Jujutsu Kaisen: Yearning to Become an Immortal God

The most famous example was Yuki Tsukumo before him. She had once dragged a Simple Domain straight at Kenjaku, right inside Kenjaku's Domain Expansion—just like Mahito now!

Mahito suddenly felt his body heating up. The shell he had constructed himself sensed enormous danger and was warning him to run for his life with a piercing shriek like an air raid siren.

A tiny black hollow radiated boundless gravitational force. The meteors floating in the air moved toward it in shredded fragments. At first, they moved extremely slowly, but as time passed, they grew faster and faster, so fast it seemed to surpass time itself.

Domain Expansion: Sumeru Vajra Karmic Wheel. This domain allowed Yuki Tsukumo to apply Virtual Mass to anything except herself. She was immune to the mass added by Virtual Mass, but other matter would behave as though it had truly been burdened with immense weight.

It was terrifying. Matter burdened with Virtual Mass would be crushed to death alive! The instant Mahito activated his Domain Expansion, he also used a Simple Domain. This immunized him against the sure-hit effect of Yuki Tsukumo's Domain Expansion and gave him room to struggle, but the danger had not retreated.

A Simple Domain could only neutralize a Domain Expansion's sure-hit effect. It could not grant immunity to the technique itself. And now, Yuki Tsukumo casually applied Virtual Mass to the air in her palm, creating an air sphere that could be compressed without limit.

Then she threw that air sphere. Its immense mass became a source of attraction. Just as the planets of the entire Solar System revolved around the sun in rings, this tiny air sphere moved the trajectories of every meteor within the Domain Expansion.

In Mahito's eyes, it was as though the entire world were contracting toward that air sphere—and that contraction was bearing down on him from behind.

That air sphere was now Mount Sumeru, the center of all things in the universe. The immense celestial phenomenon it formed was Vajra Buddha's Wrath, its karmic burden pressing down with no possibility of escape.

What a terrifying sight. Mahito's heart pounded violently, as though a rock band's drummer were hammering out a frantic beat. Mahito saw—

—an entire galaxy crashing down on him.

"I see." Mahito's voice carried sudden understanding. "So this is Star Rage. This is... Sumeru Vajra Karmic Wheel!" There was no need to test it. Mahito immediately knew that even Idle Transfiguration could not save him.

Just as even the strongest ant could not face a massive boulder rolling toward it, this scene of planetary collision made Mahito feel genuine fear of death.

Since crossing into this world, Mahito had never come so close to death. The body he had created, his soul, and his mind all screamed within that illusory spiritual space. Immense fear swallowed him in an instant.

Mahito laughed as he trembled.

He remembered his battle with Naobito Zenin. Back then, Naobito Zenin had told Mahito what a true cursed technique user should do in the face of fear.

[Turn anger and fear into tangible cursed energy. That is what makes a true jujutsu sorcerer.] Now, Mahito finally understood those words completely.

He was running, but he was not running away. Faced with an attack crashing down like a celestial phenomenon, where could he flee? Like a tourist sunbathing on a beach chair, where could he hide from a sudden tsunami?

Since he could not avoid it, then he would not avoid it.

He turned his dread and fear of death into real cursed energy. Chased by death, he forgot death's reality and, as a jujutsu sorcerer, drove his cursed energy with all his might. Then—

—he surpassed everything.

Boom! Just before the celestial phenomenon struck, Mahito stomped down and leaped high. Even in mid-leap, he maintained his Iai stance.

The world abruptly went dark. Mahito did not need to look up to know the celestial phenomenon had arrived before him. Immense gravitational force seized everything around it, including Mahito! His Simple Domain flickered like a candle about to go out. The colossal pressure of mass was enough to crush all creation.

Mahito imagined what would happen next:

He would be struck head-on by the celestial phenomenon. The difference in mass was so enormous that his body would begin disintegrating before it even truly touched it. His Simple Domain would shatter at once, because such overwhelming mass could crush even cursed energy. Once the Simple Domain broke, his body's rate of disintegration would multiply.

