The moment Uchiha Hikari unleashed her aura, Sukuna already sensed something was off.
The explosion of the corpse mountain beneath his feet caught the King of Curses off guard, his expression darkening. "You... are you that eager to die?!"
Before his words even settled, Sukuna raised his right hand, slashing downward. With the motion, a surge of blood-red energy gathered around him, forming clusters of skeletal shadows that roared like a tidal wave, crashing toward Uchiha Hikari's position!
Hikari's response was simple and direct.
"Word Spirit... Black Sun!"
In that instant, an almost divine majesty erupted from her. A mental force several times stronger than before burst forth, forming a massive, pitch-black sun that blotted out the sky. It soared into the air, filling nearly half the mental space. Then, an endless hurricane of flames silently formed in the surrounding air, charging toward the blood-red skeletons!
Boom! Boom! Boom!
A series of explosions rang out!
In the clash, Sukuna's blood-red skeletons were crushed into dust, wave after wave. Hikari's fiery hurricane barely diminished, continuing its relentless assault. Under Sukuna's increasingly shocked gaze, it slammed into him, sending him flying far into the distance!
"...Huh?"
Hikari's eyes flickered slightly.
This mental battle wasn't like physical combat—there were no fancy techniques, just a raw contest of mental strength.
Out of respect for the "King of Curses" who dominated a thousand years ago, Hikari hadn't held back much, channeling over ninety percent of her mental energy into the attack. But from what she saw now... she might've overestimated her opponent.
In just the first clash, Sukuna's blood-red shadows were obliterated, and he himself was pinned to the ground by her overwhelming mental force. He struggled to break free but couldn't even move a finger.
"This guy's mental strength... is it really this weak?" Hikari wondered.
"Or is it because he hasn't gathered enough fingers?"
She considered the possibilities. Sukuna's full power from his prime was supposedly split across twenty fingers. Right now, Yuji Itadori had only consumed three, so Sukuna was far from his peak strength. Even if his current power was multiplied by seven, he still wouldn't come close to what Hikari had expected.
Her overall assessment?
Weaker than Ai.
That thought made Hikari lose interest.
"Hey, what was that you asked me earlier?" she said casually. "Something about needing a special method to enter your mental space? Can't I just come in because I want to?"
"..."
Sukuna's mouth twitched at her nonchalant tone. "You think this place is some kind of open market? That you can just waltz in and out? If most of my power weren't sealed, a brat like you would've been dead the moment you saw me!"
"You sure about that?" Hikari smirked, her lips curling into a provocative grin as she looked at Sukuna a hundred meters away. "I thought the infamous 'Two-Faced Sukuna' from a thousand years ago would have something special. But now? You're just... meh. The so-called 'King of Curses' is nothing but a mediocre nobody who wasn't born in my era."
"?!"
Sukuna froze, then exploded with rage.
Those words sounded oddly familiar. If he'd said them, fine. But hearing them from someone else, thrown in his face like this? It filled him with a fury he could barely contain.
"Brat, you're only bold because you've got the upper hand now. Once I reclaim my power, you're the first one I'm killing!"
"Oh? I thought you said Gojo Satoru was your first target?" Hikari teased.
"...He's dead meat, and so are you!"
"Hah." Hikari let out a light chuckle, her gaze lingering on Sukuna's snarling face before she sighed. "Well, since you're trying so hard to convince me, I'll give you the benefit of the doubt. But you'd better back up your words instead of just throwing tantrums. Right now? You're not even worthy of being my opponent."
"..."
Sukuna opened his mouth, ready to spit more venom, but stopped himself. Arrogant as he was—believing himself the unrivaled king of the world—he wasn't blind to what Hikari's display of mental power meant.
That kind of strength? Even at his peak, he might not have matched it. And she seemed to have some ability to invade others' mental spaces at will—whether it was a curse technique or something else, he wasn't sure. Instead of wasting energy on bravado, he decided it was smarter to observe her abilities and figure out how to counter them.
Still, no amount of rationality could hide how much her taunts stung. If looks could kill, Sukuna would've obliterated her a hundred times over.
On the other side, Hikari figured she'd provoked him enough. With a calm expression, she raised her right hand and snapped her fingers.
With that motion, the black sun dominating half the illusionary space collapsed inward. Like a nuclear explosion, it unleashed a blinding wave of light and heat, sweeping in all directions and forming a massive mushroom cloud that shot into the sky!
The impact shook the mental space violently, and within seconds, it completely shattered.
In the real world, the mental battle lasted mere seconds.
Hikari opened her eyes to see Yuji Itadori drenched in sweat, looking like he'd just run a marathon and was on the verge of collapse.
