"Eight-Cut!"
He had made contact!
Sukuna chuckled. He hadn't expected it to be this easy!
Eight-Cut was a version of Dismantle restricted by a binding vow: Sukuna could only activate it while touching his enemy.
That made it powerful enough to punch through Kinoshita's flimsy defenses!
He had thought Kinoshita might provide a little entertainment, but this was utterly boring.
Kinoshita felt his internal organs instantly churn into a mangled mess. The metallic sweetness of blood flooded his mouth, but an even stronger burning sensation overwhelmed him!
"He's smiling?"
Sukuna looked at Kinoshita in bewilderment.
The brat was about to die, and his instinctive reaction was to smile?
"Cursed Technique Reversal."
"Deconstruction Cursed Technique!"
Kinoshita's speed couldn't come close to Sukuna's, so his only chance to use this move was when Sukuna tried to break through his defenses with the more powerful Eight-Cut.
In other words...
"Sukuna! You're playing right into my hands!"
"Hahahahahahaha!!!"
As Sukuna watched the positive energy gathering in Kinoshita's hand, his heart immediately sank.
Because Kinoshita had been watching from the sidelines all along, it had never occurred to Sukuna that he could use Reverse Cursed Technique.
And that wasn't all.
What baffled him even more was that Kinoshita's reserves of cursed energy were utterly unimpressive.
How could he have mastered Reverse Cursed Technique and still be capable of Cursed Technique Reversal?
Sukuna was very familiar with Construction Technique, but reversing it was something he had no information on whatsoever!
Even more astonishing was Kinoshita's terrifying tactical mind.
He had actually anticipated Sukuna's intention to attack him head-on. To crush Kinoshita without a domain, Sukuna could only use Eight-Cut or Furnace!
"This brat...!!!"
Kinoshita's right hand touched Sukuna's face. In a panic, Sukuna immediately pulled away his left hand, which had been unleashing Eight-Cut, and swiftly retreated from Kinoshita.
As Sukuna put distance between them, Kinoshita coughed up blood, stopped using Construction Technique, and devoted everything to Reverse Cursed Technique.
Sukuna touched his head in disbelief. If he hadn't dodged that blow, his entire head would probably have been shaved away.
Seeing Sukuna's hideous appearance, with half his gums exposed, Kinoshita gave two dry chuckles. "I'll give you a one-handed handicap."
Sukuna's anger flared, but he quickly realized that a piece of his soul had been erased too!
His already unstable soul had suffered another injury from Kinoshita's strike.
"You don't rank anywhere among the Jujutsu Sorcerers I've seen, but you can certainly hurt me." Sukuna's eyes were icy, brimming with murderous intent.
Reverse Cursed Technique also consumed enormous amounts of cursed energy. With Kinoshita's total reserves, he couldn't possibly cause any more trouble.
Was this as far as I could go...?
Clutching his abdomen, Kinoshita struggled to look at Sukuna.
"Domain Expansion: Deadly Sentencing."
The three of them were soon inside a solemn, enclosed courtroom cast in dark tones.
The atmosphere was oppressive and cold, the space orderly and symmetrical, like a somber modern courtroom.
The man standing in that courtroom was none other than the modern sorcerer Hiromi Higuruma.
His shikigami floated behind the judge's bench. Tall, pitch-black, and humanoid, it wore a white mask with its eyes stitched shut, its mouth tight and expressionless.
The shikigami was skeletal, its black robes trailing to the floor, its hands posed as though holding up a set of scales.
Bang!
Bang!
Bang!
Bang!
Bang!
Higuruma's gavel rang out, crisp and firm.
He addressed the shikigami behind him. "Judgeman, begin."
The black shikigami, Judgeman, slowly opened its mouth.
"Sukuna."
"You are suspected of massacring large numbers of civilians on October 31, 2018."
"Violence is prohibited within Deadly Sentencing. Give it up," Higuruma told Sukuna before turning to Kinoshita. "You're the companion Itadori mentioned, right?"
Kinoshita was genuinely relieved to see Higuruma.
He hadn't expected Itadori, who had nearly been slashed out of the fight, to manage to bring Higuruma here.
Deadly Sentencing prohibited violence, but Kinoshita was merely healing on the sidelines, so it didn't affect him at all.
They still had a fighting chance!
No!
This charge would definitely carry a death sentence!
Sukuna didn't have a cursed tool on him, so his cursed technique would definitely be confiscated!
They could win!
Once Sukuna's Slashing was confiscated and Kinoshita recovered, he could work together with Higuruma and the Executioner's Sword granted by the death sentence.
The two of them against a Sukuna who could use neither Slashing nor his domain.
They could absolutely fight him!
"Mr. Higuruma, please stall for time. Once I've healed, we'll attack Sukuna together!" Kinoshita immediately laid out his plan.
Higuruma nodded in agreement.
Sukuna first inspected the surroundings of Deadly Sentencing with curiosity, then tried using his cursed technique, only to discover that it didn't work.
"Oh?"
"What if I plead guilty?"
Higuruma immediately pulled out a file.
He was an outstanding graduate of the University of Tokyo, after all. His academic credentials probably surpassed even Kinoshita's.
Naturally, he wasn't going to let Sukuna be convicted that easily.
"You committed your crimes while inhabiting your host, Yuji Itadori."
"Yuji Itadori is under eighteen, yet you took possession of his body without permission."
"I have grounds to suspect you of being sexually attracted to children!!!"
"Huh?" Sukuna's brain briefly stopped working.
Kinoshita, who was frantically treating his injuries with Reverse Cursed Technique, was also stunned by Higuruma's bombshell accusation.
"What's more, while possessing Yuji Itadori, you murdered Mimiko and Nanako, both high school girls."
"What does that have to do with anything?" The more Sukuna heard, the more speechless he became.
Shouldn't that also fall under the charge of massacre?
The documents Judgeman supplied naturally listed most of the crimes Sukuna had committed in Shibuya.
That was how Higuruma knew about them.
"You stole the body of Yuji Itadori, a minor, and murdered high school girls. Doesn't that behavior prove something?" Higuruma continued banging his gavel.
Watching Kinoshita's injuries approach full recovery, Sukuna could only glare in frustration.
After all, this domain hadn't inflicted any harm on Sukuna. He had to wait until Higuruma finished running his mouth before he could act.
"I'll admit to whatever the hell you say. Hurry up," Sukuna said.
"You're not only a sorcerer who's attracted to children, you're gay too!"
"So you admit it!"
Kinoshita burst out laughing. If the laughter hadn't tugged painfully at his wounds, he would have laughed even louder.
"You bastard..." Sukuna's face darkened.
This was practically shitting on his head.
Kinoshita chimed in with his agreement. "I concur with Judge Higuruma's statement."
"They're all high school students, but Sukuna only has eyes for Itadori. Doesn't that say it all?"
Soon, Kinoshita's injuries had healed completely, and Judgeman delivered its verdict.
"Guilty!"
"Confiscation!!"
"Death Sentence!!!"
The domain vanished the next second.
Higuruma held the Executioner's Blade.
Kinoshita conjured a metal blade.
The two powerful fighters joined forces against Sukuna, who had lost both his cursed technique and his domain. In other words... the outcome was decided!!
They could win!
This time, Kinoshita had won!
"Domain Expansion: Malevolent Shrine."
Before you continue