"Hm?"
Faced with Todo's appearance, Uro froze, even forgetting to release the section of space clenched tightly in her hands.
A domain was a barrier focused inward. Escaping from inside one was incredibly difficult, but comparatively speaking, entering from the outside was much easier. That was because inside a domain, the caster's advantages were practically absolute.
Very few people would ever choose to enter someone else's domain from the outside. Aside from domain clashes or the caster willingly dispelling it, destroying a domain was almost impossible. So stepping into a domain from outside meant willingly turning yourself into a living target for the guaranteed-hit effect.
No sane person would ever do something so reckless and unrewarding.
Yet now, a real exception had appeared right before Uro's eyes. How could she not be shocked?
"Todo!"
At the brink of despair, Yuji finally saw a ray of hope within the confusion.
Though they had only met a few times, he held an inexplicable trust toward this "besto friendo," so the moment Todo burst into the domain, Yuji was already prepared to fight alongside him.
"Watch closely, Brother!"
The two did not waste time with greetings as Todo directly charged toward Uro.
"Thin Ice Breaker!"
Uro twisted her body and hurled the spatial blast she originally planned to fire at Yuji straight toward the sudden intruder.
Clap!
But accompanied by Todo's clap, his figure vanished.
In his place appeared Yuji.
After switching positions, Yuji now stood less than ten meters away from Uro.
"Hey! Todo!"
Yuji looked completely dumbfounded. He had indeed prepared himself to coordinate an attack, and the position swap had brought Uro within his reach. However, the guaranteed-hit Thin Ice Breaker carrying a huge chunk of distorted space was now rushing straight toward him.
"No matter how many come, it's useless! I'll blast every one of you to pieces!"
Uro tightened both hands around the surrounding space again, seemingly preparing to launch a second Thin Ice Breaker.
The opponent's technique was simple enough to roughly understand after one glance. It probably involved using himself as a reference point to swap places with someone nearby.
'Don't panic. Trust Todo's judgment!'
Yuji took a deep breath and gathered cursed energy into his fists as he charged directly toward the incoming Thin Ice Breaker. Even if he truly had to take the guaranteed-hit attack for Todo, he would not complain.
He believed Todo had his reasons.
But in the next moment, Uro froze again, her eyes filling with disbelief.
The attack about to hit Yuji suddenly twisted midair.
Then, the spatial blast abruptly changed direction and shot toward Todo, who had swapped places with him.
'Why... is it still guaranteed-hit?!'
In just an instant, she understood the reason.
For non-area-targeting techniques like hers, once the domain granted them guaranteed-hit properties, the designated target of that attack could not be changed after launch. Because the guaranteed-hit effect locked onto cursed energy itself.
In other words, the original target of that Thin Ice Breaker had been Todo. But after the attack was fired, Uro could no longer change it. That was why the Thin Ice Breaker had changed direction and begun pursuing its original cursed energy target.
After figuring it out, however, she showed no panic whatsoever.
Guaranteed-hit was still guaranteed-hit. Even if they delayed the impact through tricks like this, the Thin Ice Breaker would continue chasing its original target.
It was merely the difference between dying sooner or later.
Uro shifted her attention toward Yuji, who was already rushing toward her. A smile appeared on her face as she lightly tugged at the space before her.
Yuji's fist, which was just about to reach her, immediately veered off course along with the distorted space.
Meanwhile, Uro's other hand had already clenched into a fist.
'As expected of me with an IQ of 530,000. Everything is proceeding exactly according to plan. Next all I need to do is...'
Seeing the Thin Ice Breaker diverted away from Yuji and the two beginning to clash, Todo's rugged face revealed a confident grin, flashing his bright white teeth.
"Look over here!"
Gathering cursed energy into his palm, Todo suddenly hurled a small stone toward Uro.
Naturally, the stone was wrapped in his cursed energy. This was something he had prepared before entering, specifically so he could maximize the flexibility and control of his technique.
'A rock?'
Uro had no time to process it. Instinctively, she loosened the fist she originally intended to punch Yuji with and reached toward the stone instead.
