Chapter 239: [Divine Flame]!!!
It was clear that the newly empowered Sukuna was brimming with confidence, but in many cases, confidence isn't necessarily a good thing.
A person can maintain confidence at many times, as this positive emotion allows them to exert their normal strength—or even perform beyond their limits—when facing any difficulty.
However, such confidence should never be applied when you are fundamentally unable to determine exactly what level of strength your enemy possesses.
Ryomen Sukuna's confidence stemmed from his experience of having no rivals a thousand years ago. But Emiya was not those sorcerers of old, and he certainly wouldn't harbor any psychological feeling that this guy was an "unbeatable" opponent.
Judging strictly from surface-level information, the King of Heroes, Archer, could treat the Heroic Spirit Emiya (also an Archer) like an NPC to be farmed without issue. But what of it?
In the end of that battle, wasn't it Emiya who won?
Curiously, in most of the memory fragments Emiya observed, there were always scenes of clashing with that King of Heroes, and similarly, the possibility of victory was always secured.
Compared to that King of Heroes from over five thousand years ago, let alone the current Ryomen Sukuna—who was merely compared to a "ghost-god"—even if he were a true ghost-god with all sorts of incredible abilities and destructive power, it would amount to nothing.
Naturally, Emiya felt emotions like fear, but he only feared whether someone would be hurt as a result; he was never afraid of the difficulty itself.
What is there to fear about a difficulty? Isn't the reason it's defined as a difficulty precisely so that someone can solve it?
Therefore, it's just Ryomen Sukuna... just defeat him!
"Trace on!"
Without a shred of hesitation, Emiya directly pushed the [Magic Circuits] in his body to full capacity, causing bright and obvious blue electric arcs to burst from the center of his palms. When Emiya clenched his hands again, the familiar Kanshou and Bakuya were already held in a cross, frozen at his sides—
"Trigger Off."
The blue lines derived from the magic circuits completed the steps of "structural analysis" and "projection" in an instant, causing the performance of Kanshou and Bakuya to increase several-fold along with the feathering and elongation of the blades.
After completing this movement, Emiya did not choose to press forward for close-quarters combat. Instead, he crouched slightly and violently hurled both blades at a crossing angle.
Rumble—!
Even after leaving Emiya's palms, the electric arcs swirling around the blades showed no signs of weakening. They spun through the air with such speed that they left a deep gouge in the ground, reaching all the way to Sukuna's feet.
Seeing such an intimidating attack, Sukuna didn't show any surprise. Instead, under the illumination of the light, a hideous smile appeared on his face.
"That's it! You should be putting in everything you've got!!!"
Otherwise, how could he feel even a hint of achievement when he finally killed the opponent?
Boom!
Without any evasive movement, Sukuna responded to Emiya's attack in the most direct way possible: he caught the high-speed spinning blades with his bare hands.
The price? Only that his body was forcibly dragged several meters back, and his palms turned charred, emitting constant plumes of white smoke.
This kind of injury was nothing to him. Even if his hands were severed, he could fully recover them in an instant with [Reverse Cursed Technique]. Thus, an "injury" didn't really count; it was just normal wear and tear in the process of combat.
But when Sukuna refocused his attention on the spot where Emiya had been, he found it empty.
"...Where did he go?"
Emiya had not vanished, nor had he fled. A moment later, Sukuna heard Emiya's voice rising from behind him—
I am the bone of my sword...
"Crane Wing... Three-Linked."
Unlike the situation at the detention center, the initial pressure Sukuna exerted was enough for Emiya to be certain that he could not fight this opponent in the same state as last time.
Back then, the reason Emiya had been cautious during the fight was primarily out of fear of causing irreparable damage to the possessed Yuji Itadori.
But since then, he had learned that even if this guy's heart was gouged out, he could easily recover using [Reverse Cursed Technique] and was essentially fearless toward most injuries. Furthermore, if he didn't give it his all, things would never go as smoothly as before.
Also, the fact that the current Sukuna had acquired more fingers meant that he had simultaneously lost the "courage" to easily discard this portion... Emiya had already considered this point beforehand.
Therefore, the moment he resolved to go all out, Emiya pushed his mobility to the extreme. Not only did he complete the chant in the intervals before Sukuna could notice during the advance, but he also projected several blades to attack the opponent.
"Don't look at the wrong place... Can you keep up, Sukuna?"
"What...?!"
By the time Sukuna reacted, the Kanshou and Bakuya held in Emiya's hands—slashing from behind—along with the blades flying in again from the left and right, had reached him simultaneously...
