Chapter Text
The atmosphere was palpable; none in the room dared to move a muscle. Cold sweat ran down Nobakuna's forehead; she was frustrated for being ambushed like that, for being put in a situation that could lead to Uraume being killed, and most of all for not consuming Mikakuna's finger sooner. The plate still spins around in a cycle under Mikakuna; paralyzed by fear, she let both the spoon and plate fall to the ground. So choked that she isn’t able to let a single word out. As for Makuna, she remains still, firmly in the same position. Holding Urauma, who looks ashamed at her master for putting her in this situation.
But Nobakuna smirks, letting a short laugh escape her lips.
“Oh, you really think you can make me give up my fingers just because you made my servant hostage? She is a good cook, but she is not…”
Makuna doesn’t allow her to finish her line of reasoning; with the Split Soul Katana, she starts to cut Uraume's neck with her swords, making blood pour out of her throat, turning her kimono red. The sudden action made Nobakuna drop the act and extend her hand to reach for Uraume.
“No, wait!”
She stops immediately, removing the sword from the wound, and orders Uraume to heal herself.
“Heal!”
Uraume puts her hands on her neck, visibly making the beading slow down until it stops completely. Still not showing a single expression on her face, Makuna starts to explain in a monotone what was happening.
“I have observed you for quite some time, since your battle with the cursed speech user... You are a defect; your compassion is an impurity that is unacceptable, a weakness that can easily be used against you. Look how easily I just broke you like a brittle stick.”
Nobakuna remains still; she is disgusted by the fact her other self's statement was not totally incorrect. This entire situation could easily be resolved if she took the opportunity to just use Dismantle to cut both in half. But even though that would guarantee her victory, she is unable to hurt Uraume.
“See?! You have a perfect opportunity to attack me, but you remain still because you can’t even think about hurting her. So here is what is going to happen. You are going to give me your finger, or I will cut Uraume's throat and then kill you and devour your corpse.”
More sweat runs down her cheek, teeth grinding against each other out of frustration as Nobakuna visibly gets angrier at the situation but refuses to take any action out of fear of what would happen to Uraume.
Tired of waiting, Makuna raises the katana back once again to make the final cut on Uraume's neck.
“You have until the count of five to decide, or otherwise I will finish her. One…"
Nobakuna clenches her fists; she knows she must take an action soon but is still not sure what is the one that can guarantee Uraume's safety without giving up.
“…two…”
Blood drips out of Nobakuna’s fists and Uraume’s neck as both nails and blade sink deep into their skin as each second pass.
“…three…”
At that moment Makuna finally noticed something was missing: the other Sukuna that was paralyzed like a statue was no longer behind Nobakuna. Had she run again?! Or did she faint face first to the ground?! Quickly enough her eyes came back to Nobakuna; the interval of thought was so fast that she didn’t even notice Makuna took her gaze away from her for a moment. She was about to whisper four when she saw Nobakuna's eyes change expression, from anger to surprise mixed with confusion. A voice whispered behind Makuna.
“Even if it means… “
Out of nowhere, Miwakuna, wielding a metal pipe, prepares herself for a strike from behind her. Makuna toasted Uraume in the Nobakuna direction in order to occupy her while she turned around and to try to strike the useless girl first, but it was too late.
“…. I will never swing a pipe again!”
Even a body with heavenly restriction cannot take a full-blown hit from Batto Sword Drawing unaffected, even if that drawing was made with a pipe instead of a sword. Without enough time to react, Makuna was unable to mitigate the attack, and the direct hit to her forehead was super effective. She lost her balance, vision, and concentration. For a single moment, she was obscured by the blood running down her head, and her attention was completely shifted to her attacker.
A normal sorcerer would have fainted or even been killed by such an attack, but the king of curses wasn’t a normal sorcerer, and neither was this the body of one. Miwakuna's confidence quickly turns into fear; she made a perfect strike, but it had little effect on her opponent. Before she can even scream in fear, Makuna brings her sword up, ready to strike her opponent, so fast that when the sword was brought down, Miwakuna's mouth had just opened up.
