Red Fist

Open Domain differ from closed domains— Open Domain can outperform closed domains in terms of performance.

Generally speaking, the boundary of Open Domain extends to the outside of a closed domain, and Cursed Technique applied to Open Domain can be used on the boundary of a closed domain.

The domain of the Eight-Handled Sword Master, with its attached Cursed Technique of Shadow, manifests as a sea of water—allowing the summoning of "temporary" Shikigami from this sea of shadows to launch attacks.

As Gen's domain covered Satoru Gojo's domain, Satoru Gojo suddenly shrank the barrier— the Cursed Technique that was originally attached to it to shatter Satoru Gojo's domain also missed its target.

Xuan has two ways to deal with closed domains. One is to use Cursed Technique to envelop the closed domain and break through it in one strike, as is the case now. The second is to unfold the domain as a counterattack and use the domain characteristics of Eight Fixed Waters —like when breaking through the domain of Ryu Ishigori —to break through the closed domain.

However, Xuan certainly cannot accept the Unlimited Void.

Unlike ordinary people, Xuan has an extremely strong ability to process information, but this also means that Unlimited Void's ability to shut down Xuan's brain will be faster than that of others.

"Call..."

Sensing that Satoru Gojo's barrier was dodging at an extremely fast speed along an irregular trajectory, Gen immediately understood that this was Satoru Gojo's "Open Domain" countermeasure, which he had devised after fully understanding his own domain.

Tiger, ox, bird.

Xuan clenched his fist, and at that moment, Gojo also clenched his fist.

Is it still the Azure Fist style?

In fact, Xuan was using a technique similar to Cangquan at this moment, wrapping the Cursed Technique around his fist to create a wider variety of damage.

Bass!

Two loud thuds echoed as Satoru Gojo's fist collided with Gen's. Accompanied by Cang's explosive power, Gen's entire body was almost flipped over. This time, Cang's fist was no longer aimed at his fist, but at his entire body.

Even with his Limitless power neutralized by the domain, Gojo still took the punch. With a cracking sound, Satoru Gojo immediately recovered his arm—he turned his head, and Gen, who had been thrown away, was already in front of him again.

Neither of them used any Cursed Technique; instead, they simply exchanged punches using their Cursed Energy, each striking the other in the abdomen.

Simultaneously, once again, the Tiger-Bull-Bird—Xuan's arm was wrapped with horned, winged, and feathered Cursed Energy.

Boom!!!

Satoru Gojo and Gen clashed once again. Gen was pulled away and flew through the air, the golden Dharma Wheel above his head reappearing. With a crack, his elbow, accompanied by the sound of wind breaking, slammed into Satoru Gojo. Satoru Gojo, however, remained calm and composed, gathering red Cursed Energy in his hand and blasting Gen away with a single strike.

Xuan's body was almost completely burned by He's second explosion. As the Reverse Cursed Technique took effect, the Dharma Wheel above his head began to spin once again.

Call!

With a flap of Xuan's wings, several beams of Cursed Energy carrying Lightning shot towards the location of Satoru Gojo. Gojo pointed to the Sky Manipulation, and his body was pulled up by Cang, and he also arrived in the sky at the same time.

The barrier in the Unlimited Void was constantly dodging the shadows of the Xuan Domain in order to maintain its existence, and the two had to complete their duel within this five-minute space.

"I've looked at your move list over and over again!"

Satoru Gojo stretched out his right hand, which had been deformed from the blow, Reverse Cursed Technique to cover it. As white smoke rose, a smile appeared on Satoru Gojo's face once again.

"As long as I defeat you before your Mahoraga adapts to my moves, then I'll consider it a victory, right?"

"It was just a friendly spar, did you really get carried away?"

"Even if it's just a friendly spar—you're still the Strongest in history, right? Even if no one sees it, I really want that achievement of defeating the Strongest in history."

"I see."

Xuan swung his right hand and raised his head.

"I only just achieved this the Strongest feat in history myself -- Satoru Gojo."

