Chapter Text
"Hm? Umph!"
At that moment, when Sukuna was thrown as if he were nothing into a window and then through two walls, he realized something important — he was at a disadvantage fighting using only taijutsu. The exchange of blows had been brief, but Satoru Gojo's slight advantage was obvious.
Things would be different if he had his other two arms, but that was his situation now.
'Your ability... that "infinity", it's almost as if it's forcing me to fight on your level.' Naturally, he recovered quickly, just in time to avoid having his skull crushed under Gojo's foot.
Sukuna rolled across the ground to create space and leapt up. But as soon as his feet touched the ground and he prepared for another exchange of blows with Gojo, who was relentlessly pursuing him, the brat collapsed the section of the bridge they were standing on, throwing him off balance. Sukuna fell along with the structure, knowing he wouldn't suffer any damage from the fall. However, before hitting the ground, Gojo used Blue on the entire structure and hurled it into another building.
'Compared to all the sorcerers of this era... I think you really are the only one who can entertain me.' Not even Mahoraga, a being that could adapt infinitely to his attacks, had made him move so defensively. And to think he would be forced to use Domain Amplification just to trade blows with a single sorcerer.
'You are the challenger here.'
That's what Satoru Gojo said at the beginning of the fight. He was certainly arrogant, but he was right about one thing — Sukuna was challenging himself. Deep down, very deep down, desperately, he wanted to enjoy that fight. To the point of planning to use only Mahoraga's adaptation to overcome Satoru Gojo's Infinity, despite having other options.
It was irritating. Part of him wanted to wipe that smug smile off Gojo's face, while another part simply wanted to see how far the "Strongest Sorcerer of Today" could go.
'Maybe now... maybe this is finally the moment...'
Anticipation. Excitement. Genuine interest. Feelings he hadn't experienced since reaching the true pinnacle of jujutsu sorcery after years of endless massacres and destruction. But now, as they tore through buildings, fighting on rooftops and leaping off walls, he began to feel a small glimpse of them resurfacing.
But it still wasn't enough, because everything could end in a few seconds if they decided to stop playing around.
BOOM!
Their fists collided, releasing a tremendous wave of power. Debris fell across the city, and the shockwave devastated everything around them.
"I'm blaming you for all the damage."
Gojo's voice pulled him from his thoughts. The two, completely unharmed, casually walked out of a ruined building, destroyed by that single, half-serious clash between them.
"Like anyone will believe that."
For some reason, Sukuna found himself engaging in the pointless conversation.
"Domain Expansion."
"Domain Expansion."
It was the natural next step in a battle between two sorcerers who had reached the pinnacle.
The clash of domains that followed, when both spoke those words, was sublime. And the ones that followed even more so. Sukuna had never had a domain battle this challenging in his entire life. No, that wasn't right. He had never had a fight like this against just one sorcerer.
A battle purely of domains.
How many times did Satoru Gojo force him to expand his domain? Five times.
Even so, the brat was still alive.
And even managed to surpass him once.
Resizing domains, using domain amplification within domains, sure-hit neutralizing techniques... all of that was a true feast for Sukuna. And to think he would still learn something new at that point: the act of destroying his own brain and using Reverse Cursed Technique Technique to heal the area related to Innate Techniques.
It was fascinating, but very detrimental, as it limited him to expanding only five times before reaching the limit and demanded exceptionally precise control of Cursed Energy. Only a madman would attempt it.
'Now I understand why that cursed spirit was afraid to expand its domain against me. The effect of your domain is certainly a pain in the ass, Satoru Gojo. If I weren't prepared and didn't know how to get around it, you would have defeated me.'
Even so, Sukuna was not satisfied. It was a confrontation like he had never had, but even then it was not enough. And, despite his lingering regrets, the fight had ended. He had put Gojo in a situation where he could no longer restore his techniques.
Satoru Gojo was on his knees before him, with brain damage that completely compromised the use of domain techniques. He looked pathetic compared to his arrogant, smiling self from seconds earlier.
For Sukuna, it was pleasurable. And, at the same time, it wasn't.
He would open his domain again and put an end to it. Once more, he had won after a minimal effort.
'Unpleasant.'
As he approached Satoru Gojo, he made the hand sign to summon Mahoraga, with the Wheel of Dharma appearing once again above his head.
'How many more times will I feel this?'
Sukuna then brought his hands together in the familiar seal of his domain, preparing to expand it and crush Satoru Gojo's life once and for all, as well as adapt to his Infinity.
'I eat when I want, and kill when I desire. I am bound to nothing, and this lifestyle suits me. Even so, why...'
He opened his mouth to speak, and his words came loaded with disdain.
"Goodbye, "Strongest Sorcerer"."
'Why can't anyone offer a decent challenge?'
"Turns out you were lucky to be born in an era when I wasn't around"
'Why are you all so...'
"It's why you're so..."
'...pathetically...'
"Mediocre."
'Weak.'
Satoru Gojo would become just another bland dish that Sukuna consumed to pass the time.
!!!
Sukuna only noticed the burning pain in his skull when his vision turned red. He reeled.
Blood streamed from his nose and eyes, and he understood immediately— Unlimited Void, even in the short time he was exposed to it, had damaged his brain.
"HA HA HA! Seems like it had an effect!" Satoru Gojo stood up, a sight that made Sukuna's mood rise along with it. "My students are watching, so help me look even cooler, okay?!"
Sukuna found that statement more than acceptable, and despite the unexpected setback, the King of Curses opened a genuine smile for the first time that day. 'So be it.'
