Zen'in Jinichi's death finally ignited the rage of all the remaining squad members.
The entire Zen'in Family had only four Special Grade 1 Sorcerers: the Family Head, the Hei Captain, Zen'in Jinichi, and Zen'in Ogi.
Now, Mahito had, before their eyes, cut that number in half.
For the Zen'in Family, this was equivalent to breaking the backbone of the clan.
From this moment on, the Zen'in Family's position in the jujutsu world was precarious.
All the squad members roared like mad, but they did not attack blindly.
They started running, circling Mahito.
Mahito stepped over Zen'in Jinichi's corpse and came to the center of the Zen'in courtyard.
The remaining squad members surrounded Mahito, but cautiously kept their distance.
Everyone was waiting for an opportunity, a chance for a single fatal blow.
Every squad member began to recall information about Mahito.
Although they were enraged, they hadn't lost their minds.
On the contrary, they bore the lives of the dead, and the weight of those lives compelled them to think desperately, to kill Mahito through strategy.
Mahito hid half his face beneath his bamboo hat, listening to the shouts of the squad members, but he didn't look at them.
Instead, he focused all his attention on the person standing at the entrance to the Zen'in residence's passage.
"Zen'in Naoya, aren't you coming over?"
Mahito asked.
"You truly know all our information."
The person at the doorway muttered, his voice sharp.
"Who exactly dares to use your hand to heavily wound the Zen'in Family?"
"You haven't even looked at me until now; that is the arrogance of the Zen'in Family,"
Mahito said indifferently.
"Why should the Zen'in Family's gaze fall upon a mere Cursed Spirit?"
Zen'in Naoya said coldly.
"Although the losses are heavy, if we achieve the feat of killing the newly emerged King of Curses, the Zen'in Family will not decline."
"To dare break into the Zen'in Family's gates alone…"
"King of Curses, don't misunderstand, you are the arrogant one!"
Zen'in Naoya suddenly waved his hand.
The torrential rain suddenly changed, turning completely dark.
—Shadow Crocodile!
A huge shadow began to expand without limit, instantly spreading to cover the entire plaza.
All the squad members permanently submerged themselves deep within the shadow.
The user of Shadow Crocodile knew that Mahito could deflect direct-attack Cursed Techniques.
He did not directly use shadow blades but instead fully expanded the shadow, turning the other squad members into assassins within the darkness.
Mahito's vision was completely covered by darkness.
He felt the vibrations of raindrops hitting his bamboo hat and strolled leisurely through the empty dark.
He imagined what kind of attacks would come from the darkness, utterly fearless.
Suddenly, his lumbar spine was forced downward.
Immense pressure descended from above, as if a giant mountain had crashed onto him.
—Heavy Pressure!
Mahito struggled to straighten his body, but he couldn't.
He felt all the muscles and bones in his body creaking, as if every moment an uncontrolled wild dragon was rampaging inside him, trying to force him to his knees.
Darkness, Heavy Pressure, and finally, a fatal blow.
The wind and rain suddenly paused for an instant, then the atmosphere began to contract with violent vibrations.
Mahito could clearly feel the heavens and earth wailing.
Something was forming.
The torrential rain could not stop it.
The lightning in the dark clouds shrieked, and the infinitely compressed atmosphere, along with the rain curtain, formed an invisible blade.
A direct-attack Cursed Technique:
Ama no Habakiri.
Darkness covered Mahito's eyes, but at this moment, Mahito's perception surpassed his vision, detecting the formation of this terrifying attack.
This invisible blade, carrying immense wind and rain, rushed toward Mahito.
Mahito felt as if a giant reaching the heavens was wielding a massive blade, its tip almost touching the sky and its base deeply embedded in the earth.
The entire world was covered by the blade.
Ama no Habakiri is a legendary Japanese sword, and now the Cursed Technique named after it also displayed its legendary power.
Mahito faced this attack, which carried wind and rain:
a high-speed compressed wind blade with a diameter of nearly thirty meters.
This mighty blade advanced rapidly, cutting through everything in its path.
Mahito couldn't help but smile and loudly declare,
"This is the true jujutsu kaisen!"
Even in the most dangerous moment, Mahito felt an incredible surge of excitement.
Before this, he had never known he possessed the traits of a battle maniac.
He extended his hand.
Tsukumogami Manipulation!
In the darkness, a flash of bright silver suddenly appeared, and Mirokuji Kirigiri returned to his hand.
Despite being under Heavy Pressure, he slowly rose, straightening his body like a steadfast pine.
Ama no Habakiri came head-on.
At the last moment, Mahito swung Kirigiri.
—New Cutting Line!
A sharp, piercing sound flashed by, and a noticeable Cutting Line actually appeared on the massive invisible blade compressed by the atmosphere.
