Looking at the compassionate demeanor of the man before him, Sukuna was paradoxically furious. His body gradually approached a state of frenzy as he shouted in the most resentful tone:
"Nishida Kagetatsu! Whether it's a hundred years, a thousand years, or ten thousand years—I will kill you!!"
[Character Compatibility +12%]
[Current Compatibility: 37%]
[Deep Immersion Mode Activated. In current mode, character compatibility gain is doubled.]
[Current Character Compatibility: 74%]
[Character Breakthrough Reached Phase 1]
[Popularity Gain Efficiency +20%]
[Popularity Points +1000]
Under the control of the world's Yin-Yang harmony mechanism, Sukuna, who only had one finger's worth of power, did not notice that he had now surpassed the strength of four fingers and acquired a fifth of his full body's power.
He simply poured out the inner anger and unwillingness with the slashing techniques in his hands, just as he had done as a child, cursing the entire world.
Ryomen Sukuna recklessly fell upon Kagetatsu with a storm of curses. His fists were full of airtight strikes, swinging sharply toward his opponent. His fist shadows flew past, leaving only afterimages difficult to distinguish with the naked eye.
Kagetatsu also wrapped his fists in spiritual power and used [Flowing Water, Rock Smashing Fist], skillfully deflecting Sukuna's cursed strikes and shaking off his attacks head-on.
Sukuna transformed all his extreme rage into cursed energy, erupting outward. Each strike shattered with the inertia of falling mountains and earth. The fist wind tore through, the cement on the roof cracking in response, steel bars twisting outward, debris mixing with smoke and dust flying across the sky.
Half of the school building collapsed from the roof. Walls cracked like spiderwebs. Beams and pillars broke one after another. The dull rumble shook the surroundings. The entire building trembled violently under the influence of the cursed energy.
But whenever Sukuna's cathartic cursed energy touched the faint spiritual barrier around Kagetatsu's body, it crashed against a reef like a tidal wave, exploding in layers of ripples and then bouncing back in all directions. These fierce curses struck the surrounding walls, beams, and pillars, carving deep black pits, but they could not touch his side.
Only the square inch of ground beneath Kagetatsu's feet—the floor tiles were as flat as before, not a single grain of gravel, not a trace of smoke and dust, like a mess of rubble flying across the sky.
Every time Sukuna threw a punch, the fist wind was wrapped in the imposing sharpness of his slashing technique. Simultaneously with each strike, he sharply shouted at Kagetatsu from his mouth.
"Cleave, Cleave, Cleave, Cleave!"
And at this moment, Locke, fully immersed in the role of Nishida Kagetatsu, recalled what Sukuna had said, his unusual power, and various changes different from the original plot, forming a hypothesis in his heart.
Perhaps, for some reason, Nishida Kagetatsu had truly left a mark on this world. Though he didn't know the reason, it was extremely beneficial to him.
False and true, turning the virtual into reality—or more precisely, to increase the efficiency of popularity point acquisition. Acting was just acting in the end. How to create a better stage and perform together?
In that case, let this fire, ignited by someone he didn't know, burn even brighter!
He had already learned to sing this grand play.
From this moment, the curtain... slowly rises!
Sukuna was in good form now, once approaching the best combat state of his life—whether it was the manipulation of cursed energy, output, or the application of techniques—he had reached his peak.
But his thinking grew worse and worse, affecting his combat state.
Simply because the bastard on the opposite side used some kind of taijutsu technique to completely nullify all his techniques and attacks, looking so ridiculously effortless, as if fighting him was as easy as a walk after a meal.
And the calm Kagetatsu began to chat in the face of Sukuna's increasingly rapid combos.
"By the way, I clearly sealed your heart and body separately, but why have your twenty fingers turned into cursed objects?"
"I don't know what you're talking about!"
Realizing that [Cleave] could no longer damage Kagetatsu, Sukuna replaced the technique on his fists with [Dismantle], which had a physical contact limitation and was more powerful.
Compared to [Cleave], [Dismantle] indeed achieved some results, breaking through the spiritual power's defense and dealing extremely serious damage to Kagetatsu's hands... a scrape.
Seeing that Sukuna had broken through his defense, Kagetatsu did not hesitate. He raised his hand to cut off all his sharp attacks and began a counterattack.
The previous defense suddenly turned into a fierce attack. Sukuna was completely suppressed in close combat, with no room to counter. Kagetatsu's techniques were like an old man playing with a hedgehog, making Sukuna dizzy, unable to find even the slightest opening to parry.
Immediately, he leaned to the side, pushed the maneuver, and knocked Sukuna down, slightly lifting his weight with each movement, showing the calmness of a grandmaster.
Glancing at the scrape on his arm—a wound that didn't even need the Reverse Cursed Technique to heal quickly—it still made Kagetatsu admire wholeheartedly:
"Sukuna, compared to before, you have indeed made progress. It seems that the crude people of the past didn't give you a chance to shine. That was also a mistake. I'm sorry. After all, I was very anxious back then. I could only seal you away as quickly as possible."
Hearing that Kagetatsu was not mocking him but sincere, Sukuna was so angry he ground his teeth, wanting to devour him on the spot.
But he understood perfectly well that, no matter what, the strong one now was the other side. It was the privilege of the strong to do whatever they wanted with him.
If he wanted to resist, at least let him move—from beginning to end, this bastard... hadn't taken a single step back!
"After all, I am a swordsman. My bare hands are not my strength. But now, without a sword in my hand, I can only use other skills to deal with you."
With that, Locke closed his eyes and began to recall the ninjutsu created by Hokage Locke himself. Whether it was Sukuna before him or Megumi Fushiguro, he was curious about what kind of reputation he wanted to achieve at this moment.
Then, Megumi Fushiguro witnessed a scene that shocked him. The shadow beneath Kagetatsu's feet began to form a circle, from which a sword composed entirely of shadows emerged.
Such an aura, such use of cursed energy—was this the Ten Shadows Technique???
Recalling Kagetatsu's recent words in his head, an incredible hypothesis began to form in his mind.
Could it be that he was the ancestor of the Zen'in clan from a thousand years ago???
Kagetatsu did not know the little ninety-nine in Megumi Fushiguro's heart behind him, or rather, that was the effect he wanted.
He began to combine Armament Haki with chakra to form a shadow sword, applying a slight murderous intent fluctuation to the blade. When the [Shadow Weapon] was fully formed, he took the shadow sword, pointed it at Sukuna, and said:
"Although I don't particularly like them, the power of ninja and onmyoji does have some value. They can solve the urgent need at hand."
"Come, Sukuna. Use your strongest technique. Don't say I didn't give you a chance."
Sukuna nearly bit through his teeth. He hesitated no longer. He formed the hand sign of the Heavenly Seal with both hands and said in a deep voice, rage burning in his heart:
"Domain Expansion: Malevolent Shrine."
The moment Ryomen Sukuna unleashed his domain, the shrine composed of his own skull and body and the skull of an unknown giant beast suddenly condensed in the void. Within a radius of two hundred meters, everything was completely saturated by his open domain.
And in this sea of corpses and blood, transformed by Sukuna's domain, Sukuna still dared not be careless. He chanted the incantation and, at the cost of his freedom for the next three months, established a binding vow and delivered his strongest strike at that moment—[Cleave].
"Dragon's scales, ripples, and meteors paired—[Cleave]!"