Chapter 26 – Rattlesnake
Deep within the Shibuya underground station, thousands of civilians stood frozen in place, paralyzed by the immense Cursed Energy saturating the air.
Gojo Satoru frowned.
He knew exactly what this was—a trap. A setup designed specifically to prevent him from activating his Domain Expansion: Unlimited Void. If he forced it here, every non-sorcerer around would be mentally annihilated in an instant. They wouldn't last a single heartbeat inside his absolute domain.
Even so... despite the grave disadvantage, the strongest jujutsu sorcerer of the modern era stepped forward without hesitation, closing the distance toward two formidable enemies awaiting him.
— — —
However...
Physical strength alone wouldn't be enough to break through.
The opponent standing before him—Kashimo Hajime, the mightiest sorcerer from four centuries past—wasn't just some forgotten legend.
He was terrifyingly real.
And monstrously powerful.
— — —
Meanwhile, on a remote continent far from the chaos of Shibuya—deep in an uncharted country in Africa that didn't even show up on most world maps—Zenin Kyūjō had just completed yet another exorcism mission.
Honestly, he was a little puzzled.
This tiny country, home to no more than a hundred thousand people—predominantly of African descent—had somehow birthed a Special Grade Cursed Spirit on par with the gray-skinned abomination he'd destroyed just days ago.
That Spirit had taken the form of a towering insect, like a mantis twisted into something far more grotesque. In one of its claws, it brandished a massive, rusted greatsword.
But before it had a chance to unleash any technique—
A single Black Flash from Kyūjō's fist had reduced it to dust.
Now that his new body had fully matured—enhanced further through relentless training in Breathing Techniques—Zenin Kyūjō's physical prowess had evolved into something terrifying.
At this point, his raw power could only be described as...
"The earth cannot bind him, and the heavens cannot hold him."
Compared to this, even Gojo Satoru's Hollow Purple might not be able to block a serious punch from Kyūjō anymore.
Right now... between the two of them, who truly held the title of the "Strongest Sorcerer"?
It was hard to say.
That said, Kyūjō never really cared about titles like The Strongest. Across all the worlds he had passed through, he had always ended up as the strongest anyway.
He never saw others as enemies to defeat.
His desire for power wasn't born from rivalry—but from curiosity, joy, and personal conviction.
Death? He had faced it too many times to count.
His true enemy wasn't from this world—or any world at all.
It was always himself.
An endless journey to the peak.
And maybe... that was the only thing that truly mattered to him.
Even if one day he failed to be the strongest and died in some distant corner of the multiverse... Zenin Kyūjō believed he wouldn't regret it.
— — —
But just as those thoughts filled his mind...
A ringtone echoed from the phone in his pocket.
"Hello... Yuta? What's wrong?" Kyūjō asked, glancing at the caller ID. It was Okkotsu Yuta.
But the voice on the other end was tense—almost panicked.
"Kyūjō-san! Our school was infiltrated by a Special Grade Cursed Spirit! One of those that escaped the other day—he stole every single Cursed Womb: Death Painting and all the Sukuna fingers we had recovered!"
"And right before that, you were suddenly sent overseas. I just got back from Osaka myself. Gojo-sensei is still trapped inside the Shibuya curtain. All of this is happening... at the same time. I feel like something bigger is going on!"
Hearing that, Kyūjō's expression darkened.
He thought quickly, then replied firmly, "Understood, Yuta. I'll return immediately."
"Listen carefully. From now on, don't leave the school. Make sure the first and second years are brought back to HQ. Until I arrive—you're in charge of Jujutsu High."
"Got it, Kyūjō-san! I won't let you down!"
Yuta's voice was filled with unwavering resolve.
Ending the call, Kyūjō activated his Infinity perception.
His sharp gaze swept across the distant landscape.
And in a single motion, he leapt into the air—blasting off the ground and rocketing skyward, running through the open sky toward Japan.
The blue heavens parted before him, thunderous sonic booms trailing in his wake.
Clouds scattered along his path, torn apart by the sheer force of his passage.
But Kyūjō had no idea...
Someone was waiting.
Someone had already prepared a "weapon"—just to kill him.
— — —
Africa — United States Secret Military Base
Inside a classified facility buried deep in the wilderness, a Black soldier sat slouched in front of a satellite monitor, eyes half-lidded with boredom.
But the next second, the screen shifted.
An object—moving at supersonic speeds—was now streaking across the upper atmosphere.
Alarms blared.
The base's satellite detection system had identified an unknown flying target.
The soldier bolted upright, frantically typing.
"Andrew! What's going on!?" roared Major General William Cage as he burst into the control room.
But before he could even reach the console, the panicked soldier—Andrew—shouted, pointing at the screen,
"Oh my God! Lord have mercy... General!"
"That's an alien! That Asian dude... HE'S FLYING!"
"General Cage! I swear that thing's not human! He's gotta be some super soldier from another planet!"
General Cage yanked Andrew out of the chair and shoved him aside.
"Andrew, you idiot! Shut up and move!"
But the moment he saw the zoomed-in satellite feed—
His heart stopped.
There it was.
Someone was sprinting through the sky. At such ridiculous speed, shockwaves erupted in his wake, rattling the upper atmosphere.
In stunned silence, General Cage grabbed his secure satellite phone.
He dialed the President of the United States.
— — —
One minute later.
The secret military base—unknown even to most world governments—opened four underground missile silos.
"General Cage! Four Rattlesnake supersonic missiles are primed for launch!"
Andrew, now back at his station and dead serious, reported crisply.
The General's face turned cold.
With a thunderous voice, he gave the order:
"No more waiting. Fire at will! Obliterate him without hesitation!"
"Even if Jesus himself descended from heaven today... He wouldn't be able to save that thing. That's a direct order!"
— — —
From the deep, dark launch chambers—
Four Rattlesnake missiles erupted into the sky, trailing blazing fire as they tore through the atmosphere.
Their target was locked.
Zenin Kyūjō.
And they would not stop...
…until he was erased from the sky.
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