Sorry for the delay, these chapters were supposed to come out on the 31st, but I drank as if I was never going to see the light of day again, I had recent memory loss and I've been hungover ever since.
Happy belated New Year to everyone! We're entering the final stretch of the story!
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I hope you enjoy the reading!
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A bold, risky, and perhaps even foolish move. Based on information from one of the books read by his clone, Itadori acted on nothing more than a guess. How could he have known that by destroying the part of his brain housing his technique, his one miracle would save him?
A rather simple question to answer: he didn't know.
In theory, it shouldn't have worked—but somehow the technique sensed his intent and triggered the miracle, predicting his risky move a second before he executed it.
In other words, he was just one second away from becoming brain-damaged… or worse, dying from cerebral hemorrhage.
Fortunately, luck—and perhaps fate—were on his side. He wanted to complain about his current state; even alive and at an advantage, the terrible headache was no help. Although the reverse cursed technique focused on healing the prefrontal cortex, the pain persisted.
It wasn't as if he hadn't suffered bad injuries before, but this felt different—it was literally inside his head.
"That's truly astonishing."
Itadori gritted his teeth as the voice of his opponent—the one whose name alone made him furious—reached his ears. His vision, slightly blurred, focused on the curse user, who watched the surroundings with interest.
"So this is what your domain looks like…" Kenjaku said curiously, eyes wandering as he felt the freezing snowstorm's chill on his skin. "I can feel it. My cursed energy output seems to have decreased considerably… A mandatory condition of the domain? Interesting."
Itadori regulated his breathing, shaking his head as sweat dripped down his brow. The intense pain was easing gradually, but still enough to make focusing difficult.
"But then…?" Kenjaku asked, turning toward his son, arms raised in inquiry. "What do you intend to do now? That reckless move you made seems to have cost you dearly."
And, of course, the curse user recognized the boy's effort to endure the pain.
"Also, your miracle seemed to focus entirely on restoring your cortex, so you still carry the wounds from the previous fight."
Itadori brought his hand to his forehead, his fingers touching the dampness—and noticing blood on the tip. "Ha… it's true, isn't it?"
The young sorcerer smiled, a sigh escaping his lips as he turned toward Kenjaku with a tired look.
No matter how irritated he was, he couldn't deny his situation. Kenjaku was in his domain—but that didn't make the fight easy. His advantage, though real, was slim given his accumulated injuries.
"..."
"So what?" Spitting the words out, Itadori put all that aside—his injuries, the damn headache, the fact that Kenjaku would never be an easy foe. "Who cares? What bloody difference does it make?"
Kenjaku raised an eyebrow, wondering for a moment if his son had lost his mind—especially when he noticed a toothy grin spread across the boy's face.
"The only thing that matters here…" Cursed energy flickered around the sorcerer's body, spreading like fierce flames that cloaked him. "Is whether I can kill you or not."
The cursed user tensed, his fist clenching as he adopted a defensive stance.
"Say what you want, but in the next few seconds, the only one completely at a disadvantage here…"
Bam! Bam! Bam!
The ground shook rapidly, Kenjaku's eyes widening as he turned to see the glowing eyes of a massive beast charging at him.
"It's you!"
!
Kenjaku leaped to avoid being swallowed by fangs that would have shattered his body. His eyes tracked the huge white wolf that passed by and stopped abruptly in the snow, claws dug deep.
'Shit!'
But while he was mid-air, unable to control his fall, terror filled his eyes when he saw a fist rushing toward him—just in time for him to raise a defense.
Boom!
It wasn't enough. His body flew like a cannonball, his back slamming into the ground with such force it tore up the earth.
Kenjaku spat blood, eyes dropping to see both forearms snapped in two, his reversed cursed energy already working to mend them.
Sweesh!
Unfortunately for him, Itadori showed no signs of letting him rest: a slash severed his left arm, grazing his torso as the attack caught with intense heat.
Kenjaku gritted his teeth, backing away as best he could, impulses aiding his recovery.
"Trying to run?"
But as soon as his severed arm healed to the wrist, Kenjaku's eyes widened as Itadori's voice rang in his ear, making him realize the boy was following him by a glance—before a hand struck his face with force.
!