The punch that struck his face didn't hurt. Instead, Sukuna felt only an intense euphoria.
Once again, the fight shifted in scale. From brief hand-to-hand combat, to a battle of domains, and now back to a physical exchange, with Satoru surpassing him once again in close combat. It wasn't bad, but for Sukuna, it was just an appetizer.
He still wasn't seeing what he wanted, neither from Mahoraga nor from Satoru Gojo. A few more rotations of Mahoraga's wheel would be enough, and the fight would practically be over. It was a countdown, not only to the end of the fight, but also to the end of the entertainment Satoru Gojo could provide him and probably, the last opportunity for Sukuna to feel something again.
He looked at his hands, the vapor of the Reverse Cursed Technique rising from them. Sukuna had just withstood a poorly executed Red and was facing Gojo, who was desperately retreating.
"You're sloppy. Are you panicking because I saw through you?"
'You're disappointing me again, Satoru Gojo. After all that talk about killing me before the three rotations, you're already retreating with your tail between your legs now?'
The next words from his opponent changed everything.
"Actually... Red hasn't exploded yet."
Sukuna understood, but it was too late. An explosive force hit him from behind, launching him toward Gojo. And before he could react, Gojo was already in front of him, winding up a punch.
BAAMM!
For the first time in a long, long time, he lost consciousness.
'Hah...'
It was brief, but long enough for Sukuna to understand two things.
The first: he was wrong. Satoru Gojo was not just a mere fish on his cutting board or a mediocre sorcerer.
The second: it was truly a shame that someone like him had been born in such a weak era.
What heights could Satoru Gojo have reached if he had grown among monsters?
Sukuna would never know.
A shame, indeed.
While fighting Satoru Gojo alongside Mahoraga and Agito, it became clear that Sukuna was struggling, at least within the conditions he had imposed on himself while fighting in Fushiguro Megumi's body.
'But what does that matter?'
If he were to lose under those restrictions, then he would be as useless as any other failure. If he won, then he won, as he should. It was as simple as that.
Gshnk!
The spin of Mahoraga's wheel, along with the slash that completely ignored Satoru Gojo's Infinity and severed his arm, signaled to Sukuna that the end of the battle was near.
He only needed to wait for the right moment and the opportunity to finish the fight
However, as he now knew, Satoru Gojo was not the type of opponent who would be easily defeated.
And even while facing all three at the same time with only one arm, Satoru Gojo found an opening and unleashed a Blue at maximum output, crushing Agito into a bloody mass under a merciless gravitational force.
Mahoraga protected Sukuna with his body. But the King of Curses felt that attack pass right past him, and knew he would be in serious trouble if it had hit him. 'Well... that was... dangerous.' Firmly planting his feet on the side of a skyscraper, Sukuna watched Satoru Gojo bathed in the euphoria of his second Black Flash.
Sukuna lost his smile and frowned. 'I know I've already won this fight... so why am I feeling so... restless? What is this sense of urgency? I... don't understand.'
The fight resumed almost immediately.
Two more Black Flashes followed, totaling four in all. Two were received by Mahoraga, and the other two by him and Agito.
'I need to finish this quickly.'
Satoru Gojo was not only becoming a truly delicious meal, but also a threat that needed to be eliminated. Sukuna didn't know what it was, but he could feel that something very dangerous was coming.
Satoru Gojo was preparing something. That insane smile on his face made that very clear.
"Phase."
"Paramita."
"Pillar of Light."
'So that's what you were preparing? A Red at its maximum output?' Sukuna prepared to dodge the attack.
However, instead of launching it toward him, Satoru Gojo met his gaze with those unique eyes and fired the Red upward.
For a millisecond, Sukuna went blank, unable to understand Satoru Gojo's plan. But then he remembered the Blue that killed Agito, and the fact that it was still hovering in the sky above them.
'Oh...'
"MAHORAGA!"
He had never shouted with so much emotion before. It was embarrassing. Even so, that shout conveyed just how far that sorcerer had pushed the King of Curses.
Mahoraga arrived too late. And Sukuna himself couldn't stop it, despite his attempts with "Piercing Blood", because the Strongest Sorcerer of that era had foreseen it.
All Sukuna could do was watch Satoru Gojo above him, as a blinding light enveloped the three of them, along with the surrounding city.
Even so, as that light consumed Sukuna, his final thoughts were not of disappointment. Nor of despair in the face of his "defeat". Instead, they were thoughts of regret. Almost sadness.
'To think you would be able to go this far, Satoru Gojo...'
In a way, that Hollow Purple perfectly represented everything Satoru Gojo was. Brilliant, flashy, destructive, and yet...
'Far from enough to finish me.'
Now, Sukuna stood over the body of Satoru Gojo, split in half, looking at him with a sincere smile on his face. The bearer of the Six Eyes was too exhausted to foresee that attack capable of bypassing the Infinity, which resulted in his defeat.
"You were magnificent, Satoru Gojo," Sukuna said with a happiness that did not suit him. "I shall never forget you for as long as I live."
Those words came as naturally as breathing to Sukuna, because they were the purest truth. One of the greatest challengers he had ever faced deserved to be etched forever into the memory of Ryomen Sukuna.
And, as Kashimo Hajime tore through the skies toward him, Sukuna allowed himself to wish for only one thing: that the battles yet to come would not boil down to a hollow repetition of the massacres of the Heian Era. Though, for now, that seemed unlikely.
After all... Satoru Gojo had managed to tire him enough for even the rabble to have a chance of facing him.
"I feel great! Don't you dare spoil it."
***
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