Ryomen Sukuna's Cursed Technique was burnt out due to the use of his Domain, yet a wide grin stretched across the King Of Curse's face. The reason for this was that he was currently facing a man whom he completely and unequivocally acknowledged as a rival. Ayanokoji Kiyotaka.
Kiyotaka pointed his hand at Sukuna and then chanted, "Slicing Blood", as several spurts of blood burst out from his fingertips, and Sukuna dodged to the side.
Kiyotaka followed this up as he charged up Cursed Energy into his fist.
Sukuna saw this and slammed all four of his fists into Kiyotaka, only for him not to even stagger as the fist slammed into him, and Black Sparks flew. There was solidified blood in the impact point that had absorbed the force of the blow. Sukuna moved to strike again, but Kiyotaka knocked his arm off course as Black Sparks flew.
Sukuna looked to him, thinking, 'How is he doing that?'
The Sparks of Black were not blessing Ayanokoji Kiyotaka out of fate. He was forcing them to bless him. By using Mass Sorcery to turn the Cursed Energy in his fist into a liquid mass, he could control when to reverse the process, giving him the ability to better control the time at which his Cursed Energy would hit his opponent. By vibrating that mass, he could manipulate the temperature when the strike landed. Due to it being in a liquid state, he could, to an extent, manipulate humidity. And finally, by reading his opponents' Cursed Energy, he would adjust his output. With all of this, he would be able to force an artificial Black Flash.
Sukuna slammed his fist into Kiyotaka's face as Kiyotaka spat out blood and retaliated by slamming his leg into Sukuna's side, and Black Sparks flew.
Sukuna looked surprised as he thought, 'They don't hit as hard as Black Flashes from him should.'
These Artificial Black Flashes, however, are not as effective as a normal Black Flash, as they generate 1.75 times the force of a normal blow as opposed to the standard 2.5 times. They cannot bring the user closer to the core of Cursed Energy and must be preceded by a genuine Black Flash. In addition, the mental strain of factoring all those variables perfectly in the midst of battle is strenuous even for Ayanokoji Kiyotaka. It is simply a mechanism to strike harder and gain a temporary boost to control and fighting capability.
Sukuna kicked Kiyotaka in the stomach, sending him flying back as he thought, 'He's creating liquid mass at his hands and then reversing the process back into Cursed Energy Reinforcement. He's taking advantage of his Cursed Energy being invisible to make me hesitate about when it'll hit.'
Kiyotaka rushed in and punched Sukuna's arm as he thought, 'Oh? No Black Flash this time?'
As Satoru Gojo said, controlling the Cursed Energy that both strikes the opponent and strengthens your fist is impossible to control for anyone except him. Ayanokoji Kiyotaka is no exception to this law of nature. Due to this, not even with all those considerations, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka cannot guarantee an Artificial Black Flash.
Kiyotaka looked annoyed as Sukuna slammed his leg into Kiyotaka, sending him flying back.
Sukuna's eyes narrowed as he thought, 'I understand now. He's creating some kind of artificial black flash. By forcing his Cursed Energy into the conditions for a black flash, he's increasing the probability of the occurrence, but because it's not perfect, he can't hit with the same force as a normal Black Flash.'
Kiyotaka lined up his fist and slammed it into Sukuna, who smirked as Kiyotaka thought, 'He's fluctuating his Cursed Energy? I can't create the Artificial Black Flash easily like this. On top of that, the normal kind will be even more difficult to land.'
Kiyotaka felt Sukuna slam his fists into his gut as he spat blood in his face and chanted, "Supernova."
The blood exploded as Sukuna staggered back and Kiyotaka slammed both his fists into Sukuna's chest, pushing him back, thinking, 'I adjusted the Cursed Energy on my two fists differently to increase the likelihood, but I guess it should be expected that that wouldn't work.'
He took a stance, thinking, 'Then the only way is to match the fluctuations of his Cursed Energy with the required Cursed Energy to land a Black Flash and get perfectly in sync', as he raised his fists, getting into a stance.
He stared down Sukuna, thinking, 'The more you fluctuate your Cursed Energy, the more likely that you will take more damage, but the less you fluctuate it, the less effective it will be in stopping me from landing Black Flashes.'
