Chapter 136 (Patreon)

Boom!

The elevated roadway trembled as the two fighters collided again.

Toji Fushiguro had once earned the name Sorcerer Killer. Strengthened by a Heavenly Restriction that had stripped away every trace of Cursed Energy from his body, his physical abilities had reached a level that even a Special Grade sorcerer would struggle to confront head-on.

Their exchange lasted only seconds, yet the shockwaves tore through everything around them. Concrete barriers shattered, support beams buckled, and the roadway itself began collapsing beneath the force of their battle.

When Yuta Okkotsu and Toji had first clashed, Yuji Itadori had called for Megumi Fushiguro to retreat with him.

For reasons he could not explain, Megumi had refused.

He had told Yuji to go on ahead and promised that he would catch up soon.

There was something about the man fighting Yuta that Megumi could not ignore—an inexplicable sensation that kept him rooted in place.

And in the middle of the battle, Toji had already noticed him.

Megumi...

The name surfaced in Toji’s mind, but he immediately forced it back down.

He could not afford to lose focus during a fight like this.

“Sorcerer,” Toji said, brushing the dust from his body. “What’s your name?”

“Okkotsu,” Yuta answered, tightening his grip on his sword. “Yuta Okkotsu.”

“Yuta Okkotsu, huh?”

Toji gave a quiet snort.

“Not a bad name.”

Even without a Cursed Tool in his hands, his physical strength alone placed him above the level of an ordinary Special Grade opponent.

“Thank you... I think.”

Yuta swung his sword.

Dozens of spatial slashes followed the blade, tearing through the air toward Toji.

Boom!

The place where Toji had been standing was instantly reduced to rubble.

Riiip!

Toji’s clothes were shredded apart, and several cuts opened across his body. A low grunt escaped him, but he showed no sign of slowing down.

He charged straight through the destruction and continued fighting.

“So this is what a battle at the Special Grade level looks like...”

Megumi stared at the devastation before him.

“There’s no way I can interfere.”

He had originally considered summoning one of his shikigami to assist Yuta. However, after witnessing the scale and speed of the battle, he understood that none of his current shikigami could survive within it.

“Who is that man...?”

Megumi wanted an answer, but standing there and watching would accomplish nothing.

What about Mahoraga...?

He immediately rejected the idea.

No. That’s too dangerous. I still can’t control it.

He clenched his fists.

A Domain might be able to support Yuta-senpai... but my Domain Expansion is still incomplete.

“Damn it...”

Was he really going to be forced to stand at a distance and watch without being able to help?

Possibilities raced through Megumi’s mind, but he dismissed each one in turn.

Meanwhile, the body that had once belonged to Toji Fushiguro continued to move like a weapon built solely for slaughter.

The technique that had summoned him had already lost control. What remained was a puppet of carnage driven by a single instinct.

Kill.

Kill every jujutsu sorcerer standing before him.

“Show me everything you’ve got, Okkotsu!”

Boom!

Toji’s blow sent Yuta flying.

Yuta tore through the wall of a nearby building before disappearing into its interior.

“Cough... Cough...”

He wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and looked down at Toji from the ruined floor above.

“That’s way too brutal...”

In the next instant, Toji vanished.

His body became a blur as he shot upward.

Yuta barely managed to raise his sword horizontally before him.

A massive fist slammed into the blade.

The impact shook the entire building, but despite the terrifying force behind Toji’s punch, the slender sword showed no sign of breaking.

“Haa!”

Yuta twisted the blade and deflected Toji’s fist.

Pouring all his strength into the counterattack, he swung Enma toward Toji’s waist.

The edge cut across Toji’s abdomen.

Blood spilled from the wound.

“Good speed,” Toji said, ignoring the injury. “But it still isn’t enough to kill me.”

The moment he finished speaking, his fists struck Yuta again and again.

Several dull impacts echoed through the building.

Yuta coughed up blood as he was driven backward, smashing through one wall after another before finally crashing against the last one.

His body slumped amid the rubble.

“Get up,” Toji said.

He stared down at Yuta without the slightest trace of mercy.

“Something like that isn’t enough to kill you.”

Just as Toji had said, Yuta was still conscious.

He drove his sword into the ground, wrapped both hands around the hilt, and slowly dragged himself back to his feet.

“You really are incredible...” Yuta said between strained breaths. “You’re the strongest opponent I’ve ever fought.”

“Is that so?”

Toji lowered his stance.

“But I won’t be the last.”

Every muscle in his body tightened.

