The brain has no pain receptors, but the experience of pain does not depend on pain receptors alone. It is also tied to pain sensitive structures, the peripheral and central transmission pathways, and the limbic system plays a major role in how pain is felt.
And when damage reaches the thalamus, it can produce complex, excruciating pain...
Sukuna was doing his best to keep his tone calm, but after being induced to repeatedly "destroy brain tissue," his entire body was wracked with continuous spontaneous pain.
It had to be said, Satoru Gojo's "induction plan" had been an overwhelming success.
An ordinary person would be completely unable to focus under this kind of "inescapable phantom pain." Even Sukuna's precision in using his technique had been affected.
But what of it?
The corner of Sukuna's mouth lifted, as though he could already see the end.
All he had to do now was use the same trick again, recreate the situation from their first Domain clash, and pour all his strength into blowing apart Gojo's Domain from the outside.
Then, within the [Malevolent Shrine], he would turn Satoru Gojo's Cursed Energy itself into "ignition points."
That was the same as unleashing limitless [Opening] on him from inside his own body, using his own Cursed Energy against him.
It would cause enormous self ignition and self detonation damage, while also directly consuming his Cursed Energy.
And burns and poison damage were both obstacles that even Reverse Cursed Technique struggled to overcome...
There was no way Satoru Gojo could endure the damage, cut away the parts that had been charred black, and then restore himself at the same time.
In other words, even if he did not kill Satoru Gojo instantly, these uniquely dense injuries would still effectively shut down his ability to use Reverse Cursed Technique...
A true killing move.
"I didn't expect this 'Sashimi Banquet' to end in 'Roasting.' It may have lost that fresh sweetness... but a little extra aroma has its charms."
Satoru Gojo did not answer. His expression had turned grave. Even he had not expected Sukuna to have so many layers of tricks, especially such flexible control over his Domain...
He could tell that after Sukuna altered his Domain, the surrounding flames were genuinely dangerous to him...
Satoru Gojo listened to the burning crackle of the flames and the dense, thunderous barrage around him, while feeling his Domain Barrier tremble...
Then he looked at Sukuna again, wearing the expression of a glutton waiting for his meal to finish cooking...
And suddenly, Satoru Gojo broke into an absurdly exaggerated grin.
"This is kind of a pain, huh~~
Then let's go even crazier."
"Less than two seconds left..."
"I know."
Before his Domain shattered and before his technique burned out, Satoru Gojo immediately began to chant.
"Body, mind, manas, alaya..."
"[Limitless]"
The instant the chant ended and the technique began to move, Satoru Gojo's figure suddenly blurred.
This was his application of the "Slash" targeting expansion from the [Yatsuka-no-tsurugi], used to break through the reaction of Limitless.
He expanded the target of the attribute free [Limitless] so that it no longer applied to a specific attack or a specific physical object, but to the entire surrounding environment.
By using [Limitless] with the world itself as the target, he directly excluded himself from "the world."
And if that was the case, then attacks that existed "within the world" naturally could no longer affect him...
...
In an instant, [Malevolent Shrine] melted everything within the Domain. Its eruption even altered the terrain itself. The aftershock alone carved out an artificial crater in the middle of the city...
But Satoru Gojo had no idea what had happened there. He did not know about Sukuna's wild laughter or his "victory speech," and he certainly did not know about the stunned look on Megumi Fushiguro's face at the edge of Shinjuku...
To be precise, he could not see anything at all right now, except for the overlapping rings of light around him, layered one after another in all kinds of different forms...
The expansion of [Limitless] was not a physical act of leaving a place. It was an exclusion on the level of the concept of "the world" itself...
At that moment, Satoru Gojo felt an extraordinary sense of freedom in both body and mind. Through those "halos," everything could be observed.
The insects hidden in the shrubs, the organs inside living bodies as they moved, the faint air currents created by each person's interaction with the outside world, even the soft murmurs produced by the intertwining of different Cursed Energies...
And then Satoru Gojo suddenly realized something...
He did not seem to be able to go back.
In a place like this, coordinates with only three variables were completely useless for locating or moving...
So all he could do was drift there quietly.
Until a huge black sphere suddenly wriggled its way over to him and swallowed him into its "body" like a cell engulfing something...
...
When Satoru Gojo opened his eyes, he found himself in a place centered around a "pitch black pool."
It was dark like a night without stars.
There was no noise, no clamor. Only, if one listened carefully, a low murmur that brushed softly against the ear, like scripture being chanted in a church...
Not far away sat a mysterious figure in a pitch black robe and a mask, quietly cross legged.
"Akira??"
"Uh..."
Akira Zenin had just been about to speak, ready with a little "joke," when he froze there in a daze.
He had originally planned to say something deliberately over the top.
"This is not a place you should have come to... mortal~~"
But before he could get the words out, the whole plan was thrown off.
"How... did you figure it out?"
"Instinct..."
"..."
Patterns suddenly appeared on Akira Zenin's mask, forming a rather helpless expression.
"You've got a lot of nerve. You actually detached yourself from the world without setting any anchors?
Good thing nothing had time to collapse, and your information points were distinct enough.
Otherwise, even I wouldn't have been able to save you.
If it had come to that, you'd have been left drifting forever in an endless conceptual void."
Satoru Gojo shook his head, crouched down, and curiously scooped up a handful of the black liquid from the ground.
The liquid trembled violently, as though something had provoked it.
Then it split apart into a dense swarm of tiny "faceless lizards," which scattered out of his hand and fled in every direction...
"It's fine, it's fine... Nothing happened, right?
That said, where is this place?"
Akira Zenin let out a sigh and rested his chin on one hand as he thought for a moment.
"Just think of this place as... a permanent Domain that carries all of my Cursed Energy..."
"Huh?~~"
While playing with the "shadow lizards" crawling all over the ground, Satoru Gojo spoke toward Akira Zenin.
"A Domain is basically an extension of the self, and this place is outside the world. So does that mean the world has already rejected you?"
"More or less... Right now, all I can do is use marked anchor points to transfer a single body. Anything beyond that could cause a disaster..."
Watching Satoru Gojo happily toying with the constantly shifting "shadow mass," Akira Zenin could not help thinking that this guy really had an absurdly steady heart...
He did not look anything like someone in the middle of a fight with Sukuna.
"Alright, I'll send you back. If you stay in the 'Shadow Realm' too long, you'll be assimilated."
Satoru Gojo sprang to his feet.
"How?"
Akira Zenin smiled.
"Good thing I prepared two anchor points earlier. One is already occupied by the body currently in use, so I'll use the other one to send you back...
Megumi should still be somewhere near Shinjuku. The bracelet is with him right now...
You'll appear right beside him, and with your speed, there's still time."
Satoru Gojo lightly tapped his forehead a few times with his fist.
"OK~~ After this little experience, I've got some new ideas. Just wait for my good news."
Akira Zenin's tone was calm, and he wore a faint smile, perhaps with a trace of relief mixed in.
"Good luck."