November 15, Eastern Time.
Hokkaido, Sapporo.
Outside, the sun shone brightly, streets buzzed with traffic, and pedestrians strolled leisurely. The TV blared inconsequential entertainment news and idol ads, painting a picture of peace and prosperity.
The Deadman's Game? The barrier? Tokyo's chaos? It all seemed like it was happening on another planet.
But inside Gaio's newly bought penthouse with a view, the mood was heavy.
Kitagawa clung to her white cat plushie, curled up on the oversized sofa, her face scrunched with worry. The TV's upbeat pop songs only highlighted her troubled thoughts.
"Tian-kun…" Her voice was muffled, hesitant. "Is everything… really okay out there? That day in Sapporo…"
"It's fine," Gaio said, leaning back beside her, his tone calm and even. "The battlefield's been contained outside Hokkaido. There are 'heroes' handling it, and this time, the whole mess is aimed at those 'heroes' anyway."
She understood the logic.
But the black smoke rising from Sapporo that day, the faint echoes of explosions and screams—they'd lodged in her heart like a thorn.
She knew Gaio was strong, strong enough to slice through space itself with ease.
But she also knew how brutal the barrier's "game" was (Gaio had briefly explained the 'rules').
Her kind heart urged her to want her powerful boyfriend to help those suffering inside, but she was terrified—terrified he'd get hurt, or worse, not come back.
This conflict left her listless for days.
Gaio had tried everything—taking her out for delicious food, going for drives, even… distracting her with intimate moments. But nothing worked. The spark in her eyes was still clouded by worry.
Gaio glanced at his sulky girlfriend and let out a soft sigh.
A week had passed, and his little ray of sunshine still hadn't brightened up.
This self-proclaimed slacker, who just wanted to coast through life, felt like his happy days were about to drown in her gloom if he didn't do something.
He lazily propped himself up and reached over, ruffling Kitagawa's blonde hair.
"Stop worrying," he said, his tone a mix of resignation and exasperation. "I'll go check out Tokyo."
Kitagawa's head snapped up, her eyes widening, a brief spark of excitement quickly overshadowed by deeper concern. "Really? But… it's dangerous in there…"
"Just 'checking it out,'" Gaio emphasized, a lazy yet confident smirk tugging at his lips. "Relax, the guy who can hurt me probably hasn't been born yet. Wait for me at home."
Before she could say more, he casually raised his right hand, the Enma Blade appearing. With a light flick, he sliced through the air in the living room.
Rip—!
A crackling blue rift tore open, its edges sparking with electricity, revealing faint glimpses of chaotic noise and an unfamiliar cityscape beyond.
Gaio stood, hands in his pockets, and stepped into the rift without looking back.
The rift snapped shut instantly, leaving Kitagawa stunned on the sofa, the TV's cheerful music blaring on.
Gaio stepped through the rift, planning to just poke around Tokyo, maybe put on a show for Kitagawa's sake.
After all, his only real interest was whether Sukuna's full power would force him to go all out.
But his body had other plans, carrying him straight to his old home in Suginami.
That house was where he'd landed in this world, a place tied to his original memories. He wasn't sentimental about it, but it was a piece of his past.
When he arrived, the sight made his blood boil.
The house was a pile of rubble, broken bricks and debris scattered everywhere, the air thick with the acrid stench of charred ruin.
Gaio took a few deep breaths, trying to cool his head, but the fire in his chest wouldn't die down. "Calm down? Calm down, my ass!"
He couldn't help but let out a curse. "I underestimated that bastard Kenjaku! He didn't take me seriously at all!"
Gaio knew he'd warned Kenjaku not to mess with him.
But now, not only had Kenjaku ignored him, he'd let Gaio's house get destroyed.
His eyes turned cold, the anger in his heart fully ignited. "Fine… this slacker's done lying low!"
Gritting his teeth, he spat out each word with venom. "You're so proud of your Deadman's Game, huh? Well, I'm gonna make you watch as I tear it to pieces!"
His figure vanished from the ruins, the aftershocks of the spatial rift still trembling in the air.
Hoshin Palace.
Kenjaku clasped his hands, fingers interlocked in a reverse seal, a wicked grin spreading as he whispered, "Domain Expansion—Womb Profusion!"
Boom!
A twisted black tree erupted from the ground, its trunk embedded with distorted fetal faces, its branches swollen like pregnant bellies, supported by three statue-like figures as sacrificial offerings.
Inside the domain, gravity shifted violently, the air thick as a swamp.
