"Boom!!!"
The shadow giant's fist fell like a meteor, carrying overwhelming Cursed Energy as it smashed down where Sukuna stood. The shattered ruins in that area were instantly pulverized into dust, and the surrounding ground sank nearly ten meters...
Even Sukuna was a little surprised by the sight. Not because the destructive power was beyond his understanding, but because Megumi Fushiguro's use of Cursed Energy was absurdly wasteful...
He was increasing the size of his body to increase his Cursed Energy consumption, then dumping all of it into brute-force reinforcement. The Cursed Energy wasted from that single blow alone would have been enough for a decently capable Jujutsu Sorcerer to use a full Domain once.
"Does this brat's Cursed Energy never run out?"
Sukuna kept dodging the giant fists controlled by Megumi Fushiguro, yet even after more than a dozen attacks, there was no sign of his movements slowing. The amount of Cursed Energy gathered into each strike had not dropped in the slightest either... Sukuna had even lost one hand when he tried to block with a dense barrage of slashes.
And that really was the case. [Iku-tama] did not just improve the way Megumi Fushiguro's Cursed Energy operated. It also linked him to the Cursed Energy stored by the Great Serpent Shikigami that had been connected to [Iku-tama] across generations. And among the users of the [Ten Shadows], there had once been someone whose Cursed Energy was far beyond normal standards...
...
After attacking like mad for a while, Megumi Fushiguro saw Sukuna land and instinctively threw another punch.
But then he suddenly realized Sukuna had already lured him out of the shopping district where the civilians had been dispersed and into a residential area.
With his enhanced vision, he could even see a baby stroller inside one of the apartments ahead...
Ever since obtaining the [Divine Treasure], he had kept asking himself:
[After gaining power beyond comprehension, can I still hold on to my humanity?]
"Shit!!"
In the end, that punch never came down. Megumi Fushiguro forcibly redirected it toward an empty street nearby, and the whole road vanished in an instant with a deafening blast...
Sukuna gave the place where he had been standing a flat look, then took the chance to move behind the shadow giant and press a hand against its massive neck.
"[Cleave]."
Another purple marking beneath his eye disappeared, and another slash wrapped in black lightning shot out.
Everything within sight was severed by the edge of that attack, yet the shadow giant's neck was only cut halfway before crystalized shadow bones stopped it. Then, under the pressure of incredibly dense Cursed Energy, it regenerated...
The shadow giant had not taken any real damage, but Sukuna noticed that dodging its attacks had become much easier.
"Its movements have slowed down..."
"No... it is holding back. How naive. How childish..."
Sensing that Megumi Fushiguro's Cursed Energy still showed no sign of declining, Sukuna immediately changed strategies instead of continuing to rely on the opponent wasting power.
"You've never killed anyone by choice, have you?"
Perhaps Megumi Fushiguro was tired, because the shadow giant stopped attacking.
"As a Jujutsu Sorcerer, putting too much weight on things like that is not wise. Why not turn around and admire your own handiwork?"
The blocks behind Megumi Fushiguro had already been reduced to utter ruin, as if they had been washed clean by a meteor shower. There was no trace of civilization left at all. Only the occasional sound of a car horn from somewhere nearby proved this had once been a city...
Megumi Fushiguro did not waver in the slightest. The area he had attacked with full force earlier was one where the crowd had already been dispersed, and it was also an area under close watch by the assistant supervisors.
Every Jujutsu Sorcerer's fate was tied together. He trusted in his comrades' abilities.
Besides, he had already observed the area while attacking. Other than the aftereffects of Sukuna's massive slashes, there should not have been any casualties...
Right now, Megumi Fushiguro's eyes were fixed on only one thing. The villain from a thousand years ago standing before him.
Seeing the shadow giant throw another punch, Sukuna shook his head and let out a faint laugh.
"I've seen through all your moves. There's nothing fresh about them anymore..."
Against a sorcerer like this, someone who only had overwhelming Cursed Energy and forced Technique manipulation through sheer output, whose Technique might be complicated but whose control over Cursed Energy was poor and who had no grounding in Barrier Techniques, using a Domain was absolutely the best option.
In a battle of Domains, it would become a complete one-sided crush. And what did it matter if the outer layer of shadow was thick? Inside a Domain, both the main body and the shadow would be struck by the guaranteed-hit effect...
No...
Just after dodging another attack, Sukuna was about to open his Domain when he suddenly paused again.
Sorcerers from a thousand years ago believed that shadows were projections of the soul...
If this shadow giant was not just hiding the real body well, but the shadow itself really was him...
Then the slashes of [Malevolent Shrine] would not guaranteed-hit the body hidden inside the shadow. They would target the entire shadow itself.
But [Cleave], enhanced with "miracles," had already proven that slashes alone could not directly sever this shadow...
"So you guessed my Domain was a slashing type, and planned to counter it by enlarging your whole body and increasing your output to match?... Cunning little brat..."
"Then let's see how this works. A giant body can block slashes, but can it withstand 'misfortune'?"
"Domain Expansion."
As Sukuna formed the hand sign, two of the markings beneath his eyes lost their color. At once, heavy overlapping murmurs began to rise from around him. The layered voices sounded like the calm and solemn chanting of many people speaking as one.
But if one listened carefully, they did not inspire peace or comfort. They sounded much closer to wailing...
The ground beneath his feet was no longer concrete, but a smooth, mirror-like fluid of unknown material...
Countless broken black Buddha statues stood in chaotic clusters all around him, while Sukuna himself stood before a grand and imposing shrine, as though extending an invitation into the underworld.
"[Thousand Buddhas of Calamity]."