"Kill... Ryomen Sukuna."
When Angel uttered that name from that grotesque mouth, even the wind on the abandoned building's rooftop seemed to freeze.
Yuta Okkotsu's grip on his sword hilt tightened abruptly, his gaze turning razor-sharp in an instant.
As one of modern jujutsu's pinnacle sorcerers, he understood all too well what the name "Ryomen Sukuna" represented in the jujutsu world.
That was the zenith of curses, the ultimate monster embodying absolute violence and endless slaughter.
"Ryomen Sukuna is currently incarnated within Yuji Itadori's body."
Yuta took a step forward, his eyes burning into Hana Kurusu and the Angel manifest on her face.
"If your idea of killing the Fallen means wiping out Itadori along with him, then I will never agree!"
"Itadori is our comrade, and Gojo-sensei would never allow such a thing to happen!"
Hearing Yuta's warning, the mouth on Hana Kurusu's face let out a cold scoff.
"Ignorant modern sorcerer, you haven't the slightest grasp of Sukuna's terror."
Angel's voice was laden with deep wariness.
"That monster should never have existed in this world."
"As long as he draws breath for even a single day, this world will never know true peace."
"However, rest assured."
Angel turned its gaze toward Yoru, who had been standing silently off to the side the entire time.
"A thousand years ago, I witnessed firsthand that clash of gods and demons that shook all of Heian-kyo."
"And it was in that battle that I realized: in this world, the only person who can completely sever Ryomen Sukuna's Karma is you!"
Along with Angel's recounting, a memory sealed away for a millennium slowly unfurled like a painted scroll in everyone's minds.
The Heian period a thousand years ago was a dark era where sorcerers and cursed spirits butchered one another in frenzied slaughter.
And Ryomen Sukuna was the undisputed, absolute hegemon of that age.
He wielded overwhelming cursed energy, slashing techniques that cleaved through everything at whim, and that unguardable open domain—Malevolent Shrine.
Whether elites from the Big Three Families or ancient powerhouses hailed as invincible, all were crushed like mere insects before Sukuna.
Until that day.
Upon the ruins of a village that Sukuna had just slaughtered down to the last soul, transforming it into a living purgatory...
A man clad in a black kimono, wearing hanafuda earrings, quietly appeared.
He possessed no surging cursed energy fluctuations and no flashy cursed techniques; in his hand was only a seemingly ordinary katana.
Yet, the moment he drew that blade...
The entire world seemed to change color!
"I will never forget that sight."
Angel's voice was full of awe and fervor.
"That man swung his sword only once."
"A single swing! And it cleaved apart Sukuna's supposedly unbreakable Malevolent Shrine!"
"Those crimson flames not only severed Sukuna's physical body, but scorched his very soul directly!"
"If that insidious Kenjaku hadn't forcefully intervened at the final moment using some bizarre spatio-temporal cursed object to split Sukuna's soul into twenty fingers..."
"That invincible King of Curses would have been utterly annihilated a thousand years ago!"
After listening to Angel's tale, Yuta Okkotsu stared at Yoru in shock.
He already knew Senior Yoru was strong—strong beyond all reason.
Yet he had never imagined that back in the Heian era a millennium ago, such a clash of gods and demons had unfolded, enough to upend the entire history of jujutsu!
"So Senior's power possesses such a profound origin..."
Meanwhile, though Yoru maintained an unfathomable calm on the surface, a ripple stirred within his heart.
'The system's background-patching capability really is airtight.'
Yoru mused inwardly.
He knew perfectly well that the man wielding the red blade a thousand years ago was not actually him.
It was history the system had forcibly woven into the worldline's foundational logic, ensuring that the Yoriichi Tsugikuni template he was roleplaying could exist logically within this world.
Such causal intervention on a spatio-temporal level was nothing short of miraculous.
Ding!
Right as Yoru was reflecting, a crisp mechanical chime detonated deep within his mind!
[SYSTEM NOTIFICATION: DETECTED DEEP RESONANCE WITH CURRENT WORLD UNDERLYING LOGIC!]
