"Furnace: Open"

Boom----!

The sound was like a torpedo exploding in the deep sea, though the sight looked more like an underwater volcano erupting.

Jogo's single eye kept darting around, ready to react to Kinoshita at any moment.

Kinoshita stood in a pool of blood. Faced with such a powerful attack, he wasn't afraid in the slightest. Instead, he was wildly excited.

"What a fucking high!!!"

He plunged his index finger into his brain, even stirring blood out of it.

The horrifying sight only excited Jogo further, until the enormous Maximum Technique: Meteor came crashing down on Kinoshita.

Then heaven and earth seemed to tear apart. Everyone in Shibuya could see a dazzling flash of white light, followed by a mushroom cloud swelling and blooming wildly.

"Is that all you've got...?"

Standing atop the meteor, Jogo looked forlorn.

But soon, Kinoshita coughed up blood and struggled to his feet.

"Hahahahaha! I knew it! You didn't disappoint me!" Jogo clapped his hands together and roared.

Kinoshita's entire body had been burned to charcoal. Although he had done everything he could to evade Maximum Technique: Meteor, Jogo, who had swallowed ten of Sukuna's Fingers, overwhelmed him through cursed energy alone.

This cursed technique was far more terrifying than anything Kinoshita had seen.

"Whew..."

"Megumi Fushiguro."

Deep within the shadows, Fushiguro breathed through an oxygen tank. He sensed Kinoshita calling him.

Only when Megumi Fushiguro returned to the surface did he realize that the surrounding several kilometers had become a hell of molten lava.

"What terrifying power...!"

Fushiguro looked at Kinoshita, trembling.

Kinoshita clenched his right hand into a fist and furrowed his brow, his expression hovering somewhere between a smile and a grimace.

"Use Mahoraga on him."

Fushiguro immediately took his stance, his right hand above his left.

An indescribable expression spread across his face.

"Furube Yurayura...!"

"Eight-Handled Sword Divergent Sila Divine General Mahoraga!"

Jogo's already large eye went completely round. He had never imagined that this monster could be summoned endlessly.

No!

Absolutely not!

Even after swallowing ten of Sukuna's Fingers and opening his domain, he had barely managed to kill Mahoraga. He absolutely could not let him appear again!

"You bastard!!"

The moment Jogo lunged toward Fushiguro, Kinoshita moved.

He became a streak of blood and punched Jogo away.

Another exchange of hand-to-hand combat followed. Desperate to stop Fushiguro, Jogo kept falling on the back foot.

"Black... Flash!!!"

This time, the one unleashing that black flash was no longer Itadori.

As lightning and cursed energy intertwined, Kinoshita punched Jogo in the abdomen, successfully landing the first Black Flash of his life.

The conditions for triggering Black Flash were extremely demanding.

A jujutsu sorcerer's physical strike and jujutsu strike had to land within 0.0001 seconds of each other to trigger the space-distorting Black Flash.

It required not only a jujutsu sorcerer's total concentration on their cursed energy, but, most importantly, luck.

Even Satoru Gojo struggled to produce Black Flash at will.

Black Flash raised an attack's power to the exponent of 2.5. More importantly, it allowed a jujutsu sorcerer to enter a state of heightened clarity.

Cursed energy that normally required delicate control flowed as naturally as breathing after a Black Flash.

During the Shinjuku Showdown, Satoru Gojo and Sukuna had relied on Black Flash to restart their use of Reverse Cursed Technique.

"You... you human bastard!!!"

After taking the hit, Jogo looked toward Megumi Fushiguro, but there was no Mahoraga there at all. Clearly, these two had tricked him to buy Kinoshita time to recover!

Kinoshita was still a little disappointed.

It seemed Mahoraga couldn't be summoned a second time in such a short span.

But this was enough.

That Black Flash had reinvigorated his Reverse Cursed Technique, and the burns on Kinoshita's body gradually healed completely.

"The fight's only just begun, Jogo."

"The age of humanity will end. Tell me your name. I'll remember you in the age of cursed spirits."

Kinoshita's clothes had long since burned away entirely. Now, he had barely managed to create a pair of black pants using Construction Technique.

As the hot wind blew against him, Kinoshita felt refreshed and invigorated.

"My name's Kinoshita. As for my goal..."

"I'll drive every last one of you out. I'll drive you out of this world, without leaving a single one behind!" Kinoshita formed Blood Armor around his hands.

Jogo swept his hands through the air, gathering scorching flames around his fists.

"You've got some nerve."

A mouth suddenly appeared on Jogo's face.

Kinoshita's eyes widened. That mouth was all too familiar-it belonged to Ryomen Sukuna.

"What?!" Jogo stared at the mouth on his face in terror. "Why...?! Why has Sukuna's soul appeared in my body?!"

"A mere cursed spirit, not even a suitable incarnated vessel, and you think you're worthy of swallowing my soul?"

Sukuna's voice was chillingly cold.

The meteor beneath their feet was still radiating searing heat, yet Sukuna's presence was already bone-chilling.

"This works too..."

Jogo immediately gathered his wits.

"Use my body to revive yourself! As long as cursed spirits can rule the world, no matter what I have to do, I'll..."

Before he could finish, it happened.

Jogo's right hand suddenly lashed out at his own body. Under Sukuna's control, it crushed his heart in an instant.

Jogo lost consciousness on the spot.

Kinoshita's eyelids twitched at the sight.

He had thought Jogo had already endured Sukuna's soul, but now it seemed he had given Jogo far too much credit.

These were ten fingers, after all.

If Jogo had swallowed only three or four, perhaps he could have maintained control of himself.

But ten fingers contained half of Sukuna's soul. An unstable cursed spirit couldn't even allow Sukuna to incarnate properly, so naturally, Sukuna wouldn't agree to remain inside Jogo.

"Brat, you can die now."

"Furnace: Open."

Flames gathered in Jogo's hands once again. This time, however, they flowed through his hands like a fluid bow and arrow.

Kinoshita recognized the move immediately.

Furnace: Open was renowned for its power, a cursed technique Sukuna rarely used.

But perhaps it had something to do with Jogo's flame technique, which was why he had chosen to use Furnace: Open.

I have to dodge!

Kinoshita activated Ochre Scale: Modified again.

But this time, just as he was about to push off with his right leg, the bone snapped under a burden it could no longer bear.

In the end, Kinoshita lost his balance outright and took Furnace: Open head-on.

Fwoosh...

Watching Kinoshita turn into flames, Sukuna immediately began sensing the location of his other self.

"I need to feed the fingers to that brat. Better hurry."

"Why hasn't Sukuna appeared yet?" Mimiko looked at the unconscious Itadori. "We already fed him the finger!"

Nanako was crouched on the ground too, repeatedly patting Itadori's face.

"Lord Sukuna?"

"Lord Sukuna!"

"Who are you?" Jogo's figure appeared behind the two girls.

The next instant, he spoke.

"Furnace: Open."

This time, the two girls died by being reduced to ashes.

Then Sukuna took the fingers out of Jogo's body, opened Itadori's mouth again, and placed all ten fingers inside, one after another.