People often say that an egg hitting a stone is an act of overestimating one's abilities, yet they always agree with the logic of "dripping water wears through stone," believing that with persistence, any predicament can be broken.
From a material standpoint, this collision between strong and weak actually has another solution: What happens when an object with lower hardness and density strikes an object of higher strength at an unimaginable speed?
An egg hitting a stone will indeed be shattered, but if the egg itself is traveling with immense force, the massive kinetic energy contained in that process will not disappear.
Just like a high-speed water jet, it doesn't need the long process of "dripping water wearing stone"; it can easily cut a hard object into two pieces. Furthermore, after Emiya's repeated modifications, the current Kanshou and Bakuya were not weak at all.
Squelch!
Under Emiya's all-out attack, something went flying high into the sky. It wasn't a broken blade, but a familiar arm covered in black markings.
Clearly, Ryomen Sukuna had once again paid a heavy price for underestimating his enemy.
To him, this price was not serious at all, but it was a humiliation that could easily be etched in his memory for half a lifetime.
"You... you really are quite surprising...!!!"
Veins bulged on the forehead of Sukuna, who used his remaining hand to parry the other two blades. Then, a nearly identical arm suddenly regrew from the stump, and he smashed a fist into the reinforced, elongated blade of Kanshou.
CRACK!!
The blade—which should have been several times tougher than steel—shattered into countless fragments under this strike. Even the ground was pushed down several centimeters by the force of the impact.
Having done this, Sukuna grabbed the largest of the broken fragments and slashed it toward Emiya. Fortunately, Emiya had already let go of the hilts and retreated the moment Sukuna struck the blades, so he wasn't harmed by this heavy-handed attack.
Unlike Ryomen Sukuna's exaggerated physical strength, no matter how much Emiya reinforced himself with magical or cursed energy, it was impossible for his body to truly escape the essence of mortal flesh. After all, even Heroic Spirit Emiya was never known for physical durability.
However, as an Archer, Heroic Spirit Emiya's agility was top-tier, and Emiya—who had merged with him to a certain extent—naturally inherited this trait.
Based on Ryomen Sukuna's fighting style... he might be better suited to be a Berserker. Though his martial arts and combat level would likely be completely unranked within the Berserker class.
Many Heroic Spirits are monsters who can perfectly execute their martial arts through instinct and physical memory even after losing all reason. If he encountered those monsters at their peak, Ryomen Sukuna would likely have to accept his bad luck amidst the regret of defeat.
"Your speed and power are indeed much greater than back then, but your flexibility seems unchanged... How is this any different from a big guy who just put on a bit more muscle?
You say you've reclaimed most of your original power, but the result is just foolishly adding more on top of the original foundation?"
To be honest, constantly stacking base power is actually terrifyingly formidable. If you can increase your strength through pure training to the point where you can blow up the Earth with one punch, it means your defense has also reached a terrifying level capable of withstanding that explosion.
But this is ultimately just a hypothetical scenario under special conditions. In normal circumstances, even if the effects of strength training vary by individual, one will eventually hit a "limiter" that is difficult to break, and the growth rate in the later stages will continually decline linearly.
Therefore, once physical fitness reaches a certain level, technique begins to become particularly important, as that is the true key to becoming stronger.
Unfortunately, in the jujutsu world, because [Innate Techniques] are mostly awakened randomly and can account for the majority of a sorcerer's combat power, very few talented sorcerers are willing to research actual inheritable technique skills.
Even in the Zen'in family, which has hereditary techniques, isn't the development of the [Ten Shadows Technique] quite shallow? Perhaps it's because that technique only requires the constant subjugation of shikigami to become stronger.
In contrast, isn't the Gojo family's [Limitless] quite well-developed? Both the Reverse Cursed Technique and the combination of the two technique states were considered long ago.
But looking at the scale of the entire jujutsu world, this fragmented research is a drop in the bucket and cannot change the overall backward situation. The only potential for development, barrier techniques, has also fallen into a long-term standstill due to the existence of [Tengen]. It is unknown whether this is a good or bad thing.
Even knowing the opponent was an enemy that must be defeated, Emiya still felt a hint of expectation in his heart. He hoped Ryomen Sukuna could prove that jujutsu was once prosperous, only becoming simple and crude in modern times.
This wasn't just for the sake of witnessing it; as a sorcerer himself now, he could also absorb useful parts from it.
