"Boom—!!!"
The violent turbulence of time was like tens of thousands of sharp steel blades, crazily slicing through everything in the vicinity.
Even light became fragmented and shattered within this distorted space.
However.
In this desperate place, enough to instantly grind any flesh and blood into dust, Satoru Gojo forced his way in, enduring horrifying pressure!
"Crack, crack, crack..."
The Limitless barrier on the surface of Satoru Gojo's body, known as the absolute defense, actually let out an extremely ear-piercing cracking sound the moment it touched the time turbulence.
This wasn't a simple physical attack; it was a dimensional strike from a higher plane!
Even Satoru Gojo, who had evolved into the strongest complete form, still seemed to struggle when facing this rejection from the world's underlying rules.
But there wasn't the slightest hint of retreat in his eyes!
"Yoru! Hang on!"
Satoru Gojo roared, his Eyes of the Blue Sky pushed to their absolute limit at this moment.
The blue light, like two dazzling stars, fixedly analyzed the chaotic time nodes all around them.
He grabbed Yoru's arm, which had already become semi-transparent, as if it might dissipate at any second.
"Stop... for me!!!"
Satoru Gojo poured out the cursed energy within him, as vast as a boundless ocean, without any reservation.
He attempted to use his power to alter spatial rules to forcibly suppress this rampaging torrent of time!
"It's no use, Satoru."
Yoru knelt on the ground, his body trembling violently under the pull of the golden light.
He looked at Satoru Gojo's handsome face, which had turned somewhat distorted from overextending his cursed energy, but a relieved smile played at the corner of Yoru's mouth.
"This is the correction of the world's will, an absolute rejection born from the Sands of Time and the laws of causality."
"Even if you are the strongest, you cannot simultaneously oppose the rules of the entire world."
Yoru understood the current situation all too well.
He had saved Riko, protected Haibara, and altered the trajectory of Suguru Geto's descent into darkness.
On this world line originally filled with despair, he had forcibly torn open a rift of hope.
And now, it was time for him, this foreign object, to pay the price and be forcibly expelled.
"Shut up! If I say I can stop it, then I will stop it!"
Satoru Gojo gritted his teeth so hard that a shocking trace of blood even seeped from the corner of his eye.
He gripped Yoru's hand tightly, his stubbornness suggesting that even if he had to drag the entire world down with him, he would never let go.
Seeing Satoru Gojo's desperate stance.
A warm current welled up in Yoru's heart.
But he knew that if he allowed this torrent of time to sweep him away, he would most likely be exiled to a completely unknown era.
It could be the Heian-kyo of centuries ago, or a wasteland thousands of years in the future.
If that happened, all his previous plans and all the bonds he had formed in this era would vanish like bubbles!
Kenjaku's plot would succeed, and Sukuna would still bring endless despair!
"I absolutely cannot... just be tossed into some irrelevant corner like this!"
Yoru suddenly looked up, an unprecedented madness and determination erupting in those deep red pupils!
"Since I can't resist this torrent..."
"Then I will be the one to forcibly decide the landing coordinates!"
In this instant, Ryomen Sukuna's world-cutting slash from the original story flashed through Yoru's mind.
It was the ultimate sword strike that could cut through the world, space, and existence itself!
And at this moment, what Yoru intended to do was something even crazier—
He was going to cut through time!
Combining the dimensional insights left over from slaying that space-time type Special Grade Imaginary Cursed Spirit with the violently surging Sands of Time energy within him.
"System, initiate Binding Vow!"
Yoru let out a near-howling roar in his mind.
"In exchange for my Synchronization Rate permanently dropping to 39%, give me one second of... 80% template synchronization!"
[DING! BINDING VOW ESTABLISHED! TEMPORARILY UNLOCKING 80% YORIICHI TSUGIKUNI TEMPLATE. DURATION: 1 SECOND!]
Boom—!!!
Yoru's deep red eyes completely transformed at this moment into a blinding crimson-gold, like the sun!
[TRANSPARENT WORLD (COMPLETE)] ACTIVATED!