"Oh, let's have a good fight now," Kenjaku chuckled, raising a finger.
BOOM—!
His gravity technique and cursed spirit manipulation erupted simultaneously!
The ground caved in, countless cursed spirits lunging from the shadows.
Yuki Tsukumo crossed her arms to block, but the impact sent her flying dozens of meters, crashing through stone pillars. Blood trickled from her lips, but she grinned.
"Star Rage—Garuda!"
She slammed her hand to the ground, Garuda's wings flaring as its mass amplified a thousandfold, hurtling toward Kenjaku like a meteor!
Kenjaku raised an eyebrow. "Oh? Still moving?" He flicked his hand, twisting gravity to divert Garuda's path, smashing through the domain's edge.
Yuki seized the chance, charging forward, her fist wrapped in collapsing mass aimed at Kenjaku's face—
Crack!
Kenjaku dodged effortlessly. He knew as long as Yuki didn't touch him, he was untouchable.
His smile didn't waver. "Too bad. In my domain, techniques are… doubled in power."
Yuki's pupils shrank. The next second, invisible gravity slammed her into the ground, her spine nearly snapping.
"Cough…!" She spat blood but kept her eyes locked on something behind Kenjaku—
Crack.
A silent fracture spread across the domain's ceiling.
The sharp sound of cracking rang out like thunder!
Yuki, coughing blood, her eyes gleaming.
Kenjaku's smug grin froze as he snapped his head upward.
In the shadows, Tengen's calm face flickered with a ripple of emotion, while Choso, lurking nearby, tensed.
All four pairs of eyes locked onto the rift!
Buzz—!
Their vision was suddenly flooded with blinding blue-white light!
Not a single beam, but thousands of cold, razor-sharp lines of death woven into a net of slashes!
They crisscrossed silently, slicing through everything.
BOOM BOOM BOOM—!
The entire Hoshin Palace dome, a massive stone ceiling infused with ancient barrier power, crumbled into fine gray-white dust in an instant!
A whirlwind of powder roared upward, revealing a clear sky.
The dust cascaded like a waterfall, then parted outward by an invisible force. At the center of the swirling haze, a figure hovered.
White hair danced wildly, black clothes billowing.
Gaio, left hand in his pocket, held the Enma Blade in his right, his eyes half-lidded as he gazed down at Kenjaku.
His handsome face held no trace of anger, only a soul-freezing indifference, like a god looking down on ants.
"Kenjaku." His voice wasn't loud, but it cut clearly into everyone's ears, laced with bone-chilling cold. "Didn't I tell you—"
He paused, each word hammering into Kenjaku's heart.
"Not to mess with me?"
Kenjaku's scalp prickled, cold sweat dripping from his forehead, his heart gripped by an invisible hand.
Mess with him?! What a joke! This walking calamity was supposed to be chilling in Hokkaido! Who in their right mind would provoke him?!
"I…" Kenjaku's lips trembled, struggling to force out an explanation. "It wasn't me…"
Gaio's lips curled into a smirk, devoid of warmth, dripping with pure mockery.
"My house," his voice dropped, cold as a wind from the abyss, "is a pile of rubble."
House?!
Kenjaku's pupils shrank to pinpoints, his mind blank.
House? What house? The one in Suginami?! Destroyed?! Who did it?!
Not me! I swear it wasn't me, boss!
His inner screams nearly burst from his throat, overwhelmed by injustice and terror. Who the hell screwed this up and pinned it on him?!
"I…" Kenjaku tried to explain, his voice dry and shaking.
Buzz!
The world narrowed to a single, faint hum.
No sword draw, no surge of cursed energy.
A blue-white blade of light, slicing through space itself, flashed across the entire domain without warning!
It appeared out of nowhere, too fast for anyone to react.
Kenjaku's expression, still caught between shock, injustice, and fear, didn't have time to shift as his instincts made him whip his head around—
Rip!!
The twisted, malevolent black tree anchoring his "Womb Profusion" domain froze, the fetal faces on its trunk and the swollen branches stiffening unnaturally.
A hair-thin line of light pierced straight through from the crown to the roots.
The next second—
BOOM!!!
The massive tree split cleanly down the middle, collapsing to either side!
Countless piercing infant wails erupted from the trunk, the cries of trapped cursed spirit cores being slashed into oblivion! The domain's foundation was severed with one strike!
Womb Profusion, shattered!
Buzz—!
The backlash from the domain's collapse churned Kenjaku's insides, cold sweat soaking his kesa. Not from injury, but because he hadn't even seen how Gaio swung the blade!
