"Oh my~... How terribly ominous. What an excellent little girl. The younger generation truly is formidable."
At the top of Kyoto Tower, the chief priest who had once appeared at Seimei Shrine and handed Senji Ryakketsu: Apocrypha to Yayoi Hozuki and the others stood with his hands clasped behind his back, murmuring to himself with all the air of a hermit beyond worldly affairs.
Then he turned his gaze toward southwest Kyoto, in the direction of the battlefield where Xu Fu and Taisai Seikun were fighting.
"Not only is the younger generation formidable, but even our ancestor is reliable. I was worried it would be dangerous for her to stay behind alone and deal with that monster, but now it seems my concern was rather unnecessary... The senior is dangerous, the juniors are impressive, and only I, caught in the middle, accomplished nothing while alive and left behind such trouble after death that I even need our honored ancestor to clean up my mess. Truly... I have no place to hide my shame."
"Ah, it's starting, it's starting... Though I do feel terribly sorry for them, as someone already dead, I suppose I should continue being a bystander who can do nothing."
A dead man continuing to interfere with the present world went against the will of heaven. It was definitely not because he wanted to shirk responsibility.
"[DOMAIN EXPANSION]—"
Xu Fu once again formed the Enmaten hand sign. A familiar black shell separated the space around Taisai Seikun, and a shrine built from various animal skulls rose from the ground beneath Xu Fu's feet.
"[MALEVOLENT SHRINE]!"
Although this domain had been destroyed by Taisai Seikun's overwhelming power in the previous battle, enough time had passed that Xu Fu's domain had long since recovered and could be used again.
"This move is certainly powerful, but what use is there in using a technique that has already been broken?"
Taisai Seikun spoke dismissively.
This move had left a deep impression on him. The endless slashes and flames could not be blocked by either Armored Body Protection or Protective Invisibility Method, and the rate at which they destroyed him had even exceeded the rate at which the Seer Flesh replenished him.
But so what? Before his Extinction Malefic Star, the domain's seemingly sturdy outer shell was no different from paper. He could easily punch through it.
Although he could no longer draw spiritual energy from the leyline to replenish the Seer Flesh he consumed, which put him at an extreme disadvantage, he was confident he could shatter this domain and escape before his Seer Flesh ran out.
Just as Taisai Seikun had expected, fierce flames and storm-like slashes descended in full, filling the enclosed domain in the blink of an eye.
After all, he had now been cut off from the leyline. Every piece of Seer Flesh spent was one fewer remaining, and his Protective Invisibility Method could not avoid two kinds of curses at the same time.
Between flames and slashes, the flames were the greater threat. From the standpoint of cost-effectiveness, what he should do next was use Protective Invisibility Method to avoid the flames and simply endure the moderately threatening slashes with his body. Then he could use that time to break the outer barrier with Extinction Malefic Star and leave this place safely...
"That's exactly what you're thinking, right?"
Xu Fu smiled wickedly, as if her scheme had succeeded.
Splurt!
Several slash marks suddenly appeared on Taisai Seikun's chest, weaving into a special pattern.
The making of a substitute involved placing part of a person, such as hair or fingernails, inside a humanoid object. That humanoid object could be a paper doll or a toy. Afterward, the substitute could bear curses and injuries from spirits in the person's place.
Yayoi Hozuki, however, had attempted to reverse that process. She used a paper doll to create a god's "substitute," but every curse applied to that "substitute" would ultimately be transferred to the god. Once the Regicidal Bellflower great formation took shape, Yayoi Hozuki would transfer the super-large-scale curse covering all of Kyoto onto the "substitute," then have the god bear it in its place.
In this way, not only would the innocent people within Kyoto avoid being implicated, Taisai Seikun's power could also be further weakened.
To accomplish this, one first needed to draw a unique pattern on the paper "substitute," then carve the same pattern into the body of the god, Taisai Seikun.
This pattern actually had another use as well. In the original plot, Yayoi Hozuki drew this pattern on a Taira no Masakado doll. Then, according to the third section of Senji Ryakketsu: Apocrypha, she transferred the power of Kyoto's leyline—power that originally only Taisai Seikun could borrow—into Taira no Masakado's body, allowing Taira no Masakado's strength to surpass even his former prime. Not only did he defeat Taisai Seikun's bunrei, when the main body of Taisai Seikun far away in China tried to reclaim the bunrei, he stole it back and tore off one of the main body's arms.
