The second day's individual battles opened in an almost cruel manner, giving the Kyoto School a head-on blow right from the start.
The referee's voice rang out: "Individual Battle, Match 1! Tokyo School, Gojo Satoru! Kyoto School, Nishimura Kenta! Both sides, please enter the arena!"
A small commotion and sounds of encouragement erupted from the Kyoto School side.
Nishimura Kenta, a rare commoner genius of the Kyoto School in recent years, had won the respect of many classmates through his outstanding "Qi Pulse Manipulation Bullet" technique and unremitting efforts.
Although his opponent was the legendary "Six Eyes," everyone harbored a sliver of slim hope in their hearts: Maybe... maybe Nishimura could create a miracle, or at least hold his own for a while?
Nishimura Kenta himself took a deep breath, his face filled with nervousness and determination.
He could feel the expectant gazes of his classmates behind him; it was both pressure and motivation.
He walked steadily into the arena, looking firmly at the white-haired genius opposite him, who looked utterly lazy.
Gojo Satoru, meanwhile, swayed into the arena while yawning, mumbling: "Why am I first... so sleepy... let's finish this quickly."
"Match... start!"
The moment the starting signal fell, Nishimura Kenta didn't hesitate at all. He instantly raised his state to its peak! He knew that facing Gojo Satoru, holding back anything would be futile!
"Qi Pulse Manipulation Bullet: Continuous Beads!"
His hands formed seals rapidly, compressing and ejecting the Cursed Energy inside his body with unprecedented efficiency!
A series of highly compressed, invisible air cannonballs containing terrifying penetrating power, like invisible machine-gun fire, shot toward Gojo Satoru with extreme speed and from extremely tricky angles, covering the sky and earth!
This was the ultimate technique he had practiced painstakingly, powerful enough to easily pierce through thick steel plates!
This incredibly swift and astonishingly powerful opening lit up the eyes of the Kyoto School students; some even couldn't help but cheer! Even Principal Gakuganji nodded slightly.
However, facing this fierce attack that would make a Grade 1 Jujutsu Sorcerer stand ready in full array, Gojo Satoru didn't even take off his sunglasses.
He was even still finishing that yawn.
Just as those invisible air cannonballs were about to hit him—
Buzz!
A layer of extremely faint, almost invisible spatial distortion appeared around Gojo Satoru.
The moment all the incoming air cannonballs touched that layer of distorted space, they seemed to fall into an infinite quagmire. Their speed plummeted to zero, their kinetic energy was completely absorbed and annihilated. They dissipated silently and completely without even moving a single strand of Gojo Satoru's hair.
"What?!" Nishimura Kenta's pupils contracted sharply, the determination on his face instantly turning into incredible shock.
The flicker of hope that had just risen on the Kyoto School side was instantly extinguished by a basin of ice water. The entire venue fell into deathly silence.
Gojo Satoru finally finished his yawn. He rubbed his eyes, seemingly just realizing the attack was over.
He tilted his head, looking at the pale-faced Nishimura opposite him through his sunglasses, and asked in an extremely punchable, confused tone:
"Hey... did you just... do something?"
Pfft—!
This sentence was like a sharp knife, stabbing ruthlessly into the hearts of Nishimura Kenta and all the Kyoto School students!
Nishimura's face instantly turned red. Humiliation, anger, and a massive sense of powerlessness drowned him. He roared wildly, desperately squeezing out all the Cursed Energy in his body regardless of everything!
"Qi Pulse Manipulation Bullet: Maximum Output!"
He compressed all his Cursed Energy into a single point, releasing an unprecedentedly huge invisible air bullet that almost distorted the light! This was the strike he staked everything on!
Facing this self-sacrificing strike, Gojo Satoru finally perked up a little.
"Oh? This move looks a bit decent."
He casually raised a finger.
"But, it's just 'a bit decent'."
Gojo Satoru dug his ear in boredom, shouting toward the referee's bench: "Next, next! Can you give me someone who can make me stretch my muscles? This level is too disappointing, isn't it?"
That arrogant appearance made the Kyoto School students grit their teeth in anger, yet they were helpless.
"Well, this is all there is to it." Gojo Satoru curled his lip, seemingly a bit disappointed.
The next second, his figure blurred like a ghost.
It wasn't using "Blue" for spatial transfer, but pure taijutsu speed that the naked eye couldn't catch, exploding purely from the extreme body control and reaction speed brought by the "Six Eyes"!
