Twenty Fingers! Ryomen Sukuna with Five Times the Combat Power!

Chu Yang left with Yuji Itadori, leaving the cleanup to Kiyotaka Ijichi. In matters like this, he was the expert.

Yuji kept his head lowered the whole way. That deep sense of helplessness made it hard for him to breathe.

If not for the small comfort brought by the girl they had luckily saved, he might have completely sunk into those feelings.

Chu Yang noticed something was off with him. Smiling faintly, he asked softly, "What, you think you’re useless just because you can’t beat a Special Grade Cursed Spirit?"

Yuji shook his head. "It’s not that I want to beat anyone. I just feel like I can’t protect anybody…"

Chu Yang burst out laughing. "Kid, you’re just a student who enrolled not long ago. It’s not your turn to protect anyone. Don’t get so full of yourself!"

Yuji hurriedly waved his hands. "That’s not what I meant…"

Chu Yang reached out and smacked the back of his head. It was not hard, but it still made Yuji grimace in pain.

"As a junior, you should just accept other people’s protection without worrying. Once you become a senior someday, then you can think about protecting others. Trying to take over your seniors’ responsibilities now—if that isn’t being full of yourself, what is?"

"So when you run into things beyond your ability, it isn’t your fault, and you shouldn’t be the one carrying the responsibility."

As he spoke, Chu Yang suddenly recalled Kento Nanami teaching him the same thing back when he had been working.

Chu Yang shook his head with a laugh. "Some middle-aged guy taught me all that. If it sounds old-fashioned, just listen to it casually. Don’t take it to heart."

Yuji’s mood was clearly much better than before, and a smile returned to his face. "Those words make a lot of sense. I’ll remember them. When I become a senior someday, I’ll say them to my juniors too."

Chu Yang nodded in satisfaction. The kid might be a little slow, but sincere flattery like that always put people in a good mood.

"In my opinion, juniors are much more sensible than seniors!"

Hearing the familiar voice, Chu Yang looked up and found Kento Nanami standing at the entrance to Jujutsu High.

Nanami looked at Chu Yang with obvious displeasure. "Who are you calling some middle-aged guy?"

Chu Yang gave a dry cough. "Slip of the tongue, slip of the tongue. Don’t mind it, Senior Nanami."

Twenty-seven-year-old Kento Nanami shot Chu Yang a warning look before finally looking away.

He said to Yuji, "I’m an adult, absolutely not a middle-aged guy. Don’t listen to his nonsense."

Yuji had no idea what to say, so he could only nod repeatedly.

Chu Yang asked curiously, "Why are you here, Senior Nanami?"

Nanami lowered his head to look at his watch and answered leisurely, "Senior Gojo asked me to come. He told me to take the kid beside you away."

"Letting you take him on an internship for one day was enough. You’re a Special Grade Jujutsu Sorcerer now. You can’t keep wasting your time on him."

"Those were Senior Gojo’s exact words."

As he spoke, Nanami deliberately emphasized the words "Special Grade Jujutsu Sorcerer," clearly teasing Chu Yang.

Chu Yang did not notice the teasing at all. His mind was filled with thoughts about Gojo Satoru’s intentions.

Nanami and Yuji could have worked together from the beginning, so why had Gojo switched Yuji over to him halfway through, only to switch him back now?

What was he testing?

Chu Yang instinctively felt that Gojo Satoru was not testing him, but someone else…

"Ah… I’ve only studied with Senior Yang for one day. Why are you changing people so casually already?!"

Yuji’s complaint abruptly interrupted Chu Yang’s thoughts.

"This is the senior who introduced you to the field. Being able to learn from him is your good fortune!"

Chu Yang scolded him with a smile.

Yuji immediately fell silent.

"It seems you’re well loved by your juniors." Nanami revealed a gratified smile. "I hope you can stay this way. Don’t ever disappoint those who trust you."

"Don’t say things like that. It puts too much pressure on people." Chu Yang shook his head, then suddenly slapped Yuji on the back and sent him toward Nanami before walking off without looking back.

"Oh, right! Senior Gojo also asked me to pass along a message." Nanami called out to Chu Yang’s retreating back. "You’re required to attend the Jujutsu High exchange event as a referee!"