Mirokuji Kirigiri was finally "complete" at this moment.
She carved a tangible line onto an intangible object.
At this moment, nothing could stop her.
She could engrave her new line onto all creation, cutting through it once more.
Although facing an invisible blade, Mahito distinctly felt like he was cutting something solid when he swung Kirigiri.
The sensation was not like a sword, but more akin to a wall.
He felt a series of sparks erupt as Kirigiri collided with Ama no Habakiri.
He actually managed to use Kirigiri to split this invisible blade and, at the same time, used the recoil to spring away from his spot, avoiding the range of Heavy Pressure.
It was then that he realized they weren't sparks, but rather rainwater from within the shattering invisible blade.
The scattered invisible blade exploded with immense force, spreading a vast amount of rainwater in all directions, as if tons of fireworks had suddenly detonated.
Where fireworks explode with fire, the invisible blade exploded with water.
Suddenly, someone appeared silently beside Mahito, their fist slamming fiercely toward him.
Mahito raised Kirigiri and swung it down, but the person vanished before it connected.
Mahito only felt a heavy blow to his back, and the immense force sent him flying forward.
—Cursed Technique Release: Cicada Shell Warp!
The Utsusemi Technique is a traditional Japanese ninjutsu, which achieves an effect similar to instantaneous movement through a form of illusion.
The Cursed Technique named after it can accomplish something even more exaggerated than traditional ninjutsu.
The sorcerer can freely set the starting and ending points, performing spatial transfers between them before being attacked.
At this moment, the Utsusemi sorcerer used this principle to appear beside Mahito, then suddenly reappeared behind him, mercilessly striking Mahito's back.
Mahito stomped his foot to stop his movement, his Cursed Energy perception magnified to its limit.
Darkness still obscured his eyes, but at this moment, he fully perceived everyone's movement trajectories.
The Utsusemi user had just appeared beside him when Kirigiri slashed diagonally, but before that, the Utsusemi user disappeared again.
He tried the same trick, but this time Mahito wasn't fooled.
He didn't use full strength when swinging Kirigiri, so he changed direction with the momentum and struck again.
The current Mahito can even see the trajectories of spatial movement.
"Got. You."
A sweet female voice suddenly spoke.
Mahito's slashing motion froze.
One silk thread after another appeared from thin air, coiling around Mahito's forearm, upper arm, and fingers.
Even the hilt of Kirigiri, which was being swung down, was entangled by countless silk threads.
Mahito's perception had spread to its limit.
He could almost feel every raindrop in the heavy rain.
Even in the darkness, he could clearly know everyone's position and movement.
When he was serious, even the squad members using Cicada Shell Warp were nowhere to hide.
Yet he didn't notice the silk threads wrapped around him.
The darkness finally receded, signifying that all members of the Zen'in Family believed the battle was decided.
A beautiful woman appeared outside the Zen'in Family's main gate, in a completely safe place.
She stood amidst the corpses of the Kukuru Unit, smiling as she looked at Mahito.
"Cursed Technique Release: Life-Entangling Shura Silk."
The woman exhaled softly.
"Anything entangled by my spider silk, whether it's a Jujutsu Sorcerer, a Cursed Spirit, or anything else, will dissolve in poison like a man captured by the legendary yokai Jorōgumo."
"The bound target can only watch helplessly as its body dissolves, leaving no residue."
"King of Curses, even if you can resurrect from the dead, under the Binding Vow of my Life-Entangling Shura Silk, you will still go to the Yellow Springs."
Mahito indeed felt his fingers lose strength.
Then he found that not only his sword arm, but also his waist, neck, forehead, cheeks, chest, hips, and legs were entangled by one spider silk after another.
What dissolved first was not his flesh, but his clothes.
His bamboo hat silently fell, and before it even reached the ground, it dissolved into ashes in midair.
Mahito couldn't help but praise,
"Controlling shadows to form shadow blades or widely obscure vision; immense pressure capable of crushing a human body; compressing the atmosphere to form a gigantic invisible blade; spatial transfer with freely controllable return paths; and spider silk so secretive that even I, in peak condition, couldn't detect it, capable of dissolving objects."
"Plus, the Earth and Stone Manipulation Technique, which has a wide attack range and extremely fast activation speed."
"The Flame Technique, deeply cultivated from the Three Great Families' secret technique Falling Blossom Emotion, combined with iaijutsu, capable of tearing the earth with a single strike and continuously launching combos to prevent the enemy from retaliating."
"And finally, the captain who possesses the Projection Sorcery technique, lauded as the fastest Cursed Technique apart from Gojo Satoru—the same as the Zen'in Family Head."
"Truly worthy of being the renowned elite sorcerer group of the Zen'in Family, a household name in the jujutsu world."
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