The battle—if it could even be called a battle, a one-sided reception of a storm of attacks with only occasional one or two counters—had been going on for an unknown amount of time. Dusk had fully transitioned into night. Soft magical lights had illuminated the area around the training ground, brightening the courtyard as if it were day, also illuminating the pink-haired figure on the field who was constantly being knocked back, roaring, and leaping.
Strangely, this seemingly extremely uneven "training" had created a peculiar sense of rhythm.
The pounce of the black and white Jade Dogs was fast and cunning, but each time it left an extremely brief window of reaction for Itadori, forcing him to dodge or block with minimal effort and precise movements, honing his close-quarters combat intuition and reflexes.
The giant elephant's trunk swung vigorously, but it always slightly retreated at the last moment, turning into a heavy "push," forcing Itadori to mobilize the muscles and cursed energy of his entire body to resist and exert force, also training his lower body stability and energy transfer efficiency.
The Ox's charge was extremely fierce, but its sprint path was straight, giving Itadori a chance to predict and dodge sideways, training him to stay calm and calculate under a huge power disparity.
The Crane's wind and lightning breath had a wide area of effect, but the landing points always had subtle patterns to follow, forcing Itadori to constantly calculate the safe zone amidst the flashes and move, improving his perception and reaction to energy attacks.
The Great Snake's strangulation was insidious and hard to prevent, but it always slightly weakened before fully constricting, giving Itadori enough room to struggle, testing his instantaneous explosive power and escape skills.
Even the fastest Tiger Burial, with its dazzling afterimage attacks, was more like an extreme stress test for high-intensity dynamic vision and reaction speed than a real killing move.
All the shikigami seemed to have received some precise instructions, abandoning their most lethal and unavoidable combo attacks and annihilation techniques, instead switching to a certain mode of... "sparring" in hand-to-hand combat. The intensity of their attacks was strictly controlled to a level that could heavily pressure and damage Itadori, but not break him instantly.
And whenever new bruises, cracks, and even bones groaned in Itadori's body—
In the shadows of the courtyard corners, the Round Deer, standing quietly, would raise its elegant head, and the crystal antlers above its head would emit a soft, life-filled green glow. The light was like a living stream, quietly gliding over Itadori's wounds.
Those painful, swollen, cracked wounds would stop bleeding, heal, and regenerate at a speed visible to the naked eye. Even the forcibly drained physical strength and cursed energy could be gently restored to a certain extent.
It was a cycle of nightmare and paradise: take a hit strong enough to break an ordinary person, struggle with pain on the verge of extremity, then be instantly healed, only to take an even more brutal blow. The body cycled through destruction and rebirth, while the spirit oscillated between tension and relief.
The only limit seemed to be Itadori's own will. As long as his spirit didn't completely collapse and he didn't voluntarily give up, this seemingly endless "forging" would continue.
By common sense, under such ultra-high-intensity, endless passive beating and healing, the human spirit should quickly accumulate fatigue, leading to war weariness, fear, and even numbness.
But Itadori... no.
On the contrary.
"Ha... haha..." After being yanked by the elephant's trunk again, rolling seven or eight times across the ground and breaking a bamboo, Itadori staggered to his feet, spat out a mouthful of bloody foam and grass, and instead of pain, his face broke into an almost heartfelt, bloodstained smile.
He shook his numb hand, his blue eyes terrifyingly bright in the light, a pure, almost instinctive flame of excitement burning within them.
Tired? No, he didn't feel anything like "fatigue." He only felt...
Awesome!
An indescribable pleasure that burst from the depths of his soul, making every cell tremble and rejoice!
Cursed energy surged and flowed through his body with unprecedented activity, as if "awakened" by this continuous, high-pressure battle. No longer just passively called upon energy, it was more like a life force and will, eager to burst from his body, eager to resonate with his musculoskeletal system, eager for destruction, eager for an explosion!
Deep in his soul, the natural inclination towards power and combat, belonging to the "vessel," was fully awakened under this extreme pressure. Every injury, every healing, every attempt to block and counterattack with all his strength made his "perception" of his body and cursed energy clearer and more "intimate." It was as if this shell and the power within had originally been covered by a veil, and now that veil was being gradually and violently torn away!
