Dropping some power stones for this novel helps, plus I'm asking for a review of the novel since we've finally reached chapter 40.
-Sorry if I found errors in the text of the chapter
Chapter 40: Shrine of the Fallen Sun!
『ＲＹＯＮ』
Enjoy~~~ Comments are the only reason I keep going. Tell me your thoughts, and know that anything you say—even constructive criticism—I will be happy to read and it will give me the passion to continue… Every word in your comment motivates me to write, so encourage me with your ideas!
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Somewhere on the outskirts of Tokyo.
The wind was howling through the cherry blossom trees in a quiet public park, petals falling like pink snow. In the middle of this calm, Gojo Satoru—the man who stood at the pinnacle of the jujutsu world—suddenly stopped walking. His black blindfold was not an obstacle to his vision; rather, it was a means to restrain the flood of information pouring into the "Six Eyes" (Rikugan).
He sharply turned his head toward the northeast. The distance was vast, but in the world of cursed energy, what was happening there felt like a massive hurricane engulfing the entire city.
"Hm…" His voice lowered, and the carefree smile that never left his face faded away. "This presence… it's familiar and disgusting at the same time. Sukuna? No, it's something else. Chaotic energy—burning like the sun and dark like the abyss."
Gojo clenched his fist, sensing an invisible pressure looming on the horizon. "Ren… are you the one causing this? Or are you trapped in the middle of that storm? I have a very bad feeling. The energy over there exceeds the limits of jujutsu logic."
He adjusted his collar calmly, but his eyes behind the blindfold shone with deadly seriousness. "I'll finish this damn job in seconds and fly over there. Don't die before I arrive, you brat."
Back to Ren and Sukuna's battle.
At that moment, the detention center had ceased to be a building and had become nothing more than a volcanic crater of rubble and debris. Under a sky choked with black clouds, with smoke blotting out any remaining light, Yukihara Ren and Ryomen Sukuna stood facing each other.
Only two "monsters" remained on the battlefield. Sukuna, the black markings on Yuji's body pulsing as if alive, was laughing madly, his jaw stretched open in a terrifying grin, his eyes burning with a bloodlust unsated for a thousand years. Ren, on the other hand, had black hair whipping in the raging wind, a haughty smile revealing white teeth, and emerald eyes that had turned into twin embers of battle mania.
"Sukuuuuna!" Ren shouted, his voice tearing through the silence.
"Reeeeen!" the King of Curses roared back.
Booooom!
The ground exploded beneath their feet from the force of their launch. The area turned into a canvas of fog and dust.
Whooosh!
In less than the blink of an eye, Ren vanished from his spot. Sukuna didn't retreat; instead, he raised an eyebrow in admiration. Ren suddenly appeared from below, bursting out of the rubble like a dragon.
[Sun Breathing: Third Form – Crimson Sun Mirror!]
Ren spun with tremendous centrifugal force, throwing an uppercut literally wrapped in a crimson firestorm. Sukuna crossed his arms to block, assuming it was merely enhanced physical strength.
"Naive!" Ren thought.
Before his fist could touch Sukuna's arms, Ren planted his other hand into the ground and used it as a lever, completely changing his body's trajectory in midair with impossible flexibility. He twisted his torso and kicked Sukuna with full force in the lower jaw with a devastating heel strike.
Craaaack!
The sound of shattering bones echoed throughout the area. Sukuna was sent flying, but he didn't scream in pain—he laughed as blood sprayed from his mouth. He flipped through the air three times, regained his balance before touching the ground, and fixed his eyes on Ren with savage appreciation.
"Magnificent! A move not from a sorcerer, but from a warrior who's spent ages on the battlefield!" Sukuna shouted as he landed, then brought his fingers together in a swift stance.
[Cursed Technique: Kai (Dismantle)!]
It wasn't a single blade, but hundreds of invisible slashes that tore through the air, turning falling raindrops into steam. Ren laughed wildly, electricity running down his spine. He didn't retreat.
[Thunder Breathing: First Form – Hekireki Issen (Thunderclap Flash)!]
In that instant, Ren became a thread of pure golden lightning. He moved in jagged lines at near-light speed, dodging Kai's slashes by mere millimeters. Every blade that struck the ground carved deep trenches as if a giant had cleaved it with an axe—but Ren was faster.
Suddenly, the rain intensified dramatically, but it was no ordinary rain. The collision of their scorching and frigid auras created a localized atmospheric disturbance—a thunderstorm, with rain mixed with corpse ash and dust.
Sukuna stood amid the devastation, watching the golden lightning circling him. "You feel it, don't you? That tremor in the soul when you approach death! The ultimate joy of battle!"
"Yes! It's better than any ecstasy I've ever felt!" Ren shouted, his voice echoing from all directions due to his speed.
Ren leapt off a flying chunk of concrete and pushed himself to the limit of Thunder Breathing.
[Thunder Breathing: Absolute Speed (Shinsoku)!]
Suddenly, the golden lightning around his body turned into dark crimson flames. He had fused maximum speed with the scorching power of the sun.
"Sukuuuuna!"
