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Chapter 121: Location: Shinjuku (IV): The Price

This was a Domain created by Ryomen Sukuna through his development of Haruta Shigemo's technique.

Haruta Shigemo was never qualified to use a Domain in the first place.

He simply could not meet the conditions required to activate one.

His Cursed Energy was nowhere near sufficient.

As for his technique, let alone reaching its core, he did not even fully understand how it worked. Day after day, all he ever said was, "I'm seriously super lucky!"

And as a wild Curse User, his Barrier skills were so poor they were practically fetal education dropout level.

Yet his Innate Domain was unexpectedly savage.

When Ryomen Sukuna destroyed Haruta Shigemo's soul, he saw that just before death, Haruta Shigemo had briefly projected an Innate Domain filled with pitch-black Buddha statues.

That was what gave him the idea that perhaps this technique's Domain could be developed after all.

Perhaps that was Haruta Shigemo's technique's final gift to him…

…

At the very moment Ryomen Sukuna expanded his Domain, Megumi Fushiguro's punch arrived right in front of his face.

And yet, just as that punch was about to connect, a sudden surge of emotion disrupted Megumi Fushiguro's Cursed Energy control and sent the strike off course.

After the massive fist brushed past him, Sukuna casually unleashed a dense barrage of [Dismantle], knocking the entire Shadow Giant to the ground in the direction of its own momentum...

Megumi Fushiguro hurriedly tried to get back up, but between failing to properly disperse the force and changing direction too abruptly, there was a sharp crack. A burst of pain shot through his leg, and the Shadow Giant crashed down again...

"A... fracture?"

What kind of joke was that? Right now, his body and the Shadow Giant's were synchronized. Which meant the Shadow Giant's leg bones, despite being made entirely of crystallized Cursed Energy, had actually fractured?

It was... the technique!

But Sukuna's technique was supposed to be slashing, wasn't it...? Could this be because of incarnation?

Realizing he was inside a Domain, Megumi Fushiguro forced himself to think and immediately expanded his own.

But the instant [Chimera Shadow Garden] took shape, it already started showing signs of instability...

The gap between them in Barrier skill, precision of Cursed Energy control, and sheer processing power was simply too great. His Barrier could not unfold as completely as it normally would.

The Domain clash could only hold for a short time. No, his opponent's was an open Domain. What was happening now should be the cancellation of the guaranteed-hit command, meaning the effects of the enemy's Domain would instead be applied to the outside of his Barrier...

If that was the case, then the time they could remain locked like this would be even shorter.

In other words, the moment the Domain battle began, the outcome had already been decided...

But Megumi Fushiguro immediately changed his thinking. If he could not defeat Sukuna himself, then he would at least create an advantage for the teachers who were on their way.

At once, he recalled a book Akira Zenin had given him during special training:

[Excerpt from Fundamentals of Domain Studies:

Technique burnout happens when the "technique motor" in the brain is overloaded.

In other words, burnout does not mean you have lost the technique itself. It means you are unable to use it.

This is similar to damage to the motor speech center. The patient's vocal organs may be perfectly fine, yet they still lose the ability to speak...

This also means that a Jujutsu Sorcerer with multiple techniques cannot freely switch Domains back and forth just because they have more than one technique.

After all, even if there are two techniques, there is still only one "technique motor." Once it overheats, it becomes unusable.

At the same time, you should not fall into the trap of assuming that burnout recovery time stays fixed for the same person after Domain Expansion, as though it were stamped with a fixed time label.

Its underlying cause is the overheating of the "technique motor."

That means recovery time is affected by many factors, including technique efficiency, the ratio between technique output and one's own Cursed Energy, how long the Domain remains active, how heavily the technique is used during Domain Expansion, one's own recovery efficiency, and so on.

Among these, the two most important are the length of the Domain Expansion and the proportion of technique usage within it.

The first needs no explanation. The second is more complicated, but there is a very simple non-quantitative way to judge it.

Imagine removing the technique loaded into the Domain. The smaller the boost the Domain itself gives the user, the greater the proportion taken up by the technique...]

Megumi Fushiguro immediately began analyzing the traits and effects of Sukuna's Domain.

A static environment. Dense Cursed Energy concentration. A technique that seemed to inflict debuffs on the opponent. And once the guaranteed-hit effect was neutralized, Sukuna had to fight personally...

Taken together, Sukuna's Domain was the type with a high technique proportion. So long as he could force Sukuna to use his technique at full power, driving up the ratio of technique output to his own Cursed Energy, the burnout period should be longer...

Since the lifting of the Shikigami number limit was not the guaranteed-hit effect loaded into [Chimera Shadow Garden], Megumi Fushiguro could still use all ten [Divine Treasures] at once within it...

And if that was the case, then he had absolute confidence he could hold out through this stretch of time...

In the next instant, a giant [Yatsuka-no-tsurugi] appeared in the Shadow Giant's hand. Armor formed from [Hachi-no-hire] and [Kusagusa-no-mono-no-hire] wrapped around it, while [Okitsu-kagami] and [Hetsu-kagami] were embedded in its chest and brow respectively...

Megumi Fushiguro could feel it. Within his own Domain, that sense of danger and anxiety Sukuna had forced onto him had vanished. He could move freely now, without suffering injuries for no reason...

Even Sukuna was starting to lose his composure at the sight of that. In this state, he really was not sure he could break Megumi Fushiguro's Domain without taking damage himself.

If this had been [Malevolent Shrine], he could have sliced apart the enemy Barrier from the outside with slashes.

But if all he could do was impose misfortune on the outer Barrier...

Sukuna did not hesitate for even a moment. Five of the six purple markings beneath his eyes vanished instantly. Not faded. Vanished.

At the cost of permanently reducing the capacity of "Miracles," he amplified the effect of the miracle technique.

And then...

Just as the giant controlled by Megumi Fushiguro drove [Yatsuka-no-tsurugi] toward Sukuna with the aid of rushing water and blinding light...

The Domain shattered.

"Huh?"

Megumi Fushiguro stared blankly toward the point where the Domain had broken apart. A meteor had slammed into the area. Its force was overwhelming, but how could something with no Cursed Energy interfere with a Domain Barrier so easily?

Just before the Shadow Giant dissipated, Megumi Fushiguro caught sight of four rod-like objects on the meteor.

Those were the inner cargo compartments of "Voyager One," funded by the Zenin Clan and the Gojo Clan. It had no destination. Its sole purpose was to carry Sukuna's fingers beyond the solar system.

And this meteor, using the Cursed Energy of those four fingers as a wedge point and combining it with terrifying kinetic force, had pried apart the entire Domain.

...

Chapter 122: Limitless... Cursed Technique Extension?

To be honest, even Sukuna was a little surprised by that meteorite.

"Miracles" really were impossible to predict. Had the meteorite been pulled down because he had just "used" a miracle?

Or was it because he was "about to use" one, so the meteorite had already changed course earlier and flown here, even bringing back something from the stars that contained Cursed Energy in order to break the Barrier...

Judging from the effects of the technique and how complete the Domain was, the other side's Domain was bound to shatter.

But even the caster himself had no way of predicting exactly how it would be broken.

Sukuna carefully examined the unconscious Megumi Fushiguro...

What a pleasant surprise. An interesting technique, compatible Cursed Energy frequency, and even the body met the standard...

"Fine. The 'Miracle' technique in this body has already had its upper limit reduced by a Binding Vow, so changing bodies now is not a bad idea."

Sukuna stepped forward, opened the inner compartment on the meteorite, and swallowed the four fingers inside in one go. There was no need to worry about this body's tolerance anymore, so he could just use it as a relay point to reduce the risk of changing bodies...

Just as Sukuna was starting to get used to the state of the body and preparing to walk toward Megumi Fushiguro, Megumi Fushiguro's body was suddenly dragged far away by a pulling force...

Sukuna narrowed his eyes and looked over.

The newcomer wore a black blindfold. His white hair was gathered up by it, and he gave off a slightly flamboyant air... but judging from that bit of Cursed Energy control just now, he was definitely strong...

Sukuna recalled Haruta Shigemo's impression of the modern Jujutsu World, along with the notes Kenjaku had given him...

A user of the Six Eyes and the Limitless Technique.

"Satoru Gojo."

…

After being saved by Satoru Gojo's Blue, Megumi Fushiguro jolted awake from his shallow faint.

"Gojo-sensei, you're here..."

Satoru Gojo patted him on the head.

"Perfect timing, right?~~"

"Sigh... Be careful. His Domain is an open one. It should be in burnout right now... uh, actually, I'm not totally sure anymore."

Megumi Fushiguro suddenly remembered that Sukuna seemed to have obtained a few more fingers.

In that case, it was hard to tell whether the increase in Cursed Energy had lowered the ratio of technique output to total Cursed Energy, improving the performance of the "technique motor" more significantly...

Or whether the sudden absorption of the fingers had made the body unstable, making the recovery time of the "technique motor" noticeably longer...

"Mm, got it..."

Satoru Gojo rested a hand on Megumi Fushiguro's shoulder and gave it a pat, then walked past him toward Ryomen Sukuna.

"Is there anything you need me to do?"

Satoru Gojo turned back, smiled at the exhausted-looking Megumi Fushiguro, and said,

"If you've still got some strength left, and if you can find an opening while we're attacking, then take the chance to stab him hard in the ass with [Yatsuka-no-tsurugi]~~"

Seeing that Megumi Fushiguro seemed to take those words very seriously, he gave a small shake of his head.

"But you probably won't be needed here... go help evacuate the civilians. Go save the people you think should be saved."

Megumi Fushiguro nodded hard.

"Yeah!"

…

By the time Satoru Gojo stopped in front of Sukuna, Sukuna had already brought his body back under control.

"Kid, you missed a perfect opportunity."

Satoru Gojo looked at Ryomen Sukuna.

"You mean I should've blown my adorable student up together with you just now?

There's no need for that...

Besides... are you really that strong?~~"

Sukuna's expression turned even more serious.

"Hmph. In times without heroes, even fools can make a name for themselves."

"Heroes? Hah... What kind of Jujutsu Sorcerer calls himself a 'hero'? Don't tell me that's your obsession, you thousand-year-old fossil??"

Satoru Gojo bent over laughing.

"Hahahaha, no way, is this your technique's effect...? Forcing people to laugh so hard they can't stop? Hahaha~~"

A perfect opening!

The moment Sukuna saw Satoru Gojo's exaggerated movement, he instantly shifted to his side and threw a punch at his face.

The techniques of the Three Great Families were nearly common knowledge in the Jujutsu World. Even Haruta Shigemo, a fringe Curse User, knew the rough outline of Satoru Gojo's technique.

Sukuna was using the opening created by his opponent's movement to attack, so he could personally experience how Satoru Gojo's "Infinity" actually functioned...

Almost exactly as Sukuna had expected, his fist sank into something like a swamp of space, slowing to a halt right in front of Satoru Gojo's face...

[So it's a technique type whose effect is forcibly applied... "Miracle" is almost unusable now because of that Binding Vow, which means if I want to break it normally, the only option at the moment is to neutralize it with a Domain...]

But what Sukuna had not expected was that during that split second of thought, his fist actually passed through that invisible "barrier" and flew straight at Satoru Gojo's face, only to be caught by him.

Sukuna looked down at the extremely smooth cross section at his wrist in a daze. It really was only that one fist that had flown over...

What was that? A slash?

No. Even the fastest slash would still have some delay. But just now, every fractured surface at his wrist had appeared at exactly the same instant. It felt more like it had been forcibly torn off...

With so many things happening in such a short time, even Sukuna had trouble connecting the pieces.

Neither Kenjaku's information nor Haruta Shigemo's memories of the Limitless had ever mentioned anything like this.

"So you know my intel... pretty stunned, huh? Too bad, I'm not telling you~~"

Satoru Gojo moved in an instant, raising the arm on the same side as Sukuna and gathering Cursed Energy into it as he struck for Sukuna's neck.

