Consciousness returned to Shin not with a gasp, but with a sharp, high-pitched ringing that drowned out the world.
He was buried under three tons of concrete and rebar. His chest felt like it had been used as a punching bag by a wrecking ball. He tried to inhale, but his lungs hitched—a spasm of pure agony.
Cough.
He shoved a slab of masonry off his chest, rolling onto his side to retch. A clot of dark blood splattered onto the dust. He checked his ribs. Shattered. But he could feel the bones grinding, knitting back together thanks to his heightened physiology.
If he were a normal sorcerer, his torso would have been mist. The Black Flash had distorted space upon impact; he was lucky his spine was still connected to his pelvis.
Shin looked around the crater he had made. It wasn't just a hole; it was a scar on the city.
Shin: "Fuck... I thought he'd forgotten about that chopstick incident."
He dragged himself out of the ruin, his vision swimming before snapping into focus. He shook the debris from his hair. The city was quiet—too quiet.
He scanned the horizon, his enhanced hearing expanding outward like radar. He ignored the crackling of fires and the groaning of tilting skyscrapers. He focused only on the rhythm of violence.
BOOM. CRACK.
The sound was distinct. It was the sound of the atmosphere breaking.
Shin: "Found you."
He blurred into motion. He ignored the pain in his chest, forcing his body to obey. He crossed the city blocks in seconds, moving so fast the glass on the street shattered in his wake.
He found Maki in the middle of a destroyed intersection. She was alone, standing amidst a web of slashed asphalt. The ground looked like it had been put through a shredder. Yuta and Yuji were nowhere to be seen—likely retrieved by Ui Ui's teleportation at the last second.
Shin skidded to a halt beside her, the friction smoking his shoes.
Maki didn't look at him. Her eyes were locked on a figure hovering above the street—Sukuna.
The King of Curses was glowing. Sparks of black lightning still danced around his fists—the residue of the Black Flash. His output wasn't just recovering; it was spiking. He looked ecstatic.
Maki: "You're alive. Good. Yuji and Yuta are out for now. We need to buy time."
Shin: "He looks... faster."
Maki: "He is. That Black Flash put him in 'The Zone.' His Cursed Energy is surging like a pump. He's starting to regain the momentum he lost inside Yuta's Domain."
Shin: "Shit."
Maki: "I'll continue a frontal assault. You focus on striking from the sidelines. Stay in his blind spots. If he grabs you again, you die."
Shin: "I'm not sure if it'll work again, but I'll try. Just don't get chopped in half."
Shin instantly suppressed his presence. He didn't just hide; he became nothing. To the five senses, he was a ghost. He vanished into the chaotic geometry of the rubble.
Maki didn't wait. She charged.
The clash was instantaneous.
Maki Zenin was a whirlwind. She didn't fight like a sorcerer; she fought like a force of nature. Sukuna unleashed a barrage of Dismantle slashes—invisible, flying blades of cursed energy capable of cutting through skyscrapers.
But Maki didn't block. She didn't use a barrier.
To her heightened senses, the air density changed where the slashes traveled. The temperature shifted. She danced through the storm of invisible blades effortlessly, weaving her head and torso millimeters away from death.
Behind her, the buildings she passed simply fell apart, sliced cleanly into ribbons.
Sukuna's eyes widened in delight. He landed on the street, the pavement cratering under his weight.
Sukuna: "Very good!"
The fight intensified. Sukuna, realizing ranged attacks were useless against someone who could see the air, reinforced his body with a massive surge of Cursed Energy. He closed the distance, engaging Maki in hand-to-hand combat.
The speed was blinding. It wasn't a fight; it was a blur. Shockwaves shattered the windows of buildings three blocks away.
Shin watched from the shadows, his muscles tense, sweat stinging his eyes. He couldn't find an opening. They were moving too fast. If he jumped in now, he'd just get in Maki's way or eat a stray slash that would decapitate him.
Then, the opening appeared.
Maki landed a heavy, punishing kick to Sukuna's ribs. The sound was like a gunshot. The King of Curses skidded backward, his heels carving trenches in the road.
He stabilized himself. His four eyes narrowed, abandoning the smile. He brought his hands together.
Shin recognized the hand sign.
Enmaten. The Shrine.
Shin:'Domain Expansion!'
Shin dashed from his cover. He launched himself at Sukuna's back, a desperate attempt to interrupt the casting before the barrier closed.
But Sukuna didn't panic. He turned his head slightly, his lower eyes locking onto Shin. He wasn't surprised. He was waiting.
It was a bait.
Sukuna: "Malevolent Shrine."
The Shrine materialized behind him—but it felt wrong. It wasn't the massive, city-encompassing temple. The pressure was condensed. The range was suffocatingly small—barely fifty meters.
0.2 Seconds.
Sukuna had activated a specialized Domain, sacrificing duration for instant activation speed, just like Gojo Satoru in Shibuya.
Shin's heart stopped. We're dead.
Inside the range, the Sure-Hit effect activated instantly.
Sukuna: "Cleave. Dismantle."
The command was sent: Target everything with Cursed Energy with Cleave. Target inanimate objects with Dismantle.
The world around them turned white with slashes.
The asphalt disintegrated. The streetlights vanished into dust. The air itself screamed as it was sliced into vacuum pockets.
But then, the system glitched.
The Domain's sure-hit function scanned for targets. It searched for the Cursed Energy of the enemies inside to rip them apart.
It found... nothing.
Shin and Maki had Zero Cursed Energy.
To the barrier's targeting system, they were indistinguishable from the rubble, the air, and the buildings. They were treated as Inanimate Objects.
Normally, Dismantle would target objects. But because Maki and Shin were not "trapped" by a barrier (since Domain barriers cannot contain Heavenly Restriction users without their consent), the Sure-Hit command failed to lock onto them specifically.
The slashes rained down on the buildings, the ground, and the air millimeters from their skin—but the auto-hit function that made Domains lethal was nullified.
Shin stood in the eye of the storm, watching the world turn to dust around him, untouched.
The 0.2 seconds passed. The Shrine crumbled into black mist.
Sukuna stood there, smoke rising from his body. His technique was now burnt out from the expansion. His eyes widened in rare, genuine annoyance.
Sukuna:'Tch. They slipped the targeting. Monkeys.'
The duo didn't waste the miracle.
Shin: "NOW!"
Shin was already behind him. He didn't hold back. He swung Playful Cloud with a scream, slamming the heavy red staff into Sukuna's kidney.
WHAM.
The impact sound was nauseating—like a wet sandbag being hit by a truck. The force folded Sukuna's body, his spine bowing under the pressure.
Simultaneously, Maki lunged from the front. The Split Soul Katana flashed, a streak of grey steel.
SHK.
A deep gash opened across Sukuna's chest, ignoring his reinforcement, cutting straight through the soul.
Sandwiched between the two physical monsters, with his Cursed Technique temporarily burnt out and his body failing him, the King of Curses coughed up a spray of blood.
For the first time since the fight began, Sukuna was forced to his knees.