Chapter 139

Standing solo on a bridge, Yuji claps over and over to draw a cluster of cursed spirits, then herds them into an underpass where Choso is waiting. One Piercing Blood shot drops nearly the whole pack, and the survivor that springs at Choso is finished off when Yuji smashes it into the wall.

Choso is taken with the boy's power, his finesse, and his grip on cursed energy even before a full recovery, branding him a demon god and again naming him his little brother. Yuji asks whether he is still on that, and Choso says he will not stop. As evidence of the resemblance he points to the family face: stitches once marked the forehead of the man who raised Yuji as a father.

Naoya descends from overhead, annoyed that Megumi is absent, and asks whether the two mean to run. Yuji is confused until Naoya spells out that the execution restarts now that Gojo is gone and can no longer protect him, prompting Yuji to recall Ino's words about the many sorcerers Gojo once saved. Naoya cares only about his own business with Megumi, whom he wants kept alive long enough to write something useful, so he settles on breaking Yuji's legs to pin him down. He closes in faster than Yuji can follow and strikes the face, then springs clear before either Yuji or Choso can answer, hinting at a cursed technique behind the speed. As he teases going faster still, a smothering presence falls over all three; Yuji first thinks Gojo, then senses something far creepier, and looks up to Yuta calmly preparing his weapon and noting Yuji has company.

This installment opens the Culling Game Arc and was bound into Volume 16, published in 2021, with its pages spread across Episodes 47 and 48. Megumi and Gojo appear only by mention, while Ino turns up in a flashback. Naoya's Projection Sorcery debuts in the action. Akutami's comment jokes about dreading he would become like Pesci after a week off, but the cold sweats arrived right on cue.