yukou Tsugomorii's goal... actually possible?"

"No," responded the principal. "The law of conservation of energy applies to Jujutsu Sorcery as well. Cursed energy cannot be created nor destroyed — only transferred or transformed."

The boy frowned. Is that science? I never learned it.

"In practice, the death of a sorcerer would result in the birth of a person possessing that same level of cursed energy. On the other hand, multiple sorcerer deaths could instead lead to the birth of a person possessing their collective level of cursed energy," elaborated the woman. "The exact amount of cursed energy present in our universe is unknown. Nevertheless, it is evident that the Jujutsu world relies on balance."