The outline of the Cursed Spirit flickered in the dense black shadows, like a pool of flowing ink, leaving only faint Cursed Energy fluctuations, lurking in the darkness like a beast stalking its prey.
Suddenly, a strange feeling flashed across Rin's heart.
It wasn't pain, but a cold, sticky emotion, silently drilling into his consciousness through the gaps in the Domain.
The Cursed Spirit's Domain effect had begun to take hold.
Yet, he did not mobilize his Cursed Energy to resist, simply allowing the emotion to spread in his heart.
The Cursed Energy in his palm tightened slightly. He knew clearly that if he interrupted the Domain now, the Cursed Spirit hiding in the shadows would completely vanish, and trying to lure it out again would be incredibly difficult.
He had even included himself in the category of "bait."
But the next second, the darkness before his eyes suddenly twisted and shattered.
Scarlet blood light surged in, washing over his ankles, carrying the metallic stench of rust.
The surrounding scene changed instantly.
Several familiar figures lay motionless in pools of blood.
Miguel's Cursed Tool was still stuck in a broken bone, and the wound on his chest gaped hideously.
Larue's body was curled up on the ground. Maki's long sword was broken in two, and the Cursed Energy corrosion marks on her back had already turned black... "What's going on?"
Rin's breathing suddenly hitched, his consciousness feeling submerged in warm water, hazy and disoriented.
He wanted to step forward, but his feet were nailed to the spot, forcing him to watch those familiar faces lose their last breath of life in the blood.
Inside the Divine Tree Space, Sukuna's laughter carried a chilling delight.
His phantom leaned against the invisible barrier, his eyes fixed on Rin's distressed state, the corners of his mouth curving into a cruel smile as he sneered inwardly:
"Is this the price? Exposing yourself to such low-level Jujutsu for a bunch of insignificant trash. However, it suits me perfectly."
Rin's predicament was his opportunity.
This Cursed Spirit can actually draw out the deepest fears in people's hearts? How wonderful.
He wanted to see what kind of face fear wore on this brat who always insisted on "protecting" others.
As soon as the thought finished, the blood light in the illusion surged again.
Gojo Satoru's figure stumbled out of the blood mist. His black blindfold was torn into pieces, his brilliant blue Six Eyes had lost their former brilliance, and a pitch-black Cursed Spirit tentacle was plunged into his chest, blood dripping continuously between his fingers.
Meanwhile, a figure walked out of the shadows behind Gojo Satoru.
The person was stripped to the waist, and pitch-black Cursed Markings appeared on his pale skin.
On his face, two deep slits had opened beneath his eyes. Including his original pair, he now possessed four pairs of scarlet vertical pupils, boiling with madness and cruelty. The Cursed Energy surrounding him was so terrifying that the air trembled.
That was "Rin" whose body was completely possessed by Sukuna!
Sukuna stepped onto Gojo Satoru's body and walked forward step by step. With every step he took, black patterns cracked open on the ground.
He didn't even lift a hand; the Cursed Energy around him shattered Gojo Satoru's final resistance.
the strongest Jujutsu Sorcerer, was like a helpless child before this power, lacking even the qualification to resist.
Facing everything before him, Rin simply watched quietly. Just then, the figures lying on the ground suddenly moved.
Miguel struggled to lift his head, his hoarse voice filled with hatred:
"Why, Rin? We trusted you to become stronger, not to release that monster!"
Larue's fingers trembled slightly, tears mixing with blood as they streamed down, showing grievance and despair:
"You said you would protect me... You killed me..."
Maki's eyes snapped open, devoid of their usual determination, leaving only cold disappointment:
"I warned you not to touch Sukuna's power! Now everyone is dead, are you satisfied?"
Finally, Gojo Satoru's lips moved, his voice weak yet chilling:
"I thought you could control it, thought you could bear the heavy responsibility... It seems I was mistaken."
Miguel's hatred, Larue's grievance, Maki's disappointment, and Gojo Satoru's chilling "mistaken," were like countless needles stabbing his ears.
