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Since the barrier was destroyed, the surveillance room can neither observe nor announce the results.
Naoya looked at Geto, who was lying on his butt and looking at the destruction caused by Naoya with his eyes still shaking, unable to believe what he had just noticed.
"So? Should I consider this my win?" asked Naoya.
"Huh?....A-Ah. Yes...." replied Geto, but he was still not able to think straight.
Naoya looked at him and shook his head.
Geto was shocked beyond belief, but there was nothing he could do about it.
Sure, Geto was strong, but there were levels to this shit, and at the moment, Naoya Zenin was competing for the top spot. The only other challenger who was there to challenge him was his self-proclaimed white-haired son, who was currently itching to jump in.
Naoya helped Geto get back on his feet and gave a reassuring pat on his back. He wanted to say that he did well, but he felt that it would hurt him more.
Geto slowly walked towards his friends. The scenes of his last battle continued to play again and again in his head, and in the end, the only thing that remained within him was... frustration.
Thinking about it rationally, there were some similarities between him and Naoya.
Both were of the same age.
Both had techniques that let them create an army of their own by exorcising curses. He stored them as cursed spirits themselves, while Naoya makes them Shikigami.
Their ideologies regarding Jujutsu sorcerers' duty towards the common folk were the same as well.
...But unfortunately, that's where the similarities ended.
Their backgrounds were vastly different, with Naoya coming from a reputed clan of sorcerers that allowed him to get a head start.
Multiple techniques allowed him to be diverse during battles, and an incredible talent for jujutsu.
According to Satoru, Naoya was a hard worker too, far harder-working than any sorcerer he knew. Because of that, the diverse skillset was also honed to near perfection, which allowed him to topple any difficulties that came his way.
Geto believed that he, too, could be diverse with his technique, but even after a year of hard work and taking in so many foul-tasting curses within him to increase his army and even mastering Simple Domain and his Maximum Technique and even sacrificing most of his acquired curses, he was still not able to see himself getting closer to Naoya or Satoru.
Satoru was a different case since he was a being blessed by the world itself, but Naoya Zenin was not like that.....He was just a sorcerer who honed his talents to the limit, and with that alone, he was on the same level, if not above, the blessed Satoru.
".....More....I need to work harder. Harder than ever...." muttered Geto.
He stopped and turned around to look back at Naoya.
From Satoru, he has heard the tales of young Gojo and Zenin. Naoya was not always this strong. Initially, he was far weaker than Satoru, too, but the young Zenin never let the fact that he was weaker than Satoru ever get to him and continued to work and refine himself to stand where he is now.
If a kid never gave up, then his giving up would be just lame.
He took a deep breath to clear his head and then slowly exhaled.
"Just you wait....I will reach the top," said Geto.
"Try your best. I will be there to kick you down," replied Naoya, hearing Geto from far away thanks to his super senses.
Surprised by the answer, Geto looked at Naoya, who was smiling at him.
He chuckled to himself and showed the middle finger to Naoya before going back.
Naoya responded with his own and waited for things to proceed.
----
"Welcome back, hotshot pervert," said Shoko.
"Huh? Pervert?"
"Geto-senpai! How can you do all that to Inumaki-chan!!! Don't you have even a tiny bit of decency?!" asked Haibara.
"What the hell did I do? Anyway, get ready, it's your turn to fight nex-"
Before Geto could finish, Gojo suddenly spoke up.
"Oi Haibara! Is that Inumaki coming here?"
"Huh, where?!"
As Haibara started looking around happily, a sudden neck chop landed on him, and he fell unconscious.
"Haibara is knocked out. He cannot fight. I will go next," said Gojo with a straight face.
He then slowly placed Haibara on the ground and started stretching.
The rest of the Tokyo students looked at the unconscious Haibara and then towards the one who was responsible for his condition.
'...What the hell is wrong with him?!' thought all of them, though Gojo didn't bother to respond to their gazes.
"Would the match even continue? The barrier is gone."
Shoko pointed out and looked towards Gojo.
"You think I care for the barrier?" asked Gojo
"I do. If the two of you were to fight and a stray attack comes my way, then I am dead," replied Shoko.
"Just dodge it."
"Haah?!"
Gojo replied in annoyance while Shoko got angry at his response.
The two continued to glare at each other, neither willing to concede.
Seeing that the authorities had taken no action, the Kyoto team arrived at the Tokyo team's location and saw Gojo and Shoko arguing.
"Why are these two fighting?" asked Naoya.
"Gojo wants to fight. Shoko don't want to be near the fight when the barrier is down," summarised Geto.
