So, Kinji Hakari Won

"Domain Expansion."

"Chimera Shadow Garden."

The instant the domain expanded, Kinji Hakari was seized by Toad's tongue amid the gloom.

But it was useless. Hakari gave the tongue a light tug, and it dispersed. Then, with an explosive burst of cursed energy, his body accelerated in an instant and arrived before Megumi—

Megumi vanished into the shadows in an instant, causing Hakari's fist to miss. The moment he turned around—Divine Dog Totality burst out fiercely from behind him. Black cursed energy flashed past, and a bloody gash immediately appeared across Hakari's chest.

"Dodging and hiding—you planning to stall out these four minutes?"

Of course not—the domain could only be maintained for so long. He had to defeat Hakari within the time limit—but defeating Hakari within that limit was far too difficult.

Unless...

The Shadow Sea...

Before Xuan left, he gave Megumi a piece of advice: if Megumi encountered an enemy who was difficult to kill, he should make flexible use of the Shadow Sea within his domain.

—Megumi had deliberately sunk the spot where Itadori was lying a little deeper, leaving only his nose and mouth exposed so he could breathe. He had also temporarily turned the unconscious Itadori over. If only his nostrils were exposed, this guy probably wouldn't notice him.

Then, adjust the Shadow Sea...

Hakari looked around, but there was not a single person in sight—this evasive behavior was practically extinguishing his enthusiasm.

He let out a dull breath, but then he felt the ground beneath his feet sink—

"What?"

Hakari felt his lower body fall into an ocean with no buoyancy. He reacted immediately, slapping both hands onto the churning Shadow Sea and condensing a large patch of cursed-energy-reinforced ground.

Then he flipped himself free from the Shadow Sea.

"That was close... This guy, no wonder he uses shadows. He's fucking sneaky!"

Hakari did not know what lay beneath the Shadow Sea—but his gambler's instincts kept warning him, pounding insistently in his mind to stay away from the darkness underground.

"Hey! Fushiguro!! Get the hell out here!!"

"Look behind you."

Megumi's voice came from behind Hakari. He turned around to see Megumi standing there, a black sword in hand—

"Huh? You don't seriously think you can beat me with a cursed tool, do you?"

"Why would I?"

Hakari's figure appeared before Megumi—so fast that Megumi's eyes had not even caught his movement. The instant he saw Hakari, Megumi could only raise his sword to block—but the moment Hakari's left fist was stopped by the black sword, Megumi knew it was a feint.

As Hakari swung his right arm in a hook, Megumi's cheek suddenly melted away—

A shadow?

After Hakari punched through Megumi's shadow, three bird cries sounded behind him.

"Hm?"

Nue's appearance made Hakari turn around again—then, the shattered shadow reformed in an instant.

"What?!"

The black sword instantly carved a bloody gash across Hakari's back. Hakari, stunned by that, was also struck in the chest by three miniature Nue.

"Divine Dog!"

While Hakari was briefly paralyzed, Megumi released the cursed tool in his hand and pressed his palm against Hakari's back. As Divine Dog's cursed energy appeared over his palm, dozens of bloody gashes exploded across Hakari's back.

"Urgh!"

Hakari's paralysis only lasted a brief 0.5 seconds. It would normally have had almost no effect on him, but now, as though he had been toyed with by the person behind him, he suffered severe injuries—

Hakari immediately spun and drove an elbow backward. After it struck Megumi behind him, this Megumi truly turned into a puddle of shadow—

"So after all that, you still don't dare fight me head-on, Megumi Fushiguro!!"

Obviously.

Hiding beside Itadori, Megumi stared speechlessly at the cursed-energy-abundant Hakari—he only had one-quarter of his cursed energy left. It was still enough to launch the three attacks he had planned, but after those three attacks, his domain would collapse from cursed energy exhaustion.

"Stop hiding, kid!!! The 'enthusiasm' you just stirred up in me is about to run out again!!"

If he kept hiding like this, he would still be discovered. At the very least, he had to stall until Itadori woke up.

There was only one option!

Megumi appeared again. This time, he appeared in front of Hakari—his hands were forming Divine Dog's hand sign.

"Divine Dog!"

Totality's power split into two wolf-head gauntlets, one on each hand. As Hakari charged toward Megumi, Megumi's feet shifted—his body sank into the shadows, vanishing for an instant before appearing again—using this move once was enough. Using it again definitely would not work.

Megumi narrowly dodged Hakari's straight punch. The crude cursed-energy strike grazed his left shoulder, numbing his face with pain—Hakari, who had assumed it was another shadow, was instead punched in the abdomen by Megumi—

"As long as I attack here, even you'll be affected no matter how much cursed energy you have!!"

The erupting bite of Divine Dog slammed into Hakari's abdomen in an instant. Pain flashed across Hakari's face, but the lingering effects of his reverse cursed technique around his waist and abdomen remained undiminished, immediately healing the wound.

"Ha! Too bad!! During jackpot, the source of my cursed energy isn't my waist or abdomen!!!"

Hakari Kinji returned the favor with an uppercut to Fushiguro's abdomen. Fushiguro's face twisted as he was instantly sent flying—skimming across the sea of shadows for some distance before his body fell into it.

"Rabbit Escape!"

The rabbits were extremely numerous—enough to block his opponent's vision and produce unexpected results.

Gradually, the posture of—victory took shape.

The pure-white Rabbit Escapes burst from the sea of shadows, completely obscuring Hakari Kinji's vision as Fushiguro charged out as well—

"Nue!"

Partial manifestation was not a privilege exclusive to Divine Dog—all shikigami could be partially manifested. So, all he needed to do was follow Divine Dog's example—

Fushiguro formed a bird hand sign. As the Rabbit Escapes dispersed beneath the cursed energy strikes, roaring lightning erupted alongside bird-shaped cursed energy—but those two attacks nearly drained all the cursed energy from Fushiguro's body—

BOOM! BOOM!

Perhaps Fushiguro's aim had worsened due to his excessive cursed energy expenditure—but the two bolts of lightning passed by Hakari Kinji's ears. Other than the thunderous blasts instantly rupturing his eardrums, he suffered no harm.

But the cursed energy before him had already weakened to its limit. In other words...

I won.

Hakari Kinji grinned. His Reverse Cursed Technique had repaired his eardrums within a single second. Aside from a slight ringing in his ears, he was practically unaffected—he had even decided to make these two hot-blooded guys sit down and say what they wanted to say.

Just then—Hakari Kinji suddenly saw the smile on Fushiguro's face.

?

Could it be...

Before he could react—Hakari Kinji felt the light before his eyes turn into endless darkness.

What... was happening?

His Reverse Cursed Technique activated without pause, continuously repairing his oxygen-starved body. But Hakari Kinji could only feel himself sinking deeper and deeper into the lightless depths of the sea of shadows, falling, falling, endlessly falling.