In the end, he would be completely crushed.

His Idle Transfiguration could still keep his soul unchanged, but his soul could not escape the celestial phenomenon's gravitational pull. He would cycle endlessly between revival and death.

Mahito had now received Kinji Hakari's special-grade jujutsu sorcerer template. His cursed energy was nearly infinite. In theory, so long as no attack could directly harm his soul, he could maintain his soul indefinitely and revive infinitely.

But the crushing force of the celestial phenomenon could reach the far shore of the soul. Excessive mass affected everything within space. Mahito's soul would be ground over and over, like beans being ground into soy milk, ground ever deeper.

Before that immense mass from which even light could not escape, he would be ground deeper and deeper until he met true—

—death.

Suddenly, Mahito's cursed energy surged! Experiencing the possibility of death for the first time sent his negative emotions into a rampage. Those rampaging emotions were rapidly converted by the Cursed Energy Core within the half-cursed-spirit body. The endless cycle of cursed energy caused Mahito's strength to rise almost without limit.

He really had turned fear into cursed energy, just like Naobito Zenin.

Mist Cutter let out a clear sound like flowing water. Mahito drew his blade.

The entire world seemed to freeze before Mahito's eyes. He slowly raised his head. The celestial phenomenon, inches away, hung suspended like amber. Mahito had entered a state of perfect clarity.

His subjective consciousness slowed the flow of time. In his eyes, everything in the world was motionless; only he could move. Yet his movements were slow, like slow-motion footage captured by a high-speed camera. He drew his blade as slowly as a crawling turtle, every movement as precise as an old master instructing his apprentice.

Mirokuji Mist Cutter, Tsukumogami Release—New! Line!

A black radiance covered Mist Cutter's blade. Black Flash!

The instant Mist Cutter swung, Mahito's capacity for thought completely vanished. He moved along the arc of his slash. His Simple Domain suddenly expanded like a breath. A Simple Domain was an extension of a sorcerer's will, and now all of Mahito's will was focused on one point, leaving no room for any other thought.

Cut down this celestial phenomenon in a single slash!

At this moment, Mahito finally surpassed his limits. The Black Flash enveloping Mist Cutter's blade even distorted space. Within this slash that surpassed cutting itself, Mist Cutter's ability was imprinted onto the celestial phenomenon, just as Mist Cutter had once imprinted Severing Line onto the high-speed compressed wind blade of Ame-no-Habakiri.

A massive crack appeared at the center of the celestial phenomenon. Then the air sphere imbued with Virtual Mass was split apart. As its enormous mass suddenly vanished, the surrounding meteors were flung away by repulsive force.

An explosion like a supernova erupted.

Endless mass was torn apart, and the mass it had absorbed burst outward all at once. The spread of such enormous mass triggered a huge explosion. The entire Domain Expansion shook. The immense force and shockwave even pushed the entire space into a vacuum. Then a massive backdraft formed, drawing everything into a central point.

Then came a second explosion!

Yuki Tsukumo immediately created a wall of air with immense mass around herself. The collision of two enormous masses exploded apart like thunder. Her pupils contracted. "How... is that... possible?"

Her mind raced, and she immediately grasped the key. "The long sword in your hand isn't a cursed tool, but a tsukumogami! You were maintaining a Simple Domain and couldn't use your technique, yet you still split the celestial phenomenon. It wasn't just because you used Black Flash—it was because the tsukumogami in your hand used its ability in sync with you!"

Even Black Flash could not collide head-on with a celestial phenomenon. This was the crushing force of immense mass; not even spatial distortion could simply repel it. But Black Flash combined with a technique was another matter.

Yuki Tsukumo suddenly understood. No wonder Ame-no-Habakiri had sliced through the sandstorm so cleanly earlier. At the time, Ame-no-Habakiri had not even been the main attack. It had merely provided broad attack range; what truly cut through the sandstorm was the tsukumogami in Mahito's hand!

No wonder his cuts were so clean. She had clearly prepared cursed energy protection, yet this long sword had still effortlessly severed her arm.

