The reason Ryomen Sukuna was completely unafraid, even though he clearly knew he was no match for Gojo Satoru right now, was very simple:
He was absolutely confident that he could truly defeat Gojo Satoru.
He could even use Gojo Satoru to recover his strength faster and reach an even higher level.
Near the end of his conversation with Tsumiki Fushiguro, Ryomen Sukuna specifically asked her whether exchanges were absolutely safe.
In reality, even before this, he had vaguely sensed the true mechanics of the Dream Walk Migration.
But he still needed confirmation directly from Tsumiki Fushiguro because he was already preparing for [Ascension].
The logic was actually very simple.
Since this was a genuine [Apotheosis Ritual], if Mahito could become a god, then why couldn't he use this [Apotheosis Ritual] to become a god himself?
In this game where everyone has a chance, Mahito wasn't the only player.
That was what he thought.
And that was what he intended to do.
He planned to recover his own strength as quickly as possible in this game.
But this strength would not be obtained by eating his own fingers.
Rather, it would be obtained directly through point exchanges.
This was not impossible.
If he had been resurrected through an incarnated body, he would indeed need to eat all the fingers, because each finger contained a portion of his soul.
Only by gathering all the fingers could he recover to his true peak state.
But this time was different.
This resurrection was his complete resurrection.
His soul had been revived completely within Mahito's Domain Expansion.
When he first revived, he was flawless.
His soul and power possessed not a single defect.
At that time, he truly stood at his peak.
Afterward, when he fought Mahito, his soul was torn away piece by piece until his power dropped to that of only one finger.
Only then was he thrown into the Sakurajima Barrier.
What did this imply?
All of his soul information—
—was in Mahito's hands.
Just like in the original work, even without the last finger, Kenjaku found his mummified remains to supplement the power of the final finger.
Why could those remains make up for the power of the last finger?
Because they contained his soul and physical information, perfectly compensating for the soul information of the missing finger.
The current situation was the same.
He had a full twenty fingers scattered elsewhere, and because all of his soul and physical information had been recorded by Mahito, they could also be exchanged from the Exchange List.
His total current strength—
—was equivalent to forty fingers.
This was also why, even though he had been thrown down with the power of only one finger and hadn't consumed any fingers yet, Gojo Satoru asserted upon seeing him that he currently possessed the power of two or three fingers.
He obtained this strength through exchanges, and this strength was exactly equivalent to finger power.
He could continue exchanging until he had restored his complete soul and physical information.
Of course, if he merely wanted to recover his original power, twenty fingers would be enough.
The other twenty fingers were not useless.
They simply served as icing on the cake.
Ryomen Sukuna did not intend to waste the power of those extra twenty fingers in this manner.
He planned to rely on a [Binding Vow], consuming the power of the extra fingers to assimilate additional Innate Techniques as quickly as possible.
That's right.
Those Innate Techniques were the [Ten Shadows Technique] and the [Copy Technique].
Can he succeed?
For other Jujutsu Sorcerers, even if that Sorcerer were Kenjaku or Gojo Satoru, it would be impossible.
Because the time and effort required to push a Cursed Technique to its limit were astonishing.
In the original work, when Yuta Okkotsu used the Brain Exchange Technique to fight using Gojo Satoru's body, he inwardly lamented:
[Just how much effort must Teacher Gojo Satoru have spent on this?]
Even Gojo Satoru had to spend a great deal of effort training the Six Eyes and Limitless to reach his current level.
Other Jujutsu Sorcerers didn't possess even one ten-thousandth of Gojo Satoru's talent.
How could they possibly achieve that in such a short time?
But if it was Ryomen Sukuna—
He had already done this once in the original work.
In less than a month after acquiring Fushiguro Megumi's Ten Shadows Technique, he was already able to utilize it at a level Fushiguro Megumi himself couldn't reach.
(T/N: That's only because Megumi is a bum)
The only difference was that, in the original work, there was no barrier as convenient as the Dream Walk Migration, nor was there extra finger power for him to consume.
He simply relied honestly on his own knowledge and skill to elevate the Ten Shadows Technique.
But now, after raising it to its limit, Ryomen Sukuna had a new ambition—
To use the Ten Shadows Technique in a way that surpassed common sense.
Ryomen Sukuna was incredibly confident.
This applied not only to the Ten Shadows Technique but also to the Copy Technique.
After using his extra fingers to raise both Cursed Techniques to their limits, he could then rely on his own knowledge and skill to break through those limits and reach an unprecedented realm.