Which made sense. Sukuna and Yuji shared a body, so while the collapse happened in Sukuna's mental world, Yuji's body bore some of the strain. It was a bit like Kakashi after enduring Tsukuyomi. The fact that Yuji was still standing, rather than passed out, spoke to his incredible physical resilience—after all, this was a guy who could leap two stories with pure muscle, no cursed energy required.
Nearby, Kikyo, though unaware of the mental battle's details, could tell something intense had happened from Yuji's state. She pulled out a stack of talisman papers, swiftly drew a few runes, and pressed them into a small dish, transforming them into clear, soothing talisman water. She handed it to Yuji.
"This is soul-calming water. Drink it, it'll help."
"Oh, thanks." Yuji took the dish and downed it in one go.
Within minutes, the water took effect. His eyes regained focus, and while he was still weak, he looked much better than before.
"Miss Hikari, what did you just...?"
"Sorry," Hikari said, glancing at Yuji's condition. "I had a little chat with the guy inside you, and things got... heated. I might've gone a bit overboard."
She could sense Yuji's energy was unstable. In his weakened state, Sukuna could probably take over if he wanted. But it seemed Sukuna either didn't want to face her or was too battered from the mental explosion to try, so no surprises occurred.
Truth be told, Hikari's taunts to Sukuna were partly a whim, but also something she'd been itching to do. She didn't think much of this "King of Curses." Sure, he seemed tame for now, but at his core, Sukuna was a bloodthirsty monster who took special pleasure in killing women and children—two traits Hikari happened to embody. From the moment he saw her, his attitude was hostile, and since he'd made the first move, she wasn't about to go easy on him.
That "nuclear explosion" in his mental space? Just a small lesson.
If she had her way, Hikari would've finished Sukuna off for good and maybe even absorbed his "Dismantle" technique—it intrigued her and could make up for her lack of spatial abilities. But Sukuna was so weak right now that absorbing his cursed energy felt like a waste. Instead, she toyed with the idea of helping him collect all twenty fingers to restore his full power, then crushing him once and for all.
For now, it was just a vague plan. She'd need time to figure out the details.
That evening, after a few hours of rest, a recovered Yuji took Hikari and Kikyo to a nearby restaurant as thanks for their help. Well, only Hikari ate—Kikyo, being a clay doll like an Edo Tensei body, couldn't eat and just sipped water politely before sitting quietly.
After the meal, Hikari and Kikyo parted ways with Yuji and returned to the Demon Slayer world to handle the revival of the Demon Slayer Corps.
As planned, Hikari had two strategies:
First, she'd use 100 points to bring the Dragon Balls and Shenron to the Demon Slayer world and try summoning him there. (The points came from Tanjiro, who, as an early chat group member, had plenty saved up from a year of check-ins—100 was pocket change.)
But it didn't work. The Dragon Balls retained their power in the Demon Slayer world, but Shenron wouldn't appear, so no wishes could be granted.
Plan B it was. Hikari transported the coffins containing the bodies of the Demon Slayers' loved ones, along with their talismans, to the Dragon Ball world. There, on the Lookout, she summoned Shenron.
She also showed Junpei Yoshino's body to the Guardian, hoping for a revival, but was told it wasn't possible, so she let it go.
"...State your wish, humans," Shenron's deep, majestic voice boomed as the sky darkened and lightning flashed. The emerald dragon, wreathed in light, coiled in the air. "Any wish can be granted, but only one."
Noticing Hikari and Bulma, he added, "...You two again?"
"Heh." Hikari gave an awkward chuckle, then glanced at Tanjiro. "Go on, Tanjiro. Make the wish."
"...Right." Tanjiro took a deep breath, stepped forward, and began.
As he spoke, Esdeath stood behind Hikari, arms crossed, eyeing Shenron with a playful smirk, as if sizing up whether the dragon was worth fighting. Tamayo, Yushiro, and Nezuko, seeing this for the first time, stared in awe, their gazes shifting to Hikari with a mix of shock and suspicion.
Is Miss Hikari actually a god?
Yamato, meanwhile, couldn't help but see her father, Kaido, in Shenron's massive form. If not for the context of the Dragon Ball world and Hikari's reassuring presence, she might've had a panic attack.
"...Revive these dead humans?" Shenron said after hearing Tanjiro's wish.
His gaze swept over the hundreds of coffins and the souls standing behind them. Under Tanjiro's anxious stare, he nodded slowly. "Simple enough."
With that, Shenron opened his mouth, releasing a pale white orb of light. It split into hundreds of delicate strands, like falling rain, sinking into the coffins.
One by one, the souls were drawn back into their bodies, life returning to them.
In mere moments, Kanae Kocho, Kanao Tsuyuri, Ichiro Tokito, and others opened their eyes, awakening from their long slumber.
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