This attack was something Satoru Gojo had developed after learning from [Yatsuka-no-tsurugi] how to break the Limitless. By using atomic-level Cursed Energy control to disrupt the [Limitless], he set the position of the speed limit...

When that limit was set at a specific point on the opponent's body, forming a cross section, everything before that point slowed down more and more, while everything beyond it continued moving at its original speed.

As a result, that point would split apart directly from the difference in speed within the body itself.

And because it was based on an atomic-level technique, the entire cut surface was unnaturally smooth...

"Is this some kind of extension of the technique's effect?"

Unable to judge the situation at once, Sukuna could only sum it up roughly for the time being.

He immediately dodged Satoru Gojo's attack. Until he understood how the attack worked, there was no telling whether his neck might be cut clean off...

...

Chapter 123: The Finest Ingredients Often Call for the Simplest Preparation

[The cut surface was a spherical zone centered on Satoru Gojo, and its range was not very large, only about half a meter beyond the surface of his body...]

After a chaotic exchange of flying limbs, Sukuna gradually worked out the pattern behind Satoru Gojo's "extension of the power of stasis," but all that really did was improve his ability to keep dodging the attacks.

In close combat, Satoru Gojo still held an absolute advantage...

"[Blue]."

As Sukuna fought while retreating, deliberately drawing the two of them toward the overpass, Satoru Gojo found a brief opening in Sukuna's movements and used [Blue] to yank him sideways toward the wall of a ruined building. Then, while Sukuna was still airborne, he directly set the "limit position" at Sukuna's neck.

Sukuna clearly felt the danger closing in. Drawing on the information he had just pieced together about the technique, he used Cursed Energy to shove himself aside while simultaneously launching a slash at Satoru Gojo with his recovered technique.

"[Dismantle]."

Satoru Gojo's "power of stasis" was triggered immediately, and the "limit cross section" he had set on Sukuna was forcibly canceled.

Even though Satoru Gojo followed that by punching Sukuna away again, sending him crashing through the wall and blasting him out the other side of the office building, Sukuna was smiling.

[I was right. The "power of stasis" and that strange "cross section technique" cannot be used together. And in terms of priority, the "power of stasis" comes first!]

But that realization did not help Sukuna much. If that was how it worked, then he would need to keep attacking constantly to lock down the opponent's technique extension. And in close quarters, Sukuna was at a disadvantage...

"[Purple]."

Sukuna had only just landed on the overpass and steadied himself when he suddenly saw that Satoru Gojo had appeared above him at some point, a beam of purple light reflecting straight into his eyes.

…

Satoru Gojo's real aim with that [Purple] had actually been to punch through Sukuna's brain through his eyes before he noticed. But thanks to Sukuna's absurdly fast reflexes, the attack ended up smashing into his face instead...

Seeing Sukuna take a [Purple] head on with his face and come away with nothing more than a collapsed bridge of the nose and some torn flesh, even Satoru Gojo could not help but marvel at how absurdly tough Sukuna was...

Narrowing his eyes, he gathered Cursed Energy and kicked at Sukuna. He had already been using rapid offense to keep Sukuna from counterattacking, but Sukuna had clearly started adapting to that rhythm and was gradually coming to understand the nature of his technique...

At this rate... even though he had the advantage in close combat, ordinary methods would make it very difficult to kill this "King of Curses" here and now...

A moment later, Satoru Gojo wrapped [Blue] around his hand and fired a quick strike forward, while Sukuna relied on razor sharp movement to adjust his position and barely evade it.

After another fierce exchange, the two ended up standing at opposite ends of the overpass, each taking a moment to recover.

Twisting his neck, Sukuna laughed.

"Why not use your Domain? Not confident in yourself?"

Satoru Gojo raised a hand and settled back into his stance, ready to attack again.

"I'm being considerate toward an old man like you. Wouldn't want you crying later because you can't understand the Domain's effect~~"

The truth was, Satoru Gojo genuinely could not predict what would happen if both sides opened their Domains. Thanks to the books written by Akira Zenin, "open Domains" were not exactly unfamiliar at Jujutsu High.

But understanding the theory and knowing how to use it were two different things. In actual combat, this was the first time he had ever faced someone using an open Domain.

Meanwhile, Sukuna was deliberately steering Satoru Gojo toward a Domain battle. Satoru Gojo had the upper hand in close combat, and if the rhythm slipped even a little, that "cross section technique" could deal real damage to him...

In other words, Satoru Gojo's win conditions were to keep fighting at close range, create an opening that prevented Sukuna from retaliating and triggering the "power of stasis," then use "setting the limit" to win, or else engage in a Domain battle.

And right now, Sukuna's only path to victory was a Domain battle...

Experts could use the opponent's Domain to plan their own Barrier. That meant the one who used their Domain second might be able to alter the properties of their own Barrier in response and counter it.

But the one who used their Domain first could force the opponent to take their Domain's effect first.

So whether you activated your Domain first or second, either choice increased the uncertainty of the clash. In other words, when neither side knew exactly what the outcome of the Domain battle would be, the ideal situation was for both sides to expand simultaneously...

The corner of Sukuna's mouth lifted slightly. Most of the time, he simply butchered fish already lying on the cutting board. Opportunities that required actual hunting were rare indeed...

[Then first I need to make Satoru Gojo believe that close combat offers him no chance of an absolute victory at all, and guide him into a Domain clash... The first step is finding a way to reduce the threat posed by his technique...]

In fact, a lot of the time, you did not need to understand a specific technique in detail to break it. It was enough to classify it within a broader concept...

During the close quarters fight, Sukuna wrapped his Domain Barrier around his own body, strengthened its compatibility with techniques, and then filled it with an incompletely projected Innate Domain.

That way, although he could not gain the benefit of the Domain's guaranteed-hit effect, any "technique" that touched him would "flow" into the Domain Barrier with its enhanced "compatibility," effectively breaking down the very concept of "technique."

[The drawback, though, is that if I use my own technique at the same time, it will also "flow" into the Barrier. Maybe I can load the technique into the Domain first, then use this kind of Barrier...]

Then all at once, Satoru Gojo realized that Sukuna, who had been dodging and avoiding him the entire time, had actually started fighting back. His fists could even neutralize the obstruction of the Limitless, and they could not be marked by the "limit"...

In that instant, Satoru Gojo understood what Sukuna had done.

By strengthening the Barrier's "compatibility" with techniques, Sukuna had amplified the Domain Barrier's "technique neutralization" property.

The incompletely projected Innate Domain had also discarded any alteration of the environment, keeping only the traits of "high Cursed Energy density" and "concept neutralization"...

This was... Domain Amplification?

...

Chapter 124: Clash at the Pinnacle

After settling on his plan, Sukuna did not immediately drag Satoru Gojo into a Domain clash. Instead, he threw himself back into another round of close quarters combat.

His fists, packed with terrifying Cursed Energy, struck at Satoru Gojo again and again, each blow paired with Domain Amplification to neutralize the Limitless.

The moment Satoru Gojo saw that, he simply dispelled the Limitless. Borrowing the momentum of Sukuna's attack, he spun and kicked him away, blasting Sukuna into the wall behind him.

Before Sukuna could even recover from the shock of that force, Satoru Gojo was already on him again, driving a kick into his stomach. Sukuna scraped wildly across the ground, crashing through several walls before barely managing to stop...

Before Sukuna could make another move, Satoru Gojo attacked again. Hovering in midair, he swept a hand upward, and the fractured ground beneath Sukuna surged into the air. The crushing sense of supergravity forced Sukuna flat against it...

Then Satoru Gojo swung his hand down again, smashing the entire slab of ground, along with Sukuna on top of it, into another building. The whole structure instantly collapsed into countless chunks of rubble and became ruins in the blink of an eye...

"Since my technique can't act on you... I'll just use it on the surrounding environment instead..."

After sending Megumi Fushiguro away to evacuate the crowd, Satoru Gojo's fighting style became even less restrained. There was nothing else he needed to worry about now. All he had to do was eliminate the Curse User in front of him.

As the smoke cleared, Sukuna, with only torn clothing and no real damage to his body, had already leaped onto the roof of another building. Wisps of white steam rose from his surface wounds as Reverse Cursed Technique healed them.

At this point, neither of them cared about the surrounding environment anymore. Sukuna did not hesitate for even a moment before forming hand signs.

Seeing that even his relentless assault had failed to put Sukuna down, Satoru Gojo formed hand signs as well.

"Domain Expansion. [Malevolent Shrine]."

"Domain Expansion. [Unlimited Void]."

In an instant, a grotesque shrine rose from beneath Sukuna's feet. Countless twisted white bones piled up around it, and the ground turned into a shallow sheet of water. There was no black Barrier enclosing it. It was still an open Domain.

It emphasized the Innate Domain's [guaranteed-hit effect] and [Cursed Energy density], while weakening the physical isolation property of the [Barrier] itself.

At the same time, Sukuna also used the "complete removal of the Barrier shell" as a Binding Vow in exchange for "greater range" and a "more pronounced guaranteed-hit effect."

Beside Satoru Gojo, a black spherical Barrier appeared, enclosing the two of them inside.

Standing within his Domain, Satoru Gojo stared at Sukuna before him.

At that moment, neither of them was being affected by the other's Domain. Akira Zenin's prediction had been right. When a [closed Domain] and an [open Domain] collide on equal footing, what interferes with each other are the guaranteed-hit commands on both sides.

But in that case, Sukuna's Domain, with "slashing" as its technique, would directly attack the outside of [Unlimited Void] in the areas where the commands were not canceled out...

Still, Satoru Gojo had complete faith in Akira Zenin's prediction from the books. The moment he expanded his Domain, he directly reversed the strength of the Barrier's inside and outside.

The Barrier that would normally "prevent those inside the Domain from escaping" was switched into one designed to "prevent outside interference from affecting the Domain."

As a result, the outer shell of the Domain became highly resistant to attacks from outside, while inside the Domain, the guaranteed-hit commands had been canceled out, making it impossible for [Malevolent Shrine] to directly attack the inner wall of the Barrier...

On top of that, Sukuna had to keep his full attention on Satoru Gojo and had no room to manually attack the Barrier with slashes...

[All I need to do is heavily injure Sukuna inside the Domain, make him unable to maintain it, and let [Unlimited Void] hit him. Then it's over...]

Once he settled on that approach, Satoru Gojo immediately closed in and launched into another brutal close quarters exchange. But he quickly realized that even inside the Domain, Sukuna was still carrying that technique neutralization effect...

But as long as it was a matter of Cursed Energy manipulation, nothing could escape Satoru Gojo's eyes...

[So that's how it works... First he loads the technique onto the Barrier of the Domain, then uses a Barrier enhanced for "compatibility" to perform the amplification. That way, his own technique does not "flow" into the "amplified Barrier," which removes the mutual interference.]

Meanwhile, Sukuna kept dodging while using [Malevolent Shrine] to attack the outside of [Unlimited Void]. But aside from waves of violent tremors, nothing happened.

"Tch. Turtle shell..."

After that brief remark, Sukuna immediately shrank the boundary of his Domain until it pressed right up against the outside of [Unlimited Void], increasing the effectiveness of his slashes.

Then he voluntarily released the guaranteed-hit command in the area where the two Domains overlapped, strengthening the guaranteed-hit command on the outside of his Domain and further boosting the power of the slashes...

"Bzzzz... Boom!"

Just as expected, under that double reinforcement, [Unlimited Void] lasted less than three seconds under the violent shaking before it was sliced apart, exposing Satoru Gojo directly to the endless barrage of slashes.

The instant [Unlimited Void] collapsed, Satoru Gojo was hit by thousands upon thousands of slashes, and his entire body was reduced to a mass of blood...

But Sukuna was not in good shape either. To strengthen the technique's effect on the outside, he had shut off the guaranteed-hit command where the Domains overlapped. Which meant that for the three seconds before [Unlimited Void] broke, he had taken [Unlimited Void]'s guaranteed-hit effect head-on with his own body...

