"Domain Expansion—"
With Mahito's twisted and crazed growl, the air in the sewer seemed to freeze.
Black liquid surged from beneath his feet, and countless pale palms, like demons from hell, instantly surrounded everyone from all directions.
[Self-Embodiment of Perfection]!
The world changed.
The dark, narrow sewer vanished, replaced by a bizarre space composed of countless giant palms.
No matter where you looked—up, down, left, or right—there were only hands.
Those palms intertwined, forming a closed, suffocating cage.
This was Mahito's Innate Domain.
"It's over."
Nanami Kento stood his ground, cold sweat seeping from his hand as he gripped his blade.
As a Grade 1 sorcerer, he knew the terror of a Domain better than anyone.
Within this space, Mahito's cursed technique, Idle Transfiguration, would gain a [Sure-Hit] effect.
In other words, Mahito didn't even need to touch them.
As long as he willed it, everyone's souls would be twisted and reshaped in an instant.
It was a certain-death situation.
"Hahahaha!!"
Mahito stood in the center of the myriad palms, laughing wildly and hysterically.
His previous disheveled state had been swept away completely.
He reveled in the sense of omniscience and omnipotence the Domain provided; the thrill of total control intoxicated him.
"You have my thanks."
Mahito looked at Hayashi En and the others, a strange light glinting in his eyes.
"If you hadn't pushed me to the brink of death, I might never have grasped this technique."
"As a token of my gratitude..."
Mahito raised his hand, aiming his palm at the three of them.
"I will mold your souls into the most perfect works of art!"
Junpei had already collapsed to the ground in fear, his face pale as a ghost.
Though Itadori didn't understand what a Domain was, his primal survival instinct made every hair on his body stand on end.
Nanami took a deep breath and stepped in front of Itadori, prepared to use his body to block the lethal blow, even though he knew it was futile.
However.
"A token of gratitude?"
A voice, unnervingly calm, rang out in the darkness.
Hayashi En.
He stood behind Itadori and Nanami, still holding that black kunai.
There wasn't a trace of fear on his face.
Instead, he wore an expression of... calm, as if he had expected this all along.
There was even a hint of mockery in his gaze.
"Mr. Mahito, I am a businessman."
Hayashi En adjusted his glasses, the lenses reflecting a faint glint in the darkness.
"Since I came here, I've made thorough preparations."
[Simple Domain!]
"Vroom—!!"
A pale blue spherical barrier instantly expanded with Hayashi En at the center!
It had a radius of only two meters.
Though small, it was like a nail driven firmly into Mahito's Domain.
It was like a bubble in murky seawater, stubbornly carving out a sanctuary.
"Get in!"
Hayashi En yanked Junpei into the barrier while reaching out to Nanami.
Nanami reacted instantly, sliding into the blue circle of light.
"Itadori! Don't enter!!"
Hayashi En suddenly roared, stopping Itadori from rushing over.
"Huh?!" Itadori froze, stopping two meters outside the barrier.
"Trust me! Stay right where you are!"
Hayashi En's gaze was cold and resolute.
This was exactly what he had planned.
Even though Mahito mastered Domain Expansion during his fight with Itadori and Nanami at the school in the original story...
Hayashi En had prepared for the possibility that Mahito would grasp it during this battle instead.
"Hahahaha!"
Seeing Itadori left alone, Mahito laughed so hard he nearly shed tears.
"Is it infighting? Or do you plan to sacrifice your comrade?"
"In that case, I'll start by taking the soul of Sukuna's vessel!"
At this moment, Mahito had no idea about the 'landmine' inside Itadori; he hadn't even met him properly yet.
In the original series, when Mahito first encountered Itadori and used Idle Transfiguration...
Sukuna had given Mahito a single warning.
But now, Mahito was using a Domain-level Idle Transfiguration to attack directly.
"Idle Transfiguration!"
The cursed technique activated.
Mahito's cursed energy followed the rules of the Domain, connecting directly to the depths of Itadori Yuji's soul.
Without touching the soul, Itadori was just Itadori.
But once someone attempted to touch his soul...
It meant they had to pass through 'that' man's territory.
Ryomen Sukuna.
...
The mental world, the Innate Domain.
Atop a throne built of bleached bones.
Ryomen Sukuna slowly opened his eyes.
He looked at the stitched-face curse that had dared to intrude, his eyes holding no anger, only the disgust one feels toward an insolent insect.
"Who gave you permission to look upon my soul?"
"Foolish creature."
Sukuna raised his hand and flicked it dismissively.
"Dismantle."
...
The real world.
"Splat—!!"
The smile on Mahito's face froze instantly.
His shoulders, chest, and abdomen suddenly exploded with horrific gashes.
Blood sprayed out in torrents, as if he were being carved apart by invisible blades.
"Aaaghhhh!!"
Mahito let out a scream ten times more agonizing than before.
"Why... Why is this happening?!"
Mahito fell to his knees, his body convulsing violently.
The cursed energy maintaining the Domain instantly collapsed.
"Crack... crack..."
The space of black palms began to shatter, dissolving into points of light.