"Her name is Mist Cutter," Mahito said softly. "Mirokuji Mist Cutter."

Yuki Tsukumo smiled. "Gods and Buddhas, All Severed. How arrogant!"

Suddenly, silver light appeared before Yuki Tsukumo's eyes. A streak of blade light stretched endlessly, reaching her cornea in an instant. The tip seemed ready to pierce her eyeball and pass through her brain. Mist Cutter struck!

Yuki Tsukumo violently turned her head. Mist Cutter's tip pierced her earlobe, leaving a speck of crimson on its blade. But the crimson vanished the next instant. As Mahito sheathed his sword, he flicked the blood from Yuki Tsukumo's ear onto the ground.

Mahito exerted force in continuous bursts, every swing of his sword like slanting wind and rain. New Shadow Style: Ape Return!

Mahito was not merely swinging his sword. He moved along with the path of every slash. His footwork was clearly small and restrained, yet before Yuki Tsukumo, he flickered in and out of sight like an agile monkey leaping through a forest.

A nonstop series of high-speed attacks, supported by elusive footwork—even with Yuki Tsukumo's combat experience, she could not counterattack for the moment. All she saw was a world of flashing blades and sword shadows. Mist Cutter was a straight-bladed sword over two meters long, making Mahito's attack range comparable to a spear's. Empty-handed, Yuki Tsukumo could not even get close to him.

Yuki Tsukumo suddenly stomped the ground. Boom! The tremendous force shook the earth upward. Mahito's blade shadows vanished, because the sudden destruction of his footing broke Ape Return's fixed rhythm. His rapid barrage could no longer continue.

"You haven't trained it enough, Mahito!" Yuki Tsukumo laughed loudly. "A true master of Ape Return could keep swinging without changing expression even if the ground churned like waves. Your talent is exceptional, but your real combat experience is overwhelmingly lacking!"

"I didn't expect Yuki-san to know New Shadow Style as well." Mahito steadied himself.

"I have mastered New Shadow Style completely. I can use your Simple Domain too!" Yuki Tsukumo took a large step back, like an eagle taking flight. "I specialize in Floating Boat and excel at ambush combat."

She reached behind her head. Garuda, which had been slowly rotating behind Yuki Tsukumo like a halo, fell into her hand. She swung Garuda fiercely, its enormous attack range covering everything ahead.

"Let me ask you, Mahito." Yuki Tsukumo roared. "How much longer can your Simple Domain hold out?"

Piercing Through the Mortal World, Training to Cut the Heavens

Yuki Tsukumo's judgment was correct. A Simple Domain was ultimately only an emergency measure. In the original work, Yuki Tsukumo had used a Simple Domain against Kenjaku's Domain Expansion, but in only a few seconds, her Simple Domain had been stripped away and she had been directly hit by Kenjaku's Domain Expansion.

But that had been Kenjaku!

In the original work, Tengen had personally admitted that Kenjaku was the only barrier master in a thousand years who could compare with her. Kenjaku alone received that honor. In this regard, even Satoru Gojo and Ryomen Sukuna were far inferior to Kenjaku.

So Kenjaku could strip away Yuki Tsukumo's Simple Domain within seconds, but Yuki Tsukumo could not possibly strip away Mahito's Simple Domain in seconds!

Mahito laughed loudly. "Long enough!"

Mahito advanced while dragging Mist Cutter, growing faster and faster! He sensed the vibrations of the Cursed Energy Core within his spiritual world. Even his breathing seemed to tremble with the core's vibration. At this moment, his perception expanded to encompass the entire Domain Expansion. Not even the ripples in every inch of space could escape him.

He had entered the awakened state of Black Flash!

Yuki Tsukumo knew clearly how troublesome a jujutsu sorcerer became once they entered the Black Flash state, especially when her opponent was the King of Curses, an existence seen once in a thousand years! Her body drifted backward as lightly as a ghost, but the Garuda in her hand fell from the sky like an overbearing blade that could split heaven and earth.

