In an instant, light filled Yuji Itadori's vision.
That's right. In the previous battle, Yuji hadn't even forced Ryomen Sukuna to use Domain Expansion. This was to be expected. Yuji had indeed developed his Innate Technique earlier than in the original timeline, but his growth was far less significant. He lacked the resolve, the tragedy, the desperate clawing upwards.
This was fortunate—lucky that he had obtained this power with almost smooth sailing. But it was also unfortunate—unfortunate because... he had vanished like a stray dog by the roadside.
Countless slashes raged like a storm, destroying everything. All matter was reduced to dust. Sukuna's Domain Expansion had a radius of 200 meters. The moment the Domain expanded, infinite slashes of two types covered every inch of space within that 200-meter radius, including the air itself.
[Cleave] was applied to things with Cursed Energy. [Dismantle] was applied to inanimate objects without Cursed Energy. Thus, all things in the world were covered by sure-hit slashes. There was no possibility of survival. From a distance, it looked as if an unforeseen storm had suddenly erupted. The area swept by the storm was instantly turned into fine powder—proof of total annihilation.
Tsumiki immediately realized the correct course of action:
Because Malevolent Shrine did not have a closed barrier, a Sorcerer within the Domain could—if fast enough—rely on their technique or pure physical stats to run out of the barrier's range before dying. This would force Sukuna to waste Cursed Energy for nothing, and subsequently, he would suffer from Cursed Technique Burnout, falling into an absolute disadvantage in the following Jujutsu battle.
The reason she didn't attack Sukuna during the Time Stop was also because Tsumiki remembered Mahito's warning: Be careful of Sukuna using his own body as the price to pre-adapt Mahoraga to attacks. Although Mahoraga dies from the force of the blow, it is death within a Time Stop. Tsumiki worried that this method of death would allow Mahoraga to adapt to the Time Stop itself.
Thus, the correct solution was inevitably for the Imperial Sky Knight to pause time and calmly walk out of Malevolent Shrine's range. After that, she would release the Time Stop. Then, Sukuna would be helpless, forced to dispel his Domain and suffer burnout.
But Tsumiki chose not to do that.
Clad in the Imperial Sky Knight armor, she stood perfectly still!
Countless slashes washed over her body. Because of her Binding Vow, she had zero Cursed Energy internally. Therefore, the one-hit-kill [Cleave] couldn't work on her. And the attacks from [Dismantle] were completely unable to penetrate the Imperial Sky Knight's armor. Consequently, Tsumiki actually didn't need to do anything. She simply stood there, and Malevolent Shrine was useless against her.
Sukuna froze in shock.
This was natural. This was the first time he had encountered power from "Outside the World." To Sukuna, everything in this world was imbued with Cursed Energy. Therefore, the fatal [Cleave] was especially terrifying because as long as you had Cursed Energy, you could not be immune to it. Even a god would be cut down by his Cleave.
And if one lacked Cursed Energy, [Dismantle] was equally terrifying. In Sukuna's cognition, without special countermeasures, Malevolent Shrine was synonymous with invincibility.
But right now, someone was simply standing there, using no tricks at all, effortlessly tanking Malevolent Shrine...!
*Thud.*
The Imperial Sky Knight began to advance.
As always, she walked with a cat-walk, as if she were not inside the terrifying Malevolent Shrine, but on a stage with thousands of eyes upon her. She was a model making her entrance, wearing an evening gown, walking slowly under everyone's gaze—displaying herself, displaying her attire, displaying her confidence.
Sukuna smiled fiercely. "To think... such a thing exists!"
The Imperial Sky Knight took a step that brought her within striking distance. Then, without hesitation, she threw a punch! *Wham!* Sukuna mimicked the Imperial Sky Knight and stood motionless, but her fist could never reach him.
The Imperial Sky Knight's fist was separated from Sukuna's face by only a thin line. But she knew clearly that this line was eternity. Because this "line" was the [Limitless].
—Technique Release:
—Mimicry Technique: Limitless!
"As expected of Sukuna-sama. You haven't burned your brain out even like this?" The Imperial Sky Knight laughed. "Mahito once told me that even he, without the Six Eyes, could not perfectly control the Limitless technique. The Six Eyes are the eyes discarded by Tengen to avoid sublimating into a god—they are the genuine eyes of a deity. In the Dream Migration's point shop, only the true [Finite Infinity] wish can purchase the Six Eyes. This implies that even though the Limitless technique is listed in the shop, almost no one buys it."
