Sorry for the late update, there you go 🙂
…
Inside the Domain.
A vast expanse of flowers swayed gently in the warm and fragrant breeze.
“Isn’t this a bit too luxurious for a first date??” Kaito sniffed the floral scent.
Wait, did he even have nostrils right now?
How was he smelling the flowers?
The Suku-Blob anatomy sure was magical.
“This is not a date!!” The black cloth on Hanami’s left shoulder ripped apart, showing her uninjured arm and a huge, blood-red flower blooming there.
“You refused to join us. This is just a slaughter.”
Four slashes arrived back-to-back!
The current [Sukuna] had no soul.
All the trash talk, the strange encouragement of his opponents, and the odd sense of connection were gone.
He was just a combat program now.
He only had one line of dialogue, which he repeated over and over:
“You’re holding your head too high.”
Hanami dove forward.
Using the thrust of tree roots erupting from beneath her feet, she propelled herself out of the slashes’ trajectory.
The sea of flowers, whose scent was meant to relax the mind and body, was torn apart, leaving terrifying ravines in its wake.
Shredded petals filled the sky.
Huge tree trunks shot up from deep underground.
They twisted and crashed toward [Sukuna] like wooden dragons.
At the same time, as Hanami moved away, the crimson flower on her left shoulder burst open, and an eye appeared in the center.
She had started preparing as she rushed to the battlefield.
She drew life force from the nearby plants, turning it into cursed energy to feed the demonic flower, getting ready to release a powerful blast of pure cursed energy.
“—[Floral Offering!!]”
Facing a barrage of omnidirectional attacks enhanced with the Domain’s ‘Sure-hit’ effect, [Sukuna] raised his hands…
‘Is he going to use Malevolent Shrine?’ Kaito thought rapidly.
They were far enough from the dorms that [Sukuna]’s 200-meter Domain radius shouldn’t reach them, but Dismantle could fly beyond that range, so there was a risk of collateral damage.
Would the real Sukuna obediently listen and hijack Yuji’s body to run away?
Even if he didn’t run, a 1-Finger Sukuna wouldn’t die from a few stray Dismantles.
Megumi didn’t need to be worried about either.
His Mahoraga summoning ritual had been interrupted, but it was enough to show Sukuna his potential—both as a vessel and for his cursed technique.
The special attention Sukuna gave Megumi early on in the original story, which made all the fangirls go crazy, was purely because Sukuna saw his utilitarian value.
So, Kaito didn’t need to worry about the dorms.
As for the aftermath?
Dagon hadn’t shown up.
He was probably still using the phone to stall Gojo, but that wouldn’t last much longer.
With an explosion this massive, the Jujutsu High staff couldn’t all be dead.
Word would get passed up the chain.
And Gojo would get the news within three minutes.
Right now, Kaito just needed to sit in the VIP spectator seats and enjoy his very first suicide-bombing show.
‘Bring it on, Hanami, Jogo.
Let’s see how you handle Malevolent…’
[Sukuna] clasped his hands together—
[Hollow Wicker Basket!]
Kaito: ‘?’
As the spherical barrier of cursed energy formed around them, Kaito suddenly understood something important.
Even without a mind, [Sukuna] still kept the arrogance of his original self.
He wasn’t even going to open his Domain for this?!
[Cleave]
The ground under [Sukuna]’s feet cracked like a spiderweb.
The Floral Offering and the wooden dragons attacked with full force.
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM————!!!
A massive shockwave kicked up a towering cloud of dust!
Hanami kept moving, never stopping.
Each time she pushed off the ground, a wooden stump shot up under her foot, boosting her speed.
‘Did it hit…?’
Hanami didn’t dare relax for a second.
In the short time it took her to get here, Jogo had already been pushed to the absolute brink.
Assuming she could win just by opening her Domain was the mindset of a fool!
‘The sea of flowers’ relaxing effect isn’t working on him.
The physical strikes from the trees probably won’t do much damage either.