The sewer scene returned.
"Now!"
Hayashi En's eyes sharpened.
He pulled three kunai from his pouch at once.
[Kunai Remaining: 1/5]
He channeled all the cursed energy of a Grade 2 sorcerer into the weapons.
The three kunai instantly glowed with a blinding red light—the sign of the Ratio Technique being pushed to its absolute limit.
"Itadori! Nanami!"
Hayashi En shouted.
"Attack! Now!"
Though they didn't know what Hayashi En was up to, their bodies reacted faster than their brains.
"Ohhh!!"
Itadori roared and charged forward.
Nanami followed closely behind.
Meanwhile, Hayashi En launched his strongest attack yet.
[Ratio Technique: Triple - Soul Vibration]!
"Shatter!!"
The three kunai were thrown simultaneously, carving three eerie arcs through the air as they pierced toward Mahito at the center of the domain.
"Boom!!"
Hayashi En's kunai drove into Mahito's soul core like red-hot iron rods!
"Pfft—!!"
Mahito coughed up a huge amount of blood.
He knelt in the sewage, covered in blood, his presence fading to the extreme.
Between the backlash of his broken Domain and the heavy damage to his soul, he had reached his limit.
Even maintaining his human form was difficult; half of his face had begun to melt.
"It's... over."
Itadori had reached Mahito, his fist glowing with lethal cursed energy.
"Die!!"
With this punch, Mahito would certainly die.
At that critical moment...
"Swoosh—!!"
The concrete floor suddenly exploded.
Massive tree roots erupted like giant pythons, instantly forming an impenetrable wooden wall that blocked all attacks.
"Thud! Thud! Thud!"
The kunai sank deep into the roots but failed to pierce through.
Then, a tall, white figure emerged from the roots.
Its left arm was wrapped in white cloth, branches grew where its eyes should be, and it radiated the aura of the forest and the earth.
The Special Grade Cursed Spirit—Hanami.
"Mahito, you were too reckless."
Hanami's voice didn't travel through the air; it echoed directly in everyone's minds.
The voice sounded gentle, yet carried an undeniable power.
"Hanami... save me..."
Mahito, face covered in blood, weakly reached out.
"It seems he was right."
Hanami glanced at the heavily injured Mahito, then looked deeply at Hayashi En.
"That man is a variable."
It did not linger.
Although they were in a sewer with no plants, as long as there was soil, it was Hanami's home turf.
Countless roots coiled around the wounded Mahito as Hanami's body quickly sank, attempting to merge into the ground to escape.
"Don't let them get away!"
Nanami reacted instantly, slashing through several roots.
But he still couldn't stop Hanami.
"Humans, the forest will remember you."
Leaving behind a final threat...
Hanami and Mahito vanished completely into the depths of the earth.
The ground returned to normal, leaving only a deep, bottomless crater.
Silence fell over the sewer once more.
Only the surrounding wreckage remained as proof of the fierce battle against the Special Grades.
"Dammit! He got away!"
Itadori punched the wall in frustration.
Nanami sheathed his blade, sighed, and adjusted his goggles.
"Let it go."
"There were two Special Grades, and that white one had incredible defensive power."
"To heavily wound one and drive them both off is already the best possible outcome."
He turned to look at Hayashi En, his gaze incredibly complex.
Simple Domain.
A technique targeted at the soul.
And a strategy that seemed to predict everything.
Just who... was this man?
Hayashi En stood there, frowning slightly.
In the original story, Mahito should have been acting alone at this time. Why did Hanami come to the rescue?
When Hanami said, 'It seems he was right,' 'he' must have been referring to Kenjaku.
That meant Kenjaku had already taken notice of him.
Hayashi En sighed. Kenjaku truly was a top-tier curse who had been plotting for a thousand years.
"Mr. Hayashi, I owe you my thanks for this..."
Nanami was about to express his gratitude and probe into Hayashi En's background.
But he found that Hayashi En had already turned toward the exit, walking hurriedly without any intention of celebrating their victory.
He hadn't even spared a glance in the direction Mahito had fled.
"Mr. Hayashi?" Nanami called out, startled.
"Save the pleasantries for next time."
Hayashi En didn't look back, his voice urgent as he straightened his disarranged cuffs.
"Junpei, come with me!"
"Eh? Boss? Where are we going?"
Junpei scrambled up from the ground, utterly bewildered. The level of the battle just now had been too high for him to even intervene.
Hayashi En stopped and looked back at Junpei.
His gold-rimmed glasses reflected the dim light, hiding the expression in his eyes.
"To your house."
"This will be the biggest haul of this job."
"You wouldn't want your beautiful mother to lose her life, would you?"
The finger was still at Junpei's house.
He had to get that damn finger before anyone else did.
That was...
A massive deal worth 50,000 points.
And the final step in rewriting Junpei's fate.
"Move!"
Hayashi En grabbed Junpei and rushed out of the sewer.
Leaving Nanami and Itadori standing there in a daze.
"Go... Go to his house for what?" Itadori scratched his head. "Is he hungry?"
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