Sensing that Sukuna seemed a little dazed, Satoru Gojo looked like he wanted to smile and mock him, but all he managed was a twitch of the corner of his mouth through flesh that had already been cut to pieces...

Satoru Gojo immediately restored his body with Reverse Cursed Technique and charged straight at Sukuna.

New wounds kept opening across his body and healing just as fast. Normally, when using Cursed Energy at full output to reinforce the body, it should be impossible to use Reverse Cursed Technique at the same time. But Satoru Gojo had a method for using Cursed Energy and Reverse Cursed Technique simultaneously. Hollow Technique [Purple].

That meant that even though he could not use his technique during burnout, by applying the method behind the Hollow Technique, he could both "reinforce his body with Cursed Energy to withstand the slashes" and "use Reverse Cursed Technique to heal the damage" at the same time.

Sukuna, his mind still muddled, had only just regained his senses when he realized that Satoru Gojo was already right in front of him. A single punch nearly blasted through his abdomen...

The sheer damage made it impossible for Sukuna to maintain his Domain, and he was sent flying.

At that point, both Domains were released at the same time.

Wiping away a nosebleed, Sukuna swayed back to his feet. That brief Domain clash had made the difference between their techniques painfully clear to him...

Satoru Gojo could endure the slashes of [Malevolent Shrine] by combining Cursed Energy reinforcement with Reverse Cursed Technique, but Sukuna had endured [Unlimited Void] for less than three seconds before the pain in his brain became unbearable and his movements started to slow...

...

Chapter 125: Clash at the Pinnacle (II)

Sukuna reassessed his tactics once more. Right now, he could not think of any way to win in the short term other than another Domain battle, which meant he had to make full use of the advantages of an open Domain.

The only way was to destroy [Unlimited Void] while avoiding its effects, then wear Satoru Gojo down through the Domain's effects while using enhanced slashes at close range to strike his weak points and lower the efficiency of his Reverse Cursed Technique...

[For now, I just need to wait for my technique to recover again...]

Sukuna settled into his stance and waited for Satoru Gojo to attack. With both of them suffering burnout, close combat was still in Sukuna's favor. Satoru Gojo had no reason to pass up that opportunity.

But Satoru Gojo's next move shocked Sukuna so badly that his usual calm smile vanished, replaced by a look that was both grim and dazed.

Satoru Gojo formed a one handed sign again.

"Domain Expansion. [Unlimited Void]."

"??!!"

After what had just happened, Sukuna had no desire to be hit by [Unlimited Void] again. He quickly formed signs with both hands, and a Barrier covered in net like patterns instantly enclosed him inside it.

"Hollow Wicker Basket!"

This was the prototype of [Simple Domain]. It could neutralize a Domain and erase its guaranteed-hit effect, and because its Barrier took a different form, it was in some ways even sturdier than [Simple Domain]... But against an opponent of this level, it was difficult to use hands free. He had to keep maintaining the hand signs.

Although Ryomen Sukuna managed to avoid the effects of [Unlimited Void] through [Hollow Wicker Basket], it also effectively sealed both of his hands. The best option now would have been to undergo complete incarnation, restoring his body to its "two faces, four arms" state, which would also reset his injuries...

But he chose to keep watching Satoru Gojo instead, because if he fully incarnated and used his Domain again, while Satoru Gojo could still cancel burnout and Sukuna had no way to deal with it, then gaining an extra pair of hands would mean almost nothing.

[So this is it... He destroys the part of his brain responsible for "using techniques," then heals it with Reverse Cursed Technique. That lets him skip burnout entirely. It is basically resetting technique burnout itself?]

The moment Satoru Gojo saw Sukuna use [Hollow Wicker Basket] and lock both hands in place, he rushed forward at once, gathering Cursed Energy to break him down.

But just then, Sukuna's hand signs suddenly changed. The Barrier of [Hollow Wicker Basket] gradually faded away, replaced by a true Domain Barrier.

"Domain Expansion. [Malevolent Shrine]."

Now that he understood the principle, Sukuna showed the madness worthy of his name.

After all, he was the kind of monster who had seen Kenjaku create a human Cursed Object just once and then replicated the entire process himself, learning how to turn himself into a Cursed Object...

Sukuna brushed the dust off his body and looked at Satoru Gojo.

"Let me see what other fresh tricks you've got..."

Satoru Gojo, who had stopped in place, rolled his neck, loosened his shoulders, and took up his stance again.

"Then let's see how much you can actually learn!"

Sukuna grinned and lowered his head slightly, hiding the last marking beneath his left eye as it slowly lost its color.

"You brat..."

…

Black Flash and a dense barrage of slashes once again tore [Unlimited Void] apart, while Satoru Gojo answered with a full power Red that struck Sukuna right between the brows...

"Domain Expansion. [Malevolent Shrine]."

"Domain Expansion. [Unlimited Void]."

Neither of them hesitated. They expanded their Domains again. Then [Malevolent Shrine] shattered the shell of [Unlimited Void], and Satoru Gojo heavily injured Sukuna badly enough that he could no longer maintain his Domain. Everything seemed to be repeating in a cycle.

After the Domains broke apart, the two of them expanded their Domains yet again...

What Sukuna had actually been waiting for was a drop in Satoru Gojo's condition. Because Sukuna himself had already used the "destroy first, then heal" method to reset burnout, he knew it was not something that could be repeated forever. The brain was not like the rest of the body. No matter how precise the Cursed Energy control was, destroyed portions could never be restored perfectly. Hidden damage was bound to remain...

But they had already gone through four Domain clashes. Even Sukuna's own head had started to buzz. So why was Satoru Gojo still in such good shape...?

Sukuna suddenly looked around at the surrounding Barrier again.

"You did not load a technique??"

The moment he saw Sukuna's expression, Satoru Gojo burst into laughter so ridiculous it practically sounded like a pig squealing.

"So you finally noticed? You smashed your brain for nothing twice. Head hurting yet?~~"

That was right. This was [Unlimited Void], developed by Satoru Gojo on the basis of the first stage of Akira Zenin's [Ten Directions Sacred Realm], the initial state of the Domain with no Shikigami loaded into it, and expanded into a form made entirely of Barrier and Innate Domain. [Floating Contemplation].

Since it did not use a technique at all, naturally there was no such thing as burnout. This was also the kind of [Mental Domain] Akira Zenin had predicted, a Domain closer to the ancient style of fighting through the environment.

Even without a loaded technique, however, its Barrier could still interfere with other Domains. When facing an open Domain, it could still cancel the opponent's technique effects by offsetting the guaranteed-hit commands, and it was nowhere near as fragile as [Simple Domain].

Using [Mental Domain] this frequently consumed an enormous amount of Cursed Energy and concentration, but Satoru Gojo's absurdly precise control over Cursed Energy greatly reduced the difficulty of maintaining it.

The moment Satoru Gojo realized Sukuna had learned the method of "healing burnout," he changed his strategy. Starting from the third Domain clash, he began using [Floating Contemplation], luring Sukuna into repeatedly destroying his own brain and laying the groundwork for victory...

"So what do you think? Do you think I'll load a technique into it next time, Sukuna!"

"Heh heh..."

"Oh? Can't handle the pressure anymore? Are you finally losing your mind?"

Satoru Gojo said that, but his expression remained extremely serious as he kept thinking through every possible way Sukuna might still turn this around.

"...This unique Domain structure and that old fashioned looking Barrier really are impressive. But this thing should have other uses too. If my guess is right, this Domain technique is basically a 'relay station,' isn't it?"

"..."

"Domain Expansion. Technique loading."

The surroundings remained the same, a porcelain like expanse of open ground and a faintly reflective water surface. The shrine still stood behind Sukuna, but now its mouth suddenly opened impossibly wide, revealing the pedestal inside. On top of it stood a thick red candle as wide as a man.

As the candle was lit, ox skulls began floating up from the water all around them, and the eyes of every skull ignited with the same flames burning inside the shrine.

"[Malevolent Shrine]."

"Just as I thought. Compared to confusing the opponent or interfering with their Domain, the Barrier you're using feels more like a 'foundation' that can adapt to different techniques. A base used to switch the technique loaded into the Domain..."

Standing in front of the shrine, Sukuna looked down from the higher ground and smiled at Satoru Gojo.

"You can endure slashes, but what about being scorched from the inside out?

Now... the Domain effects are fair.

How well done do you want to be?"

...

Chapter 126: Limitless... Cursed Technique Extension!

The brain has no pain receptors, but the experience of pain does not depend on pain receptors alone. It is also tied to pain sensitive structures, the peripheral and central transmission pathways, and the limbic system plays a major role in how pain is felt.

And when damage reaches the thalamus, it can produce complex, excruciating pain...

Sukuna was doing his best to keep his tone calm, but after being induced to repeatedly "destroy brain tissue," his entire body was wracked with continuous spontaneous pain.

It had to be said, Satoru Gojo's "induction plan" had been an overwhelming success.

An ordinary person would be completely unable to focus under this kind of "inescapable phantom pain." Even Sukuna's precision in using his technique had been affected.

But what of it?

The corner of Sukuna's mouth lifted, as though he could already see the end.

All he had to do now was use the same trick again, recreate the situation from their first Domain clash, and pour all his strength into blowing apart Gojo's Domain from the outside.

Then, within the [Malevolent Shrine], he would turn Satoru Gojo's Cursed Energy itself into "ignition points."

That was the same as unleashing limitless [Opening] on him from inside his own body, using his own Cursed Energy against him.

It would cause enormous self ignition and self detonation damage, while also directly consuming his Cursed Energy.

And burns and poison damage were both obstacles that even Reverse Cursed Technique struggled to overcome...

There was no way Satoru Gojo could endure the damage, cut away the parts that had been charred black, and then restore himself at the same time.

In other words, even if he did not kill Satoru Gojo instantly, these uniquely dense injuries would still effectively shut down his ability to use Reverse Cursed Technique...

A true killing move.

"I didn't expect this 'Sashimi Banquet' to end in 'Roasting.' It may have lost that fresh sweetness... but a little extra aroma has its charms."

Satoru Gojo did not answer. His expression had turned grave. Even he had not expected Sukuna to have so many layers of tricks, especially such flexible control over his Domain...

He could tell that after Sukuna altered his Domain, the surrounding flames were genuinely dangerous to him...

Satoru Gojo listened to the burning crackle of the flames and the dense, thunderous barrage around him, while feeling his Domain Barrier tremble...

Then he looked at Sukuna again, wearing the expression of a glutton waiting for his meal to finish cooking...

And suddenly, Satoru Gojo broke into an absurdly exaggerated grin.

"This is kind of a pain, huh~~

Then let's go even crazier."

"Less than two seconds left..."

"I know."

Before his Domain shattered and before his technique burned out, Satoru Gojo immediately began to chant.

"Body, mind, manas, alaya..."

"[Limitless]"

The instant the chant ended and the technique began to move, Satoru Gojo's figure suddenly blurred.

This was his application of the "Slash" targeting expansion from the [Yatsuka-no-tsurugi], used to break through the reaction of Limitless.

He expanded the target of the attribute free [Limitless] so that it no longer applied to a specific attack or a specific physical object, but to the entire surrounding environment.

By using [Limitless] with the world itself as the target, he directly excluded himself from "the world."

And if that was the case, then attacks that existed "within the world" naturally could no longer affect him...

...

In an instant, [Malevolent Shrine] melted everything within the Domain. Its eruption even altered the terrain itself. The aftershock alone carved out an artificial crater in the middle of the city...

But Satoru Gojo had no idea what had happened there. He did not know about Sukuna's wild laughter or his "victory speech," and he certainly did not know about the stunned look on Megumi Fushiguro's face at the edge of Shinjuku...

To be precise, he could not see anything at all right now, except for the overlapping rings of light around him, layered one after another in all kinds of different forms...

The expansion of [Limitless] was not a physical act of leaving a place. It was an exclusion on the level of the concept of "the world" itself...

At that moment, Satoru Gojo felt an extraordinary sense of freedom in both body and mind. Through those "halos," everything could be observed.

