Three Against Three, Mahoraga.exe Has Stopped Working
Just as Satoru Gojo teleported away, a slash tore through the smoke on the battlefield and cut straight across Shiratori Gotsu's neck.
HP -8000.
"Well, well, isn't this the King of Curses? Haven't seen you in a few days, and you've gotten this weak?"
Shiratori Gotsu looked defiantly at Sukuna as he emerged from the gradually clearing smoke.
"Shiratori Gotsu..."
Sukuna's gaze was terrifyingly dark:
"You stinking mutt who only knows how to hide in the back and use dirty tricks. You finally decided to show yourself."
The "health bar" representing Fate Track Binding Curse appeared above Sukuna's head.
Shiratori Gotsu's filthy mouth went right back to work:
"What's wrong? Angry? Ah, old people shouldn't get so worked up. You might have a brain hemorrhage... Oh, sorry, I forgot. You've already had one~"
"Oh my, how pitiful. Lord Sukuna got so much Unlimited Void pumped into him that he's got dementia now~"
"So right now, you still can't expand your domain, can you..."
As the words left his mouth, he raised his hands and formed the Abhaya Mudra.
Seeing this, Sukuna's expression hardened. He rushed up to Shiratori Gotsu and threw a punch, trying to interrupt him.
The fist rapidly filled Shiratori Gotsu's vision, but he didn't budge. He didn't even take a defensive stance.
After all, he had already made arrangements. Someone would block the blow for him!
The next second, a long blade infused with immense Cursed Energy thrust in between them. Sukuna's fist struck the side of the blade with a metallic clang.
It was Yuta Okkotsu, precisely teleported onto the battlefield by Ui Ui's Cursed Technique.
"All phenomena, dome of light, bodhicitta-"
As Shiratori Gotsu finished chanting, surging Cursed Energy flowed into his body from a new Cursed Energy storage pendant he had made during their special training.
Watching the familiar scene unfold, Sukuna understood that he no longer had a chance to stop that hellish domain from being born.
"Domain Expansion: Refrain of the Life Wedge!"
After their special training over the past few days, Shiratori Gotsu's Barrier Technique had improved by leaps and bounds. The enormous domain sphere took shape in less than a second.
Then came the countless "health bars" sprouting from every corner and the tower made of "extra health bars." It was all exactly as Sukuna remembered.
"A total of 51,075. Ah, sorry my 'health bar' is so thick~"
Faced with Sukuna's expression, as if he had just eaten shit, Shiratori Gotsu shrugged indifferently:
"Of course I arranged everything beforehand. Gathering all sorts of little sewer creatures with loads of food and stuff was something I prepared yesterday."
"Oh my! The same trick worked twice. I, Shiratori Gotsu, got MVP!"
He forced his face into a Tang Xiao grin that looked nothing like a human expression. At the sight, veins bulged on Sukuna's forehead, and his fists clenched.
"Hey, shithead, knock off the lousy act."
Ryu Ishigori adjusted his hair, his eyes full of hunger for battle:
"I can't wait any longer..."
Okkotsu also put the ring that connected him to Rika on his ring finger. "Let's finish this fight quickly."
"Right... Kill him while he's down!"
Shiratori Gotsu formed another hand sign, and the skyscraper of "health bars" above his head instantly split into three equal portions, shared evenly with Ryu Ishigori and Okkotsu.
"Now it's three against one, Sukuna!"
As the words left his mouth, Okkotsu and Ishigori attacked Sukuna from the left and right.
Looking at the three green "skyscrapers" before him, Sukuna felt a faint sense of helplessness for the first time.
This was the first time Sukuna had faced three monsters, each with a total of 851,250,000 HP...
In Sukuna's eyes, Shiratori Gotsu's own combat ability didn't even qualify him as "human." Calling him "a mutt on the roadside" wasn't entirely mockery.
Yet this very "mutt on the roadside" had a Cursed Technique of unbelievable potency, and his tactical mind knew no limits.
At the critical moment when Sukuna couldn't expand his domain, he had brought a problem that could only be solved by expanding a domain and thrown it in his face...
Okkotsu and Ishigori's attacks rained down on Sukuna, forcing him back again and again as the HP of the "health bar" above his head rapidly dropped.
He closed his eyes and gave a faint, somewhat bitter smile:
"You've pushed me this far. I acknowledge you, Shiratori Gotsu."
The next second, dozens of slashes erupted around Sukuna, the powerful impact driving the advancing Okkotsu and Ishigori back several meters.
After regaining his balance, Sukuna immediately used Reverse Cursed Technique to restore his "health bar's" HP, then waved a hand:
"Chimera Beast: Agito!"
"Mahoraga!"
Two enormous Shikigami instantly appeared behind Sukuna. At his command, they charged at Ryu Ishigori and Yuta Okkotsu, respectively.
Sukuna himself headed straight for Shiratori Gotsu:
"I'm going to tear a disgusting bastard like you to pieces, bit by bit!"
