Kiyotaka sighed as Mahito disappeared into the ground again, saying, "Where will I come up from this time?"
Kiyotaka took a deep breath and chanted, "Manifest", as he surrounded himself with Spikes and fired them in every direction, as Mahito was impaled several times by them, thinking, 'An omnidirectional attack?'
Kiyotaka charged up Cursed Energy in his fist, but as he did, Mahito did something unexpected. He transfigured the spikes implaing him and then fired them out of his hands as Kiyotaka's eyes widened, and he jumped back, dodging them, thinking, 'That level of soul integration... he's becoming more and more dangerous by the second.'
Kiyotaka rushed in using Kinetic anchor as Mahito disappeared back into the ground, thinking, 'Just a little longer.'
Kiyotaka slammed his fist into the ground, where Mahito was thinking, 'He's buying time for something. He has something planned. Not good.'
Kiyotaka took a breath, enhancing his hearing as he heard the sound of Mahito's breath and struck that spot, slamming his fist into Mahito's face, who looked stunned for a second as his body unfazed out of the ground, and Kiyotaka kicked him up into the air, chanting "Manifest" as he created a platform for them to stand on and a cage around it thinking, 'Just try phasing now. I'll know exactly where to separate matter to injure you.'
Mahito smiled and mockingly said, "Oh? How scary."
Kiyotaka Sotod was there and said, "It won't be long now."
Mahito smiled and said, "I can feel death lingering with his hand on my shoulder. It's so terrifying. But it will be so much more exhilarating when I kill you and escape its grasp. And when I do, the value of my life will be proven to be greater than yours, and due to that, I can do as I please."
Kiyotaka rushed forward as Mahito put his arms in front of him, releasing spikes of earth as Kiyotaka thought, 'He absorbed spikes from the earth along with my spikes?' as he began dodging the spikes, and Mahito then created huge bladed weapons out of his arm and swung it at Kiyotaka, who dodged the attack.
Kiyotaka threw a punch as Mahito morphed his body to have a hole in that spot, and Kiyotaka clicked his tongue, thinking, 'His transfiguration timing is getting better, and is his control over Cursed Energy.'
Mahito stuck out his tongue playfully as Kiyotaka created a sharp mass in his hand and swung it, cutting Mahito deeply as he jumped back and reshaped his soul, thinking, 'Whoopsie. Maybe I got overconfident there.'
Kiyotaka stood there and chanted, "Friction Of The Heavens. Blood Of Light Itself. Ignition of All Things. Maximum Technique: Plasma!"
Mahito's eyes widened, thinking, 'A maximum Technique like Jogo's?!!'
Mahito instantly split himself into clones and dived into the mass platform, as Kiyotaka fired the attack, vaporising most of the platform, as both he and Mahito landed on the ground, not far away.
Kiyotaka had burn scars from his own attack as he healed using Reverse Cursed Technique, and Mahito growled in anger, thinking, 'I was almost at full Cursed Energy before, but now, thanks to the suicidal stunt he pulled, I'm down to a bit more than three-fifths of my Cursed Energy. Not just that, but Junpei's technique is still draining my Cursed Energy.'
That's when Mahito smiled and thought, 'But I lasted for long enough,' and then phased into the ground.
That's when Mahito's clone arrived as Mahito fused with it, thinking, 'There. Back to 80%'
Junpei and Nobara looked to Kiyotaka, saying, "Ayanokoji?"
Kiyotaka rushed in shouting, "He's the real one!"
Mahito smirks, remembering Gojo and thinking, 'The one who taught me this is him!',
Mahito made hand signs with his hands and mouth, saying, "Domain Expansion: Self Embodiment of Perfection!" as his domain manifested while thinking, 'It's a desperate gable. On a 0.2-second domain expansion!'
Mahito was drawn into Sukuna's domain, who simply smiled and said, "You've managed to impress me, but I wonder if you'll survive."
Mahito smiled and said, "Just sit back and watch as I kill Ayanokoji."
Sukuna laughed and said, "Do it if you can."
Back in the real world, Junpei pushed Nobara out of the way, thinking, 'It feels nice to bless someone I care about.'
Nobara looked to him, shouting, "Junpei, what the..."
Junpei's gaze then turned to Mahito with a smirk, saying, "I'll use my life! A Binding Vow, and I'll use it to curse you, Mahito! I'll curse your soul itself!" as a tendril from Moon Dregs stung Mahito, and Junpei's body exploded.