The insects hidden in the shrubs, the organs inside living bodies as they moved, the faint air currents created by each person's interaction with the outside world, even the soft murmurs produced by the intertwining of different Cursed Energies...

And then Satoru Gojo suddenly realized something...

He did not seem to be able to go back.

In a place like this, coordinates with only three variables were completely useless for locating or moving...

So all he could do was drift there quietly.

Until a huge black sphere suddenly wriggled its way over to him and swallowed him into its "body" like a cell engulfing something...

...

When Satoru Gojo opened his eyes, he found himself in a place centered around a "pitch black pool."

It was dark like a night without stars.

There was no noise, no clamor. Only, if one listened carefully, a low murmur that brushed softly against the ear, like scripture being chanted in a church...

Not far away sat a mysterious figure in a pitch black robe and a mask, quietly cross legged.

"Akira??"

"Uh..."

Akira Zenin had just been about to speak, ready with a little "joke," when he froze there in a daze.

He had originally planned to say something deliberately over the top.

"This is not a place you should have come to... mortal~~"

But before he could get the words out, the whole plan was thrown off.

"How... did you figure it out?"

"Instinct..."

"..."

Patterns suddenly appeared on Akira Zenin's mask, forming a rather helpless expression.

"You've got a lot of nerve. You actually detached yourself from the world without setting any anchors?

Good thing nothing had time to collapse, and your information points were distinct enough.

Otherwise, even I wouldn't have been able to save you.

If it had come to that, you'd have been left drifting forever in an endless conceptual void."

Satoru Gojo shook his head, crouched down, and curiously scooped up a handful of the black liquid from the ground.

The liquid trembled violently, as though something had provoked it.

Then it split apart into a dense swarm of tiny "faceless lizards," which scattered out of his hand and fled in every direction...

"It's fine, it's fine... Nothing happened, right?

That said, where is this place?"

Akira Zenin let out a sigh and rested his chin on one hand as he thought for a moment.

"Just think of this place as... a permanent Domain that carries all of my Cursed Energy..."

"Huh?~~"

While playing with the "shadow lizards" crawling all over the ground, Satoru Gojo spoke toward Akira Zenin.

"A Domain is basically an extension of the self, and this place is outside the world. So does that mean the world has already rejected you?"

"More or less... Right now, all I can do is use marked anchor points to transfer a single body. Anything beyond that could cause a disaster..."

Watching Satoru Gojo happily toying with the constantly shifting "shadow mass," Akira Zenin could not help thinking that this guy really had an absurdly steady heart...

He did not look anything like someone in the middle of a fight with Sukuna.

"Alright, I'll send you back. If you stay in the 'Shadow Realm' too long, you'll be assimilated."

Satoru Gojo sprang to his feet.

"How?"

Akira Zenin smiled.

"Good thing I prepared two anchor points earlier. One is already occupied by the body currently in use, so I'll use the other one to send you back...

Megumi should still be somewhere near Shinjuku. The bracelet is with him right now...

You'll appear right beside him, and with your speed, there's still time."

Satoru Gojo lightly tapped his forehead a few times with his fist.

"OK~~ After this little experience, I've got some new ideas. Just wait for my good news."

Akira Zenin's tone was calm, and he wore a faint smile, perhaps with a trace of relief mixed in.

"Good luck."

...

Chapter 127: Supreme Showdown

While Satoru Gojo and Sukuna were fighting, Megumi Fushiguro had already coordinated with the Jujutsu High support staff and the relevant personnel, using the excuse of a "military experiment gone wrong" to evacuate everyone approaching the battle area by every means available.

Megumi Fushiguro could already picture how the people involved would end up kneeling in apology on the news once all this was over...

The battlefield itself was terrifying. Even out on the edge of Shinjuku, wave after wave of heat came rolling through the gaps between the buildings.

It was impossible to imagine what things looked like at the center of it all...

"Sigh..."

Looking at the scene, as grim as a living hell, Megumi Fushiguro could not help letting out a sigh.

"What are you sighing for?"

"I was thinking about how long this is going to take to rebuild. Sukuna really is terrifying..."

"You are seriously not worried about me at all? Ouch, my feelings are hurt~~"

"Since Gojo-sensei is the one handling it personally, all we really need to think about is dealing with the aftermath, right... Uh... Huh?"

Megumi Fushiguro suddenly realized that a familiar voice had come from low at his right side. At some point, Satoru Gojo had appeared beside him, sprawled there like some long legged frog.

"???"

Satoru Gojo gave a quick grin, planted all four limbs, and sprang back to his feet. He patted Megumi Fushiguro on the shoulder, then started walking toward the battlefield again.

"There was a tiny little accident. I will be right back~~"

...

The center of what had once been the battlefield had been vaporized into a smooth hemispherical crater. The ground had turned to lava, and it still had not cooled, bubbling and flowing inside the pit...

Sukuna sat outside the crater, holding a box of fries he had picked up from who knew where. He squeezed ketchup over them, then stuffed half of it straight into his mouth.

"Pfft..."

Sukuna looked speechlessly at the blackened strips in his hand. The temperature here was too high. They had burned bitter, and the ketchup clung to his tongue. The taste was weird too...

He casually tossed the rest into the crater.

"Oh well. That was a satisfying fight... The jujutsu sorcerers of this era really do have some skill..."

Then suddenly, he realized everything around him had started breaking apart, and he himself took a heavy hit out of nowhere, coughing up a mouthful of blood on the spot...

What was this?

Sukuna hurriedly compared the situation to scenes from his memory.

This kind of attack... he had seen something similar a thousand years ago, from the Fuji clan assassination unit [Jitsugetsusei]... It was related to space, but even more violent. It had shredded his internal organs directly. He needed to restore himself with the Reverse Cursed Technique immediately...

"If it is space related, then... [Dismantle]!"

Still in his zero state, Sukuna unleashed a slash crackling with Black Flash. The effect of Black Flash tearing through space was like dropping a stone into a river and splitting the current apart, carving out a narrow wedge of calm amid the invisible assault.

The little cover left in the area was destroyed again. When the smoke and dust finally cleared, a figure slowly appeared.

"Hollow Technique. [Ripples]"

A savage grin spread across Sukuna's face.

"A ghost?"

Satoru Gojo settled into his stance. At this point, there was no longer any need to worry about getting others caught in the crossfire...

"No. More like this is round two~"

"Domain Expansion..."

"Domain Expansion..."

Without giving the other side time to react, the two Domains crashed into each other again.

"[Malevolent Shrine]"

"[Unlimited Void]"

Within the overlapping section of their Domains, the two of them clashed once more. After dodging Satoru Gojo's long range attack, Sukuna answered with a punch of his own.

With shattered stone flying everywhere, Sukuna's lips curled upward.

"Isn't this the same as just now... How many lives do you have left for me to deal with?"

In the next instant, Satoru Gojo rushed in and drove a kick into him, sending Sukuna skidding back several meters.

"It is a little different this time~~ Want to learn?"

As Sukuna controlled his Domain to keep blasting apart the outer shell of Satoru Gojo's Domain, he continued fighting him with Domain Amplification.

"Oh?"

"To describe a point in three dimensional space, you need three numbers in the coordinate system. In the simplest case, those three numbers represent that point's projection along the three dimensions.

By extension, if you want to describe a point in four dimensional space, then you need four numbers..."

"Technique Disclosure?"

Sukuna narrowed his eyes. This disclosure was not quite what he had expected.

Satoru Gojo ignored the question and threw himself back into close combat. The technique he was about to use had never been attempted before, so he needed to disclose it first, raise his state, and fully free up his processing power.

"A point in n dimensional space requires n variables to represent it. Conversely, n variables can also be contained within a single point in n dimensional space..."

"Your Domain is already on the verge of collapse. You have twenty seconds left. Show me what you have left!"

Sukuna laughed wildly in response, while Satoru Gojo kept explaining as if they were not even having the same conversation.

"To define an ordinary particle on the physical level, you first need three numbers for its positional coordinates, then another three numbers to describe its momentum along three directions...

In other words, six variables are enough to describe the state of a physical particle at time t...

And conversely, its behavior can also be represented by a single point in six dimensional space."

"Higher dimensional space is just a construct used to assist calculation. But after going through that one experience of 'leaving the world,' I can now use a Barrier and Domain to simulate the corresponding phase space of a system.

Then, with the help of Hamilton's canonical equations, I can use the theory Akira mentioned in Conjectures on the Analysis of Barrier Arts through the [Six Eyes] to microscopically manipulate the generalized momentum of every 'particle' inside the Domain~~"

Sukuna's brow tightened more and more. At first, he had still been trying hard to follow Satoru Gojo's "Technique Disclosure," but by the end, he was completely overwhelmed by Satoru Gojo's terrifying top student energy...

What the hell are you even talking about?

Can we not just talk properly about jujutsu?

My brain itches...

The part I just healed from the burnout feels like it is about to grow back completely!!

It had to be said, Satoru Gojo's words really did affect Sukuna. Sukuna liked to think things through, and even the attacks from his Barrier started to slow down...

"What is this supposed to mean? Are you trying to stall for time by throwing words at me?"

Satoru Gojo drove Sukuna back with a punch.

"I'm just telling you to study harder so the times don't leave you behind!!"

Satoru Gojo formed another hand seal and directly changed the nature of his Domain Barrier.

The outer shell of [Unlimited Void] began to shift. By simulating a state "outside the world," he made the shell like a Klein bottle, with no distinction between inside and outside.

As a result, through the overlap and interaction of the concepts of "inside" and "outside," the Barrier simultaneously took on the traits of both a "closed Domain" and an "open Domain."

A sphere of pale blue light floated quietly behind Satoru Gojo. It looked like an enlarged [Six Eyes], silently watching everything before it.

The moment Satoru Gojo's Domain changed, Sukuna immediately began analyzing it. But having never experienced a higher dimension himself, no matter how strong his ability to learn was, at most he could only construct a hypothetical simulation...

Even so, Sukuna still grasped the core of the issue. No matter what form it took, a clash between Domains would ultimately come down to Barrier interference and technique compatibility...

"So what? Making the Barrier shell intangible only turns this battle into a war of attrition..."

"Why so impatient? Right now I've only brought out the tool called the 'system phase space Barrier'..."

"Domain Reversal..."

Satoru Gojo directly manipulated every quantity within the entire Domain, reversing the direction of every vector. At the same time, the Barrier whose inside and outside had been made intangible changed once again.

When the shell of this high dimensional Barrier switched between inside and outside, the distortion of dimensional projection caused it to enter an "indecipherable state." As a result, for that stretch of time, Satoru Gojo's Domain and Sukuna's Domain would be unable to interfere with each other.

Both of them would be hit by the guaranteed effects of the other's Domain at the same time!

"[All Forms Are Formless]"

The instant the words fell, the effects of both Domains landed on their opponent simultaneously.

Satoru Gojo ignited from the inside out, like the burning candle on the shrine behind Sukuna.

Yet even that pain, far beyond the limits of the human body, did not bring any sign of agony to Satoru Gojo's face. He only bared his teeth in wild laughter, staring at Sukuna through blurred flames.

As for Sukuna, he only took one look at the sphere of light behind Satoru Gojo as it suddenly expanded, and the plan he had just been about to think through vanished from his mind...

[Unlimited Void] forces information into the opponent.

[All Forms Are Formless] strips the opponent's information away!

Little by little, Sukuna's memories began to fade. His train of thought scattered, and soon he lost the ability to think or work out a counter...

Even the intention to attack slipped from his mind, and his hands slowly relaxed...

After that, his muscle memory, his personality, even the information of his soul was stripped away piece by piece.

The fierceness in his eyes faded into calm, then confusion gave way to clarity... In the end, he unconsciously sat down cross legged, staring straight ahead with a gaze that seemed curious about everything...

Satoru Gojo, now almost burned into charcoal, immediately released his Domain. He coughed a few times in a hoarse voice, then collapsed to the ground and poured everything he had into Reverse Cursed Technique just to stay alive.

[Only four seconds... That is seriously insane.]

