Kinoshita chased relentlessly from behind, while Sukuna, forced to protect Megumi Fushiguro, was pinned down by the barrage.
"Sukuna! All you do is run. You've gotten boring!"
A pair of wasp-like wings sprouted from Kinoshita's back. He flew through the air, firing Piercing Blood and sending Sukuna scurrying for cover.
"You shameless bastard. Is this what modern jujutsu sorcerers have become?"
Sukuna tried to awaken Kinoshita's kinder side.
Unfortunately, Kinoshita knew Sukuna would not simply take this lying down, so he fired Piercing Blood even faster.
"Hahahahaha!"
"Sukuna, I never thought you'd resort to running your mouth!"
"Let Itadori take control of his body now, and I can still spare Megumi Fushiguro!"
Seeing Kinoshita actually dare to threaten him, Sukuna's face darkened, and he could no longer suppress his murderous intent.
"Tch." Watching Sukuna approach the edge of the barrier, Kinoshita grew irritated.
Beyond it lay residential neighborhoods. If they fought there, the casualties would surely be considerable.
Kinoshita might not have any great convictions, but personally killing innocent people was still a step too far for him.
Satoru Gojo could accept a "certain" degree of minimal sacrifice, whereas Kinoshita could only accept sacrifices that were already inevitable.
For instance, if Sukuna went on a killing spree in Tokyo and Kinoshita went to fight him one-on-one, the deaths of innocent people in Tokyo would be inevitable.
Even if Kinoshita did not go, those innocent people would still die.
But if innocent people in Tokyo died because Kinoshita chose to fight Sukuna, it would affect him to some extent.
This might be a simulation, but he was the only one who would come back to life.
Of course, the biggest difference between Kinoshita and Satoru Gojo was that he would not go out of his way to save people.
Saving people was merely Kinoshita's instinct, not his duty.
If Satoru Gojo had not shouldered that duty, perhaps he would never have been sealed inside the Prison Realm.
"Maximum Technique: Blood Red!"
The meaning of Maximum Technique was simple: pushing a cursed technique's power to its limit.
But this move was a little different. It was Kinoshita's imitation of a domain, a Maximum Technique created by combining Construction Cursed Technique with Blood Manipulation.
Essentially, it replicated the effect Choso had achieved in his fight against the Projection Sorcery user Naoya Zenin, though Kinoshita had naturally incorporated his own understanding of barrier techniques.
As a vast quantity of scarlet blood flooded the street, Sukuna finally noticed a towering wall of blood ahead.
"So you can't even use Domain Expansion."
"No wonder you haven't used it." Sukuna turned back with a smile.
Kinoshita forced a smile of his own.
As expected of Sukuna, his piercing insight had exposed the purpose of Kinoshita's move at a glance.
What had been the decisive factor in the Shinjuku Showdown?
Some might say Mahoraga, while others might say the information gap.
But in Kinoshita's view, it was Sukuna's ability to learn, so far beyond anyone else in Jujutsu Society that he stood in a league of his own.
After all, if Kinoshita had a domain, why would he need this move?
"Really? I think this move is pretty good!"
"Blood Star Boulder!"
This technique coagulated blood into hard lumps, sacrificing speed in exchange.
But what would Sukuna do when surrounded by an enormous volume of blood?
The blood wall gradually solidified, and Blood Star Boulder kept assailing Sukuna like hidden projectiles that slipped through every opening.
Sukuna had to dodge the attacks while also keeping Megumi Fushiguro from getting hurt.
Watching Sukuna, Kinoshita marveled at his mastery of Dismantle.
The instant a Blood Star Boulder touched him, Sukuna released a faint Dismantle to knock it away.
"I see."
Looking at the blood staining his clothes, Sukuna finally realized that it was slowly clinging to his body.
"If I leave this alone, it might actually become a threat."
Once Sukuna finished speaking,
Kinoshita immediately launched the second stage of his assault.
"Once you've adjusted to Blood Star Boulder's speed, you'll have a hard time dealing with Piercing Blood, won't you?" The corners of Kinoshita's mouth lifted.
Piercing Blood was a blood arrow compressed using Convergence. It remained liquid in essence, so it was not as hard as Blood Star Boulder.
But it had the advantage in speed!
A shrill whistle sliced through the air.
Having fully adjusted to Blood Star Boulder's speed, Sukuna failed to dodge this attack.
"Cough, cough...!"
"What's going on?"
Sukuna was surprised that he had actually coughed.
He narrowed his eyes. Not only that, he had coughed up blood!
"Poison?"
No wonder his reflexes had begun to slow.
Seeing Sukuna activate Reverse Cursed Technique again, Kinoshita inwardly lamented how difficult he was to deal with.
Poison only worked on jujutsu sorcerers with mediocre cursed energy control. For anyone on Gojo's or Sukuna's level, unless it was an acute case of "Hollow Purple poisoning," they could simply use cursed energy to force it out.
"But at least it'll buy me some time!"
Kinoshita swept his hands, and the blood began to gather, as though refusing to let Sukuna escape.
Sukuna looked at Megumi Fushiguro in his arms and gave two dry chuckles.
He understood what Kinoshita meant.
Maximum Technique: Blood Red had no barrier. It was simply a budget domain, and leaving would be all too easy.
But Sukuna could not keep protecting Megumi Fushiguro forever. His best option was to settle the fight here.
"Fine. Here it is, then!"
"Furnace: Open!"
Whoosh!
Two streams of flame began swirling around Sukuna.
Kinoshita was not afraid of Furnace: Open without a domain.
After all, even Sukuna had strengthened it with a binding vow. Without a domain, Furnace: Open was powerful, but far too slow.
At this distance, it could not hurt Kinoshita at all.
"Sukuna, are you already out of options?"
"Maybe it's time you handed over the title of King of Curses!"
Sukuna nearly laughed aloud.
He had not opened his domain, had to protect Fushiguro, had limited time, and was forced to fight under conditions favorable to Kinoshita.
With all those restrictions, this brat still had the nerve to talk so big.
Kinoshita's gaze wavered slightly. This much blood consumed a considerable amount of cursed energy.
Thank goodness Megumi's here. Otherwise, if Sukuna ran, I'd be screwed!
If anyone brings up that house-versus-elephant fight again, they're getting an earful from me!
Megumi doesn't carry?
Megumi's carrying so hard!
"Piercing Blood × Blood Star Boulder!"
Drip, drip!
The sounds of blood and slashing attacks bursting against one another rang out especially sharply. Because of Megumi Fushiguro, Sukuna only defended without attacking, making him look slightly disadvantaged.
Kinoshita looked at the two blazing streams of Furnace: Open, still unable to figure out what Sukuna intended.
Was he trying to stop me from launching a sneak attack?
Come on!
Am I really that underhanded?
"Furnace: Open!"
Sukuna really was a cook. He turned up the heat, sending flames soaring into the sky and consuming all the blood fired into them.
The battle was gradually turning into a war of attrition.
But Kinoshita was confident. Sukuna had already opened his domain earlier, and his time was almost up. Itadori would return in ten minutes at most.
Which meant...
This time, at least I'd managed to hold Sukuna here!
"Furnace: Open..."
Before you continue