"Excellent… excellent!"
Looking down at the seven figures charging upward from below, Mirai watched the overwhelming cursed energy radiating from them—the crushing pressure unique to Special Grades.
"What a magnificent sight."
Mirai smiled lightly as his hands slowly formed a seal that caused even the two strongest sorcerers to show surprise.
"Divine Dogs."
One black and one white—
Two colossal Divine Dogs, each dozens of meters tall, descended from the sky!
A trace of confusion appeared on both Sukuna and Gojo's faces.
These were the most basic shikigami of the Ten Shadows Technique—starter summons that required no exorcism ritual to use.
Sure, with enough cursed energy poured into them, they could crush ordinary Special Grade curses.
But only to that extent...
After a brief moment of confusion, both strongest sorcerers attacked instantly!
Sukuna's close-range Cleave and the crimson glow of Gojo's Red erupted simultaneously!
Before the Divine Dogs could even let out a howl, they were blasted into bloody mist!
Not returned to the shadows—
But completely destroyed.
"What the hell are you doing? Show me your real power already!"
Sukuna looked upward, his voice filled with irritation.
The excitement that had just ignited within him seemed to cool slightly.
In its place rose the feeling that he was being mocked.
"No rush. Let's take it slow."
Mirai answered with a faint chuckle before forming another seal.
"Toad. Great Serpent."
Two more beginner shikigami from the Ten Shadows Technique burst downward from the shadows at Mirai's feet!
"So we're really being looked down on, huh?"
Gojo spoke in annoyance as a full-powered Blue pierced straight through Great Serpent's body—
Then abruptly curved toward Sukuna!
"Brat, I'll skin you alive later!"
Sukuna tilted his head to avoid the incoming Blue while casually killing the descending Toad in the same motion.
"Nue. Max Elephant."
Thunder flashed across the heavens as enormous wings spread overhead and crushing pressure descended!
Moments later, those two shikigami also fell.
"Round Deer. Piercing Ox."
After witnessing Mirai repeatedly summon shikigami only to send them to their deaths, Sukuna and Gojo finally realized something was wrong.
Standing atop the giant Susanoo, the pristine white hem of Zenin Mirai's robe was slowly darkening—
Turning into the same inky black as the shadows themselves, saturated with dense cursed energy.
Sukuna's expression darkened instantly.
He had already guessed what Mirai was trying to do.
He slammed his palms together, leaving only a slight gap between them.
An immense surge of cursed energy erupted forth as a high-pressure water jet, comparable to Piercing Blood, shot toward the top of the Susanoo!
Yet before it could even reach Mirai—
The Susanoo casually swatted it aside with one hand.
From above, Mirai looked down at Sukuna and smiled faintly.
Almost as if praising him for seeing through the plan.
And Sukuna's face immediately became uglier.
That earlier attack—
It was Sukuna using Max Elephant's ability directly through his own body after gaining control of the Ten Shadows Technique.
The sharpness of Divine Dog.
The mobility of Great Serpent.
The defense of Piercing Ox.
The healing of Round Deer.
Nue's flight.
Mirai was deliberately sacrificing the shikigami—
So he could transfer all of their abilities onto himself!
Even Sukuna, who had only recently mastered the Ten Shadows Technique, still couldn't do that.
"Damn it… this just became troublesome!"
Sukuna cursed under his breath as both Mahoraga and Kangyu accelerated even faster!
Gojo, who realized the truth a step later, turned toward Geto and gave a small nod.
More than half of Mirai's white robe had already darkened.
Out of the Ten Shadows shikigami, only the final two remained.
Just as Mirai prepared to summon Rabbit Escape—
The seven streaks of light finally closed the distance!
Before Sukuna could move first, Suguru Geto launched the opening attack!
With a flick of his finger, Geto commanded Curse Spirit Naoya to form a hand seal.
"Domain Expansion: Time Cell Moon Palace!"
Susanoo was neither a curse nor a shikigami.
