His black robes billowed violently.
Wild winds whipped his dark hair through the air.
Turning his head slightly, Mirai smiled faintly.
"So? Do you still have any regrets?"
"Hah?!"
Dragging his ruined, bloodied body upright, Satoru Gojo staggered to his feet.
"What's with that tone? I never planned on losing."
Drops of blood splattered onto the ground.
Though covered in wounds, Gojo's lips still carried that confident grin.
"Who the hell do you think I am…"
"I'm Satoru Gojo!"
Mirai stepped forward.
"Heh. Still trying to act tough."
"You shouldn't talk so arrogantly. It only makes you look weak."
In an instant, Mirai vanished from Gojo's sight.
The next second, a whisper like the voice of death echoed beside his ear.
"'The strongest'… what a joke."
Dense black light gathered at Mirai's fingertip, now less than half an inch away from Gojo's heart.
At the instant the black glow flashed, Mirai smiled as he bid farewell.
"Goodbye, strongest. That warm-up match was pretty entertaining."
SPLAT!!!
The beam of death pierced straight through a chest.
A massive bloody hole exploded open, a thick column of blood spraying outward.
Looking at the kneeling, heavily wounded Ryomen Sukuna, Mirai chuckled.
"Who would've thought the two 'strongest' shared such deep friendship?"
At the edge of his vision stood the newly arrived Yuta Okkotsu… and the nearly killed Gojo.
Mirai understood immediately—Yuta had just swapped Sukuna's and Gojo's positions.
But that did not stop him from mocking the other "strongest" who had stepped in front of the attack.
Yuta's unconditional copy technique had replicated Aoi Todo's Boogie Woogie.
Years ago, Yuta had represented Tokyo Jujutsu High during the Kyoto Sister School Exchange Event.
Having fought Todo before, he had naturally copied such a practical cursed technique.
The reason Yuta had not joined the battle between Gojo and Mirai from the start—and instead provoked Sukuna first—
Was to lure Sukuna into the effective range needed for the position swap with Gojo.
And the trump card Yuta had concealed delivered Sukuna a devastating blow the instant it appeared.
"Heh… now this is a feast!"
The King of Curses possessed malice utterly devoid of morality.
Naturally, Sukuna would never childishly complain that Yuta's tactics were underhanded.
Instead, he grinned savagely and seized the opportunity to charge at Mirai!
The distance was close enough!
Three iron fists empowered with Domain Amplification slammed simultaneously toward the invisible barrier before Mirai!
Before the gaping hole through his chest could even heal, thick blood continued pouring downward, making the mouth on Sukuna's abdomen appear even more horrifying.
As Sukuna attacked, the blood-red tongue within his stomach-mouth chanted the incantation used to amplify cursed techniques:
"Dragon Scales."
"Recoil."
"Twin Meteors."
The instant he broke through the repulsive force, Sukuna's free hand unleashed the slash he had been charging this entire time!
"Dismantle!!!"
BOOM!!!
A massive spatial fissure exploded open between Sukuna and Mirai!
The terrifying energy released in milliseconds swept across heaven and earth.
After unleashing his full-power strike, Sukuna was blasted backward over a hundred meters like a rag doll, blood erupting from both mouths.
Meanwhile, Mirai—who had taken the attack head-on—
Only stepped back half a pace.
On his outstretched palm, a faint reddish mark appeared… before quickly fading away.
"Not bad, King of Curses."
Looking into the distance, Mirai smiled lightly.
"You were this close to cutting one of my fingernails."
Long trenches carved through the earth beneath Sukuna's feet as he barely managed to stop himself over a hundred meters away.
Hearing Mirai's words, an unusual flush spread across Sukuna's face.
Whether from rage or injury, it was impossible to tell.
Blood tears streamed from all four eyes. A massive hole still pierced his chest.
Yet despite such grievous injuries, Sukuna's face overflowed with savage delight.
"HAHAHAHAHAHA!"
"Zenin Mirai… you're incredible!"
An ocean of cursed energy erupted outward, intertwining with countless slashes surrounding his body.
Laughing madly, Sukuna expanded his domain once more!
"Domain Expansion—Malevolent Shrine!"
RUMBLE!!!
The earth shook violently.
A grotesque shrine piled with corpses lifted the blood-soaked Sukuna high into the air.
First—without Mahoraga present, Sukuna could maximize the destructive power of his technique.
Second—it prevented Yuta Okkotsu from using that position-swapping cursed technique again.
Within the domain, the sure-hit and sure-kill effects guaranteed that no matter how Yuta swapped positions, everyone would inevitably be struck by the slashes.
Zenin Mirai was not someone who could be defeated easily…
Instantly analyzing the battlefield situation, Sukuna deployed his domain without hesitation for a second time.
He adjusted the output, directing even more slashes toward Yuta and the heavily injured Gojo.
An overwhelming storm of slashes descended, the sense of danger surging higher and higher.
"Sensei, stop pushing yourself. At least let your students have a chance to shine."
Smiling, Yuta stopped Gojo from forcing himself back into battle as cursed energy erupted from his body.
His left fist rested near the right side of his chest, thumb extended slightly outward.
His right palm faced outward, thumb bent inward slightly.
A hand seal resembling the Dakiniten mudra of Esoteric Buddhism.
If Gojo still had strength left, his wounds would not have remained unhealed for so long.
The instant the slashes descended, a black domain barrier expanded and enveloped all four of them.
"Domain Expansion—Sala Trees."
Before a magnificent shrine stood two strangely colored sala trees.
Legend said that Gautama Buddha entered final nirvana between twin sala trees.
It was also said that at the center of the ancient Indian river Hiranyavati stood flourishing sala trees.
Traditionally, the twin trees symbolized one flourishing and one withering—or the "four prosperities and four declines" representing nirvana itself.
But Yuta's domain…
Contained no green leaves, nor withered yellow branches.
Instead, the sala trees before the shrine bloomed with the crimson of love and the soft pink of a young girl.
Love—the most terrifying curse in the world.
The twin sala trees manifested by Yuta seemed to symbolize his younger self… and a Rika who had never died.
With cursed energy reserves surpassing even Gojo's, Yuta feared no exhaustion.
Boundless cursed energy poured forth.
Pink petals drifted endlessly through the air, each seeming to weigh thousands of tons.
The invisible blades filling the world were temporarily blocked outside the endless sea of flowers.
The sure-hit effects of both domains neutralized one another for the moment—
Yet cracks were already beginning to spread across the trembling barrier.
Gojo had already prepared himself to intervene at any moment.
The instant his student's domain shattered, he would step in immediately.
Then—
From within the shaking barrier, all three heard a familiar, indifferent voice.
"Are you done yet?"
As the words fell, Mirai's figure shot toward Gojo's side at blinding speed!
Even though Yuta had saved Gojo once, Mirai had no intention of sparing the "strongest" standing before him.
Sukuna's slashes and the endless pink petals alike were all repelled away.
Mirai gazed coldly at Gojo.
"If you don't have any last words…"
"Then die."
"Technique Release—Shinra Tensei!"
BOOM!!!
Terrifying repulsive force erupted outward.
The distortions spreading through space itself reached even Sukuna over a hundred meters away.
CRACK! CRACK!
Both domains shattered simultaneously.
Splattered across the face with thick blood, Yuta stared blankly at the figure collapsing beside him.
"Gojo… sensei…"
PS: Access the complete/finished chapters/series at Patreon: NanamiTL
Please drop some power stones support me at my Patreon