Chapter 95 — "Cursed Womb Evolution: The One Who Slaughters Becomes a Spirit"
"Get up, my brother! Our fight's just getting started!"
Aoi Todo stood tall before Yuji, his face burning with passion and determination.
His brother—his best friend—couldn't fall here. Not like this.
---
"...Todo," Yuji murmured weakly, forcing his swollen eyes open. "I… let you down."
His voice trembled with exhaustion and shame.
All this time, he'd believed that saving enough people could somehow atone for the ones Sukuna had killed using his body.
But now, facing Mahito, he realized that belief was just a convenient lie—a fragile curtain to hide behind.
Mahito had torn it apart.
And with it, Yuji's will to fight had nearly crumbled.
"I can't do anything…" he whispered bitterly.
---
"Brother," Todo said firmly, planting himself between Yuji and Mahito.
"A man doesn't bow his head in despair."
Facing Mahito head-on, Todo's voice rang out like thunder.
"We are sorcerers—you, me, and everyone who walks this path.
Even if only one of us is left standing, that alone means the fight isn't lost!
So long as we breathe, it's not over!"
He turned, flashing Yuji his trademark grin—burning with pride, with faith, with fire.
"When we chose this path, we stepped beyond the bounds of fate itself.
We walk among death to seek meaning—sometimes even to the point of desecrating the dead.
But even then, we keep moving forward!
Until we find our answer… we do not stop!"
Todo's voice grew stronger, his words cutting through the despair like sunlight through a storm.
"All the pain we endure—every wound, every loss—that's the punishment we bear for choosing to be sorcerers!"
---
The golden-tongued motivator had returned.
With nothing but words, Todo Aoi, the "Mentor of Madness," pulled Yuji back from the edge of darkness.
Light flickered again in Yuji's eyes.
His bloodied fists clenched tight.
His body trembled—but not from fear.
---
"Are you done, gorilla?"
Mahito's cold, mocking voice broke through the air.
His smile was crooked, his expression wild.
Without warning, his body surged forward, sprinting toward them—his cursed energy twisting and pulsing in waves.
---
Facing him, Todo didn't flinch.
He raised his fists.
No words, no hesitation.
Only action.
Their fists collided with a shockwave that cracked the walls around them.
The fight reignited, blazing hotter than before.
Yuji stood, steadying himself beside his brother-in-arms.
Just as Todo had said—even if this was punishment, even if this was hell—
he would not fall.
He couldn't let Sukuna laugh at his weakness.
(Not that Sukuna had the time to watch anyone right now, considering his own injuries…)
---
Alone, Yuji couldn't beat Mahito.
But with Todo—
the two of them together were unstoppable.
Brothers in sync, fists sharper than any blade.
They clashed with Mahito, their battle tearing through walls and bursting into the open streets.
Mahito snarled, spreading his arms.
"Let's see how you handle this!"
He released a swarm of Transfigured Humans, their grotesque bodies fusing into monstrous forms.
Several rushed Todo at once, trying to separate him from Yuji.
Mahito grinned.
Without the gorilla interfering, finishing Yuji would be easy.
But Todo wasn't one to be stalled by cheap tricks.
Within minutes, the mutated curses lay shattered and twitching across the ground.
He brushed the dust off his hands, eyes narrowing.
"Three transfigured spirits, and that's all you've got? Pathetic."
Mahito's grin faded into a cold stare.
"...So even that wasn't enough."
His tone grew calm—too calm.
Todo could feel the cursed energy building around him, heavy as a storm.
There was only one move left that could tip the balance now.
Domain Expansion.
If Mahito unleashed it, the "guaranteed hit" effect would let him rewrite Todo's soul instantly—
end the fight in seconds.
Unless…
---
Mahito smiled faintly, his fingers twitching into a familiar seal.
"Looks like it's time to evolve," he said softly.
"Shall we, Itadori?"
His cursed energy spiraled violently, distorting the air around him.
The very walls seemed to twist and breathe.
The Cursed Womb was evolving.
And soon—
Mahito would become something far beyond a mere curse.
Mahito's gaze fixed on Yuji, a wicked gleam flashing in his eyes.
If he used Domain Expansion, he'd risk touching the bomb buried within Yuji—the King of Curses himself.
One wrong move, and Sukuna would tear him apart instantly.
Of course, there was a workaround. He could build a complex barrier to eject Yuji from the Domain before activating it—
but that trick had already been used once against Yuji and Nanami.
And Mahito knew better than to repeat the same move twice.
"So then…" he murmured, a crooked smile twisting his face, "what should I do now?"
