Chapter 238: Snatching Cursed Tools? That's a Loser's Mindset! (Patreon)

Sukuna's cursed energy began to churn through the air the moment Gojo's taunt reached his ears.

Ayanokōji stood a short distance below Gojo, watching Sukuna and Uraume with a blank face.

Uraume quietly backed away. A cruel smile tugged at the corner of Sukuna's mouth, and he pressed his palms together. He was clearly about to use Domain Expansion.

Ayanokōji turned it over in his mind.

With so many people crowded into the area, it was only natural for Sukuna to choose a Domain. Gojo, unlike him, would almost never abandon the people around him. All Sukuna had to do was force Gojo to cancel out his Domain with a Domain Expansion of his own.

Then he could blindside Gojo with an open Domain.

That would drag the whole battle into a rhythm Sukuna controlled.

'Now.'

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka, his Parasyte enhanced by fusion with Venom, pinpointed the exact instant the cursed energy was about to erupt. He flung out an arm. An antique scroll hung in midair and unfurled without a breath of wind!

[Mountains and Rivers Map].

"Unfold!"

In an instant, the Mountains and Rivers Map swallowed the world.

"Domain Expan—"

Sukuna never finished the chant.

The next moment, his abyssal, hellish cursed energy and Sukuna himself vanished on the spot, sucked into the scroll as it rolled itself shut!

The battlefield fell into an eerie silence.

"Lord Sukuna?!"

Atop the distant ruins, Uraume, who had been watching the fight with total focus, went wide-eyed.

How was this possible?!

Lord Sukuna's cursed energy... had disappeared in an instant!

It was as if he had been wiped from the world entirely.

Uraume knew better than anyone: even if a Domain Expansion was crushed by a stronger one, it would still leave behind a barrier at the center of the field. The only exception was an exceptionally unusual "open Domain," like Lord Sukuna's own.

But to kill Lord Sukuna outright in a Domain clash, without leaving so much as a trace behind?

That kind of precise cursed energy control and overwhelming strength was beyond even Gojo Satoru!

Uraume raised his eyes and fixed them on Ayanokoji Kiyotaka, who was calmly catching the scroll back in his hand.

'Is it the special ability of that brat's cursed tool?'

Uraume's gaze turned icy. 'I have to take that cursed tool.'

But just as frost surged around Uraume and he prepared to unleash his Ice Formation—

"Hey, where are you looking?"

A teasing voice sounded right beside his ear, without any warning.

Uraume's pupils contracted. He whipped around. Gojo had crossed the distance at some point and was standing right next to him.

Gojo didn't even glance at him. Instead, he held up a finger toward Nagumo, Ayanokōji and the others walking over, and began explaining like a very dutiful schoolteacher.

"Remember that concept I walked you through in the pre-battle tutoring?"

"No matter who you are, after you use Domain Expansion and it ends, you enter a 'technique burnout' period from overusing your technique."

Gojo tapped his own head, a smile curling his lips.

"Unless you can do what I do, forcibly burning out the technique circuits in your brain with Reverse Cursed Technique and then regenerating them instantly, which skips burnout entirely... you can't use your innate technique right away."

"Just like..."

Gojo raised a hand and casually mimed a Domain Expansion hand sign.

"...that old geezer just now."

The blood drained from Uraume's face as realization hit.

To Uraume's surprise, though, Gojo didn't take the chance to deal him a fatal blow. He simply rested a hand on his shoulder.

"Your precious Lord Sukuna isn't in this world right now, you know."

"For the sake of your own life, I'd behave if I were you~"

Gojo smiled brightly as he issued the warning.

Uraume frantically pieced together the clues, and soon arrived at an answer that made his skin crawl.

"You... you deliberately baited Lord Sukuna into expanding his Domain, and then, the instant it was incomplete, forced him into that cursed tool?!"

Uraume ground his teeth, glaring at Gojo. "The reason you won't touch me is that you know Lord Sukuna will break out of the barrier soon, and you need to conserve your cursed energy to deal with him. Isn't that right!"

"Wrong answer~"

Gojo wagged his finger.

"That's no barrier. It's a separate, complete 'world.'"

"Anyway, whether Sukuna gets out or not, you don't get a say in what happens to you right now."

Just then, Miyabi Nagumo, still in his Gorilla Suit, walked over and looked at the scroll in Ayanokōji's hand.

