The three tore through the city without slowing down, their clash turning entire blocks into debris in seconds. Buildings collapsed one after another, glass shattered into fine dust, and the streets below were reduced to broken concrete and twisted metal under the pressure of their movements alone.
Gojo didn't hold back.
With Infinity wrapped around him like an untouchable barrier, he moved freely through the destruction, dragging both Tsutsumi and Sukuna along as the fight carried them across rooftops and straight through structures that couldn't withstand even a fraction of their force. Walls gave way the moment they passed through, entire floors collapsing as the shockwaves rippled outward.
Sukuna pressed forward relentlessly, each strike precise and lethal, his attacks carving through the environment with ease. Tsutsumi kept pace with him, his movements sharp and unnatural, every step and shift carrying that subtle, glitch-like distortion that made his presence feel slightly out of sync with reality itself.
Gojo reached for Tsutsumi again, his hand moving with effortless speed, but just as it was about to make contact.
"Cursed Technique Lapse: Low-Res."
Tsutsumi's form blurred instantly.
His body broke apart into a pixelated haze, like a corrupted frame struggling to render properly, causing Gojo's hand to pass straight through him as if he wasn't fully there.
For a brief moment, Tsutsumi existed between frames. Then he stabilized.
His form snapped back into place as he leaned his head back slightly, purple eyes locking onto Gojo's bright blue through the drifting dust and collapsing debris.
Gojo didn't linger on it. With a casual motion, he flung Sukuna away, sending him crashing through another building before turning his full attention back to Tsutsumi. His fingers came together, forming a precise hand sign as cursed energy gathered at a single point.
"Cursed Technique Lapse: Blue."
A dense, glowing orb of compressed cursed energy formed at his fingertips, humming with an overwhelming gravitational pull. The space around it warped as it was released, the orb tearing through the air as it dragged everything in its path toward it, rubble, metal, fragments of shattered buildings all spiraling inward.
It rushed toward Tsutsumi.
"Pixel-Perfect Parry."
The moment the attack reached him, he acted.
At the exact microsecond of impact, his body glitched again. The frame where the hit should have connected simply didn't exist. And the glitch caused the force to be redirected and flipped entirely.
The orb reversed direction.
Gojo's eyes widened slightly as his own attack came flying back toward him, now completely outside his control. With a sharp motion of his hand, he struck it aside, sending it veering off into the distance where it detonated, collapsing another section of the city.
At the same time, a slash cut through the air toward Gojo's head, forcing him to tilt slightly to the side as the attack passed by, slicing cleanly through the massive building behind him as if it were nothing.
Then all three closed in again.
Gojo raised both hands at once, catching Sukuna's punch and Tsutsumi's kick simultaneously. The impact alone triggered a violent explosion, the force blasting outward and tearing apart the already damaged structure behind them.
Dust and debris surged upward, forming a massive cloud that swallowed the battlefield whole.
For a moment, everything was obscured. Then, slowly, the dust began to settle. Through the fading haze, three figures stood.
Tsutsumi stood between them, unmoved, his silhouette steady against the shifting light. His purple eyes glowed faintly, cutting through the dust as they met Sukuna's crimson gaze and Gojo's sharp blue.
"I'm gonna blame you two for destroying everything here." Gojo said with a smile.
"Are you in a position to say so?" Sukuna asks.
"Not my first time being blamed for everything gone wrong." Tsutsumi replied with a light shrug, then he smiled slightly. "How about we kick things up a notch?"
His hands moved into a sign. Gojo and Sukuna didn't hesitate as they understood immediately.
"Domain Expansion."
All three voices overlapped.
The world twisted.
Space folded inward as a massive barrier formed around them, isolating the battlefield from everything beyond it. Reality itself seemed to peel away, replaced by something far more absolute.
"Unlimited Void."
"Malevolent Shrine."
"404: Reality Not Found."
The domains collided.
A vast, dark void stretched endlessly, swallowing the horizon. At its center stood a grotesque Buddhist shrine adorned with skulls and decay, radiating Sukuna's presence with suffocating intensity. In the distance, a massive black void pulsed, distorting space with the overwhelming information of Gojo's domain.
And layered over everything was glitches.
The ground beneath them became a shifting grid of neon lines, flickering in and out of alignment. Segments of reality lagged, repeated, or skipped entirely. Fragments of the sky displayed glowing "ERROR" symbols, while sections of the world distorted like a corrupted screen struggling to maintain form.
