A Bewildered Jogo

An empty road.

A pitch-black sedan sped along beneath the faint moonlight.

Satoru Gojo looked at Araki Itsuki beside him, a little puzzled. "You're coming along too?"

Araki Itsuki nodded helplessly. "Of course. The Goodwill Event is about to start. How am I supposed to show off without my special grade sorcerer certification?"

"That damn old geezer keeps holding up my application!"

Satoru Gojo chuckled despite himself and said nothing more.

Suddenly.

"Stop the car."

"Uh... here?"

"Mm-hmm."

Araki Itsuki was a little surprised. He knew Jogo would ambush Satoru Gojo in the original story, but he hadn't expected him to dare come back after the beating he'd given him.

"Want to come with me, Araki?"

Sensing an enormous amount of cursed energy approaching, Satoru Gojo wondered:

A special grade cursed spirit?

But he immediately realized this was the perfect chance to show off in front of Araki Itsuki. He hadn't fought in front of him yet.

Imagining the admiring look Araki Itsuki would soon give him, Satoru Gojo was already starting to smile.

"Nope!"

Araki Itsuki shook his head and refused. He was still waiting to settle the score with that old geezer. Besides, what if Jogo saw him and ran away in fright?

"Ijichi, take me there first. It's fine to leave Mr. Gojo here."

"This really isn't some kind of test? The kind where you punch me twice after I agree?"

"Of course not."

Hearing that, Ijichi abandoned Satoru Gojo, hit the gas, and drove off with Araki Itsuki.

Satoru Gojo rubbed his chin. If he couldn't show off in front of Araki Itsuki, he'd have to bring someone else over. He could call it an after-class lesson.

I'm a genius!

"Hyah!"

Brimming with murderous intent, Jogo dropped from the sky. The ground around him cracked like foam as he pressed his fingers together and lifted them slightly.

A mound-shaped volcanic crater resembling his head appeared to Satoru Gojo's right, instantly erupting with an enormous pillar of flame.

Boom, boom, boom, boom!

The fierce, searing flames completely engulfed Satoru Gojo, swallowing him whole.

Jogo smiled, lifting his index finger slightly as he sneered, "You're not such a big-"

"Wait!"

Suddenly remembering something, he clapped a hand over his mouth.

Then, erring on the side of caution, he summoned several more mound-shaped volcanic craters and unleashed a relentless bombardment on the spot where Satoru Gojo had stood.

The brilliant explosions lit up the dim sky. Trees in the distance shook violently, as though they were about to snap.

Even after all that, Jogo still wasn't reassured.

He summoned several Ember Insects from the top of his head and watched them race into the flames, triggering a chain of earthshaking explosions.

Only then did Jogo breathe a sigh of relief.

"I've probably scattered even Satoru Gojo's ashes by now, right? Let's see that brat accuse me of celebrating before the fight's over again!"

From now on, I'll be the most cautious cursed spirit around!

But a curious voice suddenly drifted out of the blazing explosions.

"Who do you mean by that brat? And who were you saying wasn't such a big deal?"

Seeing Satoru Gojo standing unharmed with one hand in his pocket, Jogo, whose injuries had only just healed, suddenly felt a faint ache through his body.

It must be my imagination. There can't be that many powerful people in this world.

I'm one of the best special grade cursed spirits out there. There can't be many people stronger than me. Surely I can't run into every last one of them!

In a flash, Jogo appeared before Satoru Gojo and slammed his palm down onto his head.

Bang!

Thick smoke billowed from Satoru Gojo's head.

"I'm not done yet!"

Thud!

Another palm strike landed on Satoru Gojo's completely unguarded abdomen.

Boom!

With Satoru Gojo at their center, the explosive flames spread wildly behind him. The cool air turned scorching, and the surrounding trees swayed in the firelight like ghostly silhouettes.

I hit him! I hit him!

Feeling the unmistakable sensation of contact against his palm, Jogo grinned. "Your death will spread the truth of genuine strength!"

But then the smoke cleared.

"Didn't I just use that trick? Try to remember!"

Jogo's heart sank to the bottom of the sea, his ominous premonition growing stronger by the second.

"What's going on?"

"Simply put, you didn't hit me."

Jogo couldn't comprehend it. "How is that possible? This was different from before. I definitely touched you and killed you!"

"Is your ability devouring too?"

Satoru Gojo blinked. "What do you mean, devouring?"