Mist Cutter possessed the strongest cutting ability in the world. Even Garuda would be cut down the instant it came into contact with it. But Garuda gave Mist Cutter no chance to use that cutting ability. The compression of immense mass was released alongside Garuda's swing, a sight like an unrivaled swordsman unleashing sword energy!

Drawn by excessive mass, the flying slash attracted surrounding meteors continuously as it traveled. The gravity, from which even light could barely escape, made the entire flying slash appear profoundly dark. As it passed, the immense pressure tore open the ground, creating something like an abyssal canyon.

Mahito suddenly raised his hand while dragging his sword. Mist Cutter traced an incomparably clear arc with his motion. Severing Line!

Mist Cutter collided with the black flying slash. Mahito could clearly feel as though he had struck some hard metal. The increase in mass had turned even air solid, into some unknown substance beyond diamond.

In the original work, Yuki Tsukumo's Virtual Mass had truly been only virtual mass. It could increase output but not defense. But after her Domain Expansion, everything changed. Virtual Mass could cover all creation and behaved as though real mass had been applied.

A slash with the mass of an entire planet was flying toward him. This was the Star Rage Mahito had to face.

Mahito gripped Mist Cutter's hilt with both hands and roared. Mist Cutter advanced alongside his roar, cutting down the black flying slash! A streak of silver light burst from within the darkness, and Mahito advanced together with Mist Cutter.

Yuki Tsukumo stopped and swung Garuda once more.

A black flying slash reappeared! But it was not the only one. After releasing one, she swung again without hesitation—three swings! Black flying slashes appeared nonstop like a storm. They poured down like torrential rain, like a meteor shower.

Mahito took a moment to glance at the ground. The ground of Domain Expansion: Sumeru Vajra Karmic Wheel was made of countless gravitational ripples. These ripples shifted along with Yuki Tsukumo, like satellite moons orbiting Earth, circling her at every moment.

When the black flying slashes struck the gravitational ripples, there were no deafening explosions. The gravitational ripples sank downward along with the force of the flying slashes. Even when the attacks hit the ground directly, countless gravitational ripples expanded endlessly outward, using the entire barrier to bear the impact.

It was utterly silent, enduring any amount of force.

Mahito immediately understood. This Domain Expansion had been specially reinforced against increased mass. Its internal barrier was almost immune to damage from massive impacts, making it incredibly sturdy. This was probably the strongest Domain Expansion in the world.

That made sense. Only the strongest Domain Expansion in the world could withstand the offense and defense of the world's greatest statistical monster. Mahito immediately abandoned the idea of deliberately luring Yuki Tsukumo into attacking the domain's internal barrier and destroying it.

Now, two methods remained to defeat Yuki Tsukumo.

First: find the right moment, use Mist Cutter's Severing Line to open a gap in the domain, and escape through it. That would force Yuki Tsukumo to dismiss her Domain Expansion. Then, due to the inevitable technique burnout after a Domain Expansion, Yuki Tsukumo would be unable to use Star Rage for a short time.

Take that chance and kill her.

That would be difficult. As stated earlier, the gravitational ripples on the ground moved along with Yuki Tsukumo. That meant she could likely use them to see all of Mahito's movements. Now that she had guessed Mist Cutter's ability, she would not give Mahito such an opportunity.

Second—

—attack head-on and kill Yuki Tsukumo before the Simple Domain was stripped away! Was that really a difficult choice?

Mahito laughed loudly and charged into the meteor shower.

He swung his sword in midair. Every swing cut down a black flying slash. He spun in the air, Mist Cutter spinning with him, like a storm engulfing every flying slash.

The black meteor shower Yuki Tsukumo sent down was entirely cut apart by Mahito's blade storm!

Yuki Tsukumo felt the fervor in her heart slowly ignite. At this moment, she felt a sense of honor. Fighting the King of Curses was incredibly exhilarating. It was not born of hatred or prejudice, but the pure joy of a warrior.

