Kenjaku arrived

Todo's Black Flash struck Mahito right in a vital spot. He spat out a mouthful of blood, and his once-imposing "Instant Spirit Body of Distorted Killing" shattered to pieces.

"How is this possible...!" Mahito clutched his abdomen. He could feel the severe damage to his soul.

Kinoshita frowned. He knew exactly what would happen next.

"That old bastard Kenjaku's coming to steal the prize again, isn't he?" Seeing that Mahito couldn't fight back, Kinoshita immediately sprinted toward him.

Watching Mahito limp away, Itadori was just about to launch into a speech, but Kinoshita had no intention of playing fair. He didn't give him the chance.

"Cursed Technique Deconstruction!"

Just as Kinoshita's fingertips were about to touch Mahito, a large, powerful hand caught his wrist.

"My, my, where did you come from, sorcerer? I don't recognize you at all."

Kinoshita's mouth twitched. The newcomer was none other than Kenjaku, Jujutsu Society's resident shit-stirrer, who had lived for over a thousand years and now wore Suguru Geto's skin.

Damn it, I've only got one hand! Kinoshita's heart sank, and he prepared to kick Kenjaku.

Someone else beat him to it. First, dozens of arrows rained down on Kenjaku.

Then the blue-haired Miwa appeared, lowering her stance and preparing to draw her sword.

"In exchange for never being able to draw a sword again..."

Crack.

Despite the extreme binding vow Miwa had made, Kenjaku snapped her blade effortlessly between his fingers.

"You little insects really are a nuisance."

Kenjaku turned, instantly kicking both Kinoshita and Miwa away.

"Mahito, shall I save you?" Kenjaku crouched with a smile, looking at the battered Mahito.

Mahito's brow furrowed. He saw what Suguru Geto, the wielder of Cursed Spirit Manipulation, was after.

"Give us back... Satoru Gojo!!"

Itadori couldn't hold back any longer. Todo closed in on Kenjaku at the same time.

"Those are Kamo's arrows! Reinforcements from Jujutsu High are here! If we stop him, we can get Satoru Gojo back right here!" Todo clapped his hands, and Mahito was immediately moved away.

Kenjaku frowned, shooting Todo an irritated look.

"Just as I thought!" Kinoshita watched Kenjaku, all too happy to stir up more trouble.

Thanks to his help, Todo was still in fairly good shape.

If Kenjaku let his guard down for even a moment, Mahito might get killed!

"Domain Expansion: Womb Profusion."

"Another guy who can't handle even a little pressure?!" Kinoshita felt as though even his breathing had frozen.

He hadn't expected Kenjaku to lose his cool simply because he hadn't secured Mahito's Idle Transfiguration!

"I can't let all these years of planning go wrong at this stage..." Kenjaku looked at Mahito with a smile.

His overwhelming presence left everyone struggling to breathe.

"You're troublesome. You can die first." Kenjaku pointed at Todo.

Clang, clang, clang!!!

"Simple Domain: New Shadow Style!"

The newcomer was Kusakabe, reputed to be the strongest Grade 1 sorcerer. With his quick-draw slash, he barely managed to counter the domain's sure-hit effect.

"This is... Run!"

"It's an open domain!!"

Kusakabe already regretted intervening. He hadn't expected Kenjaku to unleash his ultimate move right away. Who the hell had put him under this much pressure?

Countless embryonic forms covered the landscape, flesh and veins weaving across the ground. Hideous visions filled their entire field of view.

At the sight, Kinoshita immediately abandoned any thought of stealing the kill. He strengthened his legs with his Construction Technique and leaped clear of the domain's range.

"Run for it!!"

"I'm out, guys! I'm running first!"

Everyone from both Jujutsu High schools had assembled, but faced with an open domain, none of them dared approach.

"What's going on? Has something troublesome happened?" Uraume suddenly flashed into view.

As Sukuna's loyal servant, Uraume was currently working with Kenjaku, naturally with the goal of resurrecting Sukuna.

"Nothing." Kenjaku made no attempt to stop the others from fleeing. His only aim was to keep Mahito from being killed.

"Cursed Spirit Manipulation."

"Maximum: Uzumaki."

Mahito tried to flee in terror, but despite his doglike appearance, he was no more than a horny furry in Kenjaku's eyes. A ball was all it took to catch him.

With two shakes of the Poké Ball and a ding, Kenjaku successfully captured Mahito.

"Piercing Blood!"

With a tremendous roar, a blood-red beam shot toward Kenjaku.

But as the blood approached him, it suddenly sank, slamming hard into the ground.

"You bastard...!"

"Kenjaku!"

"You made me kill my own little brother!!"

The newcomer was Choso, Itadori's older brother.

In the original plot, without Kinoshita's interference, Choso would have joined the battle to help Itadori around this time as well.

But Kinoshita had put so much pressure on Kenjaku that he had unleashed his domain outright, leaving everyone from Jujutsu High helplessly watching.

"He has Gojo! We have to do something!" Itadori was about to charge forward when Kusakabe stopped him.

"No. Without a way to resist his domain, charging in would only get you killed."

Kinoshita nodded in full agreement. "Kusakabe's right. Kenjaku's too strong. We can't beat him."

Itadori continued, "But without Gojo, how are we supposed to deal with him?"

Kinoshita nodded in full agreement again. "Itadori's right. Kenjaku's too strong. We can't beat him."

Kusakabe rolled his eyes at Kinoshita.

Are you just going to keep repeating yourself?

"Who's this guy...?" Kusakabe kept his sword raised.

"Oh! This is Kinoshita. He helped us a lot. Without him, we would've had a hard time beating Mahito," Itadori explained.

"Wrong!" Todo threw an arm around Kinoshita. "He's my best friend~"

Kinoshita went along with it, flashing a peace sign.

In the original plot, Kenjaku could still trade a few blows with the Jujutsu High group and Choso.

But thanks to Kinoshita, there was now only one person who could put up even a decent fight...

"An open domain?" The speaker was the Special Grade sorcerer Yuki Tsukumo.

She dropped from the sky, watching Kenjaku and his companions warily.

"Stop her," Kenjaku told Uraume.

Maximum: Uzumaki allowed him to make the fullest possible use of a Cursed Technique. Once he finished assimilating Mahito's Idle Transfiguration, he would be able to achieve his goal.

As things stood, none of these people would risk entering his domain.

Except Yuki Tsukumo!

Uraume charged forward irritably. "Only Lord Sukuna can order me around!"

"My, my, Geto, so this is the kind of woman you like~" Yuki Tsukumo teased as she watched Uraume rush toward her.

Uraume snorted. "You won't be talking for much longer!"

Kinoshita immediately put several backflips between himself and the battlefield. It didn't take a genius to know what Uraume was about to do. In his current condition, even getting grazed by an attack might kill him outright.

"Ice Formation: Frost Calm!"

"Get out of the way!!" Yuki Tsukumo shouted.

A moment later, an enormous mountain of ice began spreading out from beneath Uraume's feet.

Seeing that things were going wrong, Todo immediately activated Boogie Woogie.

Yuki Tsukumo looked toward Kenjaku's domain, her gaze steady.

"Phew..."

"Domain Expansion"...