The world of jujutsu was built upon rules. For centuries, those rules had been studied, refined, and codified into laws that all sorcerers and curses alike obeyed. Yet here in Shinjuku, those very laws were being undone.
Three domains had expanded at once. Three realities collided, each insisting that it alone was absolute.
The city split apart. Streets folded into impossible geometries, skyscrapers bent like paper, and the horizon fractured into overlapping planes. The air screamed, thick with cursed energy so dense it pulled perception apart at the seams.
Sukuna's domain stretched outward like a temple carved across the ruins of Shinjuku. At its very center, that same ominous Malevolent Shrine was settled. The domain itself stood without walls, without a ceiling; it was a sure-hit effect unleashed across two hundred meters.
Every inch of the space was filled with dismantles and cleaves, slashing endlessly in every direction. Towers fell in ribbons, asphalt peeled away, the very air shredded into strips by invisible blades. His was the most destructive domain of all, overwhelming and constant.
Gojo's Infinite Voidbloomed in contrast, contained within a barrier. Its sure-hit was more subtle, more terrifying: infinite information streamed into any mind trapped inside, paralyzing them in an instant.
Long enough exposure led to brain damage or death. But unlike Sukuna's, Gojo's was fragile. Domains tied to barriers could be broken. And now, pressed between Sukuna's shrine and Mahito's grotesque intrusion, his was cracking already.
Mahito's Cursed Genesis shifted and writhed as though alive. It resembled the innards of a beast, its fleshy walls breathing, its jagged teeth gnashing. But it changed constantly, cursed techniques embedded in its structure like organs.
Disaster Flames boiled across one wall, Lightning pulsed through another, and the earth buckled underfoot. His domain was him. It had no walls to break. It was bound directly to his soul, and as long as his soul endured, so too did it.
The three collided. For a moment, none gave way. Reality strained, stretched thin, threatening to tear. Then, with a groan like mountains splitting, Gojo's barrier shattered.
Infinite Void collapsed instantly, consumed by Malevolent Shrine and Cursed Genesis.
Gojo stumbled free, his white hair whipped by cursed winds, his teeth clenched. His domain had fallen first.
"Gojo…" Yuta's voice trembled in the observation room. His fists pressed tight against the table. "Even him…"
Mei Mei's silver hair caught the light of the screens. Her voice remained composed, but her eyes tightened. "Barrier-type domains have always been weaker. Sukuna's is tied to the land itself. Mahito's is tied to his soul. Only Gojo has to build walls."
On the field, Mahito wasted no time. He opened his mouth, and a needle-thin jet of purple burst outward. Piercing Blood. The stream cut toward the heart of Sukuna's shrine.
Sukuna scoffed; he immediately dashed in the way of that concentrated beam of blood-like, cursed energy.
Without even batting an eye, he intercepted it with his hand, letting his shrine do the work and obliterate Mahito.
Mahito stepped forward within Sukuna's domain. Neither of them had a guaranteed sure hit effect, but Sukuna's didn't require one to work.
Malevolent Shrine was well and truly the most powerful and destructive domain in existence... Or it would have been, were it not for Mahito.
Invisible blades carved into him instantly. His flesh split a hundred times, blood spraying in fountains. His cracked mask glistened red as his torso was reduced to ribbons.
And yet, he kept walking.
His wounds sealed before the blood even hit the ground. His muscles stitched themselves back together with a speed that defied logic.
And then, with an audible grind of metal, something appeared behind him.
A golden wheel.
It sprouted from his back, massive and gleaming, halo-like but monstrous. Its spokes turned once, slowly, the sound heavy and grating, as though announcing inevitability.
None of the spectators recognized it.
"What the hell is that…" Kusakabe muttered, his eyes wide.
Maki frowned, her jaw set. "I've never seen anything like it."
But the meaning was clear: Mahito was not merely healing. He was adapting.
Shortly enough, the various cuts were damaging him less and less, allowing him to walk with little effort.
Inside the shrine, he strode unhindered, laughter echoing. "Your sure-hit is exquisite, Sukuna. A storm of endless slashes, flawless in its macabre simplicity. And yet…" His body split open with fresh slashes, only to stitch itself shut again in the same breath. "It cannot cut me down. Not anymore."
For the first time, Sukuna's grin faltered. He recognized the technique; he had seen a similar one in the Heinan Era at least. He knew how troublesome it was.
Gojo, meanwhile, had already pulled himself out of range. His will, unshakable, tore him free from the pull of Mahito's soul. Almost immediately, cursed energy flowed back into him. What should have been impossible had become fact: his technique recovered in moments after his domain collapsed.
The observers were stunned.
"Recovering that fast…" Yuki muttered, her sharp eyes narrowing. "Only Gojo could accomplish that."
Gojo raised his hand, cursed energy spiraling into a crimson sphere. His voice rang across Shinjuku, each word deliberate, carrying the weight of inevitability.
"Cursed Technique Reversal: Red."
The blast roared forward. A wave of pure repulsion ripped across the battlefield, pulverizing everything in its path. Towers crumbled, streets bent upward like waves, and Mahito was struck full force. His body tore open, hurled backward into the heart of Sukuna's shrine.
The explosion carried on, striking the shrine itself. For the first time, its outlines cracked. The slashes faltered for a heartbeat, the temple's endless certainty disrupted.
Sukuna snarled, his four arms spreading wide. "You blue-eyed bastard!"
Gojo's faint smile returned, his eyes gleaming. "Hmph, some king you are~"
Mahito's laughter rang even as his body reknit itself from chunks. His mask shattered fully, exposing a face twisted into glee.
"Yes," he hissed. "More! Fight amongst each other too! The more chaotic it gets, the more fun it is~"
The earth convulsed. Magma erupted beneath that ominous shrine. A volcanic mountain speared upward, its mouth belching fire. The shrine buckled, then cracked.
The volcano's maw yawned wide, and lava swallowed the shrine whole.
Sukuna leapt clear, seared and furious, his tattoos flickering across burned flesh.
Mahito stood atop the volcanic peak, six arms spread, the golden wheel blazing behind him, spinning once more with a heavy groan. His domain pulsed outward, its flesh-walls flexing, swallowing the battlefield.
Only his domain remained.
The spectators froze in disbelief.
Mai's voice cracked as she whispered. "That should be impossible…"
Yuta's fists trembled. "Even Sukuna's shrine… swallowed whole…"
Mei Mei's lips parted, her usual calm faltering for the first time. "It's as we've theorized... Mahito's domain has no walls or physical objects to break. It is tied to his soul alone. Unless his soul is destroyed, it will remain. This is… beyond precedent."
Back on the battlefield, Gojo bled from shallow cuts, his Infinity battered but intact. Sukuna's flesh smoked, his eyes narrow with fury.
Mahito's laughter rolled over them both. His words cut through the molten winds.
"You see it now, do you not?" His voice dripped with triumph. "Your shrine, your void, your titles… none of it matters. My Soul is superior. From the very beginning, neither of you ever stood a chance."
The battlefield trembled with the weight of his claim.
And for the first time, the two who held the title of strongest before now acknowledged that Mahito had become something beyond their expectations.