He Was No Longer That Spirited, Dashing Boy!

(If you switch eyes, you lose the abilities of the other eyes, but retain your own power. For example, while using the Rinnegan, you can't use Limitless, but your vast reserves of Cursed Energy remain; you just can't calculate with the Six Eyes' precision.)

"You shameless fraud!"

Stung by those baffling words, the furious Sukuna unleashed several fierce slashes.

"Boom!"

Another cloud of smoke billowed out and curled around Gojo Satoru, but this time Sukuna didn't stop attacking. He followed up the ordinary slash, "Dismantle," with "Cleave," a deadly slash whose strength adjusted to the difference in Cursed Energy.

It was difficult for him to use that space-cutting slash again. Winning with these attacks alone would be tough.

A gale erupted from the center of the smoke, scattering it all. Gojo Satoru stood there unharmed.

As I expected! Ordinary slashes don't work, and neither does "Cleave." Then...

Making a quick decision, Sukuna charged straight at Gojo Satoru and slammed a right hook, packed with immense Cursed Energy, into his face.

The instant his fist connected, Sukuna was elated.

I hit him! He really is a fake. He doesn't have that so-called Limitless to stop me!

So hard!!!

Seeing that his physical attack had done no damage, Sukuna immediately leaped back, staring in shock at Gojo Satoru, whose head had only turned slightly after taking the full force of his punch.

"Who are you? Someone with strength like this couldn't have gone unnoticed. Kenjaku never mentioned anything about you!"

Gojo Satoru didn't answer. He lightly patted the spot on his face that had just been hit, looking just as shocked.

So this was Absolute Defense? If he hadn't instinctively tried to use Force Nullification, his head wouldn't have even moved!

A conceptual, divine technique that nullified any ability considered harmful!

Then he looked at Sukuna and asked a baffling question.

"Don't you think the buildings around us are in the way?"

"Huh?"

As Sukuna stared in confusion, four transparent red walls rose around them, stopping only when they reached nearly five hundred meters in height. Then they closed together.

They formed a rectangular enclosure about five hundred meters tall and a thousand meters long and wide, trapping the two of them inside.

Ignoring Sukuna's bewildered expression, Gojo Satoru slowly floated upward, speaking as he rose.

"I've just gained a lot of incredible abilities,

"most of them thanks to you.

"To show my gratitude,

"I'll personally make your grave!"

Floating hundreds of meters above the ground, Gojo Satoru slowly spread his arms and legs.

Super! Almighty Push!

An immense repulsive force rapidly spread outward from Gojo Satoru!

Everything inside the barrier was driven toward the red walls. The Four Red Yang Formation warped under the pressure.

The repulsive force faded. Beneath Gojo Satoru, a circular crater appeared, a full kilometer across.

Most of the buildings had been pulverized by the crushing force. He looked toward the figure lying at the edge of the barrier.

In an instant, he appeared beside Sukuna, whose body was covered in wounds. With a cold sneer, he said, "Like your grave? It's huge, isn't it? It suits your status as the King of Curses."

"Don't mess with me!"

Seeing Gojo Satoru beside him, Sukuna used Reverse Cursed Technique to heal himself, then sprang up, ready to try that space-cutting slash again.

"Bang!"

An invisible attack severed all four of Sukuna's limbs, sending him crashing to the ground!

Limbo: Border Jail!

It could split off four shadows, each at least as strong as the original. The shadows could attack enemies and protect their wielder from incoming attacks. Only those with the Rinnegan could see them, and only those who had mastered the Six Paths techniques could sense them.

In this world, it was a form of dimensional superiority.

As Sukuna struggled to recover, Gojo Satoru snapped off a Black Receiver that had extended from his palm and drove the broken end into Sukuna's abdomen, blocking the flow of his Cursed Energy.

Then he drove more Black Receivers into Sukuna's various pressure points, leaving him unable to move anywhere but his mouth.

Only after seeing that Sukuna's limbs were severed and he couldn't regenerate did Gojo Satoru stop and speak.

"I won't give you another chance! I never considered you my opponent in the first place. The only reason I didn't kill you outright was because you were still inside Megumi."

"Hahahaha! Then I hope you can kill me! What's the matter? Can't do it? I'm inside him! I'm not just inhabiting his body—I'm devouring his soul too! Hahahaha!"

Sukuna laughed triumphantly. There was no way to separate him from Fushiguro Megumi now. If Gojo Satoru didn't want to see him die, he couldn't do anything to Sukuna!

"Since you're asking so nicely, I'll just have to oblige!"

Gojo Satoru grinned, his expression chilling!

He pressed his hand against Sukuna's head.

Human Path!

"Bastard! What are you doing?!"

