Jogo

"Oh... long time no see..."

Jogo stood in midair, battered and disheveled as he looked at Megumi Fushiguro.

"Seriously...?" Megumi Fushiguro looked up in shock.

Had Jogo actually taken down Mahoraga?

He was a cursed spirit!

"Oh, seriously!"

"I'm still alive and kicking!!!"

Kinoshita managed to force a smile.

When he felt that immense cursed energy, he had thought Sukuna had appeared.

"You... ate the fingers, didn't you?" Kinoshita guessed the reason.

"Bingo! You got it...!"

Jogo wore a crazed expression, cursed energy surging uncontrollably throughout his body.

"When the monster you summoned defeated that wild man, I started wondering what its ability actually was."

"It wasn't until I first attacked it with Firelight Bugs that I slowly began to realize."

"...It's adaptation, isn't it?"

"That monster can adapt to anything. Only an incredibly powerful attack can kill it outright, right?"

"He just won't stop talking," Kinoshita remarked. "He's getting carried away..."

Megumi Fushiguro couldn't care less about any of that. If Kinoshita hadn't been there, he would have started another summoning chant on the spot.

"Divine Dogs!"

A massive dog lunged into the air, but Jogo merely twisted aside, dodging it perfectly.

He floated in midair as though lying down, his lone eye gazing at the sky.

"At the most crucial moment, I ate ten of Sukuna's Fingers and gained the ultimate cursed energy."

"You killed Dagon, yet you didn't stop me from expanding my domain."

"That's why you lost..."

Kinoshita silently activated Convergence and smiled at Jogo. "Why I lost?"

"The fight's only just begun, hasn't it?"

Jogo fixed his large eye on Kinoshita, then burst into wild laughter. "I see..."

"Yeah, that's right. I suppose you're right!"

"Hahahaha!!"

He spun around and vanished from Kinoshita's sight.

Kinoshita immediately turned, only to discover that Jogo was already upside down, preparing to activate his cursed technique with his index and middle fingers pressed together.

"Volcanic Cannon!"

"Get into the shadows!" Kinoshita roared, immediately summoning Blood Armor.

With the boost from Sukuna's Fingers, Jogo's cursed energy output already rivaled Ryu Ishigori's. This cannon blast was utterly devastating!

In an instant, Kinoshita was blasted straight into a high-rise, smashing through a swath of buildings.

Jogo tilted his head back to gaze at the sky again. All he felt was endless peace.

"Throughout heaven and earth, I alone am the honored one."

"I'm sorry, Dagon."

"Right now, I'm not angry on your behalf."

"I don't hate anyone."

Jogo spread his arms as though he were lying on an ocean.

"Right now, I simply feel that this world is utterly blissful."

Kinoshita emerged from the rubble, stretching his muscles. "No damage to the bones, but that really hurt."

Even a conservative estimate would have put Jogo's strength at roughly seven of Sukuna's Fingers.

Because he was a cursed spirit, eating Sukuna's Fingers affected him differently from an ordinary person. Cursed spirits used Sukuna's Fingers as cursed energy cores-essentially just portable batteries.

There was, however, a second possibility.

A cursed spirit might fail to withstand Sukuna's soul, ultimately going mad and losing all reason.

"The power of seventeen fingers? You really do think highly of me." Kinoshita wiped the grime from the corner of his mouth.

"Piercing Blood!!"

The blindingly fast blood-red beam carved a razor-sharp line through the air.

Several high-rises were sliced in half, yet Jogo charged toward Kinoshita completely unscathed.

"Volcanic Cannon!"

"Ochre Scale: Modified!"

Bang!

Bang, bang, bang, bang!!!

Jogo's cursed energy seemed inexhaustible as he unleashed a string of explosions across the sky.

Kinoshita could only fight while retreating, using Reversal to keep himself from sustaining serious injuries.

Inside the shadows, Megumi Fushiguro watched the scene in terror. Two figures with cursed energy approaching Sukuna's level were fighting each other. It was utterly horrifying.

"Your cursed technique is quite unusual. It's clearly Blood Manipulation, yet I can't see a single wound on you, and you don't have blood bags or anything like that."

"Could you be half cursed spirit, like Choso?" Jogo looked down at Kinoshita from above, his eye filled with fervor.

He seemed completely immersed in the joy of possessing such immense cursed energy.

If he'd known eating Sukuna's Fingers came with benefits like this, why the hell would he have listened to Kenjaku?

Kinoshita coughed twice. The side effects of Ochre Scale: Modified were beginning to spread, and he could feel his internal organs gradually breaking down. It didn't hinder his movements, but one careless move could prove fatal.

"Tell me, aren't you afraid Sukuna will turn on you? You actually dared to eat all ten fingers. You're insane." Kinoshita gave a few cold chuckles.

"Hahahahaha..."

"My original goal was to revive Sukuna, usher in an age of cursed spirits, and end humanity's rule."

"But now, it seems that as long as Satoru Gojo is sealed, I could usher in that age myself, couldn't I?"

Jogo's voice boomed, as though he didn't consider Kinoshita worth his attention.

"Construction Technique."

"Ochre Scale: Reverb·Insect Armor."

The muscles throughout Kinoshita's body began to swell. He recalled Yorozu's Insect Armor. That armor, built in pursuit of efficiency and power, had been the pinnacle of what she could achieve a thousand years ago.

"Ha..."

"Not only do I have Blood Manipulation, I also possess the ability Cursed Technique Construction."

"As long as I want to, I can create an endless supply of blood. Forget blood bags-if I wanted, I could flood Shibuya with blood."

Interest appeared on Jogo's face. Clearly, Mahoraga hadn't been enough to satisfy him.

"This is Insect Armor. Not only did I incorporate the strengths of that cursed technique, I also added circulating blood to the armor so I could control it with Blood Manipulation."

"In other words, I've broken through my limits again!"

Jogo simply watched Kinoshita. He felt as though he had found a kindred spirit, someone who could enjoy the beauty of this world alongside him.

"Yes, yes, that's it!" Jogo formed a hand sign, unleashing Maximum Technique: Meteor once again.

Aside from Sukuna and Satoru Gojo, almost no one could use a domain multiple times in a single day.

That meant Kinoshita's chance to win lay right here!

Right before Maximum Technique: Meteor came crashing down!

Bang, bang, bang-!

The instant Kinoshita launched himself forward, he broke the sound barrier repeatedly, hurtling straight toward Jogo like a bullet.

Jogo faltered for only an instant, and half his body was blasted apart.

But after that brief moment of surprise, Jogo immediately became ecstatic.

"Hahahahahahahahaha!"

"Yes! That's it!"

Jogo's body regenerated rapidly, and he followed up with another incredibly powerful Volcanic Cannon!

Kinoshita tried to dodge, but to his surprise, Insect Armor had already shattered from the previous collision.

"Construction Technique."

"Maximum Technique: Blood Red."

A towering torrent of blood surged like water bursting through a dam, rushing toward the oncoming Volcanic Cannon!