October 31, 2018.
Shibuya, Tokyo.
The annual Halloween Eve had transformed the already bustling district into a sea of madness where demons and monsters danced together.
Countless young people dressed in bizarre costumes crowded the intersections as music and laughter intertwined, pushing the city's excitement to its peak.
However, the moment the clock quietly passed 7:00 PM...
A massive black hemispherical Curtain, stretching hundreds of meters wide, descended from the sky without warning, sealing off the entire central commercial district of Shibuya.
At first, the crowd didn't realize anything was wrong.
It wasn't until people discovered they could no longer leave the area, as though an invisible transparent wall blocked every path, that panic began spreading like a plague.
"We can't get out! What the hell is happening?!"
"Our phones don't have any signal either!"
"Look! The subway entrance is open, and something's forcing us underground!"
Terrified screams erupted everywhere.
Hidden within the shadows, Cursed Spirits and Curse Users began herding the civilians like livestock, driving them deeper and deeper into the underground levels of Shibuya Station.
...
8:30 PM.
Shibuya Station, B5F, Fukutoshin Line platform.
The air was thick with the stench of sweat and the sound of hopeless sobbing.
Thousands of ordinary civilians were packed tightly onto the narrow platform, so crowded that even breathing had become difficult.
Standing across the tracks from the terrified crowd were three figures radiating overwhelming pressure.
Jogo, with a volcano erupting from his head.
Hanami, whose eyes were pierced through with tree branches.
And Choso, the eldest of the Cursed Womb: Death Paintings, standing with his arms crossed and an expressionless face.
"Will he really come?"
Jogo exhaled scorching white smoke as its single eye stared fixedly toward the staircase leading down from B4F.
Its fear of Gojo was engraved deep into its bones. The memory of having its head ripped off was something it could never forget.
"He will."
Hanami's voice echoed directly within their minds.
"That Curse User said that as long as these civilians are used as human shields, Gojo Satoru won't dare use destructive techniques on a large scale."
"Here, he's a tiger with its fangs pulled out."
Tap. Tap. Tap.
Steady footsteps echoed from the stairwell.
The noisy platform instantly fell silent as the civilians instinctively held their breath.
A tall, slender figure slowly descended the stairs.
The black Jujutsu High uniform.
A black blindfold covering his eyes.
Gojo Satoru walked alone into the death trap prepared specifically for him, his hands casually tucked into his pockets and a cold smile resting on his lips.
"Yo. Long time no see, Mount Fuji."
Gojo stopped in place.
Faced with tens of thousands of hostages and three Special Grade Cursed Spirits, he showed not the slightest hint of hesitation. Instead, he casually removed his blindfold, revealing the dazzling Six Eyes beneath, brilliant like a galaxy.
"You hid in the sewers scheming for this long just to come up with something this boring?"
"Did you really think using ordinary people as shields would make me helpless against you?"
Gojo cracked his neck as a mocking grin spread across his face.
"Get one thing straight."
"You're the challengers here."
Boom!
The instant his words fell, Gojo vanished from sight.
He even took the initiative to deactivate the Infinity surrounding his body to avoid affecting the densely packed civilians nearby.
Relying solely on Cursed Energy reinforcement, he transformed into a blur and charged directly into the formation of the Special Grade Cursed Spirits.
"Don't underestimate us!"
Jogo roared as it slammed its palms together. Dozens of blazing magma pillars erupted violently from beneath the train tracks.
Hanami followed immediately after, thick wooden roots twisting toward Gojo's legs like venomous serpents.
Choso retreated into the rear, condensing high-pressure Piercing Blood at his fingertips.
But Gojo was simply too fast.
He weaved effortlessly through the gaps between the magma and roots with terrifying agility before suddenly swinging his right leg and smashing it directly into Hanami's shoulder.
Bang!
The hard shell covering the Special Grade Cursed Spirit cracked apart beneath Gojo's monstrous strength.
In the next instant, Gojo grabbed the branches piercing through Hanami's eye sockets as Cursed Energy exploded from his hand.