Chu Yang paused, then nodded.

A referee?

More like bait!

Chu Yang could not help laughing.

A short while later, Nanami left with Yuji.

"Senior Nanami, where are we going?"

"To wrap up this incident. Yang only knows how to deal with Cursed Spirits and is indifferent to everything else. Don’t learn that from him."

Yuji thought of the girl whose form Mahito had altered and said with absolute certainty, "No! Besides being good at dealing with Cursed Spirits, Senior Yang is also a very good person!"

Nanami paused, adjusted his glasses, and said nothing.

Afterward, the two found Junpei Yoshino, the high school student who had appeared with Mahito at the beginning of the incident.

One week later.

The exchange event between Tokyo Jujutsu High and Kyoto Jujutsu High officially began.

The principals of the two schools, Masamichi Yaga and Yoshinobu Gakuganji, each led their students to meet at the school.

The conservative Yoshinobu Gakuganji fixed his gaze on Chu Yang as soon as he appeared.

Back then, he had been the first to oppose making Chu Yang into a vessel.

Chu Yang noticed his gaze and rudely made a throat-slitting gesture at Yoshinobu Gakuganji.

The students present were instantly dumbfounded.

Wasn’t this an exchange event?

Why was it so explosive right from the start?

Were the two schools going to go straight to war?

"Hahaha, you’re being naughty again!"

Gojo Satoru laughed loudly as he hooked an arm around Chu Yang’s neck and dragged him to the other side.

Masamichi Yaga coughed awkwardly several times to draw everyone’s attention, then began explaining the rules of the competition.

The first round was a team battle.

The schools had placed Cursed Spirits in a nearby forest beforehand. Within the time limit, both sides would enter the forest and exorcise Cursed Spirits. Whichever side exorcised the greater number would win.

While Yaga was explaining, Gojo quietly reminded Chu Yang, "Originally, there was no need for a referee to go in, but those higher-ups insisted on it. They specifically named you too, saying it was to protect the students’ safety."

"A bunch of ordinary Cursed Spirits don’t need you to step in. I suspect there’s something fishy going on."

Chu Yang said disdainfully, "You didn’t stop them because you wanted me to go in as bait too. Stop pretending to be the good guy here."

Having his thoughts exposed right to his face, Gojo was not embarrassed in the slightest. He grinned shamelessly. "There’s no danger anyway. Why not let me see just how rotten Jujutsu High has become?"

Chu Yang sneered. "Instead of wasting time, we might as well kill them all and rebuild Jujutsu High from scratch."

Gojo did not respond. He turned his head away, pretending not to hear.

A moment later, the competition began.

Chu Yang entered alongside the students, and students from both sides watched him.

"Keep staring, and I’ll dig your eyeballs out."

Chu Yang’s arrogant attitude made the Kyoto students glare furiously, while Yuji and the others looked completely used to it.

Maki Zenin, Panda, and Toge Inumaki had known Chu Yang for a long time. Maki Zenin had even learned combat techniques from him for a period.

Megumi Fushiguro and Yuji had both spent time with Chu Yang as well. Only Nobara Kugisaki had no idea who he was.

Like the Kyoto students, she was angry and glared at Chu Yang.

Only after Megumi and Yuji pulled her aside and whispered a few words did her expression ease.

Aoi Todo clenched his fists and warned him with a hostile expression, "Even if you’re the referee, you’ll still get beaten up for talking nonsense. If you don’t believe me, try it."

Aoi Todo was a third-year student at Kyoto Jujutsu High. Before even graduating, he was already a Grade 1 Jujutsu Sorcerer, stronger than even the school’s teachers.

His teacher was the Special Grade Jujutsu Sorcerer Yuki Tsukumo.

The other Kyoto students were all waiting to watch the show.

If they beat up Tokyo Jujutsu High’s referee as soon as the competition began, the only side that would lose face was the other one.

Kasumi Miwa was the only one in the group who seemed nervous, kindly urging Aoi Todo not to act impulsively.

Todo was merely acting in a moment of anger. After calming down, he decided not to pursue the matter.

