"I don't think the same as you. I don't plan to kill you here."
Mukuro responded to Sukuna without hesitation.
The next moment, their fists collided.
The massive output of cursed energy and overwhelming physical force crashed together, causing the ground beneath them to collapse from the impact.
Their feet sank deep into the earth, and a crater dozens of meters wide formed instantly.
Broken rocks kept falling until all three of them were buried beneath the debris.
From the outside, with the original battlefield as the center, the ground across several hundred to over a thousand meters had caved in, forming a giant pit dozens of meters deep.
Below was nothing but ruins.
* * *
On top of a distant high-rise building.
"So it really came to this... Good thing we evacuated everyone within ten kilometers in advance. Nice work, Junpei!"
Haibara held binoculars as he watched the battlefield, showing not the slightest worry for his friend.
Instead, he wrapped an arm around Junpei, who had not entered the battlefield and had stayed with Panda and the others to help evacuate civilians.
"Not really… it was just a guess. If anything, I should thank Inumaki-senpai and Panda-senpai for helping…"
Junpei scratched his head, a little embarrassed.
He was different from the other first-years. Though his technique wasn't weak, his physical ability lagged behind. Because of that, he usually supported others through strategy and planning.
This time, after hearing that a special grade sorcerer had been sealed, he had taken the initiative to suggest evacuating everyone nearby as much as possible.
Anyone daring to make a move against a special grade sorcerer, whether successful or not, had to possess serious strength. Even if they weren't at the level of Gojo-sensei or Fushiguro-san, they would still be top-tier threats.
Evacuating even those outside the curtain was also to ensure that if the battlefield expanded later, Tokyo Jujutsu High wouldn't have too many concerns.
Originally, he wanted to expand the evacuation range even more. But considering it might completely paralyze traffic, he settled on ten kilometers.
Even then, a request of that scale required enormous manpower and resources, so it naturally needed approval from someone at the grade 1 level. It just so happened Haibara was passing by at the time.
Looking at it now, the decision had clearly been wise. The battle between Sukuna and Mukuro had already destroyed buildings across more than a kilometer.
"Itadori and Fushiguro!"
Beside them, Kugisaki grew anxious as the battlefield suddenly went quiet.
With this level of destruction and such a disastrous scene, what if those two had been buried alive?
"Kugisaki, perhaps you've already tried to imagine how strong special grade sorcerers are… but you still underestimate them." Nanami adjusted his glasses and spoke calmly.
Boom!
As if to prove his point, another loud noise echoed from the battlefield.
* * *
Meanwhile, two figures burst out from beneath the ground.
Mukuro and Sukuna had returned to the topmost level, the true surface.
'No wonder... it's felt strange this whole time. Far too quiet…'
Sukuna's eyes swept across the surroundings.
Inside those tall buildings, he could barely sense any living presence at all. Only a few scattered scraps remained.
He had wanted to use the brat's hands to carry out a massacre and make him experience it personally…
Smack!
Suddenly, two hands shot out from underground and grabbed both of their ankles.
It was Mahoraga.
Buried under the collapsed buildings, it had adapted to the crushing damage caused by those lifeless, curse-less masses of rubble after the wheel on its back completed one turn.
So now, it swam through layers of debris as though moving through water and reached their feet.
Boom!
Mahoraga burst out of the ground, dragging both of them upward by their legs as it leapt into the air, trying to smash them violently into the earth.
"Third Path: Jade Fox."
The number in Mukuro's eye shifted to "3."
The space behind him shattered, and a massive white fox with ringed eyes, over twenty meters in size, rushed out.
In a flash, Jade Fox opened its abyss-like jaws and swallowed both Sukuna and Mahoraga whole.
As for Mukuro, only a severed arm remained where his ankle had been held.
'This isn't the Ten Shadows Technique… you really are something, Mukuro Fushiguro.'
Illusions, hand-to-hand combat, an ability similar to possession, an enormous cursed energy supply, and now another power resembling the Ten Shadows Technique.
The more Sukuna came into contact with him, the more he felt the thousand years of waiting had been worth it.
Even in the golden age of jujutsu, he had never met a man who kept surprising him like this while repeatedly making him suffer setbacks.
Still, he needed to deal with the nuisance in front of him first. That thing was like glue, endlessly troublesome.
And it was still adapting to his abilities.
"Cleave!"
Thinking Mahoraga had fully adapted to his Dismantle, Sukuna raised his palm and unleashed an endless barrage of high-output slicing attacks into both Mahoraga and the inside of Jade Fox.
Boom!
The fox exploded instantly. Its body burst into a rain of blood and countless fragments.
But when the two figures reappeared, Mahoraga was still gripping Sukuna's leg. Even the arm that Jade Fox had bitten off had already fully regenerated.
'It adapted to slashing attacks?!'
Seeing not a single mark on Mahoraga's body, as if it had been bathing inside his Cleave, Sukuna suddenly understood.
Crash!
At that moment, Mahoraga smashed him straight into the ground. Even someone as powerful as Sukuna clenched his teeth hard enough that blood seeped through the gaps from the sheer impact.
Mahoraga roared, preparing to continue its assault.
But Sukuna kicked it away, sending it crashing into a nearby building. Immediately after, he grabbed several nearby cars and hurled them at it while launching slashes that tore the building apart.
Even if it had adapted to being crushed by non-living objects, that only meant it wouldn't die or stay trapped forever. It didn't mean it could break free instantly.
What Sukuna wanted was this tiny gap in time.
"Open."
He rose to his feet as a small flame flickered in his palm.
Sukuna's technique wasn't just limited to cutting and slashing. His overall technique was like a kitchen. Besides cutting, there was also fire.
However, outside of his domain, the speed and range of Divine Flame were limited, which was why he hadn't used it before.
Now, he was going to use this attack, something that thing had never seen, and end it in one move.
But not far away, Mukuro suddenly spoke.
"I say... did you forget? This is the shikigami I'm in the middle of subjugating."
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