Chapter 73: Domain Expansion
The moment Miguel was completely petrified, the group of Stone Figurines surrounding Rin seemed to break free from their shackles, losing the restraint of the black rope.
They brandished their stiff claws and lunged at Rin like madmen. Stone chips fell rustling as they ran, and black-purple Cursed Energy flickered between the stone cracks, as if they intended to tear him completely to shreds.
Facing this certain-death predicament, black-red Cursed Energy suddenly erupted around Rin's body. A Simple Domain abruptly expanded like an invisible barrier, blocking the dense crowd of Stone Figurines outside.
"Bang! Bang! Bang!" The Stone Figurines' claws repeatedly slammed against the domain, producing dull thuds. Ripples spread across the domain's surface, yet it remained unbroken.
But Rin knew all too well that this was only temporary. His Cursed Energy was draining rapidly, and the Stone Spots on his skin had already spread to his chest, the icy sensation crawling up his spine.
He stared intently at the Gargoyle not far away, but he couldn't even move half a step. His legs had long since completely petrified, becoming cold rocks that supported his body.
And that Cursed Spirit was now slowly stepping out from the other end of the sea of stone.
The Gargoyle looked a hundred times more wretched than before. Its wings had been blown to ash, its arms were severed at the shoulders, and its dark-cyan body was covered in cracks, with black-purple Cursed Energy fluid constantly dripping from the wounds.
Even so, its injuries were still recovering at a rate visible to the naked eye. The domain's effect was still active; as long as its core remained unshattered, it could slowly heal.
It cautiously maintained a great distance from Rin, its sharp beak constantly emitting high-frequency sound waves, clearly confirming whether Rin still had any ability to resist.
Only after confirming that Rin couldn't even move a finger did the Gargoyle finally split its ugly mouth wide, letting out a frantic laugh:
"Haha... although I haven't been born for long, you are indeed the strongest opponent I've ever encountered! Several times just now, I thought I was going to die at your hands!"
The laughter gradually died down, and its voice actually took on a hint of eerie sadness:
"But... it's all worth it. You will be my most perfect masterpiece; I will never forget you."
Rin didn't respond, merely keeping his head lowered. The black-red Cursed Energy fluctuations suddenly weakened, and the Simple Domain surrounding him was actually deactivated by his own accord.
The group of Stone Figurines instantly became restless, but they were barked into silence by the Gargoyle's sound waves.
It didn't immediately order the Stone Figurines to attack, but instead hovered in place, as if "appreciating" this final moment. Although it had no eyes, it felt the taste of victory in its own way, enjoying the moment the prey gave up resistance.
At this moment, most of Rin's body was covered in Stone Spots. From his feet to his chest, and from his left arm to his right shoulder, all was cold, grayish-white rock. Only the right half of his body still maintained a human appearance.
His breathing grew weaker and weaker, his consciousness began to blur, and the coldness of death submerged him like a tide.
The Gargoyle slowly approached by two steps, black-purple Cursed Energy condensing on its remaining body:
"Don't be in a hurry... soon, you will be just like them, staying in my gallery forever as eternal art."
Just as the Stone Spots were about to spread to Rin's heart, his lowered head suddenly lifted slightly. His remaining right eye flashed with a hint of crimson—it was the final light of the Sharingan, and the last sliver of hope he had hidden in this desperate situation.
Facing this moment.
Rin suddenly remembered Geto Suguru's words from a few days ago... "Teacher, why am I already this strong, yet I still can't open my own domain?"
Rin clenched his fists, his knuckles turning white, his tone full of frustration.
The ground of the training field still bore the scorched marks from the bombardment of [Weapons of War], and the residual warmth of the black-red Cursed Energy had yet to dissipate, but his mood at this moment felt as if it had been doused with cold water.
He could clearly feel the outline of a "Domain" hidden deep within the Cursed Energy of [Weapons of War], yet no matter how he tried, he couldn't push open that door.
What made him even more frustrated was that whenever he thought of Megumi Fushiguro from "jujutsu kaisen," he couldn't help but feel irritable. Megumi's strength was clearly inferior to his—he could take on at least ten of him—yet Megumi could already open [Chimera Shadow Garden]. Even if it was an incomplete domain, it was still better than his situation of 'not even being able to touch the door.'
Geto Suguru stood to the side, watching Rin's dejection. He didn't offer immediate comfort or say polite clichés like "keep it up," but merely raised a hand to cover his mouth and chuckled, a hint of nostalgic softness flashing in his eyes.
Once Rin's emotions had calmed slightly, he finally spoke slowly, his voice carrying a sense of distance:
"I once had a best friend. Back then, he was about your current age, but his strength was definitely above yours."