But Chu Yang added fuel to the fire, crooking a finger at Todo as he sneered, "You nearly scared me to death."

Todo’s expression darkened. He immediately stripped off his clothes, exposing his muscular upper body.

He covered his entire body in Cursed Energy and charged straight at Chu Yang, intending to teach him a lesson with the close-combat fighting he excelled at most.

Now it was the Tokyo Jujutsu High students’ turn to watch the show. Everyone knew who was about to have a bad time.

Todo’s fist was coated in Cursed Energy as he punched at Chu Yang’s face.

Chu Yang punched back without using Cursed Energy.

The two fists collided. Todo did not even last a second before a terrifying force blasted him away.

The force of the impact even sent the Kyoto students staggering.

After landing, Todo discovered that his right arm had gone numb.

Everyone’s faces filled with shock.

They had never seen anyone send Aoi Todo flying with such overwhelming strength.

Todo covered his arm as he got up, his expression ugly. Getting injured at a time like this meant Kyoto Jujutsu High would be at a disadvantage in the upcoming competition.

"Todo, are you alright?"

"What happened to your hand?"

His classmates surrounded Todo and asked about his injury.

"It’s broken!"

Todo uttered those two words, instantly making everyone’s hearts sink.

Since Todo said it was broken, it could not be a simple fracture. It was most likely a comminuted fracture.

"You’re the referee! How can you hurt a student?!"

Momo Nishimiya, Kyoto’s Associate Grade 2 Jujutsu Sorcerer, loudly berated Chu Yang.

"You were the ones who wanted to fight. You’re weaker than him, yet you’re barking like stray dogs after losing."

Nobara Kugisaki fired back without yielding. When it came to arguing, she had never lost to anyone.

Momo was furious from the retort and raised her broom, preparing to activate her technique.

Nobara likewise took out her Cursed Tool.

Seeing their companions ready to fight, the others also assumed fighting stances. For a moment, both sides were at each other’s throats.

"This has nothing to do with you."

Chu Yang waved for Maki and the others to step back, then said to Momo, "If you want to fight, you can all come at me together. That way, we won’t waste time."

Elsewhere.

Masamichi Yaga and the others watched this through the monitors with grim expressions. None of them had expected things to develop like this.

A referee was actually fighting the competing students!

"He’s a Special Grade Jujutsu Sorcerer, yet he’s bullying students! This is outrageous!"

Utahime Iori, the teacher leading Kyoto’s team, could not help cursing. She rolled up her sleeves, ready to go down and stand up for her students.

"You said it yourself, he’s a Special Grade. It’s only natural for him to have a bit of a temper."

Gojo Satoru stopped her with a grin.

"Get out of my way! Don’t think I won’t do anything to you just because you’re a Special Grade!"

Utahime flew into a rage and assumed a fighting stance as she spoke.

"Calm down."

Principal Yoshinobu Gakuganji stopped Utahime with a stern look.

Utahime said darkly, "Principal, Todo is injured like this. We obviously can’t win now. This isn’t fair!"

Gojo immediately said, "Don’t worry. Yang will heal his injury."

On the screen.

"Stop!"

Aoi Todo roared, and the others no longer aimed their weapons at Chu Yang.

After stopping his companions from fighting, Todo stepped out from the crowd and walked over to Chu Yang. He asked, "Did you use Cursed Energy just now?"

Chu Yang replied calmly, "I don’t need to get that serious to deal with you."

After receiving a definite answer, Todo’s expression dimmed slightly. He slowly nodded. "You’re very strong. I really am not your opponent. There’s nothing more to say."

He turned to his companions and said, "The responsibility is mine alone and has nothing to do with anyone else. If we lose the competition, I’ll take full responsibility."

"Sorry."

Aoi Todo apologized to Chu Yang.

The other Kyoto students were boiling with anger, but they could only force it down.

Chu Yang suddenly reached out and pressed a hand onto Todo’s injured arm.

Everyone’s expressions changed drastically, thinking he was about to attack.

Chu Yang used Reverse Cursed Technique and instantly healed Todo’s arm. Todo moved his shoulder with an astonished expression.

