Rain poured in sheets, and the dim daylight was completely smothered beneath layer after layer of black clouds.
The water splashing across the muddy field did not sink into the ground. Instead, it twisted upward through the air as if life had been poured into it, climbing against gravity.
The streams gathered and took shape with terrifying speed, sketching out body after body.
Countless identical Kaedes rose from the rain, crowding every blind spot around Gojo Satoru.
Rain ran down the joints of every duplicate as they straightened and came alive.
In perfect unison, they lowered their centers of gravity and gripped the elegant curved blades in both hands, replicas of Mikazuki Munechika.
Hundreds, then thousands, of cold edges reflected a chilling gleam through the darkened rain, like a wolf pack poised to tear into its prey, all of them staring silently at the figure trapped in the center.
Through his lenses, Gojo's blue eyes moved rapidly across the countless water clones.
The terrifying analytical power of the Six Eyes was running at full speed, searching for a flaw hidden somewhere inside this wall of nearly identical cursed energy.
"You've completely synchronized the texture of your cursed energy with the environment inside the domain, then used the rain itself to multiply infinitely.
In here, every one of you is a phantom, but any one of them can turn into the real killing blow at any moment."
The compressed sphere of cursed energy at his fingertip gave off an unstable hum. The rain couldn't even get close before the violent pull around it shredded it apart.
"Not a bad smokescreen. With Infinity being neutralized, using sheer numbers and cursed tools to fill in the gap in close combat is a very calm decision. But..."
The curve at Gojo's mouth vanished. That blue gaze sharpened into pure battle intent.
He drove the condensed ball of cursed energy straight into the ground in front of him.
"The only way to build a tower out of sand is if the wind doesn't blow it apart.
Cursed Technique Lapse: Blue."
The air screamed.
A visible singularity of attraction erupted at the center of the encirclement.
The violent pull became a miniature black hole, dragging in the rain, chunks of turf, and more than a dozen sword-wielding clones that failed to evade it in time.
Under that absolute force, their bodies warped, twisted, and exploded apart, collapsing into harmless spray.
But the remaining clones did not retreat.
With heavy splashes as they kicked through the flooded ground, the nearest figures burst forward all at once.
Their blades formed a dense net of cold silver light, slashing in from four separate directions at every vital point on Gojo's body.
Gojo's body dropped sharply under the aftershock of Blue, dodging one strike aimed for his throat by less than an inch.
He snapped his right leg out, reinforced with heavy cursed energy, and smashed it into the chest of one clone like a war hammer.
Boom!
The clone burst apart in midair, turning into a spray of rainwater.
But in that instant, when the old force had just finished and the new had not yet been born, another cold blade split the rain without a sound and cut toward his ribs.
Gojo frowned slightly and had to twist his waist sharply to evade. The edge skimmed the hem of his shirt.
The faint sound of cloth tearing was nearly lost in the storm. But a thin, crescent-shaped wound appeared at his side.
There was no immediate burst of blood. Instead, the edge of the cut flickered with a strange cursed reaction, as though something alive were trying to tear through the muscle and spread deeper into his organs.
Gojo slid backward to open distance at once. Pure white light from reverse cursed technique flared instantly at his waist.
Positive energy washed brutally through the spreading corruption and forcibly sealed the crescent wound shut.
He glanced down at the torn fabric of his shirt. Rainwater ran from his soaked white hair into the back of his collar, bringing with it a very real coldness.
Now that Infinity was no longer defending him automatically, the sheer physicality of the exchange, the real possibility of being cut or struck, set the combative blood of the strongest sorcerer fully ablaze.
"You've modified that blade into something seriously dangerous. Against anyone who doesn't know reverse cursed technique, even the smallest scratch would be enough to let the rain drain them dry."
Gojo flicked the water from the back of his hand, then slammed both fists together in front of him with a deafening crack.
He stopped standing still and defending passively. Instead, he charged straight into the wall of sword-light closing in on him again.
"If all it takes is smashing every source before the wound can spread, then that's what I'll do."
"The difference in cursed energy efficiency is too great... Even with the domain advantage suppressing Gojo's cursed energy, and with the rain carrying the wounds outward as a secondary effect, the cuts still aren't deep enough..."
Kaede thought it through while constantly shifting his consciousness through the rain.
His body itself was a Heavenly Restriction-like existence built by the effect of his own technique, which meant the ownership of any single body was not actually important.
So every clone was a clone, and at the same time every one of them was Kaede himself.
And because the domain's guaranteed-hit effect remained in place, every Mikazuki Munechika replica could unleash the same force as the original.
The roar of the rain almost drowned out the dull sound of blades cutting flesh.
The water clones swarmed from every direction, their swords weaving a dense silver net.
Gojo's figure moved at impossible speed through the storm of blades, afterimages and exploding spray crossing over one another. But the guaranteed-hit rule of the domain forcibly corrected the paths of the swords.
Three deep blood lines bloomed on Gojo's shoulder, side, and cheek without warning.
Before the blood could even run with the rain, brilliant white light erupted from the depths of each wound.
Reverse cursed technique crushed the spreading crescent-shaped residue with brute force.
His flesh healed in the blink of an eye, leaving behind not even the faintest scar.
Using the rotation of his body, Gojo drove a whipping kick into the neck of a nearby clone, blowing it into mist.
Kaede stood still ten paces away in the rain, his gaze fixed tightly on the center of the battle, watching Gojo's every response inside that storm of blades.
Then, with the flow of his intent, the environment shifted again.
Every raindrop within fifteen feet of Gojo suddenly froze in midair. The soft droplets stretched beneath the pressure of cursed energy and became thousands of razor-edged water blades.
Tearing through the air, the blades came down like a swarm from every possible angle, carrying the deadlock certainty of a guaranteed-hit attack.
Gojo did not foolishly underestimate it.
He contracted his defense at once and slammed both palms together in front of him.
A tangible blue shockwave exploded outward from his body, shattering the first wave of approaching blades.
But the rain was endless.
The scattered droplets reformed in midair and continued pressing relentlessly at every opening.
"So you've given the domain's guaranteed-hit property directly to natural rainfall, skipping even the need to swing a blade.
You really do know how to squeeze every last bit of utility out of a battlefield."
Even as he reinforced his body with cursed energy to endure the occasional blade that slipped through, Gojo kept moving at high speed to avoid the densest attacks.
His blue eyes flashed constantly through the mass of flying water blades, hunting for the cursed-energy node at the heart of the domain's operation.
"But this kind of high-density environmental manipulation and guaranteed-hit tracking must cost an absurd amount of cursed energy.
A pure battle of attrition is bad for you too. How much longer can your reserves really hold?"
The blades sliced through his sleeves, leaving small cuts on his arms that healed as quickly as they appeared.
Gojo had no intention of staying on defense forever. His fingers folded together in front of him, and a terrifying heat, enough to make the surrounding moisture boil, began gathering at his fingertips.
A blinding dark-red light ignited within the rain. It was the opening stance of technique reversal.
"If this entire storm is your weapon, then all I have to do is evaporate the space and the moisture before they can reform."
The red sphere of cursed energy at Gojo's fingertips swelled wildly. Rainwater around him was vaporized instantly before it could even approach, and huge masses of white steam shrieked upward.
Inside the steam, Gojo locked onto Kaede's position, a dangerous smile pulling at his mouth.
The violent force of repulsion was already waiting, ready at any moment to rip apart the domain built out of water.