Kiyotaka and Nobara just stared in disbelief at the sheer cruelty of reality as Nobara shouted, "You fucking bastard!"
She then felt her leg change. It had been caught in the barrier as it transfigured as she fell to the floor, and thought, 'Fuck!'
"Kusgisaki, watch out!"
Kiyotaka shouted this as Mahito raised his hand at Nobara when a clapping sound could be heard, and Kiyotaka swapped places with Nobara, and Mahito retracted his hand, thinking, 'That was a close one.'
Kiyotaka slammed his fist into Mahito, sending him flying as a boy with blond hair rushed down to Nobara and put his hand on her leg using his technique as Todo walked down the stairs behind him.
The blond boy looked at Nobara and said, "The wound you suffered will no longer worsen, but it's not healed. I don't know if it's even possible to heal that."
Nobara gritted her teeth, thinking, 'Fucking hell! Damn it, Junpei. Why?'
Kiyotaka walked over to her and said, "You get out of this place. You're in no condition to fight."
"But...!"
"Don't take Junpei's sacrifice to protect your life and waste it by dying."
Kiyotaka said this before glaring at Mahito, who laughed at him and said, "I'll exorcise Mahito. No. I'll kill him."
Nobara looked shocked, thinking, 'He looks... furious... I've... never seen him like this', and saying, "You better kill him that bastard."
Kiyotaka nodded, saying, "Leave it to me", as the blond boy picked Nobara up and ran off towards the entrance and towards safety.
Kiyotaka turned to Todo and said, "Let's do this. We have a track record to keep, right?"
Todo smiled and said, "We do, my beto friendo."
Mahito then realised something, thinking, 'My... soul is cannibalising itself?!! Junpei did this to me? I'll have to focus some of my Idle Transfiguration on stopping it. Annoying, but again, it's a test of my existence. My soul.'
Kiyotaka gripped his hand, thinking, 'I'll take your responsibility...' while thinking of Nanami, and then gripping his other hand, thinking, '... and you rage' while thinking of Junpei and finished his thoughts, thinking, 'And use it to pummel this Curse to death.'
Kiyotaka and Todo ran forward as Mahito spat out transformed humans, thinking, 'Activating these isn't too complex, so go on and buy me some time to recover from burnout' as two giant transfigured humans appeared, both Kiyotaka and Todo struck them, only to feel like they were hitting a wall as they thought, 'What's this physical durability?!!'
They took a step back, and Kiyotaka said, "Jujutsu is built upon trades. If they're that physically durable, they must have some kind of weakness."
Todo nodded, saying, "You're right, my beto friendo."
Todo began thinking about it and said, "They probably aren't very strong and... they're probably weak to slashing damage."
Todo came to the conclusion that they weren't weak to blunt force or piercing damage due to the nature of his and his besto friendo's attacks. He had used blunt force, while his besto friendo's attacks always had piercing force due to him using his Cursed Technique. Todo was able to instantly ascertain that these creatures were made to take a beating from Ayanokoji Kiyotaka's fists.
Kiyotaka chanted, "Manifest", as Patient Edge appeared in his hand and he unsheathed the blade, chanting, "Manifest!" as a wave of heated air burst out from the blade towards the transfigured creatures who ducked beneath the attack.
Kiyotaka observed this thinking, 'Trading away attack power and slashing resistance for intelligence and high physical durability against piercing and striking force.'
Kiyotaka looked at Todo, and his eyes widened, and then he smiled, thinking, 'He's already understood.'
Kiyotaka looked to Todo and said, "Let's do this," while offering his hand as the two salmmed their hands into each other's in a firm handshake and then Kiyotaka rushed in towards one of the creatures, swinging his blade as it moved to dodge, but then a clap could be heard as it swapped places with the other one that wasn't able to react and so was bisected with ease.
Todo rushed in as well, now as Kiyotaka turned to the other one, swinging his blade as it readied to react, when suddenly another clap as Kiyotaka was now holding a piece of rubble infused with Cursed Energy, and now, Todo was holding Patient Edge as he cut the creature down.
Kiyotaka smiled and said, "Now that that's done, let's move on to Mahito."
Mahito looked at the Todo and thought, 'Incredible. During that handshake, Ayanokoji handed him rubble infused with Cursed Energy that could be used to swap with the sword. This guy. It's so easy to understand his technique but so disorientating. So hard to counter!'
