Chapter 181
Geto and the remaining curses stared in disbelief.
What had they just witnessed?
Kiriya had merely opened his eyes, and Jogo—an intelligent special-grade cursed spirit—had frozen in midair.
Then Kiriya’s sword became a blur.
Countless flashes of steel tore through Jogo’s hardened body, slicing him apart before he could even react.
Kiriya formed a hand seal with one hand and exhaled a massive ball of blazing fire, reducing what remained of Jogo to ash.
The entire exchange lasted no more than a breath.
One moment, Jogo had been a powerful special grade capable of using both an innate technique and Domain Expansion.
The next, nothing remained but ashes scattering on the wind.
As the pure spiritual energy entered Kiriya’s body, a refreshing coolness spread through his eyes.
His ocular power rose at a speed he could clearly feel.
’Just as I thought. Intelligent special grades are on a completely different level.’
Kiriya was delighted.
"J-Jogo...?"
Hanami’s voice trembled.
Grief closed around her chest so tightly that she could barely breathe.
Geto was equally stunned.
That had been no ordinary special-grade curse.
Jogo possessed intelligence, an innate technique, and a domain.
Yet Kiriya had destroyed him before the battle had even properly begun.
If word of this spread, half the jujutsu world would refuse to believe it.
’What exactly are those eyes?’
’Can they immobilize anyone he looks at?’
’And that orange pattern around them... his pupils have even changed shape.’
’What kind of technique is this?’
Question after question battered Geto’s confidence.
For the first time since coming here, a genuine doubt entered his mind.
Could he actually win?
"You bastard!"
Hanami’s roar shook the school grounds.
Trees burst from the earth under her command, merging into an enormous wave of twisting wood that surged toward Kiriya.
He was about to evade when a powerful force slammed into his mind, briefly scattering his thoughts.
Geto had ordered Tamamo-no-Mae Incarnate to use an illusion and disrupt his movements.
The effect lasted less than a second.
The moment the psychic attack struck, Kiriya’s passive defense activated.
Mirror Calm.
His mind immediately cleared, allowing him to escape the incoming torrent of wood.
Geto was already in front of him.
Playful Cloud swept toward Kiriya with enough force to crush stone.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
They exchanged dozens of blows in a matter of seconds.
Hanami continuously summoned wooden serpents and dragons from every direction, forcing Kiriya to divide his attention while Geto searched for an opening.
Yet nothing could hide from Kiriya’s senses in Sage Mode.
Senjutsu chakra heightened every aspect of his body, allowing him to evade or block each attack just as Geto believed he had finally cornered him.
’That sword is becoming a problem.’
An insect-like curse sprang from behind Geto and opened its jaws, lunging for Kiriya.
Kiriya responded without hesitation.
Several flashes of his blade cut the curse into pieces.
Sizzle—
The instant the sword came into contact with the creature’s blood, corrosion spread across the metal.
Kiriya paused.
’What kind of curse was that? Its blood can destroy a cursed tool this quickly?’
Hanami seized the opening.
Wooden branches sharpened into spears and shot toward Kiriya.
"Die!"
She poured as much cursed energy as possible into the attack.
Whoosh!
Kiriya vanished.
When he reappeared, he was already above Hanami with an enormous sphere of blue energy spinning in his palm.
"Big ball Rasengan."
Hanami felt the terrifying energy above her and immediately released all of her cursed power.
Countless trees erupted around her, layering over one another until they formed a vast wooden fortress.
Geto’s heart tightened.
He ordered several curses to attack Kiriya and buy Hanami time.
They were too far away!
The Rasengan crashed into the fortress.
BOOOOM!
Blinding white light swallowed the battlefield.
The resulting shock wave exploded outward, hurling Geto and the two remaining special grades across the school grounds.
"Damn it!"
Geto clenched his teeth until they nearly cracked.
Hanami’s presence had vanished.
He had arrived with four special-grade curses and complete confidence in his victory.
The battle had barely begun, and two of them were already dead.
During their previous encounter, Geto had held a clear advantage in close combat.
Kiriya had needed to use the Eight Gates before he could turn the fight around.
Now, Kiriya was keeping the upper hand without using that technique at all—even while Hanami and Tamamo-no-Mae supported Geto with their own abilities.
And that enormous Rasengan had never appeared in their last battle.
’Did he become this much stronger in only a few months?’
’Or was he hiding all of this from the beginning?’
"Damn it. How many techniques does this boy have?"
Geto’s expression grew increasingly tense as he searched for a solution.
’Dagon will have to use his domain.’
’If nothing else, it should exhaust him.’
At that moment, an enormous surge of cursed energy erupted behind him.
It was vast as the ocean and violent as a tidal wave.
Geto spun around.
"Is that... Dagon?"
The small octopus curse was rapidly swelling.
In the blink of an eye, the soft, round creature had transformed into a towering humanoid curse with long limbs and a body packed with powerful muscle.
"Hanami... Jogo..."
Dagon clutched his head and screamed in agony.
"Hanami! Jogo! You can’t be dead!"
Masses of human bones spilled from his mouth as his cursed energy continued climbing.
He surged from a newly formed special grade to one of the more powerful spirits in that class.
’Their deaths forced him to evolve?’
Geto immediately understood what had happened.
Cursed spirits were born from humanity’s negative emotions.
Those same emotions could also nourish their growth, whether they came from humans or from the curses themselves.
Dagon had grown deeply attached to Jogo and Hanami.
They had treated him like family, almost like an older brother and sister caring for a child.
Now both of them had been killed in front of him.
The grief and rage erupting from within Dagon produced an enormous amount of pure negative energy, forcing his body to mature from its larval form into its complete state.
Both his intelligence and cursed energy had changed beyond recognition.
’Interesting.’
Geto’s eyes gleamed.
’What will a newly evolved special grade be capable of?’
"My name is Dagon!"
The octopus-like curse pointed toward Kiriya.
"Human, I’ll tear you apart and avenge Jogo and Hanami!"
He tore open a wound in his own body, dipped one finger into the blood, and painted a cursed symbol across his flesh.
"Domain Expansion—Horizon of the Captivating Skandha."
The world shifted as Jujutsu High vanished.
In its place appeared a golden beach beneath a brilliant blue sky, white clouds drifting overhead while a seemingly endless ocean stretched toward the horizon.
"Domain Expansion..."
Geto crouched and dipped one hand into the seawater.
The sensation was indistinguishable from the real thing.
"No matter how many times I see one, it remains extraordinary."
He let the water run between his fingers.
"An entire world this convincing, created inside a domain."