Nishimura Kenta only saw a blur before his eyes; he had absolutely no time to react!
Gojo Satoru had already appeared by his side, casually knocking on the back of his neck with a hand chop that was as light as a friend playing around.
The force was controlled perfectly.
Nishimura Kenta's eyes rolled back, all his strength instantly drained. Without a sound, he slumped softly to the ground and passed out directly.
Insta-kill!
A thorough, suspense-free, even teasing insta-kill!
From beginning to end, Gojo Satoru hadn't even truly moved his feet. He ended the battle relying solely on the absolute defense of "Limitless" and a simple taijutsu dash.
From start to finish, it took only a few seconds.
The Kyoto School rest area was deathly silent.
Everyone looked as if their souls had been sucked out, staring blankly at the unconscious Nishimura off the field and Gojo Satoru on the field, who seemed to have done nothing.
The tiny hope that had just ignited was thoroughly crushed into powder, replaced by cold despair and a massive blow to morale.
Principal Gakuganji's face was frighteningly dark, the cane in his hand cracking under his grip.
Gojo Satoru waved his hand boredly toward the referee's bench: "Next, next! Can someone come who can let me move a little? This doesn't even count as a warm-up."
Match 2, Geto Suguru took the field.
His opponent was a Kyoto girl with a rather strange technique, skilled at creating realistic illusions.
The girl went all out from the start, trying to confuse Geto Suguru with illusions.
However, in front of Geto Suguru's vast and heterogeneous sea of Cursed Spirits, any illusion appeared pale and powerless.
He didn't even use any main force Cursed Spirits. He simply dispatched two low-level Cursed Spirits specialized in ultrasonic perception and breaking mental interference. Like erasing pencil marks with an eraser, he easily tore apart the carefully woven illusions.
Subsequently, a Cursed Spirit shaped like black lightning silently rushed in front of her, its cold tentacles lightly touching her forehead, declaring victory.
Throughout the process, the smile on Geto Suguru's face never changed. He even had time to check the time on his phone.
"As expected... completely different dimensions..."
"Those first years from Tokyo School... are basically monsters, right..."
"It's over, our school has lost big face this time..."
Two consecutive rapid, crushing defeats depressed the atmosphere on the Kyoto School side to the extreme.
There wasn't even much discussion in the audience, only a heavy deathly silence. Tokyo School's strength had exceeded the scope of their understanding.
Soon, the referee's voice sounded again, trying to maintain seriousness with a formulaic tone: "Individual Battle, Match 3! Tokyo School, Mukyoku Nagi! Kyoto School, Kamo Kenji! Both sides, please enter the arena!"
The atmosphere finally seemed to undergo a subtle change.
Everyone still remembered the scene in yesterday's group battle where Kamo Kenji was completely suppressed and helpless against Mukyoku Nagi, and the tragic state of Zenin Ryuichi being insta-killed with one punch was still fresh in their memories.
This duel seemed a bit more watchable than the previous two—at least, as a representative of the Big Three Families, Kamo Kenji should be able to last a bit longer, maybe even force out some of Mukyoku Nagi's true skills?
Many people harbored a trace of luck in their hearts.
Mukyoku Nagi walked calmly into the center of the arena. He still wore that eternal iceberg face, his eyes calm as an ancient well, as if what was about to happen wasn't a battle to decide victory or defeat, but a dull daily practice.
On the other side, Kamo Kenji took a deep breath and walked in steadily. His expression was unusually solemn, but deep in his eyes burned a complex flame mixed with the pride of the Big Three Families, the unwillingness of yesterday's crushing defeat, the determination to complete the mission, and a trace of instinctive fear of powerful strength that even he might not have clearly perceived.
"Last match~"
Gojo Satoru leaned lazily against the railing of the audience seats, shouting down at Nagi without any tension: "Nagi! Be quick! I'm starving, my chest is sticking to my back! Just waiting for you to finish this so we can sweep the sukiyaki shop!"
Geto Suguru smiled beside him, adding fuel to the fire: "Satoru, don't put pressure on Nagi. But... considering everyone's dining time, higher efficiency is always good."
His matter-of-fact tone sounded like he was stating a natural law like the sun rising in the east and setting in the west.
Utahime stomped her feet in anger beside them: "You two! Have some public morality! This is an official match! And the opponent is from the Kamo family!"
But her own clenched fists loosened slightly; clearly, she didn't think Nagi would lose either.
