As soon as the words were spoken, the shadow under Ryoumen Sukuna's feet suddenly spread out, and a massive white shikigami emerged from it.
A fist, larger than a clay pot, swung toward the nearest Yukinoshita Yukino.
Yukinoshita Yukino had no choice but to retreat for now.
"Is that all you have?"
The shadow under Hayashizaki's feet also spread out, and the Mahoraga holding a dark, World War II-style spear rushed out, its spear piercing into the chest of the Mahoraga summoned by Ryoumen Sukuna, pushing it back.
Meanwhile, Yukinoshita Yukino's Mahoraga was still fighting the embedded beast, Mahoraga, on the other side, unable to be summoned to help for now.
"Tsk." Ryoumen Sukuna clicked his tongue in annoyance.
According to his expectations, the black flash attack earlier should have taken out Yukinoshita Yukino, whose technique had been disrupted. But he didn't expect Hayashizaki to react so quickly, blocking the black flash with a weak, low-energy clone.
While he focused on dealing with the black-haired young man, a blood-red flower suddenly blossomed beside him. Yukinoshita Yukino, while avoiding Sukuna's Mahoraga's sneak attack, had delivered a slashing blow.
Ryoumen Sukuna staggered back as a powerful punch hit his face, causing his upper body to lean backward uncontrollably. Before he could recover, a long black sword stabbed into his abdomen.
The shadow on the ground spread out, and realizing the danger, the King of Curses quickly retreated.
Long spears made of shadows shot out from the spreading shadows, their sharp tips piercing through the spot where Ryoumen Sukuna had been just moments before.
How could his ten shadow techniques be this effective?
This wasn't just a simple expansion technique...
Even Ryoumen Sukuna couldn't immediately figure out the expansion technique Hayashizaki was using, so he naturally couldn't imitate it.
"You're kidding me. After all the time I spent studying this, if you could learn it in an instant, I'd have no face left!"
Hayashizaki, having keenly noticed the doubt in Ryoumen Sukuna's eyes, laughed as he lowered his body, darting across the ground like a seabird. He casually grabbed a black spear and thrust it toward the King of Curses.
Ryoumen Sukuna reached out suddenly, grabbing the black spear and, with a forceful motion of his forearm muscles, broke it in his hand.
At the same time, three other arms reached out to attack Hayashizaki.
However, two white afterimages suddenly separated from the black-haired young man's body, materializing into entities. One on each side, they blocked Ryoumen Sukuna's arms, and his remaining arm was easily deflected by Hayashizaki, who then closed in.
"No Mahoraga to help you now, huh?"
For the first time, a murderous intent appeared in Hayashizaki's ruby-red eyes.
He sneered, and with his cursed energy exploding with his punch, he sent Ryoumen Sukuna flying.
He then quickly stepped forward, creating a dent in the ground, and chased after the flying Ryoumen Sukuna.
Yukinoshita Yukino, who had originally planned to follow, stopped in her tracks, a helpless smile on her face.
She realized Hayashizaki's intentions. She understood that the battle from here on out was between him and Ryoumen Sukuna, so she decided to stay out of it and just watch him show off from a distance.
Meanwhile, Hayashizaki had finally, using his reversal technique, repaired the damaged frontal lobe of his brain that had been hurt by his own cursed energy.
This also meant that his broken technique had been reset by this action.
Two clones, turning into white afterimages, merged back into their original form and disappeared, reappearing beside Ryoumen Sukuna.
"Thank you, Gojo Satoru."
Hayashizaki grinned, showing a sinister smile that reminded one of Sukuna.
The two young men with black hair simultaneously stretched out their hands, but the hand seals they formed were completely different.
"Domain Expansion: Fushou no Ouchiko."
"Domain Expansion: Ketsugou no Kuroyami."
The overlapping voices sounded like whispers from hell, echoing in Ryoumen Sukuna's ears.
The latter widened his eyes, his face full of disbelief.
Two different domains at the same time?
And both domains were open!
The shadow replaced the sea of blood in the Fushou no Ouchiko domain. The dark, pitch-black sea churned violently, and a magnificent palace rose up from the shadowy waters.
