Unlike Suguru Geto, who had collapsed and struggled to rise after taking that time-stop barrage, Satoru Gojo could still activate Reverse Cursed Technique through sheer will, rapidly repairing the injuries throughout his body.
The radiance of positive energy flickered and flowed within and around him like the pulse of life itself.
Shattered bones reassembled, torn muscle knit together, blood appeared from nothing to fill his veins, and his skin rebuilt itself as though time were running backward.
A minute later, Satoru Gojo casually wiped the remaining blood from his face with the back of his hand and actually stood up on his own from the still-warm pool of blood.
Aside from his torn clothes, not a single wound remained. Even his breathing was steadier and deeper than before the fight.
"Ha! That was... exhilarating!
I thought no one could understand the loneliness of being at the top better than I could. Who knew there was someone even better!
Our cursed energy output was clearly about the same-I even had a slight advantage-and I still lost.
The body I trained, the skills I mastered, the instincts I honed, my spur-of-the-moment imagination and explosive power...
In that fight, I held nothing back.
All of that reached you loud and clear, right?"
Satoru Gojo chuckled, his voice hoarse but brimming with satisfaction.
Time stop. What an absurdly powerful ability.
He had easily deduced that much during his brief review of the fight while lying on the ground.
Had he not experienced it himself, he would have struggled to believe that a single individual could possess such a tyrannical power to rewrite reality.
Regret? Remorse? Defeat?
Perhaps those feelings had flitted through his heart for an instant.
But what surged through his chest now was mostly the thrill of witnessing the boundaries of power expand, the exhilaration of breaking through a bottleneck and being able to climb higher still, and the joy of glimpsing limitless possibilities for surpassing himself!
The great wheels of the age had begun to rumble into motion.
The King of Curses, undefeated a thousand years ago, and the legendary great cursed spirits-powerful beings whose very thought set his heart racing-would probably emerge one after another in this brand-new era!
"Of course. I felt it all." Dio extended a hand, palm up. "Well? After a fight like that, you should understand that I meant what I said, right?
I have no interest in oppressing the weak. I simply want to change this world because it interests me."
Satoru Gojo grinned, his smile as bright and guileless as a cheerful young man's, and reached out to clasp his hand firmly.
"Yeah!"
He raised Dio's hand, turned toward the distant spectators, who were still wavering between shock and doubt, and announced loudly, "Congratulations to the new 'strongest of the modern age'!"
"I can't imbue myself with the concept of the 'Six Eyes' for long. I'm only better at short bursts." Dio lowered his hand of his own accord and offered a few modest words of explanation.
"If it were a battle of attrition lasting tens of minutes, you would undoubtedly win. So at most, we're tied for strongest."
"But there's no definitive best in literature, while in combat, there can only be one. When a one-on-one fight decides the winner, that single instant of explosive power is everything, you know?"
Satoru Gojo released his hand and gestured animatedly, his eyes shining with childlike curiosity and excitement.
"And your shikigami's ability really is time stop, isn't it?
I wanted to ask ever since I learned your name was Dio. Don't tell me it's actually 'The World'?!
I never imagined I'd someday see a character and an ability straight out of a manga!
Having countless attacks land on me 'simultaneously' was a very, very novel experience!
I was lucky to get to fight you.
It's been far too long since I felt myself 'growing' so clearly!
Inspiration is streaking through my mind like a meteor shower. I want to put it into practice right this second!"
"Hey, hey. You've fallen off the throne of the strongest. How come you're even happier now?" Dio avoided answering the question of his identity and deftly changed the subject.
There was not a trace of gloom in Satoru Gojo's smile. "Yeah. From the start, I thought losing wouldn't be so bad.
If someone stronger is up ahead pushing the boundaries, all I have to do is keep chasing in that direction.
Isn't that much more fun than standing alone on the mountaintop?"
Then he raised Dio's hand high again and called out to the distant audience, still reeling from the shock:
"Mr. Dio won! Now, then-it's time for the Special Grade Sorcerers' closed-door meeting!"
As the stunned crowd gradually dispersed amid a rising clamor of discussion, only Dio, Satoru Gojo, Suguru Geto, and Yuta Okkotsu remained at the center of the vast crater.
"My cursed technique is 'Copy.'