Kiyotaka and Todo rushed in as Mahito smirked, thinking, 'My Cursed Technique... has recovered!' as he launched cylinders at the two of them on;y for Todo to clap twice as the cylinder swapped with the two of them.
Mahito's eyes widened, thinking, 'Seriously?'
Mahito began morphing his body to dodge the attacks and slashes as Kiyotaka threw his sword at Mahito like a javelin, as Todo clapped, swapping with the blade and slamming his fist into Mahito as Black Sparks fell.
Mahito smiled, saying, "Sorry, but you can't hurt me."
Todo smiled and said, "Oh, I know."
Kiyotaka then chanted Manifest as Spikes appeared and struck all over the field as Mahito thought, 'He's creating swap points for him?!!'
Mahito flinched in pain as he thought, 'Damn that Junpei. I'll have to fix my soul again.'
Mahito fixed his soul as he placed his hands on the ground, absorbing the spikes from everywhere and funnelling them into his hand as projectiles, but then suddenly, Todo swapped with the one sticking out of his hand and slammed his leg into him and towards Kiyotaka, who sheathed his sword, ready for an unsheathing slash as Mahito's eyes widened.
Kiyotaka unsheathed his sword in a slashing motion as Mahito was cut in two and screamed in pain, thinking, 'Stitch everything back together' as his soul stitched the slashing wound closed, but he felt the toll on his Cursed Energy Reserves as he thought, 'Not good.'
Mahito began converting the environments into tendrils of earth that attacked the duo as they dodged the attacks, as he and Todo swapped places, landing hits on Mahito as they fought, jumping over the obstacles Mahito made, and the battle took them to the surface.
Todo smiled and said, "His Cursed Energy is running out. He's likely half empty now."
Kiyotaka took a breath and said, "Good."
Mahito smiled at Kiyotaka and said, "Ayanokoji! Let's take this to its final steps and curse each other one last time!!!"
Todo looked to him and asked, "Are you leaving me out of this?"
Mahito smiled and said, "Of course not. The value of your life is pretty high, too. Killing you is something worth doing."
Mahito looked to them, thinking, 'This... none of this is enough. The value of my soul isn't high enough to beat them both.'
Mahito then spat out a Transfigured Human similar to the ones after his domain expansion as Kiyotaka threw up Patient Edge and Todo clapped his hands, swapping tit to his hands and rushing towards the creature as Kiyotaka's eyes widened, shouting, "Wait, Todo! It's..."
It was too late as the creature struck at Todo, sending him flying through a building, and then chasing after him as Kiyotaka then blocked another dedrill with his arms and was pushed back, and Mahito then said, "I imbued that one with part of my soul. It's strong and durable, too. Even if it's a bit dumb and slow."
Mahito then created two more and said, "Go kill the other one. I do wonder if that switching gorilla will survive having to fight three of them."
Kiyotaka laughed and said, "If you underestimate Todo, he might end up being the one to land the killing blow on you."
Mahito stood there in front of Kiyotaka and laughed, saying, "Maybe, but right now... It's one-on-one."
Kiyotaka sighed and said, "That's fine by me. You're weak enough for me to handle on my own now. Especially with that Curse Junpei's forced onto you."
Mahito smirked and asked, "Do you really think so?"
Mahito jumped off the air as Kiyotaka got ready, when suddenly he heard breathing from beneath his feet, and he looked to see a clone behind him, thinking, 'Well, this is annoying.'
He then chanted, "Manifest", as spikes shot out omnidirectionally, but Mahito let them hit him, smirking as he did, causing Kiyotaka's eyes to widen, thinking, 'Did he change the shape of his soul to remove the concept of pain?'
Kiyotaka rushed in towards Mahito as they slammed their fists into each other, and Black Sparks flew from both their fists as they sent each other flying back.
Kiyotaka looked to Mahito, thinking, 'He was banking on hitting a Black Flash, wasn't he? Not bad. Both of us are in a state of heightened ability now. '
Mahito smiled, thinking, 'I've finally grasped it. The true essence of my soul! It's true shape!'
Mahito touched his own face and chanted, "Idle Transfiguration!"
Kiyotaka's eyes widened, thinking, 'He's reaching for an even higher level?'
