Time reverts to three minutes ago.
After ending the call with Itadori and the other, Lynn, who had just eaten Sukuna's finger, projected his consciousness into his body.
Unlike his usual trips to the Mist Space, Lynn's target this time was the Sukuna finger he had just consumed.
After eating it and establishing a connection, the barrier on the finger's surface lost its effect. With just a little force, Lynn pierced through it and arrived in a deep Red Sea of blood.
Giant white bones shaped like ribs served as doorframes, extending all the way to the end of his vision. In the center of the path, countless corpses were piled together to form a small mountain.
At the highest point of the peak, a figure dressed in a white kimono sat sideways, leaning his head on his right hand as he looked down.
"Who permitted you to look up at me, brat?"
The existence known as Ryomen Sukuna, who had once slaughtered his way through the entire Jujutsu world, narrowed his eyes. Killing intent, like sharp swords, swept in from all directions, attempting to press Lynn to the ground.
"As expected of the strongest from a thousand years ago."
Standing in the center of the killing intent, Lynn let out a word of praise.
Sukuna's aura was very strong. From this aura alone, one could see that his strength a thousand years ago exceeded that of Ottar.
However, ...
"Now, you are just an ingredient."
Golden lightning illuminated the sea of blood. A vast thunderbolt gathered in the sky and crashed down in the next instant.
Boom—!
A deafening roar sounded as the corpse mountain, dozens of meters high, was submerged in lightning. Sukuna was forced to jump down from his throne and come before Lynn, narrowing his eyes.
"Kid, you have quite a lot of nerve."
"If I didn't have the nerve, I wouldn't have come here."
"Heh, interesting."
Sukuna narrowed his eyes: "I hope your strength is as great as your nerve, brat."
Killing intent materialized at this moment as dozens of invisible slashes fell from all directions, forming a large net that blocked all paths of retreat, attempting to trap the prey in the middle and grind him into pieces.
But at the same time, a massive amount of lightning shot out, piercing through the slashes like sharp needles and flying into the surroundings.
Lightning flickered, and like a god controlling divine punishment, Lynn walked forward step by step. A Tachi engraved with Sacred Script appeared in his empty right hand.
"The mental world is really great; you can get whatever you want just by thinking about it. Speaking of which, have you never considered improving the environment here?"
"What kind of nonsense are you talking about? An Innate Domain isn't something that can be changed so casually." Sukuna narrowed his eyes.
Simply put, an Innate Domain is the world within one's heart, representing a person's essence.
To change it, one must undergo a major upheaval—essentially, a transformation from the bottom of one's heart.
This knowledge wasn't exactly a secret.
Never mind high-ranking Jujutsu Sorcerers; anyone with even a slight understanding of jujutsu would know this.
"Not even knowing something like this... you wouldn't happen to be a newcomer who just suddenly awakened a technique, would you?"
"Something like that."
"In that case, let me give you a lesson."
Sukuna's hands formed hand signs in front of his chest. A vast, surging cursed energy rose from his body, sweeping out in all directions.
After a brief probe, he had realized how strong Lynn was; he wasn't an opponent that could be dealt with easily.
The power of a single finger was truly limited. Continuing to fight like this was just a waste of time and served no purpose.
"Domain Expansion... Hm?"
Just as his cursed energy began to converge, Sukuna felt a sense of fatal danger rushing at him, as if the Sword of Damocles hanging over his head was about to fall. Warning bells rang frantically in his mind.
Subconsciously, he canceled his movements and followed his instincts, flashing toward the empty space beside him.
At that same moment, a roar sounded, and a bolt of lightning pierced through the entire sea of blood like a sharp blade.
"...Interesting."
The corners of Sukuna's mouth slowly curled upward.
Looking at the figure not far away, the casual air around him vanished, and he became completely serious.
"It seems I underestimated you a bit."
"Only a bit?"
"What else? You didn't think an attack of that level could hit me, did you?"
"That's hard to say."
Lynn gave a soft chuckle.
The toy manufacturer Mahito once said that the soul is born before the body, and the shape of the body is influenced by the soul.
But conversely, the physical body can also influence the soul.
"Sukuna, the reason you are called Ryomen Sukuna is because you devoured your twin brother to gain four arms and two mouths, thereby obtaining an absolute advantage."
"However, after your soul was cut into twenty fragments and separated, your soul's form was also affected. In a state where you only have one finger, you cannot manifest your true form."
"And then? Do you think you can defeat me?"
"No, what I want to say is that it's a pity I won't have the chance to compete with you in the number of arms."
