(Pov Kenjaku)
9:05 pm
Things were going exactly as planned. Gojo Satoru had been sealed away, and Gojo Satoshi was currently fighting with the reincarnated Fushiguro Toji. I doubt he'll lose the fight, not with the support of the Ten Shadows user, but the distraction would serve well. Now it was time to awaken Sukuna and give him a boost.
Unfortunately, this meant I would need to get my hands dirty, so to speak. I had planned for Yuji to kill the two brothers and enrage Choso to create my opening, but Satoshi had interfered there as well. So all three of the death paintings had abandoned me in favor of teaming up with their new little brother, though, as much of an annoyance as this had become, I suppose there is some parental instinct that enjoys seeing my children get along.
Yet all things must come to an end, including such a gathering. Yuji managed to split off from his original group after entering the subway. I had thought to strike then, but shortly after, he had been found by the others. Choso, Eso, and Kechizu, the three strongest of my first set of children, the Cursed Womb Death Paintings. They had been my first attempt to create something never seen before, and while I had succeeded in a way, each one was still a failure, and only the eldest three were strong enough to be useful.
Their creation taught me a valuable lesson, though: that I couldn't create something stronger than myself, which is why I needed Sukuna. It was only with him that enough cursed energy could be generated in the Culling Games to complete the Merger. Still, perhaps I had put too much caution into Yuji; he was meant to be a vessel, but he had proven even more compatible than I had thought.
Sukuna hadn't had a chance to stretch his legs since he first incarnated, and now it was time for him to join the fray.
(Pov Yuji)
9:26 pm
This night was the worst night of my life, and that includes the first time I ate one of Sukuna's fingers. Turns out Mechamaru is actually dead; he told us himself after attaching some weird earpiece to me. He also told us that Gojo-Sensei, the older one, was sealed away by the enemy. Then I somehow got separated from Mei Mei and her little brother on the way to the lower station.
There was one good thing, though, as I ran into those weird guys from a few days ago on the way. They had left after Gojo-Sensei got involved and kept insisting I was their brother, and soon they'd bring their other brother around. At this point, it has to be something I'm doing right? First, Todo, who seems to think we used to be best friends, then these guys convinced us we're related.
At least they seemed to be on our side this time, as when I ran into them again, they finally introduced their eldest brother, Choso. He seemed just as delusional as the others, as after a few seconds of staring at me, he pulled me into a very tight hug, talking about his 'new brother'.
After that, things seemed to be going well, and the four of us were on our way to rescue Gojo-Sensei from his imprisonment. Unfortunately, we ran into an issue on the way, one with the same white hair I had grown used to. We had just descended to level four when a familiar figure appeared. It was a man; he seemed middle-aged, yet his hair was pure white, and his eyes were blue, though they seemed dull.
"It's good to see you all. I had hoped to do this alone, but it changes nothing." The man said, looking right at me. It was at this time that I noticed the line across his forehead, the sign that we had been warned of, meaning this guy was our enemy.
"Kenjaku, you tricked us into fighting our little brother; you will regret that!" Eso shouted.
"Yeah, tell him, big bro," Kechizu added.
Choso didn't say anything, but that weird bar across his face suddenly grew little arrows. I couldn't just stand by. Gojo-Sensei said this guy was strong, so we couldn't afford to take him lightly.
"As much as I would like to deal with this properly, I am on somewhat of a time crunch until Satoshi-Kun is no longer busy, so let's end this quickly," Kenjaku said. The moment he finished speaking, we began our attack. Eso and Kechizu fired their blood towards Kenjaku while Choso pressed his hands together and pointed them towards him. I rushed forward, my cursed energy surging forward to attack. Then, before any of us could reach him, Kenjaku raised his hands and pressed them together, forming a sphere with both of his hands connected at the fingers.
"Domain Expansion: Endless Sight"
I had seen domains before while training with Gojo-Sensei; he had his older brother show us how they worked, and I knew that Fushiguro had one kind of domain, but this was different. A domain was supposed to be inside a barrier, but here there was none; instead, there was only a single large eye, surrounded by a shifting cloud of smoke, behind Kenjaku. None of us had long to react before it suddenly felt like I was being crushed by a truck, and I was pushed into the ground along with the others.
"Sorry about this, Yuji-Kun, but you should be proud that your strength will be instrumental in bringing about the new age." He said before his hand struck, and everything went black.
(Pov Satoshi)
9:35 pm
The moment the Soul Split Katana made contact with Kenjaku's neck, his body suddenly disappeared in a cloud of smoke. Nearby, another version of him appeared in a similar puff with a small smile on his face.
