The moment the barrier finally dissipated was quieter than expected.
The relentless vibration of pressure and the low, metallic screech of tearing space abruptly ceased. All that remained was the delayed sound of crumbling stone and the sensation of wind sweeping dust through the gaps of the shattered barrier.
Gojo Satoru stood still for a long time.
His blood-soaked shirt was a ruin, and the ground was stained with a wide pool of blood that, until moments ago, had belonged to him. Yet, his severed arm and leg were perfectly intact. He clenched and unclenched his fist, shifted his weight to his toes; everything functioned perfectly. It was strange—his body felt like it didn't belong to him.
More accurately, it was so vividly real that it felt foreign. He wondered if the sensation of being alive had ever been this sharp.
Gojo inhaled slowly.
The smell of blood, stone dust, pulverized earth, and the scent of summer grass. Things he usually ignored filtered in with eerie clarity. The beating of his heart, the sensation of his lungs swallowing air, the strength coiled in his fingertips—it was all hauntingly lucid.
"...Wow."
The small exclamation that escaped him was closer to a laugh. He lifted his head to look across from him.
Itadori Yuji stood a short distance away. His hands were still shoved in his pockets. Just as he had throughout the entire fight, his face looked as though he had merely finished a light warm-up rather than a duel where lives hung in the balance.
Gojo chuckled in disbelief.
"Are you really keeping that posture until the very end?"
Yuji flicked his eyes up to meet his.
"It wasn't uncomfortable."
"That makes it even more annoying, you know?"
Though he retorted, Gojo's voice lacked the ragged breath from before. It was much lighter. No, rather than light, it felt singularly refined. Yuji scanned his condition.
His breathing had stabilized. The flow of his Cursed Energy was no longer erratic. His Limitless had become significantly more sophisticated than before. Most of all, the look in his eyes had changed. If he was a blade on the verge of shattering moments ago, he was now steel that had been broken and reforged.
"You look fine," Yuji remarked.
Gojo smirked.
"Was 그게 supposed to be a compliment?"
"No."
"Wow... this kid. Seriously. Still... thanks to you, this is definitely going to keep me up tonight."
He spoke with the cadence of an insult, but he couldn't suppress his grin. He had just watched his own limbs fly off, yet here he was, laughing. Human biology was a strange thing. Or perhaps, he was just the strange one.
Amanai Riko, who had been standing outside the barrier, moved first. Or rather, she tried to move. Kuroi Misato's hand caught her arm first.
"Amanai-sama."
Restrained, Riko could only stare into the interior of the barrier's remains. Her eyes were wide. The face that had been grit with desperate endurance was now blank, like someone who had even missed the timing to get angry.
"Is it truly..." she finally found her voice after a long silence, "Is it truly over?"
Geto Suguru was the first to step over the boundary of the collapsed barrier. He surveyed the state of the ground, scanned the lingering residue of Cursed Energy between Gojo and Yuji, and walked inside without a word. Only after confirming it was truly over did Riko and Kuroi follow.
As Riko entered, her eyes immediately darted toward Gojo. She couldn't help it. It had been a battle nearing total carnage. Blood had sprayed, and limbs had been severed. The scene was still vivid in her mind's eye, yet here stood Gojo, perfectly intact on both legs.
"...Are you truly alive?" Riko asked reflexively.
Gojo raised an eyebrow.
"What's with that? You were so worried just a second ago."
"W-Who said I was worried!"
Her snap was loud, but her voice cracked at the end. Riko bit her lip, regretting the outburst, but it was too late. Gojo watched her and laughed slowly.
"Sure, sure~ I'll let it slide, even if you deny it."
"I don't need you to let anything slide!"
"But your face is still pale. You were definitely thinking about me. Wow, I'm genuinely touched."
"Y-Y-You!!"
Riko started to rage but stopped. A sharp intuition told her that getting angry at Gojo as usual didn't feel right. Her gaze drifted from Gojo back to Yuji. Back there, inside the barrier, Yuji really could have killed Satoru.
That realization rattled her. It was terrifying, yet at the same time, it brought a bizarre sense of relief. She now knew more clearly than anyone that his promise—that he wouldn't let that person die—wasn't a hollow boast.
Kuroi inspected Gojo first. She stepped closer, checking for any lingering scars. His clothes were shredded, but his skin was pristine. Blood remained on the fabric, but the wounds were closed. There wasn't even a trace of the amputations.
"...It's almost eerie," Kuroi said softly. "I saw you lose those limbs with my own eyes, yet now the marks have vanished completely."
Gojo shrugged. "It was my first time doing it, so it's a bit of a novelty to me too."
