The moment the black beam touched the barrier, that barrier, which Kenjaku had painstakingly arranged, strong enough to trap Satoru temporarily, with an internal structure as complex and intricate as a maze, was instantly melted through, leaving a massive, irregular hole with edges flowing with molten energy slurry.
The barrier structure around the hole emitted a sharp, glass-shattering cry of strain, countless cracks spreading wildly from the hole's center, instantly covering the entire surface of the barrier.
Then, under the imbalance of internal pressure and the impact of absolute external force, the entire vast and complex barrier collapsed and shattered like a punctured balloon, scattering into a sky full of drifting crimson light points, which were then completely blown away and purified by the residual waves of black Cursed Energy.
One strike.
Kenjaku's proud, ultra-strong barrier, which had trapped the strongest Jujutsu Sorcerer and hundreds of thousands of people, vanished into thin air.
Underground at Shibuya Station, Satoru, who was dealing with Jogo and Hanami while remaining vigilant of Kenjaku and the Prison Realm, suddenly paused. He seemed to sense something, looking up. His Six Eyes seemed to pierce through layers of concrete and rock, gazing toward the sky.
"Oh?"
Satoru's face showed an expression mixed with surprise, understanding, and a hint of excitement.
"This is... quite the formidable arrival."
Almost simultaneously, Kenjaku, who was controlling Jogo and Hanami for harassment attacks while hiding in the shadows waiting for an opportunity, had his composed smile freeze abruptly.
He sharply turned his head toward the direction where the barrier had been forcibly broken, the stitches on his forehead twitching slightly from extreme shock.
"This... how is this possible?!"
Even with his millennium-honed composure, he couldn't help but exclaim in a low voice.
He had absolute confidence in his barrier technique, especially with careful preparation and leveraging Shibuya's complex ley lines and hostages. The strength and precision of this barrier were such that even Satoru would need considerable effort to break it by brute force—it couldn't possibly be shattered so effortlessly.
That Cursed Energy that instantly broke the barrier, was unimaginably vast, pure, and brutal. It even surpassed Sukuna at his peak, surpassing any Special Grade Cursed Spirit he knew.
This was a terrifying existence of a completely new level in both quality and quantity.
"Could it be..." A thought that made his heart race emerged.
"Has Sukuna already..."
Before he could figure it out, a terrifying pressure swept over like a tsunami from the direction of the shattered barrier, instantly enveloping the entire Shibuya area.
All Jujutsu Sorcerers, Curse Users, Cursed Spirits, and even ordinary people who were fighting, fleeing, or hiding trembled and stiffened instinctively under this pressure, as if gripped by an invisible giant hand.
Even Special Grade Cursed Spirits like Jogo and Hanami showed obvious hesitation in their movements, with their single eye and plant-based bodies revealing unconcealable fear.
Mahito emerged from the shadows where he was hiding. His naive and cruel smile was replaced for the first time by solemnity and extreme excitement.
He licked his lips. "Seems like something super... super incredible has arrived."
Everyone who could still think, whether friend or foe, instinctively looked toward the source of the pressure.
Then, they saw it.
That figure walking in from outside the shattered barrier.
Four muscular arms covered in black markings swung casually.
The massive mouth on his abdomen opened and closed slightly.
Most heart-stopping were those two pairs, four crimson eyes in total, coldly overlooking the ant-like beings below. There was no joy or anger in that gaze, only a pure disregard for life and a desire for destruction.
And the illusory wheel slowly rotating atop his head.
"Mon... monster..."
A Grade 2 Jujutsu Sorcerer evacuating civilians went weak in the legs, collapsing to the ground, teeth chattering.
"What... what kind of Cursed Spirit is this? No... that's not right. This feeling..."
An experienced Grade 1 Jujutsu Sorcerer turned pale, his hand gripping a Cursed Tool trembling.
"It's more... more than a Cursed Spirit..."
"Su... Sukuna..."
Kenjaku squeezed out the name through gritted teeth. His eyes were filled with shock, confusion, and a trace of dread he hadn't even noticed himself.
This was completely different from the Sukuna he had estimated, who had just regained partial strength.
This power... it was like...
"Hey..."
Satoru had already disengaged from his skirmish with Jogo and the others, teleporting to a higher broken wall. He removed his small round sunglasses and his pale blue Six Eyes shone brilliantly, fixed intently on the figure in the air. His face showed an unprecedented smile mixed with awe, gravity, and blazing fighting spirit.
"This is... amazing. But this amount of Cursed Energy... are you kidding? Is this really Cursed Energy that a living being can possess?"
As the world's acknowledged "strongest," Satoru's perception and judgment of Cursed Energy were unmatched.
He saw more clearly than anyone else: the Cursed Energy emanating from Sukuna at this moment might not yet be immeasurable in total amount, but its density, purity, and that quality' as if derived from the very root of the world's malice had reached an unimaginable level.
This had surpassed the conventional concept of "Special Grade," even surpassing his conventional understanding of "Cursed Energy" itself.
This wasn't Cursed Energy that a human could possess. Not even the highest-level Cursed Spirits, born from human negative emotions, could achieve this level of purity and terror, as if they were the embodiment of the curse's origin.
Under the gazes of everyone—whether terrified, shocked, or stunned—Sukuna slowly turned his four crimson eyes, finally fixing his gaze on the ruined Shibuya Station below and the beings within, strong or weak, like ants.
His mouths simultaneously curled into a smile mixed with cruelty, pleasure, and boundless arrogance—enough to haunt the nightmares of any witness for life.
A low, hoarse, multi-layered reverberating voice rolled like thunder across the Shibuya sky, clearly reaching the ears of every living being.
"I am back."