The air itself felt unstable, like it was being pulled in three different directions at once. The three stood within their overlapping barriers, forming a perfect triangle, each domain pressing against the others as their sure-hit guarantees collided and canceled out in a constant, violent equilibrium.
It wasn't just a clash of power, it was a three-way deadlock where any imbalance could decide everything in an instant. If even one of them took enough damage for their domain to collapse, the remaining sure-hit techniques would immediately take over.
While Sukuna's domain and Tsutsumi's domain continued to expand outward, pressing and grinding against everything in their reach, Gojo's domain had already reached its set barrier limit. It stood firm for a moment, resisting the pressure, but it was already being tested.
Malevolent Shrine spread relentlessly, its presence absolute. Within its range, everything was subjected to endless slashing, Dismantle or Cleave adjusting automatically depending on the target's cursed energy. There was no escape from it once it took hold.
Gojo's domain cracked first.
The barrier shattered under the pressure, fragments of cursed energy dispersing into nothing as Sukuna's slashes immediately invaded the space. A sharp cut tore through the air, fast enough that even Gojo couldn't fully avoid it, and for a brief moment, a clean line appeared across his neck.
Then it vanished. In the same instant, the wound reappeared on Sukuna.
Blood burst outward in a sudden arc as a deep slash carved into his neck, the force of it forcing his head slightly to the side.
"What?" Sukuna uttered, his eyes narrowing in confusion, before the wound fully healed.
"Forgetting someone?" Tsutsumi's voice slipped in smoothly, almost amused, as if he had been waiting for that exact moment.
The timing wasn't accidental. While Gojo had been focused on due to the collapse of his domain, and Sukuna had taken the opportunity to strike, for just a fraction of a second, he overlooked the third presence still standing within the clash.
The effect of 404: Reality Not Found, within the domain, the world becomes a glitched in reality fully controlled by Tsutsumi, the opponent's brain is forced to process reality at 1 frame per minute, while their body is forced to move at 1,000 frames per second.
Mind and body were completely out of sync.
To the target, everything was frozen; their thoughts locked in place, unable to catch up to their own movements. Tsutsumi has full control of the glitched world; he can "delete" any damage or "paste" any wound onto the opponent.
Against any opponents who aren't top-tier, this technique would have been a sure kill. But against these two strongest sorcerers from different eras.
"New Shadow Style: Simple Domain!" Gojo's voice cut through the distortion.
"Domain Amplification." Sukuna followed immediately after, his cursed energy shifting.
Both techniques were activated at the same time, forming a thin but effective layer that neutralized the passive effects of Tsutsumi's domain. The overwhelming lag between mind and body disappeared, and control snapped back into place.
"Impressive, the moment your domain broke, you employed an Anti-Domain Technique." Tsutsumi murmurs, watching as cuts appear on Gojo's body.
"Do you really think I won't notice the danger of your domain with my Six Eyes?" Gojo said back with a smile, getting excited by this powerful opponent.
Sukuna's domain continues to unleash slashes at both Gojo and Tsutsumi without discrimination. While the former endures, his Reverse Cursed Technique working constantly, repairing the damage as fast as it appeared, keeping him standing in the middle of a storm of clashes.
The latter simply "delete" the wound on his body, then "paste" them on Sukuna. Each wound that appeared on his body flickered, distorted, and then vanished, only to reappear on Sukuna instead. Cuts stacked over cuts, forcing Sukuna to continuously heal as well, his own Reverse Cursed Technique pushing back against the accumulating damage.
"This domain of yours is really a pain in the ass," Sukuna said, his tone flat but clearly annoyed as another transferred wound split across his chest before closing again.
"I'm gonna say," Tsutsumi replied, a faint grin on his face as he adjusted to the flow of cursed energy around him, "this Cursed Energy thing is pretty useful."
Gojo and Sukuna moved at the same time, charging Tsutsumi from opposite sides. Their coordination wasn't planned, but it didn't need to be. Both understood that leaving Tsutsumi unchecked was the worst possible option.
Strikes came from both directions, punches and kicks layered with cursed energy, each impact heavy enough to shatter concrete, all while they endured the continuous slashes from Malevolent Shrine.
Tsutsumi met Sukuna head-on, blocking and countering in close combat, the force of their clash sending shockwaves through the unstable space. For a moment, his attention locked onto Sukuna.