Tsumiki guessed wrong. This was because after Sukuna obtained the Mimicry Technique, he had never used it personally. In fact, aside from the Ten Shadows and his own technique, he had never used Mimicry. Even when facing Satoru Gojo, he held back.
And this Limitless technique wasn't purchased; it was from blood he collected himself.
During those 20 deaths where Gojo hunted him down, he used everything he had to barely obtain a portion of Gojo's blood. The condition for the Mimicry Technique was to obtain a part of the opponent's body. The more vital the part, the shorter the mimicry time; the less vital, the longer it took. With Sukuna's brilliance, even with blood—a trivial part of the body—it took nearly two months. It was only recently that he had truly mimicked it.
He had originally planned to use this in the final circle to deal a heavy blow to the others. He didn't expect to be forced to reveal it here just to survive!
More critically, just as Tsumiki said, the cost of forcibly using Limitless without the Six Eyes was incredibly heavy. Right now, Sukuna's brain was operating at high speed. In just these few seconds, his entire brain felt like it was on fire. Sukuna had no doubt that if he continued, his brain would truly be fried by this exaggerated mental consumption.
"Is it true mastery, controlling the power of Limitless with a mental capacity far exceeding Mahito and Satoru Gojo? Or is it just posturing?" The Imperial Sky Knight looked deeply at Sukuna. "Let me... test it out!"
*Whoosh.* The Imperial Sky Knight threw a second punch. This time, Sukuna chose to dodge.
The fist swept past Sukuna's eyes, the wind messing up his hair. Sukuna didn't hesitate; he swung his own fist violently, aiming for the Imperial Sky Knight's abdomen—the location of a traditional Sorcerer's Cursed Energy Core.
*CLANG!!*
Sukuna's fist connected. It sounded not like hitting steel armor, but like striking a giant bell in a temple or a city center. The sound was distant and clear, echoing through the world for a long time.
Sukuna involuntarily clicked his tongue.
His fist couldn't even break the Imperial Sky Knight's defense. It was completely ignored. Sukuna hadn't held back with this punch; his Cursed Energy Reinforcement was at maximum output. Yet, he couldn't even make her take a step back.
The reason was simple—the Imperial Sky Knight's data. Its defense could withstand a force of over 100 tons, and this figure could rise. Because the Imperial Sky Knight was fundamentally an admin setting; as long as he wanted, he could fill in the most ridiculous numbers. However, Tsumiki had nerfed this aspect to preserve the core ability, resulting in fixed values.
The Imperial Sky Knight chuckled softly. "I see. So, Sukuna-sama, you cannot activate the Limitless omnidirectionally either."
*Seen through.* Sukuna let out a pretentious laugh. "You too. Obtaining such mighty power, your operation time won't exceed 10 minutes, will it?"
Sukuna wasn't speaking nonsense; he genuinely sensed this limitation. This was experience. Because Ryomen Sukuna is the world's strongest expert in the application of Binding Vows, he could judge the time limit through experience. He was confident the margin of error wouldn't exceed 5 minutes.
In other words, in his judgment, the Imperial Sky Knight's time was either 5, 10, or 15 minutes. He prudently chose the middle value.
*Seen through.* Because of the visor, Tsumiki's micro-expressions were hidden. She said indifferently, "I said it before. I will repeat it now..."
"—To deal with you, it is enough!"
*Smash!* The Imperial Sky Knight's knee slammed toward Sukuna's abdomen. But on that abdomen, a giant mouth began chanting Cursed Words. Limitless was released at the critical moment. Since he couldn't perfectly control Limitless without the Six Eyes, as long as the mouth kept chanting, releasing Limitless in the traditional way was sufficient to block a momentary attack. That was enough!
Two of Sukuna's hands formed a hand sign, while the other two threw a flurry of punches. The hand sign remained the Limitless technique. The Imperial Sky Knight sharply sensed danger and jerked backward. In the next instant, Sukuna's two hands struck the empty air, creating a sonic boom.
In the original work, a Sorcerer once asked the others: Has anyone ever been seriously punched by Satoru Gojo? Not a simple punch reinforced with Cursed Energy, but a strike reinforced with Cursed Energy plus the amplification of Blue/Limitless? Yuta Okkotsu and Kinji Hakari raised their hands simultaneously, their expressions gloomy as if they were about to vomit.
Both Yuta and Hakari were Sorcerers with immense Cursed Energy. Their defense, based on that massive energy, was naturally outstanding. Yet even they were traumatized by a single punch. One can imagine just how terrifying a punch amplified by Limitless truly is.
