Yuta Okkotsu's reaction was a fraction of a second slower than Zenin Mirai's.
Mirai shattered the stone slab beneath his feet and burst forth!
BOOM!
Their fists collided. Only a third of the Black Rope remained wrapped around Yuta's knuckles.
Just as Yuta was exhausted and struggling to defend himself, the situation worsened.
Rika, fully manifested, was repeatedly and severely injured by the massive, withered roots of the Gedo Mazo.
Mirai's bloodshot scarlet eyes swept across the platform. With a single thought, he adjusted the Mazo's output to perfectly balance against Rika and the Piercing Ox.
The three-against-one situation barely maintained a stalemate.
...
Nearby, Reverse Cursed Technique was pushed to its absolute limit.
Flesh, bone, and muscle knitted together rapidly. Gojo Satoru's destroyed right arm was restored.
Casting aside all distracting thoughts, Gojo rose, Cursed Energy flaring as he prepared to charge back into the battlefield to help Yuta.
Clatter.
A dull thud came from behind him. Something heavy had fallen to the ground.
Gojo subconsciously looked down.
A small cube covered in Cursed Runes rolled to his feet.
"Prison Realm, open."
The familiar tone that reached his ears made Gojo freeze.
The cube beneath his feet began its final countdown the moment Gojo looked at it!
Sizzle—sizzle!
The cracking sound emanating from the gaps in the runes amplified.
Suddenly, the cube unfolded its body, transforming into a two-meter-tall behemoth wrapped in flesh and fascia. It resembled a grotesque, blood-red starfish with its fleshy legs spread wide.
The single, exposed eye in the center continuously oozed scarlet liquid, locking onto Gojo.
Gojo stared blankly at the blood-red eyeball, a strange sense of absurdity and unease welling up inside him.
Just as he was about to step out of the eye's range, that familiar voice rang out again.
"Long time no see, Satoru."
Gojo stopped dead in his tracks. His gaze involuntarily shifted to the figure standing behind the fleshy eye.
"Ha..."
Looking at the face he knew best in his entire life, Gojo Satoru's azure eyes churned with extremely complex emotions.
A year ago, Zenin Mirai had personally executed Suguru Geto.
After Gojo and Shoko confirmed White Zetsu's ability to possess human corpses, they had deeply suspected that Mirai had kept Geto's body as a hidden trump card.
Back at the school, Gojo had used his Six Eyes to identify the body White Zetsu had replaced, so he was already somewhat mentally prepared for this twisted tactic.
Gojo's very first reaction upon seeing the man in the kasaya was: 'This is White Zetsu impersonating Suguru!'
But!
At this moment, the Six Eyes relayed the absolute truth to his brain.
The person before him was definitely not White Zetsu in disguise.
Apart from the stitched scar on the forehead...
The Cursed Energy... the physical body...
It was Suguru Geto himself!
"Suguru???"
In this moment...
Gojo's mind kept replaying the three years he had lived with Suguru Geto at Jujutsu High.
Together they exorcised Cursed Spirits. Together they defied Principal Yaga. Together they teased Utahime. Together they complained about the corruption of the Higher-ups...
So many times together. So many memories.
Three years of youth. Three years of the closest friendship.
In a split second... three years' worth of information rushed into Gojo's mind!
...
The Absolute Prison.
Special Grade Cursed Object: Prison Realm.
A thousand years ago, a Buddhist monk named Genshin awakened a powerful barrier technique. Throughout his life, he sealed countless curses within his body. After his death, his remains transformed into the Prison Realm.
It was a special creation powerful enough to imprison even the Strongest Sorcerer!
An absolute prison for Gojo Satoru.
It had three functions:
Cursed Energy is sealed. Time does not pass. The barrier is absolutely solid.
A Sorcerer imprisoned within cannot use Cursed Techniques to escape and cannot perceive the passage of time. Hundreds of years, thousands of years... the prisoner is trapped in a confined void. Aside from suicide, the only option is to passively wait for someone outside to lift the seal.
