(Pov Satoshi)
As the cursed spirit formerly known as Taro continued attacking, I realized he had indeed grown stronger in this form. Each of his hammer attacks was faster than when he had been human. Despite not having grown fully into his strength, Taro was indeed a serious threat, at least to others. My own strength and speed had increased even more than his, meaning he couldn't land a single attack, though I had to admit getting close was proving annoying. He seemed to realize he couldn't hit me, so instead focused on using his hammers to keep me away, and whenever I got too close, those weird pseudo-arms of his would pop out and take a swing.
At this point, it was a battle of annoyance dealing with him, but that might have been the point. The longer I fought him, the longer it took to help the others against Hanami. I had to end this soon if I wanted to take down Hanami, as without them, there's no way Kenjaku would be able to go through with the plan to seal Satoru.
I jumped above and brought Playful Cloud down onto Taro, slamming him into the ground. I go to smack him away, but I'm forced to dodge when a hammer comes down. Even if this fight does take some time, it's going my way. He hasn't managed to land a single hit yet, and even if he's tough, Playful Cloud hits harder than any other weapon I have.
Once again, I dash forward, weaving around a multitude of hammers before I reach him and begin pummeling him repeatedly with the cursed tool. As I do so, a small spot opens on his body, and I can see a glass window, but then on the window, a blue liquid appears before forming into a familiar symbol.
"Domain Expansion: Barren Crushing Tower!"
A garbled voice calls out, and before I can land a killing blow, those false hands pop out again and throw me back. Once I land, I look around and see the familiar world of his domain, the old factory, but the worst part is Taro himself. The arms he produced stay out and are soon followed by a pair of legs and a small head. Soon, a full body had emerged from the greater mass of the scrap metal that made his body, which he had grown somehow during the battle, and exited his cursed womb.
I was surprised, though, mostly as to why he would use his domain; he should know it doesn't work on me. "Satoshi, what's going on?!" I hear behind me, and when I turn, I see Mai, Nanako, and Mimiko all within the domain's barrier.
'Damn, that's what he was planning!' I think he knows he can't get me with his domain, but those three are vulnerable. I realize I'm going to have to show off one of my new special moves.
Ever since I had gained the inventory curse along with the Inverted Spear of Heaven and the Chain of a Thousand Miles, I had used the two to create a method of defending against domains. Sure, most domains do nothing to me, but Malevolent Shrine doesn't just target those with cursed energy, as the dismantles it launches target inanimate objects, which I would count as. So I had come up with something I liked to call the Inverted Domain.
I draw out the Inverted Spear of Heaven with the chain attached and give it more length to swing with. "You three get as close to me as you can now!" I shout, and the three rush over near me, and once they get close enough, I begin to swing the blade around. Soon, it is moving so rapidly that I manage to create an effective shield around the four of us, and when Taro launches his attacks, they hit the spear and break.
The Inverted Spear of Heaven cancels out cursed techniques. Toji used it to get through Infinity, but I could use it to cut through attacks made with a cursed technique, so by swinging it so rapidly, I created a space in which all attacks with a cursed technique can't enter. There's only one problem with it, and that's the lack of an attack option, as this move is meant for defense, so if I drop it to strike, then attacks would get through. I could just wait, a domain expansion isn't something you can just keep up forever, even Satoru and Sukuna have a time limit.
"Hahaha! How long can you keep this up, Satoshi?!" Taro shouted brinign down more hammers. "I'll crush you and those girls!"
"This guy," I mutter, though inside I knew that I couldn't waste too much time here, but I couldn't attack if I was on my own. I could, but I was protecting the others, including Mai, and the moment I attack, they'll be crushed. Though speaking of Mai is stronger this time, and she's been doing some training with Kusakabe recently, and he knew Simple Domain. While directly teaching the Simple Domain was impossible due to a binding vow, it could be learned through observation.
"Mai, do you know how to use Simple Domain?" I asked her while keeping up the blade's movement.
"Yeah, I can use it, why?" She asked before realization shone in her eyes. Then she crouched down slightly, and soon after, a dome spread out around her, creating a small barrier. As the Simple Domain came into effect, I stopped swinging the Inverted Spear of Heaven and instead launched the blade forward, lodging it into his shoulder. He yells out, and as he does so, the domain comes crashing down, one of the unexpected bonuses of the spear since it cancels out cursed techniques. Then, when I hurt Taro with it, his technique ended, and the domain lost its imbued effect.
I drew out more of the chain and wrapped it around Taro before he could recover, and I lifted his body from the ground and slammed him into a tree. I moved over to his body and pulled the spear out of him before planting it into his head, finally exorcising him fully. The body of metal and wire finally dissolves beneath me.
I turned toward the other three to check them for injuries, though other than some exhaustion and some small cuts, they were fine. I sent them towards the barrier so they could get out and find Shoko before I continued back through the forest towards where the others might be. I did get a pretty good idea, though, when a massive tree appeared high up, and I could just make out the forms of Yuji and Aoi running up the branch. I also see a third figure riding a glowing blob following them. It looks like the fight with Hanami is still going on, at least so I've got some time still.
"Hold on, you three, I'm almost there." I mutter before I increase my speed and begin moving rapidly towards them.