Sukuna's maniacal laughter roared like a demon from hell, erupting from the churning core of black cursed energy.
"Hahahahaha! Arrogant white-haired trash! I'm gonna hack you to pieces!"
The overwhelming pressure hit like a tsunami, drenching Kento Nanami, Kinji Hakari, Yuji Itadori, and Hana Kurusu in cold sweat. Their hearts felt gripped by Sukuna's malice-laced cursed energy.
Gaio tilted his head, glancing at Satoru Gojo. "You're not gonna get your students and colleagues out of here?"
Gojo raised an eyebrow, a smirk tugging at his lips. "Good point."
In a flash, he vanished, reappearing beside Yuji and Hana. He barked a single order to Nanami and the struggling Hakari: "Go."
Before the words even settled, space warped, and Gojo, Yuji, and Hana disappeared.
Nanami and Hakari exchanged a quick look, no hesitation. Their cursed energy flared, and they shot off into the distance like twin shadows at breakneck speed.
Gaio's gaze locked back onto the seething core of cursed energy.
"Ready yet?"
Sukuna's furious roar answered, accompanied by a collapse of cursed energy strong enough to crush space itself.
"Shut up! I'll cut you down!"
"Domain Expansion—"
"Malevolent Shrine!"
Buzz!
The world shifted. The familiar, grotesque shrine, skeletal altar, and endless sea of blood replaced the ruins in an instant. The rules of slashing filled every inch of space.
Gaio stood still, unmoving. This time, though, he closed his eyes slightly.
He was feeling.
His skin sensed the "cutting" sensation of the space itself, his soul analyzing the strength of the "guaranteed hit" and "ignore defense" rules.
Compared to the domain in Shibuya… this one was sharper, more ferocious, more… complete.
The true fangs of the King of Curses.
"Die!"
Sukuna's roar echoed infinitely within the domain. Without so much as a gesture, the omnipresent slashes descended.
Gleaming blades tore through space, slicing through time itself—Dismantle! Cleave!
Billions of slashes, ignoring distance and process, struck Gaio directly, aiming to reduce him and the space around him to nothingness.
Gaio opened his eyes.
Those pitch-black pupils showed no trace of fear, only a faint… boredom.
In the split second before the slashes—capable of obliterating any living thing billions of times over—could land—
Clang!
A crisp sound, like dragon scales scraping, tore through the domain's cacophony.
The Enma Blade was drawn!
"Not bad," Gaio said, the blade tracing a ghostly blue arc through the air.
As he swung, his arm and the blade vanished from sight—pure physical speed surpassing the limits of human perception.
Buzz! Buzz! Buzz!
Countless crisscrossing blade lights flared within the domain, each one precisely intercepting Sukuna's slashes.
Sparks erupted where the blades clashed, weaving a dazzling web of stars in the blood-soaked domain.
Unlike the overwhelming destruction in Shibuya, this time Sukuna's domain only trembled violently. Cracks appeared in the shrine's beams, but it didn't collapse.
"Trash!" Sukuna's four crimson eyes narrowed, his grin splitting ear to ear. "You think this is still a game of chopping vegetables?!"
His four arms moved in unison—two maintaining the domain's hand signs, the other two rapidly forming the seals of the Ten Shadows Technique. Cursed energy solidified into black lightning at his fingertips.
"Burube! Yura Yura!"
Three shadows rose from the blood sea.
Three towering Mahoraga emerged from Sukuna's shadow.
"Triple adaptation," Sukuna sneered, licking his fangs. "I'll make you watch your slashes become useless!"
The central Mahoraga stomped the ground with a deafening crack, appearing before Gaio in an instant, raising its Blade of Exorcism to strike.
Gaio sidestepped the unstoppable blow, the blade grazing past him.
In that moment, a second Blade of Exorcism stabbed at his back. Gaio slid backward slightly, evading the tip.
As he dodged the second attack, a third Blade of Exorcism slashed upward diagonally.
Gaio lifted his foot and gave the incoming blade a light kick. It looked effortless, almost weightless, yet it sent the blade—and the third Mahoraga—flying back.
Gaio's evasive maneuvers sounded complex.
But they all happened in less than a second.
The three Mahoraga gave him no breathing room, their onslaught relentless, like a tidal wave.
Mahoraga One raised its Blade of Exorcism overhead, slashing down with earth-shattering force, the blade whistling through the air.
Mahoraga Two crouched low, its Blade of Exorcism skimming the ground like black lightning, aiming for Gaio's ankles.
Mahoraga Three lunged from the side, its sword striking at a tricky angle toward Gaio's waist.
The three attacks were perfectly coordinated, compressing Gaio's dodging space to nothing.
Gaio's eyes narrowed slightly, his movements as fluid as a willow in the wind.