Kiyotaka rushed in as he adjusted his output slowly for Sukuna to swing his arm in a chopping motion, chanting, "Sever".
Kiyotaka blocked his arms as they were cut off, and Kiyotaka's eyes widened as Sukuna then chanted, "Cleave", and the rest of Kiyotaka's arms up to the shoulders were cut off.
Sukuna slammed his foot into Kiyotaka, sending him flying back as he grinned, making a hand sign and chanting, "Dismantle".
A net of dismantles hit Kiyotaka as he reflexively held the cut-off parts of himself together, stitching everything back together, thinking, 'He'll use it!'
Sukuna raised his hands and chanted, "Fuga", as fire appeared in his hands in the form of an arrow and fired towards Kiyotaka, and the light from the burning flames were reflected in his eyes.
While Sever is a variant of Cleave, it does not fulfil the conditions of Fuga. Due to this, Sukuna used Cleave immediately after and followed up with a Dismantle.
The arrow of fire launched towards Kiyotaka, who made a hand sign and chanted, "Unmoving Matter!"
A thick barrier of completely still matter formed an air-tight barrier around him as the arrow hit, and Kiyotaka strained to keep up the barrier, thinking, 'There's so much thermal energy from the pressure!'
The flames stopped as Kiyotaka dismissed the barrier with a breath, thinking, 'A condition to using that barrier is that it's an unmoving barrier. It can't be relocated by even a single nanoangstrom once created.'
Sukuna smirked and said, "You managed to survive. Good. Let's continue."
Sukuna rushed forward as he swung his arms at Kiyotaka, only for his fists to hit something and begin freezing as he thought, 'A thin barrier version of that same technique?
Sukuna laughed and said, "So you've made a barrier? Still, it's nowhere near as good as Satoru Gojo's Infinity."
Sukuna looked to Kiyotaka, thinking, 'It's much less costly, but it's thin enough that I can do this!'
Sukuna punched through the thin barrier and slammed his fist into Kiyotaka, sending him back as a thin veil of Cursed Energy surrounded Sukuna.
A large barrier would be able to stop attacks in spite of Full Body Domain Amplification due to sheer mass. However, since this version of the barrier was thin, Full Body Domain Amplification can remove the defensive application, and pure physical force can shatter it.
Sukuna grinned as he copied Gojo's Domain Hand Sign and chanted, "Domain Expansion."
Kiyotaka also used Gojo's one-handed hand sign and chanted, "Domain Expansion."
While Ayanokoji Kiyotaka would usually not try to clash Domains with Ryomen Sukuna due to the obvious case that he would lose the Domain Clash, this time was different.
The two domains began clashing, the White Tree of Kiyotaka's Domain appeared behind him, and the Shrine of Sukuna's Domain appeared behind Sukuna, but then... the shrine's structure collapsed.
Ayanokoji made a binding vow to reduce the range of his Domain in exchange for increasing the firing rate of the Cursed Technique imbued into the domain. With this, he targeted the central structure of Sukuna's Domain and destroyed it with the attacks, leading to the collapse of his Domain. Due to this strategy, there was no need to win the Domain Clash. All that was required was to contest Sukuna's Domain well enough that the strategy could work.
Sukuna's eyes widened as he thought, 'It's not even a matter of refinement anymore. He just erases Domains with his own.'
Kiyotaka's Domain established itself as Kiyotaka vanished and appeared above Sukuna as he axe kicked his shoulder, severing the arms on his right side in a single move, making Sukuna stagger, spitting out blood
Sukuna looked to his missing arms and thought, 'He added a cutting force to the axe kick through [Slicing Blood]?'
He swung his other hands to send out Dismantles as Kiyotaka disappeared and appeared in front of Sukuna before slamming his fist into Sukuna as Black Sparks flew and Sukuna coughed up blood, thinking, 'His Domain is too strong.'
Kiyotaka teleported below him, roundhouse kicking Sukuna into the air and then teleported above him, slamming his leg into him as he sent him back into the ground, as an impact crater formed.