Shiratori Gotsu first attached a "health bar" to Mahoraga, then glanced up at the green "skyscraper" above his own head.
He grinned, then raised a Cursed Energy-coated fist to meet Sukuna:
"If you could do that right now, you wouldn't be wasting your breath making threats, would you?"
He punched straight at Sukuna's face, and HP -300 immediately popped up over Sukuna's "health bar."
"Damn, that barely scratched him?!"
Sukuna returned a punch to his stomach...
The "health bar" stuck out beyond the domain barrier, so there was no way to see how much it had lost.
"Shiratori Gotsu! Didn't you make a Binding Vow in Sendai that you couldn't cause anyone any harm inside your domain? You just broke that vow!"
A triumphant smile spread across Sukuna's face.
He hadn't attacked Shiratori Gotsu in a fit of anger to satisfy himself for a moment.
Sukuna's aim was to make Shiratori Gotsu retaliate, causing him to break the Binding Vow he had made and suffer the "price" of breaking it.
"Right! I did make that Binding Vow~"
The smile on Shiratori Gotsu's face didn't waver in the slightest as he kicked Sukuna in the crotch:
"I can't harm any 'person.' All the damage I deal is applied to the 'health bar,' so what does it have to do with you as a 'person'?"
"The vow I made wasn't 'I can't attack anyone,' you old idiot!"
Shiratori Gotsu grinned obnoxiously and jabbed a finger into Sukuna's nostril.
"You... damned bastard!"
Sukuna was genuinely furious now. His whole face turned red, and his punches abruptly grew several degrees faster.
The two kept up their Reverse Cursed Technique as they traded punches and kicks, barely scratching each other.
Because Shiratori Gotsu's domain barrier was large enough, and attacks wouldn't reach those inside the domain, some of Mei Mei's crows could enter and relay the scene within.
But compared with the chaotic scene inside the domain, where Cursed Techniques flew everywhere, the situation outside the barrier drew more attention.
Three green "incense sticks" jutted from the enormous black sphere, stirring around as the three people inside the domain darted about...
"That feels really inauspicious..." Kirara stared blankly.
"Ahem... Don't say that..." Hakari fought to keep the corners of his mouth in check.
"Hey, look! Something's happening with Okkotsu!"
Itadori's voice drew everyone's attention back to the fight inside the domain.
Okkotsu flashed aside to evade Mahoraga's attack, then pressed both hands against its abdomen.
The next moment, he activated Sky Manipulation, which he had copied from Takako Uro during the earlier battle in Sendai:
"Thin Ice Breaker!"
HP -1020 appeared over Mahoraga's "health bar," a large section of which had already turned gray.
Immediately afterward, the golden Dharma Wheel turned once...
"What's going on..." Kusakabe rubbed his chin, looking puzzled:
"Normally, since that damage wasn't enough to destroy Mahoraga instantly, it should have healed itself the next second and started adapting, right?"
"But looking at the 'health bar' Shiratori's technique gave it, there's no sign of it recovering at all..."
Higuruma propped his face in his hands, looking just as confused:
"That wheel definitely turned, didn't it? So what exactly is it adapting to?"
Meanwhile, the monitoring room door opened, and Satoru Gojo walked in.
He had apparently heard their discussion, so he immediately gave his assessment:
"It's simple. It's precisely because of Shiratori's Cursed Technique."
"Huh? Gojo-sensei's back!" Itadori immediately led the others in getting up to greet him.
Welcomed by the group crowding around him, Satoru Gojo settled into the most comfortable chair and continued his explanation:
"Because the underlying logic of Fate Track Binding Curse is essentially 'damage transfer,' but the 'impact' accompanying the damage still acts on the body."
"And because the technique itself has no offensive power, doesn't forcibly impose rules that must be obeyed, and doesn't even count as a negative effect..."
At that point, Satoru Gojo paused briefly.
He casually picked up and opened a bag of sea salt milk cookies Shiratori Gotsu had bought, then continued with a smile:
"Perhaps, as far as Mahoraga's adaptation is concerned, the technique and the damage it transfers... are things that don't exist."
"And when the Dharma Wheel turns, all it's adapting to is the 'impact' accompanying the damage."
"Simply put, Mahoraga's adaptation has been... cut off by Fate Track Binding Curse!"
"And once the 'health bar' from Fate Track Binding Curse is emptied, it will trigger an unavoidable Instant Death..."
The more everyone heard, the more delighted they became:
"Then that means..."
"That's right. Shiratori's Cursed Technique has the edge!"
Satoru Gojo stuffed a cookie into his mouth and began chewing in great bites.
Meanwhile, Mahoraga at that moment:
Attacked → damage transferred by Fate Track Binding Curse → impact but no damage → adapts to impact → attacked → damage transferred by Fate Track Binding Curse...
Mahoraga.exe has stopped working.