The two collided midair. Their fists met at the center of the storm. There was no immediate sonic boom; the terrifying density of their energies absorbed the sound for a moment in which time seemed to freeze—then a circular shockwave erupted, crushing what remained of the detention center's walls in a full kilometer-wide radius.
When they hit the ground, they didn't pause for even a second. Close-quarters combat began. Sukuna used his slicing techniques, "Hachi" (Cleaver), to tear into Ren's body while exchanging blows.
Ren's shoulder was ripped apart, his collarbone exposed. His face was split from forehead to chin. A chunk of flesh was torn from his thigh. Any human—any sorcerer—would have died instantly from neural shock.
But Ren was laughing.
"Don't stop! Keep fighting!" Ren shouted inside his mind as he activated [Reverse Cursed Technique: Hanten Jutsushiki] at full power.
Thanks to his inexhaustible reserves of cursed energy, Ren turned healing into an automatic process. Flesh regenerated as blades cut. Bones mended as they shattered.
Yukihara Ren became a raging combat machine. In his hand, he summoned "Igris," the crimson demonic blade that began drinking from both Ren's and Sukuna's energy.
[Kokusei (Black Flash)!]
Boom! Ren struck Sukuna's chest with a Black Flash. Then another to the face. Then a third to the abdomen. He was unleashing Black Flashes one after another as if they were normal strikes.
"Hahahaha!" Sukuna staggered, black blood spilling from his mouth. "Finally! Someone who doesn't die with a single touch! Ren… show me everything! Show me the power you're hiding behind that seal!"
Sukuna gathered energy in his palms, forming an invisible bow.
[Cursed Technique: Fuga (Sukuna's Flame Technique)!]
An arrow of white fire that could melt iron shot forth. Ren immediately responded by spinning his sword.
[Sun Breathing: Tenth Form – Solar Aura Dragon!]
A dragon of crimson flames collided with Sukuna's arrow. The resulting explosion turned the rain into thick steam that blanketed the battlefield.
Within the mist, Sukuna moved like a shadow, using his thousand years of experience to manipulate Ren's movements. A kick from Ren—Sukuna dodged by millimeters and countered with a punch that shattered Ren's ribs.
Baaam!
A double kick from Sukuna sent Ren flying a hundred meters, crashing into a concrete wall and completely destroying it.
Ren emerged slowly from the rubble, smoke rising from his burned body as it healed. His hair covered his eyes, but the emerald glow pierced through the darkness.
"Alright…" Sukuna said as he rearranged Yuji's damaged facial features. "Playtime is over. Let's draw the line now."
Ren smiled coldly. "You mean Domain Expansion… right?"
Sukuna stopped laughing. A sudden silence fell; even the wind died in anticipation. "You brat… your eyes see a lot, but your mind doesn't grasp reality. Your original cursed technique is bound by chains. Domain Expansion requires manifesting your technique into space. You are… just an empty vessel for now."
Ren spat out a piece of steel (he had swallowed it from the rubble 😂) and looked at Sukuna with contempt. "I'm not an idiot, Sukuna…"
Sukuna looked at Ren with interest. "Then… where does this arrogance come from? Do you think a 'Simple Domain' will stop my technique from cutting you into atoms?"
"Of course not… I can easily tell how strong your domain is after seeing your cursed technique…"
Sukuna: "Then? Do you really think a Simple Domain will save you… or do you have another trick?"
Ren: "Who said I'm going to use a domain at all?"
Sukuna: "Hmmmm?"
Ren raised his right hand. He didn't clasp his hands in the traditional prayer stance, nor did he use Sukuna's 'Ima' seal. Instead, he crossed his index and middle fingers in front of his eyes, while his left hand extended backward as if wiping an invisible blade.
[Ding!]
[System Notification: 'Domain Template' injection completed.]
[150,000 Soul Points consumed. Warning: vibrations from sealed technique detected… merging in progress!]
[Status: Absolute Focus. Cursed Energy Output: 200%.]
Ren felt a torrent of spiritual energy surge from the depths of his soul, bypassing the seal for a few brief seconds. The space around him began to crack.
"Sukuna… I told you before. Call me the Great One."
Sukuna's eyes widened. He felt reality tremble beneath his feet. This wasn't the power of a novice sorcerer—it was the force of a "Master" shaping his own world.
"You're… truly interesting!" Sukuna roared as he formed the seal of the Demonic Shrine. "Then come! Let's see which world will reign!"
They spoke at the same moment, their voices echoing as if from the depths of the universe.
Sukuna, his voice filled with demonic madness:
"Ryōiki Tenkai… Fukuma Mizushi (Malevolent Shrine)!"
Ren, his voice calm, like a king declaring victory:
"Ryōiki Tenkai… Rakuyo no Jinja (Shrine of the Fallen Sun)!"
At that moment, the world split.
On Sukuna's side, a gigantic skeletal shrine rose, surrounded by skulls and blood-soaked blades. On Ren's side, a crimson and golden light erupted, and a black sun began to rise behind him, turning the ground into a mirror of dark water.
The two domains collided, and reality itself began to scream under the pressure.
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End of Chapter 40
To be continued in the next chapter: Domain Clash… Sukuna defeated?!
I tried to make this chapter and the next one exciting 😊