—There was no satisfying impact.
Gojo sensed that whoever had stolen his best friend’s body was still standing.
His Six Eyes lit up as he examined his surroundings in detail.
The Six Eyes were exceptional eyes in and of themselves.
Normally, there was no need for him to strain his eyes and focus.
But in order to finish off the unknown bastard desecrating his best friend’s body, he was operating the Six Eyes at 120% for the first time in his life.
What is that structure?
A fleeting sense of incongruity.
Gojo found himself facing a discrepancy between what his eyes saw and what he knew.
His eyes were telling him that the structure covered in skulls was a domain.
Yet according to his knowledge, a domain was established only after a space had been separated with a barrier technique.
That lone tree standing there was a domain? And if it was a domain, why couldn’t he sense the sure-hit effect of an imbued technique?
No, there was no way the Six Eyes were wrong.
—He built a domain without separating space with a barrier?
Gojo Satoru, who had never encountered a sorcerer superior to himself among modern sorcerers, met someone who surpassed him in barrier techniques for the first time in that moment.
It was a method of employing barrier techniques that he had never imagined possible because he had never experienced anything beyond his own level.
Once the proof unfolded before his eyes, he gradually began to understand that it was possible.
The instant he realized that, Gojo Satoru followed suit and expanded his domain.
"Domain Expansion—"
"Too late already. Bye-bye, Satoru."
Kenjaku was swallowed by a fish-shaped cursed spirit.
Then he vanished. Not long afterward, the domain collapsed.
To expand his domain without Gojo Satoru noticing, Kenjaku had made a binding vow that the sure-hit effect would injure no one within the domain.
Then he concealed his body inside the cursed spirit he had been using for transport and applied its sure-hit effect to the Seungdu he had planted in advance.
True teleportation, surpassing even the near-teleportation miracle of Limitless.
It was the height of inefficiency: using a domain, the greatest secret art of jujutsu, solely to escape.
"But hey, I survived. Isn’t that what matters?"
"Gasp, cough, gasp..."
The range of the already broad domain had become even wider due to the binding vow of not dividing space with a barrier, compounded by the vow not to harm anyone.
Kenjaku swiftly retrieved the critically wounded Mahito and moved to a Seungdu at the edge of the domain.
"At the very last moment, Gojo Satoru expanded [Unlimited Void]. It was a close call, but I managed to get out.
He never figured out the extent of my domain until the very end. Hahahaha!!!"
"What are you so happy about? You got your ass kicked, and the whole plan’s ruined."
Being able to evade Gojo Satoru’s domain at the last moment had been little short of sheer luck.
Even the man called the strongest sorcerer of the modern age would be unable to restore a technique that had burned out after expanding his domain.
Mahito was somehow regenerating his body, which had been reduced to a rag doll.
Of course, only his outward appearance was intact—inside, he was on the verge of death. But now that Kenjaku had expanded his domain, [Cursed Spirit Manipulation] was unusable as well, making it impossible to travel comfortably by riding cursed spirits.
"Oh, right, Mahito. Come here. I happen to have a spare set of clothes."
"What’s this, Geto? You’re unusually well-prepared today~"
Stripped naked by the aftermath of the battle, Mahito approached him at the mention of clothes.
But Kenjaku’s hand, which he looked toward expectantly, held nothing.
"You were outside the domain."
"Huh?"
Kenjaku had not yet dispelled his domain.
The moment Mahito, who had barely been outside it, stepped back into the domain’s range, Kenjaku subdued him with [Cursed Spirit Manipulation].
Only after swallowing Mahito’s cursed spirit orb did Kenjaku dispel his domain.
"Since it’s come to this, I might as well absorb Hanami, Dagon, and Jogo too. Losing four special-grade cursed spirits and having the plan practically wiped clean... That hurts..."
Muttering to himself under the stress of seeing plans he had devised over a long period of time on the verge of turning to nothing, Kenjaku suddenly turned at a presence that seemed to fall from the sky.
"Where are you going?"
"Tch...! No, it’s Zenin Daisuke."
It was Zenin Daisuke, flying exuberantly onto the scene in Nue Mode of the Ten Shadows Technique.
Kenjaku felt the tension drain out of him.
For a thousand years, Kenjaku had operated from the shadows of the jujutsu world.
