Chapter 158
"ROAR—!"
Kiriya’s fist tore forward at extreme speed.
The air in front of him compressed into the shape of a gigantic white tiger, an illusory beast carrying the overwhelming presence of a true king of predators.
After awakening the Three-Tomoe Sharingan, Kiriya’s spiritual power had risen dramatically.
His control over his own strength had improved along with it.
Because of that, this Daytime Tiger was far more condensed than the versions he had practiced and calculated in private.
Its power was on an entirely different level.
The Sharingan also allowed him to roughly perceive the flow and structural weak points within Uzumaki.
Rather than striking the technique head-on at random, the tiger’s jaws were aimed directly at one of its critical nodes.
BOOM!
The white tiger collided with the black vortex.
For one impossible instant, it felt as though time itself had stopped.
Then the world disappeared beneath the explosion.
RUMBLE—!
A kilometer outside the Curtain, Ijichi felt the earth shake for the second time and wore the expression of a man who had been personally betrayed by the universe.
"What is happening in there?"
He stared toward the shopping district in horror.
"Did a group of special-grade curses decide to start a war?"
Ijichi was close to breaking down.
He was only support staff. His job was to put up Curtains, manage evacuations, and clean up the mess after the sorcerers finished fighting.
Why had fate suddenly decided to drop something this enormous onto his shoulders?
Did it want to crush him flat?
"Gojo-san, what are you doing?" Ijichi called again and again.
Every attempt was met by the same mechanical voice informing him that the number was outside the service area.
His soul was beginning to leave his body.
It was not as though he had not considered contacting someone else, such as Principal Yaga.
But the energy raging inside had clearly reached special-grade territory.
Sending anyone below that level would be no different from sending them to die.
They could request help from another special-grade sorcerer, but Yuki Tsukumo was overseas.
Even if they reached her, she could not possibly arrive in time.
Gojo was both the closest and the most mobile person capable of dealing with this.
And naturally, this was the exact moment he had decided to become unreachable.
There were no words.
BOOM!
The shock wave tore the Curtain apart and continued spreading in every direction.
The nearest buildings were shattered outright.
Those farther away collapsed one after another beneath the pressure.
Ijichi was slapped across the face by newspapers and plastic bags carried by the wind.
"Well," he muttered with an expression caught somewhere between laughter and tears, "at least they won’t have to pay for demolition anymore."
...
At the center of the battlefield, Kiriya lay on the ground, gasping for breath.
His clothes had been reduced to scorched rags and were effectively beyond saving.
The exposed skin beneath was covered in horrible burns, and the faint smell of cooked meat hung around him.
He looked half-roasted.
And that was only from being caught in the outer edge of Uzumaki.
If the full attack had struck him directly, there would probably have been nothing left to heal.
"I didn’t expect a special-grade sorcerer’s full-power attack to be this terrifying."
Kiriya stared at the ruined sky above him.
"If Geto is already this strong, then what kind of monster is Gojo with the Six Eyes and Limitless?"
This world was far more dangerous than he had first assumed.
He still was not strong enough.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
Footsteps approached through the debris.
Suguru Geto emerged in front of him.
The former prodigy who had once stood beside the strongest, and who now led the Star Religious Group, had always carried himself with elegance and composure.
At the moment, however, he looked almost as terrible as Kiriya.
His expensive five-panel robe had been torn to pieces.
Half of his upper body was exposed, the flesh mangled where the edge of Daytime Tiger had caught him.
The shock wave had also caused serious internal damage.
Yet even that was not his greatest loss.
Most of the thousands of cursed spirits he had spent more than ten years collecting had just been destroyed!
In a single battle, his forces had nearly been reduced to where he had started.
Despite that staggering price, Geto was in a surprisingly good mood.
Because he believed he had caught something far more valuable.
Kiriya.
The boy possessed a ridiculous number of mysterious abilities, extraordinary martial skill, and physical strength capable of shaking the battlefield itself.
He was unquestionably a once-in-a-generation genius—a treasure delivered to the jujutsu world by fate.
Given enough time, he might even grow into someone capable of approaching Gojo.
If Geto could gain an ally like that, then losing those cursed spirits would have been worth it.
Kiriya had refused to join him?
That was merely youthful ignorance.
A few days together, with Geto carefully explaining the truth of the world to him, would surely correct those childish ideas.
"Come with me, boy."
Geto looked down at him.
"Your power is too valuable to waste. It should be used for something meaningful."
A pool of darkness formed beside him, and two cursed spirits emerged.
The first was a yellow humanoid creature wearing a strange mask.
The other was a large white-feathered bird with yellow talons. Its broad mouth was spacious enough to carry several adults comfortably.
It was clearly Geto’s prepared escape route.
The four-winged bird opened its enormous beak, allowing Geto to climb inside.
The yellow humanoid curse then reached down to lift Kiriya from the ground.
"Sorry," Kiriya said. "If it were a pretty girl carrying me like a princess, I might consider it."
He glanced at the ugly curse and grimaced.
"But I’ll pass on that thing."
The movement pulled at his burns, and he immediately hissed in pain.
"My, my. I’m afraid that isn’t your decision, Kiriya-kun."
Geto smiled.
Then his expression froze.
Kiriya had vanished.
The Flying Thunder God Technique was shamelessly useful.
Even if Kiriya could not win, he could simply leave.
What was Geto supposed to do about it?
"That technique... spatial movement?" Geto stared at the empty ground.
"Seriously, how many cards are you hiding?"
He had believed he had already overestimated Kiriya as much as possible.
Apparently, he had still fallen short.
"This is troublesome."
Geto scratched his hair and gave a helpless smile.
"Now that I’ve missed this chance, the next time we meet, I’m not sure which one of us will be hunting the other."
He had fought for most of the day and gained absolutely nothing.
If Gojo found out, he would probably laugh until he could no longer stand.
Geto shook his head, recalled the humanoid curse, and ordered the flying curse—Pelican—to leave.
Its four white wings beat gently, carrying him high into the sky until both master and curse disappeared into the distance.
...
From a rooftop two kilometers away, Ijichi watched them leave and finally exhaled.
"They’re gone."
Then he looked back toward the center of the battlefield.
The shopping district looked as though someone had dropped a nuclear bomb on it.
Ijichi felt his scalp go numb.
"How am I supposed to write this report?"
Ring, ring—
At that exact moment, his phone rang.
Ijichi looked at the screen.
Satoru Gojo.
Ijichi stared at the name in complete silence.