At that point, Ryomen Sukuna would truly be flawless.
[Perfect Body] + [His Own Cursed Technique] + [Ten Shadows Technique] + [Copy Technique]
(T/N: That's actually OP)
With this, who in the world could stop him?
Even the final Apotheosis Ritual of the Dream Walk Migration would surely fall into his hands.
The beginning of all this was first obtaining a large amount of points.
Within the Dream Walk Migration, was there any faster way to collect points than fighting to the death?
No.
And right now, there was a Jujutsu Sorcerer named Gojo Satoru who was about to fight him to the death.
How could Ryomen Sukuna refuse?
How could he not seize this opportunity to obtain a massive amount of points?
No.
There was no better situation than this.
Ryomen Sukuna roared loudly:
"Come on... Gojo Satoru!"
"Let's fight!"
Crunch, crunch.
Mahito ate potato chips and nodded cheerfully.
"That's right, that's right!"
"Sukuna, your future holds the power of forty fingers."
"Grow well."
"Grow to a strength that surprises even me!"
Mahito currently had a screen open in front of him, displaying the world-shaking battle between Ryomen Sukuna and Gojo Satoru.
He watched enthusiastically, smiling as he carefully sensed the operation of the Dream Walk Barrier.
He felt physically and mentally refreshed, as though soaking in an outdoor hot spring during winter.
Ryomen Sukuna's conjectures were correct.
Accurate down to every detail.
Mahito truly possessed all of Ryomen Sukuna's soul and physical information.
Mahito had indeed placed all that information on the Exchange List without reservation.
Throughout the entire Dream Walk Migration, Ryomen Sukuna truly could gather the power of forty fingers.
Finally, with Ryomen Sukuna's ability, he could indeed obtain the ultimate capabilities of the Ten Shadows Technique and the Copy Technique by consuming the power of the extra fingers.
And with Ryomen Sukuna's knowledge, skill, and talent, he could indeed achieve breakthroughs beyond the limits of these two Cursed Techniques within two months, reaching an unprecedented strongest state.
A state sufficient to contend with the current Mahito—
The [Dragon God].
And because of the massive Binding Vow governing the Dream Walk Migration, Mahito could not stop Ryomen Sukuna from doing any of this.
He could only watch helplessly as Ryomen Sukuna grew stronger and eventually participated in the final Apotheosis Ritual, using his own power to fight for the qualification to [Become a God].
Ryomen Sukuna—
—calculated everything correctly.
Except for one thing.
These thoughts.
These lines of action.
Even his determination.
All of them had been personally imprinted upon him by Mahito through the [Ideological Imprint].
"After all, you probably can't imagine the specific Binding Vows I enacted. If you knew, you probably wouldn't have entered the game so easily," Mahito sighed, eating potato chips and chuckling.
"A Jujutsu battle is an information war."
That phrase truly runs through the core of the entire original work.
Gojo Satoru died because of Sukuna's meticulously designed World Slash, and Sukuna died because of his own final finger and Fushiguro Megumi's last awakening.
An unexpected attack is the most fatal [Gungnir].
Ryomen Sukuna had once judged that Mahito's Domain Expansion, the [Dharma Realm Reincarnation Nirvana Realm], was the central hub of this [Dream Walk Barrier].
All Residual Cursed Energy would eventually be devoured by this hub and then regurgitated back through the [Dharma Realm Reincarnation Nirvana Realm].
In fact, Ryomen Sukuna did see the location of that spewing central hub, which made him even more certain of his judgment.
Let alone Ryomen Sukuna—even Gojo Satoru, who possesses the Six Eyes, would probably draw the same conclusion.
But this was wrong.
In reality—
—the entire [Dream Walk Migration] was built inside the [Dharma Realm Reincarnation Nirvana Realm]!
Therefore, the [Dharma Realm Reincarnation Nirvana Realm] was not the central hub of the [Dream Walk Migration].
On the contrary, the [Dream Walk Migration] was the central hub of the [Dharma Realm Reincarnation Nirvana Realm]!
Residual Cursed Energy had never been swallowed and cycled by the hub.
Rather, from the very beginning, it had been cycling—
—cycling inside the [Dharma Realm Reincarnation Nirvana Realm], a Domain Expansion far larger than the [Dream Walk Migration]!
Is this possible?
Actually, this situation exists in the original work.
During Gojo Satoru's final battle with Ryomen Sukuna, both sides continuously manipulated the size of their Domain Expansions during combat.