He stepped forward and unleashed a fist that whistled through the air.

Yuta gathered every ounce of strength he had left.

He did not retreat.

He did not dodge.

You want to settle this head-on?

Fine.

I’ll see it through to the end.

Cursed Energy surged around Yuta’s fist.

Space distorted at the instant of impact.

Black Flash!

Bang!

Their fists collided.

The explosion of force pushed both fighters several metres backward.

“Ugh...!”

Yuta clutched his arm.

Even with the amplification of Black Flash, he had only barely managed to meet Toji’s physical strength.

Toji, on the other hand, appeared almost completely unaffected.

He casually shook out his hand.

“What was that?”

A faint spark of interest appeared in his eyes.

“That was an interesting technique.”

“Black Flash,” Yuta answered.

“Black Flash...”

Toji flexed his fingers.

“So it’s something only jujutsu sorcerers can use.”

But Yuta was not finished.

After experiencing Black Flash, he had entered an entirely different state.

His awareness sharpened.

The flow of his Cursed Energy became clearer than ever before, as though the distance between himself and his own power had vanished.

He felt it instinctively.

Every attack that followed could become another Black Flash.

Yuta drew his sword.

He swung.

Black and crimson energy erupted around the blade.

The slash came with incredible speed.

Shhk!

An X-shaped wound opened across Toji’s body.

Toji’s eyes narrowed.

What happened?

Ever since that attack, he’s been moving like a completely different person.

Both his speed and his power have increased.

Every time Yuta swung Enma, the blade carried the distortion of Black Flash.

With each strike, his understanding deepened.

The sword’s abilities became clearer in his mind, revealing themselves piece by piece.

“At this rate...”

Yuta steadied his breathing.

“I can do it.”

Every slash brought him closer.

Every collision gave him another fragment of insight.

“If it’s me as I am now... I can use that technique.”

Click.

Yuta returned Enma to its sheath.

Toji’s expression sharpened.

“He sheathed his sword?”

He immediately understood.

“No...”

A grin spread across his face.

“He’s preparing his strongest attack.”

The pressure surrounding Yuta continued to rise.

A sharp presence filled the air, as though space itself had become the edge of a blade. Anything that entered the area seemed as though it could be sliced apart at any moment.

Blue Cursed Energy spread outward from Yuta, swallowing the shattered building around him.

Toji stood directly before him.

He did not retreat.

He showed no intention of avoiding the strike.

I’ll die.

There’s no question about it.

That attack will kill me.

His grin widened.

But if I get to witness a technique like this...

Then dying here might be worth it.

He wanted to see the slash.

He wanted to experience it with his own body.

Yuta’s hand rested on Enma’s hilt.

“My power is absolute,” he said quietly.

His gaze locked onto Toji.

“You will die.”

At that instant, space froze.

Yuta moved.

The crisp ringing of steel echoed through the air as Enma left its sheath.

For a single moment, the entire world lost its colour.

Everything became black and white.

A blinding flash tore across the battlefield.

The surrounding space shattered like glass.

Yuta appeared behind Toji.

Holding Enma vertically, he slowly returned the sword to its sheath.

The dimensional slash spread through the fractures in space.

A dazzling light erupted between them.

Rumble—!

“What is that?!”

Even from the lower level of the building, Megumi could feel the overwhelming certainty of death contained within the attack.

His entire body stiffened.

What in the world is happening up there?

Unable to wait any longer, Megumi summoned Nue.

The winged shikigami carried him upward toward the floor where Yuta and Toji had been fighting.

Amid the fading light, Toji looked down at his body.

“This is...”

His voice was strangely calm.

“Such a clean cut.”

“Yuta-senpai?!”

Megumi landed on the ruined floor.

Yuta was lying motionless on the ground.

Toji, however, was still standing.

The man slowly turned his head toward Megumi.

“What’s your name?” Toji asked.

“Fushiguro—”

Before Megumi could finish, Toji interrupted him.

“Not Zen’in?”

For the first time, the violence in his expression faded.

“That’s good...”

The moment those words left his mouth, Toji collapsed.

Blood erupted from the wounds covering his body, rapidly spreading across the shattered ground beneath him.

Yuta’s perfected dimensional slash had struck him directly.

However, at the moment of impact, someone hidden within the shadows had intervened and blocked most of the attack for him.

“Yuta-senpai!”

Megumi rushed past Toji and dropped beside Yuta.

“Yuta-senpai! Can you hear me?”

He reached toward him urgently.

“Yuta-senpai...!”