An Old Man Toyed with a Brat

"Is this Hajime Kashimo's hidden trump card? Or is it your cursed technique?"

A trace of curiosity appeared in Kenjaku's eyes.

A cursed technique with effects like these hardly seemed worth keeping sealed away until the end of Kashimo's life. There had to be something more to it.

"Both are possible. That's your answer."

Lu Yun held his head high and puffed out his chest, blurting out his reply with absolute confidence.

"That certainly sounds like something Hajime Kashimo would say."

Kenjaku chuckled and brought his hands together in a reverse prayer, the backs of his hands touching.

"Then let's settle this with this move."

An enormous surge of cursed energy rose from Kenjaku. Paired with that distinctive hand sign, it instantly revealed his intentions to Lu Yun.

With a stance like that, what could it be but Domain Expansion?

"Just what I wanted!"

Lu Yun shouted and stirred up his own cursed energy.

"Huh? You big idiot, what are you doing?!"

Seeing that Lu Yun had no intention of activating Hollow Wicker Basket, Hajime Kashimo cried out from inside him.

"Without Hollow Wicker Basket, how are we supposed to withstand Kenjaku's domain?!"

"Easy. I'll just expand my own domain."

With that, Lu Yun stopped concealing his presence and let it burst forth, unleashing a massive surge of cursed energy just like Kenjaku's.

Indeed, Lu Yun now had an idea of how to construct a complete domain. He also knew perfectly well that Kenjaku's was an Open Domain, just like Sukuna's, but he wasn't about to back down because of that.

Giving up on pitting a closed domain against an Open Domain and choosing to endure its attacks through full Elementalization or Hollow Wicker Basket was certainly a sound idea. But that was how losers thought!

A real man had to fight a domain with a domain!

Lu Yun pressed his palms together before his chest and lowered his eyes, blue-white lightning surging between his hands.

"Through fifty-four tribulations, the clouds of calamity still shroud the heavens."

Rumble!

Dark clouds gathered overhead. The weather seemed to shift under the powerful fluctuations of Lu Yun's cursed energy, and thunder and lightning suddenly erupted across the quiet night sky.

His right palm slowly curled inward against his left, gathering every last strand of raging current into his grasp. Keeping his left palm against his chest, he clenched his right hand into a fist and slowly raised it, inching it above his head before holding it over his forehead.

"Domain Expansion: Primordial Sage..."

"Domain Expansion: Womb Profusion..."

Kenjaku had intended to follow through with his Domain Expansion, using the advantage of an Open Domain to crush Lu Yun's and force his cursed technique into burnout. But his expression sharpened, and his surging cursed energy abruptly stopped. Another figure with enormous reserves of cursed energy had entered his range of perception.

Was that Yuta Okkotsu?

"This isn't good."

Not expecting Lu Yun to have backup coming, Kenjaku immediately halted the Domain Expansion that would leave him at a disadvantage. His gathered cursed energy dispersed, and he released a mass of low-level cursed spirits toward Lu Yun to block his vision.

"Motherfucker."

Noticing that his opponent had abandoned his Domain Expansion, Lu Yun abruptly halted his own overwhelming surge of power.

This was his first attempt at Domain Expansion, and he hadn't expected to abandon it halfway through. Frustrated, Lu Yun charged into the cursed spirits blocking his path, cursing all the while.

"I'm out of here. Let's leave our domain showdown for next time."

The voice grew more distant. By the time Lu Yun had cleared out all the low-level cursed spirits, Kenjaku was long gone.

"That underhanded old bastard!"

He had actually dared to toy with Lu Yun by pretending to expand his domain. Fortunately, Lu Yun had managed to hold back and hadn't revealed any information about his own domain.

"I told you to let me handle it."

Only a brat like Lu Yun would fall for Kenjaku's trick. If Hajime Kashimo had been in charge, he would have thrown up his basket, charged in, and kicked Kenjaku to death. How could he possibly have let him keep running around?

Ignoring Kashimo's mockery, Lu Yun stood in midair with an indignant expression, flames seeming to flicker in his eyes.

Damn Kenjaku. Running away was one thing, but he hadn't even left those two special grade cursed spirits behind. Lu Yun had cleared out a whole horde of low-level cursed spirits for nothing, without triggering a single reward.

"Just you wait until next time. You'll see whether I beat your ass."

Lu Yun swore he would personally kill Itadori Lao Feng!

Back in the present, the only reason Okkotsu had sensed the fluctuations in Lu Yun's presence was the disruption caused by his failed Domain Expansion.

"I didn't think anyone could get the better of you, Mr. Lu Yun."

Yuta Okkotsu looked at Lu Yun curiously.

As far as he was concerned, the only people capable of that were probably Satoru Gojo and the legendary King of Curses.

Lu Yun shook his head and said,

"I let my guard down for a moment. Next time, I definitely won't let him escape so easily."

Since Lu Yun had his own plans, Okkotsu didn't press him any further.

"Speaking of which, is your principal all right?"

Only then remembering why he had come, Lu Yun asked Okkotsu.

"He's fine, he's fine. Thanks to your timely information, Mr. Lu Yun, we made it just in time."

Okkotsu thanked Lu Yun once again. He hadn't expected the execution to be scheduled for that very night. Fortunately, they had received advance warning and reached the scene before the fighting began.

After Itadori's introduction, Masamichi Yaga also learned who Lu Yun was and approached them with Panda supporting him.

"Mr. Lu Yun, thank you so much for your help. The moment Satoru was gone, those people couldn't restrain themselves any longer and started making their moves. Without you, I might have lost my life here tonight."

Masamichi Yaga gazed solemnly into his eyes. Lu Yun's lake-like eyes held a clarity and innocence utterly untouched by worldly concerns.

Yaga slowly bent forward, giving Lu Yun a proper ninety-degree bow.

"And thank you for looking after these wayward students of mine."

Lu Yun hurriedly reached out and helped the burly man, who was even taller than him, straighten up.

"Not at all, not at all. I only told you what I knew. I didn't really do much to help."

"You're too modest, Mr. Lu Yun. We'll have to ask for your continued help from here on."

Yaga clasped Lu Yun's hand. The Jujutsu Higher-Ups had already branded them traitors, and they needed the protection of someone as exceptionally powerful as Lu Yun.

"Of course, of course."

Lu Yun scratched his head. There was no helping it. A powerful man like him always found it difficult to turn down pleas from people in trouble.

With the execution incident finally settled, Panda couldn't help complaining from beside Yaga.

"Seriously, Masamichi, why didn't you tell us about this sooner? If you'd notified Yuta in advance, things wouldn't have been so rushed tonight."

"This was my own problem. I shouldn't drag you into it. Besides, hasn't Okkotsu already been running around dealing with Satoru's situation?"

Even knowing that Yuta Okkotsu possessed Special Grade strength, Yaga, as principal, still couldn't help seeing them as children who needed his protection. How could he bear to drag the children into his own troubles?

After serving as principal for so many years, Masamichi Yaga knew all too well how dark the Jujutsu Higher-Ups could be. To achieve their goals, they would use any means without the slightest hesitation.