"I knew it—just two pieces of trash. Where'd you get the confidence?"
Fixing his gaze on Mirai as he steadily approached, Satoru Gojo's smile grew more unrestrained. Yet within those azure eyes, a trace of seriousness surfaced.
Choso—and the fleeing Jogo—also regrouped behind Gojo at that moment.
That was close!
If he had been even a second later, Jogo felt like Gojo would've torn him apart completely. Having narrowly escaped death, Jogo gasped for breath.
"What's wrong?"
Sweeping his gaze across both sides, the "devil child" sneered again.
"Afraid you'll lose this time, so you prepared all these life-saving tricks in advance?"
Facing Gojo's arrogant expression, Mirai curved his lips into a faint smile.
"I didn't go through that much trouble."
"After all, you're nothing more than someone I've already defeated."
Thick, blood-like cursed energy churned violently. A tear in space opened beside his shoulder, unleashing a terrifying suction force!
Fear, anger, confusion, hatred…
Not just emotions—everyone who approached Mirai was dragged into the Kamui space.
The once-crowded platform instantly became much emptier.
Thousands of civilians—reduced in the blink of an eye to only two or three hundred who had managed to stay far away.
Madman!
The terror in Jogo's eyes, as he looked at Mirai, now surpassed even what he had felt facing Gojo.
Geto had suggested testing whether this man would hesitate because of human lives.
But he was even more ruthless than curses themselves.
Jogo lowered his head slightly, not daring to meet those blood-red eyes.
Faced with the one who had once killed Hanami, he couldn't muster even the slightest thought of revenge.
"So?"
Mirai raised a hand and pointed at Gojo.
"I cleared out a few more obstacles for you. You can't say I won unfairly now, right?"
Killing a few hundred should count as merit, I guess.
"Yeah, that does make things easier."
Gojo stretched his body and replied with a smile.
As for the humans who had died, Gojo could only say in his heart:
Sorry.
In return, I'll personally take down the one responsible.
"Heh heh… Gojo Satoru, this time you won't escape."
Jogo's sinister laughter echoed from behind.
Remembering his earlier humiliation, he didn't want to miss this rare chance.
"Escape?"
"You, a piece of trash who barely survived, think you're qualified to mock me?"
Reflected in Jogo's terrified eye was Gojo's slightly darkened profile.
Like thunder exploding right beside him, Jogo was frozen in place by the overwhelming pressure.
Just as Mirai said—without the restriction of civilians—
Gojo vanished in a flash.
Jogo couldn't even react.
By the time he snapped back—
just as he tried to retreat, his body was momentarily dragged in by the attractive force around Gojo's fist!
Crimson-black energy surged. The fist in his vision grew larger and larger.
For a moment, Jogo thought he saw Hanami's shadow.
At the instant Gojo's punch descended—
space beside them suddenly distorted.
BOOM!!!
A ruptured spatial point exploded with terrifying force!
Half of Jogo's body was blown apart as he was hurled away by the shockwave.
At the critical moment, Mirai intervened and "kindly" saved him.
Jogo's life didn't matter—but Sukuna's ten fingers were still on him.
Gojo did not pursue.
Instead, at the instant space ruptured, he twisted his body and launched an attack at Mirai!
Azure light flared. His fist, enhanced with a Simple Domain, shot forward at incredible speed!
Mirai's loose white robe surged with crimson cursed energy, like armor stained with the blood of countless enemies.
Facing Gojo's sudden strike, Mirai calmly raised his hand and caught it.
The aftershock stirred violent winds, whipping his black hair wildly.
"Nice timing. Shame the power's lacking."
Mirai spoke calmly, his crimson eyes radiating oppressive force.
Bang!!
Gojo crouched low, narrowly avoiding the exploding space, and followed up with a sweeping kick!
Mirai casually stepped back, expression relaxed.
"Go on. Show me your trump card."
He looked down at Gojo as he spoke, his tone carrying an unclear meaning.
Meanwhile, Jogo, having regenerated his broken body with cursed energy, hid within a subway passage, gasping heavily.
He had nearly joined Hanami in death.
His entire body drenched in cold sweat, he leaned against the icy wall, still shaken.
"Jogo~"
"Who?!"
The voice nearly scared him into fleeing again.
"Geto!"
Seeing the figure in the darkness, Jogo was about to curse him out—then paused.
"With that guy holding Gojo down here, it should be enough, right?"
"I'll go up and hunt the sorcerers instead."
Jogo had already decided—he just wanted to get as far away as possible from those two "grim reapers."
Geto remained hidden in the darkness.
"Originally, that was the plan."
"But now… it seems there's been a new development. Jogo, I'll need you to go back out there."
Before Jogo could respond—
the barrier surrounding the underground fifth level suddenly shattered!
Crack—crack!
A freezing temperature rapidly spread downward from the fourth level!
A pale-faced Uraume—and another figure—crashed into the battlefield!
"Domain Expansion: Idle Death Gamble!"
With an excited grin, the newcomer immediately dragged Uraume into his domain.
"They're here, Jogo."
Geto's voice echoed—and then his presence vanished completely.
In that instant, Jogo felt an overwhelming killing intent rushing straight toward him.
A figure in a white uniform, wielding a sharp cursed katana, stood at the edge of the broken barrier.
Just the cursed energy emanating from him caused the cracks in the barrier to widen further.
"I'm going in, Rika."
After softly speaking to the ring on his finger—
the figure burst forward, wrapped in terrifying cursed energy, charging straight at Jogo!
The one who arrived—
the fifth special-grade sorcerer, Yuta Okkotsu!
Terror flooded Jogo once more.
Cursing Geto endlessly in his heart, he instinctively fled into the remaining crowd.
With two new battles joining the underground fifth level, both sides tacitly kept their distance from where Gojo and Mirai were fighting.
"Looks like you've improved that arrogance of yours a bit."
Casually blocking Gojo's punch, Mirai spoke lightly.
"So you even brought backup. You're not as stupid as I thought."
Mirai showed no surprise at the sudden change.
After taking control of Mechamaru's original body, the first thing "White Zetsu" did was place all of Shibuya under surveillance.
Even before Gojo entered the barrier, Mirai had already discovered the hidden reinforcements.
"Is that so?"
Azure cursed energy flared like flames as Gojo grinned.
"If you've got backup, bringing two students along isn't too much, right?"
BOOM!!!
Their fists, both enhanced with Simple Domains, collided violently!
The shockwaves swept through the entire floor like a raging storm.
After the Goodwill Event, Gojo had disappeared from the school following his investigation into the Kamo clan.
Even knowing Mirai was rooted in Shinjuku, he hadn't acted rashly.
Because after that battle—
the pressure Mirai brought him felt even greater than Sukuna's.
After all, Gojo was confident he could exorcise Sukuna even at full twenty fingers.
During his nearly two-month absence—
Gojo first went overseas to find Yuta, who was training, and secretly brought him back to Japan.
Then he found Kinji Hakari, who had been expelled after clashing with the conservative higher-ups.
Originally, Gojo planned to take the two of them and launch a direct assault on the Star Religious Group in Shinjuku.
But tonight's sudden events…
worked out perfectly.