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"how...how did you—"

itadori suddenly stumbled backwards along with fushiguro and kugisaki as the chains mounted onto the walls had been broken.

a deep rumble had slowly evolved into a dark chuckle as the demon's multiple eyes had snapped open all at once, freaking out the three teens.

"my my, what a great time to wake up", sukuna yawned, stretching a bit as he easily broke free from the chains and the talisman that was stuck on his forehead had combusted into flames the moment itadori had accidentally broke into the barrier miraculously.

"say, what year is it?", the demon questioned, to which fushiguro had immediately decided to take action by summoning his divine dogs meanwhile kugisaki had readied her hammer and nails.

sukuna scoffed.

"you think you three pathetic humans could live walking out of this room with me in here? please, I could easily ta—"

an arrow had swiftly shot through the shoji and nearly grazed sukuna's forehead, sticking to the wall as everyone had turned towards the direction of where the arrow had came from.

"it's 1487 and it's the year that you will be sealed once more".

"k-kiyo-san!!"

"huh? a miko? I'll have fun tearing you into pieces once I'm done with these three brats", sukuna crazily grinned as satoru had quickly appeared before the male.

"ugh, another human. you shamans are nothing but annoying pieces of shit", sukuna growled as he got ready to fight satoru until he felt a black beaded bracelet with golden letterings conjoin on his wrist.

"what the hell is thi—"

"it's to limit the amount of power you can use. please do not compare us to the previous generations, as we're constantly evolving", kiyo interrupted, having to have angered sukuna even more.

"like this shit will stop me from destroying everything", sukuna scoffed as he tried to summon his malevolent shrine.

a warm glow had engulfed the entire bracelet, making sukuna's wrist burn as he found himself still in the normal wooden shrine.

"I told you, with that bracelet on, you won't be able to use your full powers. and with me here, I'll make sure that it stays on you until I seal you again", kiyo said.

"oh, you've done it now", sukuna scowled as even though he couldn't use his powers, the yōkai possessed enhanced agility and strength.

heading to slice off kiyo's head, the three teens had flinched in worry as sukuna's hand had stopped a few centimeters away from the girl's porcelain neck.

kiyo smiled.

"having a hard time there?", kiyo mocked.

though the girl was always — for the most part —calm and poised, she still shared the same blood as satoru, which meant that she too had a teasing side to her sophisticated attitude.

sukuna clicked his tongue in vexation.

the male's eyes darted over towards the teens, to which they had brought their hands up in defense meanwhile satoru just casually waved with a smile.

suddenly, the higher ups had appeared by the door side, to which kiyo had quickly bowed as satoru could care less.

"we felt a wave of dread and we came to see if the seal was still—"

the old man froze as he witnessed the two gojōs, three teenagers in training, and sukuna, standing around in the wooden shrine.

"h-h-h-HOW DID THIS HAPPEN?!"

itadori kneeled and smashed his forehead against the floor as he apologized.

"I-I'M SORRY!! FUSHIGURO AND I WERE BANTERING AND I ACCIDENTALLY HIT THE BODY AND THE TALISMAN JUST TURNED INTO ASHES!!", itadori shouted, to which sukuna had mused at how idiotic the boy was for setting him free.

"YOU...YOU FOOL!"

"please do not be angered, sire. idatori's only a mere child, if you must, please place the punishment on me instead. I should've made sure that the barrier was secure", kiyo said, to which sukuna just stood there, enjoying the show with these witless humans.

the old man sighed as he dared not to look over at sukuna, who had his four arms crossed against his chest as he mildly grinned.

"this is the gojō clan's problem now. if you two don't fix this, then be expecting the execution of that kid and you", the old man said, pointing at kiyo as satoru stood behind the girl, to which the old man's hand had shakily dropped beside him as he cleared his throat.

"anyways, I'm giving you all three months time to...", the old man hesitated as he could feel the monster's piercing red gaze.

"give us one year", satoru stated.

"absolutely not! six months and that's final!"

kiyo only kept up her neutral expression as she nodded, agreeing to the terms.

"thank you for your leniency, sire. I promise we won't disappoint", kiyo bowed as the old geezer huffed and headed off along with the rest of the higher ups, who had quickly scurried away in fear.

"SIX MONTHS?! HOW WILL WE GET RID OF THAT IN SIX MONTHS?!", itadori shouted, pointing at sukuna, who was just casually whistling as he too wondered what the priestess had in mind.

"the chikara no hisui. we will go collect all nineteen beads and exterminate him once and for all", kiyo said, talking as if sukuna wasn't just standing right there.

"huh? the hell is that?", sukuna asked, having to have been asleep for more than a thousand years.

"a jaded necklace with immense power", kiyo explained, to which sukuna had to stare at the girl for a while before realizing that she wasn't kidding.

"PFT! a necklace? YOU THINK SOME STUPID NECKLACE IS GOING TO EXORCISE ME?!", sukuna laughed, nearly rolling on the floor as the three shamans in training were also skeptical.

"whether you believe it or not is not our call, but if you want to live, you will join us on this wonderful journey!", satoru cheered.

idatori immediately agreed as fushiguro and kugisaki glanced at each other, nodding with affirmation.

"we're in too!", the two teenagers replied.

"great!! then we'll all travel together. it's like a family vacation!", satoru smiled as kiyo had shook her head.

"sukuna and I will travel separately from you four", the girl stated, to which the demon had hummed in amusement.

"oh? alone tim—"

"it's more efficient if we split up and find them. and I'm the only one that can control that bracelet", kiyo reasoned, ignoring sukuna once more.

"tch. as if a mere priestess could tame me", sukuna scoffed, to which kiyo had smiled.

"not only will I tame you, I will exorcise you", kiyo lightly chuckled, to which sukuna had darkly glared at the girl meanwhile plotting her death in his head.

'I could slit her throat while her guard's down...no no, that's too simple. how should I torture her? chain her up and set her on fire? or peel her skin off meanwhile ripping off her fingernails?'

"are you sure?", satoru asked, not exactly wanting to leave his sister along with the demon king, even though he knew that she was fully capable of taking care of herself.

kiyo nodded. "I'll be fine, and we can always meet up so that I can purify the beads".

"I'm sorry kiyo-san", idatori apologized, to which the girl had ruffled the boy's pink hair.

"don't be. it's my responsibility for not being careful enough", kiyo smiled, to which sukuna had gagged at the heartwarming interaction.

sukuna never understood why humans were so emotional and made things so complicated with unnecessary feelings. though nevertheless, they were interesting to watch, as when they're put in a life or death situation, they show their true colors.

"we'll meet you in a week or two then. watch for my letter", satoru waved, to which kiyo had nodded.

as the four left, the priestess relaxed a bit and stepped out of the shrine, not closing the door entirely.

sukuna tried following, only to be shocked by the barrier that was still present.

"now, let's strike a deal, shall we?"