It possessed an incredibly powerful effect, but the activation conditions were extremely strict.
The target must remain within a four-meter radius of the Prison Realm for one minute.
However, "one minute" did not refer to physical time in the real world. It referred to brain time—the time it takes for one minute's worth of memories to flash through the target's mind.
And Gojo Satoru...
In that instant of looking back at his dead best friend... three years flashed through his mind.
The condition was met.
...
"Satoru, how can you let your mind wander during battle?"
When Gojo came to his senses, layers upon layers of grotesque, fleshy muscles had erupted from the Prison Realm, binding him firmly to the spot.
'I can't sense my Cursed Energy?'
Gojo, half-squatting and wrapped in the trap, frowned deeply.
Seeing the disgusting smile on his former best friend's face, Gojo recovered from his brief shock and angrily demanded, "Who... are you?!"
"Have you forgotten me so quickly?"
Kenjaku (Pseudo-Geto) clasped his hands together in his sleeves, looking down at Gojo with a playful gaze.
"I'm your best friend, Suguru Geto."
"My Six Eyes tell me you're Suguru Geto!" Gojo exerted his physical strength, stretching the muscles binding him to their limit.
"But!"
"My soul knows otherwise!"
"Tell me right now... WHO ARE YOU?!"
...
"GOJO-SENSEI!!!"
Yuta screamed as he saw Geto's appearance and Gojo's sudden restriction.
Forced far back on the platform, Yuta tried desperately to break through Mirai's defense to save his teacher.
BOOM!
As the Black Rope in his hand was about to burn out completely, Yuta's expression grew frantic.
"WHY?!!"
With an extreme burst of massive Cursed Energy, Yuta punched straight at Mirai's heart!
He didn't expect to kill the enemy. He just wanted to force Mirai to dodge, giving him a chance to use the last inch of the Black Rope to free Gojo!
Smack.
Mirai casually raised a hand and firmly stopped Yuta's fist in place. The last thread of the Black Rope burned to ash.
"Why did you betray Jujutsu High?!" Yuta glared at him, enraged.
Looking down at the enraged boy, Mirai spoke calmly. "I'd like to ask you the same."
"Why can't you just obediently follow the orders of the strong and stop your futile resistance?"
Months ago, Mirai's plot had deviated significantly due to Gojo recruiting Hakari and Yuta. This led to repeated revisions of Kenjaku's plan.
Now, Mirai only needed to maintain the overall direction of the operation and prevent any further disruptions.
"Kamui."
With a powerful sweeping kick to Yuta's side, Mirai's crimson eyes focused on the deep darkness behind Yuta.
The void rippled with tremors, tearing visible to the naked eye.
Kinji Hakari and Uraume, who had just emerged from Hakari's shattered Domain, hadn't even had time to assess the situation.
A sudden, magnified sense of horror welled up inside Hakari.
BOOM!!!
The space tore apart, and violent air currents swept through!
Hakari and Yuta were blasted away by the spatial shockwave, thrown deep into the dark tunnels.
...
"Are we done here?"
Kenjaku's impatient tone drifted across the platform as Mirai slowly walked over.
Mirai's Sharingan confirmed that the Black Rope in Yuta's hand was completely destroyed. Whether Gojo had hidden any more elsewhere... White Zetsu would find out eventually.
"We're done," Mirai said.
Kenjaku smiled, turning his attention back to the bound Gojo Satoru.
"Let's talk again next time. Maybe in a hundred years, or a thousand?"
"Hahahaha!"
As Mirai stood beside him, Kenjaku offered a mocking wave.
"Goodbye in the New World, Gojo Satoru."
They didn't give Gojo time to refute.
With Yuta and Hakari regrouping, even Uraume wouldn't be able to stop them from trying to break the cube once it sealed. Mirai and Kenjaku needed to leave.
"Prison Realm."
"Close."
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