Sukuna got up, but then was hit with Slicing Blood as cubes formed above him, crashing down as he dodged, thinking, 'This Automated Jujutsu that's allowing him to move at light speed and attack me from all angles simultaneously is overwhelming me. Not good.'
Sukuna healed his arms back and then increased his focus on Full Body Domain Amplification, thinking, 'Increase my defences and...'
A rain of spikes fired towards him as he protected himself, and holes appeared all over his body.
Sukuna gritted his teeth, thinking, 'Wait. Something is off. These attacks aren't just physically damaging me. They're targeting my soul while leaving Kanamori Shiro's soul untouched!'
Kiyotaka slammed his fist into Sukuna as Black Sparks flew.
Sukuna turned, unleashing a dismantle only for Kiyotaka to disappear and land another hit as more Black Sparks flew.
Sukuna looked dumbfounded, thinking, 'I'm fluctuating my Cursed Energy, so why?'
Kiyotaka extended his leg, striking Sukuna in the chest as Black Sparks flew.
Sukuna then yelled, "I'm not going to lose to you!"
Sukuna prepared to use his Domain thinking, 'I'll use the same strategy as him to destroy his domain. I'll kill him with this.'
"Slicing Blood."
Sukuna heard this as he saw his fingers get cut off, and this was followed by Kiyotaka smashing his fist into his face as Black Sparks flew.
Sukuna looked shocked, thinking, 'These aren't the artificial type! They're the real deal. How is he doing that?'
Kiyotaka then slammed both his fists into Sukuna as Black Sparks flew and thought, 'I've been blessed.'
Sukuna unleashed a net of dismantles as Kiyotaka jumped up and began floating in the air by creating mass below him to keep him up there as he thought, 'Didn't Gojo-Sensei end up in a similar position to this? What was it that he said?' as he remembered back.
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Kiyotaka looked to Gojo and asked, "You're going into a battle where you could die, you know."
Gojo nodded and said, "Yeah. I know. I've faced death once before. I came back from it, so don't worry. I'll win."
Kiyotaka looked to Gojo and said, "Regardless of the result of the battle, I want you to leave the rest to me."
Gojo looked surprised, asking, "What?"
"Haven't you done enough for the world of Jujutsu? Isn't it time for you to simply be Satoru Gojo now?"
Kiyotaka asked this as Gojo paused for a second and asked, "You realise taking over for me is a Curse."
Kiyotaka nodded and said, "Yeah. I know. But some curses have to be carried. Not dismissed or avoided."
Gojo looked and said, "I wonder what I'd do with all that free time, though? I guess I'd probably have fun bothering Utahime. Hehe."
"Well, I don't think she dislikes it anymore."
Kiyotaka said this as Gojo smiled and said, "It'll be just like the good old days", while reminiscing about his days as a student at Jujutsu High, as his mind shifted to Utahime when she was younger, Geto, Shoko, Nanami and Haibara.
Gojo smiled and said, "Well, I guess you're right then. I'll leave the rest to you. But I guess it was inevitable anyway. I mean, haven't we had enough of Satoru Gojo?"
Gojo smiled and said, "I think there should be at least one among you who forgets about me and develops strength completely different from my own."
Kiyotaka shook his head and said, "That's not possible for me. You're more than just the strongest to me. You're someone I genuinely respect."
Gojo smiled and, with his signature playful tone, said, "Well, if you care so much about your teacher and look up to him that much, then I guess it's fine."
Then he smiled and said, "I'm expecting great things from you, Kiyotaka. Got that?"
Kiyotaka nodded as he thought back.
[Nanami smiled as he said, "I'm sorry for being an irresponsible adult. I'll leave the rest to you.]
Kiyotaka sighed and said, "You can leave it to me."
They both got up and walked together, and Kiyotaka asked, "So who exactly is this person who managed to bring you to the brink of death?"
Gojo laughed and said, "I'll tell you the whole story on the way."
They walked off together.
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Kiyotaka smiled at the memory, thinking, 'Though some might find it surprising, you've actually been quite a good role model for me. Thank you, Gojo-Sensei.'
Sukuna looked up at him and thought, 'I'll make a new technique. One that fires quicker than Dismantle to catch him off guard...'
