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CHAPTER START---
Taiyo uses his Cursed Energy Enhancement to rush forward, closing the distance between him and Gojo in an instant and launching a direct punch at Gojo's face.
In response, Gojo smiles, keeping his hands in his pockets as the fist approaches him.
'His control is much better,' Gojo thinks as Taiyo uses Domain Amplification on his body, causing his fist to release translucent blue sparks against Gojo's Limitless barrier as he pushes against it.
Taiyo grits his teeth and pushes forward with all his might, cracking the ground beneath his feet as Gojo smiles and observes the fist inches away.
"Having Domain Amplification can negate Innate Techniques," Gojo says. "But in response, I simply have to pour more energy into my Limitless to counter it, and you still can't reach me."
Taiyo steadies himself and pushes his other hand against the barrier, causing the same effect as he tries to reach Gojo.
"In fact," Gojo tilts his head slightly. "I can probably push you off the stage if we keep this up."
Gojo takes casual steps forward, and his Innate Technique pushes Taiyo back, sliding him against the smooth stone stage, to the surprise of no one.
Gojo takes a few more steps, and while outwardly Taiyo appeared to be struggling, he was internally focused.
Focused on the feeling of his Cursed Energy, and of Satoru Gojo's.
'His Cursed Energy is so smooth and efficient, insane,' Taiyo thinks as he is pushed back. 'I can feel his total capacity, and I have a lot more. But his efficiency is too perfect. He really does restore more than he spends, so I can't compete in a marathon…at least not until I'm more efficient. But, there is one thing I have the advantage in…'
The sparks around Taiyo's right hand grow in an instant, and he pushes through the Limitless barrier.
Gojo responds instantly, disappearing from his current position and appearing a few steps back.
"That's a first," Gojo says as Taiyo charges in, now confidently punching through Gojo's barrier, forcing the man to lean away from the hits while keeping his hands in his pockets. "I suppose I shouldn't be surprised, considering the ocean of Cursed Energy you have. Besides, you're also Special Grade."
Hearing that, Taiyo speeds up, surging forward, and Gojo easily matches his speed, continuing to lean away from the boy before leaping backward.
Taiyo takes a moment to observe his opponent, keeping his guard up. Then, Gojo removes his hands from his pockets and smiles.
"It's nice to know you can reach me, but I can't see everything you've got if you're always using Domain Amplification to get past Limitless." Gojo takes a combat stance and gestures to Taiyo to advance. "This way you can at least use your Innate Technique, until I decide you can't anymore…"
Taiyo rushes Gojo, engaging in close combat by launching a strong right, which Gojo easily reads and perfectly mirrors.
Being just a hair taller than Taiyo, he even copies his stance, and using the Six Eyes, he perfectly reads the amount of Cursed Energy used and matches it, causing their fists to clash.
Gojo's interest is piqued by their clash, feeling Cursed Energy crashing against him, then he mirrors Taiyo for a few more strikes.
After a dozen blows, he once more mirrors the boy, but this time, as their fists clash, he raises a brow beneath the thick blindfold.
Gojo's smile falters as a soft cracking sound is heard, and he immediately leaps backward.
Taiyo smiles and flexes his fist, healing his shattered wrist at an absurd speed while Gojo stares at his own hand.
"Huh," Gojo mutters, looking at his broken finger as it heals. "What the heck has Kusakabe been feeding you? How are you doing that without the Six Eyes?"
Taiyo smiles and charges Gojo as they continue in close combat, surprising everyone at how capable the boy has become in a short few months.
As their battle of fists intensifies, becoming more forceful and accelerating, the viewing area is stunned silent that not only has Gojo not won, but Taiyo would very occasionally land glancing blows on the man.
Yuki Tsukumo frowns at this, knowing her chance to eliminate the boy has long since disappeared.
"What was Gojo talking about?" She asks. "What does Taiyo need the Six Eyes for? What did you do, Kusakabe?"
Kusakabe feels the eyes of everyone here and the people watching remotely on him, annoying him more than having to partake in this circus at all.
"I didn't do anything," he shrugs. "Gojo was talking about Crashing Cursed Energy. You know what that is, yeah?"
Yuki folds her arms and looks away.
"Well. If you get past the Limitless barrier around Gojo all the time, then you have to actually hurt him. But you can't do that with regular Cursed Energy Enhancement.
Cursed Energy Enhancement strengthens your body for offense, lets you punch through stone and steel if you're good enough. Gojo's Cursed Energy Reinforcement is automatic and will counter you. That's the basics.