[STATE OF SELFLESSNESS] ACTIVATED!
Within this single second, Yoru felt as though he were no longer a being of flesh and blood, but had become the sole truth of this world.
The chaotic time turbulence all around him, capable of crushing anything, was instantly decomposed in his eyes into clearly visible golden lines of causality.
"Within the remnants of that cursed spirit... I saw a crack in time."
Yoru murmured to himself. Because his body could not withstand the terrifying load of the 80% template, every inch of his skin began to crack.
Blood had barely emerged before it was evaporated by the extreme heat into a crimson mist, making him look like a blood-drenched deity.
"Satoru, let go!"
Yoru turned his head, his gaze toward Satoru Gojo filled with god-like majesty and resolve.
"If you continue to waste your cursed energy here, what will happen to Jujutsu High? What will happen to Suguru? What about the kids who haven't grown up yet?!"
"You are the strongest!"
"Remember our promise. While I am away, protect everyone for me!"
Satoru Gojo's entire body shuddered, his bloodshot Eyes of the Blue Sky staring intently at Yoru.
From Yoru's eyes, he saw an absolute will capable of severing causality itself.
It was a power that transcended jujutsu—perhaps even the divine.
Satoru Gojo's hand, which had been gripping Yoru tightly, finally loosened slowly with a tremble of extreme reluctance.
"This strike... will forcibly anchor the future!"
Yoru violently swung Shiranui, which had long since become unable to bear the load and had turned entirely semi-transparent.
"Sun Breathing, Thirteenth Form!!!"
It was the ultimate cycle, connecting the twelve forms perfectly into a perpetual, never-ending loop!
The ceaseless red blade light transformed at that moment into wheel after wheel of frantically rotating suns, each slash savagely cutting through the surrounding space and time.
This wasn't simple destruction; through high-frequency, airtight circular slashes, he forcibly ground the entire chaotic time turbulence to pieces!
"Crack—!!!"
Under this terrifying, ceaseless force, a massive gap was actually hacked into the originally ethereal timeline!
Yoru channeled his entire will, along with the peak cycle of the Thirteenth Form, into an indestructible spike.
He hammered it with brutal precision into a point in time exactly ten years later!
It was when Yuta Okkotsu was about to enroll, and the Night Parade of a Hundred Demons was about to erupt.
It was the moment the history of the entire jujutsu world would face its greatest turning point—
The year 2016!
[DING! BINDING VOW DURATION ENDED. SYNCHRONIZATION RATE HAS FORCIBLY DROPPED TO 39%...]
Boom—!!!
Accompanied by a dazzling golden light capable of blinding anyone, a violent spatial tremor erupted in the restricted area of the mountains behind Jujutsu High!
When the golden light finally dissipated.
The violent time turbulence had vanished without a trace, and the distorted trees and rocks nearby returned to their original state.
The entire world was as calm as if nothing had ever happened.
But the man who always wore a gentle smile, with a long blade at his hip, the one who had changed everyone's fate...
...had completely vanished from this era.
Leaving only Shiranui, its blade severely chipped and curled, standing alone in the cold earth, emitting a faint, lingering warmth.
"Instructor Yoru..."
Yu Haibara and Kento Nanami stared blankly at the solitary sword, tears streaming uncontrollably from their eyes.
Satoru Gojo stood quietly in place.
He lowered his head, staring at his empty palm, his thoughts unknown.
A breeze blew past, ruffling his silver-white hair.
A long time passed.
Satoru Gojo slowly stepped forward, bent down, and with great solemnity pulled the chipped Shiranui from the earth, gripping it tightly in his hand.
He looked up at the crystal-clear blue sky above, a twisted yet absolutely confident smile appearing on his lips.
"Rest easy, you reckless madman."
"I'll take care of this mess you've left behind."
"Whether it's ten years or twenty..."
"I will be right here waiting for you to come back!"
Would the anchor he forcibly set allow Yoru to land accurately in that most critical era?
And without Yoru, the greatest variable, what kind of heart-pounding storms would brew in the jujutsu world during this long ten-year void?