In one smooth motion, Gojo slipped in. He wrapped his legs around Sukuna's hips from behind, anchoring himself as he leaned back, creating just enough distance to aim. His hand came up, fingers forming the shape of a gun, pointed directly at Sukuna's face.
"Reverse Cursed Technique: Red."
The condensed red orb formed instantly, vibrating with overwhelming repulsive force before firing point-blank.
The force didn't just hit Sukuna, it blew through everything in its path. Sukuna and Tsutsumi were both launched backward at high speed, their bodies crashing straight through the center of Malevolent Shrine and into the fragile boundary of 404: Reality Not Found.
The effect was immediate.
Malevolent Shrine's core, the shrine itself, cracked under the impact. The structure that sustained the domain shattered, and the endless slashes ceased as the domain collapsed.
Tsutsumi's domain followed right after. Unlike a stable construct, it behaved more like a system glitch. Once the "window" was forcibly shut down, the glitch couldn't do anything to stop it and was also forced to shut down, the distorted reality snapping back to normal as the barrier fractured and disappeared.
Gojo landed on his feet, rolling his shoulder slightly as the last of his wounds closed in seconds. He let out a small breath, more annoyed than tired.
"Ah, what a pain in the ass."
Not far from him, Sukuna rose from the remains of his shattered shrine. The damage on his face was already healing, his expression calm but clearly more focused now, his eyes locked forward.
Further away, Tsutsumi pushed himself up from where he had crashed into the remnants of his own barrier. He sat up without much delay, brushing off the impact like it hadn't been nearly as destructive as it should have been.
"How about we call a truce?" Gojo suddenly said, his tone light, like he was suggesting something simple rather than pausing a fight that had just torn apart the space around them.
Sukuna tilted his head slightly, a faint smirk forming as he looked at Gojo. "Oh?" There was interest there, not suspicion, not refusal, just curiosity at where this was going.
"Let's face it," Gojo continued, rolling his shoulder once as if the previous exchange had barely warmed him up. "You feel it too, don't you? Decade is simply too strong for either one of us to take down by ourselves. He is even holding back on us." He said it casually, but there was no doubt in his voice. It wasn't hesitation, it was acknowledgment.
Sukuna clicked his tongue, but he didn't deny it. His eyes shifted briefly toward the distance where Tsutsumi had landed, then back to Gojo. "Tch. I suppose you do have a point." His lips curled slightly, not in frustration, but something closer to amusement. "So this is the feeling of being weaker, huh?"
The words came out low, almost thoughtful. It was unfamiliar, but not unwelcome.
For someone like Sukuna, who had crushed everything in his era, and for someone like Gojo, who stood alone at the top of his own, the idea of someone who stands above them should have been irritating.
Instead, it was the opposite. A quiet excitement settled in.
Gojo exhaled through his nose, a small grin tugging at his expression. "Doesn't feel that bad, right?"
Sukuna's grin widened just a bit. "No. It's been a while since someone like this came along."
Neither of them needed to say anything more. There was no formal agreement, no conditions, no trust involved. It was simply understanding. For now, they would work together, not as allies, but as two people aiming at the same target.
Both of them shifted their attention forward.
In the distance, Tsutsumi had already pushed himself back up. He adjusted his posture slightly, brushing off the lingering effects of the last clash, his expression calm as ever. His eyes tracked them as they started walking toward him, side by side, their pace unhurried but direct.
Seeing the two strongest sorcerers from different eras approach together didn't surprise him in the slightest.
It wasn't the first time he'd been jumped, and it definitely wouldn't be the last.
He let out a small breath and smiled, like he had just confirmed something he already expected. "So that's how it is."
Gojo cracked his neck lightly as he walked. "Don't take it personally."
"Or do," Sukuna added, his voice carrying a faint edge of anticipation. "It won't change anything."
Tsutsumi chuckled at that, raising his hand as cursed energy began to gather again, distorting faintly around his fingers. "I'd be disappointed if you didn't."
Tsutsumi brought his hands together, forming the familiar sign without hesitation. "Let's do it again."
Gojo's expression sharpened slightly, the easygoing tone still there, but backed by something more intent. His fingers came together smoothly. "Fine by me."
Sukuna followed at the same time, his cursed energy spiking as he mirrored the motion, his grin no longer subtle.
The air tightened again, the space around them reacting before anything had even been released.
Three voices overlapped.
"Domain Expansion!"