"Is that all you've got?"
On the screen, Jogo stood amidst the scorched ruins of the highway, his volcanic head venting steam. "Only after actually fighting him did I realize his strength was merely overestimated by the weak. Humans nowadays are indeed fake, living unreal lives."
"Everything is ugly and sickening."
Jogo looked at the cooling embers where Gojo had been standing. He casually withdrew his hand, flicked the dust from his robe, and turned to leave with a calm, self-important expression.
"Let me use death to teach humanity what is real, and let them know the taste of true strength," Jogo chuckled triumphantly as he walked away.
"Didn't this scene just happen once already?"
Suddenly, a lazy, mocking voice slowly drifted through the smoke.
It made the millions of viewers' tense hearts relax instantly. Jogo froze. He turned his head, his single pupil dilating in shock.
Behind him, Gojo Satoru stood perfectly intact. His left hand was shoved into his pocket, while his right hand lazily fanned away the surrounding soot.
Jogo's face was filled with disbelief. "What... what is this? How is that possible? That last blow was far more powerful than the first. I clearly hit you with my own hands!"
Gojo smiled faintly, extending his right hand to gesture in the air between them. "You only hit the 'Infinity' that exists between us."
"Here, let me show you."
Gojo put on a bright, playful smile. He extended his hand, palm open, swaying it left and right like he was coaxing a toddler. His voice was soft and patronizing. "Come on, come on... don't be shy. Give me your hand. Come, come, come... extend your right hand."
The audience watching on Global Stream burst into laughter. The suffocating tension of the fire attack was instantly washed away by the sheer absurdity of the scene.
[Hahaha! Gojo's face! He's literally talking to a Grade-S Curse like it's a golden retriever!]
[Gojo Satoru is too much! I'll extend my right hand! Take mine! Hug me!]
[Jogo: Do you think I'm three? You think I'll just reach out? I have dignity!]
[I bet Jogo just tries to punch him again. If he actually obeys, I'm eating my hat while standing on my head!]
But under the astonished gaze of the viewers, Jogo actually found himself slowly walking toward Gojo.
"There's no killing intent," Jogo thought, his curiosity getting the better of him. "I might as well learn as much as I can about this technique."
His hand approached Gojo's. When the two palms were only a few centimeters apart, Jogo froze. His pupil contracted.
"I can't touch it? It's blocked in mid-air!"
"This is 'Infinity'?" Jogo whispered.
Gojo explained with the patience of a university professor. "It's not exactly blocked. It's just that the closer you get to me, the greater the resistance. You're approaching the limit of a series, but you'll never reach the destination."
"Then how do you ever touch anyone?" Jogo asked, sounding like a curious student.
"I don't mind shaking your hand, you know." Gojo smiled, and suddenly, his fingers pressed against Jogo's.
"I refuse!" Jogo barked, looking genuinely disgusted by the physical contact.
Gojo's smile widened, his tone becoming teasingly intimate. "Don't be shy, Jogo. You're making me feel awkward."
Saying that, Gojo interlaced his fingers with Jogo's, forcing a hand-hold.
The audience was utterly confused. Just moments ago, it was a life-and-death struggle. What was with this sudden, bizarrely ambiguous atmosphere?
Starlight Management.
"Holy-!" Della Rose couldn't help but blurt out a curse.
She stared at the screen, her face flushed with a mix of jealousy and amusement. "It's bad enough that this volcano-head tried to ambush Leo... but I haven't even touched Leo's hand, and he's out there interlacing fingers with a Cursed Spirit?! Jogo has to die! He has to go!"
Maya West saw Della's indignant expression and couldn't stop laughing. "Don't be like that, Della. The scene is pure gold. Leo's Gojo is so bratty, it's refreshing. He makes Jogo look like a shy schoolgirl."
As they watched, the mood on screen shifted violently. Jogo, enraged by the mockery, broke down and roared.
"YOU BRAT!!!"
But before he could finish the sentence, a blur of motion cut him off. Leo's Gojo grabbed Jogo's hand and delivered a fist the size of a sandbag directly into his abdomen. The impact sent Jogo floating into the air.
"So fast... it's not just a strike strengthened by Cursed Energy," Jogo thought frantically, spitting out a mouthful of purple blood. "I can't even see his movements. I have to understand this!"
"It's not over yet!" Gojo's voice rang out.
His right hand transitioned into a series of open-palm strikes, hitting Jogo's abdomen repeatedly before a final kick sent the spirit tumbling away.
"Infinity is omnipresent." Gojo stood perfectly still, extending an index finger. "My technique merely turns that mathematical infinity into a physical reality."
A small pink sphere began to gather at the tip of his finger, surrounded by majestic red energy ribbons that orbited the core like a miniature planet.
"Contract, expand... Jogo, what do you think happens when you touch the void?"
"Cursed Technique Reversal: Red!"
A razor-sharp smile appeared on Leo's lips.
As his voice fell, the red energy ribbons were instantly absorbed into the sphere. A brilliant flash of red and white light erupted, turning the Hollywood night sky a deep, bloody crimson.
Jogo's face turned pale in the face of the unparalleled energy.
BOOM!
A violent explosion rocked the soundstage. A heavy, pulse-pounding battle theme began to play. Jogo was caught in the center of the red energy and sent flying like a discarded toy, smashing through a dozen massive oak trees.
Before Jogo could even hit the ground, a figure, fast as a bolt of silver lightning pursued him. Gojo delivered a mid-air side kick that sent Jogo bouncing off the terrain like a rubber ball.
Gojo followed like a shadow. He reached out, his hand gripping Jogo's head, and slammed him into the earth. He dragged the spirit across the concrete highway for dozens of meters, leaving a massive trench in his wake.
Jogo managed to leap away and immediately counterattacked, releasing a massive purple energy shockwave from his palms. This time, the power was clearly at its peak.
It was useless.
Gojo had already flashed behind him. With a cold, bluish glow in his eyes, he delivered a crushing roundhouse kick.
BOOM!
Jogo, like a small meteorite, crashed into a nearby lake, creating a splash forty feet high.
The sequence happened so fast that the audience felt their hearts pounding in their throats.
From the moment "Cursed Technique Reversal: Red" was announced, the cinematography had shifted into high gear.
This was Gojo Satoru's first real move. And it was the coolest thing anyone had ever seen on television.
Every punch had weight. Every move was executed with surgical precision. It was a million times better than the soft, slow-motion "wire-fu" and over-edited jump-cuts that plagued modern Hollywood action. This was raw, visceral power.
The world finally understood: the "Hollywood Hellraiser" didn't just have a budget. He had a vision.