The arcade air still felt… unstable.
Like reality hadn't fully recovered from everything that had just happened.
Takeru stood in the center of it all, expression completely flat now.
No embarrassment.
No hesitation.
Just decision.
"…Alright."
Yuji immediately tensed.
"…That tone again…"
Megumi sighed.
"…This is going to get worse."
Hakari stepped back.
"…I don't like where this is going."
Takeru looked forward.
Not at Sukuna directly.
More like through him.
"…You're going into my mind space."
Sukuna raised a brow.
Ryomen Sukuna
"…You're ordering me around now?"
Takeru didn't answer.
He just lifted a hand slightly.
And Sukuna was pulled inward.
The space shifted instantly.
The world of the arcade vanished.
Replaced by the internal domain—
vast, quiet, controlled.
Inside Takeru's mind space—
Sukuna clicked his tongue.
"…Tch."
But something else was there too.
The second presence from the cursed object incident.
More unstable.
Less refined.
Already trying to settle into control of Takeru's physical body outside.
Sukuna glanced at it.
"…So you dragged me here and left that thing outside?"
Takeru nodded.
"…Yeah."
A pause.
"…That one handles my body for now."
Sukuna stared at him.
"…You are reckless."
Takeru shrugged.
"…Efficient."
Outside — Physical World
Takeru's body moved slightly differently now.
Smoother.
Less chaotic.
More controlled.
Yuji blinked.
"…That's not him."
Megumi narrowed his eyes.
"…It's… cleaner."
Hakari muttered.
"…I don't like 'cleaner.'"
The body turned slightly—
and locked onto Sukuna's physical presence nearby.
Takeru's real consciousness stepped forward again through the domain.
And this time—
he didn't hesitate.
He moved.
SLAP.
A clean hit.
Fast.
Sharp.
Direct.
Sukuna's head tilted slightly from the impact.
Ryomen Sukuna
Silence.
Then Sukuna's eyes sharpened instantly.
"…You think that works on me?"
He stepped forward—
BLOCK.
Hand met hand.
Pressure cracked through the air.
Yuji shouted:
"…WAIT—THEY'RE ACTUALLY FIGHTING NOW?!"
Megumi's eyes widened slightly.
"…That hit had weight."
Hakari leaned forward.
"…Okay, that was clean."
Inside the exchange—
Takeru didn't back off.
He rotated his stance immediately.
And struck again.
Not a slap this time.
A full, controlled hit.
THUD.
Silence.
Sukuna's eyes widened for the first time.
He tried to block—
Too late.
The hit connected clean.
And Sukuna was forced back—
completely knocked out of stance.
Yuji froze.
"…He just…"
Megumi finished it quietly.
"…Knocked Sukuna out."
Hakari whispered.
"…That's insane."
Sukuna's body staggered once.
Then went still.
Ryomen Sukuna
Inside the mind space—
silence.
Takeru looked at him.
Calm.
Breathing steady.
"…Stay there."
Sukuna didn't respond.
For once.
Fred slowly raised a sign somewhere in the distance:
"Domain authority updated."
Takeru exhaled.
"…Good."