[HOST HAS SUCCESSFULLY TRIGGERED HIDDEN TIMELINE: SHADOW OF A GOD!]
[SYSTEM EVALUATION IN PROGRESS...]
[CONGRATULATIONS, HOST! YORIICHI TSUGIKUNI TEMPLATE SYNCHRONIZATION RATE SIGNIFICANTLY INCREASED!]
[CURRENT SYNCHRONIZATION RATE: 80%!]
[REWARD UNLOCKED: PERMANENT SLAYER MARK!]
Boom—!
With the conclusion of the system prompt, an indescribably terrifying power surged through Yoru's body like a burst dam!
This power did not belong to cursed energy, nor did it belong to any known energy system.
It was pure life ascension, the ultimate qualitative transformation born when flesh and soul reached absolute perfection!
On Yoru's left forehead, the crimson flame mark that originally only surfaced in combat now seemed to come alive, radiating a steady, gentle glow.
Moments later, the mark gradually faded until it vanished from the surface of his skin.
Yet this did not mean the mark was gone.
Rather, Yoru's body had completely adapted to the extreme overclocking brought on by the mark.
From this moment forward, his body temperature would perpetually remain above thirty-nine degrees Celsius, and his heart rate would hold steady at an explosive burst rate of around two hundred beats per minute.
The mark was no longer a buff that required deliberate activation; it had become an intrinsic part of his biology—a permanent passive!
"Senior? What's wrong?"
Keenly detecting the shift in Yoru's aura, Yuta instinctively stepped back half a pace, a cold sweat breaking out across the palm gripping his sword hilt.
In that fraction of a second, the Yoru before him felt as if he had transformed into an eternally burning sun!
That ceaseless, boundless heat almost threatened to ignite the surrounding air!
Yoru did not answer.
He slowly shut his eyes, taking in the earth-shattering metamorphosis within his body.
Unlocking Permanent Slayer Mark caused his base physical parameters to multiply several times over in an instant.
His already monstrous strength and speed had now ascended to a realm that left even himself in awe.
He opened those crimson eyes once more.
Transparent World: Complete Form activated instantly.
Thanks to the leap in physical constitution, this divine sight—which had once required enormous physical stamina—now felt completely effortless, as natural as breathing.
"I see..."
Yoru gently exhaled a breath of stale air, his deep red eyes sparkling like brilliant stars.
"So this is... a leap in life's very plane?"
"In this world, nothing can stand in my way anymore."
Yoru turned his gaze back to Hana Kurusu and Angel, who were both frozen in shock.
"I accept your condition."
Yoru's voice was soft, yet possessed an absolute certainty capable of piercing the soul.
"I will claim Ryomen Sukuna's life myself."
"Now, tell me: what preparations do I need to make to unseal Prison Realm?"
Gazing at the black-haired youth who seemed like a god descended to earth, the Angel on Hana Kurusu's face lapsed into a long silence.
"It could sense that the current Yoru was far more unfathomable than even that man who had severely wounded Sukuna a thousand years ago!"
"Preparations?"
Angel drew a deep breath, its tone laced with fanaticism.
"No preparations are needed!"
"As long as you are there, as long as you keep those vermin from interfering with the unsealing..."
"I can tear that pathetic box to shreds at any moment!"
Meanwhile...
Deep within the Tombs of the Star Corridor, hundreds of kilometers away.
Kenjaku, who was staring intently at the surveillance screens, suddenly felt an indescribable chill pierce straight through his spine!
He stood up abruptly, the stitches across his forehead twitching violently.
"What is this... this dread, as if my very soul has been seen through...?"
Kenjaku's eyes remained locked onto Yoru on the screen, his expression turning thoroughly grim.
"This guy... grew stronger again?!"
"I can't delay any longer. If he truly unseals Satoru Gojo..."
Kenjaku turned his head sharply toward Master Tengen's pained face, a glint of manic resolve flashing in his eyes.
"Prepare to meet your end, world!"
The Culling Game's final reckoning was about to begin!
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