"Sukuna's locked inside the [Mountains and Rivers Map] now, so even the Black Sphere's Controller radar can't pick up his intel anymore."

"If I remember right, besides reshaping the terrain inside, the holder can also invite others in, and they can watch the fight as spectators without being noticed. Am I right?"

"Huh?"

Yuji Itadori, tagging along at the back of the group, swallowed hard. "Isn't that ability... kind of ridiculous?"

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka didn't comment. He simply spoke to the group in a flat voice.

"I'll take all of you inside."

"Domain Expansion burns a huge amount of cursed energy. Even the King of Curses can't keep one up for long."

Ayanokōji explained methodically.

"We wait until his Domain ends and he falls into the burnout window, then strike."

"Until then, you can use your Controllers to get a good look at his real intel and his trump cards."

With that, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka raised his hand again.

The [Mountains and Rivers Map] unfurled in the wind and drew everyone in.

After a faint wave of spatial disorientation, the whole group, along with Uraume still pinned in Gojo's grip, appeared in a small world identical to the ruins of Shinjuku outside.

Of course, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka wasn't foolish enough to drop everyone at the spot where they'd been standing.

Sukuna's [Malevolent Shrine] was still running in there. Countless invisible slashes were tearing wildly through the structures built inside the scroll. Walking straight in would mean walking into Sukuna's guaranteed-hit slashes, and Ayanokōji wasn't stupid enough to take that damage for nothing.

So they settled on the roof of a relatively intact building a few hundred meters away, and quietly looked down at the scene below.

Uraume, held fast by Gojo, saw that Sukuna was safe and in the middle of his Domain. A little of the tension left his chest, but a deeper dread crept in right behind it.

If that Nagumo brat was right, and Lord Sukuna, trapped at the bottom of the scroll, couldn't detect them watching from the sidelines...

Then Lord Sukuna was in an unprecedentedly passive position!

What if Gojo played dirty, charged a 200% [Hollow Purple] in the dark for a sneak attack, and when it missed, slipped back into the god's-eye view to repeat it? A Kite Tactic with no regard for fairness at all...

Even Lord Sukuna couldn't withstand that!

And Lord Sukuna had to be made aware of these otherworlders with their strange weapons!

While Uraume racked his brain for a way to break the deadlock, Sukuna seemed to sense that something was off. With no imaginary enemy to find, he dismissed the [Malevolent Shrine] himself.

At the same moment...

Nagumo and Fūka Kiryūin, both safe in the spectator's view, had already used their Controller radars to lock on to Sukuna and pull up his info panel.

"...A shikigami that can adapt to any attack. [Mahoraga], huh."

After reading the intel, Fūka Kiryūin said thoughtfully:

"Looking at this, tactically we can't give him many chances to adapt."

"Before we even attack, we need to plan for how to respond and rotate once he adapts to the same attack."

"Then... weapons that can forcibly cancel techniques, like the [Inverted Spear of Heaven] and the [Black Rope], can't be used carelessly. We have to hide them until the very end as our finishing cards?" Kei Karuizawa chimed in nervously from the side.

Yotsuya Miko thought it over and timidly suggested, "Maybe... we could use a creepy contained anomaly like Little Peanut to drain Sukuna's cursed energy first? If he doesn't have the reserves to summon Mahoraga, wouldn't he be easy to beat?"

"No."

Hayasaka Ai shot the idea down without hesitation.

"Mahoraga's whole nature is adapting to every attack."

"In other words, once Mahoraga adapts to Little Peanut's neck-twisting rule of physics, even conceptual physical damage might stop working on him entirely."

Amasawa Ichika rubbed her chin and offered a suggestion.

"If he can adapt to attacks, then let's hit him with something so heavy he can't possibly take it~"

"Like using the [Momonga Orb] to hand him conceptual death directly. Let's see how he adapts to that!"

The group threw around tactics without the slightest attempt to hide it.

Rather than driving Uraume to despair, this actually gave him a flicker of relief.

As long as they kept bickering, Lord Sukuna would have time to catch his breath...

Uraume gloated in secret.

Beside him, Gojo glanced at the students. He still wore a breezy grin, but inside he was itching to say something.

If they didn't seize the chance while Sukuna was in technique burnout, the opportunity would be wasted the moment Sukuna recovered!

Sure, with Sukuna's strength, repairing the burnout wasn't impossible.

