Ren softly chanted his Bankai.
The massive zanbatō lay across his side, its chains rattling with a crisp, metallic clinking sound.
Ren wasn't dissatisfied with the power of his Bankai, but the name... it was a bit wordy.
Reciting it in one go nearly made his tongue trip over itself.
As the release finished, the towering pillar of light dissipated, and the turbulent air around them gradually settled.
He looked ahead to where Itadori Yuji stood on the ground, his hand touching his face—specifically the lower half covering his jaw.
That resolute face now held a touch of malevolence, covered in black markings. The skin beneath his eyes had split, revealing an extra pair of eyes.
Two pairs of crimson pupils flickered with a bloody light. His expression was grim and heavy with solemnity.
Seeing Itadori's current state—vastly different from before and radiating a wicked aura—Ren remained calm. He had clearly expected this.
"So, it's Sukuna."
After swallowing two fingers, Itadori Yuji either couldn't suppress Sukuna's power or had made some deal within his consciousness; regardless, Sukuna had taken control of the body.
The will standing before Ren now was undoubtedly Sukuna's!
In the distance, the Kyoto students and teachers, Kusakabe, Panda, and even Yuki Tsukumo—who had just recovered from her pain—felt a sudden tightness in their chests. The very air seemed to have grown heavier.
Looking up again, they saw Sukuna awakening within Itadori's body.
"It's Sukuna! Sukuna's awake again!"
"He turned Shibuya into a wasteland last time. How much destruction will he cause now?"
"Damn it! Damn it all!"
"Wait, Sukuna looks strange!"
Everyone focused their attention on the distant Sukuna.
They saw him standing perfectly still, his expression heavy.
Ren looked at the figure ahead, his brow furrowing slightly.
He remembered that Itadori Yuji's limbs were bound by Kidō, making it impossible for him to even stand, let alone move.
Even if Uchiha Ming had used a low-numbered Kidō, it wasn't something the current Itadori... no, Sukuna, should be able to break.
Ren's gaze shifted, scanning the ground.
He saw severed legs and arms with clean cuts scattered on the ground, blood still flowing. The realization hit him immediately.
*I see.*
Sukuna must have realized he was bound the moment he manifested and simply sliced off his own limbs, then used Reverse Cursed Technique to regenerate them, successfully escaping the Kidō bindings.
It seemed that despite his arrogance, Sukuna possessed a certain level of quick-wittedness.
Ren turned his attention back to Sukuna, who was staring directly at him with a look of extreme gravity.
Frowning, Ren thought of something and asked, "Can you see me now?"
"Who the hell are you? Among the powerful ones I know... there's no one like you."
Sukuna gritted his teeth, forcing the words out.
His deep voice lacked its usual playful arrogance, sounding entirely serious instead.
His four eyes were fixed on the black figure, his spirit tense, not missing a single movement.
The man before him didn't radiate any aura, yet he gave off a sense of danger Sukuna had never experienced before.
When the man's gaze met his, Sukuna felt like he was facing an absolute predator, while he was merely the prey caught in its sights.
In this moment, he felt unprecedentedly small, like a fish on a chopping block, waiting to be slaughtered.
Sukuna felt an unbearable suffocation. His thoughts and will were nearly impossible to maintain.
*Curse it!*
*To make me, the strongest King of Curses, feel such extreme emotion... who is this person?!*
"Are you... really human?"
"No."
Ren shook his head slightly and stepped forward.
"So you really can see me."
From what Ren knew, Sukuna could interact with the soul. Seeing his spiritual body now wasn't particularly surprising.
Watching the figure approach step by step, Sukuna felt a monumental pressure, like a surging tsunami.
And he, the strongest King of Curses, was like a small boat that could be crushed and dragged under at any moment.
Sukuna gritted his teeth, enduring the mountain-like weight.
An unprecedented panic crawled over him like a parasite.
From within Itadori Yuji's consciousness, he hadn't had direct contact and thought this was someone he could easily deal with.
But now that he had manifested and faced him personally, he never expected to find himself in such a predicament.
The man said he wasn't human. Then what was he?
A god?
But Sukuna himself was the Fallen One!
Maintaining a final shred of defiance through the struggle, cursed energy surged from Sukuna. He was about to use his technique to launch an attack.
But a shadow suddenly loomed over him.
That incredible figure appeared before him with unbelievable speed.
*So fast!*
Sukuna flicked his fingers, sending out slashes.
Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!
But these attacks couldn't even touch Ren.
The moment they reached him, they were shattered by the faint Spiritual Pressure radiating from his body!
*So tough!*
Sukuna was stunned. His attacks were like tofu hitting an immovable wall of steel, disintegrating upon impact.
Just as he was about to attack again, he saw a large hand reaching for his face, firmly clamping down on his lower jaw.
His soul shuddered, immediately bound by a crushing weight.
Under this exaggerated pressure, his will nearly faltered, and the technique he was about to activate was forcibly interrupted.
Lifting Sukuna up, Ren spoke softly, "Itadori, rest easy. This might actually be a good thing for you."
Upon touching Sukuna, Ren used his Spiritual Pressure to pin down Sukuna's soul, rendering him unable to move.
Although Sukuna had reached the level of the soul, in terms of both quality and quantity, he was nowhere near Ren's level.
Ren raised his zanbatō high. The blade gleamed with a clear white light as it descended gently, the edge touching Sukuna's shoulder.
"Sever now, the karmic ties between you two!"
Ren didn't use force. Relying purely on the zanbatō's own weight, the blade cut into Itadori's body, piercing through flesh and bone as it slid down rapidly.
It was a simple swing, yet it moved as smoothly as if it were cutting through air, meeting no resistance whatsoever.
Swoosh!
An almost imperceptible sound rang out as the blade passed through Itadori's body, exiting through his lower abdomen.
Ren pulled back his strength just in time, gripping the hilt to hold the zanbatō steady and preventing the blade from touching the ground.
His blade was exceptionally sharp. Even without a designated target, its mere weight would have created a fissure through the entirety of Japan if it hit the ground.
Yet, despite being cut through by this strike, Itadori Yuji's body showed no signs of damage.
Not only was he not split in two, but even his clothes remained completely intact.
Ren let go, and Sukuna fell to the ground, stumbling back two steps while clutching the area where he had been struck.
There was no pain, no itchiness; it was as if nothing had happened.
But within his consciousness, it felt as though he had heard the sound of something being severed.
It was a crisp sound, yet one that was impossible to pin down.
"What... what did you do to me?"
Sukuna demanded with a dark expression. As soon as the words left his mouth, a powerful repulsive force erupted from Itadori's body, rejecting his will.
It was trying to expel him!
"Ugh! Argh!"
Ren watched Sukuna's desperate howling with an indifferent expression, though a hint of satisfaction flickered in his eyes.
"Good."
After achieving Bankai, the fundamental nature of his Zanpakutō hadn't changed much—it simply meant there were more things he could cut.
This strike wasn't a steel blade meant to rend flesh or break bone, and what it severed wasn't the life of either Sukuna or Itadori.
His true target was the settlement of grievances.
To sever karmic ties, to sever fate, to sever karma!
Liberation from one's karma!
The goal he had set for this strike was to completely sever all connections between Sukuna and Itadori Yuji.
After enduring this strike, the two would have no further relation!
Even if Itadori Yuji swallowed other fingers of Sukuna in the future, he wouldn't be able to house him; instead, they would repel each other and separate!
The massive zanbatō in his hand glowed with white light and rapidly shrank. As the light faded, Ren's Bankai reverted to its usual Zanpakutō state.
Holding the Zanpakutō, he looked ahead.
Sukuna's body swayed, his footsteps unsteady. He clutched his head, thrashing left and right, letting out animalistic roars.
"Argh!"
"What... what is this?"
"Shut... shut up, brat!"
The voices of Sukuna and Itadori intermingled, ringing out sharply across the empty land.
As he thrashed his head, afterimages appeared around his shoulders. Through his struggle, they gradually solidified into two heads.
One was Itadori Yuji's head, the black markings and extra eyes gone, returning to his original appearance.
The other head looked far more eerie.
It was a size larger than Itadori's, with short red hair and a strikingly exaggerated face.
One half of the face was covered by a bony plate with two vertical eyes, while the other half had normal skin but also featured two horizontal eyes.
Ryomen Sukuna!
This was the true face of the King of Curses!
Ren looked at Sukuna's true form. Though strange at first glance, it did possess a certain majesty.
Behind this head, Itadori's upper body also began to split, revealing Sukuna's torso.
His frame was also much larger than Itadori's, his skin etched with black markings, and he had four arms clawing at the air.
Four arms pressed against Itadori's body and face, his expression twisted in a snarl, as if trying to rip his entire being out of Itadori's body.