And now, what Sukuna was doing was exactly that.
He used two hands to form seals to add Limitless amplification to his attacking hands. He used the mouth on his stomach to chant incantations, ensuring Limitless would appear defensively in time for sudden attacks. Even though Sukuna lacked divine Six Eyes, he was forcing the normal usage of the Limitless technique through his aberrant physiology.
This was Ryomen Sukuna!
"Come on, Yorozu! The show is just getting started!" Sukuna roared. "The strongest Sorcerer in a millennium, the King of Curses."
"Ryomen Sukuna. Has arrived!!"
*Thud.* The Imperial Sky Knight, having stepped back, raised one hand in a martial arts stance and laughed deafeningly. "Sukuna-sama! You finally announced your name and acknowledged me! I am incomparably happy right now!"
"Awakened Ancient Sorcerer. The Strongest Construction Sorcerer in a millennium."
"Tsumiki Fushiguro. Yorozu."
"Let's do this—!"
Both rushed toward each other simultaneously. No probing attacks this time—this was the final round!
Both Sukuna and the Imperial Sky Knight knew their time was limited. Sukuna was pinned by his own technique; he was still maintaining Malevolent Shrine. He dared not close it, or he would suffer burnout. Yet, using Limitless was burning his brain; he couldn't last long! Tsumiki needed no explanation; her Imperial Sky Knight only had 10 minutes. The probing and dialogue just now had consumed over 2 minutes. She had only 7 minutes left. She couldn't waste another second.
The Imperial Sky Knight slammed both hands onto the buttons on the sides of her belt: [PAUSE]!
In the world of stopped time, the Imperial Sky Knight could perceive the endless slashes of Malevolent Shrine even more clearly. It wasn't a rainstorm, but a hurricane. If a rainstorm had tiny gaps, a hurricane had none. The slashes caused by Malevolent Shrine were just like that—even in a frozen world, Malevolent Shrine remained effective, appearing as a curtain of slashes in front of the Imperial Sky Knight.
And the Imperial Sky Knight chose to face this curtain directly.
She reached out and plunged into the slash curtain. Metal gauntlets meeting the slashes should have created an ear-piercing screech, but in the silence of Time Stop, even the propagation of sound was forbidden. The Imperial Sky Knight simply walked through the curtain of slashes, arriving right in front of Ryomen Sukuna. Then, she suddenly released the Time Stop.
[RESTART]
In Sukuna's eyes, the Imperial Sky Knight, who was charging in the previous frame, was right in his face in the next. A fist was already before his eyes.
*Bang!* The Imperial Sky Knight's 100-ton punch was a hair's breadth away from hitting Sukuna's head.
The next moment, Sukuna's counterattack arrived. His fist hammered forward violently. Simultaneously, the eyes on both his faces stared deathly hard at the Imperial Sky Knight. But even though he concentrated all his attention, the image before him changed abruptly.
The Imperial Sky Knight vanished.
"Again!" Relying entirely on combat experience and intuition rather than sight, Sukuna deployed a Limitless barrier behind him. Sure enough, he sensed an attack on his back.
Then, the Imperial Sky Knight vanished, vanished, vanished!
She disappeared three times in a row. Each time, Sukuna couldn't detect it, let alone while inside his own Domain Expansion! Sukuna could determine this wasn't spatial teleportation; it was closer to high-speed movement. But it was *too* fast—so fast that even his eyes couldn't track it.
He knew this because he knew every inch of space within Malevolent Shrine. He could sense the slash storm disappearing in a sequence of spaces rather than a jump, proving the Imperial Sky Knight had physically traversed that distance.
But knowing it didn't help.
Sukuna swung his fists in vain, while the Imperial Sky Knight constantly flashed around him.
This was the countermeasure the Imperial Sky Knight found against Sukuna's [Pre-Adaptation]. Attacking the opponent during Time Stop carried the risk of them adapting because they definitely took damage. But what if she used Time Stop purely as a method of Instant Transmission? Since no attack was received during the stopped time, naturally, no time adaptation could be generated. The Imperial Sky Knight's core ability would remain effective indefinitely.
Conversely, look at Sukuna. While maintaining Malevolent Shrine, he had to use his hands and the giant mouth on his stomach to utilize Limitless. was his brain cooked enough yet!?