And his flesh... This body, which Sukuna called "perfect," moaned with pleasure under this carnival of "torture." Muscle fibers became more elastic and explosive during tearing and regeneration, bones compacted under impact and restoration, and nerve responses continuously broke through physiological limits under the pressure of life and death.
Cursed energy, soul, body... The three were forcibly mixed, beaten, and calcined in this endless, high-pressure combat furnace! The boundaries between them blurred, and their coordination grew at an alarming rate!
Itadori could almost "hear" the silent "applause" and "desire" emanating from his own body. They craved stronger pressure, more dangerous crises, more thorough... release!
"So this is what it feels like...!" Itadori roared, seeing the black and white Jade Dogs lunging again. He no longer dodged awkwardly as before, but his eyes flashed, his left foot struck the ground, his body not retreating but advancing, crashing into the gap in the dogs' attack like a cannonball!
On the surface of his right fist, the azure cursed energy of the Rasengan had already condensed, but unlike before, the flow of cursed energy this time was more violent and unstable, as if countless tiny vortexes were frantically swirling, annihilating, and being reborn within!
"Not enough... still...!" Itadori felt as if he had touched an invisible "barrier." The power of the cursed energy, the strength of his body, and the concentration of his spirit—the three had almost reached a perfectly synced resonant point! But there was always a slight discrepancy, as if he could see the scenery on the other side through a thin film, but couldn't breach it.
Was it a matter of timing? Was it the pressure? Or some kind of "state" he hadn't yet understood?
Just as his mind raced, trying to grasp that ethereal feeling—
Moo—!
The Ox, which had been building up power for a long time, seized the slight opening Itadori had exposed after his charge and launched its strongest frontal attack! Its thick single horn tore through the air, slamming into Itadori's chest and abdomen with the will to crush everything! If this hit landed, even with the Round Deer on standby, it would definitely be enough to knock the wind out of him, and might even cause brief unconsciousness.
Now!
The ultimate sense of crisis, like the strongest catalyst, exploded everything inside Itadori that was already boiling to its limit!
The barrier broke.
It wasn't broken by "thinking," but driven by the instinct for survival and combat, his body, cursed energy, and soul found the single, perfect point of coordination on their own!
The flow of cursed energy suddenly "stopped" for a moment, as if time stretched infinitely. No, not a stop, but all the cursed energy particles, in some way, frantically compressed and condensed towards his right hand!
Muscle fibers contracted and released force with unprecedented efficiency and synchronicity! Every nerve seemed like an overloaded circuit, transmitting the most precise instructions to the extremities!
His spirit entered a strange, empty state. The movements of the surrounding shikigami seemed to slow down, their voices became distant. Only the cursed energy on his fist, undergoing a "qualitative change," and the extremely vivid sense of coordination within his body remained.
And then—
Crackle—!!!
A short, sharp sound, as if it could tear eardrums, suddenly exploded!
The originally azure cursed energy on Itadori's right fist transformed from a pure blue into a deep, leaping light that absorbed all light—pitch black!
The trajectory of the black lightning seemed to slice through space, emitting a pulsing rage and uncertainty, far surpassing ordinary cursed attacks!
Black Flash!
Genji's eyes, watching, narrowed slightly the moment the black lightning appeared. What he "saw" was not just the phenomenon, but the perfect synchronicity of cursed energy fluctuations, soul, and body within Itadori at that moment, which could be called a "miracle." Countless subtle parameters were instantly recorded and analyzed in his mind.
And inside Itadori, the feeling was more direct and more soul-shaking.
"Ha... AAAAAHHHH—!!!"
He let out an almost ecstatic roar, feeling the unprecedented sense of immense power erupting from his fist, as if he could crush everything! This wasn't just a simple power increase for a single strike, but a qualitative change resulting from the perfect fusion of cursed energy, body, and will, where 1+1+1 was far greater than 3!
He felt he had entered a state he had never experienced before. Fatigue, distracting thoughts, even the feeling of pain seemed to disappear. The world became clear and slow. Every particle of power in his body was like an obedient hand. The flow of cursed energy was as smooth as breathing. His spirit was calm, excited, and extremely focused.
Zone.
This word inexplicably surfaced in his mind. So this is what it feels like! The supreme state of omnipotence, control, and complete integration of body, mind, and combat!
With this strike, enveloped in black lightning, its power multiplied several times, Itadori didn't dodge or evade, but boldly confronted the charging Ox's horn head-on!
"Break for me—!!"