It was a construct materialized from Mirai's ocular power and cursed energy.
Because of that, the domain could not forcibly expel it—it could only envelop it together with everything else.
A vast void-like starry sky appeared.
At the end of a pathway paved with flesh floated a gigantic blood-red eye.
The eye slowly swept across the battlefield, marking both Mirai above and Sukuna below.
Crack!
Before Projection Sorcery could even activate, Naoya's domain suddenly shattered open!
"Kid, are you playing house or something?"
Sukuna mocked disdainfully.
"A domain of this level doesn't interest me at all."
Standing within the broken corner of the barrier—
Was Mahoraga, sword already drawn.
Against a domain of this caliber, Mahoraga only needed a few seconds to adapt.
Sukuna hadn't even waited for Mirai to make a move before destroying it himself.
He never believed something like this had even the slightest chance of harming Mirai.
"What's the rush, senpai clown?"
"Trying to reincarnate early?"
Geto replied with a grin.
The instant the barrier shattered, cursed energy surged once more!
The cursed-spirit Yorozu formed a heart-shaped hand sign.
"Domain Expansion: Threefold Affliction!"
This was not Geto's own Domain Expansion—
But the innate domain belonging to the cursed spirit he controlled!
Because of that, he suffered no cursed technique burnout during the activation process.
In less than a fraction of a second—
Before the shell of the first domain had even fully broken away, Yorozu's domain immediately layered itself over the battlefield!
"No matter how many times you repeat this trash, it's all the same!"
Sukuna's voice dripped with impatience.
The wheel above Mahoraga's head spun as the shikigami shot toward Yorozu at blinding speed!
The massive sword bound to Mahoraga's arm—
A weapon forged entirely from positive energy—
Possessed the power to destroy all cursed spirits.
Even against Yorozu, who had once loved him to the point of madness—
Sukuna showed not the slightest hesitation.
Meanwhile, Mirai looked down upon the chaos unfolding below with amusement curling at the corners of his lips.
Then his gaze shifted toward Gojo, who had remained silent all this time.
A slowly rising fluctuation of cursed energy was concealed beneath the interference of Geto's domain.
Hidden behind Gojo's back—
A faint crimson glow flickered at his fingertips.
At the exact instant Mirai noticed it—
At the precise moment Mahoraga shattered the domain—
"'Phase.' 'Twilight.' 'Eyes of Wisdom.'"
Gojo's rapid incantation rang out sharply.
The tiny Red glowing at his fingertips exploded with terrifying repulsive force!
As the domain collapsed—
Even Sukuna suddenly sensed something was wrong.
The earlier Blue that he had casually dodged by tilting his head—
Had circled around the entirety of Shinjuku and returned to the battlefield!
Only now did he notice the faint abnormality in the lingering cursed energy.
Right.
Given Gojo Satoru's mischievous personality, a Technique Reversal Blue that pierced through a shikigami and shot toward Sukuna hadn't seemed suspicious at all at the time.
The coordination between the former strongest duo truly was extraordinary.
Geto had sacrificed two Special Grade cursed spirits as decoys—
Using them to conceal the cursed energy fluctuations of Red while simultaneously blocking everyone's vision of Blue's trajectory through the sky.
Blue and Red were now within touching distance of each other!
The best timing to stop them had already passed.
A trace of seriousness finally appeared on Sukuna's face.
"Hahahahaha—! Come on, then!"
With the grin of a complete madman, Gojo launched the crimson Red skyward!
"'Nine Ropes.' 'Polarized Light.' 'Crow and Declaration.' 'Between Front and Back!'"
"Hollow Technique: Purple!!!"
A vast purple radiance flooded heaven and earth—
Like countless blades stabbing directly into everyone's eyes!
And before the explosion erupted—
Mirai calmly summoned a massive swarm of Rabbit Escape shikigami, wrapping another protective layer around the Susanoo.
As for Sukuna...
"MAHORAGA!!!"