"It's you again!"
Mahito clutched his severed arm, his eyes filled with venomous resentment and wariness.
Their previous encounter had already become a psychological shadow for him.
He absolutely never wanted to experience that pain of his soul being scorched a second time.
"Yoru!"
Yuji Itadori looked at the figure standing in front of him with surprise and joy.
Though he didn't know why, seeing that back gave him an inexplicable sense of security.
"Are you okay?"
Yoru asked without looking back.
"I'm fine! This guy is strong—physical attacks don't seem to work on him!"
Yuji said quickly.
"I know."
Yoru nodded, his blade Shiranui tilting up slightly, the tip pointed directly at Mahito.
"That's why I'll have to cut through his soul as well."
Before his voice could fade, Yoru's figure vanished instantly.
*So fast!*
Kento Nanami's pupils narrowed.
Even for someone like him who excelled in taijutsu, he could only barely catch a glimpse of a lingering shadow.
*Is this the physical strength of a body completely devoid of Cursed Energy?*
"Total Concentration: Water Breathing - Fourth Form."
"Striking Tide!"
Yoru's figure appeared before Mahito like a rising tide. His blade became a flurry of continuous slashes, sealing off every one of Mahito's escape routes.
Though he was using a Water Breathing technique, the blade was imbued with the blazing power of Sun Breathing!
This was a new skill Yoru had realized as his Synchronization Rate increased—
Using the flexibility and continuity of Water Breathing to carry the explosive destruction of Sun Breathing!
"Don't look down on me!"
Mahito roared, his body mutating once more.
Countless spikes erupted from his body, attempting to trade blow for blow.
But under those eyes that seemed to burn with literal flames, the trajectories of these attacks were completely exposed.
Yoru didn't even bother to evade.
His sword stance suddenly shifted, changing from a flowing tide to a raging sun in an instant.
"Sun Breathing: Third Form - Burning Sun!"
Two deep red arc slashes swept across, shearing through the spikes and Mahito's body simultaneously.
*Splurt!*
A massive spray of purplish-black blood erupted.
Mahito was sent reeling back by the sheer force, two more unhealable wounds carved into his body.
"Damn it! Damn it! Why won't they regenerate?!"
Mahito had completely panicked.
With every wound, the searing pain in his soul deepened, as if his very consciousness was being incinerated.
"Nanamin! Now!"
Yuji seized the opportunity and leaped into the air.
Since physical attacks were useless, he would strike the soul!
As Sukuna's Vessel, Yuji was one of the few sorcerers capable of perceiving the soul's outline.
"Divergent Fist!"
*Boom!*
Yuji's punch slammed into Mahito's face. While it couldn't cause permanent damage like Yoru's attacks, it rattled Mahito's soul and caused him to freeze.
Immediately after, Kento Nanami's attack arrived.
"Ratio Technique: Collapse!"
A precise strike on a weak point cleanly severed Mahito's legs.
"Aaaaaah!"
Mahito let out a piercing scream, tumbling pathetically onto the ground.
In that moment, he felt a level of despair he had never known before.
In front of him was Yoru, his natural enemy, and behind him were two troublesome jujutsu sorcerers.
Especially Yoru.
Every strike from that youth was shaving away his soul's strength.
If this continued, he really would die!
"I have to... find a way..."
Mahito struggled to stand, but Yoru's blade was already at his throat.
"It's over."
Yoru looked down at him with zero pity in his eyes.
That gaze was like someone watching a pile of embers about to turn to ash.
Despair, terror.
And within those extreme negative emotions, a frantic, mad inspiration was born!
Mahito's pupils suddenly shrank to the size of pinpricks.
In this life-or-death moment, his understanding of the soul suddenly broke through a certain threshold.
It felt as though a door to a new world had been thrown open.
"Haha... Hahahaha!"
Mahito burst into a sudden, crazed laughter—maniacal and distorted.
"So that's how it is... I see now..."
"The essence of the soul... the true nature of a Domain..."
Yoru's brow furrowed slightly, and he swung his blade down without hesitation.
*Whatever madness he's babbling, I'll cut him down first.*
But just as the edge was about to touch Mahito's neck—
A massive, eerie surge of Cursed Energy exploded from within Mahito's body.
The sheer volume of energy was far beyond anything he'd shown before, even warping the space around them.
Yoru's eyes narrowed, and he instantly retreated.
Kento Nanami's expression changed drastically as he shouted at the top of his lungs:
"Yuji! Get back! It's a Domain!"
A truly grotesque smile appeared on Mahito's face.
His hands slowly formed a seal before his chest, while two additional hands materialized from his soul and gently covered his mouth.
It was the hand seal for Domain Expansion.
"Domain... Expansion..."
As his voice fell, countless massive black hands reached out from the void, intertwining and overlapping.
In an instant, a sealed barrier space was formed.
"Self-Embodiment of Perfection!"
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