The air in the room was heavy, pressurized by the sheer density of Cursed Energy radiating from the sorcerers gathered within. It smelled of stale coffee, copper, and the cold sweat of anticipation.
Shin sat on a reinforced crate, the metal cool against his legs. He spun the central link of Playful Cloud around his index finger—clink, whir, clink. It had been a long month. The sparring with Maki had stripped away his hesitation, turning his body into a weapon of pure instinct, but his patience was fraying like an overdrawn bowstring.
He looked across the room.
Hiromi Higuruma sat in the corner. The lawyer was silent, reviewing his case files with the grim focus of a man preparing for his own execution. His eyes had seen too much darkness in too little time.
And then there was Hajime Kashimo.
The ancient "God of Lightning" was pacing back and forth like a caged tiger. The air around him buzzed audibly. Static electricity arced between his hair strands, and ozone rolled off him in waves. He was practically vibrating with the need to kill.
Kashimo stopped, his eyes snapping toward Shin.
Kashimo: "You keep staring, Zenin. You got a problem? Or do you want to test if that stick of yours conducts electricity before Sukuna gets here?"
Shin didn't flinch. He stopped spinning the chain, grabbing the staff firmly.
Shin: "I'm just wondering why you're in such a rush to die. You want to go first? Be my guest. Just don't beg for us to save you when you lose."
Zap.
Blue sparks popped off Kashimo's knuckles.
Kashimo: "You little—"
Hakari stepped between them, his heavy hand clamping down on Kashimo's shoulder.
Hakari: "Save it for the main event, old man. The broadcast is starting."
On the massive wall of monitors, provided by Mei Mei's crow surveillance network, the static cleared. The image flickered to life.
High above the ruins of Shinjuku, the strongest sorcerer in history, Ryomen Sukuna, stood waiting. And walking towards him, cracking his knuckles and stretching his neck as if preparing for a gym session, was Gojo Satoru.
The room went deathly silent.
As the fight began, it wasn't a battle. It was a catastrophe.
Buildings collapsed as if made of wet cardboard. The shockwaves of their blows distorted the camera feeds, shaking the monitoring room miles away. The group watched in stunned silence as the two monsters defied every law of Jujutsu.
Yuta leaned forward, his eyes wide.
Yuta: "They're spamming Domain Expansions… how? They're burning out their Cursed Techniques and refreshing them with Reverse Cursed Technique instantly. That shouldn't be possible."
Kusakabe: "It's not just impossible. It's suicidal. They're destroying the prefrontal cortex—the part of the brain where the technique is engraved—and healing it over and over again. If they mess up the timing by a fraction of a second, they'll lobotomize themselves."
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Shin watched the screen, his eyes narrowing.
Shin: "They aren't humans. They're gods playing with ants."
The pendulum of the fight swung violently. There were moments where Gojo seemed cornered, his neck slashed, his body bathed in the relentless cuts of Malevolent Shrine. But again and again, the Six Eyes prevailed. Gojo landed a Black Flash that knocked Sukuna unconscious for a split second, eyes rolling back white.
Then, the climax. Gojo combined Blue and Red to create an uncontrolled Hollow Purple in the atmosphere.
The explosion turned the screens white.
When the dust settled, Sukuna was battered, missing an arm, leaning against a wall, his healing slowed. Gojo stood triumphant, hovering in the air, his Cursed Energy output regained.
Yuji: "He did it! Sensei won!"
The room erupted. Yuta let out a shaky breath of relief.
But Shin felt a cold chill crawl up his spine. Something was wrong. The air on the screen… it hadn't settled. The World Slash doesn't need a wind-up.
And then, without a sound, the world tilted.
Gojo Satoru, the Untouchable, simply slid apart.
His upper torso separated from his legs at the waist, sliding off with a wet thud. Blood pooled instantly, staining the rubble crimson.
The cheers in the room died.
Maki: "...We're moving. Now."
There was no time to mourn. No time to scream. The King was still standing.
Shin:'Damn it. Mahoraga adapted to Infinity... and Sukuna copied the slash that cuts the world itself.'
Shinjuku Battlefield – The Ruins
Hajime Kashimo didn't wait for the plan. He launched himself into the battlefield like a lightning bolt, laughing maniacally.
Shin, Yuji, and Maki crouched in the rubble of a nearby building, suppressing their presence. They watched as Kashimo activated his one-time technique, Mythical Beast Amber. His body dissolved into pure electrical phenomena, restructuring his flesh to transcend human limits.
But the King of Curses had one card left.
Sukuna initiated the transformation he had been holding back. The flesh on his face split. A bizarre mask formed on the right side. Two extra arms erupted from his shoulders with a sickening wet tear. He grew in stature, towering over the battlefield in his true, hideous perfection.
Ryomen Sukuna: Heian Era Form.
Kashimo was obliterated in seconds. A net of Dismantle slashes turned the God of Lightning into mist.
Next was Hiromi Higuruma.
The lawyer jumped into the fray, expanding his Domain, Deadly Sentencing.
Shin watched from the shadows, muscles coiled.
Shin: "Come on, Judgeman. Give us the death penalty. Confiscate his technique."
But when the Domain dissolved, Sukuna smiled. The confiscation hadn't taken his technique (Shrine). It had taken his Cursed Tool, Kamutoke.
The plan failed.