Shoko's gaze was fixed unblinkingly on Nagi down on the field, a trace of focus beyond usual in her eyes, her lips slightly pursed.
On the Kyoto School side, the atmosphere was much more oppressed and heavy. Principal Gakuganji's face was as dark as water, the knuckles of the hand holding his cane turning slightly white.
Nishimura Kenta clenched his fists tightly, nails almost digging into his flesh. He both hoped Senior Kamo could wipe away the shame and salvage some face for Kyoto School, and clearly knew how slim this hope was. That contradictory psychology tormented him.
"Match... start!"
As soon as the referee's voice fell, Kamo Kenji launched an attack first without reservation!
He knew that facing such an opponent, seizing the initiative was the only chance to strive for a sliver of advantage!
"Shadow Binding: Group Snake Strangulation!"
His hands formed seals rapidly, Cursed Energy surging out. The shadows beneath his feet instantly churned like boiling water!
Countless thick tentacles made of shadows as dense as ink, like a violent group of giant pythons protruding from the abyss of hell, hissed through the air and strangled toward Mukyoku Nagi in the center of the arena from all directions, up and down, left and right, leaving almost no dead angles!
The momentum was terrifying; darkness instantly swallowed more than half of the arena!
However, facing this fierce offensive that covered the sky and earth, enough to make an average Grade 1 Jujutsu Sorcerer flustered, Nagi didn't even move his feet.
Within those Vermilion Eyes, faint light flowed, as if countless data streams flashed by.
He simply raised his right hand, fingers spread, and seemingly casually pressed lightly against the void in front of him—
"Slow": Wide Area!
Buzz—!
An invisible yet incomparably powerful resistance field, nearly condensed into substance, expanded suddenly with him as the center!
Those violently charging shadow pythons seemed to instantly rush into extremely viscous non-Newtonian fluid. Their speed plummeted at a rate visible to the naked eye. The harder they sprinted forward, the terrifying resistance they encountered increased geometrically!
In the end, they were like stuck in transparent, incredibly tough super amber, only able to struggle and twist slowly and with difficulty, unable to advance even a fraction! Even the whistling wind they carried seemed to be swallowed, and the scene became eerie and silent for a moment!
"What?! Can't even touch him?!"
Exclamations of disbelief came from the Kyoto School side.
They had anticipated that Senior Kamo might be no match, but they never expected that the opponent didn't even need to dodge. With just a simple action, such a violent offensive was rendered invisible!
Kamo Kenji gritted his teeth, sweat seeping from his forehead, not giving up.
The Cursed Energy in his body surged wildly again, changing seals to urge more!
"Shadow Binding: Latent Shadow Raid!"
Those powerfully obstructed shadow pythons suddenly softened and dissipated, as if melting into the ground.
And almost at the same instant, several extremely condensed, deep-colored sharp spikes, almost indistinguishable from real shadows, stabbed out rapidly like poisonous snakes leaving their holes from the shadows behind Nagi, under his feet, and even from the sides! The angles were tricky and ruthless, specifically targeting blind spots!
But all this had nowhere to hide under the supernatural dynamic vision and insight of the Vermilion Eyes.
Nagi didn't even turn his head, his gaze still calmly looking at Kamo Kenji in front.
"Flash"!
His figure produced extremely subtle, almost imperceptible high-frequency shaking in place like a ghost. Each shake precisely avoided a shadow spike!
Those few insidious spikes all missed, brushing past the corner of his clothes and the tips of his hair by a hair's breadth!
It was as if he had predicted the trajectory, timing, and angle of all attacks in advance, neutralizing them effortlessly like a leisurely stroll.
"Completely... completely seen through... all attacks..."
Nishimura Kenta's face was as pale as paper, murmuring to himself, a chill rushing from the soles of his feet straight to the top of his head.
Veins popped on Kamo Kenji's forehead, his breathing became rapid, and his Cursed Energy was consumed at an unprecedented speed.
He refused to give up, pouring out all the secret variations of "Shadow Binding" he had learned like a storm: shadows condensing into solid cages dropping from the sky, creating shadow clones realistic enough to confuse the fake with the real for feints, shadows turning into flexible whips for lashing and entanglement...
He almost over-drafted himself. The offensive was endless like a tide, dark shadows dancing wildly on the field, looking astonishing in momentum.
However, Mukyoku Nagi remained like a ten-thousand-year-old reef standing amidst stormy waves, immovable.