Feeling his soul being pulled out, Sukuna could no longer maintain his arrogant composure. He roared in fury.

"Take a deep breath. Dizziness is normal!"

Ignoring Sukuna's curses, Gojo Satoru pulled out his entire soul, then had the King of Hell swallow Fushiguro's body.

After finishing everything, Gojo Satoru felt puzzled.

The Human Path hadn't revealed Kenjaku's exact location—or even a general idea. He really knew how to hide!

Next, he had to find and destroy the last finger. It should be with Okkotsu Yuta and the others.

The people in the Live Broadcast Room were still too stunned to react. The scene had been so completely different from what they'd imagined!

There had been no evenly matched battle. Sukuna hadn't been given even the slightest chance. It had been a crushing victory from start to finish.

Just as Gojo Satoru had said:

"I never considered you my opponent in the first place!"

Someone broke the silence.

"This guy who looks like Gojo-sensei is so strong!"

Seeing Sukuna defeated, Itadori Yuji felt a pang of grief over Fushiguro Megumi's death, but he still shouted excitedly.

"Other than looking just like Gojo Satoru, none of his abilities are the same. Who is this guy?"

Kusakabe wasn't excited about Sukuna's death. Instead, he stared at the Gojo Satoru on the screen, even more confused.

"Wait! What's that?!"

Seeing the same black vortex that had appeared beside Gojo Satoru on the screen suddenly open behind him, Okkotsu Yuta exclaimed excitedly.

The others reacted and quickly spread out, surrounding the black vortex as they stared at it without blinking.

Using Mei Mei's crows to sense the location of his original body, Gojo Satoru opened a Space-Time Portal and walked through it.

"Yoshi, hello, everyone! I'm your Gojo-sensei, high school edition!"

Ignoring everyone's wary looks, Gojo Satoru stepped out of the Space-Time Portal and greeted them with a grin.

"Stop joking! How could something like this be possible?!"

Zenin Maki shouted angrily.

Hearing her doubt him, Gojo Satoru let his smile fade. He sighed, then calmly said, "That's right. Gojo-sensei is already dead—but only as far as I'm concerned! Your teacher is still alive."

His words left everyone confused. What did he mean, that Gojo-sensei was dead but still alive?

As the others looked at him in confusion, Gojo Satoru didn't explain. Instead, he asked, "Where's Sukuna's last finger? Give it to me. I'll destroy it and then leave."

Before anyone could react, the system's notification rang in their minds:

Sukuna is already dead. Whether he is revived again has nothing to do with this mission. The host has completed the mission and can leave now!

"Huh?! Then why didn't you say so earlier?"

Gojo Satoru shouted angrily without thinking.

"Because you didn't ask!"

"..."

Fine. You win!

Now that he understood, Gojo Satoru couldn't be bothered to argue. He'd only stayed a little longer than necessary.

"Forget the finger. Let me ask you something instead. Do you want to see Gojo-sensei again?"

"Of course!"

Itadori Yuji answered without a second thought when the man who'd been talking to himself suddenly asked.

"That's all I needed to hear."

He slapped the ground with one hand and summoned the King of Hell. "Gojo Satoru" and Fushiguro Megumi's bodies, now fully restored, were spat out.

To the others, the two seemed to appear out of nowhere.

Ignoring their shocked expressions, he pressed his palms together and channeled his power.

Outer Path! Samsara of Heavenly Life Technique!

It could revive its targets in the complete bodies they'd had in life.

From Gojo Satoru's perspective, the King of Hell spat out the two souls, which returned to their bodies.

But to everyone else, the two who had already died came back to life in a burst of green light.

As they watched the two breathe slowly, as if asleep, everyone felt as though their brains had reached their limit for the day!

Just as expected! His body showed no adverse effects!

The fatal cost of using the Samsara of Heavenly Life Technique had been classified as harm and nullified!

Does this count as exploiting a bug?

But seeing that the two were safe, he relaxed. With nineteen of Sukuna's fingers destroyed and only one remaining, Sukuna was no longer much of a threat.

And now that "Gojo Satoru" had been revived, Kenjaku probably wouldn't be able to hide for much longer.

Looking at the stunned crowd, Gojo Satoru smiled and said, "Please pass this message on to the older me:

"It's because we've lost our companions that those who are still alive should cherish each other all the more!"

Ieiri Shoko came to her senses and was about to ask a question, but the man had already dissolved into a shower of light.

Why did he call himself the older version of me?

If Gojo Satoru had known she was asking that, he would have answered:

"Because he was no longer that spirited, dashing boy!"

Meanwhile, Kashimo Hajime, who had rushed out as soon as Sukuna fell, was still searching aimlessly for his target.

"Where's that bastard?"