Rin was startled, instantly realizing that Geto Suguru must be talking about Satoru Gojo in his youth.
"At that time, we encountered a terrifying opponent."
Geto Suguru's gaze darkened, as if re-enacting that thrilling past. "That opponent had no Cursed Energy, yet relying on his 'Heavenly Restriction' constitution, he became the 'Sorcerer Killer.' He was powerful and unrestrained, his thinking was terrifyingly calm, and he dared to gamble everything on risks. Several times, he pushed my best friend to the brink of death."
Rin held his breath. He knew this history; it was the classic battle between Satoru Gojo and Toji Fushiguro, and the turning point where Satoru Gojo truly made his breakthrough.
"But just when I thought he was already dead,"
Geto Suguru's tone paused, a hint of admiration rising in his eyes. "On the brink of life and death, he exploded with all his potential, directly comprehending the Reverse Cursed Technique, and finally counter-killed that opponent."
Having said this, Geto Suguru closed his eyes and remained silent for a long time, as if savoring that time woven with crisis and breakthroughs.
When he opened his eyes again, his gaze fell upon Rin, carrying a clear hint:
"Rin, your strength and talent are both great enough, just like my best friend back then. Even without that life-and-death battle, with his talent, he would have learned the Reverse Cursed Technique sooner or later; it was only a matter of time."
"But the appearance of that opponent pushed him into a situation where 'if he didn't break through, he would die,' which allowed him to take that step ahead of time."
Geto Suguru walked forward two steps and patted Rin's shoulder, his tone serious:
"I'm telling you this not to make you rush into danger, but to tell you that opening a domain is something that will happen for you sooner or later anyway.
But sometimes, 'desperation' is the key to breaking through a bottleneck. Perhaps one day, when you are pushed to the point of near-death by an enemy, you will suddenly find that the door you could never push open has actually been waiting for you all along."
He paused and added:
"After all, an excellent opponent who can push you to your limits is much more precious to a Jujutsu Sorcerer than 'practicing step-by-step.'"
Rin stood in place, watching Geto Suguru's back, and his earlier irritability gradually dissipated.
He looked down at his palm, where black-red Cursed Energy pulsed weakly at his fingertips. It turned out it wasn't that he wasn't strong enough, but that he just hadn't encountered the opportunity to "force out" his potential... The petrifying chill had already wrapped around his throat. At the moment his consciousness was drifting on the edge of darkness, Rin suddenly snapped his eyes open, and the blood-red Sharingan abruptly lit up.
Reflected in his pupils was the Gargoyle's mangled yet still triumphant figure. His originally scattered Cursed Energy actually surged back frantically at this moment along some trajectory he had never touched before.
The Stone Spots on his neck were still slowly spreading, and his body below the right shoulder had long since lost all sensation, yet his only remaining movable hand, his right, lifted with precision.
The black-red Cursed Energy at his fingertips was no longer a scattered eruption but condensed into a beam as solid as iron. Following his movements, it traced the path of Finger Sealss in the air.
"What... do you still want to do?" The Gargoyle suddenly froze.
Its sharp beak vibrated at high frequency, and the images fed back by the sound waves made it instinctively retreat. The Cursed Energy field around Rin had changed; it was no longer the chaotic state of being at "the end of its rope" as before, but instead like a volcano about to erupt, concealing a world-destroying sense of pressure.
It wanted to pounce forward and interrupt, but its feet seemed bound by an invisible force, and it could only watch helplessly as Rin's Cursed Energy grew increasingly intense.
Rin did not answer, the crimson in his Sharingan almost overflowing.
He could clearly perceive that the Cursed Energy source of [Weapons of War] was boiling. The Revolvers, Rifles, and Tank cannons he had once materialized were no longer isolated weapons, but like countless soldiers, assembling within his Cursed Energy to form an invisible "battlefield."
This was the power he had accumulated through countless battles, his deepest understanding of "destruction" and "suppression." Now, in this desperate situation, it finally broke through that invisible barrier.
"Domain Expansion."
The cold words fell, like a bugle call declaring war.
Boom!
Black-red Cursed Energy instantly erupted, frantically spreading in all directions with Rin at the center.
The [Eternal Stone Coffin Garden] originally controlled by the Gargoyle began to tremble violently. The ink-colored sky was dyed dark red, bottomless ravines split the ground, and countless phantoms of firearms and artillery emerged from the Cursed Energy.
The barrels of Revolvers glinted coldly, the ammunition belts of Rifles circled in the air, and the muzzles of Tank cannons pointed toward the sky. Even the silhouettes of missiles loomed behind the clouds. They hovered densely around Rin, forming a boundless "steel weapon array," transforming the entire space into the absolute domain belonging to [Weapons of War].
[War World]!
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