In that moment Makuna realized her second mistake: she allowed her rage to make her attack the weakest target in the room, the one who just made a binding vow that made her unable to use the weapons in hand. Before her peripheral vision was even able to see, she already knew at that moment she had left a big opening for Nobakuna, and unfortunately for her, she was correct. Like a rocket, Nobakuna plunged into her adversary, her right hand grabbed Makuna’s head before she could react, and with immense strength she smashed her enemy against the solid concrete wall. When Miwakuna's first scream was expelled, the two had already gone through five consecutive walls; each impact decreased their velocity and its destructive power until Makuna's face was smashed against the ninth wall. A huge impact crater was left in the shape of her body of steel, with water leaking through the cracks as the pressure of the damaged pipes threatened to bust the wall.
The time for mistakes was over. This time Makuna doesn’t allow Nobakuna to take advantage of this situation; instead, she locks her legs very tightly around Nobakuna, her right arm grabs her ginger hair to not allow her to move away, and still holding her sword, she prepares for the final strike. But her adversary wasn’t a useless blue-haired sword; she quickly did something Makuna wasn’t expecting: she moved closer to her. She smashed her head against her forehead; this second impact in the already fractured skull was enough to make Makuna momentarily lose control over her muscles and release both her leg lock and grip over her hair.
The impact makes the pipes burst, water over both girls. Taking the opportunity, Nobakuna jumps away to gain some distance. Makuna stays there nailed in the wall, while water washes away the blood from her face. Nobakuna lowered her guard to show her she got the upper hand.
“Really?! That is all it took to take down a Sukuna with heavenly restriction down?! I guess you only got this far by hiding and sneaking on your targets; after all, not having curse energy makes such a strategy the only viable way to win.”
She combs her wet ginger hair back, showing full confidence and control over the situation.
“What are you waiting for?! If you don’t make a move soon, I will have to end this fight before it gets good and feast on your vessel.”
Finally, Makuna showed a sign that she was still conscious.
“You will not…”
The voice had no fear, anger, joy, or sadistic intentions. It was just plain and clear; she didn’t intend to provoke or bait her adversary.
“You didn’t kill Toge Inumaki after defeating him, nor Kasumi Miwa, who didn’t offer any resistance… in fact, you waited for her to wake up in order to ask her to give you her finger.”
She emerges from the wall, as if the concrete that was around her was nothing more than silk bead sheets. Like her other self, she combs her soaked hair back, revealing the wound on her head was completely healed.
“And even though I threaten to kill the person you care about most in the world… even though I was such an easy target until a moment ago, you insist on allowing me to live.”
She then raises her sword to her face while running her finger on the blade.
“I had some…difficulties using this vessel. The original owner was uncooperative, so I had to domesticate her…”
With a single swing of her sword, she produced a gust of wind that removed all the water from her body. Already knowing the answer, she asks Nobakuna.
“I wonder what Nobara Kugisaki asked you in return for her cooperation?”
Her smirk is taken away as leaves on the wind; she readies herself for Makuna's next attack.
“I possess two fingers and both mine and hers curse techniques, and you are unable to even use reverse cursed technique. Let’s not waste our time, and just give me your finger.”
Makuna smirks for the first time
“You can’t kill me because of your bidding vow, and it doesn't matter how many times you torture me; I will never give you anything…”
Both prepare themselves for the imminent clash
“You can, of course, break your vow, but we two know that is a horrible idea.”
On the defensive, Nobakuna, using all her knowledge of binding vows, tries to think how to circumvent the situation. Makuna, on the other hand, was ready to strike, only waiting for the smallest opportunity. But a new adversary breaks their stand. From the ceiling above them a cursed spirit comes crashing down, a cocoon in the form of a human torso with an animal skull in the middle. Both girls attention is directed to this new opponent.