Fire.
Fire everywhere, blotting out the sky.
In this moment, Satoru Gojo, Yoru, and Yuji felt as though they had been cast into a massive furnace.
Jogo's onslaught didn't stop; instead, it grew even more violent.
The surrounding air warped under the intense heat, blurring the very light itself.
A normal person standing here would have likely collapsed instantly from heatstroke and oxygen deprivation.
Yet, under the protection of Satoru Gojo's Limitless, this lethal sea of flames felt like nothing more than a panoramic VR movie.
"How does it feel, Yoru?"
Gojo asked casually, his hands tucked into his pockets.
Instead of rushing to finish Jogo off, he had decided to start an after-school Q&A session in the middle of this life-or-death situation.
Yoru stood beside Gojo, the sky-high flames reflecting in his crimson eyes.
His expression was strange.
There was no fear, no tension—perhaps even a hint of enjoyment?
"It's warm."
Yoru slowly reached out, as if trying to touch the flames raging wildly just beyond the reach of Limitless.
"Though it's full of malice and violence..."
"Fire itself is warm."
Even Gojo was taken aback by that assessment.
Calling a Special Grade Cursed Spirit's city-leveling attack "warm"?
'This kid's head isn't wired right either, is it?'
"However..."
Yoru's tone shifted abruptly as his hand gripped Shiranui at his waist.
"This fire is too messy."
"It's full of impurities. It isn't pure enough."
Yoru slowly closed his eyes, the image of that man swinging his sword surfacing in his mind.
The man who infused the brilliance of the sun into his sword skills to sever all the filth in the world.
Clang!
The crisp ring of a blade being drawn sounded exceptionally clear amidst the roaring inferno.
Yoru took a step forward, walking right out of the protective range of Gojo's Limitless!
"Hey! Yoru!"
Yuji cried out, reaching to pull him back, but Gojo stopped him.
"Just watch, Yuji."
A wild grin played on Gojo's lips, his azure Six Eyes shimmering with anticipation.
"Let's see what kind of interesting chemical reaction occurs when cursed fire meets solar fire."
A second later, Yoru moved.
Total Concentration: Sun Breathing.
As the breathing technique took effect, Yoru's body temperature skyrocketed, his heartbeat thundering in his chest like war drums.
Shiranui seemed to sense its master's will; the previously dull patterns on the blade flared to life, turning a brilliant crimson.
Faced with the oncoming waves of magma and purple demonic fire, Yoru didn't retreat an inch.
Gripping the hilt with both hands, his body was coiled like a drawn longbow.
"First Form: Dance."
Swish!
He swung.
There were no complex techniques or fancy flourishes.
It was simply the purest, most ultimate of circular slashes.
Yet, the moment the blade fell, golden flames erupted out of thin air.
This fire was so brilliant, so divine—it was like the rising sun itself, carrying an overwhelming majesty that banished all darkness.
BOOM!
The golden solar fire slammed into the purple cursed fire.
The expected explosion never happened. Instead, a scene unfolded that left everyone stunned.
The golden flames seemed to come alive, opening a maw to ravenously devour the surrounding magma and demonic fire!
Assimilation!
Devouring!
The moment the Special Grade Cursed Spirit's violent flames touched the Sun Breathing fire...
...they were like snow meeting its natural enemy, instantly melting and scattering, ultimately becoming nourishment for the golden fire!
In the blink of an eye...
The once overwhelming sea of purple flames had been forcibly split, leaving a wide path in the wake of the slash!
Golden embers continued to burn quietly on either side of the passage, incinerating the lingering cursed energy in the air.
"How... how is this possible?!"
Standing in the distance, Jogo's single eye bulged so wide it looked ready to pop out.
The fire he took such pride in, the heat born from the earth's own wrath...
...was actually eaten by a brat with no cursed energy using a sword?!
"Your fire..."
Jogo stared at the boy standing at the end of the golden flames with a crimson katana, his voice trembling for the first time.
"Why... is it hotter than mine?!"
If his fire was a destructive blaze that turned all things to ash...
...then this boy's fire was the sun itself, reigning supreme over all creation!
It was the source of all life, and the source of all destruction!
"Because your fire is full of filth."
Yoru slowly sheathed his blade, his red earrings swaying gently in the heatwaves.
"While my fire was born to sever it."
"Damn you! Damn you! DAMN YOU!!!"
Being humiliated by a human brat caused Jogo's sanity to snap completely.
Fear? No!
It was rage! It was humiliation!
"I am a new human! I am the incarnation of the earth! How could I possibly lose to a monkey like you!!!"
Jogo let out a shrill roar, his hands snapping together into a bizarre hand sign.
The surrounding space began to vibrate violently as a surge of cursed energy ten times more terrifying than before soared into the sky.
Seeing this, Gojo's relaxed expression tightened slightly.
"Oh? Getting desperate?"
Bloodshot veins filled Jogo's single eye as he glared at Yoru and Gojo, squeezing the words out through his teeth:
"Domain Expansion..."
"Coffin of the Iron Mountain!!!"
BOOM!
The real world was stripped away in an instant.
Their vision blurred, and in the next second, they found themselves inside a scorching active volcano.
Boiling magma flowed beneath their feet, surrounded by pitch-black rock walls, the air thick with the suffocating stench of sulfur.
This was the ultimate technique of a Special Grade Cursed Spirit—the Innate Domain!
Within this domain, every attack from the sorcerer gains a guaranteed-hit factor!
"Hahahaha!"
Safely within his own domain, Jogo regained his confidence.
Standing atop an erupting volcanic peak, he looked down at the trio, his laughter manic.
"Inside my domain, you will all turn to ash! Not even a shard of bone will remain!!!"
Facing certain death, Gojo remained completely unfazed.
He even had the leisure to reach up and pull down a corner of his blindfold, revealing those soul-stirring azure eyes.
"This is Domain Expansion."
"It involves using cursed energy to construct the user's innate domain in the surrounding area."
"Within the domain, all attacks are guaranteed to hit."
Gojo explained while observing his two students' reactions.
Yuji Itadori was already drenched in sweat from the terrifying heat and pressure, yet he still stood firmly in front of Gojo.
As for Yoru...
He had his eyes closed, appearing to be sensing something.
'Guaranteed hit, huh...'
Yoru murmured to himself.
In his perception, this so-called domain was not infallible.
Even though the air was thick with lethal cursed energy, tiny gaps still existed within those flowing lines of power.
As long as he caught the rhythm, even an attack guaranteed to hit could be severed.
"The best way to counter a domain is to expand your own."
Gojo noticed Yoru's composure.
"It seems you aren't afraid at all, Yoru."