At that moment, a huge black bug came writhing over. Akira Zenin jumped down from it, took out the [Makaru-kaeshi-no-tama], and placed it on Satoru Gojo's forehead.

Divine treasures were unique, shared among the [Ten Shadows]. And Akira Zenin, who possessed the [Ten Directions Sacred Realm], was even more skilled at using them...

"You really went all out..."

Satoru Gojo had only just stabilized his condition, and his eardrums still had not healed. He only tugged at the corner of his mouth, dry and cracked all over.

...

About half an hour later, Akira Zenin sat off to the side flipping through a book from who knew where, occasionally jotting down notes.

"All done?"

"Ahh~~ That feels good~~"

"What are you yelping about over there? What are we supposed to do about all this stuff you wrecked?"

"You want me to pay for half the city?"

"I'm worried you'll find it annoying. Those old higher ups are definitely going to use this as an excuse to come after you like crazy..."

Satoru Gojo dug the black charcoal out of his ear with his finger.

"They're just like this chunk of charcoal... once they're nothing but harmful, you just dig them out~~"

Then Satoru Gojo looked over at Sukuna, who was still sitting upright nearby.

"Besides, I've got a better idea. Let the one who actually caused all this pay it back..."

...

Chapter 128: Encounter

After unilaterally deciding Sukuna's next stop, Satoru Gojo thought for a moment.

"Actually, I think we should leave the rest to the 'higher-ups'... That's about the only thing they're still good for, anyway."

Akira Zenin nodded.

"We can also use this chance to weed out the dead weight..."

"How?"

"There's no way you can fight the King of Curses from a thousand years ago without taking any damage…

You can use this opportunity to announce to the outside world that you were severely injured and won't be able to move around normally for a while.

That way, those 'conservatives' who've been treating me as a 'controllable' backup because I haven't done anything will most likely start making moves..."

Satoru Gojo laughed.

"Your habit of slacking off has actually turned out to be unexpectedly effective... Looks like it'll be time to close the net soon.

As long as the people left behind put in some effort, the Jujutsu World should still keep running."

"Exactly. And I'm also planning to bring in some outside personnel..."

"This actually works out perfectly..."

"What works out perfectly?"

"After that fight just now, my 'Spell Circuit' is seriously overloaded... I probably won't be able to use Cursed Techniques for a while~~"

Akira Zenin glanced at Satoru Gojo, but didn't see anything unusual. His Cursed Energy was circulating normally, and his spell circuits were running smoothly as well...

"Seriously?"

Satoru Gojo tore a strip of dark blue fabric from his clothes, wrapped it over his eyes, and curled his lips into a smile.

"Seriously~~"

...

On a small country road, the early rice in the surrounding fields had already been harvested, and the farmers were enjoying a rare break.

The place was a little too open, but the stillness of the rice paddies gave it a quiet kind of charm.

"Excuse me, miss. Please wait a moment..."

A woman in a black robe stopped when she heard the voice, though she didn't turn around.

"May I ask what this is about?"

The man in a Jujutsu High teacher's uniform narrowed his eyes and looked her over from head to toe.

Right after finishing a mission, Suguru Geto had suddenly seen a message in the teachers' group chat.

Seriously, Megumi Fushiguro ran into Ryomen Sukuna half a day ago?

If Satoru Gojo hadn't just sent an OK emoji, he would already have been rushing back at full speed...

But as he passed by this stretch of rice fields, something in his backpack had started vibrating nonstop...

"Do you need help with something? A long robe doesn't seem very practical in a place like this."

"No. I'm allergic to UV rays, so I need to keep my skin covered. I'm on my way home now..."

Kenjaku's voice grew softer and softer. She glanced at the two Fly Heads resting on her shoulders...

What terrible luck... The Jujutsu World's attention should have been drawn to Sukuna by now.

After giving a small shake of her head, Kenjaku simply turned around and looked at the man behind her with the strange bangs.

"How did you figure it out?"

Suguru Geto smiled.

"You deliberately avoided looking at the Fly Heads, but two of them landed on your shoulders.

A normal person wouldn't stay that calm..."

"You know that's not what I meant."

Suguru Geto took a transparent box out of his bag. Inside was an embryo that was almost fully formed...

Kenjaku narrowed her eyes and gave it a quick look.

"I see... Cursed Womb: Death Paintings..."

Suguru Geto nodded.

"The Death Painting Womb Choso. Akira gave this to me before. He said that if it came across a Curse User with an extremely high threat level, it would start trembling under the Barrier's effect..."

Kenjaku smiled, her expression restrained.

"With Jujutsu Sorcerers this powerful now, I gave up on my plans long ago. I was on my way to the countryside to live off the land and spend the next hundred years in peace.
Why not let me go? I can release the Binding Vow."

Suguru Geto didn't respond. After a moment of thought, he asked another question instead.

"How do you see Jujutsu Sorcerers and ordinary people?"

"Humans and monkeys?"

Suguru Geto narrowed his eyes.

But Kenjaku suddenly laughed.

"Ha, just kidding. Jujutsu Sorcerers and ordinary people are probably just two kinds of people with different possibilities."

"Different possibilities?"

"By possibilities, I mean this. In theory, if you raise saplings under the same conditions, with the same education, the same resources, and everything else being equal, they'll generally grow into timber of about the same quality..."

"So you think Jujutsu Sorcerers have greater potential?"

Kenjaku shook her head.

"No. The plasticity of thought has limits. I'm actually conducting experiments on that right now. A lot of the thinking and methods used by ordinary people can actually guide the development of Jujutsu.

And I also agree with Akira Zenin's philosophy.

A Jujutsu Sorcerer who doesn't understand theory and can't do research isn't a good Jujutsu Sorcerer.

When it comes down to it, those Jujutsu Sorcerers who only know mechanical training, stacking up experience, relying on instinct, and fighting nonstop look more like low-level animals to me now, creatures using a 'Cursed Techniques black box'...

Like a monkey using a phone to beat someone with it. Funny, isn't it?"

Hearing that, Suguru Geto let go of the hand he had been using inside his bag to send a message.

"Even experiments need proper methods. Every life deserves respect... Noritoshi Kamo..."

Kenjaku shook her head.

"You're still too young. Some paths can't be walked by good people.

Do you still need to keep stalling for time until someone gets here?

There's an abyss waiting ahead, Jujutsu Sorcerer..."

"You underestimate the Special Grade."

"No. You overestimate yourself..."

...

Chapter 129: How Many Holes Does a Straw Have?

[Suguru Geto, the user of [Cursed Spirit Manipulation], has shown extremely strong close combat ability based on his mission record.

In many cases, he can end a fight using only Cursed Energy and taijutsu. In his tactical planning for humanoid opponents, his technique usually plays a supporting role...]

Kenjaku rapidly ran through every piece of related information in her mind. That was her habit, and her principle as well. A fight without a reasonable chance of success, or one where the conditions for victory were not in place, had no meaning...

And information on Suguru Geto was far too easy to obtain. As a model worker when it came to missions, both the Governor's Office and the Mission Bureau had extensive records on him.

For a sorcerer, the advantage created by an information gap was enormous. Since Suguru Geto had identified her as Noritoshi Kamo, she could start by using the already known [Blood Manipulation Technique], then use [Antigravity System] at the critical moment to finish things. And under no circumstances could she let him get close...

Several threads of blood spread outward, wiping out the Cursed Spirits gathered around her. But Kenjaku then saw that Suguru Geto did not close the distance to take advantage of his physical strength. Instead, he formed a hand seal with both hands...

"Domain Expansion..."

As Suguru Geto spoke, the ground grew darker and darker, becoming more and more muddy, like a swamp made of Cursed Energy...

If one looked closely, countless grotesque Cursed Spirits could be seen weaving through it, swimming through the mire in almost cheerful fashion...

"[Sea of Karmic Spirits]"

"You gave up your obvious advantage and chose to enter an unknown domain clash instead... If I don't respond, that would be rather lacking in taste..."

Suguru Geto rubbed his head.

"Don't get the wrong idea. It's just that when I see you, for some reason I don't feel like fighting you at close range... It gives me a headache."

"Tch."

Seeing the wave of Cursed Energy rushing toward her, Kenjaku also expanded her Domain.

Behind her, a withered tree of flesh burst from the earth, made of densely packed human faces and torsos.

As its branches and leaves of human skin slowly unfurled, Cursed Energy carrying an overpowering stench of blood instantly filled the entire space.

On that tree of flesh, a tree made from sin and spirits, countless grotesque figures of different shapes, all joined together by flesh, continuously swayed their twisted limbs.

"[Womb Profusion]"

"Hidden among all beings, containing all dharmas, endowed with all merits.
...just as a child rests within the mother's womb."

"So they're both domains without any overt effect... Which means your domain is more specialized in function?"

Suguru Geto paused slightly. In truth, the other party was helping him carry out Technique Disclosure... Was she using a preemptive declaration to weaken the effect of any technique he might reveal?

Then Suguru Geto smiled, unconcerned. With a wave of his right hand, the Cursed Energy in the pitch-black sea beside him began to spin, gathering in front of him.

Seeing this, Kenjaku also raised a hand and activated her technique.

"The Maximum of [Cursed Spirit Manipulation], Uzumaki. It compresses the absorbed Cursed Spirits into one and bombards the enemy with ultra-dense Cursed Energy..."

"You've voluntarily abandoned the versatility that makes Cursed Spirit Manipulation so useful... It's nothing more than a way to recycle low-grade Cursed Spirits..."

Suguru Geto nodded.

"However, its real value is that when [Uzumaki] is used on a Grade 1 or higher Cursed Spirit, it can extract the technique..."

"Extracting techniques carries risk. A body can only contain so many techniques."

"Sorry, what I meant was another use for [Uzumaki]."

"Oh?"

"Think about it differently. [Uzumaki] extracts the technique and briefly engraves it into the body, while the Cursed Energy is left behind to attack the enemy.

So what if what's extracted is only the Cursed Energy?"

"Then the technique imprint is left behind where the attack originally landed, but without a vessel, it dissipates instantly..."

"So in other words, if the timing is right, you can switch the vessel for that 'technique imprint.'"

"In the end, you're still just using a Cursed Spirit's technique..."

Before she could finish, Kenjaku suddenly narrowed her eyes.

Suguru Geto laughed.

"So you figured it out. You really are impressive…

First, use the barrier of the Domain as a temporary vessel. Then replace the Cursed Energy the Cursed Spirit originally used with the energy generated by Reverse Cursed Technique, allowing it to become the vessel for the technique.

That way, you can create a 'positive Cursed Spirit.'

Or rather... a divine spirit..."

Hearing that, Kenjaku did not attack immediately. Instead, she looked at Suguru Geto with clear interest.

That line of thought was indeed unusual. If something like a "positive Cursed Spirit" truly could exist, then the whole world would gain a new variable.

Suddenly, something jumped out from the Cursed Energy swamp beneath them. It was a book covered in eyes, with centipede-like legs constantly twitching on either side...

Suguru Geto called it into his hand.

As Uzumaki absorbed it, a blurry talisman-like imprint slowly appeared on the barrier of the Domain.

During that process, Suguru Geto continuously filled it with Reverse Cursed Technique...

Once the Cursed Energy had been completely replaced, a man appeared there wearing pale green gauze robes with wide sleeves, his eyes gently closed.

"And just like that, the Cursed Spirit born from students' hatred of books has become the God of Knowledge, Sugawara no Michizane."

Kenjaku stared at the sight before her, slightly dazed.

This was not the real Sugawara no Michizane. It was the image students held of the "god of learning" they prayed to before exams.

It was practically the same principle as a Special Grade Imaginary Cursed Spirit...

And with the appearance of the God of Knowledge, the changes in Suguru Geto's Domain barrier, along with its precision, became so drastic that Kenjaku could not immediately determine whether she could break through the outer shell of his Domain in a short time.

"Interesting..."

