On the other side, Shibuya Underground.
"Just as I thought!"
Unlike the last time, when he had been instantly killed the moment Satoru got serious, Jogo had already exchanged dozens of blows with him.
Together with Hanami, he kept weaving through the crowd on the platform, using civilians as walls and shields.
The moment Satoru got close, Jogo would grab the nearest people and throw them into his path. Even though they would be stopped by the Infinity, Satoru wouldn't force his way through them for fear of hurting ordinary people. The trick worked every time.
In this situation, Jogo shouted wildly, his face full of smug delight.
Kenjaku's analysis had been correct. As long as a large number of non-sorcerers were packed around Satoru, his movements would be severely restricted.
He wasn't someone who preached about the "greater good," but even so, he would still prioritize civilian safety.
Because he was strong.
So strong that he knew he and Hanami were no match for him. His goal had therefore become to kill as many curses as possible while avoiding harm to humans.
Both Blue and Red were wide-area attacks, and in this cramped space they couldn't be used. A Domain Expansion was even worse. If Unlimited Void were activated here, the civilians' brains would be destroyed.
Of course, Satoru could try to trap only himself and the two curses inside a domain. But if he did that, the people outside would be crushed into pulp between the domain's boundary, the curtain, and the walls. So Jogo and Hanami simply avoided forcing him to open it.
Their mission was only to stall him while preventing him from abandoning all restraint. Only in this chaotic environment could they pin him down like this.
But it still wasn't chaotic enough.
Just as Kenjaku had said, they had to break the balance in Satoru's heart. They had to push him into a corner where there was no right choice.
The balance he held was simple: it was acceptable if some people were harmed by curses, but not if he himself was the one forced to harm humans.
However…
"Damn it! Even without using his technique, his basic combat ability and cursed energy control are absurd…"
On the platform, despite constantly using the crowd as cover, the two curses were still being beaten senseless.
The problem was that, to avoid being instantly killed and to neutralize his technique, they had been maintaining Domain Amplification the entire time. But Domain Amplification couldn't be used together with their own techniques. That meant they could only fight him in close combat.
They had thought it wouldn't matter.
But once they actually clashed, Jogo realized that even with cursed energy reinforcement, their physical abilities were completely overwhelmed.
"If you surrender now, I'll give you a quick death. Don't make me angry."
Within a radius of nearly ten meters around Satoru, no one dared approach.
This forced Jogo and Hanami to hide among the crowd instead of engaging him directly. But under these conditions, Satoru couldn't simply charge in and grab them either.
People kept moving away from him, while the volcano-head and that forest-spirit-looking thing deliberately ran toward the densest parts of the crowd.
Though he didn't want to admit it, he was starting to lose patience. His killing intent surged.
He was absolutely going to exorcise that volcano and that weed.
"Hehehe… Satoru Gojo, do you know what the most disgusting thing about humans is, besides their hypocrisy?"
As he kept grabbing people and throwing them forward, Jogo bared his black teeth in a grin.
"I'm not interested in your boring questions."
Satoru used the Limitless to stop the flying bodies behind him and began walking toward them.
"Let me tell you. It's their overwhelming numbers!"
Jogo pointed upward.
Boom!
With a deafening explosion, a gap previously sealed above by Hanami's vines was blasted open. Hundreds, thousands of transfigured humans began to fall onto the platform.
Unlike curses, they were real, visible humans.
"Help! Someone save us!"
As the transfigured humans began slaughtering indiscriminately, despair spread through the station. The already chaotic scene collapsed into total panic.
Screams shook the air. People trampled, shoved, and used others as shields. In the face of death, everyone struggled in their own way to survive.
And because they were being chased by visible monsters, people could no longer keep their distance from Satoru.
Once again, he was swallowed by the crowd.
"Transfigured humans?! That curse was supposed to have been exorcised by Mukuro…"
Satoru froze.
In a place this crowded, even he couldn't eliminate such a large number instantly.
"Hanami, do you see? This is the hypocrisy and ugliness of old humans. They're not worth pity. We are the true 'humans'!"
Looking at the scene and at Satoru standing still, Jogo felt pure joy. No matter how righteous they seemed, when faced with death they revealed their true nature. That was the ugliness of humans.
Curses were different. Born from negative emotions, they never suppressed their nature. They walked the same path for a shared goal, and even sacrificing their lives meant nothing. Jogo firmly believed that their honesty made them the real humans.
'Watch closely, Mahito. With your power, we will defeat Satoru Gojo… We'll meet again in a hundred years.'
A trace of sadness flashed in his eyes. The rampaging transfigured humans made it feel as if Mahito were still by his side.
"Nature is weeping. The optimal solution is for the old humans to die as sages."
Hanami, who had been silent until now, finally spoke.
"So… what will you do, Satoru Gojo?!"
Using the chaos, the two rushed in again, their fists crashing toward him.
But this time he didn't let them continue.
Satoru's right hand rose before him, index and middle fingers crossing into a mudra.
"Domain Expansion: Unlimited Void."
In the instant their eyes widened, his domain opened and closed so fast it was as if nothing had happened.
0.2 seconds.
That was the time he had calculated. Even if civilians were caught inside Unlimited Void, this duration would not destroy their lives.
About two months' worth of information would flood their brains—enough to paralyze them, but not enough to cause collapse. Even Jogo and Hanami, powerful special grades, could only stand frozen after that brief exposure.
'First, deal with the transfigured humans…'
As soon as the domain closed, Satoru turned into a streak of light, darting across the platform.
With only 0.2 seconds, special grades of their level could wake up at any moment. And since he couldn't use high-destruction techniques, he had no guarantee of killing them instantly.
So the transfigured humans became the priority.
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