So long as one's control and Cursed Energy were sufficient, any exaggerated range could be achieved.
Mahito possessed the Six Eyes and infinite Cursed Energy.
If he had the patience, he could even bring the entire Earth into his Domain Expansion by himself.
Besides, there was another reason he could accomplish something so outrageous:
This was the Dream Walk Migration.
Everything occurring here existed entirely within dreams.
"Oh, oh, here it comes!"
Mahito instantly perked up.
He sat up straight and looked at the screen.
"The original work's operation, which even I could never replicate, has finally appeared."
On the screen, after being killed by Gojo Satoru about five times, Ryomen Sukuna finally lost his patience and used the original work's ultimate technique.
A wheel suddenly appeared behind his head.
This wheel represented Mahoraga's adaptation ability.
Every time it turned, Mahoraga's adaptation progress increased until the wheel completed its rotation, signifying complete adaptation.
Normally, this wheel only appeared after Mahoraga itself had been summoned.
However, in the original work, Ryomen Sukuna somehow managed to make himself part of the adaptation process.
Although Mahoraga can adapt to all attacks, it possesses a fatal flaw:
In the eyes of true powerhouses, it isn't durable enough, and there are methods to kill it in a single blow.
Because of this, Ryomen Sukuna transferred the adaptation process onto himself.
The effect was to use the Jujutsu Sorcerer's own body to adapt to attacks beforehand.
Once the adaptation was completed, Mahoraga would emerge from the shadows already possessing complete resistance to the target.
Ryomen Sukuna once used this move to break through the Domain Expansion and Perfect Sphere of the Ancient Sorcerer Yorozu.
A truly insidious ultimate technique.
Mahito had been studying this ability ever since obtaining the Ten Shadows Technique.
Although it looked simple in the manga, its underlying principles were never revealed.
He knew it could be done, but he couldn't understand why.
Mahito immediately realized that for things requiring both theory and knowledge—
—it was impossible without a teacher.
But if he couldn't do it himself, wasn't there a "teacher" who could teach him?
Do you still remember the ability of the Dharma Realm Reincarnation Nirvana Realm?
Besides resurrection, its ability is to unconditionally touch the souls of all living beings within the great barrier.
Even when Gojo Satoru engaged in a Domain battle and engraved Limitless onto his own soul, the soul contact of the Dharma Realm Reincarnation Nirvana Realm could still forcibly read it.
Ryomen Sukuna misjudged.
If Mahito's Domain Expansion were truly just a central hub, then by appropriately concealing information, those secrets could never truly reach Mahito.
But the Dharma Realm Reincarnation Nirvana Realm was not an internal hub.
It was an external great barrier.
This meant that everyone participating in the Dream Walk Migration was actually inside Mahito's Domain Expansion, having their soul information read every moment.
The Binding Vow Mahito truly placed upon the Dream Walk Migration was:
—Absolutely no direct or indirect offensive effects of the Dharma Realm Reincarnation Nirvana Realm would be used, in exchange for the ability to continuously read the soul information of everyone within the great barrier.
This Binding Vow would only be completed at the final moment of the Apotheosis Ritual.
The price of this extremely strict Binding Vow granted Mahito the ability he needed most.
Mahito formed hand signs while watching Ryomen Sukuna's movements on the screen.
—Reverse Cursed Technique.
—Soul Creation: Fushiguro Megumi.
—Technique Release.
—Ten Shadows Technique!
(T/N: Bro aren't you already OP enough!)
Behind Mahito's head, a wheel suddenly appeared.
At this moment, all offensive and defensive Cursed Energy remnants throughout the Dream Walk Migration endlessly poured into Mahito's body.
These faint remnants had no effect on Mahito, but they did indeed come into contact with him.
Thus—
—the wheel turned.
Mahoraga's adaptation ability works by modifying itself through Cursed Energy, determining the speed of adaptation according to the amount of damage received.
Such tiny Cursed Energy remnants meant that in a normal battle, even several years—or more than a decade—might not be enough to complete the adaptation.
But—
—this was the Dream Walk Migration!
Every moment, every minute, Cursed Energy remnants accumulated in astonishing quantities.
Indeed, under normal circumstances, several years or even a decade would not be enough.
But what if it accumulated every second, every minute, like it did now?
How long would that take?
Mahito watched the screen.
Naturally, Ryomen Sukuna died again.
Smiling, he thanked Ryomen Sukuna on the screen:
"Thank you, Teacher Sukuna."
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