BOOOOOOM!!!
The heart of Shibuya convulsed.
The ground had beco a molten wasteland—lava gushing like a volcanic eruption, swallowing streets, cars, and corpses alike.
Fire devoured the darkness, and the once-bustling cityscape was now a hellish wasteland: one mont consud in a sea of fla, the next shredded apart by invisible slashes.
Within minutes, Shibuya—the city of neon lights—had turned into a vision of the apocalypse.
---
"Uh… guys," Kusakabe muttered, beads of sweat rolling down his forehead, "I think we should back off a little farther."
Even hundreds of ters away, the heat was unbearable. The ground beneath their feet trembled constantly. His voice shook with it.
Two imnse cursed energies—one Sukuna's, one that of a special-grade curse—were colliding in the distance.
Could even Zen'in-sensei survive that?
He really, really wanted to run.
"This distance is optimal," said Yaga Masamichi, voice calm but heavy. "We can observe the battle and still avoid being caught in the crossfire. If Zen'in sensei falls, we'll have to take command—but under no circumstances can we let the fight spread beyond the barrier."
"Agreed," said Amanai Riko, perched atop a nearby truck with a sniper rifle aid at the horizon. "Besides… the old man's still holding his ground."
Through her scope, she could only glimpse flickers of motion—blurs of red and shadow—but it was enough.
Zen'in Shinsuke wasn't losing.
"My master won't lose."
Maki Zen'in's tone was firm, even as worry flickered in her eyes.
---
"Are we just gonna sit here and watch?" Kugisaki Nobara complained, bouncing her hamr on her shoulder. "Shouldn't we, I dunno, help or sothing?"
She'd co all the way to Shibuya and hadn't thrown a single nail yet.
Ever since she arrived, she'd been stuck guarding the auxiliary supervisor, Nitta, instead of fighting.
She wanted to go to the lower floors, but Nanami Kento had shut her down cold—"not strong enough," he'd said.
That stung.
"Forget it, Nobara," said Fushiguro gumi, his voice level. "This isn't a fight we can even touch. Don't get in my uncle's way."
"Yeah, yeah," Nobara huffed, folding her arms. "Still sucks."
Her eyes locked on the distant glow that turned the night sky crimson.
"Can't these lunatics send us so normal enemies for once?"
---
"Stay alert," Nanami warned, pushing his glasses up. "Our enemies aren't just Sukuna and the curses. Rember—Gojo-sensei is still in that impostor Geto's hands."
Thanks to Ieiri Shoko's healing, most of their injuries were gone—but none of them dared relax.
Sukuna's appearance was a terrifying accident.
Their mission remained the sa: retrieve Gojo Satoru at all costs.
---
"Gojo, Gojo, Gojo," Kusakabe grumbled, visibly annoyed. "We don't even know where he is! The guy's the strongest—he's not dying anyti soon! Why can't we just… y'know, leave first, then make a plan later?"
He was halfway through his rant when—
"AAAAH! DIE!!"
A roar split the night.
Two colossal flaming hands erupted from the inferno, each the size of a skyscraper, and ripped two entire buildings from their foundations before hurling them like boulders.
---
"Hotpot-head, don't be so worked up," Zen'in Shinsuke's voice ca from behind Jogo, calm as ever. "Anger's bad for your blood pressure."
THUD!
A single kick landed square in Jogo's back.
The special-grade curse went flying like a cot, crashing through what remained of a departnt store.
At the sa mont, a storm of invisible slashes shot toward Shinsuke's flank.
With a light tap of his foot, the concrete beneath him fractured like glass.
He vanished—and reappeared right in front of Sukuna.
"Co on," Shinsuke grinned, "let's trade punches. Don't run from ."
CRACK!
His fist, the size of a sandbag, slamd into Sukuna's face. Bone warped.
The King of Curses was sent hurtling backward, smashing through several walls before cratering into the street below.
---
Sukuna stood, wiped the blood from his mouth, and glared.
Even with his body constantly reinforced by cursed energy, he couldn't fully blunt the man's hits.
A pure lee fighter—raw power, speed, and instinct refined to inhuman perfection.
"Tch," Sukuna growled. "Let's see how long you can maintain that form."
