Crackle.
In the pitch dark sky above Tokyo, a bolt of lightning tore through the night and turned the city bright as day.
Boom!
A bolt of lightning as thick as a bucket struck Shion and forced him backward. The remaining electric current exploded outward and the surrounding buildings were blown apart like they had been hit by bombs.
Shion shook his numb arm and clicked his tongue in annoyance. "As expected of the Gojo family ancestor. That attack actually ignores Infinity."
High above the city, Sugawara no Michizane floated silently in the air. He wore a divine robe and his expression was completely emotionless, like a lightning rod drawing all the heavenly thunder toward himself.
The pressure alone felt apocalyptic.
Even a single bolt of lightning could create an explosion strong enough to light up the entire city. The darkness over Tokyo vanished again and again under the violent flashes.
The Six Eyes twins and Yuta Okkotsu were all descendants of Sugawara no Michizane. Their cursed energy was already terrifying, so it was only natural that the ancestor himself possessed an almost endless amount of cursed energy, something that could even be compared to Sukuna.
"You've been dead for almost a thousand years, Ancestor. Just stay down already."
"Rest peacefully and stop causing trouble. Reincarnating quickly should be the only thing a ghost like you should focus on."
Shion snorted, then shot straight into the sky.
"Black Flash."
He threw a devastating punch while activating Cursed Technique Lapse Blue at the same time, pulling Sugawara no Michizane toward him.
The sudden acceleration amplified the power of the punch to the extreme.
Boom!
The strike blasted a huge hole straight through Sugawara no Michizane's abdomen. The shockwave tore through the street below, flipping over concrete for hundreds of meters and sending debris flying everywhere.
But in the next moment, his body suddenly broke apart into lightning.
The massive wound healed instantly.
"Cursed Technique Release, Takemikazuchi."
Sugawara no Michizane's entire body turned into a faint blue light as lightning wrapped around him. He rose higher into the sky, his glowing eyes looking down like a god watching over mortals. His hair floated wildly in the electric current.
He raised one hand.
A bolt of heavenly lightning descended and turned into a roaring thunder dragon that rushed toward Shion. The sound alone shattered countless windows across the city.
Shion laughed instead of backing away.
"As expected of my ancestor. You really are incredible."
"But a thousand years have passed. We descendants have not been standing still either."
"Domain Expansion, Infinity of Space."
In an instant, the space around them shattered and reformed like broken glass. Heaven and earth flipped upside down, and the stars seemed to move across the sky.
The entire world turned into a strange and distorted space.
The thunder dragon roared and charged inside the domain, but an even stranger scene appeared. Its body was suddenly split into multiple sections. It was not cut apart. Instead, it looked as if it had passed through different points in space at the same time.
Its head appeared in one place while its body emerged somewhere else.
Shion manipulated the space itself and treated the thunder dragon like a toy.
Just as he was about to smile in victory, a violent explosion echoed through the domain.
Sugawara no Michizane, still in his thunder god form, forced his way into the domain with overwhelming lightning. The uncontrolled thunder swept through every part of the space.
"Cursed Technique Lapse Blue."
"Cursed Technique Reversal Red."
Shion sneered and threw the two orbs at the same time.
Sugawara no Michizane sensed the danger instantly and moved at lightning speed, trying to stop the two attacks from colliding.
But the distorted space twisted again and pushed Blue and Red into a different direction. His hand caught nothing but empty air.
Then, under the terrifying purple light, Shion smiled coldly.
"Take this as a gift. My maximum output, Hollow Technique Purple."
Boom!
The energy wave spread out in a massive arc and erased everything in its path.
The twisted space disappeared. The thunder dragon vanished. Even Sugawara no Michizane, who looked like a god, was swallowed by the blast. Shion himself slipped into a different space at the last moment to avoid the full force of the attack.
The explosion destroyed everything within a one kilometer radius.
Buildings, roads, trees, and even the ground itself disappeared completely, leaving behind a massive circular crater.
At the bottom of the crater stood a single figure, completely burned black.
Sugawara no Michizane remained standing, but more than half of his body had turned to charcoal. Faint red embers glowed under his skin and weak sparks of electricity occasionally flickered around him.
The space in front of him suddenly tore open.
Shion stepped out slowly. His clothes were torn and half of his face was damaged, but the wounds healed quickly under the effect of Reverse Cursed Technique.
"What an incredible fight, Ancestor."
"…Ah."
Shion froze and rubbed his ear in disbelief.
Sugawara no Michizane slowly raised his head. Half of his face had already burned away, but the remaining half still carried a gentle smile. His eyes were calm and clear.
He looked at Shion with admiration.
"I am sorry. Time eroded my mind, and resentment took control. I caused you trouble."
"But seeing a talented descendant like you… I can finally rest in peace."
Even Shion scratched his head awkwardly after hearing that. "Ah… haha…"
Sugawara no Michizane continued speaking, but his voice was already weak.
"My consciousness is fading… very quickly…"
"That jujutsu sorcerer who awakened us… Kenjaku…"
"His real name is… Ashiya Doman…"
As soon as he finished speaking, his body turned into ashes and disappeared.
"Ashiya Doman?"
Shion stood there in shock.
Even though he rarely paid attention during history lessons, he still recognized that name.
"A figure from legend…"
The three great jujutsu families all possessed their own inherited techniques. Limitless, Ten Shadows Technique, and Blood Manipulation.
In the eyes of most people, Blood Manipulation was far weaker than the other two.
For example, in this generation, the Six Eyes twins who possessed Limitless were already recognized as the strongest. Fushiguro Megumi, who had awakened the Ten Shadows Technique, had already learned Domain Expansion. Once he tamed Mahoraga, becoming a Special Grade sorcerer would only be a matter of time.
Meanwhile, Kamo Noritoshi, the successor of Blood Manipulation, was far less impressive. Even though he had reached the level of a quasi Grade One sorcerer, his limit was likely only Grade One.
Even Choso, whose Blood Manipulation was considered an improved version, was only at the level of a Grade One sorcerer.
So was Blood Manipulation really that weak?
At that moment, Geto Suguru looked at Emperor Sutoku standing in front of him, and the answer appeared clearly in his mind.
"Is this… the true Blood Manipulation?"