"Hey~"
Hajime Kashimo leaned back in his seat and greeted Kinoshita as he approached.
"Aaargh!" Kinoshita slumped irritably into a chair. "This is bullshit! My luck couldn't get any worse!"
"How rude. Who starts cursing the moment they meet someone?" Hajime Kashimo shook his head helplessly.
"The King of Curses was pretty good, wasn't he?"
Hajime Kashimo gave Kinoshita a knowing smile.
Kinoshita looked up at the sky and waved a hand. "He really was strong."
"And Sukuna hadn't even gone all out."
"Even without his 'slashing' Cursed Technique, I don't think I could've won." Kinoshita scratched his head.
Hajime Kashimo nodded in agreement. "Of course. Otherwise, we wouldn't be meeting here."
"I even feel a little guilty." Kinoshita stared blankly at the horizon.
"What do you mean?" Hajime Kashimo asked.
"I always believed a sorcerer with no limits was the strongest. After spending so long tearing everyone apart on the Chinese internet, I'd already tasted the loneliness at the top."
"As they say, the finer the tune, the fewer who can appreciate it..."
"I actually forgot to leave him the 'shit' Cursed Technique. After all, I wanted to leave Sukuna every last bit of garbage from the Chinese internet."
Kinoshita clenched his fist solemnly.
"...I had a damn good time fighting."
"But I wasn't strong enough to make Sukuna reveal all his trump cards, so I feel guilty about that."
Hajime Kashimo gave a couple of wry chuckles.
"I'm so jealous. But I only have myself to blame for going ahead of you, huh?"
Kinoshita looked at Hajime Kashimo. "If you'd been there when we jumped Sukuna, I might've felt truly satisfied."
Hajime Kashimo turned away and waved a hand. "Hey, no interruptions when I'm fighting!"
"Anyway, I'm glad I died on the road to getting stronger, rather than getting killed by some random shock wave," Kinoshita said frankly.
"Whoa, you'd think you were the ancient sorcerer here. Shouldn't that be my line?" Hajime Kashimo pulled a face.
A long while passed.
The two looked at each other and smiled.
[Cause of death: Misjudged Sukuna's actions and died to slashes within his domain.] [Experience: Fought Mahito, killed Kurourushi, repelled Ryu Ishigori and Takako Uro, and ultimately lost the decisive battle against Sukuna in Tokyo...] [Evaluation: You managed to trade several rounds with Sukuna through sheer grit despite only having the strength of a Semi-Grade 1 Jujutsu Sorcerer. You're not bad at all.] [Rewards: Greatly increased talent, greatly increased cursed energy, 6 lottery draws, 3 rollback chances.]
Kinoshita lay spread-eagled inside the system interface.
He opened his eyes, only to feel a chill run through his body.
"Uh... I think I dreamed about Roku..."
[Congratulations, host. You've finally shed the title of roadside fodder.]
Kinoshita rubbed his head, carefully recalling what had just happened.
"So Higuruma's 'Deadly Sentencing' actually confiscated Sukuna's 'Ten Shadows Technique'?"
Recalling the sight of his body being sliced into countless pieces, Kinoshita instinctively shrank back.
That wasn't all.
Sukuna's Binding Vow had been another land mine.
He had used the Binding Vow to imply that he couldn't use Domain Expansion, but in reality, as long as Sukuna took the risk of using "Malevolent Shrine," Kinoshita couldn't react at all.
Recalling the domain's size, Kinoshita suspected that Sukuna had even placed a Binding Vow on his domain.
It was probably something like shrinking the domain or shortening its duration in exchange for greater attack power or making it easier to maintain.
While watching the Shinjuku Showdown, Kinoshita had marveled at Sukuna's battle IQ countless times. But only when he actually faced him did he understand the pressure Jujutsu High's side had been under during that battle.
Kinoshita let out a breath. He had lost this time, and he had lost utterly.
But he had no regrets. After all, he had done everything he could.
