Art Is

After many years, Mahoraga's sacred and imposing figure appeared before Eiji once more.

Its head possessed a strange aesthetic beauty. Its massive body stood five meters tall, every muscle radiating explosive power, while overwhelming Cursed Energy that inspired despair poured from it.

"So this is Mahoraga."

A bead of cold sweat ran down Toji Fushiguro's forehead.

Toji Fushiguro had not yet reached his peak, and because of the Taming Ritual, he could not use those powerful cursed tools.

Mahoraga's combat ability was formidable, even surpassing many Special Grades.

Although Jogo had earned Sukuna's recognition in the original work, Sukuna had undeniably defeated Jogo with ease.

Yet when facing Mahoraga, Sukuna had needed to put in considerable effort. He had even fully deployed his Domain and used countless slashes in an attempt to cut Mahoraga to pieces in one go.

In the end, he discovered that Mahoraga had adapted to slashing attacks, and could only destroy it with the immensely powerful Fuga.

Eiji suddenly became curious what would happen if Jogo fought Mahoraga. Most likely, Jogo would not understand Mahoraga's mechanics at first and get beaten around because of the gap in raw stats. Once he figured it out, though, he would be helpless against Mahoraga because he had no second Technique.

If he accidentally got touched by the Demon-Slaying Sword during that time, he would probably be finished immediately.

Even without counting the Demon-Slaying Sword's special advantage, Mahoraga could probably knock the Four Calamities flat head-on.

Meanwhile, Toji Fushiguro had easily defeated the Special Grade Cursed Spirit Dagon with just Playful Cloud.

As a Cursed Womb that had only just hatched, Dagon had been significantly weaker than Jogo. But Toji Fushiguro had only possessed Playful Cloud at the time, so his combat capability had not been complete either.

Therefore, Toji Fushiguro at his peak should have been roughly comparable to Jogo, qualified to fight Mahoraga.

But only to fight it. After all, no cursed tool had ever been said to possess enough firepower to kill Mahoraga in a single blow.

He just did not know what effect the Inverted Spear of Heaven would have on Mahoraga.

But none of that mattered in the Taming Ritual.

The Taming Ritual was judged by the Cursed Energy system. That system only recognized the tamer's own Cursed Energy, so even if Toji Fushiguro defeated Mahoraga with cursed tools, it would be meaningless.

The best way to defeat Mahoraga was to kill it in one blow. Toji's cursed tools were powerful, but their attacks were relatively straightforward, without any overwhelmingly destructive methods.

Such attacks would very likely be adapted to by Mahoraga before they could kill it. In the end, Toji Fushiguro would have no options left but to retreat in defeat.

The fully manifested Mahoraga stared straight at Eiji. It bent its legs and swung its right fist toward him.

Bang.

Toji Fushiguro, standing in front of Eiji, did not retreat. His right fist, filled with the strength of his entire body, slammed fiercely into Mahoraga's fist.

A visible shockwave spread from the point where their fists collided.

The two separated the instant they clashed. From that brief exchange, Toji Fushiguro reached an answer that surprised him.

It could not be confronted head-on.

This was the first time since becoming the Heavenly Tyrant that Toji Fushiguro had encountered an enemy he could not overpower in a direct clash.

Toji Fushiguro seized the opportunity and swung his blade, severing Mahoraga's palm.

"Damn, this is troublesome."

Looking at Mahoraga's palm, which had already returned to normal, then at the steel blade that had slightly warped, Toji Fushiguro felt a headache coming on.

Mahoraga gave Toji Fushiguro no time to think of a strategy and charged again. Its massive body also brought immense attack power. Toji Fushiguro abandoned the head-on style he had used while taming the other Shikigami and began fighting evasively.

"Rabbit Escape! Toad!"

Hundreds of Rabbit Escapes surged out from Eiji's shadow and crashed against Mahoraga like ocean waves.

Their impacts did not harm Mahoraga, but they effectively disrupted its senses.

"Hah!"

Having switched to two weapons, Toji Fushiguro circled behind Mahoraga and slashed down with all his strength.

Mahoraga turned and was about to swing its sword when its arm was bound by Toad's long tongue.

Toji Fushiguro did not miss that fleeting opening. With a powerful downward slash from both hands, he severed Mahoraga's right arm, disabling the most threatening Demon Slaying Sword. Then one heavy slash after another landed on Mahoraga's body.

Before long, Mahoraga was covered in wounds.

Clang!

Crack!

The Dharma Wheel above Mahoraga's head turned. A crisp snapping sound rang out, and Toji Fushiguro's weapons broke apart.

"Hey, hey, that wasn't an attack from the Cursed Energy system. It can adapt to that too?"

Toji Fushiguro looked helplessly at the broken weapons in his hands.

"Mahoraga has adapted to slashing attacks. From now on, any attack related to slashing will be greatly weakened or even rendered ineffective."

"Can you restrain it?"

Toad vanished, replaced by Piercing Bull charging into the distance.

"I'll try."