"GRAAAAAAH!"
Accompanied by a horrifying tearing sound, the branches embedded within Hanami's eyes were ripped out by the roots.
Dark green Cursed Spirit blood sprayed everywhere.
The same Special Grade Cursed Spirit that had dominated during the Exchange Event couldn't even survive a single exchange against a fully unleashed Gojo Satoru.
Hanami was slammed directly against the wall and exorcised on the spot.
"Hanami!"
Jogo's eye nearly split open from rage.
Gojo turned his head, his azure eyes locking coldly onto Jogo.
Just as he was about to continue the assault and eliminate the remaining two Special Grade Cursed Spirits..
A bloodcurdling scream suddenly echoed from above B5F.
Thousands of Transfigured Humans altered by Mahito's technique dropped from the ceiling of B4F like dumplings falling into boiling water.
The moment those grotesque monsters landed within the crowd, they immediately began slaughtering and devouring innocent civilians.
Blood and flesh exploded everywhere as screams filled the station.
"Hahaha! Gojo Satoru! Let's see how you save them now!"
Jogo laughed wildly as it retreated.
Gojo stood motionless, watching the civilians being slaughtered around him as his brows finally tightened.
If he did nothing, everyone here would be dead within ten minutes.
But if he unleashed a large-scale technique, the civilians would die by his own hand as well.
It was an unavoidable moral deadlock.
But he was Gojo Satoru.
Domain Expansion.
Gojo formed a hand seal before his chest.
He compressed the duration of his Domain to an absolutely insane limit—
0.2 seconds.
"Unlimited Void."
Buzz—!
The entire B5F space was instantly swallowed by an endless white void.
Cursed Spirits, Transfigured Humans, and ordinary civilians alike all had half a year's worth of meaningless information forcibly poured into their brains in that instant, leaving every single one of them frozen in a standing coma.
The moment the Domain vanished! Gojo transformed into a tiger among sheep and rushed through the crowd.
He abandoned all techniques entirely.
Relying solely on his physical abilities, he snapped the necks of exactly one thousand Transfigured Humans with his bare hands in only a short amount of time.
"Huff... huff..."
When the final Transfigured Human collapsed, Gojo dropped to one knee, breathing heavily.
Sweat slowly dripped down his forehead.
Even for the strongest sorcerer alive, such high-intensity Cursed Energy control and physical exertion imposed a tremendous burden.
"Well done, Satoru."
A gentle and familiar voice suddenly sounded behind him.
Gojo's body froze instantly.
His Six Eyes widened as he slowly turned his head.
Less than five meters behind him, a square flesh-colored box covered in eerie talismans had appeared on the ground at some point.
The box slowly unfolded like a gigantic opening eye.
And standing beside it...
Was a man dressed in a five-striped kasaya, his hair tied into a bun, with stitched scars crossing his forehead.
That face.
That voice.
Geto Suguru.
"...Suguru?"
Gojo's brain stopped functioning entirely.
"Hi. Long time no see~"
The best friend he had killed with his own hands.
The person he personally buried.
Why was he standing here alive?
Why was he looking at him with that same familiar expression?
Impossible.
This had to be an illusion.
Or some kind of transformation technique.
Gojo's Six Eyes frantically analyzed every detail of the man before him.
Cursed Energy flow.
Physical structure.
That unique voice.
Every piece of information mercilessly confirmed the same truth.
The man standing before him was truly Geto Suguru.
"How... is this possible...?"
For the first time, a fatal opening appeared in Gojo Satoru's thoughts.
Three years of memories fighting side by side surged through his mind like a tidal wave.
To an ordinary person, it would have been nothing more than a fleeting instant.
But according to the Prison Realm's sealing conditions, the three years Gojo experienced within his thoughts had already far exceeded the required "one minute."
"Prison Realm, open."
Kenjaku gave the command with a smile.
The flesh-colored box on the ground suddenly split open with countless crimson eyes.
Four thick chains made of Cursed Energy shot outward, tightly binding Gojo's limbs and torso.
