Beneath the towering shadow of the Heavenly Pillar, Ashiya Doman sighed with a profound sense of contentment. He had named his new species; he had set the world on its final course. He relaxed, his posture easy, floating like a god above the ruins.
But as he looked down at Souma Gojo, who had been sitting cross-legged and chanting for an eternity, a flicker of unease—primitive and cold—danced behind Doman's eyes.
What technique is he preparing? Why does it require such a long ritual?
Despite the nagging doubt, Doman made no move to strike. For one, the four Special Grades stood as a fortress around Souma; even with his new power, breaking through that line would be a bloody affair. Secondly, he held absolute faith in Sukhavati.
This was a move a thousand years in the making. Even if Abe no Seimei were reborn today, it would take a decade of constant effort to dismantle the "Pure Land." By then, the evolution of humanity would be complete.
At that moment, Souma Gojo's eyes snapped open.
His hands twisted into a complex, interlocking mudra, and his voice carried a low, resonant power.
"Counter-Birth Barrier: Rashomon!"
Doman straightened up, looking down with a patronizing tilt of his head. "Oh? A barrier technique?"
"Amusing. But if you think a mere barrier can contend with Sukhavati, you are naive beyond measure. Let us see how you struggle—"
Thump!
Doman's pupils shrank to pinpricks. His heart had just skipped a beat—not from exhaustion, but from a sudden, violent disharmony.
"What was that?"
Doman looked at his chest with suspicion, then locked eyes with Souma. The Gojo was wearing a cold, predatory smirk.
"This barrier isn't meant for Sukhavati," Souma said. "It's meant for you."
"Don't be ridiculous!" Doman scoffed. "In terms of barrier mastery, even Tengen is a child compared to me. You think you can trap me—"
Thump!
Doman's eye twitched as his heart suffered another agonizing spasm.
"What... what is happening?" Doman gasped, clutching his chest. "What have you done?!"
"Nothing much," Souma chuckled, standing up and dusting ash from his pants. "I'm just letting the original owner of that body back in."
Thump-thump! Thump-thump!
Doman's heart began to hammer against his ribs like a trapped beast. Suddenly, a plume of black, oily flames erupted within his spiritual core. Deep within the inner landscape of his mind, a demonic shadow manifested, its mouth splitting into a jagged, hateful grin.
"Heh... hehehe... HAHAHAHA!"
"Kenjaku! Long time no see!"
"Or should I call you Ashiya Doman now?"
Within that mental void, Doman stared at the shadow in disbelief. "Sukuna!"
"Impossible! The Daiten vessel was a perfect suppression! Between the flesh and my Idle Transfiguration, your soul should have been digested! How are you still alive?!"
Sukuna's shadow let out a manic cackle. "For that, you'll have to ask Souma Gojo!"
In the physical world, Doman roared at Souma, "You bastard! What did you do to this vessel?!"
"Guess."
"You—!"
Crack—
A sound like shattering glass echoed in Doman's ears. He looked down at his four arms. On two of his hands, the fingers began to develop spider-web cracks. Shimmering motes of light, like spiritual blood, began to leak from the fissures.
"This is..."
Doman's mind raced back. He had found eighteen of Sukuna's fingers, but the final two had remained elusive until Uraume recovered them from overseas and the deep sea. He had felt a slight incongruity back then, but seeing Sukuna absorb them without issue, he had dismissed it as nerves.
Now he realized: the return of those fingers was a trap. Souma Gojo had tampered with them long before Uraume ever found them.
Souma looked up, his gaze piercing. "It took a massive effort to fool both you and Sukuna. I spent weeks combining Tengen's millennia of barrier knowledge with my own research to create the Rashomon."
"It's a barrier that doesn't exist in space, but in the 'moment' of birth. It locked the power and the soul of Sukuna within those two fingers, keeping them dormant and separate even after they were consumed. You didn't swallow them; you just gave them a place to hide."
"Success looks good on you, Doman. Not even the great Ashiya Doman noticed the rot inside his own house."
"Curse you!" Doman's face contorted into a mask of fury. His flesh began to ripple as Sukuna's soul tore through his internal defenses.
"Don't get ahead of yourself, boy! It's only two fingers! I hold the power of the other eighteen!"
"Eighteen to two—the advantage is still mine!"
Doman slammed his palms together, forcibly suppressed the internal tremors. He channeled his vast reserves of cursed energy to crush the flickering soul of the King of Curses, intending to purge him once and for all.
"Sukuna! I defeated you once; I can do it again!"
"Hey! Did you forget about me?"
Before Doman could finish his internal purge, Souma appeared directly in his face. A fist wreathed in the dark sparks of a Black Flash slammed into Doman's jaw with the force of a falling meteor.
BOOM!!!
High above the city, Doman's body was sent skip-crashing down the massive trunk of the Heavenly Pillar, carving a deep furrow in the bark before slamming into the cratered earth below.
As Doman struggled to rise, Souma materialized again, grabbing him by the throat and hurling him across the ruins like a ragdoll.
Crash!
Doman hit a pile of rubble, his bones groaning under the impact. He barely had time to breathe before Souma was on him again. The battle devolved into a brutal, high-speed exchange of "Jujutsu Combat"—pure, raw physical violence.
Souma knew he couldn't use Purple or Purge yet; he needed Doman alive to manually deactivate Sukhavati. But this relentless harassment was exactly what Sukuna needed.
Every time Doman raised his guard against Souma, his internal focus slipped.
Within the inner landscape, Sukuna lunged like a rabid dog. He sank his teeth into Doman's spiritual form, tearing away a massive chunk of "soul-flesh" with a violent shake of his head.
With that single bite, Sukuna reclaimed the authority of five fingers.
"Damn you!" Doman screamed.
The ancient sorcerer was being torn apart from both sides. In reality, Souma Gojo was a relentless hurricane of fists; in his mind, Ryomen Sukuna was a wolf eating him alive from the inside out.