But forcing a repair would burn a huge amount of cursed energy and lower the efficiency of his Reverse Cursed Technique afterward. Any way you looked at it, right now was the best time to strike!

Before Gojo could open his mouth...

Someone had already made a move!

It wasn't one of the examinees, though. It was Yuta Okkotsu, the Pure-Love War God, who had also learned about Mahoraga and Sukuna's nasty traits.

As a thoroughgoing "point slave" and pragmatist, Yuta didn't care about fair play in the slightest.

Using the Mountains and Rivers Map's trait of being unobservable by Sukuna, he had slipped to the rear while everyone was arguing, completed his incantation, and used hand seals to push the effect of the technique he'd copied to its limit.

"Die."

With ice in his eyes, Yuta directly mimicked Hana Kurusu's technique, [Jacob's Ladder]!

A pillar of holy light, the embodiment of absolute purification, fell from the heavens and slammed onto Sukuna below, who was still in technique burnout and looking around for his enemies!

"I can only hold him steady for a few dozen seconds at most!"

Yuta roared to the group at almost the same instant the light struck.

"Hit him with everything while he's at his weakest and can't use his technique!"

"Whatever tactics you were discussing, don't waste time!"

Seeing this, Uraume snarled in fury. "...Despicable!!!"

But on a battlefield, the victor is the one who is right.

Hearing Yuta's call, Fūka Kiryūin reacted fast.

She summoned the Yamai's Angel, Raphael, aimed it at Sukuna, who was pinned and helpless under the pillar of light, and began charging a full-power [Sky Strider].

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka didn't waste words either. He raised his Gravity Gun and locked it on Sukuna's position.

Everyone else on the team with long-range burst damage entered attack stance at the same time.

Uraume couldn't sense much cursed energy from these otherworlders, but he felt the rapidly gathering wind pressure and energy surges, and his instinct screamed a warning.

Once those attacks landed, they'd definitely deal irreversible damage to Lord Sukuna!

And then how would an already wounded Lord Sukuna face a Gojo at full strength?!

For the sake of the Sukuna he worshiped like a god, Uraume's mind raced.

Uraume made a decision on the spot and sealed a once-in-a-lifetime Binding Vow in his heart!

[At the cost of my death, and my soul being shattered forever, unable to enter the cycle of reincarnation: everyone except Gojo Satoru and Lord Sukuna... freeze them all!!!]

He had deliberately excluded Gojo from the Binding Vow because he was gambling!

He was betting that Gojo could never ignore the lives of the students around him!

And he was right.

Uraume's cursed energy went wild. Gojo's Six Eyes caught the signs the instant he began forming the vow.

Gojo frowned and raised a hand to teleport him away.

Unfortunately, because Uraume had paid with his own absolute death, his technique reached a terrifying peak of priority and activation speed.

As fast as Gojo's teleport was, Uraume's technique still went off.

Better still, this technique, bought at such a price, didn't try to shake Gojo's Limitless. Instead, it poured all its power onto Nagumo, Ayanokōji and the rest of the students!

"Crack... crack...!"

Ice crystals capable of freezing even souls bloomed in midair, ready to swallow every student mid-charge!

But there was one thing Uraume had miscalculated.

Because it was an indiscriminate wide-area attack, it didn't only cover the students. It also swept over the Mysterious Merchant NPC who had been quietly staying at the back of the group: the the Lady of Clockwork.

She was the system merchant Chris had appointed.

Chris had specifically instructed Oriana not to interfere with the students' combat growth.

But that didn't mean she couldn't defend herself when someone attacked first!

Sensing the abnormal energy fluctuation, Oriana flipped up the face-down card hidden at her chest.

"[Holy Barrier - Mirror Force]."

"Hummm—!!"

An invisible wall appeared out of nowhere.

Every shard of ice and wave of cold that rushed in crumbled on contact, and then, with the exact same force, was thrown straight back!

"What the...?!"

That was the last thought Uraume had in this world.

In the next second, the technique he had bought with his own soul turned on him.

Body and soul together, he was frozen into a crystal-clear ice sculpture.

As a result...

Oriana had blocked the attack, but the sudden ambush still left the students, who had been focused on striking Sukuna, stalled for a moment.

For a being at the level of Ryomen Sukuna...

Two seconds were enough to flip life and death.

Sukuna endured the scorching, oil-on-fire agony of [Jacob's Ladder]'s purification and tore himself out of the pillar's hold!