But for Gojo, there is another step. Crashing Cursed Energy. Think of it like water flowing through pipes. If you put a wall at the end of the pipe, a constant stream won't be able to break through it unless the pressure is absurd, so most people simply increase their output to overcome the target's reinforcement.
That's Flowing Cursed Energy, the usual stuff.
Crashing Cursed Energy is sending a massive wave through the pipes to punch a hole through the wall. Gojo's defense also automatically does this. So, punching him is more likely to hurt you than him.
But Crashing Cursed Energy can't be used in isolation. You have to flow it through the same pipes as your regular Cursed Energy.
One piece, two different streams of water. For the longest while, only Gojo could do this for every hit since he has the Six Eyes, giving him perfect control of his Cursed Energy.
You use Cursed Energy Enhancement on a regular Sorcerer, and it's like a sledgehammer into a wall.
Use it to punch Gojo, and it's a sledgehammer against a super-reinforced water tank. All that water will be crashing onto you during the hit.
Crashing Cursed Energy raises your destructive power a few times over and lets you handle that insane passive physical defense of his."
"And Taiyo can do that?" Principal Gakuganji asks.
"I showed him how I do. By first sending a stream of Flowing Cursed Energy to my sword. I then send a surge at the point of contact, that way I have a fraction of a second to sync them with the impact.
Fifteen years of training for me to get the best control of Flowing Cursed Energy aside from Satoru Gojo, and I can only do it through my sword as a medium. And yet, I get shown up so quickly by a rookie.
The kid doesn't do anything but train, so he figured out how to do it on his body, just like Gojo. He can do it subconsciously now, for offense and defense, a real Special Grade monster," Kusakabe shrugs.
On the screens, they see Taiyo and Gojo clash multiple times, and while Taiyo lands one hit for every dozen Gojo scores, Gojo retreats after each hit he takes.
And Taiyo relentlessly advances.
It takes everyone to notice what Gojo's figured out a while ago, causing him to retreat a few steps after each clash.
Every second, thus far he's raised his Cursed Energy output. Making his reinforcement and enhancement stronger every time they collide.
And yet, not only was Taiyo keeping pace, he was pulling ahead, becoming more comfortable fighting at this level.
'So that's how he's planning to win,' Gojo thinks as they clash again. 'Using his insane reserves of Cursed Energy to crush me. He's likely noticed that his output is higher than mine, but I'll win the marathon, so he's putting everything into a sprint.'
Gojo speeds up and parries one of Taiyo's kicks, grabbing his ankle and spinning, throwing him into the stone stage.
The ground cracks, and Taiyo rolls away from a stomp that shatters the stone floor again before leaping back into action.
Seeing where this was going, Gojo speeds up, now using his Innate Technique to accelerate his movements and instantly outpace Taiyo.
He lands three rapid strikes to the chest and one to the shoulder before grabbing Taiyo by the face and throwing him toward the sky.
Taiyo tumbles through the air while healing, and before reaching the apex of the throw he steadies himself and points at Gojo.
A beam of blood-red Cursed Energy slashes across Gojo, hitting the ground to his left and melting the stone.
Stopping at the Infinity in front of him, then melting the stone to his right.
Gojo smiles and disappears, appearing in the air beside Taiyo and launching a kick at him.
The boy raises his arms and blocks it, getting sent to the ground with bruised forearms, already healed before he lands.
Only for Gojo to appear in front of him with another onslaught of attacks.
'He's speeding up,' Gojo thinks while obliterating him with a flurry of blows.
Taiyo is constantly speeding up, getting more used to fighting at this level, and Gojo realizes that if this keeps up, he won't be able to match the boy's speed without using his Limitless.
He lands a backhand to Taiyo's left cheek, knocking some of the boy's teeth out, and in that instant, Taiyo releases a wave of Cursed Energy that melts everything around him.
Gojo instantly warps a dozen meters away, one step beyond where the heat stopped.
Taiyo spits out blood and shards of his teeth before smiling at Gojo, showing off his teeth as they heal. "So, the warm-up is over, right?"
Gojo runs a hand through his hair, looking around leisurely, clothes still appearing untouched, while Taiyo's sports bloodstains and holes.
"Your Cursed Energy output is ridiculous, heavy hits…" Gojo says while looking around the broken stage, turning his back to Taiyo for a moment before focusing on him once more.. "That total volume too."
