The time rewinds slightly to the moment Kokun's cursed energy went haywire.
In the brief moment Satoru Gojo was distracted by that torrent of cursed energy, Bayer—who had similarly sent his own cursed energy into a frenzy through 'Activation'—used the massive surge of power to forcibly expand the target of his innate technique, Tool Manipulation, which specifically focused on knives.
By mandating the rebar and steel frames that made up the hotel to transform into knife-like shapes, he had managed to stir up a localized storm of steel across a wide area.
"Even for a knife-throwing street performance, this is getting pretty crazy," Satoru Gojo muttered nonchalantly.
However, with countless knives raining down from all 360 degrees—above, below, left, and right—the sight of him being indirectly restrained as 'Infinity' was compressed from every side made him look like a pufferfish in a truly dire situation. At a glance, he appeared to be at a complete disadvantage.
Yet, this was the 'Strongest Sorcerer of the Modern Era,' Satoru Gojo. Even if his movements were somewhat sealed, defeat was an impossibility for him.
"Well, this is probably some kind of suicide binding vow like Mei-san's crows. Or maybe it involves losing one's sense of self? Man... what a waste. My hard-earned sushi is ruined. How are you going to make up for this?"
As he spoke, he released a blast from his fingertips: Cursed Technique Reversal: Red. The crimson cursed energy, propelled by the diffusion of infinity, shoved aside the wall of knives and surged forward. With unerring precision, it blew away Bayer's heart, carving a massive hole through his torso. And yet...
"Oh, you're impressive. I've never seen someone regenerate their heart before. What are you, Deadpool?"
Just as Gojo offered his praise with a mock round of applause, the gaping hole in Bayer's chest sealed in an instant. Bayer, having lost his sanity and staring with bloodshot, white-rimmed eyes, summoned even more knives. He began slamming them recklessly against Gojo's infinity, attempting to brute-force his way through Gojo's defense with pure cursed energy volume.
However, even tens of thousands of blades were a paltry sum before infinity. Such an attempt could never bear fruit.
"Hmm. I mean, I could just leave you alone and wait for you to die, but being surrounded by knives like this doesn't feel great... maybe I'll try that out?"
As he said this, Gojo recalled a relatively recent memory. Having perceived with his Six Eyes that his dearest best friend, Suguru Geto, had been injected with something by that eccentric junior, Biollante Naoya Zen'in, and had achieved Domain Expansion, Satoru had half-jokingly asked Naoya for advice himself.
'Hey, Naoya. Don't you have some advice for me? You do, right? You definitely do.'
'Satoru-kun, could ya stop with the three-stage extortion? It's pathetic. Are ya actually worried about your Domain?'
'No, not really. I saw yours, and I saw Suguru get the hang of it, so I understand it perfectly now. I can do it.'
'Geniuses really are unfair. It's a total cheat. Then what kind of advice do ya want? My flirting techniques are trade secrets—I'm keepin' 'em quiet.'
'Who'd ask you for dating tips? You're the ultimate "Great Virgin" because of your binding vows.'
'How rude. Honestly, Satoru-kun... fine, whatever. It's not exactly advice, but let me give ya a piece of my mind. ...Satoru-kun, isn't it about time ya stopped? The slacking, I mean.'
'Huh?'
'Don't glare at me, I won't take it back. It's a fact. ...Sure, it's an inherited technique, so there's value in following the teachings of those who came before. But even so, shouldn't ya try to improve on 'em? Your application of the basics is garbage, Satoru-kun. Why don't ya use your imagination a bit more?'
'What are you talking about? I just learned Red the other day, and I can even use Hollow Purple if I want to.'
'I'm talkin' about makin' an original technique. Don't ya get it? Even I only got where I am today by messin' around with my old man's technique. You've been too strong from the start, Satoru-kun, and because of that, you're terrible at being creative.'
'Creativity is for weaklings, isn't it? ...Well, I might have said that until last year. Ingenuity, original techniques... fine, I'll think about it.'
It had been a conversation that was half-idle chatter.
However, after seeing Suguru and Naoya, and enduring repeated training sessions from Toji, Gojo had come to find a certain value in the 'power of ingenuity.' He had, to his own surprise, worked quite seriously on developing a new technique.
This was the first result.
The moment Gojo formed a sword hand-seal, a spherical barrier surrounded Bayer.
"It's no use trying to get out. That barrier has infinity applied to it. You can't even interfere with it from the inside, let alone break it. And now—Phase. Sudden Enlightenment. Summer Camellia.—Extension Technique: 『 』!"
Immediately after Satoru Gojo declared his technique, Bayer, who was supposed to be inside the barrier, began to collapse as if evaporating from his skin. Though he resisted with the regenerative power provided by his infinite cursed energy, his body gradually lost its volume.
"Oh, as expected of a zombie, you're holding out pretty well. I'll give you an explanation of the technique as a parting gift for the afterlife. 『 』 is my own original technique, not mentioned in any of the inherited manuals. I gave it this name because simply calling it 'Yellow' wouldn't be cool. The content is simply pouring infinity into the barrier to 'dilute' it. It's a very simple technique... though I guess an idiot wouldn't understand 'dilution through infinity.' Air is a good example. Air is a state where air molecules are flying around in a vacuum. If you pour infinity in there, the vacuum surrounding the air becomes infinite. To put it simply, the distance between molecules becomes infinite. But the target of my 『 』 is a bit smaller than that—"
"I'm pouring infinity between the 'atoms' to 'dilute' them."
The moment Gojo finished his sentence, the technique 『 』, strengthened by the disclosure of its mechanics, completely decomposed Bayer's physical body. As the barrier was released, the approximately 70kg of atoms that had composed him chemically bonded with the surrounding oxygen and moisture, dispersing like a mist in the wind.
"Alright, time to go back and check on the Star Plasma Vessel brat. It looks like Suguru handled that nonsensical cursed energy from earlier."
With a casualness that didn't suggest he had just erased a human being from existence, Gojo rotated his shoulders and stretched. In the middle of the collapsed hotel, he suddenly voiced a doubt.
"Huh? Come to think of it, where's Sensei?"
Immediately after he muttered that.
"Good grief. What was up with this guy?"
Accompanied by those words, Toji Fushiguro appeared, dragging a corpse whose neck was bent at a strange angle.
"Sensei, what's with that corpse?"
"Oh, this? I was gonna take him alive, but he tried to do something in response to that cursed energy explosion earlier. I accidentally messed up the strength of my slap. My free sushi is ruined."
"Ah... I accidentally blew mine away too. Let's call it a draw and just split the bill later, all of us together."
"...Well, if I think of it as a meal during a meeting, I guess it's not too bad. Right after I have Ieiri do a quick autopsy on this body."
Muttering this, Toji hoisted the corpse he had been dragging over his shoulder with a heavy grunt. Gojo followed him as they successfully exited the half-destroyed hotel and regrouped with Ieiri and the others.
[Reviews - Power St0nes - Comments are highly appreciated to keep me going.....(+50 chapters) patre0n.c0m/talecrafter]