On the other side, behind Hayashizaki's clone, stood a terrifying and grotesque skeletal Buddhist shrine.
Before Sukuna could react, dozens of deep cuts appeared all over his body. Before he could respond, his feet suddenly sank into the shadow, like stepping into a swamp, greatly hindering his movements.
The hands beneath his shoulders joined in a prayer gesture, forming a seal: "Mikyo Karago!"
A barrier surrounded Sukuna, protecting him from the ongoing strikes and buying him time to heal his wounds with a reversed technique.
"Hmph, a simple barrier technique like the New Shadow Flow's... No, should I call it a prototype?" Hayashizaki raised an eyebrow. "This is just delaying your death. Why bother struggling? Just come out of Fushiguro's body already."
In response to Hayashizaki's advice, Ryoumen Sukuna snorted coldly, without answering.
He quickly healed his injuries with a reversed technique, and then, using a small amount of cursed energy, damaged the frontal part of his brain and began using the reversed technique to heal it.
Having seen Hayashizaki use the reversed technique to reset the broken technique, Sukuna learned the skill as well.
As long as he regains control of the technique, he can activate his domain.
I haven't lost yet!
Ryoumen Sukuna's face twisted with a savage expression, as two Hayashizaki clones charged toward him.
Not only that, but the ten shikigami, enhanced by the domain, also moved into action, surrounding the King of Curses from a thousand years ago.
The Mikyo Karago needed two hands to maintain its state, which meant Sukuna had to give up his hands, and the advantage of having four hands was no more.
Hayashizaki could already tell that Sukuna was using the reversed technique to fix the broken technique. If he didn't stop Sukuna before he succeeded, it would be over.
Sukuna desperately fought off the two Hayashizakis. Suddenly, two giant wolves, one black and one white, burst out of the shadows beneath him. They each bit onto the hands he was using to maintain the Mikyo Karago seal and began pulling with all their might, trying to force him to let go.
The wolves' sharp teeth pierced through his forearms, leaving bloody holes, and crimson blood slowly seeped from the wounds.
Sukuna kicked one of the Divine Dogs aside and quickly retreated, trying to escape the encirclement of the two Hayashizakis.
However, a sharp eagle cry suddenly rang out above him.
Hayashizaki and his clone quickly dispersed. A blinding purple lightning bolt struck down, and Sukuna's skin immediately charred as his body was briefly paralyzed by the powerful current.
"Tch."
Though he was only paralyzed for a moment, it made Sukuna frown and click his tongue in annoyance.
Roar!
A deafening tiger roar sounded behind him, and a massive tiger, accompanied by huge waves, emerged from Sukuna's back. Its enormous paws, bigger than Sukuna himself, came crashing down in a furious strike.
Sukuna raised his hand to block, but the tiger's paw was pierced by his upright fist. His fingers, like eagle claws, tightly gripped the paw and, with a sudden burst of force, he swung the shikigami tiger up and smashed it into the owl shikigami in the sky.
The tiger crashed heavily into the shadow sea below, once again sending huge waves rising into the air.
"You're quite capable."
The black-haired youth flashed in front of Ryoumen Sukuna and threw a punch at his face.
Ryoumen Sukuna raised both hands, crossing them in front of his body to block the punch. His body stepped back.
The clone immediately chased after him, entangling in a fight. However, Ryoumen Sukuna preferred to take a few more punches rather than engage in a struggle with the clone. He was only avoiding the fight.
A sharp sound cut through the air as a massive black war spear shot toward the King of Curses like an arrow.
Ryoumen Sukuna took a step back, and the heavy war spear nailed into the ground in front of him, vibrating and humming.
The next moment, a shadow covered his position as a divine warrior descended from the sky.
The warrior grabbed the war spear, swung it around, and the gleaming black axe blade came down heavily on Ryoumen Sukuna's raised arm, knocking it away and severing part of his left arm.
Ryoumen Sukuna kept retreating.
Hayashizaki couldn't help but laugh: "You really can run."
Seeing that the black-haired youth couldn't stop him, the King of Curses grinned smugly. "As long as you can't defeat me before I repair the broken technique, you won't be able to win!"
