Know the enemy and know yourself. If you know both, you can win a hundred battles.
And now, it was time to know himself.
[Sediment Moon].
[Aureole Basin].
[Black Scale].
His defense, mobility, ranged offense, and cutting power were already in place.
On top of that, [Black Scale] had gained the trait of being turned into a cursed tool.
It was devastating in one-on-one combat against curse users, but the problem came when fighting curses.
Because curses could regenerate unless their head or core was blown away in a single strike, there were plenty of cases where his firepower just wasn’t enough.
He could exorcise any curse below special grade with poison, but special-grade curses had so much cursed energy that they could regenerate faster than the poison could spread.
To exorcise monsters like that, there was no choice but to hit them with the strongest attack possible, using [Black Flash] like Gojo did, or like Yuji.
'What I’m missing is anti-domain measures, spatial control, and straight-up firepower.'
[Sediment Moon]’s tentacles, [Aureole Basin]’s spikes, and [Black Scale]’s cursed-tool transformation were all good at attacks based on points and lines, but they couldn’t handle attacks based on planes.
If he could only deploy a domain, that would be the best solution, but he wasn’t there yet.
For now, the priority was completing the technique by summoning the final shikigami.
But that wasn’t enough to satisfy him.
At the end of the battle at Satozakura High School, Mahito had awakened [Idle Transfiguration].
Nanami had stopped him before he could even fully unfold it, so Junpei still didn’t know what it was, but given that cursed technique of his, it was obvious that the moment a sure-hit effect was granted, it would automatically become a lethal weapon.
Ideally, he would fight that bastard only after he could deploy a domain, but the timing of an enemy attack was never something you could choose yourself.
Junpei wanted to create conditions where he could hold his own against a domain user even without a domain of his own.
It was a little hasty, but if he succeeded, he might get one step closer to the core of domain expansion.
He set his direction once more.
A hastily assembled shikigami wasn’t enough.
This was the foundation for domain expansion.
A race toward the pinnacle of jujutsu, and the final gate testing his imagination and understanding.
Unlike the shikigami he had called forth before, standing on the edge between life and death, this one had to be designed more thoroughly, more solidly.
Because this was his last chance.
Excessive restrictions would raise its power, but they would also create more weaknesses and more ways to counter it.
But if he imposed no restrictions at all, he wouldn’t get the destructive force he wanted.
So the important thing was finding the “right” line somewhere in the middle.
He didn’t even want invincibility like Gojo Satoru’s [Limitless].
He wanted a technique with no weaknesses, even if there were ways to counter it.
That was what Junpei was aiming for.
After about three days and nights of thinking it through, going through countless trial and error, Junpei finally completed the last shikigami.
“This is it.”
With a satisfied smile at the finished result, Junpei flopped back onto the bed.
It was a little rough around the edges, but that was already within expectations.
Just as the other shikigami had grown alongside him, increasing in output and usefulness, this one too had endless room to develop.
“Now all that’s left is...”
real combat.
-----------------------
Junpei got up early in the morning and went to look for Gojo.
Gojo’s voice came from inside the lounge he often used.
“Yeah, then I’ll leave it to you, Utahime. We’ll send some people over too, so don’t worry. What do you mean, ‘you of all people can be considerate too’? Hey, that’s harsh... Utahime’s weak, so it makes sense for the kids I trained to go, right? Don’t yell. See you later~”
He was probably on the phone with Iori Utahime.
'What’s going on...?'
-beep
“Why are you standing outside? Come in, Junpei.”
Apparently he’d noticed Junpei already, because he ended the call and called him in. Junpei opened the door and stepped into the room.
Gojo was sitting in a chair as arrogantly as ever to greet him.
“You heard that?”
“I heard it, but I have no idea what it means.”
“You’ll find out soon enough. No need to explain right now.”
“It sounded like you were talking to Professor Utahime, so I’m guessing it’s something to do with Kyoto Jujutsu High?”
“Yep.”