"Reverse Cursed Technique, an extremely difficult skill that only a few people in the entire jujutsu world understand…" Kasumi Miwa muttered in shock. "As expected of a Special Grade Jujutsu Sorcerer."

Momo Nishimiya grabbed Kasumi Miwa’s hand and asked excitedly, "What grade did you just say he was?"

Kasumi replied instinctively, "Special Grade."

Momo looked panicked as she stammered, "Aren’t there only four Special Grade Jujutsu Sorcerers? Why is there another one?"

"There has indeed been another Special Grade recently, but for some reason, the news never spread." Mechamaru’s muffled voice sounded. "I only heard about it by chance."

Understanding flashed through Todo’s eyes. No wonder Chu Yang had defeated him so easily. The gap between Special Grade and Grade 1 was as vast as heaven and earth.

After learning that Chu Yang was a Special Grade Jujutsu Sorcerer, the Kyoto students’ attitudes became noticeably more respectful. It was respect born purely from strength.

"If you don’t plan on continuing to cause trouble for me, then the competition can begin."

Chu Yang spoke indifferently.

The students from both sides sharpened their expressions and charged into the depths of the forest at the same time.

At the start, both schools adopted the same strategy: steadily exorcise Cursed Spirits and compete through raw strength.

After only a short while, the free-for-all inexplicably began again.

This time, the fuse was the Zenin sisters, Maki Zenin and Mai Zenin.

The fate between them forced them to set the competition aside and settle things properly.

Everyone paired off and fought for their companions.

None of them noticed that the scent of cursed spirits in the forest was growing stronger and stronger.

Among all cursed spirits, the Special Grade Cursed Spirit Hanami had the gentlest personality. It would sacrifice itself for its companions, and it would also feel sorrow and anger over their deaths.

After learning that Mahito had been killed by Chu Yang, Hanami had suffered for a long time. So when it learned it could take revenge, it became exceptionally excited.

Hanami had been born from humanity’s fear and hatred of nature, so it cherished nature deeply.

Hanami had only one reason for eliminating humans: without humans, nature could properly heal the wounds humanity had inflicted upon it.

This mindset was like that of an extreme environmentalist.

The moment Hanami appeared in the forest, the barriers that should have sounded an alarm showed no reaction. Its presence was so close to nature that it did not feel like a cursed spirit at all.

The barrier protecting Jujutsu High had mistaken Hanami for a plant.

Hanami walked through the area naturally, as though it had entered its own backyard.

Its mission was simple: plant cursed buds in Chu Yang’s body, prevent him from using Cursed Energy, then work with its companions to seize Ryomen Sukuna’s new vessel.

Hanami bent down and communicated with the plants, quickly learning Chu Yang’s location.

Countless tree roots burst from the ground beneath Hanami and surged in every direction.

These roots were objects Hanami materialized through Cursed Energy, able to appear or vanish according to its will.

Thus, when it locked onto Chu Yang as its target, countless roots suddenly attacked him from all directions.

The entire competition grounds descended into chaos.

Everyone’s battles were forcibly interrupted by the roots’ assault.

"Jujutsu High couldn’t possibly have a cursed spirit this powerful."

Aoi Todo, who had been fighting Yuji Itadori, sensed that something was wrong and immediately stopped attacking.

Yuji looked at him in confusion.

"This is power only a Special Grade Cursed Spirit possesses. It far exceeds the scope of the competition. Jujutsu High couldn’t have prepared this deliberately."

Aoi Todo explained.

Realizing the severity of the situation, Yuji looked toward the massive roots and shouted in alarm, "That’s where Senior Yang is!"

Aoi Todo frowned and said in confusion, "Targeting a Special Grade Jujutsu Sorcerer specifically—even for a Special Grade Cursed Spirit, that’s suicidal."

"Something’s very wrong. Let’s go take a look!"

Similar scenes played out across the other battlefields. Both sides temporarily abandoned their fights and rushed toward Chu Yang’s location.

Meanwhile, the teachers watching from the classroom also noticed the intruder. Masamichi Yaga announced the suspension of the assessment and told the teachers to head to the examination grounds immediately.

