Rain falls steadily over the ruined colony, but near him… it bends.
Not violently, not unnaturally—just enough to feel wrong. Like the world itself is adjusting to his presence.
The surge of cursed energy that flooded the battlefield moments ago now settles into something far more dangerous—controlled, precise, suffocating.
SatoruGojo feels it instantly.
Then Ren.
It hits him like a spike through the chest. Not fear. Instinct. Pure, overwhelming killingintent—so refined it doesn't explode outward, but instead presses inward, crushing everything that tries to exist around it.
Ren moves before thinking. His body reacts on its own, cursed energy flaring violently as distortion wraps around his arm. He lunges forward in a desperate attempt to strike first.
"Ren—"
Gojo moves faster.
His hand grips Ren's shoulder.
Space folds.
The battlefield snaps—
—and they reappear behind the figure, far from where Ren had just been.
Ren stumbles slightly, breath unstable. "Why did you stop me?!"
Gojo doesn't look at him. His eyes remain fixed on the man standing in the distance.
"If you had taken one more step," Gojo says quietly, "you would've been cut in half."
Ren freezes. "…What?"
Gojo's voice doesn't change.
"Vertically."
Silence follows.
The rain continues, but even it feels distant now.
Then—
The man speaks.
"You have a good eye, Satoru Gojo."
His voice is calm. Almost indifferent. Yet it carries across the battlefield effortlessly, slicing through the silence with unnatural clarity.
Slowly, he turns.
The cursed energy around him doesn't flare—it compresses. It tightens, like something far more dangerous than chaos.
His presence doesn't overwhelm through volume… it dominates through precision.
His gaze lands on Gojo.
Then shifts to Ren.
For a moment, everything feels measured. Like they're being evaluated—not as enemies, but as variables.
Ren feels it in his bones.
This isn't just strength.
This is something else entirely.
Across the battlefield, Izana Kurokawa stands watching, blood still running down his body, expression calm despite the damage.
"…So you came."
The man doesn't respond.
Izana exhales slowly, a faint smile forming on his face.
"…You're here."
A pause.
Then—
"Ryoga."
The name settles into the battlefield like a final truth.
No one moves.
No one speaks.
But everything has changed.
Ryoga stands at the center of the ruined colony, completely still, the rain bending around him—while Gojo and Ren watch from a distance, both understanding the same thing without needing words.
The real enemy…
Has finally arrived.