"Fine, let me help you out."
Ren stepped forward, grabbing Sukuna's hair with one hand and placing a foot against Itadori's waist. He exerted force with his arm and gave a sharp pull!
"Argh!"
Itadori and Sukuna roared in pain simultaneously. With Ren's help, Sukuna's waist emerged from Itadori's body, followed by his legs and feet.
Squelch!
The sound of tearing flesh rang out as Ren pulled Sukuna's body completely free from Itadori.
With a casual toss, he threw Sukuna onto the ground.
Ren glanced at Itadori. Itadori was panting heavily, lying exhausted on the ground, soaked in sweat.
Forcing himself up, he raised his head to look at the equally disheveled Sukuna before him. His vision blurred and then focused.
"Sukuna..."
"So this is your true face!"
Sukuna lay on the ground, having been forcibly separated, which had drained much of his energy.
However, he was still much stronger than Itadori.
Using his four arms to push himself up, he slowly stood from the ground, his chest heaving as he looked at the black figure.
"Huff... huff... separating me from this brat..."
"Was that your goal?"
Ren gripped his sword and walked slowly toward Sukuna.
"Not the goal, but a means to an end."
"Now, it's time to offer your power to me."
Before Sukuna could react, Ren blurred, instantly appearing in front of him. The blade lightly touched Sukuna's chest.
"Connect."
The blade erupted with clear light, which converged into a thread that pierced Sukuna's skin, sank into his flesh, and ran through his limbs and organs.
As the thread entered his body, Sukuna felt a vast will circling within his consciousness.
This will was like an exalted god; before it, even the King of Curses was as tiny as an ant.
"Damn it! Damn it all!"
"To think that I, the great..."
Within a consciousness built upon mountains of corpses and seas of blood, Sukuna's spirit flared. He stubbornly held his neck stiff and raised his head, his four eyes searching for the true face of that will.
Even if he really was an ant, he wouldn't just submit quietly!
He had to see the true face of his opponent!
But the figure was too immense, towering through his entire mental space. No matter how he strained, he could only see a mere outline.
That will seemed to notice the defiance of this ant. Out of curiosity or perhaps confusion, it lowered its head, and its cold gaze fell upon him.
Then, it looked away with utter indifference.
Though it was only for a moment, it was enough for Sukuna to see the rigid, cold face of that will.
The features were shrouded in mist, causing him to forget them the moment he looked away.
Only those strange eyes were deeply etched into Sukuna's four eyes.
Those eyes were bizarre beyond belief. They had no pupils; instead, they contained curved crosses!
No!
Sukuna realized immediately—it wasn't a cross, but rather that each eye had four pupils, and the white space in the center formed that cross-like shape!
The moment he saw those eyes, a word surfaced unbidden in Sukuna's heart.
God!
Not one of the eight million minor deities of Shinto, but the God of Genesis from the Bible!
After that brief downward glance, the vast will above suddenly came to life.
The face hidden behind the haze became expressive, losing its previous rigidity.
Entering Sukuna's consciousness, Ren looked down at the ant-like Sukuna, his heart stirring slightly.
Boom!
A wave of pressure suddenly struck, pinning Sukuna to the ground instantly. The countless white bones beneath his feet were crushed to dust.
His consciousness snapped back to reality. The black figure appeared before him, sheathing his tachi.
"So this is your true self—"
"Connection... successful."
Ren looked at Sukuna, his eyes sparkling as if he were looking at a supreme treasure.
The connection ability of the Zanpakutō usually required mutual consent to establish a contract.
However, if the opponent refused, Ren could still force a connection.
Though the opponent's spiritual resistance during the process could cause some trouble.
With his current power, that resistance was negligible.
He wasn't sure if it was an illusion, but while suppressing Sukuna's resistance just now, he seemed to feel a slight anomaly that vanished in an instant.
This was his first time establishing a connection with an uncooperative target; the specific experience was naturally a first for him.
Forcing a connection had another drawback: if the contractor wasn't sincere, their loyalty in the future couldn't be guaranteed.
But for Sukuna, Ren had no intention of keeping him as a subordinate.
He simply and purely wanted his ability, to plunder it for himself.
Therefore, he had forced the connection.
"Sukuna, I'll be taking your power now."
[Reviews - Power St0nes - Comments are highly appreciated to keep me going.....(+50 chapters) patre0n.c0m/talecrafter]