Gojo Satoru took the lead, and Kyoto’s principal, Yoshinobu Gakuganji, followed after him.

The moment they arrived, they saw an enormous "veil" covering the examination grounds.

"A barrier this large would require an enormous amount of Cursed Energy. Its strength shouldn’t be that high."

Gojo Satoru pressed a hand against the veil’s black membrane, only to be met with an extremely violent rebound. Its strength far exceeded his expectations.

Yoshinobu Gakuganji saw through the situation and said with an odd expression, "It seems the only restriction of this barrier is you. The enemy came prepared."

"Yeah, that should be it." Gojo Satoru turned to Utahime Iori. "Please go in first. I’ll be there shortly."

Without another word, the two passed through the veil and entered the barrier.

A bald curse user had been waiting for them and immediately launched an attack.

Seventy-six-year-old Yoshinobu Gakuganji took off his outer robe, revealing an extremely fashionable T-shirt beneath it. Then he pulled out his electric guitar Cursed Tool and began rocking out.

The visual impact was immense.

"Go find the students first. I’ll handle this guy!"

As he spoke, Yoshinobu Gakuganji struck first. He plucked the strings fiercely, sending a violent wave of Cursed Energy at the curse user and catching him completely off guard.

Utahime Iori took the opportunity to leave.

Outside the veil, Gojo Satoru stood silently in thought, seemingly with no intention of breaking the barrier.

"I’ll leave the inside to Yang. Since they’ve gone this far, I need to find out who exactly is behind this…"

Gojo Satoru turned and left without hesitation.

However, he could never have imagined that Chu Yang had already been "captured" by Hanami.

Chu Yang had never intended to resist.

He wanted Hanami to take him away so that these Special Grade Cursed Spirits could "forcefully" feed him Sukuna’s fingers.

Hanami dragged Chu Yang, whose body was covered in cursed buds, and vanished into the forest.

The students searched everywhere for Chu Yang’s traces. It was not until the veil completely disappeared that they had no choice but to accept an unbelievable truth.

Chu Yang had been taken away by a cursed spirit!

Even Gojo Satoru was clearly stunned by this fact when he returned, remaining silent for a long time.

A shadow suddenly fell over all of Jujutsu High.

Meanwhile, Chu Yang followed Hanami into a mysterious space filled everywhere with the presence of cursed spirits.

The lighting was dim and the environment damp, seemingly somewhere like a basement.

With "cursed buds" planted all over his body, Chu Yang chose to remain unconscious and quietly waited for the cursed spirits to feed him Sukuna’s fingers.

"I brought him back!"

Hanami’s voice was high with excitement and exhilaration.

"Well done, Hanami! Now we can try using a sacrifice to summon Ryomen Sukuna."

Jogo was equally excited. He circled Chu Yang nonstop, constantly examining him.

Kenjaku silently watched Chu Yang for a long time before finally asking, "Why did it go so smoothly? You don’t seem to be injured."

Hanami was slightly displeased by those words. Kenjaku’s meaning seemed to be that it should not have been this strong.

"He has no cursed technique. He is merely skilled at using Cursed Energy to strengthen his body. My cursed buds drained away all of his Cursed Energy, so he lost the ability to resist!"

Hanami explained patiently, then deliberately emphasized, "He had an incredible amount of Cursed Energy, more than all of us combined. I had to use several seeds before I could drain it all."

Jogo nodded. "With that much Cursed Energy, it’s only natural that he became Special Grade. Hanami’s cursed technique just happened to counter him. He was unlucky."

Kenjaku also found this explanation reasonable, but he still vaguely felt that something was wrong…

"Never mind that. Hurry up and feed him the fingers. I’ve waited a long time for this day!"

Jogo hurriedly moved to retrieve Sukuna’s fingers, but Kenjaku stopped him.

"There are still necessary rituals. We can’t feed them to him directly like this."

Jogo looked at him in confusion, unable to understand what rituals still needed to be prepared.

Kenjaku merely said to leave all the arrangements to him.

The next day, a little girl calling herself Uraume appeared beside Kenjaku, claiming to have been Ryomen Sukuna’s servant a thousand years ago.