However, based on Ryomen Sukuna's fighting style...
Could it be that a thousand years ago, he became the strongest purely by throwing punches?
"Poor skills, just foolishly stacking power?"
Hearing this insult, Ryomen Sukuna did not get angry; instead, he laughed without concealment. "You should know that it's not that I'm unskilled in these things, it's just that those who saw them... without exception, are all dead!"
The moment his voice fell, Sukuna swung his palm forward—
BOOM!!!!!
Though no tangible substance could be seen appearing, a deep, bottomless cut several dozen meters long was carved into the rock wall behind Emiya.
This cutting mark even extended beyond the crater where they stood, diagonally slicing through more than half of a high-rise building a hundred meters away. The fact that it didn't collapse instantly proved how hard and serious the original construction team had been.
As for Emiya, standing in the center of the slash, he had pressed his hands together, tightly gripping Durandal, which he held horizontally in front of him.
"Tch, this annoying thing again."
No matter how angry Sukuna felt, it was useless. His technique did not have conceptual effects; when facing a Holy Sword with such properties, it was difficult to exert its intended utility.
Steel is my body, and fire is my blood. I have created over a thousand blades...
"Trace on!"
Emiya did not respond to Sukuna's meaningless emotional venting. He simply took advantage of the brief lull in fighting to complete further chanting, projecting a golden Holy Sword into his hand.
For now, the best way to quickly defeat Ryomen Sukuna was to directly overwhelm him with pure power—and for that, he had to use this type of release-type Noble Phantasm.
"Unknown incantation...?
Except for beginners who just learned a technique, I have almost never seen such a long incantation on anyone else... this can only mean one thing: the technique you are preparing will far exceed my expectations.
The reason you look down on my offensive methods so much is probably because you've mastered this technique learned from who-knows-where, right?"
During the last battle, Sukuna had already seen Emiya chanting this incantation. Back then, he had lost his composure upon seeing a potentially unknown technique, but now he would absolutely not make the same mistake.
Even after the mistake just now, Sukuna—possessing most of the strength of his peak—was still confident. Confident that his technique would certainly be stronger than the opponent's.
"Since you want to see the ultimate technique, then I will let you witness to your heart's content what a technique truly looks like when developed to the extreme."
With these words, Sukuna immediately moved.
He lightly clapped his palms together, but the sound produced was not the expected collision of flesh, but a crisp, loud clang of steel—
"To tell the truth, my technique is far more than just the 'slashing' that this brat thinks it is. Though for this kid, it might be better to just simply define it as 'slashing'."
In one sentence, Ryomen Sukuna dismissed all of Yuji Itadori's efforts over the past few days, and then proceeded to enthusiastically explain to Emiya: "The truest name for my technique should be [Shrine]."
"If I recall correctly, in some mythological concepts, a Mizushi (Shrine) is used to house the status of gods and demons... but if you want to take the latter part of the name and treat me as a simple chef (Cook), I wouldn't mind much."
Since birth, Ryomen Sukuna had been a man of pure whim, putting personal likes and dislikes first—a cruel, cold-blooded individual with a hobby for slaughter. He didn't have many things he particularly hated, but he had one unchanging preference—eating.
He didn't even care what he was consuming; even if it was something disgusting, or even humans, it didn't matter... as long as the food made him feel delicious and satisfied.
Precisely because of this, Sukuna had felt a certain fondness for Emiya the first time he met him. After all, he truly couldn't refuse any kind of gourmet food, and Emiya's work was definitely at the top tier of culinary arts.
Unfortunately, preferences are one thing; when this guy completely defied him, Sukuna would still kill him without hesitation.
Unless... this chef could truly make many, many dishes, all of which were irreplaceable delicacies.
Returning to the topic, the technique named [Shrine] naturally wouldn't only have the "slashing" effect—
"I remember you're also a great chef, right? So you should understand that besides the most important knives, there is another exceptionally important tool there..."
Bang—Bang—Boom!
As he spoke, after Sukuna's palms collided again, visible sparks naturally erupted from the steel-like impact. This seed of flame was then held in Sukuna's hand and, in the next instant, stretched and deformed into a strange flame in the shape of a longbow.
"And that is fire!"
"And as long as pure fire is developed to the extreme, there is nothing that cannot be burned to ashes... Rejoice, I only ever use this move on ingredients worth cooking—"
Soon, the longbow made of flames was drawn back by Sukuna, aimed directly at Emiya's position.
"[Divine Flame]!!!"
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