A massive roar resounded.
In that split second, the lethal cursed energy Gojo Satoru had aimed at Hanami came to a grinding halt.
If Gojo Satoru had stayed put to execute Hanami, the speeding train car would have hit him; while he would have been fine, the situation for others would have been disastrous.
The runaway train would have derailed, turning the civilians on the platform into mincemeat in an instant.
Gojo Satoru was a somewhat cold individual.
He could accept the deaths of ordinary people during the exorcism of curses.
But only on the condition that he wasn't the one who killed them.
It took Gojo Satoru only 0.01 seconds to make his choice.
Swish!
His figure vanished instantly, reappearing at the very edge of the platform.
A second later, the train came to a stop.
Sparks flew, and the ear-piercing screech of twisting steel rang out.
"Cough... hack..."
Hanami had barely escaped with its life.
Half of its body had been crushed by the sudden stop of that cursed energy, and the flower eye atop its head had been torn out by the roots.
But taking advantage of the moment Gojo left, it slid down the wall like a pile of sludge and scrambled toward Jogo.
Gojo Satoru didn't give chase.
Because something far worse had arrived.
Screee—creak—
The badly deformed train doors let out a gut-wrenching groan as they slowly slid open.
There were no survivors.
There weren't even any corpses.
What surged out were countless grotesque monsters that looked like melting wax figures.
They crowded the train cars, letting out eerie cries like wailing infants.
Those were transfigured humans—countless victims Mahito had stuffed into the cars using Idle Transfiguration.
"Oh? Did I get here a bit early?"
A flippant, playful voice filled with pure malice drifted down from the roof of the train.
Mahito, dressed in his patchwork casual clothes, sat atop the mangled train car. His legs dangled as a naive smile played on his lips, as if he were at an amusement park.
"Not that it matters. This place is about to become a meat grinder anyway."
Mahito spread his arms as if embracing the chaos.
"Go on. Have all the fun you want."
Waaaaah!
At Mahito's command, hundreds of transfigured humans pounced on the dazed civilians like starving ghosts released from a cage.
Splat!
The closest salaryman had half his face torn off by a transfigured human in an instant.
Blood sprayed, staining Gojo Satoru's field of vision red.
"Help! Somebody help me!!"
"What are these monsters?!"
Hell had descended.
Gojo Satoru's brow furrowed deeply.
He glanced at the dying Hanami, then at the army of transfigured humans engaged in a frenzied massacre of the civilians.
"Tch."
An extremely irritated click of the tongue.
Hanami had already vanished into the crowd, and he couldn't just let these thousand-plus monsters slaughter everyone here.
This was the Cursed Spirits' blatant scheme.
Whoosh!
Mahito leaped from the roof, using the chaos to charge at Gojo Satoru.
It stood atop a surfboard-like transfigured human, its hand morphing into a sharp blade that it thrust toward Gojo's eye.
Cling.
The blade stopped a few centimeters from Gojo's skin, unable to advance even a fraction of an inch.
"Wow, I really can't touch you—"
Mahito marveled like a curious child before quickly retreating.
It wasn't trying to win; it just wanted chaos.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the crowd, Choso pressed his hands together.
"Blood Manipulation!"
Blood exploded in all directions, instantly piercing the bodies of several humans.
Jogo was even more reckless, casually throwing fire and turning people into sprinting human torches.
Gojo Satoru suddenly turned and grabbed the hand of the ambushing Jogo.
However, Jogo simply severed his own arm to escape, giving Gojo no opening.
Even more desperate was the sound of collapsing from above.
The roots and vines on the upper floors suddenly snapped, and countless humans fell from the heights in droves, slamming heavily onto the B5F floor.
The death toll was skyrocketing.
The number of the living was also surging.
At this moment, Gojo Satoru was like a giant with his hands and feet bound.
He possessed the power to destroy the world, yet now he was forced to use an embroidery needle to carefully swat at mosquitoes hiding in a china shop.
This was exactly the situation Kenjaku wanted.
When the numbers of the living and the dead were both soaring.
When weights were being added to both sides of the scale called sacrifice.
In this chaotic, bloody, and scream-filled space, what they wanted was Gojo Satoru's confusion, his contemplation, and his hesitation.
"Checkmate, Gojo Satoru."
...
Near the stairs of the station entrance.
Hayashi En was walking down step by step, a bag of potato chips appearing in his hand at some point.
Thump!
He casually kicked aside a transfigured human that charged at him.
Hayashi En heard a voice coming from his communicator.
"Boss, things are finished on this end. The Locust Curse has been retrieved."
"Good job, Junpei."
Hayashi En nodded with satisfaction.
"According to the plan, once the incident on Miss Mei Mei's side is over, you can go back and regroup with Muta Kokichi."
"The events that follow will be far too dangerous for you."
"Understood, Boss."
Hanging up, Hayashi En glanced at the surveillance terminal in his hand, his eyes betraying an irrepressible excitement.
It was a live broadcast of the B5F battlefield.
'It's coming...'
He took a deep breath and deliberately slowed his pace, stopping at a precise, safe distance.
As a reincarnator, he knew all too well what was about to happen next.
It would be the most insane, most absurd, and most divine 0.2 seconds in the history of jujutsu.
Even observing it through a screen was a singular experience.
'I need to stay back. I can't let myself get caught up in "that."'
...
The center of the battlefield.
The previously anxious and angry Gojo Satoru suddenly ceased all movement.
He slowly exhaled.
That single breath seemed to carry away all his negative emotions.
He stood there, head lowered, the shadow of his snow-white hair completely veiling those cerulean eyes.
He was motionless.
This abrupt calm caused Jogo, standing in the distance, to feel an inexplicable palpitation, his scalp tingling with dread.
'Has he... given up?'
Jogo stared intently at the figure.
However.
In the very next second.
It was as if the entire world had been muted.
The screams, the sounds of tearing, the crackle of burning flames—at this moment, they all seemed distant and blurred.
Between heaven and earth, only that man's movements remained.
Gojo Satoru slowly raised his right hand.
He crossed his middle and index fingers—the Taishakuten sign.
The instant that hand seal formed, the pupils of every Special Grade curse present—Mahito, Jogo, Choso, and even Hanami cowering in the corner—shrank to the size of needle points.
"Are you kidding me?"
It was a shiver of biological instinct.
It was awe in the face of absolute power.
The corners of Gojo Satoru's mouth quirked up slightly, and his voice, though not loud, boomed in their minds like a divine decree.
"Domain Expansion."
The Six Eyes hidden in the shadows snapped open, divinity surging within them!
"Unlimited Void!"
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