He gasped for air, giving himself no time to rest or recover. As the King of Curses, once he had felt that burst of cursed energy far beyond Uraume's own limit, he already knew what had happened.

'A thousand years of service... ends here, Uraume.'

Sukuna snorted in his heart, whether in mockery or lament, he couldn't say.

There was no sorrow. Only a slight regret at losing a useful tool.

With a reverse grip, the Special Grade Cursed Tool [Kamutoke] appeared in his palm.

He locked on to the frozen Uraume's position and called down a savage bolt of lightning!

"Boom!"

A column of violet lightning split the clouds.

Using the flash as cover, Sukuna kicked off the ground with both legs and shot like a cannonball toward Uraume's ice sculpture in midair.

Facing Sukuna's lightning strike, Gojo paused for a moment in the air. He didn't take the opportunity to hit back while Sukuna was weakened. Instead he flashed upward and blocked Kamutoke's thunder barrage with Limitless.

He looked down at the otherworlder kids below, who had already shaken off the freezing crisis.

After all, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka, Miyabi Nagumo and the rest had been chosen by the Black Sphere as saviors. They had been through countless monster slaughters and understood the weight of life and death firsthand.

Gojo didn't think that stepping in too much as their teacher at this point would do them any good.

Besides, Sukuna wasn't in great shape right now.

He was a perfect punching bag for the young ones to practice on!

So.

By the time Sukuna had used his sheer physique to dodge several near-miss attacks in midair and finally landed on the roof, all he found was the remains of ice crystals, shattered by thunder deflected off Limitless, drifting away on the wind.

Bathed in the ice dust falling from the sky, Sukuna caught a glittering shard in his hand and crushed it.

He turned.

He looked at the men and women who had somehow half-surrounded him, and pieced together roughly what had happened.

'So... the cursed tool that expressionless brat used earlier can create a separate pocket dimension, or move them all out of sight. That's how they dodged my [Malevolent Shrine].'

'Then they waited like rats in a gutter for my Domain to end and for me to fall into technique burnout, so that brat could ambush me.'

'And that Uraume probably worried I'd come to harm in the meantime, so he sacrificed himself with a Binding Vow to forcibly interrupt them, a loyal retainer's remonstrance through death.'

"Some brains, but not many."

Sukuna remarked flatly.

But seeing Sukuna wear that mournful look, Yuji Itadori felt an inexplicable wave of nausea.

His fists clenched. He glared at Sukuna and roared.

"Sukuna!!"

"You know how much parting hurts! You know what it feels like to lose a companion! And you still kill people whenever you feel like it!"

"You crave the warmth of having someone beside you, yet you crush other people's lives without a second thought..."

"Don't you think someone like you is both contradictory and selfish?!"

Hearing this righteous accusation,

Sukuna tilted his head slightly and looked at him the way you'd look at a barking dog.

"Contradictory? Selfish?"

A grin split Sukuna's face.

"Boy, I think you've misunderstood something."

"The 'servants' I grant value to and keep at my side are not remotely comparable to the stepping stones who only exist for my amusement!"

The words had barely left his mouth when,

Sukuna vanished, ignoring everyone else's guard.

"Bang!"

A crushing kick slammed into Yuji Itadori's chest!

"Bang!!!"

With a crunch of shattering bones, Yuji lost consciousness on the spot and was blasted several hundred meters away, smashing through several walls before he stopped.

Seeing the horror, Yuta's eyes sharpened.

He tried to use the gap while Sukuna had just exerted himself and his burnout wasn't fully repaired, forming the seal again to bind him once more with [Jacob's Ladder].

Unfortunately...

Sukuna had already seen through their trick. How could he fall into the same pit twice?

After confirming that Gojo really didn't seem to plan on stepping in right away,

Sukuna lost interest in playing with these small fry any longer.

"Reverse Cursed Technique!"

With a forced destruction and regeneration of his brain nerves, Sukuna cured his technique burnout in an instant.

Then he slammed his palm onto the ground.

"Cleave!"

By striking a medium with his palm, he spread the web of [Cleave] slashes outward in all directions.

It was an efficient way of clearing a wide area. He didn't need to touch his enemies at all to reduce everything around him to powder!

Even worse, Sukuna's slashes were invisible to begin with.

"Splurch! Splurch! Splurch!"

