"Gurgle..."
A low, strange sound rumbled deep in Toji Fushiguro's throat.
He stuck out his tongue, slightly roughened from years of heavy smoking, and licked the blood splattered on the corner of his mouth with an almost fetishistic obsession.
It was his own blood. Under the residual heat of Yoru's Sun Breathing, it still carried a sharp, burning sting that felt as if it could scorch his taste buds.
"This long-lost... this shiver that feels like I'm freezing..."
Toji muttered to himself, the cruel curve of his mouth growing even more crazed.
In his eyes—devoid of any cursed energy—burned a battle intent far more fanatical than any sorcerer's.
It was the primal instinct of a pure physical body craving a higher level of power.
Toji reached for Ushibao coiled around his neck. His hand lunged forward with a violent motion, as if he intended to tear the meatball-like cursed spirit apart.
*Clang!*
Accompanied by a crisp metallic ring that seemed to resonate with the soul, a strangely shaped short sword with a twisted blade was slowly drawn.
Special Grade Cursed Tool: Inverted Spear of Heaven!
Without a moment's pause, his movements became so fast that the naked eye could only catch a blurred afterimage.
With his left hand, he pulled again. A silver chain, shimmering with a cold light and etched with forbidden cursed seals on its links, slid down.
Special Grade Cursed Tool: Chain of a Thousand Miles!
But he wasn't finished.
His right hand still gripped the Soul Splitter Katana, which radiated a cold black light that seemed to swallow all surrounding illumination.
All three core Special Grade Cursed Tools were now unveiled in the deepest part of the Tombs of the Star Corridor.
At this moment, Toji Fushiguro finally tore away his mask of laziness, revealing his most hideous and terrifying side as the Sorcerer Killer.
"Yoru, I know you're strong. So strong it almost gave me the illusion that I was facing a god."
Toji cracked his neck, his joints popping like firecrackers.
His tight black short-sleeved shirt looked ready to burst under his bulging muscles; every line contained explosive power capable of crushing an elephant.
"But deep underground, in this sunless Tombs of the Star Corridor, the roles of hunter and prey aren't decided by swordsmanship alone."
Before the words even faded, Toji violently swung the Chain of a Thousand Miles.
*Rattle!*
The silver chain, which had been wrapped around his arm, seemed to come alive the moment it left his body, extending and growing wildly in mid-air.
What appeared to be only a few meters long broke the constraints of space in an instant, transforming into an endless silver serpent.
The chain vibrated violently in the air, creating a deafening metallic roar. It instantly wove into a massive silver net above Yoru's head, blotting out the sky.
The net descended toward Yoru's position with a scream that tore through the air.
In the shadow cast by that net, Toji swung his other hand back.
*Vroom!!!*
Hundreds of low-level Fly Heads poured out from Ushibao's bottomless mouth like a dam breaking.
Individually, these cursed spirits were so weak that even a common sorcerer apprentice could crush them with one hand.
But in a peak showdown of this level, they became the most insidious and perfect tactical tools in Toji's arsenal.
The dense swarm of Fly Heads filled every inch of the path like thick, unerasable black ink.
The piercing sound of their wings gathered into a scalp-numbing noise, completely obscuring Yoru's vision and interfering with his hearing.
'The shockwaves of the battle... are already pushing the barrier to its limit...'
Suguru Geto pulled the terrified Riko Amanai along, huddling behind a massive stone pillar at the edge of the palace.
His face was deathly pale, and large beads of cold sweat rolled down his forehead.
Every sound of the chain striking the stone walls felt like a hammer blow hitting his heart.
He could clearly feel the sturdy barrier, originally set by Master Tengen, cracking wildly under the collision of their pure physical strength.
If even the slightest stray shockwave from their fight hit her, a frail girl like Riko would be reduced to dust in an instant.
'Yoru... he's having to divide his attention to control his attack range just to protect us...'
Suguru Geto clenched his fists so hard that his nails dug deep into his palms. Blood seeped through his fingers, but he didn't even notice.
Watching Yoru's figure fighting a lonely battle amidst the black mist and silver net, a sense of powerlessness surged, threatening to drown his sanity.
Who was he?
He was Suguru Geto!
He was one of the most outstanding Special Grade Sorcerers in the history of Jujutsu High! He was the man called "the strongest" alongside Satoru Gojo!
Yet now, at this life-or-death crossroads of fate, he could only hide like a rat in a gutter, cowering behind his companion's back with a helpless girl.
This extreme humiliation crushed Suguru Geto's pride into dust.
'I can't... I absolutely cannot just stand here as a spectator and watch him die!'
A look of tragic resolve flashed through Suguru's eyes, one that suggested he was prepared to go down with the enemy.
"Riko-chan, listen. Stay flat on the ground here. No matter what happens, do not look out!"
He let out a low roar and stood up from behind the pillar, his hands forming seals at lightning speed while trembling with rage.
The cursed energy within him ignited like gasoline, surging through his meridians like a tsunami.
"Come forth! Rainbow Dragon! Kuchisake-onna!"
With two soul-shaking roars, Suguru Geto's strongest Semi-Special Grade and Special Grade Imaginary Vengeful Spirits manifested instantly.
