"...it is jujutsu regulations that dangerous vessels should be executed."

"So it is! But that wasn't what I asked."

He frowns even more deeply. "What I think doesn't matter, does it? We have to follow the rules."

"Rules are made by people, kid. As an honorary person, what you think always matters."

Fushiguro folds his arms and looks away. "He saved my life. Multiple times. He... didn't know what he was going to find here and he came anyway."

"Mm. It'd sure be one hell of a twisted reward, to get execution for all that effort. You want to be that kind of a cold bastard?"

"..........no."

"I thought not!" says his mentor brightly. "And it is my sworn duty as your wise and knowledgeable mentor to nurture you into growing into a sorcerer you can be proud of!" He gives his shopping bag a cheery twirl on one of his fingers. "Now, let's be off, precious student."

Itadori Tōkan wakes up.

"Good morning!" says the mysterious mentor figure, from a chair in front of him, leaning his head on a palm. He gives a cheery wave. "And who is it that I'm greeting today?"

Itadori might notice that his hands are bound behind his back. And that they're in a small, enclosed space, covered in hundreds of little slips of paper on the walls.

Itadori looks around and blinks blearily a bit, then looks at the mysterious mentor figure again. "Itadori," he replies. "Not Sukuna."

"Neat!" He leans forward. "Hate to say it, but I could not talk the higher-ups out of execution. Sorry, kid."

There's a smirk to his lips that hints that there's a catch, though.

"Execution. What. Wait, Fushiguro-san's thing was serious?"

"Oh, deadly serious. Everyone's agreed, you really do need to die, for the curse that you've taken into yourself."

"And the reason I am not, currently, dead...?"

"Well, the big debate is when." He sits up, pulls something out of his pocket, and twirls it around his fingers.

Itadori might recognize it. It looks just like the finger he ate.

"See this? There are eighteen more like it, out in the world, making it worse." He tosses the finger into the air and hits it, with a speed and a power that does not seem possible. It impacts into a wall, leaving a crater.

And then the blindfolded man stands, retrieves it, and shows it to Itadori again. It looks absolutely no worse for wear.

"But we can't destroy it. All we can do is wrap it in protections and tuck it away, and you saw how well that goes, sometimes."

"You want me to eat the other nineteen. And then kill me."

"Absolutely right! You've got a real feel for how this works. When you die, the curse, or curses, you've eaten die with you. And then they are really, actually gone."

"And the last piece of the plot falls in place," he says, nodding. "I'm in."

"Ha! And I didn't even get to the part where you're special, and probably no one else will be able to hold Sukuna after eating even just one of his fingers." He tosses the finger in his hands in the air once, amused, then takes a step forward. "Well, first, proof of concept, open up. Gotta verify that you can house more than just one before we can move forward."

He holds out the shriveled and mummified finger to Itadori, just within reach of his mouth.

"You didn't say it now but you said it before," he says, shrugging. "And that is clearly the plot." With that, he stretches his neck forward, grabs the finger between his teeth, then throws his head back and swallows it whole, making a face. "Tastes like soap."

He jerks in his restraints, then, sudden and forceful. The markings return to his skin, appearing more quickly than the first time, and his muscles bulge under his skin. His four eyes open—

The mysterious mentor figure raises a single eyebrow.

"Hey there, your majesty. Just so you know, even with all twenty fingers in that kid, I could and would kick your ass from here to Mars and back, if you ever come out to play. Anything to say about that?"

He looks up at Gojō, glaring daggers, opens his mouth—

—then coughs and sticks his tongue out in disgust, the markings and eyes disappearing even more quickly than they showed up. "Bleaghh."