Even before the national chaos, Chinatsu had already accumulated a great deal of pressure mentally, a fact unnoticed by anyone except her younger brother, Gojo Satoru.
To divert the subsequent plot from the trajectory of the original work and to prevent more people from dying innocent deaths, Chinatsu, who usually wore a smile, had actually been keeping her nerves constantly taut.
Once, Gojo Satoru couldn't contain the doubt in his heart. He walked up to Chinatsu and asked his question.
"Older Sister, although I'm not sure what exactly is bothering you, but... ahem, why don't you tell me? Even if I can't help you, I can still share the burden, right?...Of course, I definitely can help!"
Standing in front of Chinatsu, Gojo Satoru spoke somewhat awkwardly, his gaze constantly shifting to Chinatsu's left and right, unwilling to meet her eyes directly.
Listening to his words, Chinatsu subconsciously parted her lips, and the words he wanted to hear almost slipped out. She had even uttered the sound of the first character.
But in the end, Chinatsu closed her lips, gently inhaling and exhaling while slightly lowering her head.
She did not wish to be an aloof hero.
She merely hoped that she would not lose to the future.
As a character who should not have existed, Chinatsu knew that every step she took would affect the predetermined future. Her existence might save many, many people, or it might lead the plot toward an even more tragic conclusion.
Telling others what she knew might genuinely relieve the pressure on her shoulders, but it could also lead Chinatsu into a completely unknown future whose direction was unclear.
Chinatsu could not afford to gamble.
Thinking this, Chinatsu simply smiled lightly in response to Gojo Satoru's question. Shrugging her shoulders like nothing was wrong, she reached out a hand and patted his shoulder.
"You've been watching too many TV dramas. What do I have to worry about? I'm your Older Sister. What kind of thing could possibly bother me? Can you think of anything? Because I certainly can't."
Chinatsu said this to Gojo Satoru with a smile. Although Gojo Satoru knew his Older Sister was avoiding the topic, he ultimately nodded in silence.
"Mhm..."
Chinatsu's hand gesture, poised to unleash "Hollow Purple," was trembling slightly. Her eyes, which should have been clear and bright blue like the sky, now appeared clouded by gloom.
Have I reached my limit?
Chinatsu pressed her lips together, and through her trembling pupils, she continued to stare intently at Sukuna opposite her. Sukuna had already broken free from the world of the Mirror Flower, Water Moon and was watching Chinatsu with an unusual gaze.
"That look on your face is... Tsk! I told you you were too greedy. Although your strength is worthy of being unmatched throughout history, you lack the heart of a true strong person. And that heart is the biggest difference between you and me."
Sukuna tilted his head and frowned as he watched Chinatsu, who was facing him and making a snapping gesture. Sensing the fluctuation of Chinatsu's Cursed Energy, he let out a bored sigh.
Possessing the ability of a strong person.
Yet lacking the heart of a strong person.
Sukuna claimed he had seen too many characters like this a thousand years ago. If those characters could abandon the greed in their hearts, they might have offered him more entertaining performances.
Compared to those characters from a thousand years ago, this woman before him was merely more prominent in her "ability of a strong person." But the "heart of a strong person" was the most important thing. Why did so many people fail to understand this and remain stubbornly unenlightened?
The strong are solitary.
Walking the path of solitude means viewing everything through a self-centered lens, not relying on others for satisfaction. Everything must follow one's true nature, allowing oneself to satisfy oneself.
If he wants to eat people, he eats people.
If he wants to kill people, he kills people.
If he finds something interesting, he uses that interesting thing to amuse himself slightly. Satisfaction gained from others is meaningless and quite boring.
Sukuna's expression of helplessness was extremely obvious on his face, as if the embarrassment he suffered minutes earlier when trapped and unable to break free from the Mirror Flower, Water Moon never existed.
Lying at his feet was Uraume, who had burned out and died after forcefully deploying a Double Binding Vow. Sukuna merely glanced at him, nothing more.
Normally, he might have smiled and praised Uraume for a job well done, but now he wasn't in the mood. He was currently very disappointed and just wanted to quickly kill Chinatsu and find other entertainment.
"Open."
Sukuna simply uttered this one word faintly. He raised both hands, making a gesture as if drawing a bow, and an arrow of fire immediately condensed into shape.
Their eyes met. Sukuna, whose eyebrows were furrowed, finally relaxed them and offered his final assessment of Chinatsu.
"Be happy. At least I admit that you are incomparably excellent in terms of [ability of a strong person]. Even among the people I met a thousand years ago, you would be the undisputed first. I will remember your role."
Sukuna's words, like a declaration of the apocalypse, fell upon Chinatsu's ears. Chinatsu still maintained the snapping gesture, ready to fire, but her hand was still trembling.
Happy? Excellent? First?
Sukuna's praise was tantamount to mockery in Chinatsu's heart. The question of whether she had reached her limit continued to echo within her, until it was firmly rejected by her.
[Satoru, we must become stronger, strong enough to conquer whatever dangerous or unreasonable things happen in the future...]
The words she had spoken to Gojo Satoru in the past now echoed in her mind. Chinatsu pulled herself together and forcefully steadied the hand that had been trembling.
Sukuna was suddenly slightly startled. Chinatsu, who had been filled with weariness in his sight, had regained her spirit and was staring at him with determined willpower. A life-threatening sense of crisis surged from his heart.
Is this a... Binding Vow?
Sukuna did not know what kind of Binding Vow this was, nor did he know the price of this Binding Vow. However, the only thing he could be sure of was that he felt Chinatsu's resolve.
"A different kind of... heart of a strong person?"
Sukuna silently began to charge his power. The arrow of flame, poised on his drawn bow, became increasingly hot and brilliant.
Chinatsu heavily began to charge her power. Before her snapping gesture, the brilliant and destructive imaginary mass of energy began to gather and grow, bit by bit.
Both sides believed that the next strike would be the final moment to determine the victor, and both silently accumulated their power for it.
Just as the two were about to unleash this final strike upon each other, an abnormal blackness covered the sky like a rag, and a power whose nature differed from both human and Cursed Spirit Cursed Energy drifted across the skies nationwide...
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