His response method was concise and efficient to the extreme, even carrying a kind of indifferent beauty: sometimes using "Slow" for large-area obstruction, like laying down an invisible chasm; sometimes using "Congeal" to precisely break a key attack node, causing the entire technique to collapse instantly; sometimes using "Flash" for the smallest amplitude, most effortless perfect dodge, as if dancing on the tip of a knife yet remaining calm and unhurried.
From beginning to end, he did not initiate an attack once. merely defending and dodging, he easily, freely, and thoroughly neutralized all of Kamo Kenji's desperate offensives.
This was no longer a battle, but looked like a one-sided, ruthless demonstration of ability, an absolute crushing teaching demonstration from an adult to a child.
Absolute control! Despairing gap!
The audience seats were already dead silent. The trace of luck that existed before was completely crushed.
"Tch, truly boring to the extreme."
Gojo Satoru yawned hugely, his tone filled with disappointment. "Is this all the Kamo family kid has? He doesn't even have the qualification to make Nagi warm up or get serious. Wasted my slight expectation."
Geto Suguru also shook his head slightly, his tone even carrying a trace of genuine sympathy: "Student Kamo's 'Shadow Binding' is actually used quite exquisitely and skillfully, with many variations. Pity... he met an opponent of Nagi's type. Absolute control is precisely what counters this kind of technical technique the most."
He seemed to be conducting a tactical analysis, but the meaning in his words made the Kyoto School people even more uncomfortable.
Utahime couldn't say any words of blame anymore, just opening her mouth, staring blankly down at the field.
Shoko frowned slightly. She felt Nagi's state today seemed too... calm. Calm to the point of abnormality, as if deliberately suppressing something, or... waiting for something.
Kamo Kenji panted violently, sweating like rain, his Cursed Energy almost bottomed out, his body trembling slightly due to excessive overdraft.
All his attacks, all his efforts, all his pride as a member of the Kamo family, were like a ridiculous joke in front of the opponent.
A deep sense of powerlessness and despair completely seized him.
No... absolutely not... conventional methods can't even touch the edge of probing his limits...
His heart was cold. Remembering the Head of the Clan's order, a trace of crazy determination flashed in his eyes. Only that can be used! Although I don't know what it is exactly... but the Head said this is the only method that might force out his true power!
He staggered back abruptly, seemingly retreating from exhaustion, but his right hand reached into his chest with an extremely concealed movement and fiercely crushed a cold, hard object emitting faint ominous fluctuations—a black magatama-shaped Cursed Tool (Cursed Object) engraved with eerie twisted runes and cold to the touch!
This was secretly given to him by the Head of the Clan, only telling him to crush it at a critical moment to create an "opportunity," but he knew nothing about what exactly it was!
The moment the Cursed Object shattered!
A sudden change occurred! A drastic change far beyond everyone's imagination!
BOOM!!!!
An indescribably massive, twisted, cold Cursed Energy filled with extreme malice and destructive aura, like a sleeping ancient beast suddenly awakening, erupted wildly from the shattered Cursed Object!
The strength and evil of that Cursed Energy instantly overwhelmed all other auras in the venue, even causing the protective barrier around the entire arena to emit a tooth-aching groan of being overburdened, violent ripples rising on its surface!
A pitch-black sphere, so deep it seemed capable of swallowing all light, even sight and souls, suddenly expanded wildly with the shattered Cursed Object as the center!
Its speed exceeded the limit of visual capture. Almost instantly, like a despairing black hole, it completely swallowed Mukyoku Nagi in the center of the field, who had no time to react, and Kamo Kenji, who was stiff from Cursed Energy backlash!
"What?!"
"What is that thing?!"
"What happened?!"
The audience seats instantly exploded! Exclamations and screams rose one after another!
This sudden, terrifying change far beyond the scope of the competition stunned everyone, their minds going blank!
The laziness and cynicism on Gojo Satoru's face vanished without a trace instantly. The Six Eyes under his sunglasses suddenly erupted with brilliant ice-blue light, deadlocked onto that suddenly appearing black sphere emitting Special Grade Cursed Energy fluctuations that even he felt were somewhat tricky!
"This isn't a Curtain! This is... some kind of forced Domain Expansion? No! It's something even more disgusting!"
The smile on Geto Suguru's face also completely disappeared, replaced by unprecedented gravity and a trace of imperceptible panic. The Cursed Energy around him surged uncontrollably:
"So massive... such evil Cursed Energy... inside... there is a very powerful existence! It's a Cursed Spirit! Definitely Special Grade!"