Uraume told Kenjaku to prepare a place for bathing, then took ten fingers from Jogo and fed them all into Chu Yang’s mouth in one go.

At that moment, Chu Yang suddenly opened his eyes.

"He never lost consciousness!"

Uraume turned back toward Kenjaku and the others in terror.

Kenjaku’s heart sank sharply.

Then he saw Chu Yang take out another three fingers and put them into his mouth without hesitation.

All twenty of Ryomen Sukuna’s fingers were now inside Chu Yang’s body!

A massive, horrifying surge of Cursed Energy erupted from Chu Yang’s body!

"We finally meet again!"

"This time, only one of us will survive!"

Seated high upon a throne of white bones, Sukuna’s eyes brimmed with killing intent, his expression filled with excitement.

Having lost twice in a row to the same person was a tremendous humiliation to him. Now was the perfect time to wash that shame away!

Sukuna stepped down from the throne and directly expanded his domain.

A massive shrine slowly rose behind him.

Chu Yang also expanded his domain.

The two appeared simultaneously in an endless corridor.

Malevolent Shrine versus Death Struggle Corridor.

Their domains began crushing against each other until they reached a bizarre equilibrium.

Sukuna’s aura suddenly began to soar, his combat power increasing fivefold before gradually stabilizing.

"As an enemy, I truly like your domain."

Sukuna was brimming with confidence. Five times his peak combat power was enough to crush any opponent!

"Five times is passable. It can’t be ten times every time. I can’t be that lucky."

Chu Yang sighed, not bothering to hide his disappointment.

After all, the tenfold reward Mahito had given him last time had truly satisfied him for quite a while.

"That attitude again." The anger in Sukuna’s eyes surged. As the invincible King of Curses from a thousand years ago, he was now repeatedly being treated like a mere underling by Chu Yang.

Sukuna activated his cursed technique, raining indiscriminate slashes across a vast area upon Chu Yang.

Chu Yang also stacked all his buffs to the maximum at the first opportunity.

Though he looked down on Sukuna verbally, he had been extremely serious from the beginning of this battle.

The moment the slashes fell, the initial form of Susanoo on the outermost layer absorbed most of the damage.

The shockwaves from Chakra colliding with the slashes turned into purple flames that wrapped around Chu Yang.

The initial form of Susanoo could not endure Malevolent Shrine at five times its power for long.

It was worn away in the blink of an eye, after which the Tailed Beast Cloak faced the slashes.

The Tailed Beast Cloak’s defense was inferior to Susanoo’s. It held out for only a moment before the slashes broke through it and entered a final clash with Armament Haki.

With a single attack, Sukuna had actually broken through to Chu Yang’s third layer of defense!

Fivefold Sukuna was probably the opponent with the greatest destructive power Chu Yang had encountered so far.

Of course, Yamamoto Genryusai Shigekuni, who had not used his full strength, did not count. Their previous battle in the Seireitei had also been intended to force Chu Yang to awaken further.

Even Sukuna at ten times his combat power could not compare to Ryujin Jakka, much less Zanka no Tachi after Bankai.

Saitama, whose physical attacks were absurdly overpowered, also had to be excluded. A character who was invincible by design could not be compared.

In the Jujutsu Kaisen world.

Jujutsu Sorcerers or cursed spirits below Special Grade could not withstand Sukuna’s slashes even once.

But Chu Yang was not panicked in the slightest.

With his powerful physique and Lightning Release Armor, his body had long since become tougher than Armament Haki.

However, if he allowed Sukuna to keep attacking freely, even the strongest defense would eventually collapse.

Chu Yang had no intention of letting Sukuna waste his Haki for nothing.

With a thought, Fengdu and Tianque appeared in his hands at the same time.

An endless torrent of Yomi Water emerged from the void, instantly flooding the entire corridor.

Having suffered a massive loss from it once before, Sukuna leaped high into the air and stood atop his own shrine. Clapping his hands together, he opened the shrine’s doors and released a vast amount of flames.

The sea of fire and the Yomi Water devoured each other.

"This time, I’ll burn away all this strange water, then kill you."