In an instant, several students from the Classroom of the Elite in the front rank couldn't dodge in time, and clouds of blood mist burst from their bodies!

Some had arms severed at the root. Others had thighs cut to the bone. Blood rained across the ground.

Fortunately,

most of the people Ayanokoji Kiyotaka had brought into the Mountains and Rivers Map this time were strong fighters who had exchanged for powerful items in the Mystery Shop.

With the dual protection of their Combat Suits and their own defenses, even a direct hit from [Cleave] didn't kill anyone on the spot, apart from a few unlucky ones who were badly hurt.

"Hm?"

A flicker of surprise finally crossed Sukuna's eyes.

"Not one of them died?"

"Interesting... you're sturdier than I expected."

Sukuna slowly straightened up.

While he held back,

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka, Fūka Kiryūin and the others took the chance to drag the seriously wounded to the rear.

They left them with Suzune Horikita, who was staying not far from Gojo, and she used [Crazy Diamond] for emergency repairs and treatment.

Sukuna paid no attention to a healing method that was practically time reversal. He simply raised the Special Grade Cursed Tool [Kamutoke] once more.

He looked up.

He gazed across at Gojo, who had kept his arms crossed the whole time as if none of this concerned him, and spoke in a chilling tone.

"What, you're not going to do anything? Gojo Satoru."

Sukuna snorted.

"Are you really going to lie there like a fish on a chopping board, waiting for me to clear away these eyesore side dishes one by one, and then slowly peel off your scales?"

Facing the arrogant provocation,

Gojo just shrugged.

"I'm pretty sure I told you that in this era, you're nothing but a 'challenger,' right?"

"You haven't even cleared the 'mobs' in the early stages. What gives you the right to fight me, the strongest of this age?"

"Challenger?"

Sukuna chewed on the word, his smile growing more savage.

And in the brief gap while the two traded words across the air,

Nagumo and the others had swiftly settled their strategy against Sukuna.

"His slashes can't be sensed, and once he expands his Domain, it's a guaranteed-hit kill zone across a wide area. Against an opponent like that, just piling on with numbers won't work."

Nagumo set the tone.

"So we rotate as much as possible."

"We attack in waves to wear him down. We absolutely can't clump together, or he'll find an opening to wipe us out in one go."

The "accident" he mentioned was, of course, [Mahoraga].

If they rushed in greedily for damage and let Mahoraga adapt to the special effects of the [Black Rope] and the [Inverted Spear of Heaven], or even to the instant-death effect of the [Momonga Orb], or the Rumble-Rumble Fruit...

then today they really would end up as nothing but stepping stones for Sukuna.

The core purpose of the rotating attrition tactic was just one thing:

force Sukuna into a corner so that he summoned Mahoraga early. Then use the [Momonga Orb]'s unreasonable instant-death mechanic to take that bugged shikigami out first!

Without Mahoraga, Sukuna's threat would be greatly reduced!

Seeing everyone around him nod grimly in agreement,

Nagumo began assigning roles in an orderly fashion.

"Ayanokōji, your body's the strongest of us right now. I'll pilot the piloted mecha and take the front line. You take the [Split Soul Katana] and look for openings on the flank with Kiriyama!"

"Kiryūin, you've got the best mobility. Take the [Black Rope] and don't get greedy. Circle the outskirts, and the moment Sukuna shows signs of opening a Domain, cut him off with the Black Rope!"

Resolve flashed in Nagumo's eyes. "And if all else fails... I'll just trade him the [Momonga Orb] directly!"

At that moment,

Yuta, who had just rescued Yuji and handed him to Horikita for treatment, spoke up.

"That cursed tool in his hand that summons lightning is too dangerous for the other students. We have to deal with it somehow!"

Hearing this, Nagumo turned and locked his gaze on Sukuna.

Just then, Sukuna's exchange with Gojo ended.

He was slowly raising Kamutoke, clearly about to clear the field with a wide-area lightning strike.

"Leave it to me."

Nagumo clapped his hands together sharply.

"Clap!"

Technique activated: [Boogie Woogie]!

In an instant, the space shifted.

Sukuna felt his hand go light. The Special Grade Cursed Tool [Kamutoke] he'd been holding had vanished!

In its place in his palm was a dusty pair of black-framed glasses belonging to Horikita Manabu.

"Hm?"

Sukuna froze.

[Kamutoke] had landed in Horikita Manabu's hands, over a hundred meters away.