"Even if you fix the technique, you still can't win," Hayashizaki said, sounding rather speechless. He felt that the other side's tactic of just delaying the battle was too abstract.
Delay! Just keep delaying! No matter what, I'll hold you back!
Ryoumen Sukuna ignored him, and with his weapon, the cursed warrior pulled back like drawing a bow.
The next second, the heavy black war spear was thrown from the divine warrior's hands, slicing through the air with a shriek, heading straight for Ryoumen Sukuna's chest.
The spear flew too fast for Ryoumen Sukuna to dodge. He could only raise what was left of his arm and open his palm to block in front of himself.
The war spear pierced through his palm, and its tremendous force pushed it forward. The sharp tip pierced his chest, dragging him backward and finally pinning him to the wall of a building wrapped in the domain.
Ryoumen Sukuna widened his eyes and couldn't stop himself from spitting out a mouthful of blood.
At that moment of stillness, several black spears shot out from the building's wall behind him, completely pinning his body to it. Only his hands at the bottom were still desperately holding the marks of the curse.
But soon, Ryoumen Sukuna's wounds began to heal, and his severed limbs started to regrow.
A fierce grin returned to the King of Curses' face as he maintained the curse mark, transforming it into the "Yama's Palm Seal."
"Domain Expansion: Demon-Slaying Kitchen."
Even if you can use your clones to activate two domains at once, once my domain activates, both of yours will break...
The crimson sky spread rapidly, covering the two domains Hayashizaki had activated before finally stopping.
However, the domains didn't break as Ryoumen Sukuna had expected. Instead, his domain was now struggling against Hayashizaki's two domains, each with their guaranteed effects.
As a result, Ryoumen Sukuna's domain could only weaken the guaranteed effects of Hayashizaki's two domains but couldn't fully cancel them out.
Blood erupted from the King of Curses again, though this time, the frequency of the cuts from the technique was slightly slower than before.
"You..."
Ryoumen Sukuna seemed to realize something, his eyes slowly widening.
Hayashizaki's understanding of cursed techniques had already surpassed his own, reaching the next level.
That was something he had stopped studying after becoming invincible a thousand years ago.
*Pfft!*
Several more spears pierced Ryoumen Sukuna's body, going through his joints and making it hard for him to move. They pinned him firmly to the wall.
As long as the effect of the shadow fusion domain remained, he would be attacked at any moment by weapons formed from the shadow.
It was a deadlock.
Hayashizaki slowly stepped forward, walking towards Ryoumen Sukuna, who was pinned to the wall.
The latter watched as the black-haired youth approached with a smile, his four eyes widening more and more as he began to struggle violently.
With his struggle, the spears that held him began to loosen, but soon, several more spears shot out from the ground and densely pierced into his body.
"Ryoumen Sukuna."
Hayashizaki finally reached him.
The Curse King from a thousand years ago looked up at him, and for the first time, a hint of fear appeared in his eyes.
Hayashizaki slowly extended his hand and grabbed Ryoumen Sukuna's head.
This time, something was different.
Ryoumen Sukuna, in terror, looked at the black-haired youth and screamed in horror, "You little brat! What have you done?!"
Hayashizaki grabbed the boundary between Sukuna's and Fushiguro Megumi's souls.
Then, with a sharp pull.
*Riiiip!*
It was as if the skin was being torn from his body, revealing the unconscious spiky-haired boy.
The body of Ryoumen Sukuna that had been ripped off was just a living skin suit.
"Die, curse."
The smile faded from Hayashizaki's face as he gave the final judgment with a blank expression.
As the black-haired youth's words echoed, the shadows, like a disease clinging to the bones, swiftly began to invade Ryoumen Sukuna, completely swallowing him up and merging him into the sea of shadows.
"You… little brat…"
At the end, the four eyes on the skin suit flickered with an unwilling light, and before they vanished completely, Sukuna's muffled voice could still be heard faintly cursing Hayashizaki.
But eventually, everything fell silent.
The strongest curse king, Ryoumen Sukuna, from a thousand years ago.
Exorcised.
...
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