But perhaps because she had thought of something, Kenjaku saw that Suguru Geto's astonishing [Uzumaki] had not been used for a direct attack, but instead to create a positive Cursed Spirit. So she also canceled the attack she had been preparing.

"Fighting itself is whatever. But if I fall behind when it comes to developing techniques, that would leave a bad taste in my mouth..."

The withered tree of flesh behind her swayed continuously. Streams of blood ran slowly through the grooves in its bark, gathering and reshaping at the end.

"[Blood Manipulation Technique] is a technique that controls blood. But once blood comes into contact with water, the lowered concentration of blood cells makes it impossible to control.

According to your friend's way of thinking, you should look for 'characteristics' inside a 'weakness.'

If you think about it from that angle, and combine it with some modern concepts, then the true target of [Blood Manipulation Technique] is not 'blood' but 'cells'...

In other words, if your control is precise enough, you can develop it with cells as the foundation, especially after creating blood with Reverse Cursed Technique..."

With the Domain increasing the precision of her control, the blood behind Kenjaku formed three humanoid bodies. They were heavily built, with powerful muscles, their entire bodies covered in armor created through chitin mineralization. They looked somewhat similar to Yorozu's bio-armor.

"Maximum. [Avatar]"

After sensing the three additional bodies she now had, Kenjaku smiled.

"Using blood to draw talismans is a clever little trick, yes. But in the end, you still never pursued the true essence of the technique..."

...

"Wow, you're amazing~~"

The sudden voice inside the Barrier made both Kenjaku and Suguru Geto turn at once.

Suguru Geto was puzzled by how the newcomer had gotten inside the opposing Barriers, but the moment he saw who it was, he relaxed.

Kenjaku, on the other hand, broke out in a cold sweat. The memory of almost getting beaten to death with a single staff strike came rushing back...

"How did you get in?"

What confused her was not that Akira Zenin had entered the Domain, but that he had done so completely without a sound. From the look of things, he might even have been here for quite a while...

Akira Zenin raised a hand. A Barrier like the one Satoru Gojo used for "Domain Reversal" clung to it.

"Domain Amplification formed from a Voidification Barrier... just learned it."

The moment she saw that, Kenjaku immediately dispelled her Domain. At the same time, Suguru Geto also released his Domain at Akira Zenin's signal...

Kenjaku knew very well how terrifying Akira Zenin's hand-to-hand combat became when reinforced with Cursed Energy. Besides, with [Avatar] still in play, this body was not all that important.

After calmly devoting herself to its development, she had discovered that by combining the Maximum Technique of Blood Manipulation with her own technique and her own knowledge, she could create all kinds of bodies. She no longer needed to take over hosts to achieve "technique freedom."

But the moment she released the Domain, Kenjaku regretted it...

She raised a finger at Akira Zenin. For the first time, her composed expression fell away, replaced by sheer disbelief.

"You..."

Smiling, Akira Zenin pulled out a plastic bag. Inside, neatly soaked in liquid, were several brain worms.

Their bodies looked no different from human brains, but each one had four spider-like legs, and where a face should have been was a wide mouth full of perfectly even teeth.

"These are your backups, right~~ Haha, brain clones?"

Kenjaku's eye twitched.

"All six are here... How is that possible?"

Akira Zenin shrugged.

"When you made the brain clones, you used the 'sludge' left over from my last Cursed Energy outburst, didn't you?"

Kenjaku said nothing. She had indeed used that sludge, taking advantage of its ability to half-convert physical matter into something like a cursed spirit, then cultivated these "brain worms" with her technique.

But not even Abe no Seimei had been able to determine the locations of the cursed objects he made once they were hidden inside those Barriers...

Was the connection between that unusual Cursed Energy and Akira Zenin really that strong? It was absurd.

After confirming that Suguru Geto was uninjured and merely sitting there recovering his strength, Akira Zenin looked back at Kenjaku.

"I want to ask you something."

Seeing that Akira Zenin still had not made a move, Kenjaku nodded.

"What is it?"

"How many holes does a straw have?"

"..."

Given the situation, the question was so out of place that Kenjaku froze for a moment, then slowly narrowed her eyes.

Meanwhile, Akira Zenin casually swung the bag of brain worms in his hand, humming some tune under his breath...

If Kenjaku treated the straw as a single through-hole you could look through, she would answer one.

If she thought pinching one end still left an opening on the other, she would answer two.

But either answer would prove that she was still a "person" who relied on experience, because the question never defined what a "hole" actually was. The moment you discuss it, you inevitably start from an experiential prototype of a hole, then build outward from there...

Relying on experience was not a problem in itself. But for a monster that had lived a thousand years to still instinctively depend on it, that meant she had never truly escaped the cognitive framework of a "short-lived species." To Akira Zenin, that meant there was no room left for alteration.

"So, a non-material concept like holes... You're really bringing in Lewis's philosophical discussion of holes here? That's a little too self-indulgent..."

Akira Zenin stopped swinging the bag and leaned forward slightly.

"Get to the point."

Kenjaku lowered her eyes, as though she had given up on running.

"I think a straw is just like a roll of tape. Both can be continuously deformed into a ring without piercing them or sticking anything together. In topology, they're homeomorphic."

Akira Zenin could not help laughing.

"So you really didn't live all those years for nothing..."

Kenjaku pushed back the hood of her cloak and looked toward a certain area in the southeast.

"Unlike Tengen, I truly have 'lived' for a thousand years."

...

"In that case, how about helping me with some research?"

Akira Zenin rubbed at his chin a few times.

To be honest, when Kenjaku faced Yuji, she would consciously or unconsciously reveal a kind of "maternal" quality... and now she was even wearing the Tiger Mom's body.

If you thought about it that way, Yuji might have ended up finding a "mother" in a very unconventional sense, though the reunion had something undeniably cultish about it.

Kenjaku ignored the obvious mischief on Akira Zenin's face.

"You want to work with someone like me, a person whose name is stained throughout history?"

Akira Zenin shook his head.

"Don't misunderstand. It would be a waste to let all the knowledge you possess disappear. I just want to squeeze out whatever value you have left..."

Kenjaku fell silent again.

"You really are direct."

...

"I have one condition."

Kenjaku's words broke the brief silence.

But Akira Zenin immediately lifted a hand and wagged his index finger.

"You should understand that negotiation only works when strength backs it up... You have backup plans, but I have comrades too.

Satoru Gojo, Suguru Geto, Megumi Fushiguro, Yuta Okkotsu, Maki, Toge, Yuji, Panda... Noritoshi Kamo, Aoi Todo, Kokichi Muta, Mai, Momo, Miwa..."

As Akira Zenin listed the names one by one, Kenjaku's expression turned serious again. No matter how she looked at it, the jujutsu world of this era was absurdly stacked. She had meant to lie low for a while, only to be found immediately. Even her backup measures had already been wiped out...

"The current jujutsu world really is impressive, both in vitality and in strength."

Even though Kenjaku's tone had softened, Akira Zenin showed none of his usual joking manner.

"I'm only saying this."

He looked at Kenjaku calmly.

"You're not qualified to negotiate with me."

...

Chapter 130: How Nice… The Jujutsu Sorcerers Lived Through Another Day Again

"'Little Birdcage' Restaurant..."

Now fully recovered, Satoru Gojo looked up at the familiar place. The homemade sign was still standing out front, though the neon lights around it had been redone yet again.

He stepped inside, only to find that Akira Zenin was not in one of the private rooms. Instead, he had set up an extremely small "curtain" in the simple main hall and was sitting there reading a newspaper...

As for why he had put up a curtain... a shadow hand was extending out from beneath him, holding a cup of coffee to his mouth...

As usual, Satoru Gojo raised a hand, ready to use [Blue] to snatch the fries off Akira Zenin's table. But the instant he moved, the curtain was dropped.

That forced him to stop himself at once...

"Aren't you worried I might not stop in time and let other people see?"

Akira Zenin glanced at him.

"It's fine. Just say you were performing the acrobatic trick 'Dragon Sucking Water'~~ How do you have time to come out?"

"Ahem... that Curse User started voluntarily teaching the first-years, and she's actually seriously memorizing the Experimental Code of Ethics you gave her..."

"With entertainment, a goal, and leverage all in place, of course she'd be motivated.

I'll be keeping an eye on her from now on..."

Satoru Gojo could tell Akira Zenin was in a much better mood now, though he was still spending his days drinking coffee all over the place.

Then he remembered that he still had to sort through the higher-ups in the jujutsu world and stabilize the situation, and instantly felt a little unbalanced inside.

"Your Heavenly Restriction is gone now, so why aren't you taking missions~~"

"You're one to talk. Why aren't you going?"

"Me?"

Satoru Gojo practically melted onto the table like a cartoon character...

"I'm just an ordinary jujutsu sorcerer without a technique right now. You can really bear to send me on missions?~~"

"So right now all the special grade incidents are being handled by Suguru, Megumi, and Yuta? That's the workload for all five of us..."

"Ahem, probably..."

"Man, that really is rough on them~"

"But because of technique compatibility, Suguru gets the most assignments..."

After a brief silence, the two of them suddenly looked at each other, then burst out laughing at the same time.

"Hahahahaha! Suguru has it so bad!!"

"Right? Right?!! Hahahahaha... hahahaha!!"

The people around them kept glancing over at the two maniacs. Some hurriedly packed up their things, ready to get away from this place of trouble...

...

In a remote mountain area, Suguru Geto had just absorbed a special grade cursed spirit and was sitting there, taking alternating bites of wasabi and swallowing cursed spirit balls...

"Ha... ha-choo!!"

Suguru Geto suddenly sneezed and rubbed his nose.

"A cold? No, something's off...

Akira probably wouldn't be that bad. It's Satoru, isn't it..."

Suguru Geto opened a notebook and drew a circle around one spot with a red pen.

"Eleven more missions this month...

Keep going. Next place..."

...

"I, I want meat..."

"You need a balance of meat and vegetables if you want to grow properly..."

Shigemo Sukuna blankly opened his mouth and looked at the cauliflower beside him.

He reached out with a trembling hand, grabbed it, and desperately tried to stuff it into his mouth.

But this cauliflower seemed even stronger than a special grade jujutsu sorcerer. It kept interfering with Sukuna's astonishing "precision in Cursed Energy manipulation," always knocking his hand just off target and sending it past his mouth...

Yu Haibara watched Sukuna fooling around and shook his head lightly, then took out a large piece of lightly golden grilled skirt steak...

Sukuna stared blankly at the meat. The cauliflower in his hand went straight into his mouth, and his jaw moved up and down mechanically as he chewed.

The moment Sukuna finished the vegetables and yanked the meat over, Yu Haibara looked at Kento Nanami.

"You're leaving today?"

"Yeah. I booked the plane ticket the day before yesterday when the bonus was paid out. It's this afternoon."

"Uh, isn't it already afternoon?"

Kento Nanami glanced at his pocket watch.

"The flight takes off at 17:30. I just need to get back and pick up my books by 15:30. That leaves 3 minutes and 57 seconds..."

Hearing a plan scheduled down to the second, Yu Haibara's mouth twitched slightly.

"Yeah... I'll make sure this guy turns over a new leaf. At least for the next hundred years, there probably won't be any cursed spirits that can't be handled anymore..."

With a piece of meat hanging from his mouth, Shigemo Sukuna looked over with a blank, confused gaze.

After being affected by [All Forms Are Formless], this kid's brain structure had changed, and all his memories had vanished. Even after learning some basic knowledge he still seemed a little slow...

"Turn over what leaf?"

"Just eat your meat..."

"Oh... am..."

...

"It's about time."

Kento Nanami glanced at his pocket watch.

"I'm leaving this threat in your care."

"Haha... you can't call him a threat. What kind of attitude someone is raised with is what kind of person they become."

"...It's because you're the one watching him that I can relax enough to go on vacation."

"Don't worry about it. Cheer up a little. Bye~~"

"Mm."

...

Kento Nanami stood up and headed for the taxi. As he did, he glanced back at the fly head perched on a waiter's shoulder nearby and casually waved a hand, dispersing it...

