The battlefield was silent save for the ragged breathing of a single creature.
The — Basa who had been so confident moments ago—now sat slumped against the cracked ruins of a wall. Blood poured from his mouth in thick streams, spattering across his chest. His once-proud wings, obsidian black and sharp as blades, were shredded, broken, bloody. Feathers fell like dying embers, scattered across the broken ground. One wing bore a gaping hole, raw and bleeding.
His hands trembled. His eye—bloodshot and wide—stared ahead in disbelief.
"Damn it… is he really an human?" His voice cracked with horror.
This was no longer mere surprise. It was fear that could almost take form, a tangible weight pressing against his chest.
"No… no, this is not the power humans should have. Not even the strongest of legend."
Every attack he had tried, every technique he had invoked—
Useless, It was useless. Even his trump card, the Forbidden Spell: As Urgent as an Order, had amounted to nothing.
Against this man… against Gojo Satoru, the so-called strongest of the Yin-Yang Realm… he was no more than a child waving a toy knife against an Adult male.
Gojo stood a few paces away, his expression calm, almost bored.
His white hair glimmered faintly in the crimson haze of the calamity sky, and his Six Eyes gleamed with detached amusement.
"Oh? You still have the strength to struggle?"
In the blink of an eye, he vanished.
Basa's heart froze.
That speed—impossible to follow, even with his perception.
And then he was there, right in front of him.
"Gojo Satoru!" Basa roared, forcing himself to his feet. His wings unfurled once more, though they were ragged. With a desperate scream, he released a barrage.
Countless feathers, each infused with cursed power sharp enough to split steel, shot toward Gojo like a storm of arrows.
But then—
The impossible happened.
Every single feather stopped.
The deadly projectiles that should have pierced Gojo's body hovered harmlessly in midair, frozen as if caught in invisible glass.
"W-What…?"
Basa's breath caught.
Gojo tilted his head, genuinely curious. "Hmm. Pretty flashy. I'll admit, they do look intimidating."
He raised a finger and poked one of the hovering feathers. It bobbed gently in place, like a kitten swatting a dangling toy.
"Cute," Gojo said with an amused smile.
Basa swallowed hard. His throat felt dry, and for the first time in centuries, genuine panic roared inside him.
'This man… this monster… He's not human. I never should have listened to Dark Mu's command. Testing him was madness…!'
The thought burned in his mind, heavier than any wound.
"I-I have to escape," he whispered.
His wings flared, forcing what little energy remained into them. In the blink of an eye, his body shot into the sky, soaring toward the edge of the barrier.
The barrier had been cast to contain Gojo, not him. If he could just break free—
Freedom. Survival. Hope.
He could already see it. The shimmering edge of the calamity zone. His lips curled into a relieved smile.
And then—
"Cursed Technique: Blue."
Gojo's voice was calm, almost casual.
In midair, Basa's body jerked violently.
A crushing gravitational pull seized him, dragging him back with irresistible force. His wings beat furiously, tearing the air, but it was like trying to swim against a whirlpool.
"No—NO! NOOO!" he screamed.
The pull intensified.
From the distance, a massive slab of stone hurtled toward him at impossible speed. Both trajectories—his body and the stone—drew together like iron filings to a magnet.
The collision shook the sky.
BOOM!
Dust erupted in a choking cloud, covering the battlefield.
Gojo waved his hand lazily, dispersing the smoke.
As the haze lifted, the scene revealed itself.
The creature lay broken on the ground. His wings were torn away completely, his claws shattered, his body barely recognizable. His single eye stared blankly at the blood-red sky, dim and lifeless.
Gojo walked over, his footsteps light and unhurried. He placed one foot gently on the creature's face, leaning down with a smile that was almost kind.
"So, tell me. Are you going to kill me again?"
Basa didn't respond. He couldn't.
Gojo's lips turned downward. "Not interesting."
He stepped back, turning away as if dismissing a defeated opponent. Whether the Basa lived or died—it no longer mattered to him.
But then, with a flick of his fingers, the air warped.
"Cursed Technique: Blue."
Space itself twisted. A tadpole-shaped void blossomed in the air, its gravitational pull irresistible. Basa's body was dragged upward, his flesh and bone twisting, tearing apart under the crushing distortion.
"—!!"
His final scream was cut short as his body crumbled into fragments of cursed energy.
He died in silence.
A five-pointed pentagram of purification flared brilliantly before fading into the air.
The Basa—eradicated.
.....
The barrier shattered a minute later, fragments of energy scattering into the wind.
Far away, on a mountain peak ten kilometers from the battle, a lone figure stood, arms crossed, watching the entire scene. His face was hidden behind a black mask, his presence cloaked in secrecy.
Dark Mu.
"...So it's true," he muttered. "He really is the strongest Yin-Yang Master alive. Perhaps only the Satan of the Void Realm could rival him… tch."
His voice dripped with irritation.
"This complicates things. The Yin-Yang (Exorcists) Bureau will definitely start suspecting a mastermind pulling strings behind the calamities. That wasn't my plan. I didn't want to escalate this far…"
"Why not?"
The voice came from behind him— Smooth. Teasing.
Dark Mu froze.
His pupils narrowed in an instant as he spun, body snapping into battle stance.
From the shadows, a familiar figure stepped forward. White hair, blindfold dangling loosely from his neck, eyes glowing with cold light.
Gojo Satoru.
"You—!" Dark Mu's breath hitched. "When did you—"
Gojo tilted his head, amused.
"Since the start. Did you really think I didn't notice someone lurking during my little warm-up? My Eyes don't miss details like that."
Dark Mu's teeth clenched. His hands moved quickly, forming seals.
"I don't want to fight you now, Gojo Satoru. If you've got time to chase me, you'd better use it for protecting the humans trapped on the other side."
A pitch-black vortex began swirling open behind him. A portal to escape.
He leapt toward it—
But Gojo's hand flicked forward.
"Cursed Technique: Red."
A scarlet shockwave erupted, slamming into Dark Mu with devastating force. Half his body exploded into blood and fragments, but with sheer will, he dragged himself through the vortex before it closed.
Gojo lowered his hand, exhaling softly.
"Well, look at that. He slipped away."
His expression didn't shift. He hadn't expected otherwise. If he had truly wanted to, he could have ended Dark Mu here and now. But where was the fun in that?
A small smile tugged at his lips.
"No rush. If he's the mastermind, we'll meet again. And when we do…" His Six Eyes gleamed. "I'll be ready."
He turned, his gaze drifting back toward the calamity field. Toward the hundreds of survivors still trembling in fear.
"Now then. I should probably check on the others."
His voice was light, casual, as though he hadn't just crushed a dangerous creature and clashed with a shadowy schemer.
Because for Gojo Satoru—
This was all just another day.
...
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