On edge

After being forced to take a single step, Chiyo Shin stopped in place.

Kenjaku could no longer turn the Compass with his left hand. Black light stained his forearm, drastically reducing the effectiveness of his Reverse Cursed Technique.

As he twisted the Compass, white bone pierced his skin, only for his Reverse Cursed Technique to restore it again and again.

To Kenjaku, the physical pain was secondary.

The Soul Offering Compass had two parts: a son and a mother.

The Son Soul Offering could scramble a soul, while the Mother Soul Offering could control that scrambled soul.

That control came at a price. To toy with another soul, the user had to place their own soul into the Compass and twist it along with the other.

It was tantamount to tearing his own soul apart, but to Kenjaku, it was all worth it.

Such a paltry price to control a perfect creation like Chiyo Shin.

Kenjaku would not hesitate.

Gritting his teeth, Kenjaku twisted so hard that he snapped his arm off against the Compass. It turned once more. "Move again, Chiyo Shin. Move again."

Utahime Iori and the others successfully completed the rescue, retrieving everyone scattered across the competition grounds.

"No. How is that possible? You're telling me Shin turned into a cursed spirit? How am I supposed to believe that?" Megumi Fushiguro grabbed Mechamaru and shook him frantically.

"That's what happened. I can take you to see for yourself." Mechamaru's cold voice shattered Megumi Fushiguro's heart.

Megumi Fushiguro also knew Mechamaru had no reason to lie.

"Take me there. I want to see Shin with my own eyes," Megumi Fushiguro told Mechamaru earnestly.

"All right." Mechamaru started leading the way.

"Hey, I'm coming too." Nobara Kugisaki tightened the waist pack she wore and walked over to Megumi Fushiguro.

Megumi Fushiguro looked at Kugisaki and nodded.

Yuji Itadori clapped Megumi Fushiguro on the shoulder. Fushiguro turned back toward Itadori. "I'm coming too. Even if Chiyo turned into a cursed spirit, he wouldn't attack his friends."

"How could I refuse my best friend's wish?" Todo Aoi joined the group as well.

"Enough!" Seeing the situation spiral out of control, Gakuganji shouted for them to stop.

"The Curtain keeping Gojo out hasn't been removed, and the enemy behind this hasn't shown themselves. What do you think you're doing?"

"Every one of you knows how powerful Chiyo Shin's Cursed Technique is. Going to him while he's unstable is no different from asking to die!"

"All we can do now is retreat and clear the area for those who will take over."

Megumi Fushiguro patted the people beside him. "Then I'll go alone..."

Before he could finish, the Curtain overhead began to disappear, revealing Satoru Gojo standing in the sky.

Satoru Gojo's Six Eyes immediately spotted the group on the ground and the motionless Chiyo Shin.

Satoru Gojo was about to teleport to the group when, out of the corner of his Six Eyes, he saw Chiyo Shin step forward again, radiating a terrifying aura.

Under Kenjaku's control, Chiyo Shin began moving once more. This time, his steps were not accompanied by his Vibration Cursed Technique running wild.

Instead, his movements were stranger still.

Chiyo Shin bent his knees into a half crouch. Of his six arms, the middle pair pressed their palms together at his chest, the upper pair held their palms toward the sky, and the lower pair touched the ground with their fingers.

His body gradually turned red, and Jogo's tattoos appeared on it.

His fingernails lengthened and turned silver.

Energy spilled out without restraint.

At that point, Chiyo Shin stopped moving again.

Satoru Gojo teleported to Chiyo Shin's side, but Chiyo Shin had already ceased moving.

Satoru Gojo's expression betrayed nothing, but rage was already blazing inside him.

They did this to my student. Whoever's behind this deserves to die!

He watched Chiyo Shin remain motionless in that strange pose.

Satoru Gojo turned and teleported to Utahime Iori and the others.

"Retreat. Leave this to me."

"But, Gojo-sensei..." Yuji Itadori tried to say more, but Satoru Gojo cut him off.

"Be good, everyone. Listen to your teacher and go." Satoru Gojo walked over, ruffled Yuji Itadori's hair, then patted Megumi Fushiguro on the head.

"Gojo, we're leaving this to you. We'll come help once the students are safe," Utahime Iori told him.

"Don't come back. Evacuate more of the surrounding area. You won't be able to help in a fight like this."

With Satoru Gojo's arrival, everyone finally agreed.

As Megumi Fushiguro walked away, he kept looking back toward Chiyo Shin.

Seeing Megumi Fushiguro glance back every few steps, Nobara Kugisaki reassured him. "It'll be fine. Gojo-sensei might be unreliable most of the time, but he won't mess this up. He's the strongest, after all."

"Kugisaki's right. Even if we stayed, we couldn't help." Yuji Itadori also gazed reluctantly into the distance, but he still tried to persuade Megumi Fushiguro.

Megumi Fushiguro clenched his fists, turned, and followed the others away.

Kenjaku refused to accept it. Losing an arm had achieved only this much. Without hesitation, he drove his right hand into the Compass as well.

He immediately snapped his right arm off too.

"Not good." Satoru Gojo appeared in front of Chiyo Shin in an instant. "Domain Expansion: Unlimited Void!"

Satoru Gojo's domain enveloped Chiyo Shin in an instant, flooding his already scrambled mind with an immense volume of useless information.

His movements slowed, and Chiyo Shin froze in place.

Though Chiyo Shin had not completed his next movement, Satoru Gojo could already feel a threat to his life.

He could not release his domain, but this was no solution either.

Satoru Gojo flashed to Chiyo Shin's side, frantically examining him with his Six Eyes for any clue.

Soon, Satoru Gojo discovered something. Why is there a Compass here? And I feel like I've seen that design somewhere before.

Caught in this predicament, Satoru Gojo finally remembered. This was the Special Grade Cursed Tool from Jujutsu High's Cursed Warehouse: Soul Offering.

A traitor. There's an enemy spy inside Jujutsu High.

Inside his domain, Satoru Gojo gritted his teeth in fury.

Investigating Jujutsu High's internal problems now

clearly would not resolve the immediate crisis.

Dealing with Soul Offering was both simple and difficult.

The first method required gouging out the flesh bearing the Compass's mark, along with the corresponding part of the soul.

The second was to kill whoever controlled the Mother Soul Offering.

While Satoru Gojo was considering how to find the person behind this,

Kenjaku's left arm regrew. He thrust it into the Compass again and twisted it off at the shoulder. "Move!"

Satoru Gojo was still thinking when Chiyo Shin suddenly moved.

"!?" Satoru Gojo had no time to react.

Utahime Iori and the others, who had not yet gone far, heard something shatter and looked back.

"Gojo's domain broke!?" Utahime Iori's eyes widened in disbelief.

Chiyo Shin opened his mouth.

"Super Domain Expansion: Pulverizing Infinite Hell!" A wildly chaotic chorus of voices-men and women, young and old-rang in the ears of everyone across the competition grounds.

Heaven and earth changed color.

An endless white sky appeared, with four enormous stone pillars suspended in midair. The ground spread out like a starry sky, interconnecting with the white sky above.

Fortunately, the retreating group had just made it beyond the range of Chiyo Shin's domain.

Satoru Gojo stood alone inside Chiyo Shin's open domain.

The automatically operating Collapse and Vibration Cursed Techniques continuously battered and wore away Satoru Gojo's Limitless.

Satoru Gojo had no choice but to pour his cursed energy into Limitless at full output.