Sukuna aimed his hand at Kiyotaka, pondering on what binding vow to make when Kiyotaka's eyes darted towards him, thinking, 'I'll end this now.'
Sukuna stared at him, thinking, 'He's... reaching another level from those Black Flashes? If he hits a few more, he'll surpass me entirely.'
Kiyotaka looked to the sky as he dodged an incoming dismantle that cut across the clouds above him, and he thought, 'The flow of Cursed Energy... it feels so natural now. My Flowing Red Scale: Stack, which helps me see things in slow motion, is even more effective than before. It feels like I was born to feel this feeling. Made to experience this sensation. Like it's my birthright. Like I'm a...'
Kiyotaka's eyes widened as he sighed, thinking, 'I'll accept it. That title and the curse that comes with it. But I'll make it my own. After all, I have every right to live my life in that manner.'
He looked down at Sukuna and said, "Whether it be Sorcerers and Curses, I alone am the Jujutsu Masterpiece. No one shall reach this height of Jujutsu."
Kiyotaka then thought, 'I didn't understand how this could be possible before. I couldn't visualise it or even comprehend the level of control I'd need to make it a reality. But now... I can do it. I know it. Even if right now it's just an improvisation... it should be fine.'
Kiyotaka aimed his hand as Sukuna and chanted, "Motion Within Stillness. Stillness Within Motion. Architect Of The Impossible. Immovable Force. Unstoppable Object. Hollow Technique: Still Motion!"
A still ball that radiated motion appeared and fired from Kiyotaka's fingertips as Sukuna looked to it, and he chanted, "Fuga!" as he unleashed the fire arrow at the attack, only for the flames to be absorbed as the ball of energy massively grew in size and sped up.
Sukuna stared in disbelief, thinking, 'It gained power from making contact with Fuga?!'
Sukuna looked to see it still growing in size and getting faster, thinking, 'Everything it touches, even space itself fuels its power and speed! Blocking will only add to its power. I have to dodge!!!'
Sukuna tried to get out of the way only for Kiyotaka to appear behind him and say, "Come on. Don't ruin my test run", as he slammed his leg into Sukuna, sending him flying towards the attack.
Kiyotaka chanted, "Release", as he converted all the still mass into motion, and an explosion triggered.
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Sukuna stood there as Mahito said, "Howdy, Sukuna. Who would have thought I'd see you here?"
Sukuna made a completely displeased expression and said, "This is some kind of absurd joke, right?"
Mahito shook his head playfully, saying, "Nope. You really died."
Mahito smiled and asked, "So. What was it like? To fight Ayanokoji Kiyotaka?"
Sukuna looked at his hands and said, "He was strong. In the beginning of the battle, I certainly could have won, but by the end of it... I could see that he had already surpassed me. He adapted to me."
Mahito sighed, saying, "I wonder, though. Maybe you could've managed it if he hadn't hit all those Black Flashes."
"I still would have lost, though I wouldn't say that he'd have surpassed me if that happened."
Sukuna said this as Mahito sighed and said, "You're not acting as arrogant as before."
"Obviously. I lost, after all."
Sukuna said this as Uraume appeared next to him and Sukuna said, "Ah. I see. So you have been waiting for me."
Uraume nodded, saying, "I have. Did you have fun, Sukuna-sama?"
"I did."
Sukuna said this with a smile.
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Sukuna stood there as his Cursed form melted off of Shiro's body and fell to the ground, beginning to slowly fade away.
Kiyotaka looked down at it and said, "Sukuna. Both of us were born into circumstances that forced us to abandon all consideration for others. We lived for ourselves, and only ourselves, but we both could have chosen different paths. In the end, our choices led to our suffering. We both cursed ourselves to loneliness. If you're born again, then choose differently."
A smile tugged at Sukuna's face as he faded away with a look of satisfaction and said, "I am a Curse, but if I am to have a next life, perhaps it would be nice to walk a different path", before fading away completely.
Kiyotaka watched as Sukuna faded away, thinking, 'As long as Okkotsu and Maki‑Senpai have dealt with Kenjaku, it's over.'
The King of Curses fades away, and so Ayanokoji Kiyotaka solidifies his place as The Jujutsu Masterpiece.
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To Be Continued
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