The Imperial Sky Knight's vision was sharp. She clearly saw Sukuna's movements deforming. Haste makes one manic in battle; thinking becomes dull, and one cannot exert their full strength. Sukuna was starting to rush.
This wasn't hard to understand. Facing an Imperial Sky Knight who could stop time and hit with hundreds of tons of force in every blow, anyone would feel despair. If not for the 10-minute limit and the reduced fantasy intensity, Tsumiki could have used this armor to challenge Gojo, or even Mahito.
It wasn't arrogance. Time Stop simply had that potential!
As Tsumiki predicted, Sukuna's movements were indeed sloppy. His brain was about to explode! The dual pressure of Limitless and Malevolent Shrine weighed on him. Plus, the elusive Imperial Sky Knight was a target demanding extreme caution. Under 100-ton blows, if he relaxed for even a moment, his body would likely explode.
What was worse, he discovered he couldn't [Pre-Adapt] to the Imperial Sky Knight's fists.
Because every damn punch was a one-hit kill! It only took one hit to kill him. He had 9 lives left. After 9 hits, he'd be down to his last life. Before that last life, he simply didn't have the damn time to adapt to that force.
The stronger the attack, the longer the adaptation cycle. In other words, as long as your attack is strong enough to one-shot Mahoraga every time, Mahoraga simply lacks the capacity to adapt to your attack power! He was countered! Sukuna breathed deeply in this desperate situation.
He still had 9 lives to waste. Logically, he could afford to die a few times; it would be worth it just to cool his brain down. But he couldn't.
He had already judged the opponent's special ability. It was actually quite obvious: The opponent wasn't teleporting, but moving at high speed. And during this high-speed movement, even Sukuna's vision couldn't track it. There were trajectories but no time elapsed for those trajectories. What else could it be?
Time Stop. It could only be that.
The opponent possessed Time Stop, defense that could tank Malevolent Shrine, and attack power exceeding a hundred tons. If he didn't have four arms, two mouths, and the Limitless technique mimicked days ago, even 11 lives wouldn't be enough.
The situation now was similar. Although he withstood it with Limitless, the threat of Time Stop remained unresolved.
Just as Tsumiki predicted, if the Imperial Sky Knight killed Sukuna consecutively within the Time Stop domain, Sukuna really might use Binding Vows to force Mahoraga to adapt to the Time Stop realm ahead of time. At the critical moment, just like he did against Gojo in the original work, he would have the adapted Mahoraga ambush the Imperial Sky Knight.
But the Imperial Sky Knight didn't do that... She only used the Time Stop as a transfer method. This rendered [Pre-Adaptation] useless.
*What to do? What should I do?*
Sukuna calmed himself in the desperate straits. Then, relying on his combat experience, he finally discovered a weakness.
No, not the Imperial Sky Knight's weakness, but [Yorozu's] weakness. Suddenly, all four of his hands began to form a seal.
The Imperial Sky Knight sharply detected this action. It was—
"My technique is named Shrine (Mizushi)," Sukuna said. Revealing One's Hand!
This was Sukuna's first time revealing his technique. Even a thousand years ago, he had never done so; he had only told Yorozu and Uraume the true name of his technique in casual conversation.
"My Shrine is an extremely rare, perhaps unique, technique possessing two characteristics." Sukuna formed seals with all four hands and spoke slowly. "One is Slashes. Slashes are divided into two types: one is the ranged 'Dismantle,' and the other is 'Cleave,' which requires contact but utilizes Cursed Energy differentials for a one-hit kill. The other characteristic of my technique... is Fire."
The Imperial Sky Knight continued attacking while blinking in and out of existence. She said, "I already know this. The purpose of Revealing One's Hand is to exchange a disadvantageous condition for a temporary boost in overall Cursed Energy output. Your revelation is useless against me because I knew the secrets of your technique long before this."
Revealing One's Hand only works once against those ignorant of the technique. That was the reason. When Sukuna fought Gojo, neither used it because both clearly knew the specific effects of the other's technique. Even if Sukuna hadn't published the true name, merely revealing the name without the specific effects wouldn't constitute a disadvantageous condition, thus failing to boost power.
But Sukuna did not stop his explanation: "The other characteristic of Shrine is named [Furnace] (Kamio). It is a terrifying flame capable of burning all creation to ash. However, while this flame has high attack power, its speed is slow and its range is small. It is a difficult technique to use. To allow it to function normally, I placed an extremely strict [Binding Vow] upon it."
This was something even Yorozu and Uraume didn't know!