Junpei found it a little odd, but since Gojo showed no intention of explaining, he quickly lost interest too.
There was still a more important matter to discuss.
“What’s the occasion, coming to see me first thing in the morning?”
“I finished it.”
Gojo’s eyes widened.
He knew Junpei had talent, but already? That was an unprecedented growth rate.
Especially considering that all the shikigami he had summoned before had come from the concentration born in life-or-death situations, Junpei’s research results were remarkable.
From an ex-non-sorcerer who awakened a cursed technique to this level in just a little over a month.
Of course, Gojo had helped here and there.
He’d given Junpei advice whenever he got stuck, and he’d even secretly brought back books from the Gojo family’s hidden archives—texts on hand signs, domains, and even old manuals of the now-defunct New Shadow Style.
Still, at a conservative estimate, 80 percent of this had been done by Junpei alone.
“Wow. That’s impressive. Took a little over two weeks?”
“Seventeen days exactly.”
“As expected, all thanks to having an excellent mentor, huh? Be grateful to me, boy.”
“You did help, but saying it like that just makes me want to deny it more.”
“Can’t fix it. My personality’s just a little rotten. You’ll have to live with it.”
Junpei gave the grinning Gojo a long, steady look before saying what he’d come to say.
“Let’s go to the training hall, sensei.”
“You want to spar? Sure.”
How much had he improved since last time?
Judging by the cursed energy he could feel, this was going to be a much more enjoyable fight.
Maybe this time he’d have to show a little of his real strength too—Gojo got to his feet with an eager expression, but Junpei, making a disgusted face, shook his head.
“We’re not sparring. This is still just a test. I’ll attack, and you block it. That’s it. Okay? I don’t want to get beaten up and end up in the infirmary again.”
“Aw, that’s boring.”
“You won’t be saying that once you actually take the hit.”
In front of the grumbling Gojo, Junpei smiled with confidence.
It was only one exchange, but Gojo would definitely be surprised when he saw it.
After all, this thing was built by applying the trick that could pierce [Limitless].
“I like the confidence. That wasn’t really your type before, was it?”
“With Yuji and Fushiguro both leveling up so much, I guess I got fired up too.”
“Having comrades who can push each other in a positive direction is a blessing. Enjoy it while you’re still in school.”
“Did you have friends like that, Gojo-sensei?”
At the last question, Gojo, who had been walking ahead, paused.
After thinking for a moment, he tossed out a single word and left the room.
“Who knows.”
“What kind of answer is that? So lame.”
“Shut up, brat. Besides, weren’t you just using Yuji and Megumi as an excuse? Maybe there was another reason. Kugisaki, maybe. Or Nobara, maybe.”
“Why are you bringing up no... Kugisaki here!”
“There’s nothing embarrassing about awakening through love power, Junpei. Hold your head high!”
“You know you’re really annoying every time you do this, right?”
----------------------------
At the training hall, Gojo and Junpei stood facing each other at a short distance.
“Hey. Ready?”
“Yes.”
“Then come at me. I’m not sure you can break through this strongest man, though.”
Gojo was still smiling brightly with his hands in his pockets.
Junpei understood the source of that ease now, but he still hated it.
'Let’s see how long you can keep smiling.'
He wanted to see that obnoxious grin twist into shock.
If he’d wanted a sparring partner, Megumi or Yuji would have been more suitable than Gojo.
There was a reason he’d asked for a sandbag.
He did want to show Gojo the results of his training, but there was another reason too.
If this attack landed, he wasn’t sure anyone other than Gojo would be able to walk away unharmed.
He bent four fingers, excluding his thumb, and brought them together, raising one hand upright.
As Junpei slowly formed the hand sign, dark cursed energy began to glow from his body.
-Goooooo
The essence of the cursed energy Junpei had refined over a little more than a month of training.
At the summit of the tower he had built during that time, he looked down at the very bottom of himself.
Maybe because it had been built over such a short period, he could revisit the starting point once more.
