December 24th.
Shinjuku.
The battlefield of the strongest.
Smoke filled the ruined city.
Collapsed buildings burned under the dark sky while cursed energy flowed wildly like a storm.
The air itself felt heavy.
Suffocating.
And in the middle of that destroyed battlefield—
Gojo Satoru had fallen.
The livestreaming crows showed the scene clearly.
The divided body.
The pool of blood.
The unmoving strongest sorcerer of the modern era.
The symbol of victory was gone.
Silence.
No one spoke.
No one breathed properly.
Even the wind felt dreadful.
Yuji’s pupils trembled violently.
“No…”
His voice cracked.
“No… no… Gojo-sensseeeiii…!”
Maki clenched her fist so hard that veins bulged from her arm.
Yuta lowered his head silently.
Kusakabe looked completely broken.
Even Hakari stopped joking for once.
The strongest had died.
And the worst part they all knew what came next.
Ryomen Sukuna stood amidst the ruins.
Covered in blood.
Injured.
Yet smiling.
That terrifying smile.
“HAHAHAHAHAHA!!”
His laughter echoed through Shinjuku.
“Wonderful!”
“Magnificent!”
“Satoru Gojo!!
I will forever remember you.”
Even after killing Gojo,
Sukuna looked excited.
Satisfied.
Like a monster that had finally enjoyed a proper meal after centuries of starvation.
Watching Sukuna laughing someone stood up.
A young man around eighteen years old.
Purple clothes.
Black hair.
Calm eyes.
Shinzu Hatori.
Without saying a word, he began walking toward Sukuna.
Step.
Step.
Step.
Yuji noticed immediately.
“Shinzu senpai!”
He grabbed his arm desperately.
“What are you doing?!”
Shinzu didn’t answer.
He simply continued walking forward.
“STOP!”
Yuji shouted.
“You saw what happened to Gojo-sensei!”
“You’ll die!”
Before Yuji could continue—
Yuta stopped him.
“Let him go.”
Yuji turned around in disbelief.
“Yuta-senpai?!”
Yuta kept watching Shinzu silently.
Then spoke quietly.
“You don’t know him well, Yuji.”
Yuji froze.
“Among all of us…”
Yuta’s voice became heavier.
“…his relationship with Gojo-sensei was probably the deepest.”
Yuji looked back at Shinzu.
The boy still kept walking calmly toward death.
“Now that Gojo-sensei died at Sukuna’s hands…”
Yuta narrowed his eyes slightly.
“…Shinzu can’t control himself anymore.”
Yuji gritted his teeth.
“But—”
Yuta interrupted him.
“I trust him.”
Silence.
“He won’t die.”
Yuji wanted to argue.
Wanted to scream.
Wanted to deny it.
But after seeing Shinzu’s back— he stopped.
Because for some reason— that back looked terrifyingly reliable.
Meanwhile—
Sukuna noticed him approaching.
The King of Curses grinned.
“Oh?”
His four eyes narrowed slightly.
“You.”
The moment Sukuna saw Shinzu Hatori— his expression changed.
Sukuna stopped smiling carelessly.
But his smile widened with excitement.
“So you finally came.”
Dark cursed energy exploded outward.
Flesh twisted.
Bones cracked.
Sukuna immediately transformed into his original four-armed form.
Not because he was afraid.
But because he acknowledged Shinzu Hatori as a true threat.
Everyone watching froze.
“He…”
Kusakabe’s face paled.
“He entered his true form immediately?”
Yuta’s eyes sharpened.
“Sukuna acknowledges him as a genuine threat.”
Maki narrowed her eyes.
“…As expected.”
Yuji looked confused.
“Wait…”
“You guys are acting like Shinzu’s stronger than Yuta-senpai!”
Yuta gave a bitter smile.
“In pure cursed energy control and technique combinations he probably is.”
Yuji froze.
Maki crossed her arms.
“Shinzu’s technique is broken.”
Kusakabe sighed.
“‘Synchronization.'”
Yuji looked toward them immediately.
“What exactly does it do?”
Yuta answered while watching the battlefield carefully.
“Shinzu can synchronize with another sorcerer or cursed spirit.”
“He can acquire their cursed energy…”
“Their cursed technique…”
“Their battle experience…”
“Their technique mastery…”
“Even Reverse Cursed Technique proficiency.”
Yuji’s eyes widened.
“What?!”
Maki added calmly,
“He can even gain special traits.”
“Like my Heavenly Restriction physique.”
Yuji’s jaw nearly dropped.
“That’s INSANE!”
“It is,” Yuta admitted.
“Shinzu had an overwhelming amount of crused energy.
But after synchronizing with Heavenly Restriction physique, his crused energy had declined to one tenth of original.
This technique is as dangerous as broken it is.
”
“Originally the technique had terrible conditions.”
“Normally synchronization takes over three hours.”
“And both targets must stay within a hundred meters.”
Yuji blinked.
“…That sounds useless in combat.”
Yuta nodded.
“Which is why Shinzu made a Binding Vow.”
Meanwhile— the battle started.
BOOM!!
The entire battlefield exploded apart as Shinzu and Sukuna collided head-on.
The shockwave shattered nearby buildings instantly.
Yuji’s eyes widened.
“He’s keeping up?!”
Not only keeping up.
Shinzu was matching Sukuna blow for blow.