Seeing this unexpected development, Yuta blurted out almost without thinking:

"That's... a swap technique like Aoi Todo's?"

"My technique is Boogie Woogie," Nagumo said without looking back. "And by the way, Suzune Horikita's technique is [Blood Manipulation]."

Having said that,

Nagumo didn't waste another word and crushed the capsule of his [GANTZ Mecha] in his hand.

With a blinding white flash, sci-fi black mecha parts appeared out of thin air and swiftly assembled over Nagumo's body!

Meanwhile,

Sukuna looked at the broken glasses that had suddenly appeared in his hand and arched an eyebrow, but showed no panic.

He pinched the glasses into powder and formed a hand seal.

Then,

Sukuna clenched both fists and thrust them forward, one high and one low, staggered front to back.

"Furube... Yura... Yura..."

"Eight-Handled Sword Divergent Sila Divine General—Mahoraga!!!"

"Dong!"

An ancient bell tolled long.

In an instant, two enormous creatures radiating an ominous aura descended behind Sukuna with a crash.

On the left was the chimera beast Agito, fused with Divine Dog, its body wreathed in lightning and shadow, bearing the traits of multiple fierce beasts.

On the right stood a muscle-bound being over four meters tall, with four wings growing on either side of its eye sockets, a sword that wards off evil bound to its right arm, and an eight-spoked wheel floating above its head: a pale gray divine general!

Seeing Mahoraga appear, Yuta gritted his teeth and forced down the urge to use [Jacob's Ladder] right away.

He had to save that move for a later kill opportunity, lest he let Mahoraga adapt too early and waste it.

Facing the two beings behind Sukuna,

Nagumo, inside the piloted mecha, wasn't afraid either.

"Stop putting on a show!"

With a clang, the mecha drew a giant tachi glowing with high-frequency plasma.

Thrusters roared at full load. The mecha's massive body swung up and sent a terrifying sword wave, enough to cleave a mountain ridge, straight at Sukuna!

"Roar—!"

Facing the strike,

Mahoraga strode forward and crossed its thick arms in front of its body, clearly intending to take the sword wave with its flesh in order to adapt.

But Sukuna had no intention of leaving the battlefield entirely to his shikigami.

He ordered the chimera beast Agito to prowl the flank as a sentry against ambushes.

Using Mahoraga as cover, he flickered out of sight himself.

When he reappeared, he was in the blind spot beneath Nagumo's giant mecha!

Sukuna tilted his head up slightly. From the corner of his eye, he saw Gojo watching with great interest,

and Fūka Kiryūin circling high in the air, ready to strike at any moment.

"I wonder, you tin cans relying on special cursed tools..."

Sukuna casually rapped his knuckles on the mecha's armor, making a crisp clang.

"...how many [Cleave] can you take?"

Sukuna's grin turned cruel.

"Let me see whether the person inside is still alive after I shred this tortoise shell."

"And whether you can pull him out and revive him before I turn him into sliced meat."

As he finished, killing intent erupted!

Sensing Sukuna's approach, Nagumo moved to swing his giant blade in retaliation.

But dozens of invisible [Cleave] slashes had already landed on the weak points of the piloted mecha's joints!

"Creak—Bang!"

The screech of tearing metal rang out one after another.

The once-imposing heavy mecha was instantly covered in spiderweb cracks. Shards of armor and internal parts rained down amid sparks, and the frame lost its balance and began to tilt to one side.

"Now!"

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka and Kiriyama Ikuha, covering from the flank, had no intention of watching Nagumo get taken apart.

As [Sianweistan] activated, the flow of time slowed dramatically.

Kiriyama Ikuha appeared behind Sukuna, in his blind spot.

The Imperial Arms [Purgatory Invocation] went all out, and a blazing pillar of fire engulfed Sukuna like a volcanic eruption.

At almost the same moment,

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka, using the peak explosive power of his fully enhanced body, broke the sound barrier outright!

He blinked to the side of Sukuna, who was dodging the flames, and brought the [Split Soul Katana] down on him!

Yuta, who had been watching the whole battlefield with total focus, saw the heaven-sent opportunity and wasn't about to go easy.

His hands formed the seal once more.

"Jacob's Ladder!"

The holy pillar of purification fell from the sky again, covering Sukuna and the sea of flames together.

After all, the essence of [Jacob's Ladder] was to forcibly nullify every technique and keep dissolving them.