Crack—! Crack—! Crack—!
The sound of churning flesh rose within the sea of blood.
Like a mutating monster, six new arms extended from Lynn's back, each holding a tachi.
Flesh Mimicry: Eight-Armed Form.
"Are you kidding me?"
For once, Sukuna's eyes widened.
Even in the mental world, one's own form isn't something that can be changed just like that—or rather, it shouldn't be changeable at all.
"Actually, I could manifest even more, but eight arms are just about enough."
With the shared experiences of the other Lynns, Lynn was not unfamiliar with the Eight-Armed Form.
As if eight different people were in control, each of the eight arms held a blade in a different stance.
"Come, let's start the second round."
As his voice fell, a vast light of thunder transformed into dozens of sharp needles that shot out, covering the sky like an invading army.
Sukuna waved his hand, and countless slashes met them, blocking the surging thunder needles while he himself flashed backward.
He brought his hands together in front of him, attempting to activate Domain Expansion again to suppress Lynn with his trump card.
But Lynn, who had been staring at him, naturally wouldn't give him such a chance. The two uppermost arms on his back swung their blades simultaneously.
Fading Light Slash: Raikiri Double Strike!
Compared to the very first strike, a Fading Light Slash without charging had limited speed, but Lynn, who kept moving, made up for this shortcoming.
While his main body moved, the distance for the newly swung Fading Light Slash was shortened, catching up to Sukuna once more and interrupting him.
Seizing this gap, lightning exploded beneath Lynn's feet, the massive impact propelling him right in front of Sukuna.
Two fists were no match for eight blades. In close-quarters combat, Lynn gained an overwhelming advantage in an instant.
The sharp tachis suppressed Sukuna relentlessly, and wound after wound appeared on his body.
Even if he intended to counterattack, the newly generated slashes would be blocked by the lightning covering Lynn's body.
A few seconds later, the moment Sukuna revealed an opening, a fully charged Fading Light Slash fell right in his face.
...
"Simply put, that's what happened."
Withdrawing the cursed energy overflowing from his body, Lynn told the mysterious blindfolded man in front of him about what had just occurred.
"Defeating Sukuna head-on in the mental world, huh? That's quite something." Gojo mused thoughtfully.
After he had grown stronger, he had also tried to use [Hollow Purple] to destroy Sukuna's finger, but unfortunately, he failed.
Without having had a direct confrontation, Gojo didn't know exactly how strong Sukuna was.
However, he was the strongest from a thousand years ago, after all—a being who had annihilated the Sun, Moon, and Stars Squad and the Five Void Generals single-handedly, killing so many that the people of that era were unable to resist.
In all fairness, if he divided himself into twenty parts, Gojo Satoru would still be confident in suppressing a Special Grade Cursed Spirit.
By that logic, it meant the boy in front of him possessed the strength to annihilate a Special Grade Cursed Spirit.
Was that possible?
The answer was: he didn't know.
Adhering to the idea that practice brings true knowledge, Gojo Satoru beckoned to Lynn with his finger: "Whether it's a charged attack or whatever, hit me with your strongest attack."
Lynn silently took a step back: "Excuse me?"
Gojo raised an eyebrow: "Don't misunderstand. I just want to test how strong you are and, while I'm at it, see if you're actually Lynn or Sukuna."
Pure verbal communication couldn't confirm the truth.
But with a single direct exchange, many doubts could be resolved. However...
"I can't do it."
Lynn spread his hands: "I can summon weapons to use in the mental world, but it doesn't work here. Without a suitable weapon, the attacks I can unleash are very limited."
"What kind of weapon do you need?"
Lynn: "A sword or a blade would do. At the very least, it needs to be something with an edge like an axe; otherwise, it's not convenient to charge the attack."
Fading Light Slash wasn't a technique that could be used just by wanting to.
Perhaps in the future, when Lynn progressed further and had a deeper understanding of slashes, he could be like the masters in wuxia novels, using anything as a sword to unleash a Fading Light Slash.
But unfortunately, he couldn't do that yet and had to rely on a corresponding weapon.
"A bladed weapon, huh... Wait a moment."
Gojo's figure flickered and vanished from the spot.
A minute later, he reappeared holding a short sword.
"Is this, okay?"
"It'll do."
Lynn gripped the short sword with a reverse hold.
With the sharing from the Mist Space, Lynn effectively had several times the cultivation time of an ordinary person.
Even though DanMachi Lynn had only mastered it for a few days, the Lynns of other worlds had already practiced it repeatedly hundreds or thousands of times.
