"What the hell is this?!"
The black curtain instantly enveloped an area dozens of meters across. Tremendous fear rose in Kaigaku's heart, and he abruptly stopped charging forward, his expression horrified.
He turned and tried to run.
But it was nowhere near that simple. The darkness spread far faster than he could escape, leaving him like a meteor beside a black hole, falling into its event horizon.
The world turned upside down, the stars shifting in the sky!
His vision blurred, and the entire world turned crimson, like a scene of the apocalypse. The floor resembled the surface of a lake, with every movement of his feet sending ripples spreading into the distance.
On the horizon at the edge of his vision, a sinister shrine towered, bearing statues of Enma and demonic deities, deathly still and gray.
Pale red glimmers turned this place into the gates of hell.
Standing before the shrine, Lu You formed hand seals with both hands, his posture as straight and imposing as a mountain peak.
His eyes held nothing but indifference.
He had nothing to say to someone who wanted to kill him. From the moment Kaigaku developed murderous intent, Lu You had never intended to let him leave this place.
"Malevolent Shrine-closed-domain version!"
Domain Expansion was one of the highest-level mysteries of Cursed Techniques in Jujutsu Kaisen.
Representing the ultimate development of a Cursed Technique, deploying a domain barrier granted two effects: first, the technique was guaranteed to hit; second, its power increased or its form changed.
Of course, it could also have just one effect.
It all depended on the caster's ability.
When some ancient Jujutsu Sorcerers or weak modern Jujutsu Sorcerers could not construct a complete domain because of the difficulty, they might forgo the guaranteed-hit effect.
In theory, mastering Domain Expansion was very difficult. Even someone exceptionally gifted needed time to learn, unless they had cheats.
Hiromi Higuruma, for instance.
But Lu You did not need to learn. He had unlocked a template ability, and the Malevolent Shrine (blue) entry contained Yuji Itadori's supreme understanding of Malevolent Shrine accumulated over hundreds of years.
It could be open or closed.
An open domain dispensed with the barrier in exchange for a greater lethal radius and increased power. A closed domain formed a small world, dragging the opponent inside and leaving them nowhere to escape.
The former was Sukuna's Malevolent Shrine, while the latter was Yuji Itadori's Mysterious Farmhouse.
Of course, whichever kind it was-
Kaigaku was certain to die.
Kaigaku naturally realized it too. His expression was utterly terrified, every hair on his body standing on end as he spoke in a trembling voice.
"You can't kill me! If you kill me, you won't be able to join the Demon Slayer Corps!
I swear I'll never tell anyone what happened today! I can give you everything I own, as long as you spare me!"
Lu You remained unmoved, watching him indifferently.
He did acknowledge that killing Kaigaku would cause a massive deviation in the plot, and might even change the Demon Slayer Corps' attitude toward him.
But... so what?
The way to increase his synchronization with Yuji Itadori was to uphold order and justice, with the ultimate goal of changing the world.
It was not to join the Demon Slayer Corps.
Could he not kill demons without joining? He would merely be a little less efficient.
"Is that all you have to say?"
Those words pronouncing his death sentence left Kaigaku feeling as though he had plunged into an icy cavern. Trembling all over, he gritted his teeth and pointed his Nichirin Blade at Lu You.
"If you won't let me live, then come and try!"
"Thunder Breathing, Fourth Form: Distant..."
Before he could finish, before he could even execute his sword technique, a faint fluctuation swept past. Kaigaku turned into a drifting mist of blood that scattered through the air before settling onto the rippling lake.
The lake water turned red.
The Nichirin Blade fell with a splash and floated on the water.
Unfortunately, the instant Lu You activated it with a thought, tens of thousands of slashes had already cut Kaigaku into a bloody mist.
Because he could not be bothered to watch his dying struggles.
"Fighting one enemy after another really is a little taxing. I need to reach Constant with my Breathing Style as soon as possible."
Lu You's face was even paler now.