"This is nice... Jujutsu sorcerers have lived through another day."

(The End)

(There are extras)

...

Bonus Chapter 1: Cursed Spirit Disposal Department GDU (Ordinary Humans’ First Battle Against a Special Grade Cursed Spirit!)

Late at night, Tokyo, Toshima Ward, near Asakusa Station.

It was already past the last subway, and the station sat in darkness, completely deserted.

A modified black stretch sedan was driving through the area.

Six people sat inside the car, facing each other in pairs, all dressed in dark combat uniforms.

This was the [Type I Cursed Spirit Response Combat Suit]. Its outer layer was made from a material developed by the "Zenin Cursed Energy Research Institute" with extremely high Cursed Energy capacity.

It could buffer Cursed Energy attacks by raising the material's phase when struck. The middle layer contained a small amount of Reverse Cursed Technique energy. The inner layer was engraved with a Barrier that reduced Cursed Energy leakage.

Not long ago, the "Zenin Cursed Energy Research Institute" and "Kokichi Cursed Energy Equipment" had developed mass-producible, standardized Cursed Tools that even ordinary people could use.

The jujutsu world had already partnered with the authorities to establish a Cursed Spirit handling division made up entirely of "Windows" and ordinary people. GDU.

Inside the car, Kengo Ishio, who had already taken part in two Cursed Spirit suppression operations, watched the rookie across from him nervously wiping down his equipment again and again, and could not help smiling.

"Makoto-kun, first mission. Scared?"

The youthful-looking Makoto Haruyama jolted upright the moment he heard his name and stared straight ahead.

"Yes! No... uh... yes!"

"Haha! Don't worry... with Captain Takana here, any problem can be solved!"

"I... is that so..."

"Of course. The captain was in the very first batch to go through special training. He's led six Cursed Spirit suppression operations already. Not only did he complete every mission, his teams all came back with zero casualties."

Off to the side, Daito Yamano, who had a slightly rough edge to him, chimed in.

"Of course the captain's amazing. He was invited to the Zenin Research Institute, and the Zenin Clan Head personally awarded him the Exorcist Medal. Otherwise, why would the higher-ups poach him into our Second Squad~~"

Wearing tactical goggles, Osamu Ichii lowered the drone in his hand and shot him a glance.

"Quit acting bitter. Even if Captain Takana hadn't come, you still wouldn't be able to command the whole team."

Daito Yamano smacked his forehead.

"What kind of person do you take me for? Why would I fight over a job that exhausting..."

Then he changed the subject and looked at Kengo Ishio.

"I heard old Kengo finally had a breakthrough. Which girl is it?"

Kengo Ishio leaned back and let out a breath, a blissful smile spreading across his face.

"Kimizuki from the Equipment Division...

...Once we get back this time..."

Just then,Kenshi Takanashi, who had been sitting to the side with his head lowered and eyes closed, reviewing the previous battle in his mind, seemed to finish sorting out his thoughts. He gave a slight nod, then looked at the rookie.

"If you're nervous, try to keep your movements under control. Cursed Spirits are very sensitive to behavior tied to negative emotions."

"Understood!"

Kenshi Takanashi seemed to have no awareness at all that he had just cut off his team's conversation...

He turned to the young man who had been silent the whole time.

"Kisei, repeat the mission objective."

Kisei nodded. His eyes seemed to be forcibly suppressing a look of despair. At the same time, the inside of the car suddenly fell silent, as if all the noise from a moment ago had only been an illusion.

"The target is the special grade illusory Cursed Spirit listed in the Cursed Spirit Compendium. Dodomeki.

According to the records, Dodomeki is extremely sensitive to sightlines. Anyone caught in its gaze will have body tissue stolen... At the same time, it can stuff its eyes into the gaps inside a target's body, eventually causing death through suffocation, blocked blood flow, organ damage, and so on..."

Osamu Ichii let out a sigh.

"Special grade... something beyond common sense. Why are they sending a department that was only just established to deal with this..."

When they first joined GDU, they had been briefed through animated training materials. The monsters classified as special grade were clearly not the kind of thing that numbers alone could handle, especially not with only a six-man squad... not counting the driver.

Daito Yamano pulled on his combat mask and checked the blades strapped to his suit.

"Because those jujutsu sorcerer big shots don't have the time to spare... Heh. You can't exactly say they're using our lives as test data..."

...

"Even though this is GDU's first time dealing with a special grade, headquarters did provide the proper equipment. Didn't they?"

Unlike the others, Kenshi Takanashia's tone was completely calm.

"Kengo Ishio."

Kengo Ishio immediately sat up straight.

"Use the [Anti-Cursed Spirit M21] for long-range sniping."

"Understood!"

"Makoto Haruyama."

"Here!"

"You'll handle mid-range suppression with me."

"Mm..."

"Ichii Osamu."

"Here!"

"Use the drone together with the [Anti-Cursed Spirit Individual Telescope] to monitor the target and coordinate with Kengo Ishio's actions."

"Understood!"

"Kisei... work with Daito. Keep calculating at all times, and use the Barrier interference device whenever necessary to disrupt Cursed Energy fluctuations and interrupt the Cursed Spirit's Domain...

This is the first time this equipment has ever been used in live combat... We need to record its operating condition whenever possible.

Don't worry. Continuous fluctuations in Cursed Energy density have a huge impact on Cursed Spirits, especially ones that rely on instinct to deploy Domains."

"Got it."

"Daito Yamano... you... tangle with the Cursed Spirit at close range when necessary..."

"Understood! Leave it to me."

...

Tokyo was a little chilly in the middle of the night...

The squad had already been staking out the area for two days, but they still had not seen so much as a trace of Hyakumegami.

The mood over the radio had gone from tense, to lively, and finally to silence.

"Here."

On the roof of a twelve-story apartment building, Kengo Ishio handed a bottle of milk to Ichii Osamu, who was observing through the drone.

Ichii Osamu took the bottle, looking surprised.

"It's warm... where'd you get this?"

"I went to a convenience store during the day, then kept it in the temperature control case."

"You've got to be kidding me. That thing is meant to keep special bullet materials active, not keep food warm..."

He shook his head, then downed the hot drink in one go.

"And Cursed Spirits aren't ghosts that only come out at night... If you miss the timing for long-range support, let's see whether the captain says anything to you."

"It's fine. You're an accomplice now too~~"

"Heh..."

"This is the Support Team. No abnormalities so far. All teams, report your status."

Kenshi Takanashi's voice came through the comms, cutting off their conversation.

"Engagement Team, no abnormalities."

"Reconnaissance Team, no abnormalities."

"Good. All teams, remain on alert and proceed according to the original plan."

"Roger!"

"Understood."

"Wait... Reconnaissance Team, the drone has detected something abnormal."

Once he shifted into work mode, Ichii Osamu reported with machine-like efficiency.

"Using Point Two as the reference, target at the twelve o'clock direction, distance 1.5 kilometers."

From the perspective of the specially made Cursed Energy reconnaissance drone, it was a bloated humanoid shape.

Its entire body was packed with eyes. Its bizarre legs moved in constant alternation, while eight arms flailed wildly in front of it with no pattern at all.

Perhaps because there was no one else nearby besides them, the Cursed Spirit was moving straight toward their position. It also left behind something like slime wherever it passed.

The channel instantly erupted into chaos as the captain fired off orders one after another.

Kengo Ishio set up a massive black sniper rifle, then opened the temperature-controlled case beside him. Inside were three slender silver bullets.

This was [Kokichi Cursed Energy Equipment], a firearm developed specifically for agile Cursed Spirits.

It did not emphasize caliber. Instead, it focused on muzzle velocity and penetration, which made the whole weapon unusually slim.

Following the designated bearing, Kengo Ishio looked through the specially made scope and caught sight of the target's true form.

"Tch, that's disgusting."

The moment Kengo Ishio was in position, Ichii Osamu immediately called out the data.

"Target at ten o'clock, distance 1.2 kilometers, wind speed seven."

As soon as he heard the report, Kengo Ishio pulled the trigger without hesitation.

The shot went straight for Dodomeki's "head."

Because the Zenin Clan's Guide to Exorcising Cursed Spirits stated that Cursed Spirits of Semi-Grade 1 and above, once they possessed a Cursed Technique, would develop an area similar to the "Cursed Technique Motor" in the human brain, used to control that Cursed Technique. That region was called the "Cursed Spirit Cerebrum."

While that allowed the Cursed Spirit to use a Cursed Technique, greatly increased its intelligence, and strengthened its control over Cursed Energy, it also created an additional weak point...

Far in the distance, a burst of dim blood mist exploded from Dodomeki's head as it sprinted forward. It was as if firecrackers had been stuffed into its skull, producing a series of muffled pops.

The silver bullet had lodged directly in its brain. The Barrier engraved on it continuously absorbed the surrounding Cursed Energy and used it to trigger explosions.

Heavily wounded, Dodomeki froze in place, then let out a shrill explosive scream.

The attack had come without any warning, and it could not understand what had happened... the people it sensed were clearly still some distance away...

Seeing the target rolling around on the ground, Kengo Ishio took out another bullet.

"This thing... really does work..."

Ichii Osamu nodded.

"Yeah. Forty million per round."

"Cough, cough..."

Watching through the drone feed, Ichii Osamu saw black smoke pouring from Dodomeki's head. In particular, the bullet hole was still absorbing that black smoke, preventing it from recovering. He could not help but think that Kokichi Cursed Energy Equipment really was reliable.

"At this rate, three shots should be enough to exorcise it outright..."

"Which just proves my aim is that good~~"

After seeing how effective the weapon was, Kengo Ishio finally shook off his fear of Special Grade and carefully but skillfully pushed the slender bullet into the chamber.

But when he looked through the scope again, his face turned deathly pale, and he could not get another word out.

"Eye..."

A ghastly white eyeball filled his entire field of vision. The crushing pressure coming from inside his body left him able to spit out only a fragment of speech.

"Eyes?"

Ichii Osamu tore his gaze away from the drone feed and turned to look. Several eyeballs of different sizes had appeared in Kengo Ishio's mouth, nostrils, and ear canals. He was desperately pounding at his own neck in agony, struggling to breathe. If not for the Cursed Energy protective layer in his combat suit, his whole body would probably already have been burst apart by those eyeballs.

Those eyes stared at the two of them with hatred, and a trace of contempt...

"The Reconnaissance Team is under attack by the enemy's Cursed Technique! The Reconnaissance Team is under attack by the enemy's Cursed Technique!"

Ichii Osamu hurriedly reported it over the comms, then immediately pulled a somewhat thick needle from the tactical medical kit. After feeling around beneath Kengo Ishio's jaw, he drove it in without hesitation.

Once he pulled the needle back out, Kengo Ishio, who had been on the verge of suffocating, stopped hammering at his neck, and the look on his face eased considerably...

But after doing all that, Ichii Osamu also began to feel it. Breathing was getting harder and harder.

Kenshi Takanashi, who was rushing toward the Cursed Spirit's location, froze the moment he heard the report. Trouble had started at the safest rear position first.

That was not right. According to the records in the Cursed Spirit compendium, Dodomeki's Cursed Technique had a range of one hundred meters. But the rear team was kilometers away from the Cursed Spirit...

He suddenly slapped his forehead, realizing the blind spot.

When Jujutsu Sorcerers exorcised Cursed Spirits in the past, they generally did not fight at ultra-long range. On top of that, the sorcerers who dealt with Special Grade Cursed Spirits were themselves extremely powerful, so the recorded range of a Cursed Technique was not always accurate...

But this was not the time to be thinking about that.

Based on an analysis of Dodomeki's Jutsu, both "stealing internal organs" and "stuffing eyeballs into the opponent's body" were actually spatial displacement-type techniques.

This kind of technique depended heavily on one condition. It had to accurately identify its target.

Kenshi Takanashi immediately shouted,

"Kengo, Ichii, lower the Cursed Energy protection on the outside of your suits to the minimum, now! Release the 'Reverse Cursed Technique' in the inner layer immediately, then get out of there!"