"...We can just set up our own barriers," said Naoya.
As his words came out, both the arguing idiots stopped and looked at Naoya.
"..."
"..."
Both Shoko and Gojo looked at Naoya as if he spoke a foreign language.
"Idiots," commented Naoya.
Neither of them retorted.
"But will simple barriers even work when even the specialised barriers couldn't stand the attacks?" asked Shoko.
"Rather than the generalised barriers, Satoru and I will set up a combined barrier especially made to keep our own techniques in."
"Durability is not the issue here. My [Purple] and your new attack...let's call it [Black], will shatter it," explained Gojo.
"Rather than a durability barrier, how about we set a containment and dispersal one?"
Hearing the proposal, Satoru thought for a while.
A dispersal barrier is a kind of open barrier where there are no restrictions for entry or exit for anyone or anything. The only thing that is stopped, or more accurately dispersed by the barrier, is the target technique.
This kind of barrier works by dispersing the techniques' cursed energy through it and thereby cancelling the technique itself. Depending on the output of the technique, the barrier can take on 1 or 2 high-level attacks before disintegrating. In other words, it acted like a fuse in an electrical circuit.
By making a binding vow to limit the dispersal targets to a specific target, the overall durability and efficiency of dispersal can be improved, but even then, 2 or 3 attacks max would be the limit.
"...It will limit the duration we will be able to fight. If any of us went a bit overboard, the entire thing would crumble in seconds," said Satoru.
"I know.....so let's settle all this as quickly as possible. No more testing the water," replied Naoya.
Hearing Naoya's answer, Satoru smirked.
"Quite in a hurry to lose?"
"Wow, took the words right out of my mouth."
"I will go all out from the start. Don't complain if you get hurt. I have found a killer new move to make you question your life choices."
"I have a few tricks of my own, too. Try me."
Competitive sparks start to form between the two of them. Neither of them was willing to hold back in their next fight.
The rest of them looked at the two Special Grade anomalies and collectively decided to stay far away this time. They were not that confident in the makeshift barriers of these two crackheads.
Naoya's attack has already shown the levels of destruction that they can cause, and they are in no way, shape or form willing to check if they could dodge another attack of similar levels.
-----
Naoya and Satoru stood in the centre of the destroyed field and, with their hands touching, started chanting and making Binding Vows for the barrier.
The trigger for the barrier will be the feel of their cursed energy, and they were hoping that they could make it at least tank 3-4 attacks, though neither of them was that confident in a barrier being able to manage them much. Even 2 attacks would be a great result.
Once the barrier was set up, both of them took some distance from each other.
"Just a word of advice, Naoya.....Don't rush at me," said Satoru.
Naoya was about to say that Satoru was making excuses, but from his expression, he could feel that Satoru was serious.
'What is he gonna pull off this time?' thought Naoya, and just in case decided to face Satoru with his utmost seriousness.
They took their positions and looked at each other. There were no announcements or surveillance on them; the two were to manage the whole fight themselves.
"Ready?" asked Naoya.
Satoru nodded and took a stance.
"What the hell are you doing?" asked Naoya, feeling confused by the weird stance.
"Don't sweat it. Just watch, be amazed," replied Satoru with a smirk.
"3, 2, 1, START!!!" The two announced in unison, and the fight started.
However, as Satoru told him, Naoya didn't leave his spot and waited to see what Satoru was planning to do.
*HMMMMM*
A sound suddenly started resonating in the surroundings.
'What is happening?'
Naoya could hear the sound, but he was noticing no changes. The only thing that he noticed was the ever-present smirk on Satoru's face.
"Give it a second," said Satoru as if understanding what Naoya wanted to ask.
Naoya's eyes narrowed. Was Satoru just bluffing?
But his doubts suddenly vanished, and his eyes started to widen in surprise.
The ground... no, the space around Satoru was getting demolished.
Soon, along with the noise, a white glow started to surround Satoru, and he could also feel the air around him heat up as well.
As the time continued to pass, the space around him that was getting demolished continued to get bigger and bigger.
Satoru was purposely taking it slow to show off the move to Naoya; however, he decided to speed it up.
"I will be speeding it up now, Naoya! Do something to save yourself!" warned Satoru, and the destroyed space started expanding rapidly.
[Maximum Technique: Shimmering Void- White]
-----
The [White] technique Satoru just demonstrated was, in simple terms, a space quake.
With his near-perfect control and efficiency thanks to [Six Eyes] and the constant refreshing of his brain from RCT, Satoru could manage using both CE and positive energy at the same time.