And halting completely as if time froze, Kenjaku watched in horror as Itadori stood before him with a broad grin.
'Unbelievable! How much…'
Itadori's fist glowed with cursed energy, his body coiling as he prepared his strike—an attack that would normally come easily, but now, with his headache, required extra concentration.
'Has this kid mastered cursed techniques already?!'
"Black Flash!"
Boom!
The frame shattered under the brutal impact, the young sorcerer's fist driving into Kenjaku's stomach, sending him rolling away like a bowling ball until he crashed into several trees.
"Ugh!" The curse user struggled for breath, vomiting blood as cursed energy fought to heal his flooding wounds.
'He's not giving me room to recover…' he thought, as his cut hand healed completely and he used it to help himself up. 'He wasn't this aggressive… urgency is making him pour everything into this, it seems.'
!
Kenjaku's attention snapped forward as he felt tremors beneath his feet. His eyes locked on the massive wolf charging toward him.
'Unfortunately for him…'
The wolf opened its massive jaws, fangs bared, ready for another bite.
'I'm not going to be just a target.'
Boom!
As it neared, Amaroq yelped in pain as a wave of cursed energy struck the side of its head hard enough to send it flying.
Itadori, who had been charging, stopped for a moment, his tongue clicking irritably. 'He recovers faster than others…'
But that didn't stop his assault. At this point, having unleashed a Black Flash, he couldn't afford to back down. His best chance was to press on until he landed another devastating blow.
Kenjaku might be strong, but he wouldn't survive two such powerful Black Flashes.
With a fierce smile, he barreled toward Kenjaku, who wasn't far away.
'He's definitely not healed internally, so he'll have to choose…'
!
Kenjaku detected the approach and immediately sent out a wave of cursed energy—but Itadori easily dodged.
'Defend while healing, or attack with the cursed technique… Which will it be?'
Just meters apart, Kenjaku's face hardened. He stomped the ground, summoning a cursed pillar before him.
'Worst choice.'
Boom!
Itadori's fist exploded through the curses, closing the gap before Kenjaku could retreat far enough.
Bam!
A punch rocked the curse user's face—he summoned a barrier that protected him from disfigurement, but still sent him blazing backwards.
But Kenjaku didn't yield. With a flick of his hand, he unleashed a wave of curses at Itadori. Prepared, the boy vanished instantly, the snap of frame-like movement echoing as he reappeared nearby.
Seeing him, Kenjaku readied another attack—but choked as his body froze, eyes wide in confusion as he looked to find a pair of massive eyes before him.
'Paralysis? When?'
He wondered, but didn't have time to think as the sorcerer reappeared, fist glowing with cursed energy, and struck Kenjaku's face with such force he swore he heard the sound barrier crack.
"Black Flash!"
Boom!
Black lightning erupted in all directions, Itadori's eyes flaring as hot air rushed from his mouth. Blood tears streamed from his eyes—that had survived unscathed.
The Black Flash technique was devastatingly effective, but extremely taxing—especially against strong opponents. Even sustaining it for 5 seconds could overwhelm the eyes. A double-edged sword, for sure.
'He shouldn't be able to maintain his reversed cursed energy after that…' Itadori walked toward where Kenjaku had been sent flying.
As he did, a growl from Amaroq caught his attention, the enormous wolf crushing and biting the curses attacking it earlier.
"Patience, kid. Don't get full before the main course." He said with a short laugh, returning to Itadori's side.
Kenjaku might be strong, a top sorcerer, but it was clear compared to Itadori, he lacked tools. In a head-to-head fight, Itadori was the worst possible opponent—especially for Kenjaku, who fought from mid- to long-range.
Itadori forced him to play his hand, and dominated from start to finish. Even his previous wounds couldn't slow his momentum.
In this battle, Yuji Itadori was undeniably the victor—
!
Itadori froze as a wave of cursed energy exploded toward him, his eyes widening as cracks formed in his barrier. Shocked and confused, he turned to the source: a bloody Kenjaku, hands together in a gesture, cursed energy erupting from his body.
"Domain Expansion…"
Itadori's eyes widened, his own barrier shattering to make way for Kenjaku's.
