"Fushiguro-sensei(san)!"
Beside him, after seeing the change in Megumi, both Todo and Yuji practically had stars in their eyes.
For the first time since everything began falling apart, relieved smiles appeared on their faces.
They were waiting for this strongest man to crush Sukuna once again, just like in Shibuya, turning the tide through overwhelming power.
"You all worked hard. Step back for now."
After a brief glance around, Mukuro more or less understood what had happened.
He had already considered the possibility that after appearing in Shibuya through his nephew's body, Sukuna might change his plans. What he hadn't expected was for the target to become Yuta.
Taking down a special grade sorcerer in a short amount of time without harming them was an absurdly difficult condition. So difficult that it was nearly impossible.
But when Mukuro's gaze swept across the giant block of ignored ice in the distance, he understood.
If two monsters on the same level fought each other, then yes, a situation like this was indeed possible.
"So you've come."
Sukuna stopped walking away, the relaxed expression on his face disappearing completely.
He knew very clearly that if he could not reach an understanding with Mukuro today, neither he nor Uraume would be leaving here safely.
"If possible, I wouldn't have come." Mukuro shook his head lightly.
The conversation between the two remained calm, like old acquaintances casually catching up after a long time apart.
"But you still came."
Then silence filled the battlefield.
"What exactly is going on, Todo...?" A completely confused Yuji quietly leaned closer to his friend and whispered.
"I think... maybe it's some sort of pre-battle interaction?"
Even Todo looked uncertain. After all, people at that level were impossible for him to predict.
BOOM!
After the brief silence, Mahoraga shattered the glacier and stepped out. Its feet slammed heavily onto the ground beside Mukuro, causing the earth itself to shake violently.
At the exact moment it broke free from the ice, the wheel above its head completed another rotation.
In less than a minute of being frozen by Uraume's technique, it had already fully adapted.
"Yuta Okkotsu is right here. So you're still not coming over, Queen?" Sukuna pointed toward his own chest while looking at the still-hesitating Rika nearby.
If a fight truly started, then while Mahoraga was occupied, Rika would become his greatest trump card for escaping.
"Yuta..."
Rika no longer hesitated and flew directly toward Sukuna.
Although she remembered the others behind her as Yuta's friends, it didn't matter. In her eyes, there were only two kinds of things in the world: Yuta and everything else. No matter the situation, Yuta would always come first.
"So there's no room for negotiation then?"
Seeing this, the number in Mukuro's right eye shifted to "5."
The Human Path activated.
In the eyes of the surrounding sorcerers, a massive storm made entirely from murky cursed energy suddenly swept across the sky.
At the center of that storm stood Mukuro as countless streams of cursed energy poured madly into his body.
"It's starting!"
By now, Todo and Yuji had already finished healing. The two immediately turned around, grabbed Kashimo, and prepared to retreat far away.
Battles between people at the level of "the strongest" were not something grade 1 sorcerers could safely watch from close range.
"Wait! Put me down! I want to fight too!" Kashimo shouted despite not having fully recovered his strength.
He wanted to join the battle that could erupt at any moment. An opponent capable of making Sukuna serious would definitely not be weaker than him at his peak. This was the battlefield he had always dreamed of.
"We can still negotiate. Though perhaps what we want to discuss isn't exactly the same thing. What do you think?"
Sukuna's eyes stayed calm while terrifying cursed energy slowly rose from his body.
If fighting was necessary, then so be it. The process of obtaining this body had gone a little too smoothly anyway. Running into some trouble afterward was only natural.
Merely a little hardship.
"Uraume, leave first. I'll play with this guy for a bit."
Sukuna gave orders to his one and only companion. As long as he stayed behind alone, escaping safely would always be possible.
Because unlike that brat's body, Yuta's body did not completely reject him. And right now, control of this body belonged to Sukuna.
Hostages were important.
"As you command, Sukuna-sama."
As always, Uraume obeyed without hesitation and immediately turned to leave. She only needed to follow Sukuna's orders.
"You're not going anywhere."
The instant Mukuro spoke, Mahoraga moved, turning into a streak of light as it charged toward Uraume's retreating figure.
"Ice Formation Technique: Ice Burst!"
With a wave of her hand, cursed energy rapidly condensed into several sharp ice spears that shot toward Mahoraga. The spears pierced straight through its body and forcibly nailed it to the ground.
Uraume snorted disdainfully and continued leaving.
But the next moment, a casual glance over her shoulder left her completely stunned.
The Mahoraga that should have been pinned down was actually walking forward along the ice spears. It ignored the widening holes tearing through its body and continued advancing from the opposite end of the frozen spikes.
Then, the moment it fully emerged from the ice, every wound healed completely.
"What a pain."
Just as Mahoraga prepared to attack again, a powerful kick suddenly enlarged before its eyes.
It was Sukuna.
To prevent further adaptation to his techniques, he chose not to use a cursed technique at all. Instead, he simply reinforced his body with cursed energy and kicked Mahoraga flying backward.
Meanwhile, as Mukuro was about to move, Rika suddenly smashed a massive punch directly toward him.
"You've completely lost your own awareness now?"
Mukuro raised an arm to block, but even so, the force of her attack pushed both his feet deep into the ground.
Still in her fully manifested state, Rika's strength had undoubtedly reached the level of a special grade sorcerer.
"Don't hurt Yuta's body!"
Right now, Rika only knew one thing. Until the real Yuta returned, she had to protect the "Yuta" standing before her.
This unexpected development was something even Sukuna hadn't anticipated.
"Things are still going pretty smoothly."
He could not kill Mahoraga right now, but he could stall it. And as long as Rika managed to hold back Mukuro, that would be enough.
But then, something even more unexpected happened.
"Hey, hey, hey~. If you guys are standing here whispering secrets to each other, I'm going to get jealous."
A carefree voice suddenly came from behind Mukuro.
Having removed his blindfold and revealed those sky-blue Six Eyes, Satoru had finally returned from Sendai and entered the colony.
Looking at the two people wearing the shells of his students, he slowly descended from the sky and landed between them.
Then he lifted his gaze toward Sukuna.
At that moment, the three people known throughout the jujutsu world as "the strongest," beings capable of destroying human society itself, finally stood face to face.
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