He darted back, distance widening in the blink of an eye, his hands flickering as wave after wave of Cleave sliced through the air to keep Shinsuke from closing in.
He could heal himself endlessly with Reverse Cursed Technique.
But that man—
That man couldn't.
And that, Sukuna decided, would be his advantage.
Sukuna eyed the shallow cuts scattered across Zen'in Shinsuke's body.
He wasn't impatient—on the contrary, he was calm.
A few punches ant nothing.
If he could keep forcing exchanges like this—wearing down his opponent little by little—then in the end, victory would belong to him.
"...Tch. So you're trying to drag this out, huh?"
Shinsuke's figure flickered across the burning skyline, weaving through Sukuna's storm of slashes.
The Heavenly Inverted Spear spun in his hand, deflecting blow after blow.
The cursed slashes grew faster—denser.
Even for him, one mistake could an getting carved apart.
Then—
BOOOOOOM!!!
A thunderous roar split the air.
In the distance, a massive explosion devoured an entire high-rise in blinding light.
A tower of fla swallowed the building whole, twisting into a giant blazing sphere that shone brighter than the sun.
RUMBLE!
A violent gravitational pull erupted from the inferno, sucking debris, cars, and shattered tal into the growing ball of fire.
The air itself seed to lt from the heat.
On the outskirts of Shibuya, those watching from afar could only stare—frozen.
Their breaths caught in their throats.
That… that was no ordinary explosion.
If that thing hit, half of Shibuya would vanish in an instant.
The devastation was beyond anything a human could comprehend.
Countless civilians must have already perished—and when this reached the higher-ups, there would be outrage beyond asure.
"Gulp…"
"So this is what a fight between special grades looks like?"
Everyone felt it now—the yawning gulf that separated them from these monsters.
They weren't just outclassed; they were in the presence of gods and demons.
---
At Shibuya's core, the enormous fireball roared to life.
Jogo, his expression twisted in fury, controlled the growing inferno with both hands.
The teor of molten rock expanded as it moved, chasing Zen'in Shinsuke with terrifying suction.
Every building in its path was ripped from its foundation, drawn into orbit before lting into the teor's body.
Under that kind of bombardnt, even Shinsuke had to admit—
it was best to back off for now.
He shifted his stance and darted toward Sukuna's position.
And Sukuna—though proud—wasn't foolish enough to take the teor head-on either.
Both poured cursed energy into their legs and retreated at full speed.
The result:
Jogo chased Shinsuke.
Shinsuke chased Sukuna.
For the first ti in his existence, a curse was chasing two apex predators at once.
Jogo's ti to shine had co.
"Domain technique—Coffin of the Iron Mountain!"
The magma sphere solidified—no, condensed—into a blazing celestial mass.
A miniature sun, crashing down upon the earth.
Its destructive radius stretched for hundreds of ters.
A flash of white.
A deafening shockwave.
Then—silence.
As the smoke parted, Jogo stood atop the molten teor, flas rippling across his body.
"That should've done it," he growled. "No matter how strong his body is, there's no way he ca out unscathed."
He didn't even bother checking Sukuna's location—his entire focus was on killing Zen'in Shinsuke.
Then—
Clack. Clack. Clack. Clack.
Footsteps echoed atop the glowing stone.
"Well, well," said a familiar voice. "Not bad at all, hotpot head. I'll give you that—the power was impressive."
Shinsuke appeared, stepping out of the steam, completely unhard.
"If I'd taken that directly, I might've felt it. Sha your aim's garbage."
He grinned.
Jogo froze.
Before he could respond, another voice ca from the opposite side of the teor.
"Are you sure you're the one who dodged it?" Sukuna stepped forward, smirking.
Shinsuke turned, eyebrows raised. "Says the guy who ran first. You think I didn't see you bolt? Why didn't you stand there and take it?"
"It wasn't aid at ," Sukuna replied without hesitation. "Why should I catch it for you?"
Then, his gaze turned toward Jogo. "Still… not bad. Among the curses I've t, you're one of the stronger ones."
Jogo blinked, stunned.
His greatest attack had hit no one.
Neither of them was injured.
And sohow, both had just… complinted him.
He couldn't even tell if he should feel proud—or pathetic.
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