Chapter 91 — The Gate of Shock, Open!
Sukuna's domain — Malevolent Shrine — was unlike any other.
It required no barrier. No canvas, no wall.
He didn't need to create a separate space — he manifested the domain directly into reality itself.
Painting divine slaughter upon the air, with the world itself as his stage.
Within its range, the domain's guaranteed-hit effect was absolute:
Anything with cursed energy would be sliced by the technique "Dismantle."
Anything without cursed energy would be cleaved apart by "Cleave."
Once the Malevolent Shrine unfolded, its storm of slashes became endless — an eternal rain of invisible blades.
Even someone like Zen'in Shinsuke, who possessed no cursed energy, would be struck mercilessly the instant he entered.
There was no shelter. No escape. No breath left between the cuts.
---
"What's wrong?" Sukuna's voice echoed, cold and amused.
"Don't tell me you plan to run away like a beaten dog?"
Suspended high in the air, hands forming seals, the King of Curses grinned. His presence dominated the sky.
---
"Heh. That's quite a mouth on you," Shinsuke replied, smirking.
"Alright then… I'll play along. Just give me one second."
The taunt was cheap — childish even — but he decided to take the bait anyway.
He wanted to see it for himself: just what could Sukuna's divine domain do to him.
With a flicker of movement, his figure vanished.
---
A moment later, he reappeared at the outskirts of Shibuya, beside Principal Yaga and the others.
"Z–Zen'in-sensei!?"
Everyone froze at his sudden arrival.
His entire body glowed red-hot, steam rising from his skin like a living furnace.
For the first time, they saw him like this up close — muscles pulsing, veins throbbing, every cell radiating raw vitality.
It was as though a beast had shed its human skin.
---
Shinsuke didn't waste a word.
He reached to his waist and removed his inventory curse, the living curse that carried his weapons.
Inside Sukuna's domain, he couldn't guarantee the curse's safety — nor that any tool could withstand what was coming.
The density of slashes would destroy even special-grade weapons within seconds.
"Maki. Hold this for me."
He tossed the compact, spherical curse toward her.
---
"...Sensei?"
Maki caught it carefully, confusion flashing in her eyes — but by the time she looked up again, he was gone.
"Wasn't that Zen'in-sensei's storage curse?" asked Yaga, his brows knitting.
"Wait—don't tell me…" Kusakabe muttered, face paling.
"He's planning to fight Sukuna bare-handed!?"
To charge into battle with the King of Curses without weapons — it was madness.
Sukuna wielded countless techniques, his mastery extending even to domains.
And Shinsuke… was human.
---
"No," Maki said quietly, clutching the small sphere.
"Sensei doesn't need weapons anymore."
Her gaze hardened as she remembered that clash years ago — the fight between her teacher and Gojo Satoru.
The shockwaves, the speed, the sheer destructive power.
At that level, even the strongest cursed tools couldn't keep up.
They would shatter long before he did.
---
Somewhere above the burning city, Zen'in Shinsuke reappeared in midair, facing Sukuna's descending shadow.
His muscles tensed, steam billowed — and deep within his core, something unsealed.
His blood surged like thunder.
The gate opened.
"Eight Gates Formation — Gate of Shock... OPEN!"
The sky itself seemed to tremble as his aura burst outward, piercing through the oppressive weight of Sukuna's domain.
And for the first time, the King of Curses narrowed his eyes — sensing genuine danger.
Even Playful Cloud, a special-grade cursed tool forged to pierce domains, had once been shattered.
If even that could break, then no weapon on earth could withstand what was coming.
---
BOOM!
A deafening sonic boom cracked through the sky as Zen'in Shinsuke stomped off the air itself, propelling his body forward like a cannon shot.
He appeared before Sukuna, hand beckoning mockingly.
"Come," he said, grinning, "let's see which is tougher—your domain or my body."
---
"Bold words!"
Sukuna's lips curled into a feral smile as cursed energy erupted like a crimson storm.
"Domain Expansion — Malevolent Shrine!"
Instantly, the world within a 150-meter radius went silent—vacuumed into stillness.