Having personally experienced how troublesome Mahoraga was, Toji Fushiguro's formerly arrogant expression vanished, replaced by incomparable gravity.

Their figures flickered through the forest at high speed. Their pure hand-to-hand combat alone nearly reshaped the terrain of this forest.

It made Eiji deeply understand why so many netizens in his previous life had called Jujutsu Kaisen "Brawling Technique Kaisen," joking that every powerhouse in it was basically a Gorilla.

A name could be wrong, but a nickname never was.

Under Eiji's anxious gaze, Piercing Bull finally returned to the battlefield.

"Now!"

Eiji shouted at Toji Fushiguro. Then countless Rabbit Escapes swarmed forward, wrapping Mahoraga into a huge ball of fur.

After glancing at Piercing Bull's position, Toji Fushiguro no longer hesitated. Gathering all his strength, he used Iron Mountain Lean to send Mahoraga, whose body was far larger than his own, flying.

Mahoraga nimbly flipped in midair and landed, immediately preparing to attack again.

"Max Elephant!"

Rabbit Escape vanished, replaced by a pink African elephant falling from the sky.

Eiji, who could not yet deploy a Domain, could not summon Max Elephant from high in the air while standing on the ground like Megumi Fushiguro had in the original work. So he had been moving among the trees by using Rabbit Escape as footholds, manually air-dropping Max Elephant through the shadows in the branches.

Boom.

Several tons of weight crashed down onto Mahoraga. The enormous mass caused Mahoraga's movements to halt for an instant.

The Dharma Wheel turned, and in the next moment, Mahoraga flung Max Elephant away.

"Pant... pant..."

Eiji's Cursed Energy was nearly depleted, and he was relying on the Holy Grail to replenish it as he looked toward the rapidly charging Piercing Bull.

This was his last hope of defeating Mahoraga.

After its lengthy run-up, Piercing Bull's attack power had increased tremendously. An ordinary Special Grade Cursed Spirit might very well die from this one strike.

That powerful blow came with an immense expenditure of Cursed Energy. If not for the Holy Grail's replenishment, Eiji's Cursed Energy would have run dry long ago.

Under their tense gazes, Piercing Bull pierced through Mahoraga's body like a black meteor.

The wound was too small.

Piercing Bull's attack had harmed Mahoraga, but the damage did not even count as a serious injury, let alone a fatal one.

The next moment, under Eiji's unwilling gaze, Mahoraga's body began to recover rapidly.

I'm still too weak.

Eiji felt unwilling to accept it.

It had been mentioned earlier that Mahoraga was likely stronger than Special Grade Cursed Spirits such as Jogo and Dagon.

And that did not merely refer to the Demon-Slaying Sword.

After all, the Demon-Slaying Sword was far too effective against Cursed Spirits. If it struck Jogo, Jogo would probably be finished instantly.

When Sukuna's slashes hit Jogo, Jogo's body had been cut apart outright. Yet Mahoraga had taken Sukuna's initial probing slashes without being completely severed.

Later, it had even deflected Sukuna's slashes.

Of course, once Sukuna became serious and increased the power of his slashes, Mahoraga's body was severed several times.

Therefore, without prior knowledge, Mahoraga was probably stronger than Jogo.

And Eiji was, at best, merely a Grade 1 Jujutsu Sorcerer. He was still some distance away from Special Grade.

Even if Eiji gave everything he had, he could not reach Jogo's level, much less Mahoraga's, which might be even stronger.

Looking at Mahoraga's body, which was nearly fully restored, Eiji gritted his teeth and decided to cancel the Taming Ritual.

At that moment, a figure appeared behind Mahoraga and threw strings of red-flashing objects onto its body.

Before Eiji could see what those red-flashing objects were, Toji Fushiguro grabbed him and sprinted into the distance.

In less than ten seconds, the two had put a kilometer between themselves and Mahoraga. Even world champions would have had to concede defeat before that speed.

Rumble!

A massive explosion erupted from where Mahoraga had risen.

Under Eiji's stunned gaze, enormous flames and black smoke vaguely shaped like a mushroom cloud rose into the sky.

Even from a full kilometer away from the blast center, they could still feel the shockwave.

"Toji... could that have been...?"

Eiji looked at Toji Fushiguro in disbelief.

"I got some Explosives overseas before. They aren't judged by the Cursed Energy system, so I thought they might work."

They had indeed worked. Eiji could feel Mahoraga beginning a new round of adaptation.

"Tch, it really is tough."

Toji Fushiguro clicked his tongue as he watched the battered figure slowly rise amid the flames.

"Let's stop here for today."

Toji Fushiguro lowered his head and looked at Eiji.

Eiji nodded.

On one side was himself, whose strongest attack had failed to achieve any result.

On the other was Toji Fushiguro, who had fought for half the night, suffered considerable injuries, expended too much stamina, and used up all his weapons.

Eiji knew that this Taming Ritual could only end here.

He did not have any complaints about it. This battle had already allowed Toji Fushiguro to test Mahoraga's strength for him, providing valuable experience for taming Mahoraga in the future. Eiji felt that was enough.