Even injured, Kenjaku's domain was leagues above Itadori's. His barrier couldn't withstand the encroaching technique and shattered instantly.
A total reversal—a trump card Itadori didn't expect, especially after Kenjaku had expanded twice already.
'He used a Binding Vow, didn't he?'
He didn't have to wait long for confirmation. As the barrier closed, Itadori found himself in darkness, illuminated only by a massive cursed pillar—unstable, missing chunks of curse energy, blood dripping everywhere.
In desperation, Kenjaku used a Binding Vow to expand his domain one more time—sacrificing the ability to have an open barrier to turn the tide.
A shrewd but desperate move. Kenjaku would admit that.
But after so many years of planning, he absolutely couldn't be defeated by a sorcerer with less than a year's experience. He hadn't come this far just for that to happen.
He refused, with all his strength.
With this kind of limitation… if it became a problem, he could always switch bodies and leave the old Binding Vows behind.
No matter the means, as long as he got results in the end…
"..."
The domain's cursed energy pressed down heavily. Itadori felt it on his shoulders—he didn't need firsthand proof to know that a single guaranteed hit would put him in serious trouble.
At this moment, he was completely disadvantaged.
'Damn!' He clenched his fists, cursing his mentor in his mind. 'Damn it, Gojo should've taught me anti-domain techniques…'
He was frustrated, but couldn't fully blame his sensei. He had focused so much on his own domain technique he forgot to study independently… Although simple counter-domain techniques weren't easy to learn—as Todo had shown him—and such anti-domain methods weren't well-known enough to appear in books.
So, what did all this mean? Basically…
He was cooked.
"..."
Kenjaku sighed, taking a moment to fully heal his injuries—knowing that inside his domain, Itadori could do nothing else.
Had he known how to counter guaranteed strikes, he would have done it already. So Kenjaku wasn't rushing to finish this. Besides, Yuki was still outside; better to recover fully first.
"So… it didn't end the way you expected, did it?"
Kenjaku's voice echoed through the domain. Itadori still stood in place, eyes dark as he stared back.
"Look on the bright side—you gave it your all… Damn, maybe the toughest opponent I've had in millennia, even more than recent Six Eyes users." Kenjaku squeezed his shoulder, relieved as his muscles recovered. "You were impressive, my son…
But I lived in an era of clash of powers you can only imagine."
The final invocation aligned, Kenjaku let out a relieved sigh as he wiped blood from his lips. "It's really a shame I'll have to do this to Sukuna too… I'd love for him to witness this new age."
"..."
Silence hovered, tension thick enough to cut with a knife.
Kenjaku showed no reaction to Itadori's silence, and with a shrug, prepared to end the fight. If that was how his son wanted to go—without a last word—so be it.
He'd make sure his body stayed intact for a future swap.
"Hey…"
Kenjaku paused when the boy suddenly spoke, his curiosity piqued.
"I'm fucked anyway…"
Cursed energy engulfed Itadori's body, heat rising until Kenjaku raised his hand to shield his eyes.
"So at least, I'll take you with me, asshole."
Kenjaku's eyes widened at those words, tension etched across his face as he raised his hand, about to blast a wave of curses at the young sorcerer.
But as curses erupted from the pillar, an intense glow flickered as Itadori joined his hands and countered them, incinerating the wave instantly. Fire blazed around his hands, molding into cords he manipulated with care—gradually shifting from crimson-orange to deep blue.
"...F̶͙̹̾́u̷̧̗̱͙͂g̸̣̒̏́a̴̠͚̝̒͌́"
When a bluish-white sphere formed between his hands, the heat became so intense it began to burn his skin. Kenjaku, struggling to keep his eyes open, gritted his teeth as even with a cursed energy shield, his flesh began to cook, his reverse cursed energy unable to resist.
With a temperature hotter than the sun, even Itadori's extreme heat resistance couldn't withstand it—his fingers charred, and the rest of his skin slowly burned.
Still, amid the agony and danger of disintegration, he wore a feral grin as he faced Kenjaku—who, for the first time, revealed genuine fear.
"Survive this, motherfucker."
!
Kenjaku attempted to open his barrier to escape, but when Itadori pushed the sphere forward, it was already too late—the two were trapped.
…
Boom!