It had been a short while since they took Riko Amanai, the Star Plasma Vessel, and her attendant, Misato Kuroi, into protective custody.
Having temporarily retreated to a deserted hotel parking lot, Naoya and Geto were splashing water onto Kokun. They had already stripped him naked and crushed his limbs just to be safe.
"Guh..."
"Morning. Like I said, it's torture time. Talk, and talk fast. Otherwise, you're losing those nails."
To prove he wasn't bluffing, Naoya immediately tore the nail off Kokun's pinky toe. A muffled scream rang out, making it crystal clear that Naoya's threat was anything but a hollow boast.
Despite that, Kokun remained frighteningly stubborn.
"Now, now, Naoya here is a terrifying sadist. He'll crush your balls, break your limbs, or peel off your nails without a second thought. At this rate, he might just kill you by mistake. All I need is the number of your allies and their positions. Just tell me that, and I'll make sure things don't go too badly for you, okay?"
Geto questioned him gently, following the classic 'Good Cop, Bad Cop' routine, but Kokun's only response was to spit in his face.
Naturally, Naoya retaliated by ripping off another toenail. Kokun let out a strangled cry, yet the light of 'hope' did not fade from his eyes.
"We of 'Q' are not like you archaic sorcerers! Who would ever sell out a comrade!"
"Quite the hot-blooded one, aren't you? I don't dislike that kind of friendship. But I wonder how Naoya feels?"
Receiving Geto's eye contact, Naoya caught Kokun off guard by stomping down and shattering the top of the man's foot as he lay prone.
It was a blow meant to check if the pain of losing nails wasn't enough. It certainly forced a shriek out of Kokun, his face slick with greasy sweat.
And yet.
When Geto asked once more, "How many allies and where are they?" Kokun did not offer a confession or a plea for mercy.
"—'Activate.'"
He whispered the words with a strained voice, and immediately after, Kokun went limp as if he had lost consciousness.
In that instant, a massive, horrifying surge of cursed energy erupted from his body. Naoya reacted instantly, grabbing Geto and opting for a full-power leap to clear the area. It went without saying that Geto, summoning the Rainbow Dragon in tandem, also sensed the 'threat' closing in.
A total evasion and absolute defense without a moment's hesitation. Such a decision might have seemed unbefitting of a Special Grade and a Grade 1 equivalent, but in the face of the impossible phenomenon occurring before them, it was the only 'rational choice' left.
"What the hell is that? That cursed energy... it shouldn't be possible!"
"—Hello, Nanami? Prioritize the protection of the Star Plasma Vessel and her attendant above all else! Things are going to take a bit of time on my end...!"
Like a pillar of hellfire rising up, the cursed energy overflowing from Kokun was [AT LEAST THREE TIMES THAT OF NAOYA ZEN'IN], a level of output that defied all common sense.
After all, Naoya Zen'in was already an outlier who forcibly boosted his total cursed energy and output through intense binding vows. For this output to be three times his meant it was [NEARLY TEN TIMES STRONGER THAN SATORU GOJO]—a nonsensical numerical value.
Of course, in Gojo's case, the artistically refined cursed energy control granted by his Six Eyes boosted his efficiency to a limitless degree. It was nonsensical to conclude that the current Kokun was ten times stronger than Satoru Gojo based on raw output alone.
However, that was no reason to assume the current Kokun couldn't win—!
"Naoya, that output..."
"It's a binding vow. Ten to one, it's a life-sacrificing one. Same as Mei Mei's crows. There might be something else mixed in too. This is a bit more dangerous than I thought, isn't it?"
"Yeah. No wonder Master Tengen is on guard."
The two whispered to one another atop the Rainbow Dragon's back, cold sweat dripping from their brows as they recognized the gravity of the situation.
Yet, even in the midst of this crisis, one man smiled audaciously.
"The situation is the worst it can be. Even so, Naoya, I want to keep your technique in reserve just in case I need you to help me escape. —For now, why don't you leave this to me?"
Saying this, Suguru Geto had Naoya move to the back of a separate Ittan-momen he had summoned. Then, he dove toward Kokun on the Rainbow Dragon.
Kokun, roaring with the face of a white-eyed demon that had lost all sanity, used his surging cursed energy to forcibly regenerate his damaged flesh. He had become a literal 'monster' whose mere roars carried enough cursed energy to act as bullets, blowing away everything in the vicinity.
But Geto, using the Rainbow Dragon as a shield, plunged into the monster's personal space. Amidst that storm of destruction, he raised a booming voice that seemed to exorcise Kokun's cursed energy along with his own fear.
"Domain Expansion—' '!"
The pinnacle of jujutsu combat: Domain Expansion.
Having reached that height through sheer discipline, the other 'strongest'—the man who fought to keep up with his best friend and his juniors—painted over the world with his own soul.
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