Mahito's body morphed into a mass of flesh and mouths before centring into a distinct shape with arm spikes and a tail as he said, "Instant Spirit Body of Distorted Killing!"
He looked to Kiyotaka with a smile and said, "It's my happy birthday. Congratulate me, Ayanokoji."
Kiyotaka spat out some blood using the Reverse Cursed Technique to heal the damage to his skull and said, "I think I'll congratulate your death rather than your continued life."
Mahito smiled and said, "Congratulating death. What a wonderful concept. I'll make sure to do it when I kill you."
Kiyotaka checked himself over and thought, 'All healed up. No problems. My Cursed Energy? About 65%. His Cursed energy is incredibly dense now. Using weapons likely won't be a good idea against him. they'd probably just break so...'
Kiyotaka cracked his knuckles and said, "I'll beat you to death with my bare fists."
Mahito smirked and said, "Wonderful", as they both got into fighting stances.
Kiyotaka rushed in and slammed his fists into Mahito's abdomen, targeting the area between his fists with his cursed technique, but there was only a minor crack as his eyes widened, thinking, 'He's that durable now?'
Mahito grabbed his arms and slammed him into the ground, and then threw him into the air as Kiyotaka thought, 'All his phycials have improved?'
Mahito jumped on the air and then gripped his hands together and slammed them into Kiyotaka, who threw up his arms in defence, and was sent to the ground as a huge crater and hole formed from the impact as they went through an underground pipe.
Kiyotaka, the water reaching his ankles as he thought, 'Black Flash. With that, I should be able to break through.'
Kiyotaka then felt his arms shake in pain as Mahito rushed forward, only to suddenly cough up blood as he thought, 'Junpei's technique is still affecting me. Damn it!'
Mahito fixed his soul again as Kiyotaka took a deep breath and healed himself, thinking, 'I'm down to 57%. I'm still good to keep going.'
The two faced off again as Mahito thought, 'I'll cut off his head.'
Kiyotaka thought, 'I'll break through his armour.'
The two rushed at each other, exchanging blows with each other as Kiyotaka dodged the slashes Mahito made using his elbow spikes and began slamming his fists into Mahito's stomach, who let it happen arrogantly as part of the armour cracked from repeated strikes, as Mahito lifted his leg, kicking Kiyotaka back and fixing the hole in his armour.
Then Kiyotaka's eyes widened as he ran away, making Mahito think, 'What the hell are you doing? Don't reduce the value of your soul by running!'
That's when a clapping sound could be heard as they swapped places, and Kiyotaka's run allowed him to reach Mahito, slamming his fist into his stomach as Black Sparks flew, and then on a time lag the piercing effect of Kiyotaka's Cursed Technique closed in slamming into Mahito as he was sent flying up, smashing through solid earth as his body rolled onto the ground, his Instant Spirit Body Of Distorted Killing faded away to reveal Mahito's true form as he tried to get up but collapsed each time. There was a hole in his side, completely blown off from the force of Kiyotaka's punch.
Mahito lay there healing himself, but then he realised, thinking, 'My Cursed Energy. Only 5% left? It took that much to heal from all that damage. No. I... Can't fight like this. I... no! It can't be. I... finally reach it. Why?'
Kiyotaka stood in front of Mahito, looking down at him as Mahito looked horrified. Todo stood next to Kiyotaka, severely bruised in several spots but not out of commission.
Mahito shouted to Todo, "How?!! How are you alive?!!"
Todo smiled and said, "I made them punch each other. They're dumb after all."
"Wait, no! I... No! The value of my soul is far greater than this!"
Mahito shouted this desperately as Kiyotak glared down at him and said, "You failed to understand something of the value of a person. When you put them together, you don't add the value together. You multiply it. You failed to understand that the efforts of the people around me were that significant. That's why you lost and why you're going to die now."
"Don't move!"
Suddenly, that voice boomed out as Kiyotaka and Todo froze on the spot, thinking, 'Cursed Speech?!!'
[Geto] walked out with the seals of the Inumaki Clan on his tongue as he smiled and asked, "Well, that's good. You two stay still for now."
Kiyotaka and Todo stared at [Geto], thinking, 'He's using Cursed Speech?!!!'
Mahito looked up to him, shouting desperately, "Geto!"
He looked to Mahito and asked, "Shall I save you, Mahito?"
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To Be Continued
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Rating Out Of 10 For This Chapter?
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