Because of that, he can maintain [Infinity] [Blue] [Red] at the same time now. However, in his maximum technique, instead of using a singular giantic [Blue] or [Red], Satoru makes a grid of microscopic [Blue] and [Red] around him in his head and then starts alternating between the attractive [Blue] and repulsive [Red].
The technique starts from himself, and as time passes, he starts adding more and more points around him to expand the space he can cover.
Because of the microsecond shift between the high-powered pull and push of the space, the matter around him starts to disintegrate. The air, because of moving at such a rapid pace, starts to heat up, and a white plasma glow comes out of it along with the heat. Making the space around him heat up as well.
The shaking space shakes the space around it as well and thus starts to cause a spacequake. As the technique expands, the stronger the quakes become, making even the space outside of the technique a deadly attack. If sustained long enough, the vibrations can travel far away, causing destruction far stronger than any earthquake could ever cause.
The white glow of the air and the push and pull give it a white shimmer, making it look captivating, though the entire space that is under Gojo's technique is essentially a death trap.
-----
Seeing the shimmering white dome expand, Naoya didn't hesitate anymore. He wanted to see Gojo's technique earlier, but now it was time to get things under control.
[Solid Shadow: Shadow Terrain]
Shadows exploded out of Naoya's own shadow and expanded outwards, covering the entire field in seconds. The shadows rose and formed a pitch-black dome around Satoru's shimmering white dome, cutting off the space for Satoru to take over.
The shadows of [Ten Shadows] contained an infinite shadow realm within them; in a sense, the concept of space doesn't exist in the Shadow Realm, making it one of the few ways to stop Gojo's space capture.
Thanks to [Solid Shadow], these space-cancelling shadows could be moulded into various shapes as well.
Seeing the shadows hold back Satoru from taking over, Naoya sighed in relief.
"Time to take control back in my hand," muttered Naoya and pointed his hand towards the dome.
-----
Inside the Shadow Dome, Satoru felt his technique literally stop expanding and snorted.
"He really does try his best to negate my techniques...Too bad, I am not that easy to stop," muttered Satoru and raised his hand forward.
[Imaginary Technique: Hollow Purple]
A mass of cursed energy, glowing purple, formed in front of Satoru as he fired it straight.
The [Purple] flew straight, destroying the [Red] and [Blue] points in his way and destroying the [White] in the process as well.
On the outside, Naoya was using his [Projection Sorcery] for high-speed chanting.
[Cursed Technique Black: Absolute Null Sphere]
The gigantic mass of flawless shadow sphere launched forward at a massive speed and easily broke through the shadow dome and started to destroy the [Red] and [Blue] points as well, creating a space devoid of [White].
However, the [Black] faced a new problem.
The imaginary [Purple] and [Black] collided, and after a brief clash, [Purple] tore through [Black].
Naoya saw his technique getting decimated by the [Purple] orb that was heading straight towards him and was momentarily shocked.
Though the shock didn't last long, Naoya [Frame Dropped] through the Sphere and appeared behind [Purple], who continued to head away from him.
"The fight's not over!" yelled Satoru and used [Blue Rush] to appear near Naoya and immediately shifted to use [White].
Theoretically, [Purple] was better since it could destroy [Black] while the [Black] could tear through [White].
However, there was one thing that [Purple] couldn't stop while [White] could.
The strange, cursed tool that Naoya uses that cancels all techniques could shut down [Purple]. But against [White], the cursed tool would suffer.
Aside from the Jujutsu-related mechanism of the technique, [White] created a super-hot plasma around itself, which was not a result of jujutsu but the natural laws of nature, and because of that, the cursed tool could not negate it and would most likely be destroyed by the heat.
Naoya heard the hum of the space from Satoru and immediately knew that he could not stay close to Satoru.
He immediately used [Frame Drop] and punched Satoru away from him.
Satoru indeed got sent flying; however, in the brief moment Naoya got in contact with [White], his uniform that covered his hand got destroyed, and there were severe burns and damage on his hand.
Naoya winced a bit but immediately used [RCT] to heal himself.
He then glared at Satoru, who was holding himself in mid-air while healing himself.
Satoru grinned as he saw Naoya contemplating.
He could guess what might have been going on in Naoya's head.
His ways of hitting Satoru, the [Inverted Spear of Heaven] and [Frame Drop], were not that effective now.
His new strongest move, [Black], would get destroyed by [Purple], which could also tear through the shadow domes that try to restrict him from capturing space.
In a way, all the ways that Naoya found to get a hit on Satoru would not be very effective now. He could still hit him with frame drop, but that meant getting burnt and damaged by [White].
And just like Satoru predicted, Naoya was indeed calculating what he could do to counter Satoru efficiently.