Black Flash exploded across the battlefield.
Sparks of cursed energy danced violently.
Maki explained further.
“The Binding Vow shortened synchronization time to thirty seconds.”
“But in exchange…”
“He can only use it once per day.”
Yuta continued.
“And he must remain within ten meters of the target.”
“If he breaks the condition…”
“He loses access to Synchronization for multiple days.”
Yuji stared at Shinzu in shock.
“Then how many people did he synchronize with?!”
Yuta answered slowly.
“…Too many.
He had awakened his technique at 15 which is very late to awaken a technique.”
“Also he was a orphan so he didn’t know anything about CT, CE or CS.
He self tought himself till age 17.”
“After 6 months of training under gojo sensei, he evolved.
From then on he would find crused spirits and sorcerers and synchronised with them.”
“If i have to guess how many crused techniques he has, then i will say atlast 100”
BOOOOM!!
A massive blue force erupted.
“LIMITLESS?!”
Yuji screamed.
Shinzu manipulated Blue briefly to pull Sukuna off-balance— then instantly switched techniques.
“Don’t overuse techniques…”
Maki muttered.
“You’ll fry your brain.”
Yuta nodded.
“Shinzu can only continuously use three cursed techniques safely.”
“If he exceeds that limit repeatedly…”
“…his brain starts collapsing from overuse.”
On the battlefield—
Sukuna laughed wildly.
“HAHAHAHA!!”
SLASH!!
Cleave tore through Shinzu’s shoulder.
Blood exploded outward.
Yet instantly— his flesh regenerated.
Yuji froze.
“That RCT speed—”
Yuta narrowed his eyes.
“…It’s far superior to Gojo-sensei’s.”
Shinzu had synchronized with multiple RCT users over the years.
Combined with monstrous battle experience and cursed energy control— his healing became absurd.
Then—
BOOM!!
Sukuna got punched through three buildings.
Maki smirked slightly.
“He synchronized with my physique too.”
Yuji finally understood why Shinzu was terrifying.
This wasn’t simply copying techniques.
It was accumulation.
Years of collecting strength.
Years of gathering abilities.
Years of building himself into a monster.
And now— that monster was fighting the King of Curses.
The battle continued for two and a half hours.
By the end— both looked horrifying.
Sukuna’s condition was terrible.
Both legs destroyed.
Three arms gone.
One ear ripped off.
Two side eyes destroyed.
Internal injuries everywhere.
Meanwhile—
Shinzu looked even worse.
All four limbs severed.
His skin almost entirely gone.
His eyes destroyed.
His body looked like broken flesh barely held together through Reverse Cursed Technique.
Even breathing looked painful.
Yet— he somehow still stood.
Sukuna stared at him.
Then laughed loudly.
“Magnificent.”
“You are the second person after Gojo Satoru…”
“…to force me this far.”
Blood poured from Sukuna’s mouth as he smiled.
“Your Reverse Cursed Technique…”
“…is the greatest I have ever seen.”
“But because you lack enough cursed energy…”
“And because you possess no Domain Expansion…”
“…you failed.”
Sukuna slowly raised one remaining hand.
“Still…”
“You forced me to the brink of death.”
His grin widened.
“I, Ryomen Sukuna…”
“…declare you the strongest sorcerer I have ever fought.”
Everyone watching froze.
“In raw lethality… you surpassed even Satoru Gojo.”
Then Sukuna raised his remaining hand.
The atmosphere changed instantly.
A horrifying compression of cursed energy formed.
The air itself screamed.
Yuta’s face paled.
“That’s bad…”
Sukuna grinned wildly.
“While fighting you I evolved.”
A tiny black domain formed around him.
Small.
But impossibly dense.
“Compressed Malevolent Shrine : Hell Rain.”
The domain activated.
Instantly—
The world became slashes.
For one full minute—
Shinzu Hatori was cut 786,000 times every second.
No one could even process the destruction.
A domain condensed into a microscopic slaughter zone.
No barrier.
No escape.
Pure destruction.
“DIE.”
For one full minute—
The battlefield vanished.
Ground turned into dust.
Buildings disappeared.
The very atmosphere shredded apart.
After one minute— nothing remained.
No blood.
No flesh.
No bones.
Nothing.
Silence filled Shinjuku again.
Yuji collapsed to his knees.
“…No…”
Yuta closed his eyes silently.
Even Maki looked shaken.
Another monster had fallen.
Then— someone noticed something strange.
“Sukuna…”
Hakari narrowed his eyes.
“…what’s happening to him?”
Sukuna’s body began crumbling.
Like ash.
Like a cursed spirit being exorcised.
At first— even Sukuna looked surprised.
Then— he started laughing.
Louder than ever before.
“HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!”
“I SEE!!”
“So that’s what you did!!”
His body continued disappearing.
Before vanishing completely—
Sukuna grinned toward the empty battlefield.
“Shinzu Hatori…”
“…magnificent.”
And then—
The King of Curses disappeared.
Exorcised.
Even in death—
Shinzu Hatori had killed Ryomen Sukuna.
The battlefield fell completely silent.
Because no one knew what to feel anymore.
Relief?
Grief?
Victory?
Despair?
The strongest sorcerer had died.
Then the strongest monster died with him.
And all that remained— was ruin.
Chapter end.