For otherworlders like Ayanokōji and Kiriyama Ikuha, whose combat power didn't depend on cursed techniques at all, it was practically harmless holy light.

So Yuta used it without any restraint, only wanting to pin Sukuna in place to take the beating!

But facing what looked like a certain-kill predicament,

Sukuna let out a low laugh.

In the next second, a massive gray-white figure appeared behind Sukuna like a ghost!

It let out a low growl. Not only did it take both the purifying light of [Jacob's Ladder] and the savage flames of the Imperial Arms on its body,

it struck out boldly, raised its Sword of Extermination, which carries positive energy, and shattered the [Split Soul Katana] Ayanokōji had swung down!

"Crack!"

The blade burst apart. Sukuna, shielded by Mahoraga, had already landed lightly over a hundred meters away.

Amid the drifting firelight and smoke,

Sukuna ignored the fighters who had clashed with him head-on.

Instead he fixed his gaze on the students receiving treatment from Suzune Horikita near Gojo,

and on Ayanokōji, Kiriyama and the others.

He didn't have the patience to keep wasting time on a group not much stronger than Kashimo.

A team fight?

No. Against ants like these, a wide-area wipe was clearly the most efficient option.

Sukuna raised both hands again, and his cursed energy surged wildly.

A terrifying lattice of slashes, woven from countless enhanced [Cleave], took shape in the void!

"Die."

But just as the lattice was about to fall,

something Sukuna hadn't anticipated happened again.

"Don't get so cocky, you old relic!"

Fūka Kiryūin, who had been circling the outskirts, had silently slipped into the blind spot behind Sukuna at some point.

She swung hard, and the [Black Rope] whistled out, lashing straight at the technique Sukuna was about to release!

"Crack!"

Thanks to the Black Rope's properties, the half-formed lattice of slashes collapsed in midair with a burst of chaotic cursed energy.

Sukuna frowned slightly.

He easily sidestepped the lance, [Hurricane Knight], that Fūka Kiryūin thrust at him right behind the rope strike.

Then his eyes finally fell on that black cord.

'So that's it... no wonder they dare to be this reckless.'

Sukuna recognized the special cursed tool at a glance.

He swayed and landed beside the chimera beast Agito, which had been badly wounded by Fūka Kiryūin.

At that moment,

Sukuna rapidly assessed the situation in his head.

Several of his killing blows in a row had been interrupted, and his strongest trump card, Mahoraga, had been pinned down by a disgusting technique like [Jacob's Ladder].

If Gojo chose to act now and combined with these people's harassment, he could easily force Sukuna into a corner, or even kill him on the spot.

The situation was overwhelmingly unfavorable.

Reason told him that if he pretended to ambush Yuta, the one sniping from the shadows, and actually used his speed advantage to seize the [Black Rope] from Fūka Kiryūin,

then with that cursed tool he might still find a chance to turn things around in the chaos.

But... that was the thinking of a waste!

Sukuna snorted coldly.

He had to admit that, though he'd looked down on Kashimo before,

the way that man had charged forward without hesitation in his final moments hadn't been entirely worthless.

He casually wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth.

His gaze passed over everyone and settled again on Gojo, who still hovered in midair.

Actually, long ago,

he had borrowed Yuji Itadori's body and seen a special technique called Ki from Gojo.

It was a technique with very high bodily demands, not easy to learn.

But in Sukuna's eyes, an energy that drew directly on the source of life was, in a sense, even more advanced and pure than cursed energy!

The only obstacle was the repulsion between the vast cursed energy he carried by nature and Ki.

That left him coveting it, yet unable to spare enough focus to master it properly.

But in the earlier fight with Kashimo,

he had accidentally discovered that when his cursed energy was pushed to its limit and his body was in a state of extreme excitement,

the energy of Ki could blend with his body bit by bit, following the instincts of battle, and make him stronger!

Sukuna had assumed that fully mastering this power would have to wait until his decisive life-and-death duel with Gojo, when he could seek a breakthrough between life and death.

He never expected...

that these clueless brats would actually give him this perfect chance to 'farm experience'!

Feeling the Ki inside him, simmering as the battle raged and faintly resonating with his cursed energy in some strange way,

Sukuna's fighting spirit was fully ignited.

He slowly spread his arms wide, his grin growing more manic.

"Hey."

"You brats..."

"I order you not to die so easily before you've fully satisfied me!"