And so he could face it.
A part of the essence of his inner world.
Assimilation and application.
Only after fully understanding the two stages of a technique could one reach the stage of utilization.
With his knowledge and experience now at a certain level, Junpei could contemplate his inner self and throw everything he had into the strike.
“[Dot Lamp].”
The last thing Gojo saw was a massive shape bursting out behind Junpei before his vision went black.
He was no longer smiling.
------------------------
In the darkness where nothing could be seen, Gojo floated through empty space.
It felt as if every sense except his awareness of cursed energy had been cut off.
In truth, the other senses besides his vision, which had been blocked by the blackout, were working properly, but the pressure of this strange space was inducing confusion in them.
“A simple domain!”
A simple domain was mostly used to protect one’s body from an opponent’s domain.
That was why it was called the weak’s domain.
But Junpei was using it in a different way.
The clue had come from the manual Gojo had secretly brought him, and from Miwa’s iaijutsu during the exchange event.
Compared to a proper domain, it was weak, but a simple domain was still a domain all the same.
There was no change in the basic principle: drawing the opponent in and forcing your own rules onto them.
In a domain stripped down to a simplified outline, cursed energy, and technique effects, Junpei had reduced it even further.
A restriction imposed on a space dominated by cursed energy.
He had applied the principles of a simple domain to an attack.
It was something impossible without exceptional sense.
Fortunately, Gojo had seen something similar before.
The simple domain of that woman with the split mouth that Geto used to favor in the past.
If he understood the “rules” properly, there would be a way to break it.
“So the real attack hasn’t even started yet.”
His body felt heavy, and ominous cursed energy drifted all around him, making it feel as if he’d been buried in a deep pit.
Because of the simple domain neutralizing the technique, if he dragged this out he’d probably be poisoned and collapse.
With his output, he could still break through Junpei’s incomplete neutralization and defend himself.
“You’re not planning to end it here either, are you, Junpei?”
In the end, the essence was the shikigami.
There was no way he’d end this without showing it properly...
-blink
The moment Gojo spoke, a faint light flashed near him.
“....?”
-blink
Again.
This time from a different spot.
“Hah...”
-blink blink blink blink blink blink
While Gojo’s attention was split by the two sudden flashes, the lights were already surrounding him and blinking madly.
Only then could Gojo grasp the essence of this simple domain.
“Interesting. Is this a quiz?”
All of those lights were made of Junpei’s cursed energy.
They scrambled the senses with blinking lights in endless darkness and forced him to choose the correct option.
He’d probably be hit with a lethal attack if he chose wrong. With the technique neutralized, [Limitless] wouldn’t be able to defend him either.
“What should I do...”
Even so, the lights were getting closer and closer to Gojo.
Their shape still hadn’t revealed itself, but the ominous feeling was growing stronger by the second.
An invisible clock was ticking, waiting for his answer.
-blink
Right before time ran out, Gojo found the correct choice.
A feat only possible because he had the [Six Eyes].
Junpei had hidden it so carefully that no one else would ever have noticed, but Gojo could see it.
The place where a slightly different flow of cursed energy was leaking out.
“So it’s you.”
Having confirmed the answer, Gojo lightly used [Blue] to pull it toward him, seize the light, and crush it.
-crunch!
The light crumpled in his hand.
-Kyaaaah!!!
As if confirming he was right, a grotesque shriek echoed out and the darkness surrounding him began to clear.
Junpei, wearing an astonished expression, came into view before Gojo’s eyes.
Gojo, who had been about to stride out with an easy smile, froze for a moment.
Junpei looked surprised, but there was no sign of defeat on his face.
And the darkness still hadn’t fully lifted.
Through the remaining gloom, he could see giant, sharp teeth.
His brain raced, and at last he understood the truth.
He had been inside the mouth of a giant maw this whole time.
“A sure-hit from the very start...!”
“Correct.”
-squelch!
The maw snapped shut, and Gojo’s upper body was crushed.
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