That strike didn't just break the domain—it shattered his millennium of understanding. Power could be this unreasonable!
"You…"
Gaio's icy voice sounded right at the back of his neck.
"Looking at what?"
Rip!
Kenjaku's cursed energy exploded, his instincts driving him to retreat at full speed! His vision pulled back, Gaio's figure shrinking.
Did it work?!
No!
His body was retreating, but why… couldn't he feel his limbs? A tearing sensation gripped his heart!
He looked down instinctively—
His vision split!
His body was still flying backward! But his arms and legs, pinned in place, hovered where Gaio had stood!
The cuts were mirror-smooth, not a trace of bone visible.
Half a second later, blood sprayed like a fountain from the severed limbs!
Splatter!
The dull sound of flesh tearing finally hit.
"Urk?!" Kenjaku choked out a syllable, the pain slamming into his brain.
He watched his limbs, like dismantled parts, fall powerlessly to the rubble, landing with a dull thud.
Dust stained dark red with splattered blood.
Thud!
His limbless body crashed into the debris, dust flying. The impact and searing pain from his severed limbs made his vision blur, but a millennium-old sorcerer's survival instincts took over.
Reverse Cursed Technique!
His vast cursed energy surged, the mangled stumps writhing as new flesh began to form—new arms and legs sprouting visibly!
But just as the flesh started to take shape—
Crunch!
A shoe sole, caked with gravel and dust, slammed onto his face! The force nearly drove his head into the ground!
"Argh—!" Kenjaku's muffled groan warped under the pressure, his nose bridge cracking under the strain.
Humiliation! Soul-piercing humiliation! But the threat of death loomed larger!
Gravity Technique—Thousand Tons!
Ignoring any counterattack, Kenjaku's pupils shrank, his pinned face staring up at the owner of the foot—Gaio! His cursed energy erupted, unleashing his gravity technique full force on Gaio!
He'd crush this guy into paste!
Buzz!
An invisible force field enveloped Gaio. But—
Gaio's hovering body didn't budge. Not even the hem of his clothes twitched.
The foot on Kenjaku's face stayed steady, pressing even harder, as if Kenjaku's desperate technique was nothing more than a breeze brushing a boulder.
"What?!" Kenjaku's eyes bulged, incredulous. He could feel his cursed energy draining, the gravity technique active! So why?! Why wasn't it working?!
Gravity Technique—Ten Thousand Tons!
Kenjaku gritted his teeth, veins bulging on his forehead, his cursed energy output spiking! The air hummed and warped under the intensified gravity field!
Gaio, hand in his pocket, looked down at his struggle, his eyes cold as ice. Not only was he not crushed, but the foot on Kenjaku's face grew heavier!
Crack! The ground under Kenjaku's cheek shattered and sank deeper! He felt his skull groaning!
"Keep going," Gaio said flatly. "Push harder. See how much gravity it takes to crush your own head."
The words hit Kenjaku like a bucket of ice water!
He understood instantly! His gravity technique, applied to Gaio, was like an ant trying to move a mountain—useless!
Worse, the terrifying gravity field seemed to act on the area under Gaio's foot—or rather, on Kenjaku himself!
The stronger the gravity he applied, the more crushing the force of Gaio's foot became! He wasn't being stepped on by Gaio—he was crushing his own head with his own technique!!!
Kenjaku's soul nearly fled his body as he cut off the gravity technique! The invisible force field around Gaio vanished.
The pressure from the foot eased slightly but still pinned him like a steel block.
"Nero! Listen to me!" Kenjaku's voice, warped by fear and pressure, spilled blood-flecked foam from his crushed mouth. "It wasn't me! I didn't destroy your house! It wasn't me!"
"I know," Gaio said, his voice devoid of emotion, like discussing something trivial. "It was just collateral damage from the players fighting in your Deadman's Game. I get it."
"Then…" Kenjaku's mind blanked, nearly short-circuiting.
You knew? Then why come after me?! Why cut me to pieces and step on my face?! What the hell is this?!
The overwhelming injustice and fear choked him, leaving him speechless.
Gaio looked down at his twisted, shock-ravaged face and added indifferently, sealing his fate:
"But as the game's organizer, you didn't set a rule against destroying things tied to me. So, I'm gonna tear your pathetic game apart right in front of you."
The foot on his face lifted slightly. Just as Kenjaku thought he might be spared, his reverse cursed technique kicking in, his severed limbs sprouting anew—
The foot slammed down! With the force of ten thousand tons!
BOOM!!!!
Dust and debris exploded outward!