While he was thinking about various moves, a sudden voice snapped him back to reality.
[Click]
In the midst of the loud humming of [White], a clear clicking sound from his shadows still reached him.
"...Looks like I need to get a bit dirty for this one,"
"Hm? You said something, Naoya? Hurry up, the technique will soon reach you," said Satoru in a calm tone while lying in the air without any worry.
By this point, Satoru was very confident that it was done for Naoya, forgetting the fact that Naoya Zenin was always the one who whoops his ass.
[Solid Shadows: Shadow Terrain]
The shadows expanded once again and covered the space around them in a dome, only this time Naoya was inside the dome as well.
Satoru was about to use [Purple] to destroy the dome, but he saw Naoya being in as well.
Now this intrigued him a bit.
'What will he do?' thought Satoru curiously as he looked at Naoya. Though it was pitch black because of [Six Eyes], he could see well.
Naoya, though, was not there to entertain Satoru and started his preparation.
[Simple Domain]
The entire inside of the dome now acted as Naoya's own domain, allowing him to sense all the cursed energy in there.
[Solid Shadow: Armour of Shadow Monarch]
Shadows spread around him, covering every inch of his body and started to form an armour-like shape.
The shadows allowed him to remain safe from the destructiveness of the [White], though the immense heat would still be an issue.
Because of the nature of the [White], his face was covered as well, making it impossible for him to look around, but that's where the Shadow Dome and [Simple Domain] came in. One limited the range of his opponents while the other let him sense without sight, which, coupled with his already enhanced senses, allowed him to act without any issues at all.
'Now comes the getting dirty part...' thought Naoya as he got inside the range of [White].
The spatial demolition didn't work on him thanks to the shadows around him, but the heat was still damaging the armour, and Naoya could feel the heat.
He could feel himself burn, but right now that wasn't going to stop him.
[Will of Shadows: Round Deer: Blessing Antler Circlet]
A golden circlet appeared on his head and started to release positive energy to both heal him and dampen the effects of the technique around him.
By now, the entire area under the Shadow dome was under [White]'s influence.
But since it reached the shadows. It could reach 'him'.
[Click]
In the midst of the spatial hum, a different voice resonated.
[Click]
Again.
[Click]
Again.
[Click]
The sound of clicks started to get louder, and as it got louder, Satoru realised something wasn't right.
"Naoya! What is it?!" asked Satoru, but because Naoya was entirely enclosed by the shadows, he could not hear Satoru. Technically, he could not even breathe in air and was active while holding his breath.
Seeing Naoya not respond, Satoru got closer to him, wondering if his friend was even alive.
But Naoya felt him coming closer and started walking forward as well.
As the two got closer, Naoya tried to punch Satoru but got blocked by [Infinity].
"Idiot. I have mastered having my [Infinity] remain active all the time. And without your [RCT], you won't be able to touch me anyway," said Satoru and snorted.
Still, Naoya didn't move away and continued to push through [Infinity].
'Maybe the heat fried his brain,' thought Satoru and looked at Naoya pitifully,
However, unknown to him, Naoya wasn't trying to touch him.
[Click]
The voice resonated once again.
Satoru looked around, trying to find the source, but couldn't find anything.
[Click]
"...It's not feeling good," muttered Satoru and looked towards the shadow-armoured man in front of him.
Whatever this sound was, the one responsible for that was definitely Naoya.
Not wanting to test the waters anymore, Satoru started to form a [Red] around his finger to blow Naoya away, but because of the Domain, Naoya sensed it and used his shadows to engulf the red before it could even form.
"So you really are up to something?" muttered Satoru and tried to get away from Naoya and destroy this space with [Purple].
But Naoya didn't allow him to move away.
With Naoya near him, Satoru could not use [Purple] freely.
If Naoya interrupts while he is forming [Purple], the results could be dangerous.
"Get away!" yelled Satoru and tried to use [Blue Rush] to get away from Naoya, but because the space around them was confined, Naoya could actually move around with [Projection Sorcery] and keep up with Satoru. The distance was manageable after all.
[Click]
The sound came again.
Satoru looked annoyed by the noise now; he wanted to know what it was.
...He was in luck. He will know it now.
Naoya finally stopped moving, making Satoru look at him with a mix of annoyance and confusion.
'Why did he suddenly stop? Is he out of air?' thought Satoru.
Naoya, though, smirked behind the shadow mask. The preparation was complete.
'Up to you now,' thought Naoaya and made a hand sign.
[Mahoraga]
As if waiting to be called, the Divine General rose from the shadows with his arms crossed and looked straight towards Satoru.