Blood-red light flooded the air as skulls and a twisted throne materialized out of nothingness.
From every direction, countless invisible slashes tore through space.
Sukuna's maximum domain radius was about 200 meters,
but by compressing it down to 150, he condensed its power,
making every slash faster, sharper, and infinitely more lethal.
"Now let's see," Sukuna roared,
"how you'll survive this!"
With his hands still locked in seals, his smile widened.
He pushed the output of his cursed energy to its absolute limit.
Within the domain, everything—organic or inorganic—was reduced to ash beneath the blinding lattice of blades.
The air itself shimmered with refracted light, each flicker marking another slash.
At the very center stood Zen'in Shinsuke,
the storm's target.
---
He raised his arms, crossing them before his chest.
A torrent of raw vital force erupted from within,
a crimson aura clinging to his body like molten steel.
The endless barrage of slashes struck him head-on—
each impact echoing like blades striking titanium.
The air filled with metallic crackles as sparks scattered.
Tiny cuts opened across his skin, each shallow,
but the sheer number of strikes turned him into a bleeding silhouette within seconds.
Blood rolled down his arms, searing against his glowing skin.
"Damn," he hissed under his breath, gritting his teeth.
"This really freaking hurts."
---
"Hahahahahaha!"
Sukuna's laughter roared through the domain, wild and euphoric.
"To resist my domain head-on—
you're the first to ever accomplish such a feat!"
The King of Curses had seen countless sorcerers—monsters, prodigies, legends—
but none had endured his domain with nothing but raw flesh and will.
A flicker of genuine admiration gleamed in his many eyes.
For a moment, he even entertained a dangerous thought—
If only this man had cursed energy…
He'd make the perfect vessel.
With this body, coupled with Sukuna's own power,
his strength would surpass gods.
But fate was cruel.
This man was born under the Heavenly Restriction, devoid of cursed energy.
Even if Sukuna took that body, his techniques would never activate.
"What a waste," Sukuna muttered,
half in awe, half in regret.
---
He didn't notice—
Shinsuke's blood-soaked body was trembling not from weakness, but from power gathering.
The air around him rippled and distorted,
the very space twisting under the pressure of boiling blood-force.
His teeth clenched. His veins flared like molten lightning.
A deafening roar exploded outward.
The ground cracked, the sky quaked, and red steam engulfed everything.
His muscles tore, skin split open with glowing fissures—
yet the power didn't stop climbing.
Under the dual force of Heavenly Restriction and Eight Gates,
his body was pushed far beyond human limits.
Even he wasn't sure it would hold.
But as the energy surged, his lips twisted upward—
a mad, exhilarated grin breaking across his face.
"This feeling…" he whispered.
"...is beautiful."
---
He tightened his fist.
Every muscle locked into perfect alignment.
The air itself caved inward around his knuckles.
"Daytime Tiger!"
ROAR!
He punched.
A blinding shockwave imploded the space ahead—
the slashes collapsed, erased by sheer kinetic force—
and from the vacuum, a colossal white tiger roared forth.
In a blink, it was upon Sukuna.
---
"What—?!"
Sukuna's pupils shrank.
His mind blanked.
This wasn't a cursed technique.
No barrier, no cursed energy—
just pure power and velocity,
so intense it crushed space itself.
BOOM!
The tiger struck.
A soundless impact followed by a concussive wave that flattened the world.
Sukuna's body was hurled backward, crashing through the unseen boundaries of his own domain.
The air pressure alone froze him in place—he couldn't move, couldn't breathe.
Blood burst from his nose and mouth.
He felt his ribs crack—his chest collapsing inward under the pressure.
Still, through the haze of pain, he refused to release his seal.
His hands stayed locked together, channeling slashes toward his enemy.
---
"Let's see," he growled, blood dripping from his grin,
"which one of us… breaks first."
He had the advantage of Reverse Cursed Technique—he could heal.
The other man, bleeding rivers of red, could not.
Sukuna's eyes blazed.
"I'll grind you down to dust… let's see how long that mortal body can last!"