Chapter 25

With Nagi Yoshino gone, her son Junpei becomes easy prey for Mahito, who steers the grieving boy toward vengeance. The sorcerers keep tabs on him, but the chapter suggests their watch may already be too late to pull him back from the edge.

Nagi died when a cursed spirit, drawn by the Sukuna finger left on a table, attacked her home. Afterward Yuji reunites with Nanami and volunteers to face Mahito directly. Nanami refuses, reminding him that a child should not be made to kill, and instead assigns him to keep observing Junpei. When Junpei demands an explanation for his mother's death, Mahito frames the finger as a cursed object that lures spirits, insinuating that someone with money and a grudge paid for the attack. Junpei takes the bait, grabs a set of black clothes from his mother's closet, and heads to school.

At Satozakura High, an award ceremony honors Shota Ito while Mahito and the disguised Kenjaku watch from a neighboring rooftop. A cursed spirit drops a Curtain over the campus, though Kenjaku notes the Windows will detect it before long. Mahito's scheme is to pit Junpei against Sukuna's vessel and trap Yuji into a Binding Vow. Impressed by how composed Mahito is next to Jogo, Kenjaku decides to let Jujutsu High find the planted finger and departs, ignoring Mahito's invitation to stay and watch.

Inside the gym, everyone except Shota and Sotomura collapses unconscious. Junpei reveals his scarred head, confronts Shota over the finger, and beats him down as dark markings spread across the boy's body. Convinced Shota deserves to die for past misdeeds, Junpei ignores his apologies. Yuji bursts in, horrified to find Junpei at the center of the carnage, and Junpei coldly tells the sorcerer to keep out of it.

This chapter introduces Shota Ito and ties into the Vs. Mahito Arc. It corresponds to Episode 11 of the anime adaptation and appears in Volume 3, having run in issue 40 of 2018. Key terminology surfaced here includes the Binding Vow, cursed objects, the Curtain, and the nature of cursed spirits.