"What you touched was the infinity between us. Hold out your hand, and I'll show you."

Then Satoru Gojo switched into teaching mode, grabbed Jogo's hand, and beat him so savagely that he questioned his entire existence and wished he were dead.

At last, he fell helplessly onto the lake's surface, thinking despondently, So he really wasn't just trying to scare me. Heh, heh, heh.

When Jogo regained his focus, he discovered that Satoru Gojo now had a surprised, bewildered kid tucked under his arm.

"Ryomen Sukuna's vessel?"

For the sake of our future plans, I can't kill Yuji Itadori yet. Does Satoru Gojo already know what we're planning?

To probe for information, he sneered, "What's that brat for? A human shield?"

Satoru Gojo waved a hand, looking utterly relaxed. "A shield? No, no, no. I told you, he's here to watch and learn."

Jogo couldn't understand what Satoru Gojo was doing. "You actually brought a burden here yourself. What an idiot!"

Satoru Gojo laughed at that.

"It's fine, because you're..."

"Really weak!"

Jogo's emotions erupted in an instant. The Mount Fuji atop his head and the ears on either side could no longer hold anything back, like a broken faucet unable to stop the rushing water, or a flash flood too great for a narrow channel to contain.

Three pillars of flame erupted at once. The air rapidly heated up, and even the lake beneath their feet began evaporating, sending steam drifting in every direction and making the surrounding air more humid.

The enormous surge of cursed energy made Yuji Itadori break out in a nervous sweat. He's more terrifying than any curse I've faced before. Even Cursed Womb Must Die at the Juvenile Detention Center couldn't compare.

"It's okay. Just stay close to me."

Satoru Gojo gently rested a hand on Yuji Itadori's head, soothing his nerves.

"Don't underestimate me!!!"

"I'll swallow that girly face of yours whole!!!"

Remembering the lesson he'd learned from Araki Itsuki, Jogo decisively formed the sign for his cursed technique.

"Domain Expansion: Coffin of the Iron Mountain!"

Black shadows emerged behind Jogo and swiftly spread toward Satoru Gojo and Yuji Itadori, cutting off the last sliver of light and enclosing the entire space.

Firelight suddenly appeared in the darkness. Quaking earth gradually covered the black shadows, and once it had replaced them all, the ground began to rock.

Crack!

Fissures opened in the hard ground. Magma and flames sprayed from the cracks and flowed in every direction. The temperature rose at an incredible pace, threatening to burn everything inside to ash.

Yuji Itadori stared at the transformed surroundings in disbelief. "What is this?!"

Smiling, Satoru Gojo explained calmly, "This is Domain Expansion. You use cursed energy to construct an innate domain around you and imbue it with a cursed technique."

"What you experienced at the Juvenile Detention Center was an incomplete domain that hadn't been imbued with a cursed technique."

"Expanding a domain uses a tremendous amount of cursed energy, but it has benefits to match. One is like a buff in a video game. Another is that any cursed technique activated inside the domain is guaranteed to hit."

Even as he spoke about guaranteed hits, Satoru Gojo slapped away the attack from the volcanic eruption.

Yuji Itadori stared at the shattered magma. "That's what you call guaranteed?!"

Satoru Gojo nodded firmly. "Guaranteed!"

Jogo gathered the cursed energy inside him, preparing to unleash a fatal blow.

"If I neutralize that so-called infinity of yours with a denser domain, my cursed technique will be able to hit you, right?"

Satoru Gojo confirmed it. "Mm-hmm. It'll hit me."

With blood coating his head, Jogo stared at the utterly relaxed Satoru Gojo as several thoughts flashed through his mind.

I came here half treating this as a game. I figured it didn't matter whether I killed him or not. I just wanted to vent, relax a little, and stop thinking about that bastard Araki Itsuki.

But...

This gulf between us, staring me right in the face...

My pride as a cursed spirit, as a new human, simply can't accept it!!!

Satoru Gojo removed his black blindfold. "The most effective way to counter a domain is to expand our own. When two domains expand at the same time, whichever has the more refined technique will dominate the space."

Jogo summoned every last bit of cursed energy inside him and launched his final attack!

"There won't even be ashes left!! Satoru Gojo!!!"

Beneath Satoru Gojo's black blindfold were azure eyes veiled in a white haze.

He pressed his index and middle fingers together, gazed calmly at Jogo, and softly intoned.

"Domain Expansion: Unlimited Void."