The instant the chains wrapped around him, Gojo felt the Cursed Energy within his body completely cut off.
He couldn't even move a finger.
"Damn it... I got played."
Gojo gritted his teeth and struggled violently, but it was completely useless.
Kenjaku slowly walked over and looked down at the trapped strongest sorcerer of the modern era with a victorious smile.
"Your Six Eyes weren't mistaken, Satoru."
"This body truly does belong to Geto Suguru."
"Thanks to you not destroying his corpse back then, I was able to take over this perfect vessel naturally."
Kenjaku pointed toward the stitched scars on his forehead and let out a low chuckle.
"I spent twelve years preparing for this moment."
"I avoided that monster who forced you to learn Reverse Cursed Technique and carefully arranged this death trap."
"And now, the greatest obstacle has finally been removed."
"Goodnight, Gojo Satoru."
"Sleep peacefully inside the Prison Realm until the arrival of the new world."
As Kenjaku's words fell, the Prison Realm rapidly began shrinking, slowly pulling Gojo into the cubic cage bit by bit.
"Suguru's body... You bastard, get out of there!"
Gojo roared furiously, but his voice was eventually swallowed entirely by the closing Prison Realm.
Clack.
A cube no larger than a die dropped onto the ground.
It was finished.
Kenjaku bent down and picked up the Prison Realm containing Gojo Satoru, finally feeling the tension in his heart completely ease.
"Great! We finally sealed that troublesome bastard!"
Jogo trembled with excitement nearby.
"Suguru! We succeeded!"
"Next, we'll slaughter everyone down here and then go hunt down Itadori Yuji!"
Kenjaku silently held the Prison Realm in his palm, feeling its heavy weight.
Although the Prison Realm had temporarily become impossibly heavy and immovable due to Gojo's resistance, the seal would stabilize completely after some time.
"Yes. We succeeded."
Kenjaku raised his head and looked across the ruined B5F platform, his eyes filled with the arrogance of someone who believed everything was under his control.
"Without Gojo Satoru, the Jujutsu world has effectively lost its overwhelming combat power."
"The remaining students of Jujutsu High are nothing more than lambs awaiting slaughter."
"Next comes the beginning of the Culling Game."
"I will rewrite the fate of this country."
...
At the same time,
Above Shibuya Station, atop a skyscraper hundreds of meters high.
Rin stood at the rooftop's edge with his hands resting against the concrete railing, his black trench coat whipping violently in the wind.
His deep black eyes pierced through the thick Curtain of Cursed Energy enveloping Shibuya, taking in everything happening within the underground station below.
Behind him, Toji wrapped the heavy Chain of a Thousand Miles around his forearm while gripping the coldly gleaming Inverted Spear of Heaven.
A cruel grin spread across his face.
"Boss."
"Just like you predicted, that white-haired brat got sucked into the box."
Toji touched the scar at the corner of his mouth as bloodthirsty battle intent burned within his eyes.
"Those sewer rats are probably celebrating right now."
"They think sealing the biggest threat inside a cage means they've won."
Rin slowly straightened his body.
A strange pale violet glow quietly emerged within his dark pupils.
Ripple-like concentric circles spread outward.
Within his left eye, six black tomoe slowly rotated beneath the night sky.
Within his right eye, a crimson hexagram pattern reflected a sinister light.
The immense chakra of the Six Paths level was no longer restrained and began surging violently through his body.
"A thousand-year-old brain really does have pitifully narrow vision."
Rin stepped onto the rooftop railing.
From above, he gazed down upon the city that was about to descend into hell.
"He thinks sealing Gojo Satoru means he's become the master of the board."
His voice carried unquestionable authority in the cold night wind.
"Then I'll personally go down there and crush his chessboard..."
"Along with every self-righteous trump card he prepared."
Rin turned his head and glanced at the Heavenly Restriction monster behind him, whose fighting spirit had already reached its peak.
"Let's go, Toji."
"The hunt begins now."
"Let's teach those rats what true despair really means."
___
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