Gojo Satoru: Makima, You're the Challenger! / Revealing Her Technique and Makima's 0.2-Second Domain Expansion

The original plot had long since become unrecognizable. If they were to stage another Shibuya Incident, there would definitely be considerable changes compared to the original.

The most direct change was that Gojo Satoru, Tsukumo Yuki, and Okkotsu Yuta—the three Special Grade sorcerers from the original story—were all now in Japan. If Seele and Makima were included as well, just relying on four Cursed Spirits to cause trouble would be impossible. The moment they showed themselves, they would likely be surrounded and exterminated.

So Makima needed to balance the combat strength of both sides.

And so, three weeks later.

Tokyo, Shibuya Ward, exactly seven in the evening.

A curtain nearly a thousand meters in diameter descended, centered on the Tokyu Department Store Toyoko Store.

This was the busiest time of day in all of Shibuya. Although there were far fewer people on the streets than over a month ago due to curses being made public, a large number of people were still trapped within the barrier.

The trapped civilians immediately realized that they had likely encountered a curse-related incident. Whether it was Cursed Spirits or sorcerers, this abnormal situation before them was certainly related to one of the two.

"Why is this happening? I only went out to buy something. How did I run into a curse incident?"

"Where are the sorcerers? Hurry up and save us!"

"Help! I don't want to die!"

The civilians trapped inside the barrier erupted into an uproar. Amid the noise and chaos, a clear voice suddenly rang out from nowhere.

"Bring Gojo Satoru here. Until then, no one may leave."

Upon hearing that voice, countless civilians crowded against the edge of the barrier and shouted Gojo Satoru's name.

The Jujutsu World reacted swiftly as well. They immediately informed the Japanese government to evacuate the surrounding area, then deployed nearly every Grade 3 sorcerer and above in Tokyo to the outside of Shibuya's barrier.

During that time, quite a few sorcerers attempted to destroy the barrier, but every attempt failed.

"A conspiracy aimed at Gojo Satoru?"

Outside the barrier, Zenin Naobito looked at the situation before him and spoke.

"That is likely the case. With such profound mastery of barrier techniques, the mastermind behind this may be the one who deployed that barrier covering all of Japan."

Nanami Kento beside him spoke with an equally grave expression.

In addition, Grade 1 sorcerers such as Kusakabe Atsuya and Meimei, along with the students of Jujutsu High School, had all gathered outside the barrier.

Even Tsukumo Yuki and Okkotsu Yuta arrived one after another.

It was clear that the Jujutsu World's higher-ups attached great importance to this incident. Unfortunately, even the two Special Grade sorcerers, Tsukumo Yuki and Okkotsu Yuta, could not forcibly breach the barrier. Otherwise, the civilians inside would inevitably be affected.

A few minutes later, Gojo Satoru, the central figure of this incident, finally arrived at the scene.

"According to orders from the higher-ups, I'll enter the barrier alone to investigate the situation. Everyone else should remain outside and adapt as needed."

Gojo Satoru spoke to everyone present.

Upon hearing that, everyone at the scene frowned.

Even knowing that the mastermind was targeting Gojo Satoru, they were still sending him into danger alone...

Well, it sounded absurd, but it somehow seemed perfectly normal when it came from the Jujutsu World higher-ups, who regarded Gojo Satoru as a thorn in their side.

"The enemy behind this incident possesses an extremely profound command of barrier techniques. They may very well be the mastermind behind the barrier covering all of Japan."

Standing beside the barrier, Nanami Kento offered a reminder.

"Don't worry. No matter what scheme the enemy has this time, I won't let them succeed."

Gojo Satoru waved a hand dismissively, then stepped toward the barrier.

The students standing some distance behind him, especially Itadori Yuji and Fushiguro Megumi, watched with worried expressions.

"Gojo-sensei, you have to win!"

In response, Gojo Satoru stood with his back to them, a relaxed smile on his face and a firm, confident tone in his voice.

"I'll win."

His leisurely voice reached everyone's ears. The next second, Gojo Satoru's body completely disappeared into the barrier.

Gojo Satoru: Makima, You're the Challenger!

The moment his body fully entered the barrier, the scene within it appeared before Gojo Satoru.

Although they were trapped here, not much time had passed, and the civilians within the barrier remained relatively calm. The moment they saw Gojo Satoru arrive, joy appeared on their faces.

"It's Mr. Gojo Satoru!"

"Mr. Gojo Satoru really came to save us!"

"Mr. Gojo Satoru, hurry up and eliminate the Cursed Spirits here and let us out!"

As one of the main promotional figures of the plan to make sorcerers public, Gojo Satoru was undoubtedly the most famous sorcerer in the entire Jujutsu World.

