"Are we… going to help?"
Satoru Gojo scratched his head as he watched his older brother, Shion, relentlessly beating down Ashiya Doman.
Suguru Geto waved a hand dismissively. "Forget it. Shion has it handled. Our job is to contain the spread of Paradise and prevent more casualties."
Satoru frowned. "Feels like the four of us are just standing around."
No one replied.
High above, atop the Heavenly Restriction Pillar, Ashiya Doman endured Shion's one-sided assault. His body was breaking faster than it could recover, yet he showed no concern.
With Idle Transfiguration and Reverse Cursed Technique working together, ordinary attacks meant little to him. As long as Shion avoided using high-output finishing techniques, the damage would not be fatal.
What truly unsettled him was something else.
Sukuna had already reclaimed the power of ten fingers.
He was losing control.
This Daiten body shared the same origin as Sukuna, and the power of all twenty fingers belonged to him originally. When it came to reclaiming that authority, Sukuna held the advantage.
Moments later, Sukuna seized two more fingers' worth of power.
Then, something worse happened.
A pair of arms moved against Ashiya Doman's will, forming a precise hand seal.
The Mahavairocana Supreme Fundamental Mudra.
Ashiya Doman's eyes widened.
That was the release condition for Paradise.
Sukuna, whose soul had been hiding within those two fingers, had read the technique directly from his mind.
Suddenly, Ashiya Doman let out a harsh laugh, his voice dripping with mockery.
"Sukuna! Isn't Shion your enemy?"
"To think the King of Curses would lower himself to cooperate with someone like him."
It was crude provocation, but intentional.
With Sukuna's pride, ignoring it would be unlikely.
But Sukuna only burst into manic laughter.
"Small fry… cooperation?"
His grin twisted into something feral, his eyes filled with killing intent.
"You really do not understand me."
"I am not doing this to help Shion."
His voice dropped, cold and vicious.
"I am doing this to get revenge on you."
Ashiya Doman froze.
Sukuna continued, his tone filled with disdain.
"Do you think he is attacking you while I obediently assist him, waiting for the right moment to strike together?"
"That kind of pathetic thinking makes me sick."
"The truth is simple. He is using my hands to kill you, and I am using his to tear you apart."
"There is no cooperation here. Our goals just happen to align."
A low, unhinged laugh escaped him.
"If the situation were different, we would already be trying to kill each other."
Even as he spoke, Sukuna struggled for control, forcing the hands into position despite Ashiya Doman's resistance.
Then he laughed again, louder this time.
"And this… releasing Paradise."
"Do you think I care about saving anything?"
Sukuna leaned closer within the shared consciousness, his voice filled with malice.
"No. I am doing this because you do not want it."
"As long as it ruins your plans, I will do it."
"Watching your thousand-year scheme collapse, that is my revenge."
The hand seal completed.
"Paradise… release."
Ashiya Doman gritted his teeth. He had underestimated both Shion and Sukuna.
Then it hit.
A tearing sensation ripped through both his body and soul.
It felt as though they had been plunged into freezing depths, dragged into something endless and suffocating.
"Then die with me, Sukuna!"
Their souls twisted together, spiraling into darkness.
A deep resonance spread outward, like the toll of a bell.
A blinding white light split through everything.
Even Shion was forced to retreat.
In an instant, the world fell silent.
All color vanished.
Everything froze, like a single frame locked in time.
Then—
Something shattered.
Fragments of light drifted apart, fading slowly, as if reality itself had cracked.
The massive Heavenly Restriction Pillar began to collapse, its form shrinking rapidly like something deflating.
Within moments, the towering structure that once covered Tokyo with its shadow withered into ruin, leaving behind a massive abyss carved into the earth.
At the same time, the Basara began to mutate again.
Their flesh twisted and expanded uncontrollably before bursting apart into clouds of blood.
They had been born from Paradise, dependent on it like an umbilical connection.
Now that Paradise was gone, so were they.
Boom.
Mount Fuji erupted again, more violently than before.
Flames and ash surged into the sky, spreading outward and swallowing everything below.
It felt like a lament.
A furious, grieving cry for a species that had perished moments after its birth.
The sky darkened as fire and ash rained down over Tokyo.
Then it ended.
Like a curtain falling after a performance.
Nature's power erased the city completely.
Nothing remained.
Ash returned to ash. Dust returned to dust.
Within Tokyo Jujutsu High, everyone looked up at the sky.
They could feel it.
Something had disappeared.
Tengen trembled.
"He won."
A pause.
"We… won."
Shinjuku.
Time passed in silence.
Then—
Bang!
A massive volcanic rock shattered apart.
From within, four figures emerged, covered in dust and debris.
Satoru Gojo, Suguru Geto, Yuki Tsukumo, and Yuta Okkotsu.
Satoru coughed, scanning the area.
"Brother! Where are you?"
Geto raised his voice. "Shion! Can you hear me?"
Yuta stepped forward. "Shion!"
They searched frantically, but there was no sign of him.
Satoru's expression tightened, sweat forming on his forehead.
"Bro, do not mess with me."
He clenched his fists.
"Hey! If you are alive, get out here! I am not becoming the clan head!"
Then—
A faint, irritated voice came from below.
"Satoru… you are stepping on my hand…"