"I could say the same about how efficient you are. I bet you could do this all day."
Gojo sticks his tongue out at the boy.
Taiyo chuckles and takes a different stance, leaving his palms open. "Then let's pick up the pace."
He waves his hand, releasing a massive beam of heat.
It envelops everything it touches, melting stone and even reaching the forest at the edge of the clearing, but not igniting anything.
Instead, Immolation floods the trees and grass with so much energy that it carbonizes them on contact, leaving blackened coals as he moves his hand, passing the beam across the stage.
Gojo doesn't react, simply raising his Limitless barrier and waiting, then a wave of flames washes over him, also blocked by the barrier.
'Fire? Did he ignite the air in a controlled volume?' Gojo wonders as the Cursed Energy and natural flames block his vision.
Then, Taiyo arrives in front of him, using the shroud of Cursed Energy to effectively hide within a flashbang.
He propels himself using controlled combustion beneath his feet, amusing Gojo, who looks up as the boy descends with an axe kick toward his head.
Then, Gojo sees the spark of Cursed Energy within him. The same spark that happens every time someone activates their Cursed Energy. A phenomenon that cannot be avoided, even by Gojo.
Observing this always allows him to move preemptively if needed. However, this time he simply looks up with a blank expression as Taiyo swaps to Domain Amplification in an instant.
Gojo sidesteps the attack as Taiyo shatters the ground beside him, looking down at the boy.
Taiyo opens his mouth and releases a beam of heat from it, surprising Gojo, although his expression remains neutral.
The Limitless blocks this before Taiyo leaps forward with Domain Amplification once more, seamlessly swapping between them.
And Gojo sees his souls resonating within, small sparks of Cursed Energy dancing between them as the boy grows more excited by the moment.
'Domain Amplification and an Innate Technique can't be used at the same time since that would effectively be a Domain Expansion…does this mean he has one? Or does it mean something else? Swapping between them so quickly, something feels wrong about this…'
Gojo warps away, into the air, and Taiyo immediately senses him, firing a few breams of heat at the man.
Gojo raises his right hand, palm open, and a blue sphere appears before the beams and absorbs them all before growing in size and hurtling toward Taiyo.
"Cursed Technique Lapse: Blue."
Taiyo leaps out of the way as the singularity pulls in the stage as if it were made of wet tissue paper.
He feels the suction force tugging at him, then, with a thought from Gojo, it grows and rushes toward him.
His eyes widen as he rockets toward Gojo, propelled by flames.
Gojo doesn't move, simply staring down at him, forcing the boy to make a choice.
As he's between Gojo and the blue, it speeds up and increases in size, pulling him in even more, but against the pull, he arrives at Gojo.
He turns off his Immolation and uses Domain Amplification to punch Gojo, intending to disrupt his control of the blue, but Gojo simply warps away before his strike lands.
Taiyo instantly turns around and reaches out with both hands, grabbing the blue that's the size of a basketball with his hands, using Domain Amplification to fight against it.
And after nearly ten seconds, he finally cancels the singularity, leaving both his hands bloodied.
He hovers over the battlefield, looking out at the destroyed stone arena and blackened section of forest, taking steady breaths while his hands heal.
And below him, Satoru Gojo stands in the middle of the arena, clothes untouched, hands in his pockets again.
"I don't think this is going anywhere," Gojo says, casually, as Taiyo lands a dozen meters away. "Ready for the real battle?"
Taiyo smiles and burns away his already ragged shirt, flexing his healed hands. "Time for some real Jujutsu?"
Gojo takes his hands out of his pockets, removing his blindfold and placing it around his neck before raising his right hand.
Gojo crosses his index and middle finger, forming the Mudra of Indra, the strongest god. "Winning by exhausting you is no fun. Besides, I want to see everything you have. You have one, right?"
"I can't hope to be 'The Strongest' without one," Taiyo says as he brings his hands together.
He raises them as if praying, bringing them almost to meet in front of his chest, but leaving exactly one inch between them.
And Gojo sees Cursed Energy dancing back and forth between them, completing the Cursed Energy Circuit with his two souls.
"Heh, Binary, what an interesting thing you are," Gojo says.
"Special Grades are exactly that, special. That is what you said, right?" Taiyo smiles.
"Yeah, we really are…"
They pause for a moment, and everyone watching holds their breaths, no longer thinking of all the money they lost betting Taiyo would be beaten by now.
"Domain Expansion!"
END CHAPTER---
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