His lungs felt as though they were burning, and waves of suffocation washed over him.
The domain rapidly dispersed, and the enormous black sphere vanished. He reappeared amid the ruins, the sound of noisy footsteps reaching his ears. Looking into the distance, he saw residents already approaching.
His figure flickered, and he left the scene first.
However, what neither Lu You nor Kaigaku had expected was that a pitch-black Kasugai Crow had been circling overhead the entire time, recording everything from start to finish.
Perhaps Lu You had noticed.
But he did not care.
Kaigaku, meanwhile, truly had not noticed. When anger went to his head, he was effectively brainless.
Naturally, there was no expecting him to think of that.
As the Kasugai Crow swept across the sky, golden radiance began spreading from the east. This long night had finally ended.
"I see... To think something like this happened. Amane, what do you think?"
Inside an elegant Japanese-style residence, a young man spoke softly. His pupils were white, and hideous purple markings spread across his forehead, covering nearly half his face.
He was the current Oyakata-sama of the Demon Slayer Corps, Kagaya Ubuyashiki.
The beautiful, white-haired woman seated beside him, holding a letter, was his wife, Amane Ubuyashiki.
"I... don't know, Lord Kagaya. Should we discuss the matter of the prospective Corps member You and the criminal Kaigaku with the Hashira?"
When reporting his name, Lu You had given only the single character You. Fortunately, names in this world were rather strange, and no one paid attention to such things.
"I remember this child. Giyu wrote to me before, saying he was someone who could bring about tremendous change.
It seems he was right."
Kagaya Ubuyashiki felt no anger over Kaigaku's actions, only regret.
"Then, should we still have him take the examination at Mount Fujikasane? Should we send someone to notify him? Otherwise, he is very likely to leave the Demon Slayer Corps."
His wife offered her suggestion.
"You're right, Amane.
Which Hashira have returned to headquarters recently?"
"The Insect Hashira, Shinobu Kocho, and the Sound Hashira, Tengen Uzui, have both been at headquarters these past few days."
"Have Tengen go. He's better suited to it."
Kagaya Ubuyashiki's eyes flickered.
He knew that Lu You had protected Nezuko Kamado after she became a demon, while Shinobu Kocho's hatred of demons was the greatest in the Demon Slayer Corps.
Having the two meet now would be inappropriate for the time being.
Half an hour later.
"Oh? Hahaha! Am I supposed to arrest this kid? But if you ask me, he's already shown a bit of my flamboyance in this affair!"
Tengen Uzui received the letter delivered by a Kakushi.
"Well... Lord Sound Hashira, Lady Amane only asked me to deliver this letter to you."
The Corps member, drenched in sweat, did not dare say anything more on his own initiative.
"Understood. You may go."
Naturally, the Sound Hashira, Tengen Uzui, would not make things difficult for a Kakushi. He rubbed his chin, the corners of his mouth curving upward.
"To think something like this would happen. It looks like the Demon Slayer Corps needs some internal cleaning up too.
Well, whatever the case, I'll bring him back to headquarters first.
From the looks of it, Oyakata-sama doesn't disapprove of what he did. He's just worried that encountering something this cruel will make him resent the Demon Slayer Corps.
So he's sending me to sound him out..."
As former masters of infiltration, ninja were skilled at reading people's minds, and Tengen Uzui was naturally no exception.
Honestly, Shinobu Kocho might be better at healing people's hearts, but since Oyakata-sama had specifically chosen him, he could only make the trip and treat it as a journey away from home.
Tengen Uzui was in no hurry either.
After saying goodbye to his wives and accepting a few missions along the way, he finally set off toward Utsunomiya Prefecture.
As for Lu You, he currently had no time to concern himself with the Sound Hashira leisurely coming to find him, because he was facing a problem of the century.
Namely... a compensation scam!
"Stop, stop, stop! I'm telling you, don't try to scam me. I will run."
Lu You stared in exasperation at the old man before him, who was holding a knife and preparing to disembowel himself.
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