After that, however, Taira no Masakado collapsed because he had forcibly used power beyond the limit his body could withstand.
This pattern carved into his chest by the slashes was something Taisai Seikun had never seen before, and he had no idea what it meant. But his intuition told him it was extremely bad, so he tried to consume Seer Flesh to heal the slash marks on his chest.
And yet...
"It won't heal?!"
Some strange power seemed to linger in the wounds, preventing his self-repair.
"Of course it won't. I made a Binding Vow."
In the world of Jujutsu Kaisen, there existed a special technique known as a Binding Vow. By adding some condition disadvantageous to oneself, one could strengthen the effect of a technique in exchange.
Toji Fushiguro and Maki Zenin's Heavenly Restriction was an irreversible "Binding Vow" imposed on them from birth. It exchanged all their cursed energy for physical abilities far beyond ordinary people. Mechamaru's reverse Heavenly Restriction exchanged physical ability for cursed energy output and technique range dozens of times greater than that of an ordinary jujutsu sorcerer.
In the world of Jujutsu Kaisen, the one who played most freely with the technique of "Binding Vows" was naturally Ryomen Sukuna. What left the deepest impression on readers was undoubtedly the World Cutting Slash he used to kill Satoru Gojo.
Using the World Cutting Slash required preparation such as hand signs. However, at that time, Satoru Gojo had beaten him until he only had one hand left. So, in exchange for the conditions that all future activations of the World Cutting Slash would require hand signs and a chant, as well as pointing the palm to determine the direction of release, he achieved an instant World Cutting Slash and killed Satoru Gojo before he could react.
...At least, that was what Akutami Gege said. No matter how unhappy the fans were, they could only treat it as true.
Aside from that, Ryomen Sukuna had also once exchanged "leaving his opponent an escape route" for an enormous increase in his sure-hit effect's range, creating a super-large-scale semi-closed domain. And when clashing domains with Satoru Gojo, he exchanged "canceling the domain's sure-hit effect" for increased destructive power against Satoru Gojo's domain.
No wonder netizens affectionately called Ryomen Sukuna the "Binding Vow Merchant."
Xu Fu had also tried making a Binding Vow. In exchange for being unable to use Dismantle and Cleave, she made the slash-mark pattern carved into Taisai Seikun's chest impossible to heal or erase.
In other words, unless Xu Fu used Dismantle or Cleave again, or voluntarily released the Binding Vow, this pattern would remain on Taisai Seikun's chest forever.
Originally, the task of carving the pattern should have been completed by Thousand-Soul Kegon Self-Slaughtering Child. The ability of Thousand-Soul Kegon Self-Slaughtering Child was to split off a large number of bunrei, and any place touched by the hands of those bunrei would produce cuts that appeared from nowhere and could not be repaired.
However, in the original plot, the reason Taisai Seikun was marked by Thousand-Soul Kegon Self-Slaughtering Child was because, at that time, he had not taken Yayoi Hozuki and the others seriously at all. Like giving stones in a game of go, he had sat there from the very beginning waiting for Yayoi Hozuki to make the first move, neither dodging nor defending. That was why Yayoi Hozuki's plan had gone so smoothly.
Once Taisai Seikun got serious, he could sit back and beat most "Graduates" with martial arts alone. On top of that, he had Da Liuren, which could predict other people's attacks. If Thousand-Soul Kegon Self-Slaughtering Child tried to carve the pattern into Taisai Seikun the same way as in the original plot, the success rate would be close to zero, even if it was not exactly zero.
That was why Xu Fu had no choice but to resort to this measure and establish a Binding Vow for herself.
At this moment, inside the minivan where Yayoi Hozuki and the others were, there was a tool made from a tablet computer and a little paper figure with a pattern drawn on its stomach. Displayed on the tablet was an electronic map of Kyoto.
Using this tool, they could connect Kyoto to the little figure "substitute." The special pattern then connected the little figure "substitute" to Taisai Seikun, ultimately causing the super-large-scale curse that should have pressed down on all of Kyoto to be compressed and flow to the little figure "substitute," then onward to Taisai Seikun.
"Oh...?!"
Inside the domain, Taisai Seikun's eyes abruptly widened, and he let out a suppressed, pained sound of confusion.
It was as if some enormous burden had suddenly been added to his body, as if he had become a patient suffering from a severe illness. Taisai Seikun bent over. Beneath his exposed skin, tangled veins bulged and writhed like living things, then quickly turned blue-black.
