At that moment, Muzan's body expanded like an inflating balloon, swelling rapidly from the neck where Sukuna was gripping him.
Though he didn't yet know what Muzan was trying to do, Sukuna wasn't about to indulge him. He released Cleave, instantly shredding the swollen flesh and tissue. Blood and fine chunks of meat sprayed everywhere, like a localized rain of gore.
Those young policemen had never seen anything like this. The youngest had already lost his mind and scrambled away in terror.
The other two raised their guns, no longer sure whether the problem was Muzan or Sukuna—or both.
The scattered pieces clung to the bodies of ordinary people nearby, entering them through their mouths, noses, and other orifices.
But not every ordinary person contaminated by Muzan's blood became a demon. A considerable number couldn't handle the power. Their bodies rapidly swelled and burst, spreading Muzan's blood a second time.
This was Muzan's plan—an upgraded version of his old strategy. While splitting apart to escape, he wouldn't waste the discarded parts. Instead, he would use them to forcibly turn surrounding humans into demons, hindering Sukuna's movements and buying time to flee.
People throughout the street, touched by the scattered blood rain, turned into demons one after another. But only about half of them transformed. Most simply couldn't handle Muzan's power.
Sukuna sensed that the power belonging to Muzan's individual self had instantly split into countless pieces and scattered.
He even hesitated for a moment, wondering if the so-called Demon King was really this fragile.
But Sukuna quickly dismissed the thought. He knew exactly how powerful his attack was. There was no way it could have achieved this effect.
The only reasonable explanation was that Muzan had caused this outcome himself.
That was when Sukuna remembered the rules about demons. Ordinary fatal wounds couldn't truly kill them.
As the Demon King, Muzan's vitality should far exceed that of any demon by a mile. But being able to completely disintegrate himself like this exceeded Sukuna's expectations.
After all, as strong as he was, Sukuna couldn't survive being broken down into pieces like this. And turning himself into twenty fingers as cursed objects had more to do with the unique rules of his world.
Sukuna scanned the newly born demons rushing toward him. After a long time, he raised that hand gesture and murmured.
"Domain Expansion: Malevolent Shrine."
As Sukuna's voice fell, the shrine rose from the ground. The giant mouths on its four sides opened wide, as if greedy wolves wanting to swallow everything.
Beneath that eerie shrine was a mound stacked from the white bones of humans and beasts alike.
The shrine's appearance drew the eyes of nearby demons and survivors. None of them knew what they were about to face.
"What are you standing there for? Run!" a husband said to his wife, uneasy about her sudden stop.
"But look, a shrine appeared over there..."
Before the wife could finish, both their bodies tilted and fell uncontrollably.
The police officer who had been aiming his gun froze at the sight of the strange shrine. His finger on the trigger slid off along with his entire arm. Blood gushed from the stump.
A two-story restaurant tilted violently, and then collapsed on itself.
Scenes like this were playing out simultaneously all down the street. And this was only the power of the first slash.
"Not bad. The Domain's range doesn't seem to be affected."
"Guaah... aah..."
Beside him, a newborn demon with its body severed crawled furiously toward Sukuna.
Because it hadn't transformed properly and lacked talent, its regeneration was extremely slow. Intestines and other organs spilled from his waist as it crawled.
Sukuna looked at it with disdain and released another slash, killing it in an instant.
Even Muzan, who had split into countless pieces and fled into the drainage system, was stunned by Malevolent Shrine's power.
He could clearly sense that all the demons he had created were simultaneously completely shredded.
And not just the demons. Even the surrounding buildings were destroyed indiscriminately.
Within a few breaths, everything within a two-hundred-meter radius centered on Sukuna had been damaged by his slashes.
Sukuna could have ground everything to fine dust if he wanted. He simply didn't see the need for this situation.
As for Shibuya, Attacks of that scale were the only way to deal with Mahoraga. These small fry weren't worth that level of effort.
And yes, that included Muzan aswell, the one who had created these small fry—also hadn't yet put that much pressure on Sukuna.
Still, Sukuna couldn't tell whether this Muzan was the real one or some duplicate created by his ability, which was why he had been so willing to self-destruct and run.
But one thing was certain: that guy had dared to escape right in front of Sukuna. The next time he caught him, he would slaughter him.
The ramen stall owner looked at the dust rising from the distant street because of Malevolent Shrine and the crowds fleeing in terror. He saw the armed policemen rushing from the station toward that direction. He couldn't help but say to Shinobu.
"Miss, finish up and leave quickly. Something big must have happened over there. Quite a commotion."
After finishing dinner, Shinobu had regained some energy. She paid and considered how to approach the scene. With all the police mobilized, she had to be careful not to be treated as a suspicious person and complicate things.
Just as Shinobu was thinking, Sukuna's familiar figure appeared beside her. He spoke calmly.
"Let's go."
Shinobu looked at the chaotic scene in the distance and fell silent for a moment. Then she couldn't help but ask. "What did you do over there?"
"I might have run into Muzan," Sukuna replied flatly.
"What?!"
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