Riko whipped her head toward him. "First time?"
Geto chuckled at her reaction. "Exactly what it sounds like."
Gojo rubbed the back of his neck. He was smiling, but he looked like a man lost in thought. "It's a strange feeling." He slowly opened and closed his palm. "I didn't know how to do it. Honestly... my body just figured it out first. It was like, as long as you aren't an absolute idiot, you'd grasp it instantly."
Geto flinched at that remark, arching an eyebrow before letting out a sigh. "So... you were on the verge of death?"
Gojo didn't answer, only offering a brief smile. The short silence was answer enough. Riko's expression stiffened again. Her voice was much quieter when she spoke next.
"Did you really have to go that far?"
This time, Gojo didn't joke. He looked at Riko, lowered his gaze briefly, then looked back up. "Yeah..."
It was a one-word answer. But Riko couldn't dismiss it lightly anymore. Gojo continued, "I needed that level of adversity. Otherwise, I wouldn't have even seen the shadow of Reverse Cursed Technique."
"How foolish..."
"Wasn't it that foolishness that made me stronger?"
Riko fell silent. It was a type of desire she couldn't fully comprehend. Why peer into the abyss when you might die? Why strive for more when you are already strong? But looking at Gojo's face now, she could tell it wasn't a joke or a bluff.
Geto, listening to them, suddenly turned his attention to Yuji. Yuji had been mostly silent, merely listening. From the moment Gojo began awakening to Reverse Cursed Technique to the point where his limbs were flying and he was bleeding out at death's door—all of it seemed like part of a necessary procedure to Yuji.
"You planned to make him reach that point from the start, didn't you?" Geto asked lowly.
Riko and Kuroi's eyes also turned toward Yuji. After a brief pause, Yuji replied, "He probably would have gotten there eventually."
"Eventually?"
"The closer death gets, the faster he moves. That's the kind of person Satoru is."
Gojo let out a smirk. "Wow, you've got my personality completely figured out. And now you're calling me by my first name. I'm actually a bit touched."
Yuji spoke flatly. "As for the name... you called me by mine first. I'm just reciprocating. Besides... you're easy to read."
"What? That hurts a little."
"Still, getting there isn't actually easy."
Gojo's grin faltered for a fraction of a second. It wasn't a joke. What Yuji just said might have been the most accurate evaluation of the entire day's battle. Many people can be 'read.' Many people have talent. But there are very few who, while their limbs are flying off and their vision is blurring from blood loss, will grit their teeth and crawl one step higher.
Gojo laughed softly. "Sounds like a compliment to me."
"How you interpret it is up to you."
Riko felt a peculiar sensation listening to their exchange. Until moments ago, they were fighting. No, fighting wasn't the word. It was a battle where they truly could have killed one another. But now, an air had formed between them that only the two of them understood.
She didn't like it. Specifically, it bothered her for some reason. Unable to find the right words for the feeling, Riko blurted out, "You two... fought like dogs, and yet you're already on such good terms."
A sudden silence bloomed. Gojo was the first to burst.
"Amanai... what was that? Jealousy?"
Riko's face flared red. "W-Who said anything about jealousy!"
"You totally sounded like it just now. Even now."
"I-I did not!"
"Amanai-sama," Kuroi called out gently, but Riko knew it was too late. She could feel her ears burning. Gojo looked like he was having the time of his life.
"Amanai's ears are turning red... this is a rare sight!"
Geto let out a small sigh. "Satoru."
"I know, I know. I won't tease her anymore for now." He said it, but he couldn't hide his smirk.
Watching the small commotion, Yuji spoke without any hidden meaning. "Don't come too close. The lingering residue is still dangerous."
The warning was for Riko, but his tone was devoid of any special sentiment. Riko huffed, her face becoming even hotter. "Who said I was going closer!"
Gojo whispered right next to her, "She really reacts to everything, doesn't she?"
Geto turned his head away, unable to suppress a smile, while Kuroi covered her mouth with her hand. Riko couldn't understand why she kept getting dragged into these situations. A moment ago, Satoru's arm was flying, his leg was being cut, and she thought he was going to die—how did the atmosphere turn into this so suddenly?
Yet, that strange peace made the reality that it was truly over sink in. The barrier was completely ruined. Geto looked around slowly. "Sensei Yaga Masamichi won't be happy when he sees this."
Gojo answered immediately. "He'll hate it. I'll probably get stuck with a punishment like cleaning the toilets."
"You won't have an excuse this time."
"Why not? I have an excellent justification."
Geto raised an eyebrow. "Which is?"
