As a vessel, regaining his original form allowed him to reset his body's condition and return to full power.
"This form…"
Looking at the pink-haired man with four arms and four eyes, now looking much more muscular, Yukinoshita Yukino felt a strange sense of familiarity.
During the summer training camp with the Service Club, Hayashizaki had shown a similar form—but he had looked way better than the Ryoumen Sukuna standing here now.
Mainly because back then, Hayashizaki didn't have that creepy mask made of what looked like flesh, with a pair of mismatched eyes glaring from it.
Even though they used the same technique and the same cursed energy, Yukinoshita Yukino could now clearly feel the difference between the two as they stood face to face.
Ryoumen Sukuna—without a doubt—was a curse.
And curses must always be exorcised, no matter what.
"Pink hair, you really care about Itadori, don't you?" Hayashizaki raised an eyebrow, completely unfazed by Sukuna's real form.
"That was just the warm-up. Now the real fight begins!"
A twisted grin spread across Ryoumen Sukuna's face. He formed hand signs, and the giant mouth on his stomach began chanting a curse: "Dragon Scales, Reflect, Twin Falling Stars…"
"Release!"
An incredibly powerful invisible slash ignored the black-haired girl nearby and went straight for Hayashizaki.
But to Hayashizaki, who also had the same "Okyuuji" technique, the slash wasn't invisible. He could see and sense it clearly.
Facing a fully powered slash — one that seemed strong enough to cut the world in half — Hayashizaki simply kept his hands tucked inside the wide sleeves of his kimono, smiling as the strike came right at his face.
But before the blow could land, a small and slim figure stepped in front of him.
Even though the black-haired girl barely reached his chin, in that moment, she looked taller than anyone.
The slash carved a deep trench into the ground but stopped right in front of Yukinoshita Yukino.
A blade that could cut through anything couldn't get past the Limitless Technique.
It could only fade away, powerless.
"Tch."
Ryoumen Sukuna clicked his tongue in frustration.
As long as these two stuck together, he wouldn't be able to hurt them effectively. That girl's Limitless Technique couldn't be broken by curses, and in a straight-up fight, he couldn't beat the two of them working together.
He had to deal with the Limitless Technique first.
…
Elsewhere on the battlefield, a thin layer of frost spread quickly across the ground. Mahoraga, holding a black halberd, stomped down and shattered both the frost and the ground beneath it.
But in a blink, the frost grew into a massive mountain of ice, trapping the Mahoraga that Hayashizaki had summoned inside.
Sharp ice spikes on the mountain stabbed through buildings and kept growing, even breaking open the upper floors.
While one Mahoraga was frozen, Sukuna's summoned Mahoraga and the hybrid beast Otokotsu immediately teamed up with Uraume to attack the only Mahoraga still active on the battlefield.
Uraume followed behind the huge figure in front of her, waiting for the right moment to strike.
She knew how Mahoraga's ability worked and understood that her own technique couldn't destroy both of the enemy's divine generals in a short time.
As the fight dragged on, her technique would be adapted to and lose its power.
So, all she could do was provide support and hope that while one Mahoraga was frozen, the two summoned by Lord Sukuna could destroy the remaining one.
But the next moment, the white shikigami in front of her suddenly sank into the shadow on the ground and vanished.
The white-haired girl's eyes narrowed sharply as a huge fist rapidly grew larger in her view.
Boom!
Yukinoshita's Mahoraga punched Uraume straight in the face, smashing her nose inward.
Her speeding body came to a full stop from the force of that heavy blow. Just as her body halted, she heard the sharp sound of flesh being pierced, and a wave of pain followed almost instantly.
The anti-curse sword that shot out from Mahoraga's arm stabbed straight through Uraume's heart.
The white shikigami pulled its hand back. With one hand, it gripped Uraume's head like a basketball. Then the black blade on its other arm stabbed straight through her skull.
Blood ran down from the wound on her forehead, flowing past her broken nose and onto the white shrine maiden outfit she wore — the one Lord Sukuna himself had chosen for her a thousand years ago.
A deep red quickly spread across the pure white cloth, blooming like a flower from the underworld.
At last, a look of pure shock appeared on her normally expressionless face.
Why...?
Ear...
Crow...
Above Ryoumen Sukuna's head, a spell circle appeared, shaped like a ship's wheel.
"A Burube-style circle, huh? Trying to use that to adapt to the Limitless Technique?"
The moment Hayashizaki saw the circle, he understood Sukuna's plan. So he followed suit and withdrew his own Mahoraga.
A similar magic circle appeared above his head.
The black-haired young man grinned and said, "You only have one technique, but we have more than one. Do you think you can keep up?"
"Let's see about that." Ryoumen Sukuna's lips curled into a mocking smile.
Even though he was at a clear disadvantage, he didn't show the slightest hint of panic.
The ability to adapt to the Burubu formation wasn't going to be Ryoumen Sukuna's turning point, but at this moment, he remained incredibly calm, as if he still had some hidden trick up his sleeve.
Though these two working together was a bit difficult to handle, as long as they didn't use their domains, they couldn't fully defeat him.
That girl, compared to that Hayashizaki kid, was a weak spot. As long as he could stall until the Burubu formation adapted to the limitless technique, that would be the moment for his counterattack.
And Ryoumen Sukuna was sure that they couldn't use their domains together.