As such, he had already investigated most of the major figures in the jujutsu world, as well as those around Itadori Yuji, his main target.
Zenin Daisuke. A Zenin clan nobody. His technique is merely Shadow Technique, without the Ten Shadows. Other than the special-grade cursed tool that took down rampaging Sukuna at the juvenile detention center, there’s nothing to watch out for.
News of Daisuke’s accomplishments in far-off Africa had yet to reach Kenjaku.
Can I take Kenjaku at my current level? From what I overheard, his technique is currently burned out from the aftereffects of his domain.
Unlike Kenjaku, who had underestimated his opponent and let down his guard, Daisuke remained tense as he assessed both himself and his enemy.
He made his decision.
"I’ll kill you here."
"Sorcerers these days are all so damn rude!"
—Ten Shadows Technique: Rabbit Escape.
Rabbit ears and a tail sprouted from Daisuke’s body.
At the same time, his silhouette split into multiple forms.
Countless clones appeared and surrounded Kenjaku.
Kenjaku was startled once by the discrepancy with the prior information claiming Daisuke’s technique was defective, and a second time because he had never seen a sorcerer use the Ten Shadows Technique like this.
But he soon realized that the technique’s structure involved overlaying the power of the Ten Shadows onto the user’s own body, and calmly began responding.
The defining trait of Rabbit Escape was overwhelming numbers. But the strength of each individual shikigami was not threatening.
Kenjaku instead moved into the mass of Rabbit Escapes and began taking them down one by one with hand-to-hand combat.
That was the correct choice, because Daisuke had been restricting Kenjaku’s range of movement while preparing his next move.
The Rabbit Escape clones struck by Kenjaku were being destroyed and dwindling one after another.
Daisuke released Rabbit Escape Mode, turning every clone into shadow.
Sluuurp.
The shadows melted slimily across the ground, swallowing Kenjaku’s feet and throwing him off balance.
Kenjaku turned his gaze toward the one silhouette that had not disappeared.
Its muscles swelled, and ox horns grew from its head.
"Guan Yu—!!!"
"Knowing won’t help you stop it, will it?"
Daisuke, poised in a sprinter’s stance, shot forward.
At a speed closer to that of a missile than a run, Kenjaku gave up on dodging and concentrated cursed energy in his arms, taking up a defensive stance.
"I blocked it, though?"
"You’re already a rag doll, and you’re still talking!"
Kenjaku, struck head-on by Daisuke’s charge, had his upper body smashed apart and was sent flying twenty meters in the direction of the force.
Suspended in the air, Kenjaku immediately began restoring his body with [Reverse Cursed Technique].
He can’t move until he hits the ground. I’ll charge him once more and smash him to pieces!
Daisuke charged again.
Judging that he would simply be hit again otherwise, Kenjaku expelled cursed energy from both hands, changing his trajectory and evading the charge.
Has his technique recovered? No, he’s just crudely blasting out cursed energy!
Forcing an evasive maneuver in midair cost him quite a bit of cursed energy.
Obtaining a physical effect purely through the release of cursed energy rather than a technique naturally required a considerable expenditure.
Daisuke’s form changed.
—Ten Shadows Technique: Tiger Funeral!!!
A simple domain spread out.
The rule imposed upon the domain was: "Shadow Stepping."
At the same time, the domain’s rules were automatically conveyed to Kenjaku’s mind.
The two moved, each trying to step on the other’s shadow.
Kenjaku was the first to move a foot toward his opponent’s shadow.
I’ve won—
Whoosh.
As if taunting Kenjaku, Daisuke’s shadow ignored the light and slipped away from beneath Kenjaku’s foot.
"That’s cheating!"
"There’s no rule saying you can’t move your shadow, you know?"
Daisuke’s shadow stepped on Kenjaku’s shadow.
Kenjaku’s left leg exploded where its shadow had been stepped on.
Kenjaku’s body collapsed.
Daisuke seized Kenjaku and latched onto him as though applying a chokehold.
"Ten Shadows Technique: Nue!"
"Ggggggh...!!!!!"
He released without limit Nue’s cursed energy, which carried the property of electricity.
As Kenjaku’s consciousness began to fade and Daisuke faintly sensed victory approaching—
Rumbleeeeee.
"Whew~"
"G-Gravity?!"
Kenjaku’s burned-out technique had returned.
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