On one hand, his humorous and eccentric personality made him beloved by the public. On the other, there was Gojo Satoru's overwhelming strength.

As the only Special Grade sorcerer in the Jujutsu World to publicly appear, Gojo Satoru was the strongest of all sorcerers active in the public eye. He was also the sorcerer who had publicly exterminated the greatest number of Cursed Spirits. In the many videos circulating online, any Cursed Spirit that appeared before Gojo Satoru would be crushed with overwhelming ease.

Thus, after Gojo Satoru himself arrived, all the civilians trapped within the barrier felt as though they had been given reassurance, and their emotions immediately relaxed considerably.

They believed that this time, Gojo Satoru would likewise easily eliminate the curses causing trouble here and safely rescue everyone.

"Everyone, please remain calm. Stay where you are and try not to move around carelessly."

Facing the eager civilians around him, Gojo Satoru waved his hand, signaling for them to make way.

Through the Six Eyes, Gojo Satoru had already fixed his gaze on the underground subway station. There was an unusual fluctuation of cursed energy there, clearly drawing him in.

Furthermore, the person who had set up this barrier had deliberately used the civilians inside as hostages to lure him here. There was no need for much doubt—Gojo Satoru was almost certain that he would be ambushed if he went there.

"Setting the ambush point in a subway station? What a crafty bastard."

In an enclosed environment like a subway station, as long as they held a group of civilians hostage there, Gojo Satoru would be unable to fight freely with his techniques. He would not even be able to deploy his Domain.

Otherwise, one mistake could lead to widespread civilian deaths. Yet the cursed energy fluctuation was coming from the subway station, and in order to lift the barrier and free the trapped civilians, Gojo Satoru had no choice but to make the trip.

It could be said that this was an entirely open scheme.

When he reached the entrance to the subway station, another barrier blocked the way. Yet just like the barrier outside, this one posed no obstruction to Gojo Satoru. Clearly, it was another barrier that only Gojo Satoru could enter.

He stepped through the second barrier and entered the subway station.

Unexpectedly, there were no hostages like Gojo Satoru had imagined. On the contrary, the entire subway station was completely empty.

There were no panicked civilians, no dead bodies. Within the spotless subway station, there was only a figure standing some distance away with her back to Gojo Satoru.

Yet it was precisely that figure that caused the unease in Gojo Satoru's heart to become something tangible in an instant.

Because she was a woman who should never have appeared here under any circumstances.

Looking at the familiar figure before him, Gojo Satoru lowered his blindfold slightly. His azure eyes fixed tightly on her, and only after a long while did he finally speak.

"Miss Makima... aren't you going to explain why you're here?"

Makima slowly turned around, her calm smile still on her face. Her dark golden eyes watched Gojo Satoru before her.

"Why I'm here, Mr. Gojo Satoru—why ask when you already know?"

At that moment, Gojo Satoru's mind raced as he considered countless possibilities.

For example, perhaps this Shibuya Incident was a trap laid by the Jujutsu World higher-ups for him. They had deliberately lured him here alone to use Makima's power to eliminate him, and Makima was a pawn they had cultivated to kill him.

Or perhaps Makima, like his former best friend Geto Suguru, had gone astray because of certain ideals and become a curse user. She might have lured him here to accomplish some unknown plan.

Or perhaps everything before him was fake. Without realizing it, he had been struck by the technique of some unknown curse, and everything he saw now was merely an illusion.

But Gojo Satoru personally dismissed every one of those possibilities. Because at this moment, as he sensed the undisguised aura radiating from Makima, an answer more absurd—and more terrifying—than all of his guesses was about to emerge.

"Miss Makima... are you a curse?"

Although both his Six Eyes and his own senses had already told Gojo Satoru the answer, he still asked the question.

"So you finally noticed. Well, that makes sense. After all, I'm not concealing anything now. But even with the answer laid bare before you, Mr. Gojo Satoru, you still seem to find it rather hard to believe."

Makima smiled and nodded.

"No, I'm simply surprised. The entire Jujutsu World, myself included, was actually deceived by a curse. This really is... the joke of the century."

A curse had not only openly mingled among a group of sorcerers, but had even become one of the Jujutsu World's higher-ups, managing the Director's Council's affairs while overseeing every sorcerer in all of Tokyo.

Wasn't something so absurd enough to make anyone burst into laughter? Wasn't it the most laughable joke in the world?

But Gojo Satoru could not laugh right now.

"Even my Six Eyes couldn't detect the slightest trace of a curse before this. If you wanted, you could have hidden your identity forever. Why reveal yourself openly now?"