In fact, if they did open their domains, it would only speed up the arrival of his counterattack.
Without further hesitation, Ryoumen Sukuna took the initiative and charged at Yukinoshita Yukino.
The black-haired girl didn't recall her shikigami, so the Burubu formation was summoned to her and thus couldn't adapt. There was no need to worry about her technique being adapted to.
Moreover, how could she adapt to an unbounded technique barrier unless she attacked it?
However, the black-haired young man beside Yukinoshita Yukino stepped forward, protecting her and facing Ryoumen Sukuna head-on.
If Ryoumen Sukuna could think of something, then surely Hayashizaki could as well.
Hayashizaki knew this "old friend" of his very well and was fully aware of his thoughts and thinking patterns.
"Are you in such a hurry to break the unbounded technique? How about we have some fun first?"
Hayashizaki mocked while meeting Sukuna's attack, his face full of teasing. His actions made Ryoumen Sukuna seethe with anger, the veins on his forehead twitching.
"I'm going to rip your eyeballs out of your skull, you little brat!"
Ryoumen Sukuna sneered, his eyes widening even more under his flesh mask, making it look even more like a grotesque curse.
The two of them swung their fists relentlessly. Each punch created a barrage of rapid blows, causing shockwaves that cracked the nearby buildings and ground.
Both of them had added slicing techniques to their punches, and the Burubu formation's adaptation to slicing was rapidly increasing.
Since Ryoumen Sukuna had two extra hands compared to Hayashizaki, in the flurry of attacks and defenses, he found an opening and landed a powerful punch to the black-haired youth's abdomen, sending him flying.
Just as he was about to charge at Yukinoshita Yukino again…
Suddenly, a blinding purple lightning filled his vision.
"Nine Swords, Polar Light, Darkness and Brightness, Inner and Outer Void, Virtual Technique – Z!"
The incantation of the Virtual Technique turned into a sphere of purple lightning, shooting toward Ryoumen Sukuna.
"Dragon Scales, Reversal, Twin Meteorite Strike!"
As Yukinoshita Yukino chanted her incantation, the large mouth on Ryoumen Sukuna's abdomen began to chant too. A massive, invisible slash collided with the incoming Z technique, causing it to explode in mid-air.
The purple lightning immediately exploded, filling the sky, and from the chaotic lightning storm, a massive figure shot out, crashing to the ground like a cannonball.
The ground was immediately covered in dust, and Yukinoshita Yukino joined her palms together, teleporting to distance herself from the impact.
If it were Hayashizaki, he might have tried to clash directly with Sukuna.
Though he was Hayashizaki's student, Yukinoshita Yukino chose a more cautious approach due to personality differences.
As long as she didn't allow Ryoumen Sukuna to adapt to her unbounded technique, there would never be a chance for him to turn the tide.
"Spider Web, Eight!"
As the dust cleared, Ryoumen Sukuna crouched, placing his palm on the ground. A cursed energy-infused slash instantly sliced through the layers of the earth, rapidly extending toward the black-haired girl's position.
The latter's legs sank into the ground, and the invisible slash powered by cursed energy was blocked by the Limitless barrier.
Yukinoshita Yukino frowned, a little unhappy with herself.
The attack still landed.
Hayashizaki had never taught her the expansion technique of the kitchen-style, so she was caught off guard. It didn't hurt her, but Yukinoshita Yukino still felt frustrated with herself.
Yukinoshita Yukino, you've come a long way. You should be doing better than this.
Maybe because she had mastered the Limitless technique, she had started reacting a bit slower to incoming attacks.
Ryoumen Sukuna was about to follow up with another strike when a sharp sound cut through the air from above, making him pause.
In the next moment, several clean, deep cuts appeared again on the broken ground in front of him.
Hayashizaki came diving down, locking into close combat with Sukuna once more.
His punch was blocked, but the young man with black hair curled up his lips into a sly smile.
"You've got four arms? Well, we've got two people!"
A shadow clone, carrying a portion of Hayashizaki's cursed energy, suddenly appeared behind Ryoumen Sukuna and pressed its palm onto his muscled back.
"Technique Eight, activate!"
Sukuna was instantly surrounded by cursed-energy-powered slashes. Blood sprayed out, but the wounds were quickly healed by a powerful reverse cursed technique.
A single chant-driven curse release pushed the black-haired youth back, and Sukuna turned at once to fight the clone.
The moment the fight began, he noticed this clone was much stronger than before.
But a clone was still just a clone. Splitting half of your cursed energy meant your main body was also only at half strength. If they couldn't work together well, fighting separately would only weaken themselves.
Hayashizaki clearly understood this too—he dismissed the clone the instant he was pushed back.
Sukuna's punch hit the white afterimage, passing right through its head like it was striking air.
The feeling of having all his moves read in advance made Sukuna feel sick to his stomach.
"You damn brat!"
As he turned around, Hayashizaki had already charged at him again.
Above him was the black-haired girl, holding a glowing blue orb in her hands.
Sukuna was momentarily pulled off balance by Cang's force, and Hayashizaki's strike was already on its way.
It wasn't a slash—it was a punch wrapped in black lightning.
Black Flash!
The huge, glowing blue orb slammed down like a giant Rasengan, and Hayashizaki's Black Flash struck Sukuna's bare chest at the exact same moment.
…
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