Makoto Haruyama, who was standing nearby, looked confused. The reconnaissance team had not died instantly to the Special Grade Cursed Spirit's technique precisely because of the Cursed Energy protective layer in their combat suits. If they lowered it...

Unlike the new recruit, the reconnaissance team did not hesitate for even a second. They carried out the captain's order at once.

Then...

"Reconnaissance Team reporting. Eyeball proliferation has stopped. We have now relocated..."

Kenshi Takanashi finally let out a breath of relief.

Since the enemy's technique relied on "identifying the target," then all he had to do was make it lose that target.

According to the records, after Toji swallowed a Cursed Spirit, the Cursed Spirit inside its body could no longer be detected. Because of that, Introduction to Cursed Energy stated:

An object wrapped in something with completely zero Cursed Energy can be shielded from Cursed Energy-related detection.

However, just as water in nature almost always contains impurities, any object that comes into contact with humans will inevitably accumulate Cursed Energy to some extent. It is only a matter of how much.

But based on the principle that Reverse Cursed Technique can cancel out Cursed Energy, as long as the amount is controlled properly, it becomes possible to create a dynamic "zero Cursed Energy object," much like directly using hydrogen and oxygen to create pure water.

In other words, when the Cursed Energy in the outer layer of the combat suit and the tiny amount of Reverse Cursed Technique in the inner layer canceled each other out, they created a shielding layer, making Dodomeki unable to continue sensing the reconnaissance team.

Once the reconnaissance team had successfully withdrawn, the diversion team also arrived near the Cursed Spirit.

Dodomeki was still dazed from suddenly losing its target when it saw a fully armed human charging at it with a long blade, all while making noises like a screeching monkey.

Dodomeki stretched out a hand and used its technique on this bizarre human.

But after a ripple passed through the air, what appeared in its hand was not the heart it had expected, but a piece of cloth glowing with white fluorescent light. That glow even carried a faint burning pain...

Daito Yamano bared his teeth in a savage grin as he wielded the [Anti-Cursed Spirit Blade Cutting Enhancement Type I]. The long blade vibrated constantly, and with one light slash, it cut off the hand Dodomeki had extended.

"Caught off guard, huh? Cursed Energy technology, kid..."

The moment Dodomeki realized its technique had failed, it tried to retaliate with its other seven hands. But before it could, Kenshi Takanashi interrupted it with a shot from the [Anti-Cursed Spirit Rifle].

And when it tried to deploy its Domain, it found that the Cursed Energy around it had become utterly unfamiliar. The usual "feeling" it relied on to expand its Domain was no longer usable. That was because Mizuki Shou, standing nearby, had already activated the [Barrier Interference Device]...

During that brief opening, Daito Yamano slashed again, cutting open a wound along the bullet hole in Dodomeki's head, which was still widening. Then he pulled two silver grenades from his waist, yanked out the pins, and stuffed them inside.

[Anti-Cursed Spirit Grenade Type I]. It inflicted massive damage on Cursed Spirits through an enormous amount of Cursed Energy and a built-in "Simple Domain."

After shoving the grenades into its head, Daito Yamano turned and ran, tackling the nearest Mizuki Shou to the ground and pinning him beneath his body.

Dodomeki was still standing there in a daze, unable to understand why its Domain had failed to activate, when its head suddenly swelled to an enormous size. Then a huge burst of pale blue fire erupted from inside its body...

...

After the deafening explosion, the target had vanished from the Cursed Spirit detection scope, and Kenshi Takanashi hurried over.

He found Mizuki Shou clutching the box-like [Barrier Interference Device] tightly. Aside from being a little blackened, he seemed mostly fine.

"Where's Daito?"

At that, Mizuki Shou looked just as blank.

Then the two of them spotted Daito Yamano lying unconscious in the mud nearby, apparently blown over by the blast.

"Daito, how are you?"

After being shaken awake, Daito Yamano weakly lifted a hand.

"Captain... did we win?"

Kenshi Takanashi nodded.

"We won. Ordinary people have exorcised a Special Grade Cursed Spirit for the first time. You'll be written into the history books..."

Daito Yamano gently shook his head.

"Can you hear my last words..."

Kenshi Takanashi and Mizuki Shou both leaned down.

"I... I... want to go to Yoshinoya later and get a king-size gyudon, then waste the whole day living it up at an internet café~~"

Kenshi Takanashi punched him on the head.

"You little punk."

"Damn, that hurt. Pay me compensation!"

"Hahaha..."

...

Bonus Chapter 2: The Future Is Promising

"What are you doing here?"

"I'm probably... waiting for someone."

"Probably?"

"Because... I don't know either."

A gloomy young man in a white lab coat sat on a bench, looking at the police officer in front of him.

Akira Zenin, male, twenty-nine years old.

An honest, well-behaved man. For various reasons, time had always been incredibly tight for him, so much so that he had never even held a girl's hand, let alone had a sweet romance.

And now, under someone else's prodding, he had come to take part in a "blind date." He had already been sitting on that bench all morning waiting for the other person.

As for why the police had shown up... a little girl had called them.

The moment the little girl saw the police arrive, she burst into tears as if she had just survived a disaster, pointing at Akira Zenin and insisting that he was planning to use her for human experimentation...

The young police officer, Yamano Teru, knew the instant he saw Akira Zenin that something was definitely wrong with this man.

Because from just one accidental glance, a whole string of images had flashed through his mind:

Drug injections, data records, failed experiments, a calm shake of the head, disposal of waste, corpses sinking into Tokyo Bay...

This man was either a psychopathic murderer or an obsessive scientist...

Teru Yamano even felt like he had already been marked by him...

And he had a completely inexplicable feeling.

If this man wanted to, he would definitely die. The kind of death where he would not even have time to write a last note.

The moment the young officer sensed that bizarre danger, he instinctively pulled the little girl behind him protectively.

"You're waiting for someone, but you don't know who you're waiting for, and you don't even know roughly when they'll show up... that makes this very hard for me..."

...Could it be that he was short on experimental materials, wanted to randomly pick a passerby, but had not found a suitable one yet...

"Then take a look at this... here..."

As if performing a magic trick, Akira Zenin produced a business card and handed it over.

Teru Yamano adjusted his gloves so that not a single patch of skin was exposed, then reached out and took the card.

"Zenin New Energy Research Institute..."

Teru Yamano blinked. He had no idea what it was... but it did not sound like biology or medical research... Hiss... was he even a professor?

...

After a series of identity checks and apologies, the police officer left with the little girl.

But that was far from the end of it. The young couple sitting on the bench to Akira Zenin's right had long since gone weak in the legs from fright...

And now that the police were gone, so was their emotional support.

"Ah, um... I... Asaka! I suddenly remembered I have something to do! I need to go first!"

The boy suddenly sprang to his feet, gave Asaka Kobayashi a sharp ninety-degree bow, then turned and ran off without a trace, leaving the girl alone in total disarray.

Asaka Kobayashi: "..."

Akira Zenin: "..."

That had nothing to do with him, okay... even the flowers and plants in the park next door could testify to that!

Watching the boy who had been halfway through confessing suddenly turn and bolt, vanishing at a speed that vaguely surpassed the Tiger of West Junior High, tears began to gather uncontrollably in Asaka Kobayashi's eyes.

Do not misunderstand. She was not crying because of the boy who ran away.

She was crying because now she was the only one left beside Akira Zenin!!!

And just as she was reaching her limit.

A figure passed by her, blocking part of the midday sunlight.

"In the future... find someone you can entrust your whole life to..."

"Ah? Oh... okay..."

The voice was not warm, but it was unexpectedly gentle, a little like the shade under a tree at noon in summer...

By the time she came back to herself, that figure had already receded into a tiny silhouette.

Akira Zenin left the park. He actually knew that Satoru Gojo had "threatened" him into coming to confession park for one reason only. To make him leave the lab and enjoy life a little.

This was what had happened.

The day before, Akira Zenin got a call from Naobito Zenin. Because the old man had been blocked by Akira Zenin, he had gone straight to Satoru Gojo and used his phone to contact him...

"Jinichi and the others aren't worried, so what are you in such a hurry for?"

"What am I in a hurry for? What am I in a hurry for?! Take a look at yourself. You're almost pushing forty. When Jinichi was your age, you were already able to subdue Mahoraga!
I knew I should never have let you become classmates with that bastard Satoru Gojo..."

"Hm? Ahem..."

"Cough... I mean, no normal person should be hanging around with the head of the Gojo Clan..."

"Mm... mm???"

At that moment, Satoru Gojo took the phone.

"How about this, Akira-chan. I'll point you toward the bright road. I'll send you a location in a bit.

After that, someone from the Gojo Clan will come and get to know you~~"

Then Satoru Gojo hung up on the spot.

To avoid Naobito's nagging, Akira Zenin had no choice but to go along with Satoru Gojo and come here.

"Isn't this just helping me out in the open... Old Man Naobito too..."

The truth was, both of them had noticed that although he was no longer drowsy, he still carried that gloomy air and spent every day buried in the lab, so they wanted him to get out and spend some time around other people...

Akira Zenin headed toward the research institute, carefully observing his surroundings along the way. With the appearance of the GDU organization, the work of Jujutsu Sorcerers had gradually shifted from "cleanup" to "support."

Cursed Spirits below Grade 1 no longer drained the energy of Jujutsu Sorcerers, and immature Jujutsu Sorcerers no longer had to carry out missions alone...

Compared to the past, everyone had a lot more free time now.

Yuta and Rika had already taken funding from the Gojo Clan and were off on an absurdly extravagant world trip.

As for Kokichi and Kasumi, they spent every day sitting in "Gundams," flying all over the sky as the GDU's top-tier support.

Actually, support missions like that did not require Kokichi in the first place. Just count it as a bit of romance between young people...

Akira Zenin removed the Cursed Energy protecting his eyes, raised a hand to his forehead to block the sunlight, and faintly saw a human-shaped figure fly across the sky.

"Youth really is wonderful... the future is full of promise..."

...

...

The End (•ㅂ•)/

...

Translator's Original Author Ending Notes: The Ten Shadows Prodigy Lacks Motivation

Hey Jujutsu folks. And for the people who supposedly do not read, but clearly are reading this (xD).

So, we have reached the end of this fanfic. It was a really great journey for me. This was the second JJK fic I translated, and I can say that both the experience and the feedback I got on this one were much better than on the first. I learned a lot, so I can honestly say my recent translations are much better than what I was capable of before, and I am happy about that. I hope I can keep improving.

I plan to keep bringing more JJK fanfics here, so I am counting on your support!

I will also leave the original author's note below for anyone who is curious.

...

Original Author's Ending Note:

Haha, it's over. I'm just a pure science and engineering guy, and my writing is clumsy, so thank you all for being willing to read it...

I was originally just a casual Jujutsu Kaisen viewer, and even when I watched the anime, I only skimmed through it.

After all, with the pressure of school, work, health, and everything else, I really did not have the energy to think too deeply about anything. Having something to watch was enough.

Because my time was always tight, I ended up placing this whole idea of "relaxing" onto Satoru Gojo.

After all, my thinking at the time was, "A funny character in a battle series. You know how that goes."

But that "miraculous slash" from jjxx not only wrote someone out, it also left me genuinely depressed.

After that, the first thing I wanted to do was tell someone what the "Jujutsu world" in my mind looked like.

But I could not find anyone...

So I thought, I might as well write it down.

Out of a certain degree of professional ethics, I felt that if I was going to write, I could not just throw things together carelessly.

So I went through everything I could find related to Jujutsu Kaisen several times... and along the way I also summed up a few somewhat wild ideas.

And because what I wanted to write about was the Jujutsu world itself, I positioned Akira as an "observer" and a "guide."

(I was already constantly giving him more scenes!!)

Alright, alright. Ever since I started writing novels, I've gotten a bit long-winded QAQ.

Thank you all for making it this far. You are the most! most!! most!!! adorable readers in the world (｡•̀ᴗ-)✧

Until we meet again.

Bye-bye~~