Domain Expansion

Jianxia used this tactic not because he enjoyed playing with crap.

It was because he knew that, to win, he had to keep weakening Gojo Gen's Cursed Energy output.

Although the punch Jianxia had taken to the face earlier hadn't looked that heavy, it had actually come close to punching through his reinforced wooden armor.

The fact that Jianxia had rolled a few times and immediately gotten back up was already proof of his remarkable skill.

So Jianxia made a snap decision and resorted to his backup plan-using the "Clumsy House" Cursed Technique to extend the sewer pipes he had buried in advance all the way here, then detonating them.

He had originally prepared this move for Sukuna, but unexpectedly, Gojo Gen, the little glutton, had gotten the first taste.

Shortly after the sewage entered the earthen dome, the battlefield underwent a drastic change.

Jianxia now stood on Banquet of Fated Remnants' back, his wooden armor shutting out the sewage and stench around him, like a tiny boat in a torrential storm.

Meanwhile, House-Maker held its body rigid and spread its two large hands, serving as Jianxia's paddle.

To make the filthy water surge even harder, Jianxia continued using "Clumsy House," turning the exploded sewer pipes into enormous tentacles that sprayed sewage while churning it up.

Countless supple wooden tentacles, like the arms of an octopus, transformed the already foul-smelling water into a raging sea of shit.

Jianxia had gone to all this trouble for one reason alone: to force Gojo Gen to keep maintaining Limitless.

Otherwise, he could drink filthy water until he was full.

Yet as the seconds ticked by, Hiraizumi's entire month-long reserve of sewage had poured into the earthen dome, and Gojo Gen still hadn't surfaced.

Three minutes passed. Apart from the splashing of the tentacles stirring the water, no other sound came from the battlefield.

Jianxia's heart tightened. Don't tell me he exhausted himself, couldn't maintain Limitless, and drowned in the sewage?

He had asked Gojo Gen earlier whether he could swim, but Gojo Gen hadn't answered.

If Sukuna had drowned, that would have been one thing. But as the head of the Gojo Clan and an expert in Barrier Technique, Gojo Gen was an indispensable part of deploying the Great Barrier of Japan.

If he really put the man down for good during a sparring match, Jianxia would have no way to explain himself to Shinji and the others.

Just as he was about to activate "Light Returns at Dusk" and return the sewage to Hiraizumi's sewers, a hand emerged from the turbulent surface.

It was coated in black sludge, the kind of hand whose overpowering stench was obvious at a glance.

Then Gojo Gen slowly rose out of the water-only now, he looked utterly bedraggled.

His once-white hair was covered in unidentified yellow-black matter, and his entire body was soaked through with sewage. There was even something grayish-black lingering at the corner of his mouth, though who knew what it was.

Only the area around his eyes remained relatively clean, his Six Eyes still as clear as the sky.

Jianxia could tell that Gojo Gen had probably become unable to maintain Limitless over his entire body in the sewage, so he had chosen to protect only his most important asset, the Six Eyes.

Yet for some reason, those once-vivid eyes had now lost their light.

Gojo Gen's expression was indifferent, stripped of both his initial arrogance and the fighting spirit that had flared up earlier.

He was like a capybara that no longer cared what happened around it, having lost all meaning in life.

Jianxia jolted. That deeply ominous feeling had now swung back around to him.

As the saying went: dip a mop in shit, and you become Lu Bu reborn.

But that only applied while your enemy was still clean.

Once the other person was so filthy that no amount of washing could help, their rage became inversely proportional to their cleanliness.

In plain terms, he was seeing red.

"Domain Expansion."

"W-wait, this is just a sparring match, isn't it? There's no need to take it this far!"

Hearing those words was enough to send Jianxia into a panic. He hurriedly tried to dissuade Gojo Gen, hoping to bring him back to his senses.

But Gojo Gen hesitated for only an instant before seemingly making up his mind and forming the Indra Seal with his right hand.

"Void Sea of Consciousness."

The earthen dome was compressed by the pitch-black shell of the domain and finally shattered outright-countless chunks of earth fell from the sky, splashing into the sewage.