His grin widened into a jagged sneer.
"I already know the answer. Gojo Satoru taught me."
---
Mahito's hands snapped into a seal, and cursed energy roared out from his body like a storm.
"Domain Expansion — Self-Embodiment of Perfection!!"
The air distorted.
Reality itself shifted.
Massive, gray hands reached out from the void and yanked both Yuji and Todo into his Domain.
---
"Is he insane?!"
Todo's brow furrowed sharply as he moved into a defensive stance, activating a countermeasure he'd learned from Yuki Tsukumo—a technique designed to resist Domain effects.
Mahito was gambling everything—using the same 0.2-second Domain trick as Gojo Satoru himself.
A flash so brief it bypassed the guaranteed-hit rule, yet unleashed the full terror of his Domain's pressure.
And for Mahito, who had awakened his cursed technique through repeated Black Flashes, this short burst was far deadlier than before.
---
In that instant—less than a heartbeat—Mahito found himself standing in a crimson void.
The air stank of iron and death.
He'd been pulled into Yuji's inner world—
Sukuna's domain.
At the center of it stood the King himself, perched upon a throne of flesh and bone.
Sukuna's face was calm… perhaps too calm.
He still bore the faint marks of his recent defeat, his mood far from pleasant.
Mahito forced a smile, masking the creeping dread rising in his chest.
"Sukuna. Guess that means I passed the test, right?"
"You must have placed a barrier between yourself and Yuji, just in case," Mahito said smugly.
"But before you can take control of his body again—
I'll kill him right in front of you."
---
Sukuna didn't speak.
He simply stared.
The silence pressed down like a mountain.
Then—
Crack.
The vision shattered.
Mahito was thrown back into reality, gasping.
Only 0.2 seconds had passed.
Sukuna hadn't moved against him—yet.
Still, Mahito could tell: the King's patience had limits.
He'd brushed a sleeping dragon's scales and survived by luck alone.
Better not push it, he thought grimly.
---
Outside, his Domain was already collapsing, its effect fading.
But its aftermath remained—
and Mahito's target wasn't Yuji anymore.
It was Todo.
---
He raised his hand.
The guaranteed-hit effect still lingered, and it struck Todo's left arm like a curse bullet.
Pain exploded through Todo's body as his arm began to twist and writhe unnaturally.
Without hesitation, he swung his right hand down—
and severed his own left arm.
Blood splattered across the cracked floor.
"Tch… figures," he hissed through gritted teeth.
He'd used his counter-technique to resist the Domain, but Mahito had slipped in one last hit from range—
and it nearly cost him everything.
Still, losing an arm was a cheap price for keeping his life.
---
Mahito clicked his tongue in mock disappointment.
"Shame. I even gave you such a nice, elegant body."
But Todo didn't respond.
Despite his wound, he surged forward, slamming his remaining hand against Mahito's in one final Boogie Woogie swap.
In that single heartbeat, Yuji appeared right beside Mahito—his cursed energy flaring.
"Black Flash!!"
The strike connected cleanly.
Mahito's chest exploded with blood.
He staggered back, coughing violently.
"Ghah—! You bastards…!"
His body convulsed under the strain.
Using the Domain and then taking a Black Flash back-to-back had shredded his insides.
Still—his grin returned.
Because in that agony, he finally understood.
He'd found it—the truth of his soul.
---
"Heh… Yuji Itadori… thanks to you…"
Cursed energy erupted from his body like a volcanic blast.
BOOM!
His form detonated—flesh unraveling, twisting, mutating—
and then slowly knitting itself back together.
When the smoke cleared, the human-like Mahito was gone.
In his place stood something darker—
a towering, armored figure of warped muscle and carapace, with blades sprouting from his elbows and a long tail coiling behind him.
The Cursed Spirit Mahito had evolved—
his true, perfected form revealed.
"Self-Embodiment of the Perfect Spirit."
He flexed his claws, his voice low and mocking.
"Yuji… this must be what humans call a birthday celebration, right?"
Across the ruined battlefield, Yuji stood bleeding but unyielding, facing him down.
Their fight wasn't over.
Not yet.
---
From a shattered skyscraper above, a lone figure watched the carnage below with casual curiosity.
Zen'in Shinsuke.
"Huh," he muttered, resting his chin in his hand. "Still standing, are we?"
His sharp eyes tracked the monstrous Mahito, then the fallen Todo lying nearby.
"Gotta hand it to him… that curse can really take a beating."
He smiled faintly.
"Guess I'll stay a little longer. Can't miss the finale."
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