Satoru looked momentarily tranced by the arrival of the shikigami whom he clearly recognised. The pinnacle of [Ten Shadows], the divine general [Mahoraga].
Now then, getting a quick recap of the situation.
Naoya's shadow, where [Mahoraga] resides, was in constant contact with Satoru's technique, the alteration between [Red] and [Blue]. Aside from that, for quite some time, Naoya himself was in contact with Satoru's [Infinity], which stopped him from touching.
Sephiroth, the divine general, has adapted to all that.
Sephiroth looked at Satoru before a menacing smile appeared on his face.
The blades on his wrists came out and glowed.
Without wasting anytime he rushed towards Satoru and slashed him.
Surprised by the sudden attack, Satoru looked at his chest and used [RCT] to heal himself.....but there was no wound to begin with.
[Sword of Immunity: Eightfold Severance]
There was no damage, but Satoru felt something was missing.
Sephiroth, though, didn't give him any more time and stabbed him three more times.
Satoru looked moved away and checked himself. Still no wounds.
But all of a sudden, his [White] technique stopped.
"Huh?" muttered Satoru in shock and looked around. The [Red] and [Blue] micropoints were malfunctioning.
"*Phew*, I was almost out of breath."
Naoya finally spoke, and the shadow helmet opened up, allowing him to speak.
"Oi!! What did you just do to me?! Why am I having trouble using my technique?" demanded Satoru.
"Satoru."
"Hm?"
"Ready to get Jumpjutsud?" asked Naoya with a smile.
"Hu-"
Without any hesitation, Naoya [Frame Dropped] and punched him in the gut, sending him straight towards Sephiroth, who slammed him to the ground while adding another slash on Satoru.
Once again, he was cut, but he lost something.
5 of the 8 slashes were done to his body.
Satoru glared at Naoya and Mahoraga and was about to use [Red] on them.
But the [Red] fizzled out faster than it appeared.
Surprised by the result, he was unable to react as Naoya appeared near him and grabbed him by his collar.
Satoru glanced at Naoya.
His [Infinity] also lost the passive activation.
He will make it to be active manually like old times, and Naoya's hand moved away from him.
Still, Naoya just smiled at him and [Fram Dropped] a kick on him, sending him towards Sephiroth, who did a cross slash on Satoru before kicking him back towards Naoya.
7 of the 8 slashes are done.
"Agh!!!"
Naoya used his [Projection Sorcery] to trap Satoru in a frame, who was now having difficulty even activating his neutral [Infinity] consciously.
He looked at the trap frame before sending it flying towards Sephiroth.
Seeing the incoming frame, Sephiroth did what a sensible shikigami should do.
Punched it as hard as he could.
Sending Satoru crashing out of the frame, heavily injured and plastered in the shadow dome.
Even Naoya winced seeing Satoru's condition. Thankfully, RCT was still working for him.
Sephiroth, though, didn't stop at that. The target was still not neutralised.
The giant divine general started walking towards the helpless Gojo without any empathy.
"Huh? Wait! Stop! Naoya, make him stop!"
"Ah, I just remembered, I haven't introduced you two."
"IT'S NOT THE TIME FOR INTRODUCTIONS!!!!"
"Satoru, this is Sephiroth. Sephiroth, this is Satoru. Get along with him."
Sephiroth grabbed Satoru's leg and slammed him to the ground before adding the final slash on Satoru.
8 of 8 severing slashes were done. Satoru Gojo's adapted techniques were now sealed.
"WAHH!!! STOP IT YOU F*CKER!!!! NAOYA!!! SAVE ME FROM THIS MIDLESS BEAST!!!!" called Satoru, while being yeeted by Sephiroth.
"You give up?"
"Of course I do!!!!"
"Okay, Seph, stop. Save him."
Sephiroth did as he was told. He caught Satoru and brought him back to Naoya before tossing him on the floor in front of Naoya.
"You okay?" asked Naoya, 'worriedly'.
Satoru looked at Naoya with a 'seriously' look on his face.
"You think?"
"Hey, you were the one who said that we should not hold back."
"ALWAYS HOLD BACK AGAINST THE ADORABLE ME!!!! WHERE IS YOUR LOVE FOR ME?!"
Naoya raised his fist and pointed towards it.
Satoru glared at him.
Naoya simply laughed at him.
There were no announcements, since the barrier set up by the authorities was destroyed.
But.
[Winner Kyoto!!!!]
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A/N: With this, I am thinking of ending Naoya's high school arc. There will be some chapters to wrap a few things up before the start of JJK0, but that's what I am going with for now.
Do stone the fic.