Execution of the Death Sentence

Fake gambling: "Domain Expansion: Idle Death Gamble."

Real gambling: That monkey Toji was gone. Surely a second Sorcerer Killer couldn't possibly show up! Bully them, bully them mercilessly!

Kinoshita honestly admired these gambling addicts, these warriors of Zenin Clan feudalism, but he couldn't deal any killing blows.

After all, if he killed them all, Maki Zenin would probably be unable to awaken.

During the Shibuya Incident, Jogo had burned Naobito Zenin to death. In his will, Naobito Zenin had explicitly stated that if Satoru Gojo became incapacitated, Megumi Fushiguro would become the head of the Zenin Clan and inherit all its wealth.

And just like that, once Satoru Gojo was sealed and Naobito Zenin died, the three original heirs-Jinichi, Naoya, and Ogi-lost their inheritance rights entirely.

Ogi, that old bastard who refused to die, had immediately planned to murder his daughters and Megumi Fushiguro to seize the Zenin Clan's inheritance by force.

He wasn't even afraid that Megumi Fushiguro might snap under the pressure and drag the entire Zenin Clan into Mahoraga's taming ritual.

In the end, Mai Zenin sacrificed her life to create the Soul Liberation Blade with her Construction Technique.

In short, without that incident, Maki would never have had the opportunity to awaken as the Sorcerer Killer.

In this timeline, Naobito Zenin had been killed by Mahito. Through his earlier probing, Kinoshita had also learned that Naoya had been defeated by Choso.

In other words.

What happened to Maki afterward should remain unchanged.

In a few days, the Zenin Clan would be wiped out.

Whatever. A vampire hardly cared about little loaves of bread hopping around in front of him.

"Looks like I'll have to be a little careful to preserve the Sorcerer Killer as a fighting asset." Kinoshita stretched his muscles. After lying down for six days, his body was somewhat stiff.

"After all, I've got plenty of ideas in my head for using the Sorcerer Killer against Sukuna."

Kinoshita tapped his temple with his index finger and looked at them with a chuckle.

Naoya's brow furrowed, and his face immediately flushed with anger.

"You don't seriously think you can survive with us surrounding you, do you?"

Fair enough.

According to the Jujutsu Higher-Ups, Kinoshita was a formidable opponent who could just about hold his own against Sukuna.

That was why they had sent Yoshinobu Gakuganji, who had then used his connections to get three Grade 1 Sorcerers from the Zenin Clan involved.

Four powerful Grade 1 Jujutsu Sorcerers should have been more than enough to handle anyone except Satoru Gojo.

"Projection Sorcery!"

Naoya instantly became a blur. His speed was astonishing, and he threw over a dozen punches the moment he clashed with Kinoshita.

"Ptoo..."

Kinoshita spat out the blood in his mouth.

Naoya's expression grew grave. He had landed so many hits, yet hadn't managed to inflict any meaningful damage.

"All together!"

Ranta Zenin instantly activated Death-Staring Eyes, and a pair of terrifying red eyes suddenly appeared in the sky.

Kinoshita could feel an invisible pressure desperately trying to restrain his movements.

"Die!"

Jinichi Zenin didn't hesitate. He activated Myriad Fists, and countless fists appeared in the sky.

"So... powerful!!!" Blood streamed from both of Ranta Zenin's eyes.

He hadn't expected that restraining Kinoshita for just a few seconds would place such an enormous strain on him.

"Hold on!" Jinichi unleashed his cursed energy at full power.

Just as Kinoshita was about to break free of the restraint, Naoya appeared behind him without him noticing.

"Projection Sorcery!"

Crack!

Their coordination was so exceptional that Kinoshita didn't even have time to react before the giant fists raining from the sky engulfed him.

Yoshinobu Gakuganji watched it all unfold. Just as that old man Ogi Zenin had said, "Those three will be enough."

Even without joining the fight, Yoshinobu Gakuganji could sense the strength of the Zenin Clan's elite.

"One-on-one, you might really be strong. Unfortunately, this world is cruel." Yoshinobu Gakuganji was just about to put away his guitar.

A sound tore through the air.

"Piercing Blood!"

"Gah!"

Ranta Zenin stared in disbelief at his severed right hand.

As a member of one of the Three Great Families, he knew all too well what that cursed technique was.

"Blood Manipulation! You're from the Kamo Clan! What's your connection to that bastard?!" Naoya instantly flew into a rage.

He had only just lost to Choso, who used Blood Manipulation, and now he was facing that cursed technique again.

Kinoshita said nothing. The blood in his hands condensed once more.

"Again!" Jinichi immediately swung both fists.

Two giant fists of cursed energy shot straight toward Kinoshita.

Kinoshita smiled. Those wild, clumsy punches couldn't possibly compare to the speed of Piercing Blood.

Naoya understood that better than anyone. He activated Projection Sorcery again and circled straight behind Kinoshita.

Projection Sorcery could even freeze the air to deliver an impact.

He really is fast!

To Kinoshita's eyes, Naoya's figure appeared only in intermittent flashes within that single second. Even with Ochre Scale: Modified enhancing his dynamic vision, Projection Sorcery fundamentally divided one second into twenty-four frames.

The sorcerer needed an excellent sense of rhythm and precise control over his movements. That made his movements appear disjointed and unpredictable to everyone else!

"1, 2, 3, 4..."

"14, 15, 16, 17..."

"21, 22, 23...!"

"That's more like it!"

A patch of Blood Armor instantly formed around Kinoshita's waist. Only when Naoya used Projection Sorcery again to immobilize him did he realize that something felt wrong!

"What!?"

Thud!

Naoya was instantly kicked flying.

Yoshinobu Gakuganji watched Kinoshita move in disbelief. Could someone really react to Projection Sorcery, the fastest technique!?

Of course, Kinoshita couldn't directly keep up with Naoya's speed.

Even pushing Ochre Scale: Modified to its limit would only let him match that speed briefly. If he couldn't hit Naoya, the expenditure simply wasn't worth the return.

He had merely discerned Naoya's frame count.

Projection Sorcery imposed restrictions on its enemies, but it also imposed restrictions on its user.

If the projected twenty-four frames exceeded the limits of physics or the human body, the user would also be trapped inside a frame and immobilized for one second.

Naoya Zenin excelled at using extreme speed to perform feints.

His movements were already swift, and mixing real attacks with feints made them even harder to read.

But there was one frame transition Naoya would never fake, one that absolutely had to obey the laws of physics and inertia.

The transition from the twenty-third frame to the twenty-fourth.

Naoya's movement could be predicted with complete certainty.

As such, Kinoshita only needed to take a few precautions to avoid being immobilized by Projection Sorcery.

"Piercing Blood!"

After kicking Naoya away, he immediately fired a shot of Piercing Blood that sliced apart Jinichi's cursed energy fists.

Kinoshita held back with his Piercing Blood, but it still left Jinichi wounded and unable to fight.

At that point.

Only Naoya and Yoshinobu Gakuganji remained capable of fighting.

"How... how is that possible?!" Shock was written all over Yoshinobu Gakuganji's face.

The four of them had held the advantage just moments ago, yet the situation had reversed in an instant!

"You... you bastard with your Blood Manipulation!!!" Naoya erupted in fury.