Of course, she knew the best choice for the master of cursed spirits was to solidify his defense, then exploit her lapse in vigilance to use the tsukumogami's ability to cut open a gap in the Domain Expansion and escape. If the King of Curses had truly decided to do that, Yuki Tsukumo would have needed to rack her brains to stop him.

This battle would shift from an overt battle of strength to a hidden battle of wits. That was how it normally should have unfolded. Yuki Tsukumo had prepared herself for exactly that.

But the master of cursed spirits had not chosen that path—he had chosen a frontal assault!

Like a warrior who charged forward without hesitation, his eyes held no thought of escape or retreat. In his eyes, there was only a mortal enemy to fight to the death.

Yuki Tsukumo unbelievably felt the conviction of the King of Curses. It was so clean, so pure. How could fighting an opponent like this not feel honorable? How could it not make her burn with excitement?

Yuki Tsukumo only felt her body growing hot. Her cursed energy had already begun flowing and circulating at high speed without deliberate control. Before her mind could even react, her body had begun its final warm-up.

She let out a high-pitched roar:

"I'm right here, Mahito! Come on! Bring! It! On!"

Overwhelming killing intent fused with immense power and covered the entire Domain Expansion. Yuki Tsukumo raised both hands. Garuda spun in midair between her palms. The serpent-like cursed tool shikigami rotated in the shape of an ouroboros between Yuki Tsukumo's hands. A tremendous pressure suddenly contracted, and a black hollow appeared at the center of Garuda's rotation.

In the original work, during Yuki Tsukumo's life-or-death battle with Kenjaku, she eventually realized that after losing the initiative, she had no chance of defeating Kenjaku. So she released the restrictions on her technique and hoped to take Kenjaku with her through self-destruction.

And in the narration, it was written like this:

[Within a black hole possessing both ultra-high density and immense gravity, not only matter but even light cannot escape. It is said that if Earth were compressed to a density of two centimeters, one could be created.]

[Gravity, mass, time—if one pursued them infinitely deeply—!] A Simulated Black Hole appeared at the center of Garuda's ouroboros rotation.

Mahito ran across the ground formed by gravitational ripples. While running, he placed Mist Cutter at his waist. His Simple Domain began shrinking without him realizing it.

In the original work, most people capable of using a Simple Domain treated it merely as a temporary method for resisting Domain Expansions. They had forgotten the true way to use a Simple Domain.

When Simple Domain first appeared, Kasumi Miwa used it during the exchange event between the two schools. She spread her feet apart, placed her long sword at her waist, lowered her head to look at the hilt, and a ring of cursed energy rippled outward from around her body. In her spiritual vision, everything beyond that circle with a radius of 2.25 meters became boundless darkness.

That was the most original and fundamental way to use a Simple Domain.

Mahito's limbs were filled with cursed energy. Its high-speed circulation caused it to spill outward in a burning form, making him seem draped in an outer layer of cursed energy flames. But when he placed Mist Cutter at his waist, all signs of burning vanished in an instant. His cursed energy shifted from motion to stillness, fitting closely against Mahito's body.

He held the hilt and sensed Mist Cutter's emotions.

A quiet girl appeared within his spiritual realm. With her eyes closed, she knelt beneath a cherry blossom tree. Countless blossoms drifted through the wind, landing on her black hair. She slowly opened her eyes, looked at Mahito, and extended her hand.

Mahito took her hand.

Tsumiki Fushiguro had kept her promise. Due to limited time, she had roughly browsed some manga about personified swords and weapons. Her first choice had naturally been Erementar Gerad, but after researching it for a while, she had settled for Soul Eater. Yet in the end, she told Mahito expressionlessly:

"Wouldn't the personified swords in the spiritual worlds of Bleach work too?" Yes, the strongest construction-type sorcerer in a thousand years had failed.

One week was still too little time. She had no way to complete the experiment of fully personifying this tsukumogami. Even so, she had offered a valuable suggestion. Just as she had said herself, since complete personification was impossible, could they not achieve spiritual personification instead?