Higuruma, realizing the desperation, passed the Executioner's Sword—a blade that could kill Sukuna in one hit—to Yuji.
Sukuna moved with terrifying speed. He dismantled the ground beneath them, sending Higuruma flying. He grabbed the lawyer, slashing him open. Yuji caught the blade, thrusting it toward Sukuna's back with a scream of rage.
But the blade dissipated into light before it pierced Sukuna's skin. Higuruma was dead. The technique vanished with him.
Yuji didn't stop. He roared, engaging Sukuna in a brutal melee exchange, tanking slashes to his abdomen that would have gutted a normal man, healing through sheer grit and Blood Manipulation.
Shin gripped Playful Cloud, his knuckles white.
Shin: "I'm going in. Yuji's going to die alone out there."
He started to move, but a steel-strong hand grabbed his collar. Maki yanked him back into the shadows.
Maki: "Not yet. He's joining in."
Shin: "Who?"
Suddenly, the sky broke. Yuta Okkotsu dropped from the clouds, his sword clashing with Sukuna's extra arms.
Yuta: "Domain Expansion: Authentic Mutual Love."
A barrier erected around them, trapping Sukuna, Yuji, and Yuta inside.
Shin exhaled, relaxing his stance slightly.
Shin: "Okay. That buys us time. They're going to weaken him. They need to drop his output enough for us to get close."
Inside the Domain, the fight was a blur of violence. Yuta copied Sukuna's own techniques (Cleave), while Yuji struck the soul directly with his punches. But outside, the assassins waited.
Maki and Shin, the two ghosts of the Zenin clan, stood perfectly still. They had zero Cursed Energy. To Sukuna inside the barrier, they didn't exist. They were invisible.
Shin looked at Maki. Her face was stoic, scarred, and beautiful in a terrifying way.
Shin: "Winner gets to choose where to eat. Loser has to pay."
Maki smirked, not taking her eyes off the barrier.
Maki: "Hope you got money for snacks. You're paying."
CRACK.
The barrier of Yuta's Domain shattered like glass.
The signal.
Sukuna stood amidst the debris, heavily damaged, bleeding from the mouth, his heart beating violently from the strain. He was distracted, looking at Yuta.
Maki moved first. She didn't run; she vanished. Breaking the sound barrier, she appeared behind Sukuna before the sound of her movement even reached him.
SHK.
The Split Soul Katana drove through Sukuna's back, piercing his heart.
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Sukuna's eyes widened. He turned his head, realizing too late that he had missed the presence of the Heavenly Restriction.
But he had two blind spots.
As Sukuna turned to acknowledge Maki, he exposed his left flank.
Shin was already in the air. He didn't scream. He didn't emit any killing intent. He simply swung.
He held Playful Cloud by the very end of the chain, maximizing the centrifugal force. The three-section staff, glowing red with the sheer friction of the air, came down like a meteor.
Shin: "Checkmate."
CRUNCH.
The impact was absolute.
Playful Cloud had caved in the side of Sukuna's skull. The temporal bone shattered. The brain matter within should have been pulped. The Split Soul Katana was buried to the hilt in his heart, severing the vital organ.
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By all biological logic, the vessel known as Megumi Fushiguro was dead. The brain was rattled; the blood pump was destroyed.
Shin landed on the debris, chest heaving, his hands stinging from the recoil of the strike. He looked up, expecting the body to crumble.
But Sukuna didn't fall.
He didn't scream. He didn't rage.
Instead, the King of Curses slowly rotated his neck, the bones grinding audibly against the caved-in fracture, until all four of his eyes locked onto Shin.
Shin's blood turned to ice.
Shin:'I crushed his skull. Maki destroyed his heart. He shouldn't be standing. In the manga, he forced his heart to pump manually with Cursed Energy... but I took out his brain too! Why isn't he down?!'
Sukuna's lips curled into a smile—not of arrogance, but of pure, ecstatic ecstasy.
Sukuna: "Good."
Before Maki could rip her sword out to strike again, Sukuna's lower right hand shot out, grabbing the blade of the Split Soul Katana. His grip was so tight the steel groaned.
Simultaneously, his upper left hand shot out, catching the end of Playful Cloud that Shin was holding.
Shin tried to pull back. He couldn't. It felt like he was playing tug-of-war with a mountain.
Sukuna ignored the sword in his chest. He ignored the blood pouring from his ear. The air around his fist began to distort. Space warped. The atmosphere screamed as black sparks began to crackle around his knuckles.
Shin's eyes widened. He recognized the phenomenon. It wasn't a technique. It was a distortion of space that occurred when Cursed Energy was applied within 0.000001 seconds of a physical hit.
Shin: "Maki! Move!"
Too late.
Sukuna didn't aim for Maki. He yanked Shin forward, pulling him straight into the trajectory of his fist.
Sukuna: "This is for stabbing me with chopsticks."
KOKUSEN (BLACK FLASH).
The world went negative. The colors inverted.
The impact didn't just break ribs; it shut down Shin's consciousness. He was launched like a cannonball, crashing through three skyscrapers before burying himself deep into the rubble of Shinjuku, motionless.
Maki, now alone at point-blank range, watched as Sukuna ripped the sword from his own chest, the wound healing instantaneously.
Sukuna laughed, the sound echoing over the silent city.
Sukuna: "Is that it? I'm just getting started."