The two bodies disappeared at the same time. Under Cang's guidance, Satoru Gojo instantly arrived in front of Gen. His Cursed Energy strike was faster than Gen's. With a loud bang, Gen was hit hard in the back by Satoru Gojo. But Satoru Gojo immediately realized something was wrong. Gen grabbed his waist with both hands.

"Eight!"

The area where his palm pressed down quickly developed disintegrating marks resembling canine teeth. Accompanied by the activation of his Cursed Energy, the Divine Dog's bite, forming a slash, appeared behind Satoru Gojo. Blood splattered violently, but Satoru Gojo remained calm.

"Hah!"

Satoru Gojo didn't lift his hand from Gen's back; the repulsive force of the blast sent Gen flying.

"Phase, Twilight, Eyes of Wisdom!"

The moment Gen was knocked away, Satoru Gojo began to summon the Azure and chant incantations.

"Life Return, Sunken Abyss, the Lightless Depths!"

Xuan, naturally, was not to be outdone. During the process of being knocked away, Xuan had already realized the opponent's summoning—he raised his hand, and the black shadow in his hand transformed into a spear.

Accompanied by incantations, the two's rotating Cursed Technique collided—shadow and blue intertwined and exploded, the shadow was continuously shattered by blue, but blue also lost its suction power as a result.

However, Satoru Gojo's purpose in using Sora was to quickly get close to Gen—and Gen also realized this.

Both of their fists swung back simultaneously, and their Cursed Energy instantly condensed upwards. The moment the Cursed Energy solidified, both of them felt it at the same time.

"Black"

The electric light of the Cursed Energy danced on their fists, followed by black Cursed Energy bolts that coiled around them, until Satoru Gojo and Gen's fists collided.

"Flash!"

The events in the Back of the Prison Realm had given Gojo a clear understanding of the optimal state for unleashing Black Flash during his battle with Gen—therefore, he was able to unleash Black Flash when his fighting spirit was at its peak.

Xuan only managed to unleash this Black Flash thanks to Tiger Funeral and his precise control of force.

The Black Flash they unleashed simultaneously exploded the instant they collided, causing the two to retreat slightly before charging forward once more.

Having entered a state of selflessness, the two exchanged rapid blows without any sense of boundaries. One attacked, the other blocked; the other attacked, the other blocked; the intertwined fist shadows were accompanied by muffled sounds of impact.

Bang!

As the two activated their Cursed Technique once more, Satoru Gojo's blue fist unleashed another Black Flash —and with that Black Flash, Gen was sent flying, his arm used to block being instantly torn to shreds.

White smoke rose, and Gen looked up at the Satoru Gojo above him—

"Ha... I've finally broken through."

Satoru Gojo flicked his hand, casually tossing away the bone fragments and debris.

"Speaking of which, my skill set is completely different from that guy's... I finally have the means to put those ideas I've never had before into practice..."

After catching his breath, Gen once again took to the Sky Manipulation and looked directly at Satoru Gojo before him— Satoru Gojo then once again unleashed his Cursed Energy.

But unlike before, this time the awakening was more intense than "Azure"—and no energy sphere of He appeared—

"Come on, give it a try! The Strongest!!"

Following that initial awakening, another one followed immediately. The power of the Hell propelled Satoru Gojo towards Gen, and at the same time, Gen immediately raised his fist—

Tiger, Ox, Deer, Nue.

To ensure he wouldn't be shattered by the punch, Xuan added the enhancement of the Round Deer. At the same time, the enhancement from the positive energy release was more than twice that of the Cursed Energy.

The instant the two fists collided, Gen felt an explosion of energy—a red light instantly engulfed him, while Satoru Gojo was also instantly backfired by the "Red Fist".

Red Fist, as the name suggests, is an ability derived from Hekken, which uses the Cursed Technique Reversal in Cursed Energy attacks.

In a certain world, Satoru Gojo comprehends an ability during his battle with the King of Curses, Gen. This ability is not a simple move that can be executed by applying Reverse Cursed Technique to his fist.

Instead, it is a highly aggressive melee attack that can only be unleashed after learning the skill of externalizing the Reverse Cursed Technique.

Because of the two Black Flash just now, and the phantom of himself from another world etched in his memory... after unleashing this Red Fist—

Satoru Gojo entered his second awakening.