Sukuna’s face was twisted as the killing intent around him surged.

Chu Yang sneered. "Is your fire hotter than the sun?"

Sukuna froze for a moment.

Even Ryujin Jakka’s flames had been extinguished by the Yomi Water. How much of a wave could his flames possibly make?

Then, in only a few seconds, the flames spewing from the shrine were completely swallowed by the Yomi Water. The place where Sukuna stood was already surrounded by a vast ocean.

"If it were anyone else, they might have been killed the instant they saw you. Fortunately, I’m good at stacking defenses."

Chu Yang said with a smile.

Sukuna’s face turned livid.

In truth, if Fengdu did not counter all soul-type beings, Chu Yang would not have been able to gain the upper hand so easily.

Yomi Water could dissolve special energies such as spiritual power and Cursed Energy, but it had no effect on Chakra, Magic Power, or internal energy.

It only targeted the former two types of energy.

So Sukuna’s misfortune lay in the fact that he had once been a curse user and still existed in soul form.

He possessed nothing but Cursed Energy.

If he had completed Body Snatching, he could at least have fought Chu Yang in close combat.

"You can only blame your bad luck…"

Chu Yang shook his head as the Yomi Water was about to submerge the shrine and reach Sukuna’s feet.

Sukuna’s expression gradually became crazed. No matter what, he could not accept losing again in the same way. So he opened the shrine and frantically devoured the Yomi Water beneath his feet.

Chu Yang was somewhat surprised.

What Sukuna was doing was no different from drinking poison to quench thirst, yet it was remarkably effective in the short term.

"As long as I kill you before my Cursed Energy completely disappears!"

"Either you die, or I perish!"

Sukuna’s eyes were bloodshot, his madness fully exposed. He pressed his palms together and unleashed his final cursed technique.

Even more violent slashes descended, turning into a storm of blades that swallowed Chu Yang, as though they would slice apart the endless corridor itself.

Chu Yang summoned the complete form of Susanoo and equipped it with the Tailed Beast Cloak. Combined, their defense surged dramatically, forcibly withstanding the attack.

There was one downside to fighting in the spiritual world: the Sharingan’s Genjutsu was useless.

Dragging a target already within a spiritual world into another spiritual space was a nested paradox. It simply could not be done.

Otherwise, Chu Yang could have trapped Sukuna directly and let him be quietly dissolved by the Yomi Water.

Under the domain’s sure-hit effect, Chu Yang had to resist an endless barrage of slashes at every moment, unable to spare any attention to attack Sukuna.

Sukuna was also resisting the erosion of Yomi and could do nothing more.

In the end, the two of them were competing for time.

A few short minutes felt as long as several years.

Sukuna’s expression turned extremely grim. He could already sense that his Cursed Energy was nearly exhausted, and Malevolent Shrine was about to disappear.

Meanwhile, more than half of Chu Yang’s fully manifested tailed-beast-armored Susanoo had been destroyed. Only a small portion remained to protect him.

Chu Yang’s shoulder and half of one arm had already been exposed to Sukuna’s slashes.

Sparks flew everywhere, yet only a layer of pale marks remained.

Hold on a little longer. He’ll be destroyed by the slashes.

Sukuna thought so, but his Cursed Energy ran dry first, and Malevolent Shrine vanished completely.

Without Malevolent Shrine, Sukuna’s slashes no longer existed.

Chu Yang dispelled Susanoo and walked up to Sukuna with a smile, spreading his hands. "The King of Curses, unmatched a thousand years ago, will still have a day when he falls. You should have died long ago. What’s the point of clinging to life until now?"

Knowing that death was certain, Sukuna was far calmer than before. He said flatly, "The victor becomes king, the loser a bandit. Say whatever you want."

Chu Yang sneered. "You’re hiding your final attack. What are you waiting for if you’re not going to use it?"

A sharp gleam flashed in Sukuna’s eyes. At the cost of consuming his soul, he unleashed a sure-hit slash straight at Chu Yang’s neck.

Clang!

The sound of metal striking metal rang out!

Staring at Chu Yang’s completely unharmed neck, Sukuna’s gaze went blank.