My main damage output has to be the Floral Offering.’
Hanami watched the dust cloud carefully while gathering more cursed energy for another attack.
Large parts of the flower field withered and died as energy gathered in the flower on her shoulder.
Suddenly, everything changed.
The ground burst apart into countless perfect cubes that flew into the air like diced tofu.
“WHOOSH!”
[Sukuna] appeared right in Hanami’s path.
His hands stayed in the Hollow Wicker Basket sign as a storm of slashes rushed toward her.
Countless massive branches erupted around Hanami!
In an instant, they formed an overwhelming sea of trees, blocking the slashes while simultaneously crashing toward [Sukuna].
[Sukuna] pushed off with both feet and moved so fast he left an afterimage.
The sea of trees, with its sure-hit effect blocked by Hollow Wicker Basket, crashed into nothing.
A faint mechanical glint returned to [Sukuna]’s hollow eyes, the same one that had appeared after he sent Jogo flying.
During that earlier exchange, [Sukuna] had calculated that positive energy from Reverse Cursed Technique could be used against Jogo’s cursed spirit body.
Now, the [Sukuna] combat program finished its next calculation.
And he finally spoke his second line of dialogue:
“[Fūga]—”
He let go of the hand sign for a moment.
Superheated flames burst to life in his hands.
As his arms naturally extended, the hot flames obediently shaped themselves—mimicking the drawing of a bow.
Hanami’s [Floral Offering] wasn’t fully charged yet.
But she noticed that [Sukuna] had temporarily released Hollow Wicker Basket.
The Domain’s sure-hit effect was restored. New chapters come out on g.com first.
She had to consider if this was the only chance she would get to land a hit on him!
The answer was: yes!
The eye in the center of the blood-red flower opened as wide as possible.
Tightly packed cursed energy formed a blinding ball of light.
Hanami held her breath and focused her mind.
[Sukuna]’s face stayed calm.
The heat from his flaming arrow was already setting the sea of flowers on fire.
Watching this very familiar cinematic scene, Kaito couldn’t hold it in anymore.
He literally started singing:
“Dan-dan~ hmm-mm~”
“LOVE ME, LOVE ME! HATE ME, HATE ME! LOVE ME, LOVE ME! KILL ME, KILL ME!!”
“AIZO! AIZO! Uzumaite! Dai-Tokyo Kyoso utatte!—”
With Kaito’s emotional singing in the background, the flaming arrow and the Floral Offering cannon fired at the same time.
Outside the Domain.
Jogo had already healed himself with cursed energy.
His face showed frantic worry.
Should he break in and support Hanami?
Making a small hole in the closed barrier wouldn’t destroy the whole Domain, but it wasn’t the best solution.
Jogo forced himself to calm down.
Cursed energy surged.
The temperature skyrocketed unnaturally!
The ground for hundreds of meters around Jogo began to glow red, melting into magma.
As he raised his hands, the molten rock lifted from the ground and gathered above his head.
—Maximum: Meteor!
As soon as the Domain broke, the huge block of magma would fall like an asteroid.
Jogo wouldn’t be hurt, but he had to attack and protect Hanami at the same time.
Crack—
A fracturing sound came from the black spherical barrier.
First, a few small cracks appeared.
Then, the whole barrier broke apart like glass.
The massive meteor came crashing down from the sky, carrying tremendous heat and force!
Jogo’s single eye frantically locked onto the two figures revealed by the shattered Domain.
“Hanami!!” Jogo’s eye widened in horror.
He ran as fast as he could toward the charred, blackened body that was falling through the air.
[Sukuna] didn’t look at him.
Nor did he look at the Maximum: Meteor plummeting from above.
Instead, he looked back at where they came from.
Toward the Jujutsu High dormitories.
“This cursed energy…?” Kaito felt it too, and for once, he had no idea what to do.
“Itadori got scammed right out of his underwear by his uncle again, huh.”