Gojo grinned. "I got stronger because of this."
"The fact that you think that's a justification is the problem."
Gojo shrugged, then shifted his gaze toward Yuji. A flicker of hesitation crossed his eyes, but it didn't last long. "Let's go, Yuji."
At that one word, both Riko and Geto's eyes flickered. It was distinct. He hadn't said 'Itadori.' Gojo didn't hide the change at all; he called him by his first name as if it were the most natural thing in the world. Yuji didn't react particularly to it. He just looked at Gojo and asked briefly, "Can you walk?"
"I'm fine now, thanks to a certain someone."
"You aren't fine."
"Then what, should I say I'm half-fine?"
"More accurately, you're a half-fine that's better than when we started."
Gojo laughed. "Wow, your standards are brutal."
"You should learn a thing or two from them."
Because the words were exchanged so casually, Geto felt a momentary surge of strangeness. Moments ago, these two were at a point where they could have killed each other. But now, they spoke as if they had been doing this for a long time. Friend—that was the word that came to mind. It was rare for Satoru to acknowledge someone like that. It was almost the first time Geto had seen it.
Geto swallowed a somewhat bitter smile. It was a good thing, so why did it feel a bit chilly? It was probably because he had seen it with his own eyes today—the height Satoru had witnessed. It was a place neither he, nor Riko, nor Kuroi could reach.
"Suguru."
At Gojo's call, Geto looked up. "What?"
"Your expression looks a bit complicated right now."
Geto paused before answering, "It is complicated."
"Why?"
"It's a good thing you really got stronger."
"And?"
Geto looked at Yuji once, then back to Gojo. "But the fact that you needed an opponent like this to achieve it... isn't exactly pleasant to think about."
Gojo stopped laughing at that. His face immediately transitioned to understanding. "Ah." It was a short, sharp sound. He narrowed his eyes slightly. "Well, I suppose so."
He said the words, but his voice was tinged with an eerie sense of refreshment. It was the voice of a man who had seen a high wall and accepted that he could never return to who he was before. Riko, listening to the exchange, suddenly spoke up.
"I hate this world."
Everyone looked toward her. Riko kept her eyes forward, standing straighter than necessary. "I hate a world where you have to throw your lives away to get stronger, and I hate you all for accepting that as if it's natural."
Unlike her usual self, the end of her sentence wavered slightly. "But..." She took a sharp breath. "At least you came back alive. For now, that is enough."
This time, no one made a joke immediately. Gojo looked at Riko for a moment, then gave a soft smile. "Yeah. For today, that's enough."
Riko didn't say more after hearing that answer. She turned her head away, afraid her eyes might well up. Kuroi quietly brushed Riko's shoulder. Geto eventually spoke to wrap things up. "We shouldn't stay here long. It'll cause trouble. Let's move."
Everyone agreed. There was no reason to stand inside the collapsed barrier any longer. The words that needed to be said were mostly done, and each person now carried emotions they had to sort through. They also needed to decide where to hide Riko and Kuroi before the Higher-Ups made a move.
Gojo went to step forward but stopped. He turned back toward Yuji naturally. "Hey, Yuji."
"What."
"I'm winning next time."
Yuji replied without any change in expression. "I'm going harder next time."
Gojo smirked. "Good. That's all I need." It wasn't a bluff. It was the word of a man who truly believed there would be a 'next time.' This time, Yuji didn't bother to deny it. Instead, he just said, "Then get up here faster next time."
Gojo laughed heartily at that. Geto cast his eyes down. Riko pouted, and Kuroi watched the atmosphere in silence.
Beyond the ruined barrier, the evening light was beginning to stretch long. The cicadas were still loud, and the summer air remained heavy. Yet, it was different from before.
Someone had survived, someone had grown stronger, someone noticed their heart growing heavier, and someone buried an unnamable anxiety deep within their chest. The five of them left the battlefield behind and began to walk. And at the very front, Gojo Satoru didn't hesitate to call that name again.
"Yuji, hurry up. My body's fine, but I'm starving."
Yuji looked at him for a moment and gave a tiny smile. "Shut up."
At that short retort, Gojo laughed even louder. Riko got annoyed again. "Why are you the only one calling him so naturally!"
Gojo looked back and grinned. "What's this, did you want to call him that too? You should have just said so."
"W-What are you saying! How truly insolent!!"
This time, Geto laughed openly, and Kuroi finally lowered her head to hide her own smile. On the summer forest path turning toward evening, a more human sound finally echoed. Only after passing the threshold of death did a slightly late, slightly awkward, but undeniably alive laughter bloom like a new story.