"That was rude, you shouldn't ignore-" He started before I charged once more, and once again the same thing happened as his body disappeared. Behind me, I could hear cruel laughter, and, turning around, I saw it was Sukuna, who seemed extremely enthused by my struggle.
"That technique, whose was it?" I ask.
"I suppose I could indulge in a final request; it was your uncle's Illusion Node. He thought it was useless, but it can fool you." He responded.
Uncle Toshino had never told us what his technique was, and I never thought to ask. He didn't go on missions while Satoru and I lived in the clan compound. The fact that it could create a realistic enough illusion to fool even my senses made me wonder. Why was he only ever a Grade 3? Though given Kenjaku had at least a thousand years of experience, it might have something to do with it.
I wanted to try to charge Kenjaku again when I felt the same sense of danger as before, and I was forced to jump back. The space I had been standing on was suddenly sliced apart as multiple slashes flew in. "Don't forget it, you brat, that weirdos are not your issue." Sukuna taunted, his four eyes locked on me.
"So harsh, Sukuna. Though I have worn out my welcome, goodbye, Satoshi, see you in the next life." Kenjakus said, and with that, his final illusion puffed into smoke, and I couldn't feel him anywhere nearby. I had no choice but to focus on Sukuna now. I would have to find Kenjaku later if there was a later.
I always had the thought in the back of my head that declaring any form of 'Nah I'd win' was this world's version of the Dragonball thumb point; it just invites trouble. Yet I couldn't help myself; it's an odd impulse, I have to say, but now it was time to put the theory to the test.
"Because of you, I haven't had a chance to use this brat's body since that first night. I think using his body to kill you will be proper compensation." Sukuna said, then suddenly brought his hands forward. Now that I was looking this time, not only could I feel the sense of danger that came with these slashes, but I could see them too. It was hard, though, like part of the air was moving around, and the most obvious part was the distortions around where it cut through the regular air, but it was enough.
I dodged to the left and began rushing towards Sukuna, lowering my blade for an upward attack. On the way, he sent out more slashes, forcing me to slow down and dodge each of them, so by the time I was close enough to attack, Sukuna had already seen through it. He jumped back himself and launched multiple dismantles.
I jumped after him, twisting myself around to avoid the incoming strikes. Landing, I attacked once more, but this time he didn't move away; instead, he began striking back directly. His hands moved fast, and each one could spell disaster if the hit landed due to the cleave. Thankfully, the SSK was effective at maintaining distance due to the blade's abnormal length.
I brought the blade down, but I was forced to dodge as suddenly his hand shot out towards my gut after I moved back, though I suddenly felt a pain in the back of my head, and I was launched forward hard.
I crashed through the wall of a nearby shop, and the moment I landed, that familiar sense of danger slammed into me once more. This time, though, I wasn't fast enough, and one of the slashes cut my left arm. It wasn't deep, but still not a good sign.
I was still tired from my earlier fight with Toji, and now dealing with a likely fifteen-finger Sukuna was troubling.
"You can see them, can't you, Satoshi! You can see my cursed technique! But can you dodge all of it?!" Sukuna shouted before a virtual downpour of slashes exploded from his body, slicing through everything on the street.
I knew it was time to reveal my ace in the hole, so to speak, for this situation. I stowed the katana back into the worm and withdrew my ultimate cursed tool. The Inverted Spear of Heaven is a two-bladed short sword style Special Grade cursed tool with the ability to negate any cursed technique it comes into contact with. It was this tool that nearly killed my brother eleven years ago, and now it would be the tool I would use to face off against the King of Curses.
As the dismantles approached, I brought the spear forward and sliced across the attacks, and they fell apart, dissolving shortly after. In front of me, all the debris that had been flying toward me was quickly reduced to nothing, and I was left unharmed. I could see Sukuna, whose face showed surprise before morphing into a smile.
"What didn't you think I was planning for this?" I asked before drawing out the second component for my new strategy, the Chain of a Thousand Miles. This cursed tool was a chain that could extend infinitely as long as one end was obscured from sight, and it could be clasped onto the handle of the Inverted Spear, turning a close-range tool into one with much more reach.
"Come on then, weren't you going to kill me? Our real battle is just getting started!" I yelled and launched myself forward as Sukuna did the same.
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Sorry for this chapter being like half set up and a two parter I wanted to do the whole fight in one but I have just so much writing I need to do for school that I just can't bring myself to do it. I'm sorry for the slow and inconsistent uploads I do want to finish this series but it might take a while hopefully once I'm done with the two massive papers I need to finish still I can put more time into this. But until then I hope you enjoyed this chapter and the fight will continue next time.