Within mere seconds, the entire summit of the mountain behind the grounds had entered the domain.

Domain Expansion was an advanced technique that fused an innate domain with Barrier Technique, imbued the domain's shell with an innate cursed technique, and ultimately projected it into the real world.

Jujutsu sorcerers could share the same innate cursed technique, but the innate domain within each person's heart was different, so the domains they manifested would never be completely identical.

Thus, even with the same combination of Six Eyes and Limitless, Gojo Gen's domain differed from Satoru Gojo's.

But different didn't mean it could be underestimated. Limitless was the most unfair Cursed Technique in Jujutsu Kaisen, so whatever effect Gojo Gen's Domain Expansion had, Jianxia wouldn't be surprised.

"Domain... Hollow Wicker Basket!"

The best way to counter a domain was to expand one of your own, but unfortunately, Jianxia had yet to become a jujutsu sorcerer of that caliber.

With no other choice, he clasped his hands tightly and activated "Hollow Wicker Basket" to temporarily neutralize the domain's sure-hit effect.

Inside the domain, endless darkness engulfed Jianxia from every direction, pressing down on him until he could barely breathe.

Gojo Gen stood in the infinite void, his head raised as he looked down at Jianxia holding his hand seal, like a god.

To be fair, if you could ignore all the filth on him, he really did look pretty cool.

Unfortunately, such an obvious flaw was hard to ignore.

Besides, when Gojo Gen expanded his domain, he had enclosed the entire earthen dome.

In other words, even inside his domain, the sewage was still beneath them.

Incidentally, because Jianxia had let go with both hands, House-Maker, which had been playing the role of a paddle, had already sunk.

A smug white-haired pretty boy floated overhead, while a vast sea of shit stretched below. Getting the picture?

"Within 'Void Sea of Consciousness,' I can extend the concept of 'infinity' to anything I wish."

Gojo Gen slowly walked down through the air, as though invisible steps lay beneath his feet, each footfall ringing out firmly.

"Your attacks, your movements... even your thoughts. If I wish, they will remain forever in the instant before completion."

As Gojo Gen drew closer, Jianxia felt an immense pressure-cracks were actually spreading across the pinkish-purple structure of Hollow Wicker Basket.

Without activating his domain's effect, Gojo Gen was damaging Hollow Wicker Basket merely by approaching.

His understanding of Barrier Technique was probably even deeper than Jianxia had anticipated.

However, Gojo Gen stopped ten meters in front of Jianxia and came no closer.

Then, as though something had occurred to him, he rose a little higher, putting more distance between himself and the surging sewage.

"Jianxia, you're strong. You managed to push me this far."

Gojo Gen didn't attack. Instead, he looked earnestly at Jianxia and made his voice as gentle as possible.

"As long as you concede and guarantee that the head of the Zenin Clan will hand leadership of the plan over to the Gojo Clan, I'll dispel my domain."

Although Jianxia's utterly shameless fighting style had put Gojo Gen through considerable suffering, he was still an ally. His combat prowess was a good thing, however you looked at it.

"I guarantee that the Zenin Clan will continue to rise afterward. But leadership goes to the Gojo Clan."

He offered what he considered exceedingly generous terms, securing greater benefits for the Gojo Clan while sparing Jianxia further suffering.

After all, he could take Jianxia's life on a whim.

"Really? Conceding here and bowing to the Gojo Clan... I suppose that wouldn't be out of the question..."

Jianxia lowered his head. His faceplate hid his expression, but his tone seemed to suggest there was a chance.

"Yes, exactly..."

"But that's how a loser thinks."

Gojo Gen froze, caught off guard by Jianxia's refusal.

"Gojo Clan head, you know the rules-if you want it, you'll have to take it yourself."

More cracks appeared in Jianxia's Hollow Wicker Basket. Gojo Gen could already tell-he was at the end of his rope.

"Is that so? Then so be it."

Gojo Gen increased the intensity of his domain.

The Hollow Wicker Basket Jianxia had struggled so desperately to maintain shattered.