Lightning surged, and a cold light broke through the air.
With almost no delay, a lightning sword qi over ten meters high shot out.
"Oh! This is pretty good!"
Gojo raised his hand and caught the lightning sword qi.
Through the consumption of cursed energy, he could roughly confirm the power of this slash.
A Grade 1 Cursed Spirit would die on contact. For a Special Grade Cursed Spirit, it would depend on the situation; those with strong recovery could survive.
"Is this your full power?"
"I can probably increase it by another two to three times. With a more suitable weapon, I could raise it to five times that level."
"Then I believe you."
Gojo lifted his palm, tossing the slash—which was enough to cut down a Special Grade Cursed Spirit—into the sky.
Under the night sky, the heavy dark clouds were split in two, and moonlight shone through the gap to illuminate the forest.
"By the way, when you mentioned defeating him just now, did you completely wipe out Sukuna's soul?"
"No, just suppressed it."
Lynn sheathed the short sword.
Sukuna's soul was housed within the fingers.
After swallowing the finger, Sukuna's finger merged with his body, and a connection was established with the soul.
Unless he mastered soul attacks, the soul of Sukuna inside him would only be suppressed, not completely gone.
"After suppressing Sukuna's finger, I obtained the power within that finger, and my total cursed energy has increased."
"In the short term, I should be able to eat another two or three of Sukuna's fingers. Any more and I'd easily exceed my limit."
"I see. Then you seem to be in quite a dangerous position."
"Because Sukuna will use my body to be resurrected?"
"That's part of it, but more importantly, it's the fact that you can withstand the toxicity of Sukuna's fingers. If those higher-ups in the jujutsu world find out about this..."
Gojo mimicked a handgun with his fingers, pointing it at Lynn and making a "bang" sound effect.
"You'll die."
"Oh."
"Eh? Why is your reaction so flat? Shouldn't you be crying and saying 'please don't kill me' at a time like this?"
"Can you stop being so dramatic?"
Lynn rolled his eyes. "If you want to kill me, at least act like it. Do you think I'm blind? You don't have a shred of killing intent."
Gojo sighed. "Honestly, you're too stiff. You could at least play along with me... Anyway, your current situation is quite special. You'll have to come back to Tokyo Jujutsu High with me. Is that a problem?"
Lynn hesitated slightly. "I'm a top student with excellent grades and character, a top-tier talent who could get into Todai in the future. If I go to a vocational school, is there any academic compensation?"
"Good question. I can ask for you."
Gojo cooperatively pulled out his phone.
After a series of rings, the call was quickly connected.
"Moshi moshi~ Yaga? I've found a talent who could get into Todai. If I kidnap him to our vocational school, is there any academic compensation?"
"Idiot! Tokyo Jujutsu High is not a vocational school!"
A furious roar came through, and the just-connected call was hung up.
Gojo dug his ear with a finger and pointed the phone at the black-haired boy in front of him.
"There~ that's roughly how it is. The other side refused to give you compensation, so let's get revenge together."
"You really know how to shift the blame."
Lynn was a bit dumbfounded: "Forget it, I won't waste time arguing about this with you. If you want to compensate me, just help me bring someone along."
"Bring someone along?"
"Yeah, he's a sports student. He'd be a perfect fit for that obscure college of yours."
As he finished speaking, Lynn turned and looked toward the bushes on the right, pointing a finger at the figure that had just darted out.
"It's him, is that okay?"
"Eh?"
Itadori, having just arrived at the destination, was stunned.
What was happening?
Questions arose in his mind, and before Itadori could calm down to observe the situation, he saw a white-haired man with a blindfold lean in and start feeling him up, patting his body all over.
"Let me see, let me see! This physical fitness looks pretty good, eh! He's a good seedling!"
"So, what's your answer?"
"No problem! You join our Tokyo Jujutsu High too!"
"It's Tokyo Jujutsu High, you idiot!"
The voice of Fushiguro Megumi came from further behind.
Compared to the energetic Itadori, his physical fitness was a step weaker; he had nearly run out of breath on the way here.
Leaning his right hand against a nearby tree, Fushiguro Megumi took a few heavy breaths before looking at Lynn and Gojo.
"Gojo-Sensei, can you explain what's going on right now?"
"Simply put, I've snatched up two good seedlings to join Tokyo Jujutsu High. Megumi, you'll have two more classmates from now on!"
"I said it's Tokyo Jujutsu High!"
A vein popped on Fushiguro Megumi's forehead.
Can't this idiot ever speak normally?
...