In the next moment, his skin began to split and rot. His flesh seemed to lose all vitality in an instant, decaying and peeling away across wide areas, exposing the white bones beneath, which were likewise rapidly rotting.
A great mouthful of thick, filthy black blood sprayed wildly from his mouth. Fallen teeth and fragments of internal organs that had already necrotized and shriveled were vomited out along with the reeking blood, splattering across the cold ground and producing hissing sounds of corrosion.
Eyeballs still attached to threads of flesh fell from their sockets. His long silver-white hair also withered and fell away in an instant, scattering like dead leaves in late autumn.
"OOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH—!!"
A super-large-scale curse from five "Graduates," powerful enough to cover all of Kyoto, had been compressed and concentrated onto one person. Even the god Taisai Seikun was reduced to this state.
In order to resist the curse, he had no choice but to consume a large amount of Seer Flesh once more.
Xu Fu had no intention of wasting this perfect opportunity.
The shrine behind her was the center of Malevolent Shrine. It could maintain the domain and the technique Divine Flame Open in Xu Fu's place, while she herself prepared another technique.
"NINE ROPES."
"POLARIZED LIGHT."
"CROW AND DECLARATION, BETWEEN FRONT AND BACK..."
Red, which symbolized infinite repulsion, collided with Blue, which symbolized infinite attraction. The two did not explode. Instead, they underwent an uncanny fusion.
"[HOLLOW TECHNIQUE: PURPLE]!"
Xu Fu flicked the small sphere of imaginary mass at her fingertip outward, unleashing a terrifying wave of energy that warped space in an instant.
It was truly adding frost to snow.
Flames, curses, and an energy wave—the three struck together.
The Seer Flesh was like dry grass tossed into a blazing fire, being consumed at a terrifying speed.
Even if Taisai Seikun racked his brains, he could not think of a way to break out. Defeat seemed certain.
He was going to lose?
When that thought appeared in his mind, even Taisai Seikun himself found it unbelievable.
This was the first time he had ever worried about the consequences of losing. The very first time since his birth.
Until now, everything had gone smoothly for him. No one dared defy him, and no matter what he wanted to do, it would always go incomparably well. After all, he was a god who governed fortune and misfortune. He himself would forever stand in the auspicious position, while his opponents would inevitably always occupy the inauspicious one.
Even if he had not fully displayed his strength, even if this battle was not a one-on-one duel and Xu Fu had defeated him with the help of others...
Still, a loss was a loss. And he had enjoyed it thoroughly.
The body he had trained, the techniques he had mastered, the senses he had sharpened, the imagination and explosive power he had improvised... This was the first time he had used all of them.
An absolute powerhouse, and the loneliness born from it. The one who would teach you love was...
"How exhilarating..."
When the final piece of Seer Flesh was consumed, even though his body had been rotted and burned beyond recognition by the threefold curse, Taisai Seikun smiled from the bottom of his heart.
Since the moment of his birth until now, this was the first time he had ever smiled so happily.
Fullness. An incomparable fullness. It was as if something had filled his chest.
He was satisfied with this battle. He only did not know whether he had made his opponent feel as satisfied as he did. Had he managed to convey this feeling to her through battle?
If he had not, he actually felt somewhat sorry toward her.
Taisai Seikun accepted his own defeat with perfect calm. He even felt unprecedented satisfaction because of it.
But not everyone could be as calm as he was.
"Who gave you permission to give up? Stand. As my bunrei, you cannot lose."
Cracks spread across the domain's outer shell, and a powerful force tore apart the barrier of Malevolent Shrine from both inside and outside at once.
The domain's barrier shattered again.
"Cough, cough... Aaaaah!"
Taisai Seikun abruptly sat up, as if enduring some immense pain. His body trembled slightly, and his complexion was terrible.
The Seer Flesh that should have already been exhausted grew several new pieces on Taisai Seikun's body.
"That bastard main body... How dare he do something like this? Not a shred of a duelist's honor or restraint..." Taisai Seikun clenched his teeth and roared his complaint.
Xu Fu silently watched Ai Kamiyo, who had suddenly interfered with the battlefield.
No. Although the body was indeed Ai Kamiyo's, the one inside was someone else.
A pentagram shone in her eyes, and a divine aura of high level and scale lingered around her.
She had pierced through the outer shell of Xu Fu's domain with divine aura and even given part of her own power to Taisai Seikun, replenishing his exhausted Seer Flesh.
The newcomer's identity was already obvious.
Who else could it be but Taisai Seikun's main body?