"Because I need to carry out certain plans. In order to ensure the stage is not disturbed, I need Mr. Gojo Satoru to sleep here for a while."

"Besides, this does not count as exposure. No matter what you see next, once you wake up, Mr. Gojo Satoru, you will forget all of these memories. Likewise, no one will know what happened here."

Hearing Makima's words, Gojo Satoru could no longer hold back his laughter.

"From the sound of it, Miss Makima, you think you can definitely defeat me? I'm really being underestimated..."

"You don't want me interfering with your plans, and you want me to forget these memories. Fine. If you can do it, then come and try!"

"But don't forget—you're the challenger!"

His figure vanished from where he stood. The next second, Gojo Satoru appeared before Makima and threw a punch.

Revealing the Technique and Makima's 0.2-Second Domain Expansion

Although the entire subway station was now empty, a huge number of civilians had gathered above it. Therefore, between cursed techniques and close combat, Gojo Satoru decisively chose the latter.

Likewise, Gojo Satoru was confident that even without relying on cursed techniques, he could still defeat any opponent.

They might have looked like ordinary punches and kicks, but anyone who underestimated them would pay a heavy price.

However, Makima circulated cursed energy in response to Gojo Satoru's attack. Then, she actually ignored the obstruction of the Infinity technique, reached out, and seized Gojo Satoru's wrist. The cursed energy gathered in her hand touched Gojo Satoru's body at that moment.

In an instant, all the strength behind his attack vanished. A feeling of weakness engulfed his entire body, and Makima slightly raised her leg before kicking Gojo Satoru away.

That was simply how the cursed energy system worked. It looked like a mage-type profession, yet after becoming part of the cursed energy system, even someone like Makima, who originally lacked close-combat ability, had naturally gained impressive skill in hand-to-hand combat.

Jujutsu Kaisen truly lived up to its reputation as Fistfight Kaisen.

"Not only did you directly ignore my Infinity and reach my body, but there was also that feeling of weakness, like I couldn't use any strength at all. Can you tell me how you did it?"

Freed from the influence of Makima's cursed energy, Gojo Satoru regained his strength and rose from the ground. Though his eyes were filled with gravity, he still asked with a relaxed expression.

"It isn't difficult to accomplish. You only need to rely on a cursed technique."

Makima did not hesitate to answer.

"My cursed technique is called Control. It allows me to control other living beings. You may think of it as an ability similar to the Cursed Spirit Manipulation of the curse user Geto Suguru from back then. However, Cursed Spirit Manipulation can only control Cursed Spirits, while my technique goes beyond that. Whether Cursed Spirits, humans, or other lifeforms, all fall within my range of control."

"As for what I displayed just now, it is a power called Restraint. The power of Restraint caused your cursed technique and cursed energy to vanish for an instant, plunging you into a weakened state."

Hearing that, Gojo Satoru nodded.

"I see. A cursed technique that can control others, and Restraint derived from it. Through the power of Restraint, you rendered both my cursed technique and cursed energy ineffective, making me lose even the ability to resist for that instant."

Makima merely smiled without replying.

This was the first time she had used the techniques of a Binding Vow in battle. By revealing information about her abilities, both Makima's power of Control and the authority of the Herrscher of Restraint had been enhanced to a certain degree. At the same time, she had played a small trick while revealing her abilities.

She had indeed revealed the abilities of Control and Restraint. However, through the order of her words and a certain degree of misdirection, Gojo Satoru had clearly mistaken the power of Restraint for a lesser ability derived from the authority of Control.

With that mistaken understanding, Gojo Satoru would still be wary of the authority of Restraint in the coming battle, but he would clearly devote more attention to Control. That would create more opportunities for the authority of Restraint, her true primary combat ability.

Though given the gap in strength between them, there was not much need to do so.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Several golden chains shot out from behind Makima and instantly pierced the ground before her.

Gojo Satoru immediately retreated, evading Makima's attack.

Now that he knew Makima's abilities, Gojo Satoru clearly would not attempt to get close and engage her in hand-to-hand combat again. Otherwise, if she found another opportunity, the next time would likely not end with just a kick.

"Cursed Technique: Reversal: Red!"

Dark crimson cursed energy gathered in his hand, then shot violently toward Makima.

Gojo Satoru deliberately controlled the direction of this strike so that Red's power would spread underground as much as possible, avoiding harm to the civilians above.

Even if it did affect them, Gojo Satoru would still have launched the attack. The situation was too dire for him to continue protecting others with ease. Although he would still do his best to prevent his attacks from harming the civilians above, Gojo Satoru was not prepared to compromise too much because of it.