"This is the punishment that brat inflicted on himself by using me."
Megumi watched in shock as Sukuna spoke to him from the heart.
"I can live without a heart, but that brat cannot."
Sukuna toyed with Yuji's heart in his hand for a moment, then crushed it directly.
"Switching with me means death. That brat was just trembling in fear of death. Do you know what that means?"
Looking at Sukuna, who was speaking openly to him, Megumi immediately understood what he meant.
"I am free."
Sukuna smiled as he looked at Megumi, anticipating a panicked expression from him.
But to his disappointment, Megumi was exceptionally calm.
"You're the one who doesn't understand. Itadori Yuji will come back, absolutely!"
'This guy can live without a heart, so his Reverse Cursed Technique must be extremely high-level.
'And losing a heart will definitely affect his strength, so what needs to be done is clear.'
Megumi raised both hands, ready for battle.
He would go all out to make Sukuna feel that a body without a heart could not defeat him in the shortest time possible, forcing him to use Reverse Cursed Technique to heal his heart.
Even if it did not work, it did not matter. He could still summon Round Deer.
Although the Round Deer he controlled could not fully repair a heart, if he used Round Deer desperately, he should be able to hold on until Yuji was sent back to Tokyo Jujutsu High.
'No, not "should," but "must."'
At this thought, Megumi's eyes became resolute.
"Hahaha, that's impossible. I can assert that this brat doesn't have the courage to face death."
"Is that so? Then I can also assert that this time, you've lost."
Megumi formed a hand seal, and a giant black snake coiled around, obscuring his figure.
An incomplete summoning of a giant snake.
Megumi still remembered what Eichi said. When facing an enemy who could completely destroy a Shikigami, try to use incompletely summoned Shikigami.
The giant black snake charged toward Sukuna, and soon four more giant snakes appeared.
"Boring. You've played this trick before, haven't you?"
Sukuna then unleashed several slashes, cutting the giant snakes apart, but from within the snakes' shadows, five incompletely summoned toads suddenly leaped out.
These were Shikigami summoned when the first giant snake had obscured Megumi's figure.
Whoosh!
Five tongues wrapped around Sukuna's limbs and neck.
"Nue!"
This time, it was a complete summoning. Nue flew up from Megumi's shadow, and countless bolts of lightning struck Sukuna, who was restrained by the toads.
After enjoying a lightning bath for a while, Sukuna's Cursed Energy surged, directly breaking the toads' tongues.
Megumi formed another hand seal, summoning Max Elephant just as Sukuna began to approach him.
Large amounts of water spewed from Max Elephant's trunk.
This water slowed Sukuna down and also expanded the attack range of Nue's lightning.
"That's a bit more interesting."
Sukuna smiled with interest, then split the massive water flow in half with a single slash.
Along with the water flow, the incompletely summoned Max Elephant was also split apart.
'Damn it, he's too strong, much stronger than that Special Grade Cursed Spirit.'
A drop of cold sweat ran down Megumi's forehead.
'Should I summon Mahoraga?'
Megumi began to hesitate.
In the next second, the faces of his family members appeared one by one in Megumi's mind.
'So, I don't want to die either.'
At this moment, Megumi understood why Yuji trembled in the face of death, and he also understood why Eichi said that summoning Mahoraga required immense courage.
Without any external assistance, an ordinary Ten Shadows Technique user summoning Mahoraga often meant only one thing.
That was death.
After all, Mahoraga's subjugation ritual was not so easy to cancel.
'Change of plan. Go all out to hold on until Itadori Yuji wakes up, then use Round Deer to sustain his life until he returns to Tokyo Jujutsu High.'
After realizing he was no match, Megumi immediately changed his battle plan.
"Rabbit Escape!"
Megumi summoned the Shikigami least afraid of being completely destroyed, Rabbit Escape.
"Oh, trying to escape?"
Dense slashes appeared continuously, and the number of Rabbit Escape rapidly dwindled as soon as they appeared.
This forced Megumi to immediately cancel Rabbit Escape's summoning.
It was the first time he had encountered someone who could wipe out Rabbit Escape in one go.
The speed of Rabbit Escape's division simply could not keep up with Sukuna's slashing speed.
Megumi dodged Sukuna's attacks while contemplating a way out of the predicament.
He could see that Sukuna was enjoying the process of toying with him.
This was also a point he could exploit to buy time.
Pfft!
Sukuna suddenly increased the speed of his slashes.
Megumi was caught off guard and directly hit by a slash.
The next moment, several more slashes landed on Megumi.
'Should I summon Round Deer?'
The injuries on his body made Megumi instinctively want to summon Round Deer.
'No, if Round Deer is destroyed, Itadori Yuji will have no hope of survival.'
Tiger Funeral, giant snakes, toads... Shikigami were constantly summoned by Megumi in incomplete forms, but none of them lasted long against Sukuna.
Unlike the disheveled Megumi, Sukuna was strolling leisurely with one hand in his pocket, like an old man taking a walk in the park.
'Is this all you've got? Don't disappoint me, Megumi.'
Sukuna once again intensified his offensive.
'No, if this continues, I'll lose. Am I really only capable of this...'
The difference in strength between them made Megumi feel a hint of despair.
'No choice. I'll give it my all. At least I have to make Sukuna feel threatened enough to willingly heal Itadori's heart.'
Megumi gritted his teeth and made his decision.
'Release all shadows, expand them to their maximum, and fill in the details later.'
Eichi's Abyssal Dark Shadow Garden appeared in Megumi's mind.
Megumi began to condense Cursed Energy with all his might, then released it in one breath.
"Domain Expansion: Chimera Shadow Garden!"
Megumi's shadow suddenly expanded, covering the surroundings like a tidal wave.
Because Megumi's knowledge of Barrier Techniques was sufficient this time, there was no incomplete Domain Expansion.
"Excellent, that's what I want!"
Despite being trapped within Megumi's Domain, Sukuna showed no panic at all.
In the next second, countless Shikigami appeared within the Domain, launching a fierce assault on Sukuna.
Megumi knew that his Domain was newly acquired. If Sukuna also used Domain Expansion and they entered a Domain clash, he would have no chance of winning.
So, he had to suppress Sukuna with all his might, not giving him a chance to release his Domain.
With the boost from the Domain, Megumi's summoning speed greatly increased, preventing situations where his summoning speed could not keep up with Sukuna's shredding speed.
Moreover, the Shikigami's attacks were guaranteed to hit within the Domain.
Thump, thump, thump!
Sukuna waved his hands, and countless slashes cut down the continuously appearing Shikigami, while he began to ponder what to do next.
'Should I take over this brat's body now?'
Sukuna looked at Megumi, who was struggling to maintain the Domain in the distance.
'Forget it. Even if I take this brat's body now, I might not be able to completely suppress his Soul.
'If those two annoying guys catch up again, it'll be troublesome. I'll let you off this time. Grow well, grow to a degree that fascinates me, Megumi.'
(To be continued.)