A pink-haired figure burst from the woods, accompanied by an energetic shout.
Yuji Itadori.
He had originally been heading to support Megumi Fushiguro, but halfway there, he felt the staggering clash of cursed energy and rushed over immediately.
Seeing the absolute mess and the Kyoto students scattered across the ground, Yuji's jaw nearly hit the floor.
"Wh—What happened here?"
"Yoru, did you take them all down by yourself?"
Yuji looked at Yoru standing in the center of the clearing, eyes full of admiration; aside from a slightly disheveled shirt, he was completely unscathed.
"We just had a little sparring session."
Yoru casually brushed the dust off his clothes, his tone indifferent.
"Yo! So this is Sukuna's vessel?"
Aoi Todo's eyes lit up the moment he saw Yuji.
He wasn't tired from the previous fight; instead, Yoru's overwhelming strength had left him in a state of extreme hype.
To him right now, everyone looked like a punching bag waiting for a beating.
Or rather, a potential best friend.
"Hey, kid."
Todo pointed at Yuji, his mouth splitting into a wild grin.
"Even if you're Yoru's comrade, I have to ask you one thing."
"What kind of woman is your type?"
Yuji froze, clearly failing to follow the muscle-bound man's train of thought.
But he answered instinctively anyway:
"Uh... well, if I had to say, probably a tall girl... like Jennifer Lawrence..."
The air went silent for a heartbeat.
And then...
Two streams of hot tears erupted from Todo's eyes.
"My brother!!!"
Yuji: "???"
Yoru: "..."
*Of course.*
*The ultimate causality weapons of this world... besides Satoru Gojo's Limitless, it has to be Todo's 'memories that never existed.'*
"Since you're a brother with such refined taste, I can't just stand by while you're this weak!"
Todo wiped his tears, his expression turning serious in an instant.
"That guy Yoru is a monster—a born god. We can't replicate what he does."
"But you're different."
"There's a massive power sleeping inside you, but you have no idea how to use it!"
"Watch closely! This next move will be your ticket to the big leagues!"
With that, Todo took a deep breath.
Cursed energy surged around him, but this time, instead of venting wildly, it began to condense into a single point on his fist.
The sensation...
...was like trying to force a raging flood through a tiny pipe.
"Cursed energy isn't just something you coat your body with for offense and defense."
"That's a total waste!"
"You have to create a micro-delayed burst of cursed energy at the exact moment of impact!"
"This is—Black Flash!"
BOOM!
Todo slammed his fist into a massive tree nearby.
In that split second...
...black lightning crackled out of thin air!
Space itself seemed to warp under the punch; there was no earth-shattering explosion as one might expect.
Instead, the tree—so thick two men couldn't wrap their arms around it—instantly turned to dust upon contact.
It didn't snap; it didn't shatter.
It was utterly pulverized.
This was Black Flash.
A distortion in space that occurs when cursed energy is applied within 0.000001 seconds of a physical hit.
Its power is that of a normal strike raised to the 2.5th power!
"Did you see that?"
Todo pulled back his fist and looked at the stunned Yuji.
"This is the core technique of a jujutsu sorcerer."
"Only by mastering this can you truly step through the threshold of a Special Grade!"
Yuji stared at the spot where the tree had vanished, his eyes sparkling with excitement.
"Amazing..."
"Let me try!"
Yuji Itadori was a genius.
A true combat prodigy.
In terms of motor skills and battle instincts, he was on par even with Maki Zenin.
Under Todo's guidance, he began attempting to control the flow of his cursed energy.
Once, twice, three times...
Failure, failure, and more failure.
But he didn't get discouraged.
With every miss, he keenly sensed the deviation in the flow and immediately corrected it.
Watching from the sidelines, Yoru fell into deep thought.
His eyes narrowed slightly.
In his vision...
...the trajectory of Todo's cursed energy from that punch was as clear as a textbook diagram.
First, the physical exertion: the contraction of muscle fibers, the transmission through bone.
Then the cursed energy following: compression, delay, and explosion.
That strange sense of lag—the spatial distortion created at the moment of impact.
Although Yoru had no cursed energy...
...both Breathing Styles and swordsmanship were, at their core, the ultimate mastery of physical power.
'A secondary burst of all one's power at the exact moment of contact...'
Yoru muttered to himself.
It was remarkably similar to certain exertion techniques in Sun Breathing.
In fact, it was even more extreme.
"I'll give it a shot too."
Yoru's hand rested on the hilt of Shiranui once more.
He had no cursed energy, but he had his Breathing Styles.
'The essence of Black Flash is the spatial distortion caused by the infinitesimal delay between the strike and the cursed energy.'
Yoru's gaze became razor-sharp.
'Since I don't have cursed energy, I'll use shockwaves instead.'
50% Total Concentration: Thunder Breathing, Seventh Form + 50% Sun Breathing.
His heart hammered, blood flow shattered its limits, muscle fibers screamed, and bones vibrated.
Pushing speed to the limit—at the moment the blade broke the sound barrier, it would generate a massive vacuum shockwave.
Normally, the shockwave would lag behind the blade.
But if...
'...I control the speed of the slash so it overlaps perfectly with the shockwave.'
'Physical blade + vacuum shockwave.'
'Hitting simultaneously within 0.000001 seconds.'
A crazed arc curled at the corner of Yoru's mouth.
"That would be my own... Physical Black Flash."
This move shall be called...
"Crimson Flash."
The next second.
He drew his sword!
No flashy techniques.
It was just a simple Iai slash, but the moment the blade left the sheath...
VWOOM—!!!
A piercing boom suddenly erupted.
It was the sound of air being compressed to its absolute limit and then exploding!
A black and red slash whistled through the air, accompanied by visible ripples in space.
There was no glow of cursed energy.
Only a physical phenomenon triggered by sheer power and speed!
CRASH!
The line of trees ahead looked as if a giant invisible beast had taken a bite out of them; a massive section vanished instantly.
The cut was smooth as a mirror, with the charred surface turning glass-like from the intense heat.
"This is..."
Todo's eyes went wide, his jaw dropping so far he could have fit an egg in his mouth.
"A sonic boom? No... that was a spatial oscillation triggered by a pure physical slash?!"
"He achieved an effect like Black Flash without any cursed energy?!"
"Is this guy... even human?"
Yoru slowly sheathed his blade.
Click.
He looked at his palm, lost in thought.
That last strike felt strange, as if he had broken through some kind of barrier.
Though he had perfectly fused the speed of Thunder Breathing with the power of Sun Breathing...
The requirement for such precise overlap was incredibly demanding.
*As expected, just like Black Flash, this margin of error can't be fully controlled.*
Yoru thought to himself.
*Even I can't guarantee a trigger every time.*
*However...*
Yoru clenched his fist.
*...the path has been opened.*
"Thanks, Todo."
Yoru looked at Todo, a faint smile touching his lips.
"You're a pretty good teacher."
Todo: "..."
He suddenly felt like his passionate lecture earlier had been a bit like trying to teach a master his own craft.
However, before they could continue talking...
Suddenly.
A heart-stopping pressure descended from the sky without warning.
The clear sky darkened instantly, as if someone had spilled a layer of thick ink across it.
"This is..."
Everyone's expression shifted immediately.
Yoru looked up at the black veil spreading rapidly overhead.
That color.
That aura.
This wasn't just a normal Curtain; it was a rejection.
A rejection targeted at a specific existence.
"So it's finally here..."
A sharp glint flickered in Yoru's eyes.
The real battle was only just beginning.
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