Above Japan, a glowing purple symbol lit up the night sky. It gave off an eerie energy, like a bad omen falling from the heavens.
A young man with black hair looked up at the symbol and raised an eyebrow. "Barrier technique? No... it's a technique being used remotely. But it's using Tengen's barrier system to do it."
"This technique..." Feeling the familiar cursed energy from the sky, Yukinoshita Yukino frowned a little.
"Yeah, it's Idle Transfiguration.," Hayashizaki confirmed her guess.
"Why... that cursed spirit called Mahito, didn't we already get rid of him?" the black-haired girl asked, confused.
"It's probably because of the worldlines merging," Hayashizaki guessed. "Something changed in another timeline, so he came back."
The way these worldlines bring people back depends on whether their original life path was changed in a big way. For example, Suguru Geto was supposed to witness the death of Riko Amanai at the hands of Fushiguro Toji, but Hayashizaki changed that moment. Because of that, Geto was destined to return once the worlds merged.
And that's not even mentioning everything else that happened after.
"Looks like someone else realized that the past had been changed," Hayashizaki said with a bit of admiration. "I don't know who it was, but being able to notice that and take action to change the present... they're pretty capable."
"What happens if this technique is used right now?"
Yukinoshita Yukino's face showed a trace of worry. She had seen with her own eyes what happened to people affected by the Idle Transfiguration technique.
From her point of view, this technique already seemed to cover all of Tokyo—and it probably reached even further.
If everyone within the technique's range was affected, it could shut down all of Japan.
"Don't worry." Seeing her concern, Hayashizaki smiled and reassured her. "Even though this is a long-range technique using Tengen's barrier, its effect should be separate from the barrier itself. Only those marked by the user's cursed energy will be affected by Idle Transfiguration."
"At least it's not as bad as you think."
His gaze turned back to the spiky-haired black-haired boy nearby. "What we need to do now is force Sukuna out of Fushiguro Megumi's body."
"You're right."
Yukinoshita Yukino slowly let out a breath, calming herself down and focusing back on the fight in front of her.
The wounds on Sukuna's body quickly healed thanks to reversed cursed technique. He cracked his neck, and a string of popping sounds echoed out. "Did Kenjaku mess with something again?"
"Eh, whatever." His four blood-red eyes turned to another battlefield nearby, where two Shikigami were clashing. Explosions and clouds of smoke filled the air. "Uraume, you're useless here. Go help Mahoraga and Otake finish off the other Mahoraga."
Uraume, who stood behind Sukuna, knew full well how much weaker she was compared to the three here. She bit her lip, frustrated by her own weakness, and said respectfully, "Yes, Lord Sukuna. I'm very sorry."
With that, she ran off toward the fight between the four Shikigami.
Watching the white-haired girl leave, Hayashizaki smirked. "Are you sure about that? Sending your underling away means you're gonna have to face the two of us alone."
"Especially when we're one guy and one girl—it makes you look even sadder and more unloved."
Hayashizaki's nonstop teasing made the black-haired girl next to him blush a little.
But Sukuna just let out a cold laugh at the mockery. "Love? Who needs that kind of thing?"
True strength always came with loneliness. If anyone needed to teach him love, it would be—
"Exactly. Someone like you doesn't deserve something as fancy as love. You only deserve to rot in hell after you die!"
With a loud laugh echoing through the night sky, the black-haired young man shot toward Sukuna like an arrow, moving so fast that a shockwave burst out in the air behind him.
The moment Hayashizaki moved, Yukinoshita Yukino followed closely behind. The two of them rushed to face Sukuna together.
A dark, heavy halberd formed instantly in Hayashizaki's hands. He swung it down at Sukuna, who caught the sharp blade barehanded.
But while Sukuna blocked that, the black-haired girl beside him had already pointed her fingers like a sword. Invisible slashes struck Sukuna one after another, leaving deep cuts across his body and blasting him away.
Hayashizaki spun the halberd and hurled it at the airborne Sukuna, then quickly gave chase. A white afterimage split off from his body and moved even faster, appearing behind Sukuna in an instant.
The afterimage became solid, landed a kick on Sukuna's back, and sent him flying again like a soccer ball.
The black halberd flew like a spear and stabbed into Sukuna's chest. Blood burst out as the force drove him back, and he coughed up a mouthful of blood with pieces of his organs in it.
Suddenly, Hayashizaki's real body appeared above him. The halberd in Sukuna's chest melted into shadow and flowed into Hayashizaki's hand, reshaping into a longsword.
The blade slashed down and got stuck in Sukuna's shoulder.
The muscles around Sukuna's shoulder tightened at once, locking the blade in place with bone and flesh. He grabbed Hayashizaki's ankle and threw him toward the oncoming black-haired girl. Then he spun around and punched at the afterimage behind him.
Yukinoshita Yukino used the Limitless technique to cancel out the force on Hayashizaki's body. She took his hand and spun once in the air like they were dancing, then launched him back toward Sukuna.
The afterimage raised its hand to block Sukuna's punch—but at the last second, Sukuna switched from a fist to an open palm. Their hands met, fingers interlocked, and Sukuna yanked the afterimage toward him. With his free hand, he slammed the heel of his palm into the clone's stomach and activated a technique.
A burst of invisible slashes filled with cursed energy exploded from the clone's body. Blood sprayed out in all directions, and the clone vanished, returning to Hayashizaki as a white afterimage.
A sound split the air—Hayashizaki once again rushed in from behind Sukuna.
Without looking, Sukuna spun and threw an elbow, but the black-haired young man raised his arm to block it. He quickly locked Sukuna's arm, grabbed his shoulder, and twisted his whole body.
A blinding red light filled Sukuna's vision.
"Pillar of Light Technique Reversal: Red!"
Hizashi formed the hand sign, chanted the incantation, and poured out 100% of her energy. The Red burst out from Yukinoshita Yukino's fingertips, slamming directly into Ryoumen Sukuna's chest, who was being held down by Hayashizaki.
A scorched figure then fell from the air like a broken doll, crashing hard into the ground.
Even though Ryoumen Sukuna quickly focused all his cursed energy to protect his chest the moment the Red hit, the blast still left him badly hurt.
Yukinoshita Yukino caught Hayashizaki's hand as he fell, and with the help of her Limitless technique, gently brought them both to the ground.
The two of them looked at Ryoumen Sukuna, who was struggling to his feet, barely able to stand.
"Stop trying so hard. Why not just die already?" Hayashizaki sighed, clearly annoyed at his stubbornness.
"*Cough, cough…*" Ryoumen Sukuna spat out two mouthfuls of blood and gave a crooked smile. "What's the matter? You think you've already won?"
His body suddenly swelled up, tearing apart the already tattered Jujutsu High uniform. His face changed too, returning to what he looked like when he was alive. Half his face was now covered by a mask that looked like it was made of flesh, with two blood-red eyes—one large, one small—opening on it.
The muscles under his armpits began to twist in strange ways, growing two thick arms. Black markings spread across his bare chest, and his toned stomach—showing eight clear abs—split open into a huge mouth.
He looked terrifying and monstrous.
"This is just the beginning."
Without even using a reversed technique, all his injuries were healed in an instant.
A full reset through a transformation using the vessel's body.
...
End of Chapter
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