Chapter 127 — Summoning Mahoraga
"Don't twist my words.
I went all-out on you, not on my nephew."
Zen'in Shinsuke flatly rejected Sukuna's accusation.
He dared to hit Sukuna that hard only because he knew how absurdly tenacious the Curse King's life force was.
If the one standing there had been Megumi's sister Tsumiki, possessed by Yorozu, he would never have struck so brutally—he couldn't guarantee she would survive.
Sukuna stared at Shinsuke, mind racing for a way to escape.
Even with his new vessel, his power hadn't fully returned.
No matter how many tricks he pulled with Megumi's technique, he was nowhere near overwhelming this monster of a man.
His consecutive attacks hadn't even drawn blood.
Meanwhile, if Shinsuke ever landed a full-force hit, Sukuna would be paralyzed for several seconds.
If this man genuinely wanted to kill him right now, it wouldn't be difficult.
The only thing preventing that…
was the original owner of this body.
The next moment, Sukuna's lips curled upward.
"Since you're so eager for me to help this brat domesticate all his shikigami…
why not test the extent of his potential?"
Whatever happened, as long as Sukuna possessed Megumi's body, Shinsuke couldn't kill him outright.
He just had to avoid getting knocked unconscious.
In the chaos of battle, he'd search for the perfect chance to retreat—
and once he reclaimed his full strength, he'd come back to settle the score.
With that thought, Sukuna formed a seal.
Crushing, swirling cursed energy erupted outward.
Shadows surged across several blocks like a tidal wave, dragging everything into darkness.
"Domain Expansion — Chimera Shadow Garden."
Using Megumi's body, Sukuna unleashed the boy's incomplete domain, but amplified far beyond what Megumi could ever produce.
He could perfect the domain easily—
but he deliberately didn't.
This "open barrier" version, messy and unaligned, was exactly what he wanted.
"You're not planning to run, are you?"
Sukuna smiled lazily at Shinsuke.
A domain might be terrifying to average sorcerers.
But to someone like Zen'in Shinsuke—
a man who could ignore domains altogether—
It was little more than a gloomy backdrop.
"Stop wasting time.
Save your cheap provocation."
Shinsuke stepped forward on his own, walking directly into the churning sea of shadows.
The moment Shinsuke stepped into the surging shadows, dozens of dark frogs swarmed over his feet.
"Pop!"
He crushed them effortlessly underfoot and continued walking straight toward Sukuna, a faint grin tugging at his lips.
"Go on—throw everything you've got at me."
"Graaah!"
Inside the Shadow Domain, shikigami were no longer restricted.
As long as there was enough cursed energy, Sukuna could summon any number, even all at once.
Hundreds of shadow-frogs shot out long tongues, trying to halt Shinsuke's advance.
At the same time, the giant Divine Dogs, Nue, and Max Elephant—all shikigami Megumi had once summoned—emerged from the darkness and surrounded him.
"Not done yet!"
Sukuna continued forming seals, laughing.
"This brat's technique has more potential than I imagined!"
"Ooooong—!"
Two new shikigami materialized—
Kon Go (Piercing Bull) and En Rika (Round Deer)!
Kon Go, a three-meter-tall bull shikigami, lunged forward instantly.
The moment Shinsuke was slowed by the frog tongues, Kon Go's horns slammed into him and sent him flying backward.
Feeling the brute force behind the blow, Shinsuke actually paused in mild surprise.
"Stronger than before? Because of the domain? Or something else?"
Earlier, when Sukuna used Ten Shadows outside a domain, the huge, unstable sizes of the shikigami were intentional—Sukuna had deliberately destabilized their forms to enlarge their range and aggressiveness.
The benefit:
They were harder to destroy completely.
(The reason why Divine Dogs and Max Elephant kept reappearing even after Shinsuke smashed them.)
The drawback:
They couldn't act independently.
Their raw strength was weakened.
But inside the domain, every shikigami regenerated immediately, no matter how many times Shinsuke destroyed them.
More importantly—
These shikigami now manifested in their true, complete Ten Shadows forms.
And that meant their power was nothing like the watered-down versions Megumi used in the past.
Shinsuke hadn't fully figured out why this bull hit so hard—
but the realization thrilled him.
Because if Sukuna could pull this out using Megumi's body,
then Megumi himself would someday reach the same level.
A future where Megumi surpassed even Gojo Satoru…
A future where Megumi became the strongest sorcerer alive…
And if the strongest sorcerer bore the Zen'in name…
Wouldn't the entire Jujutsu world—
no, the country itself—
be under their control?
The thought sent a strange excitement through Shinsuke.
Shinsuke's muscles tightened, feet slamming into the ground to stabilize himself.
With a single punch, he shattered Kon Go into pieces, then blinked across the shadowy battlefield and appeared in front of Sukuna—delivering an explosive strike.
BOOM!!
His fist pierced straight through Sukuna's abdomen, blood spraying.
He pulled his arm free and followed up with a brutal elbow strike, smashing Sukuna into the ground.
In the next instant, the swarm of shikigami surged around him again, granting Sukuna a moment of breathing room.
Behind Sukuna, En Rika glowed with a radiant green aura.
In a single flash, Sukuna's mangled body regenerated completely.
Round Deer's purpose was simple: reverse cursed technique.
As long as it was active, Sukuna essentially had auto-healing on cooldown—every injury instantly repaired.
While Sukuna recovered, Shinsuke was swallowed by yet another surge of water; the moment he resurfaced, tens of thousands of Rabbits pinned him down again.
Sukuna looked at his army of shikigami.
No matter what they did, they could only slow Shinsuke.
They couldn't actually injure him.
He let out a long, irritated sigh.
"If he were a normal sorcerer, he'd be on his knees by now."
But Shinsuke Zen'in was not a sorcerer.
Even Sukuna—the King of Curses—had no idea what sort of creature he was supposed to be fighting.
"The domain is almost over…
Let's see the last one. The final shikigami."
Sukuna resigned himself to it.
He formed the most solemn hand sign.
"Furube… Yura yura…
Eight-Handled Sword Divergent Sila Divine General—
Mahoraga."
As the chant echoed, the atmosphere in the domain shifted—
solemn, oppressive, ritualistic.
Divine Dogs and frogs lined up in two rows like ceremonial guardians, howling in unison, as if welcoming a god.
A massive statue rose from the depths of the shadows—
Its arms folded, its entire body wrapped in white binding threads.
Then—
The bound figure moved.
A mouth tore free first, then the rest of its enormous body ripped through the bindings.
A towering figure at least four to five meters tall emerged, resembling a humanoid curse—
but exuding an indescribably divine aura.
Pale body, a long tail trailing behind, two pairs of thin wings spreading from its back,
and atop its head—
a golden, rotating dharma wheel.
This was the ultimate shikigami, on a level far beyond any other.
The moment Mahoraga appeared, Sukuna instantly understood its ability.
"This…
is a very fine ability indeed.
Except—"