Kenjaku glanced at Kento Nanami and let out a cold, mocking sneer. "Looks like luck has finally abandoned you."
Without another word, he activated Gravity.
The crushing force slammed down on all three of them at once. Dagon and Uro Herako barely managed to stay upright by reinforcing themselves with their Domains, but Kento Nanami was driven straight into the ground. His bones creaked violently, as if they were about to snap at any moment.
His Domain offered no real protection except the jackpot draw, so there was nothing he could do to resist the pressure.
Blood poured from Nanami's mouth and nose, yet he forced his head up and started the draw again.
Ka… ka… ka…
The sound of the slot machine rang out, harsh and irritating in the suffocating silence.
Kenjaku had no intention of letting him finish.
He had already learned his lesson from Shion. Never stand around and wait for an enemy to use their ultimate move.
Before the result even appeared, Kenjaku dashed forward. His hands twisted into long, blade-like forms and slashed down in a storm of strikes so fast they left afterimages behind.
Nanami clutched his head with both hands, desperately trying to avoid the killing blows. Within seconds, his body was covered in wounds. His arms broke, his internal organs were torn apart, and he was pushed right to the edge of death.
And then it happened.
Ding, ding, ding!
Kenjaku's eyes widened as if he had just seen a ghost.
On the slot machine, three Heroine No. 6 cards appeared.
"Wuhu… time to take flight!"
Nanami, who had looked like a corpse only a moment ago, suddenly stood up again. His wounds healed almost instantly. He grinned widely, showing a row of bright white teeth.
What was a gambler?
Even if death was right in front of them, they would still grab that final chance and bet everything one more time.
Just one second later, Nanami would have died under Kenjaku's blades.
But luck had chosen him again. At the very last moment, he hit the jackpot.
Kenjaku's expression twisted in disbelief. "Those odds… one in two hundred and thirty nine? You are cheating, aren't you?"
Nanami laughed. "That is also part of my skill."
"Alright. For the next four minutes and eleven seconds, let's continue."
He charged forward again without hesitation. With infinite Cursed Energy flooding his body, his strikes became wild and relentless. Every punch landed with terrifying force.
At that moment, he was once again the main figure on the battlefield.
Uro Herako clicked her tongue in amazement. "I never thought someone this absurd actually existed."
Dagon looked at Nanami with clear admiration. "Once this mission is over, I definitely need to spar with him."
The two of them exchanged a glance and joined the fight instantly. The three of them attacked together without any concern for honor.
Kenjaku's expression darkened.
The longer this dragged on, the worse it would be for him.
The battle between Sukuna and Shion would not end quickly, but the fight between the four Special Grades and the four great vengeful spirits might already be reaching its final stage.
Those four vengeful spirits were legends in Japanese history. Even the Four Great Disaster Cursed Spirits would have been crushed in front of them.
But Shion and the others were not ordinary sorcerers.
It was not an exaggeration to call them the strongest generation in a thousand years. Even during the so called Golden Age of Jujutsu, monsters like them had never appeared.
Kenjaku never expected the vengeful spirits to defeat the Special Grades. All they needed to do was stall.
Dagon and Uro Herako were powerful, but he already understood their abilities well. He could deal with them with a few tricks.
Kento Nanami, however, was completely outside his expectations.
Someone this strong should have had a long record at Jujutsu High. Instead, there was almost nothing about him. It made no sense.
If this continued, Shion and the others might return.
"Damn it. That feeling again… being played."
Kenjaku's face twitched as unpleasant memories surfaced in his mind.
"Was this Nanami sent here by Shion on purpose?"
He clenched his teeth.
"No. I cannot waste any more time."
He forced the three of them back and formed another hand seal.
"Domain Expansion, Vajra Hell."
The terrifying pressure of two Domains at once immediately suppressed the Domains of Dagon and Uro Herako until only a tiny corner remained. The two of them were forced to compress their Domains to the limit just to survive. Sweat rolled down their faces as they struggled against the overwhelming force.
Nanami, however, ignored the suppression completely.
As long as he could recover instantly even after being beaten half to death, he had nothing to fear.
But the sudden surge of Gravity pressed down on him like a mountain. His movements slowed noticeably.
Kenjaku did not even look at them again.
He turned and rushed straight toward the massive tree where Tengen was supposed to be.
"Oh no. I got carried away and forgot the real mission was to protect Tengen."
Nanami's eye twitched as he tried to chase after him.
But it was already too late.
Kenjaku sliced open the great tree.
Inside, there was nothing. Only an empty humanoid outline remained in the center.
Nanami froze.
Dagon and Uro Herako were just as stunned.
Where was Tengen?
If Tengen was not even here, what had they been protecting all this time?
Kenjaku stared at the empty space and suddenly laughed.
"As expected. I knew it."
He replayed everything in his mind.
Ever since Shion appeared, every plan he made had somehow been predicted. Jujutsu High always seemed to prepare in advance and stop him before he could act.
Especially during their direct confrontations, he had barely escaped alive more than once.
And now, this strange genius named Kento Nanami had appeared out of nowhere to block him again.
Kenjaku finally understood.
His plan to invade the Tomb Chamber and capture Tengen had most likely been seen through by Shion from the very beginning.
He did not know how Shion did it. Maybe it was precognition. Maybe it was something else.
But the result was clear.
Tengen had already been moved.
Nanami and the others were never here to protect Tengen. Their only purpose was to delay him.
If Shion and the others finished their battle and returned, Kenjaku would be trapped with no escape.
Kenjaku suddenly burst into laughter.
"What a pity. What a shame. Shion, this time I predicted your prediction."
"Just now, I changed my plan completely. There is no way you can predict this."
He slammed his palm against the great tree beneath his feet.
"Idle Transfiguration."
"Barrier Technique, Seal."
He muttered to himself as a cruel smile spread across his face.
"At first, I planned to use Tengen's ability to perform Assimilation with one hundred million people in Japan."
"But now, I have a much better idea."
"Almost ninety percent of the barriers in Japan were created by Tengen. But even she cannot control that many barriers alone."
"And this heavenly restriction pillar, a cursed spirit in the form of a tree that was born a thousand years ago, acts as her amplifier."
"It transmits her signal to every barrier across the country, just like a satellite."
A painful cry suddenly echoed from the tree.
Under the shocked gazes of Nanami and the others, the massive ancient tree began to twist and shrink. Its body warped and compressed until it finally turned into a small cube in Kenjaku's hand.
He looked at it with satisfaction and stored it away.
"Shion, this time you are finally one step behind me."
He turned to Nanami and the others and smiled coldly.
"Well then… farewell."
A pair of wings sprouted from his back, and without hesitation, Kenjaku flew straight out of the Tomb Chamber.
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