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 grimy 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 woman stood inside the building where they had first met; it was approximately midday.

"However," continued the principal, "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."

Two candles went out in an instant.

The boy flinched. He turned his head and glanced at the extinguished candles, their former flames' faint fumes vanishing into thin air. Mrs Yokiuji sighed.

"That reminds me," stated the woman. 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 principal brought the burning splint to each of the smouldering candle wicks — reigniting them. "As such, you have been promoted to second-grade. Well done!"

Yukari blinked. "Thank you."

Mrs Yokiuji nodded and placed 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 woman. "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?

"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 principal. "The exact amount of cursed energy present in our universe is unknown. Nevertheless, it is evident that the Jujutsu world relies on balance."