Yaga Masamichi and Gakuganji Yoshinobu jumped up from their seats almost simultaneously!
"What's going on?! Where did this ghost thing come from?!"
Yaga was both shocked and angry, shouting sternly, his sharp gaze sweeping toward Gakuganji.
"I didn't arrange this! How could I use such a dangerous thing in the exchange event!"
Gakuganji's face also became extremely ugly. He even felt a massive dangerous aura from that black sphere, enough to threaten him, which made him both shocked and angry.
"Nagi!!"
Shoko's face turned pale as she cried out in alarm, subconsciously rushing forward a step, her heart beating wildly, almost jumping out of her chest.
Utahime and Mei Mei were also pale with shock, completely losing their usual composure.
One second before being swallowed by darkness, Kamo Kenji's face was filled with extreme horror and disbelief. He felt it!
What erupted from that Cursed Tool was purely, extremely evil Cursed Energy belonging to a Special Grade Cursed Spirit, causing despair!
Lord Head of the Clan... what exactly did you give me?! This thought became the last thought before his consciousness was swallowed by darkness.
Amidst the panic outside, the surface of the sphere that had swallowed the two, like an absolute black domain, fluctuated like viscous oil, vaguely revealing a blurry, giant one-eyed phantom condensed from extreme Cursed Energy!
That single eye was cold, cruel, filled with mockery and greed. It slowly swept over the panicked crowd outside, as if appreciating appetizers before a meal, before slowly fading back into the darkness.
At the same time, a cold, twisted will was forcibly poured into the minds of all Jujutsu Sorcerers present, like a declaration of rules:
[Dark Domain Activated! Rules: Two existences within the domain, one lord. Law: Objects not of the domain cannot enter, changes not of the domain cannot exit. Only two methods to break the domain: Slay the lord, or... only a sole existence remains within the domain!]
"Bastard!"
Gojo Satoru understood instantly. He cursed angrily, raised his hand, and blasted a condensed "Blue" at the black sphere!
Boom!
The twisting force capable of easily tearing apart a Special Grade Cursed Spirit smashed onto the black sphere, but only caused the sphere's surface to fluctuate violently and dent, as if hitting the most resilient rubber. It failed to break open! Instead, part of the attack energy was absorbed and swallowed by the black sphere!
"No good! This thing's composition is weird! And it's absorbing attacks to strengthen itself!"
Gojo Satoru's face turned completely cold.
Geto Suguru also commanded several Cursed Spirits with the strongest destructive power to attack simultaneously, but the result was the same—only causing fluctuations, unable to break it open!
Their attacks seemed to be "charging" this eerie domain!
Inside and outside the venue, chaos and despair reigned.
The previous relaxed and humorous atmosphere was gone, replaced by sudden, cold terror.
Mukyoku Nagi and Kamo Kenji were completely isolated in a dark domain filled with an unknown Special Grade Cursed Spirit and cruel rules, hanging by a thread between life and death!
Kenjaku was sitting leisurely in his hidden Japanese room, watching the scene through a rippling Cursed Tool "Peeping Basin" in front of him.
Reflected on the water surface was exactly the scene in the vision of the Special Grade Cursed Spirit "Dark Domain Lord"—a sealed space of pitch darkness, twisting, constantly wriggling, filled with the aura of despair and death.
Two tiny human figures were inside, one unusually calm, the other terrified.
The corners of his mouth hooked into an arc of extreme pleasure and satisfaction as he took a light sip of clear tea.
"Perfect... the reaction is even better than expected. This 'Dark Domain Egg' indeed successfully summoned a fragmented projection of 'It'."
He muttered to himself in a low voice, gentle but carrying inhuman coldness. "Come, let me see, Mukyoku Nagi... in the face of this true, inescapable cage of 'despair', when your so-called 'Curse of Love' is threatened by death, just what kind of splendid brilliance can it bloom with? And where is your limit?"
His gaze seemed to penetrate the water basin, seeing the anxious Geto Suguru outside, his smile becoming deeper and more malicious.
"And you, my dear Suguru... watching an important companion fall into such a desperate situation, feeling this powerless anxiety, can you still hold tight to your set of 'correct' grand principles? Is your heart worrying for your companion at this moment, or... is the poison named 'powerlessness' quietly corroding something? Truly... anticipating it to the point of trembling."
He seemed to have already seen the most exciting climax of the drama, immersed in the pleasure of his scheme succeeding.
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