He'd certainly had his fill.
He opened the interface.
[Kinoshita] [Cursed energy: Special Grade] [Cursed Technique: "Construction Technique" (1/3)] [Abilities: "Reverse Cursed Technique," "Deconstruction Cursed Technique"] (These are derivative abilities of the Cursed Technique and do not count toward Innate Cursed Techniques.) [Evaluation: An exceptionally outstanding Special Grade Sorcerer, capable of eating his fill of "Dismantle" even in Sukuna's presence.] [Rollback chances: 12]
"System, if my evaluation is this outstanding, why did I barely get any extra lottery draws?" Kinoshita asked, puzzled.
Only six. Would that let him stomp Sukuna?
[Host.] [Even if you tried again, I'd still believe you could win!]
"Huh?"
"Did you fucking skim off my lottery draws?"
When the system played dead, Kinoshita looked helplessly at the lottery machine.
Apparently, his rollback chances could only increase by three each time, but he still couldn't use them all. There was simply no way he'd run out.
Then what else was there to say?
Fighting Sukuna had instantly become a game that rewarded him for winning and didn't punish him for losing.
Thinking of it that way, Kinoshita quickly cheered up.
"I've really got the skills. I managed to work wonders with a Cursed Technique as trash as 'Construction Technique.' Give me Limitless, and I'll grind Sukuna into the dirt."
Kinoshita looked over his experiences with satisfaction.
"Still, the cursed energy rewards have been pretty generous. I wonder how many of Sukuna's fingers this Special Grade level is worth?"
After all, there were differences even among Special Grades.
Ryu Ishigori, the strongest of Sendai's four kings, hadn't even been able to put up a decent fight against sixteen-finger Sukuna.
"It's definitely because that bastard jjxx can't draw."
"Otherwise, Ryu Ishigori could've bombarded him with that cannon from two hundred meters away and kited Sukuna. Wouldn't that have had him raging?"
After Ryu Ishigori's death, Okkotsu had even been kicked straight out of the sixteen-finger Sukuna powerscaling debate.
Still, Kinoshita had plenty of faith in Yuta Okkotsu's combat strength.
"Okkotsu after his training for Shinjuku should be worth at least thirteen or fourteen fingers."
But even someone worth only one or two fingers could be considered a Special Grade combatant.
A Special Grade Sorcerer, though, should at least be as strong as the four disaster Cursed Spirits, right?
According to Kenjaku's assessment of Jogo, he was worth at least eight or nine fingers.
Some powerscalers thought that estimate was too high, though.
But even if Jogo was only worth six or seven fingers, he was still in a league of his own among Special Grade Cursed Spirits.
"System, how many of Sukuna's fingers is my cursed energy worth?" Kinoshita asked the system.
[Four.]
"Not bad!"
"After all, I killed Kurourushi myself. That lousy sword rack should've had a decent amount of cursed energy."
"Come on, don't let me down with these draws!"
Kinoshita pulled the Steel Ball lever, suddenly realizing that the lottery machine was modeled on Itadori's beloved pachinko machine.
Kinoshita had never tried anything like this before. He examined it and muttered, "So to hit the jackpot, I need to shoot the steel ball into the hole, right?"
[Ding!] [Massive cursed energy.]
"No jackpot..."
[Ding!] [Massive cursed energy.]
"..."
[Ding!] [Enormous amount of cursed energy.]
"..."
[Ding!] [Cursed energy manipulation proficiency increased.]
"It's a new account! Cut me some slack!"
[Ding!] [Barrier Technique proficiency increased.]
Kinoshita narrowed his eyes.
Barrier Technique was pretty important.
"Simple Domain," "Hollow Wicker Basket," and even "Domain Expansion," the pinnacle of Innate Cursed Techniques and Barrier Technique, all required proficient use of Barrier Technique.
"But please... I really don't want to be the king of frauds anymore!"
[Ding!!]
Before you continue