In the eyes of Yorozu and Uraume, [Furnace] was an incredibly terrifying trait—unrivaled in range, power, and speed. It was a trait scarier than the slashes. Generally, if Sukuna used [Furnace], it meant he was truly serious.
In other words, when using slashes, Sukuna was playing around. When using fire, that was Sukuna's true killing move.
This was why Uraume, even until the end, stubbornly claimed that Sukuna's true prime form could absolutely never lose. For Uraume, Sukuna truly hadn't used his full power; the Fire characteristic was used only a few times, completely unlike his rampant usage a thousand years ago.
Perhaps for Uraume, Sukuna's defeat in the original work could also be attributed to "carelessness."
But that wasn't the case. Neither Yorozu nor Uraume knew the true [Binding Vow] of [Furnace]. And now, Sukuna revealed it fully:
"It cannot be used in 'One-vs-Many' scenarios, except during Domain Expansion. Whether it is us against many, or the enemy against many, it is forbidden. This makes it so [Furnace] cannot be applied in group battles. Despite possessing exaggerated power and range, it cannot be utilized in group warfare where it would be most effective. This is indeed an extremely strict condition, limiting this excellent characteristic to single combat."
This was the first time the Imperial Sky Knight heard of this. But why mention it now?
*Wait, 'except during Domain Expansion'...? I am currently inside Malevolent Shrine!*
The Imperial Sky Knight slammed the belt buttons. [PAUSE]! Instantly, everything in the world stood still.
"Regardless of what you plan to do next," the Imperial Sky Knight turned and walked toward the edge of the Domain. "As long as I leave your Malevolent Shrine, you will have no moves left."
*Thud.*
The Imperial Sky Knight stepped out of Malevolent Shrine's range.
She turned back and gently tapped the belt buttons. Time began to flow again.
[RESTART]
And then, in the instant the Time Stop was released—
—The Imperial Sky Knight was cleaved in two.
Her upper body lay on the ground, while her lower body remained standing. 200 meters away, in the center of the Domain, the hand seal formed by Sukuna's four hands was not [Furnace], but [Dismantle].
This was the [Slash That Cuts The World].
In the original work, Sukuna relied on Mahoraga adapting to Gojo's Limitless to target "Space" itself, allowing him to use the [World-Cutting Slash] at the critical moment. But the current Sukuna could use Limitless himself via the Mimicry Technique; he could unleash it even more simply.
This was the gift he had prepared for Gojo, yet he used it here and now.
"Just as I thought." Sukuna smiled. "Precisely because I determined that you understand me so well... when I stated the intelligence regarding [Furnace], you would inevitably imagine the scene of me using it. I specifically emphasized the usage restriction of [Furnace]. Your rich Jujutsu knowledge would tell you that it is extremely dangerous inside my Domain, as it allows my [Furnace] to exert maximum power. You would definitely choose to distance yourself from the danger."
Distancing from danger meant leaving the range of Malevolent Shrine. The rest was just predicting where the Imperial Sky Knight would go.
...He didn't even need to predict.
Because the Imperial Sky Knight uses [Time Stop], not [Teleportation]. He only needed to sense the trajectory where the slash storm disappeared during the frozen time to determine her path.
The Imperial Sky Knight was a flawless Kamen Rider. Whether it was the exaggerated offense, defense, and speed stats that required Limitless to block, or that despair-inducing Time Stop ability... one could say that if played perfectly, even the current Sukuna would only be waiting to die.
...In fact, Sukuna's brain really was almost cooked.
Maintaining Malevolent Shrine, using Limitless in time, racking his brains to figure out where the Imperial Sky Knight would appear, and how to defend... Even with a perfect Sorcerer's body, Sukuna's brain was at its limit.
But the user of the Imperial Sky Knight's perfection was a flawed human.
Tsumiki hesitated. She chose to step back and observe. That was the cause of her defeat. Luring with words, winning with psychology.
This was the path to victory Sukuna found.
Whether it was the [Eleven Lives] or the [World-Cutting Slash], these were gifts Sukuna prepared for Satoru Gojo and Mahito. He really didn't expect to be forced to use them in this battle against Tsumiki Fushiguro.
He couldn't help but sigh with emotion: "Yorozu... You've become stronger."
Kogane popped out at this moment: "Beep beep beep. Congratulations, Master. Congratulations, Master."
"Master has harvested a Limited-to-4 Item: [The Key]."
Master's status has changed.
"From now on, Master's identity is: [The Key Keeper of Tokyo Colony No. 1]."