After copying 'Cursed Spirit Manipulation' and 'Limitless,' I still have room to copy two more.
Among the techniques you know of, are there any you would recommend?"
Dio openly shared information about his cursed technique with the three of them, utterly unconcerned that it might cause him to come to grief.
"So it really is 'Copy'? I thought you were bluffing back then." Satoru Gojo raised an intrigued eyebrow.
"Yes. Unconditional 'Copy,'" Dio confirmed with a nod.
"Wow, you're amazing, Mr. Dio!" Yuta Okkotsu could not help exclaiming softly. "My cursed technique is also 'Copy,' but... it comes with some harsh conditions."
"The Zenin Clan's 'Ten Shadows Technique' is an ancient cursed technique as renowned as the Gojo Clan's 'Limitless.' It has tremendous potential.
But I'm not sure whether a Ten Shadows Sorcerer is alive in this generation."
After a moment's consideration, Suguru Geto offered two suggestions.
"Besides that, the Inumaki Clan's 'Cursed Speech' is also highly unusual.
By infusing cursed energy into their voices, Cursed Speech Users can turn words into curses with tangible effects-something close to a 'Word Spirit,' where whatever they say comes to pass.
Among the students, that gray-haired boy with the Snake Eyes and Fangs curse markings on his face-Toge Inumaki-is this generation's Cursed Speech User."
"...As it happens, I know a Ten Shadows Sorcerer," Satoru Gojo picked up the thread. "I adopted Toji Fushiguro's child. That kid inherited the Zenin Clan's long-lost 'Ten Shadows Technique.'"
"Can you have him enroll at Jujutsu High early?" Dio asked without beating around the bush.
"It's not out of the question," Satoru Gojo said, rubbing his chin as a mischievous gleam flashed through his eyes. "Are you really in that much of a hurry to 'collect' them?"
"You can never have too much strength.
'This world is sick, so I, a towering giant who loves humanity, shall raise my sword and kindle the fires of iron to save it.'
Satoru Gojo, may I call you Satoru?"
"Of course!" Satoru Gojo beamed. "Nothing like a fight to bring people together. You're my friend now, too!"
"All right, Satoru." Dio's voice deepened slightly. "I once arrogantly assumed that your kindness was the simplicity of someone untested by the world-the innocence of a hothouse flower that had never weathered a storm.
I was wrong. That isn't innocence. It's the courage to see through the darkness and still choose to embrace the light."
"That's because I really like everyone at Jujutsu High. I'm not lonely at all." Satoru Gojo laughed and lightly steered the conversation back to the path they intended to take.
"Dio, you and Geto want to achieve 'cursed energy optimization,' right?
Your idea is good. Very interesting.
But most people in this country like to tell themselves that 'reality will stay the same forever,' even though their lives and livelihoods are often fraught with danger.
Not everyone has the courage to risk their life for change, you know.
Perhaps you want to make your own existence an 'anchor,' suppressing cursed spirits yourself while forcibly spreading knowledge of curses, brutally tearing open that hidden world and exposing it to everyone.
But this won't just reveal the truth. Fear and the naked threat to survival will serve as a whip, continually sorting non-sorcerers into tiers: those who can awaken, those with potential, those utterly incapable...
Forcing them to desperately clutch at that straw called 'cursed energy' just to stay alive.
Using the pressure of despair and death to force the entire human race to evolve.
Very efficient. Even very 'reasonable.'
But, Dio-
Before you reach that 'ideal outcome' of a clean, resilient world where everyone can wield cursed energy, the cries of opposition, fear, and collapse in the world of ordinary people will probably rise like wave after wave of a tsunami, never allowing a moment's peace.
Parents will curse you for making their children witness nightmares. Politicians will attack you for destroying social order. Scholars will condemn you for trampling on human morality.
Countless people living within an illusion of peace will hate you for shattering the 'everyday life' they depend on to survive.
Are you ready to face all of that-to face a world that might tear itself apart in the growing pains of transition before it can evolve?"
"A true man has his own strategies." Dio's response to Satoru Gojo's question was detached and resolute. "We all understand what's going on. At this point, why keep dancing around it? Mono no aware? Eternity? What do they have to do with me?"
"Huh-didn't you call yourself a towering giant who loves humanity?" Satoru Gojo tilted his head, teasing him with his own words.
Before you continue