BOOM!
The Void Pressure fired by Mukuro collided head-on with the fully chanted Hollow Purple launched by Satoru, who had just emerged from the seal.
The two immense masses of cursed energy continuously canceled each other out, while the zone of destruction widened from both trajectories and swallowed everything nearby. The roar echoed through the sky with such violence that it scattered the clouds above.
The force of the collision kept venting upward, forming a towering mushroom-shaped pillar of smoke.
As for the direct cause of all this chaos, Mahoraga had long since been erased by Mukuro's cursed energy blast. This level of power was far beyond what it could adapt to in an instant.
The clash lasted for several minutes.
"…No way."
At this moment, Yuji, already healed by Round Deer, was being carried by Mukuro as they retreated over a thousand meters into the air. His eyes were wide open.
When the smoke finally cleared, the original flat ground was gone. In its place was a gigantic crater stretching over two thousand meters wide.
To the naked eye, it looked bottomless.
For the first time in his life, Yuji witnessed destruction on this scale. Compared to this, the shock he felt earlier while watching Sukuna and Uncle Fushiguro fight from inside his own body was nothing.
"Um… thank you so much, Uncle Fushiguro. If you hadn't defeated Sukuna, I definitely would have done something terrible…"
Even before such a scene, Yuji scratched his head while still being carried, not forgetting to thank the "Megumi" in front of him first.
Though he had failed to retake control of his body immediately, he had still been able to see what was happening outside.
Thankfully… Uncle Fushiguro, Haibara-sensei, and the others were there.
"No big deal. Let's go."
Mukuro didn't think much of it. He lightly pushed off with his feet, and the two of them vanished into the air.
In the blink of an eye, they arrived in front of Satoru.
The white-haired man was stretching his body, like a student finally released after sitting through a long class.
"Gojo-sensei! You're out!"
Seeing him, Yuji's face lit up with a bright smile.
"I just did a bit of studying inside."
Facing his lovable student, Satoru grinned widely, flashing a row of perfect teeth as if everything were light and effortless.
But in truth, inside the Spirit-Sheltering Cage, he couldn't feel the passage of time. It had been like his school days, sitting in one place while the last remaining fragment of Michizane Sugawara's soul explained his insights and thoughts on jujutsu.
He didn't know how long he had listened.
Afterward, he began experimenting on his own inside. By the time he fully digested those teachings and finished testing them, he suddenly found himself outside again.
Their reunion felt like it had come after decades apart.
And during that unknowable stretch of time, Satoru had truly been worried. He knew Mukuro was different from him. That man always liked to leave backup plans. But when he learned that Mukuro had been sealed, even he panicked a little.
Such a carefully planned operation, one that successfully sealed the two strongest sorcerers alive, gave him a bad feeling. He feared his students and juniors would pay a heavy price.
Fortunately, everything was fine.
"That's great!"
The simple-hearted Yuji didn't think too deeply about it. He was just happy to see someone he admired return.
"What are you up to? Don't tell me you're still sealed. Why are you possessing Megumi?"
Satoru looked at Mukuro and shifted the topic.
That aura completely different from Megumi's, along with those obvious numbered eyes, made it easy enough for him to guess what was going on even without being told.
"Who would've thought I would be locked inside the Prison Realm in such a strange way."
Mukuro didn't deny it.
Only when the sealing was completed and Dakotsu released its domain did he realize what had happened.
He had originally wondered what method Kenjaku would use to stall Satoru long enough for the sealing. After all, Satoru, with cursed energy, was far more suitable as a target for the Prison Realm.
As for himself and his older brother, they had spent years walking through all kinds of barriers as if they owned the place. How could he have expected to be targeted in such a way?
And that never-before-seen cursed spirit, Dakotsu, had also been beyond expectations.
"You're really just so lame, you know that~?"
Satoru couldn't hold back. He stepped forward, threw an arm around Mukuro's shoulder, and burst into laughter.
According to that stitched-brain guy, they had been sealed almost at the same time. Yet he got out earlier. That gave him first rights to mock Mukuro.
Honestly, if the timing were different, after being trapped inside for so long, he would have loved to have a proper fight with the man in front of him.
A Mukuro who had cursed energy and was wearing Toji's son's face.
Because right now, he was the only one who could match him evenly.
"Mukuro. Satoru. You two are unbelievable… So who's going to take responsibility for all this destruction?"
From behind them, Suguru and the others had walked back over. Watching those two interact, he couldn't help but sigh.
Sure, it was to help Megumi tame Mahoraga. But this level of destruction was a bit too much.
"Do you even need to ask?"
Mukuro hooked his thumb and casually pointed it at Yuji beside him with a teasing look.
"Eh? Me?!"
The boy's clear eyes were filled with confusion.
If you really thought about it… yeah, the collapsed buildings nearby were kind of related to him, but this massive crater…
"Follow the facts. Be strict with yourself. Fushiguro, I'll report everything truthfully to the higher-ups."
From behind, Nanami pushed up his glasses and spoke.
That said, in his opinion, this was actually the best solution. Mukuro's reputation spoke for itself. Even if the higher-ups knew, they wouldn't dare do much to him. And judging by his usual behavior, he might even turn it around with Toji and demand compensation from them.
More importantly…
Nanami glanced at Yuji, who was scratching the back of his head. He didn't want his student to be harassed by those people because of Sukuna's return.
"Whatever. I was just joking anyway."
Mukuro knew his old friend would say something like that. He had only been teasing the kid.
"I'll leave the rest to you. The people from Kyoto are probably already bringing the Prison Realm over. I'm going to sleep."
Fighting like this, possessing someone else's body, really was exhausting.
As his voice fell, Mukuro closed his eyes. Then Megumi's slicked-back bangs slowly fell back down, returning to their usual shape.
"Ugh!"
The moment he regained control, Megumi dropped to his knees and started retching. That intense discomfort from before made his face pale.
And…
"Why do I feel sore all over? My body feels like it's about to fall apart…?"
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