Yet, Rin merely curled the fingers hanging by his side slightly, without even frowning. Although his consciousness was hazy, the defense line in his heart never collapsed.
Sukuna's seductive voice wrapped around him again, carrying a warm, sticky sensation, bundled with the bait of "the strongest":
"Is this your fear? Give up. You can't protect anyone. Give me your body, and no one will dare to accuse you again, no one will dare to look down on you."
The "Rin" in the illusion also stopped, the madness in his four vertical pupils nearly overflowing, his smile cruel and triumphant:
"Look, they are all blaming you. What if you get out? They won't forgive you.
Destroy everything with me, and no one will be able to accuse you."
Before the words finished, the "Phantom Rin" suddenly raised his hand. Pitch-black Cursed Energy condensed into a long sword in his palm. The sharp sound of the blade slicing the air was piercing, and a slash, carrying the momentum of tearing space, struck directly at Rin's face!
This strike was fiercer than any before. Clearly, the Cursed Spirit, seeing that Rin was unmoved by the accusations, wanted to use brute force to crush his consciousness.
But Rin merely shifted his body slightly, his movement as light as brushing away a speck of dust.
That pitch-black slash, capable of shattering Gojo Satoru's resistance, grazed his shoulder and struck the bloody ground behind him, blasting open a bottomless black fissure.
"Is that all you've got?"
Rin raised his eyes. There was no panic in his blood-red pupils, only cold mockery:
"Sorry, but I simply don't care about any of this."
His voice wasn't loud, but it was like a thunderclap, causing the "Rin" in the illusion to freeze.
Even Sukuna in the Divine Tree Space was stunned, a hint of surprise flashing in his scarlet vertical pupils. This brat wasn't actually affected by fear?
That is to say, Rin wasn't afraid of him at all. Damn it.
As for Rin, accusations and hatred had nothing to do with him; he wouldn't care. He only cared about himself.
The "Rin" manifested by the Cursed Spirit was completely enraged.
It roared, and countless pitch-black tentacles drilled out of the ground, rushing toward Rin along with the "phantom companions" who had been lying on the floor.
The blood light in the illusion surged even more violently, and the Cursed Energy in the air became viscous, as if trying to completely devour Rin.
Rin, however, remained standing where he was, raising his hand and clenching his fist.
Black and red Cursed Energy condensed in his palm.
"Bang!"
A black and red bullet, carrying sharp Cursed Energy, shot straight through the chest of the "Phantom Rin" and pierced the coiling black tentacles.
There was no blood, no scream. The moment the bullet hit, the body of "Phantom Rin" began to turn transparent, dissolving little by little into the air like melting ice.
Immediately afterward, an even more astonishing sight appeared.
The bloody ground in the illusion began to crack, scarlet light leaked out of the fissures, and then it collapsed with a crash.
The "phantom companions," the broken long sword, and even the bloodstains on the ground all turned into specks of light filling the sky, vanishing without a trace.
Darkness descended once more, but this time, there was no viscous fear, no piercing accusations.
Only Rin stood in place, the Cursed Energy condensed in his hand slowly dissipating.
In the darkness not far away, a weak Cursed Energy fluctuation flashed and disappeared—the Cursed Spirit had hidden again.
Rin narrowed his eyes, his blood-red pupils sweeping the surroundings. He understood instantly.
The strength of this Cursed Spirit was not fixed at all.
It could draw out the enemy's fear and use that fear to grow stronger. But once the enemy was unaffected by fear, its power would be greatly diminished, making even maintaining the illusion difficult.
The collapse of the illusion just now wasn't because he had shattered some core; rather, the Cursed Spirit couldn't sustain the illusion's consumption in the face of his "impregnable" will and had to retreat in embarrassment.
"So that's how it is."
Rin muttered softly to himself, red Cursed Energy condensing in his palm again:
"In that case, you aren't that strong after all."
He took a step in the direction where the Cursed Spirit had vanished. The Cursed Energy around him became increasingly sharp. Now that he had figured out the weakness, it was his turn to take the offensive.
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