With a light tap of his toes on the blood sea, he spun, moving like an elegant dancer.
During the spin, his left hand casually traced an arc in the air, the Enma Blade following with a streak of ghostly blue light, effortlessly slicing through the invisible slashes roaring through Sukuna's domain.
The slashes met the blade light and melted like snow under the sun, leaving only scattered flecks of cursed energy.
Facing the Mahoraga's ferocious triple assault, Gaio, still spinning, flicked his right foot mid-air, his toes precisely striking the wrist of the overhead Mahoraga.
The gentle-looking kick carried terrifying force, knocking the Mahoraga's arm off course. Its Blade of Exorcism veered, crashing into the ground and splashing blood everywhere.
Using the recoil, Gaio's body shot sideways several meters, easily dodging Mahoraga Three's thrust.
As for the Blade of Exorcism aiming for his ankle, Gaio merely lifted his leg slightly, letting the blade pass harmlessly beneath his sole.
Sukuna's wild laughter persisted, but a flicker of shock crossed his eyes.
The Mahoraga were supposed to disrupt their opponent's rhythm, force a counterattack, and adapt to Gaio's slashes!
But Gaio… was too uncanny!
Facing the relentless assault of three top-tier shikigami and the seamless slashes of the domain, he moved like he was strolling through his backyard. Perfectly precise dodges, casual blocks, and… wielding his blade with just one hand?
Slashes? Mahoraga? To him, they were barely a circus act!
This wasn't a fight—it was a game!
"Open!"
A furious roar exploded! Sukuna's hands maintaining the domain didn't budge, but the ones summoning the Mahoraga shifted rapidly. Blinding cursed energy flames compressed and formed in his palms.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
Two molten arrows, faster than sound, tore through the air!
Their trajectories were cunning, sealing off Gaio's escape routes. One aimed for his forehead, the other blocked his retreat.
The timing was vicious, catching the exact moment Gaio sidestepped a Mahoraga's sweep and deflected a side slash with his blade.
Fast! Ruthless! Lethal!
Domain suppression, Mahoraga distraction, flame snipe—triple checkmate!
Gaio seemed cornered. His posture faltered slightly as he deflected the latest slashes!
Sukuna's grin stretched to his ears—he had him!
But—
Clang!
A deafening metallic clash rang out!
The dark sheath of the Enma Blade was suddenly in front of Gaio!
So fast it left no afterimage, it precisely knocked the first flame arrow aside, exploding into a shower of sparks!
At the same time, Gaio's body performed an almost impossible move. Pivoting on his heel, he bent backward like weightless willow fluff, defying inertia.
Whoosh!
The searing heat of the second flame arrow grazed his nose as it missed, exploding into a towering pillar of fire in the blood sea behind him!
In that bent-back moment, his right hand, still gripping the blade, didn't pause. With a flick of his wrist, a blue arc of light slashed upward!
Clang!
Two domain slashes sneaking from his blind spot shattered on impact!
Smooth as flowing water, all in one motion!
Block, dodge, strike!
Three distinct responses, perfectly synchronized in a split second, as if rehearsed a million times!
Sukuna's grin froze.
"Kinda… boring," Gaio said, sidestepping Mahoraga One's ferocious slash, his voice as casual as commenting on the weather.
Before the words faded, he flipped backward! Mid-flip, his left hand formed a sword gesture at his chest.
"Phantom Blade."
The soft words came without warning.
Nine swords, crafted from pure ghostly blue light, materialized around Gaio, hovering silently, their tips aimed at their targets.
Gaio waved his hand.
Swish!
The nine blue lights vanished, as if they'd never existed.
The next instant—
Thud! Thud! Thud!
The sound of flesh being pierced rang out!
The three Mahoraga, mid-rampage, froze!
Blue light swords pierced through their chests, necks, and heads!
No visible wounds or entry points—these lethal blades seemed to grow directly from inside their thick cursed armor and bodies!
Their movements halted!
The domain's slashing roars seemed to pause for a moment.
Sukuna's frozen expression turned to horror. His four crimson eyes locked onto the Mahoraga, pierced from within by the light swords.
Useless! The Mahoraga's near-rule-level "adaptation" ability didn't even have time to activate against Gaio's bizarre spatial sword technique!
The three towering figures convulsed, their mighty bodies collapsing like punctured balloons, exploding into massive bursts of flesh and blood in the domain!
The phantom swords vanished.
Gaio landed lightly, the Enma Blade angled casually toward the ground, its blue glow reflecting on his indifferent face.
Another wave of domain slashes came roaring, but he sliced them apart with a casual swing, sparks flying.
He looked up at the demonic figure before the shrine.
"Is that it? Looks like you still can't entertain me, Sukuna."