The massive white dragon, covered in hard scales that even the Soul Splitter Katana would struggle to cut in one go, roared as it circled the palace ceiling, attempting to use its massive body to smash through the layers of the silver chain net.
Meanwhile, the urban legend cursed spirit with disheveled hair and giant rusty scissors brought a bone-chilling wind, charging into the black mist to help Yoru clear those annoying Fly Heads.
"Suguru! Get back! Don't come over here!"
Yoru shouted a warning from deep within the thick mist.
Through the Transparent World that could perceive everything, he had already seen the one thing he didn't want to see.
However, his warning was a split second too late.
"Heh, that's exactly the damned sense of responsibility I was waiting for."
Toji Fushiguro's cold, heartless voice suddenly echoed behind Suguru Geto like a ghost.
What?!
Suguru Geto's pupils shrunk to the size of pinpricks.
In his perception, Toji should have been locked in a death match with Yoru at the front; that terrifying aura hadn't left the front lines.
When... when did he slip out of Yoru's sight?!
"Is this the tactic you're so proud of, Yoru?"
Toji's figure was like a bolt of black lightning tearing through the night.
Under the suicidal cover of countless Fly Heads, he had bypassed Yoru's frontal blockade by moving at an angle that defied human skeletal logic.
He had intentionally left a massive opening in the front to bait Yoru into using a major Sun Breathing technique.
At the moment Yoru swung his sword, Toji used the massive centrifugal force of the spinning Chain of a Thousand Miles to launch himself like a supersonic shell, instantly flashing into Suguru Geto's blind spot.
"Take out the annoying small fry first. That's hunter common sense."
The corner of Toji's mouth curled into a cruel arc as the Soul Splitter Katana in his right hand drew a near-perfect black line in the air.
*Roar!!!*
Rainbow Dragon let out a piercing scream that echoed throughout the Tombs of the Star Corridor.
Its hard skin, capable of withstanding heavy artillery, was like fragile tissue paper before the soul-cutting properties of the Soul Splitter Katana. It was instantly sliced into dozens of pieces!
Without stopping, Toji's form pressed downward with the Soul Splitter Katana.
*Squelch!*
It was the dull sound of a blade piercing through flesh without resistance.
Suguru Geto didn't even get a chance to scream before he was kicked dozens of meters away by Toji's terrifying leg strength.
A massive, bone-deep wound appeared across his chest, spanning his entire torso.
Hot blood sprayed through the air, leaving a shocking trail of dark red.
"Suguru!!!"
Riko Amanai let out a piercing, despair-filled scream.
"Damn Fly Heads! Get lost!"
Yoru completely exploded in rage.
Seeing Suguru Geto fall into a pool of blood like a broken kite, the logic in his eyes was replaced by an uncontrollable fury.
If he wanted to play with visual obstruction and numbers, then he would let this entire space crumble!
"Moon Breathing, Sixth Form: Perpetual Night, Lonely Moon - Avici!"
Yoru's body twisted in a spiral at the center of the black mist, and Shiranui forced a change in breathing frequency within a thousandth of a second.
It was no longer the dominant, world-burning heat of flames.
Instead, it transformed into extremely cold, dense purple moon blades, like falling leaves filling the sky!
*Swish! Swish! Swish!*
Thousands of tiny, dust-like yet space-cutting purple moon blades exploded outward in a sphere from Yoru.
The Fly Heads filling the area didn't even have a chance to wail before they were ground into nothingness.
The black mist was instantly swept away.
Yoru stepped forward, and the ground behind him collapsed under the extreme reaction force.
He appeared at Toji's flank almost instantly.
However, as if he had predicted Yoru's reaction, Toji Fushiguro flicked the Chain of a Thousand Miles in his hand.
The Inverted Spear of Heaven attached to the end of the chain traced a sinister and bizarre path, stabbing toward the throat of the heavily injured and unconscious Suguru Geto.
"Attacking what must be saved? This trick always works on you brats who spout righteousness."
Toji wore a savage smirk, his beast-like eyes filled with the certainty of victory.
He knew Yoru would never sit by and watch Suguru Geto be killed.
There were only two choices.
Either continue the attack and trade this strike for a heavy wound on Toji, but watch his best friend die.
Or force a turn, abandon all defense, and use his own body to tank the hit to save him.
Yoru didn't hesitate; he didn't even weigh the options for a fraction of a second.
His body carved a sharp, jarring angle in mid-air, forcibly stopping his momentum. Shiranui trailed a blood-red afterimage as it accurately struck the Inverted Spear of Heaven aimed at Suguru Geto.
*Clang!*
The Inverted Spear of Heaven was knocked away by brute force.
But in that instant when Yoru's old momentum was spent and his new strength hadn't yet gathered—
The Soul Splitter Katana in Toji Fushiguro's other hand silently slashed toward Yoru's defenseless left arm.
To save his friend, Yoru had completely exposed his blind spot.
*Slice!*
The sound of a blade entering flesh was exceptionally clear in the deathly silent palace.
Blood splattered instantly!
Yoru was injured?
A shadow of despair locked onto Riko Amanai's pupils at that moment.
Meanwhile, the murderous light in Toji Fushiguro's eyes burned to a soul-shaking peak!
This battle had only just begun!