Clap!
The sound of clapping rang out.
Immediately afterward, Uro's eyes widened.
The tiny stone wrapped in cursed energy instantly switched places with Yuji the moment the clap echoed.
That man's technique was not centered around himself.
And his targets did not even need to be people. Anything with cursed energy worked?!
"Black Flash!"
There was no time left for her to think. The sudden contrast between a stone and a human completely threw off Uro's response timing, allowing Yuji to land another Black Flash squarely into her abdomen.
Four Black Flashes in a single day.
He had already tied Nanami's record from before the Shibuya Incident.
'Gojo-sensei... it's coming!'
As black-and-red lightning-like cursed energy crackled and space distorted around him, Yuji clearly sensed something changing. He had never felt this refreshed before. Ideas continuously flooded his mind.
"Ugh..."
Uro clenched her teeth to stop blood from spurting out while tugging at space and flinging Yuji sideways.
At the same time, Yuji stretched out his hand and caught the stone previously used for swapping.
It was not a cursed tool. The duration it could retain cursed energy was very short, and after one swap the cursed energy on it would almost completely disappear.
Yet now, Yuji clenched it tightly and infused it with fresh cursed energy.
"Todo!"
Thin Ice Breaker was already about to catch up to Todo, but before being thrown away, Yuji hurled the stone with all his strength.
"As expected of my Brother!"
Todo clapped sharply and swapped places with the stone, causing Thin Ice Breaker to once again adjust its direction toward its cursed energy target.
'How are they switching now? Between the two of them? Or still with the stone?!'
Uro had just barely recovered from the Black Flash and now had to immediately consider that question.
Her gaze shifted toward Todo's hands, and after confirming there were no more stones there, she relaxed slightly.
But then he violently tore the pendant off his neck and threw it at her.
"Useless!"
Unable to predict how he would swap this time, Uro directly distorted the space in front of her to prevent the pendant from approaching.
"Huh?"
Yet at that exact moment, her eyes froze slightly upon seeing the ornament hanging from the pendant open up.
There were two photos inside.
One was that brat who used Black Flash like a normal attack.
And the other was a beautiful woman she had never seen before.
What kind of ridiculous relationship was this?!
Clap!
Todo did not hesitate at all and swapped again.
"Huh?!"
Uro froze once more. She had switched places with Todo, and Thin Ice Breaker was now flying straight toward her.
"Yuji!"
The instant Todo completed the switch, he caught the pendant falling from the air, wrapped it in cursed energy again, and threw it toward Uro.
The pendant flew at incredible speed. In the blink of an eye, it and Thin Ice Breaker formed a pincer attack from both directions.
Clap!
Another clap echoed as Yuji swapped places with the pendant.
"Useless! As long as the guaranteed-hit effect remains, your plan will—"
Uro did not panic.
Thin Ice Breaker, herself, and that muscular idiot were not standing in a straight line. Based on what had happened earlier, Thin Ice Breaker would change direction before hitting her at this distance.
But her arrogant words stopped abruptly.
"You're right!"
Because the man in the distance suddenly smiled and took a stance.
"Simple Domain!"
Cursed energy formed a circular field beneath him.
At that moment, because Simple Domain resisted the guaranteed-hit effect, Thin Ice Breaker lost its target lock and reverted to being a normal directional attack.
The violent blast shot directly toward her while Yuji was already charging from the other side.
"Ugh!"
The sound of twisting space rang out again.
Uro actually managed to alter Thin Ice Breaker's direction with one hand while simultaneously twisting Yuji away with the other, even though he was less than a meter away.
Only his attacking right arm was distorted, yet because of that single arm, Yuji's entire body lost the ability to properly approach her.
Against close-range fighters like this, Uro had never considered them a threat.
But what Yuji did next caused her eyes to widen in horror.
* * *
"That brat... don't tell me..."
Even Sukuna inside the mental world revealed a shocked expression.
* * *
Yuji raised his left hand, the one unaffected by the spatial distortion. Most of the fingers curled inward while his index and middle fingers pointed directly toward Uro.
"Dismantle!"
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