"Domain Expansion—"
As Mahito let out a twisted and frantic low growl, the air in the sewer seemed to freeze.
Black liquid surged from beneath his feet, and countless pale palms, like demons from hell, instantly surrounded everyone from all directions.
[Self-Embodiment of Perfection]!
The world changed.
The originally dark and narrow sewer vanished, replaced by a bizarre space composed of countless giant palms.
Whether above, below, left, or right, there were only hands.
Those palms were interwoven, forming a closed, suffocating cage.
This was Mahito's Innate Domain.
"It's over."
Nanami Kento stood where he was, cold sweat seeping from the palm of his hand gripping his blade.
As a Grade 1 Jujutsu Sorcerer, he understood the terror of a Domain better than anyone.
Within this space, Mahito's Cursed Technique, "Idle Transfiguration," would gain a [Sure-Hit] effect.
In other words, Mahito didn't need to touch them.
As long as he wished it, everyone's souls would be twisted and reshaped in an instant.
This was a dead-end situation.
"Hahahaha!!"
Mahito stood in the center of the countless palms, laughing wildly and distortedly.
His previous disheveled state was swept away.
He felt the sense of omniscience and omnipotence brought by the Domain; that pleasure of controlling everything intoxicated him.
"Thank you."
Mahito looked at Lynn and the others, an unusual light flickering in his eyes.
"If you hadn't pushed me to the brink of life and death, I might never have grasped this move."
"As a token of my gratitude..."
Mahito raised his hand, aiming his palm at the three of them.
"I will mold your souls into the most perfect works of art!"
Junpei had already collapsed to the ground in fear, his face deathly pale.
Although Yuji didn't understand what a Domain was, an instinctive sense of crisis made his hair stand on end.
Nanami took a deep breath and stepped in front of Yuji, prepared to withstand this fatal blow with his body, even though he knew it was futile.
However.
"Gratitude?"
A voice, calm to the point of being abrupt, echoed in the darkness.
Lynn.
He stood behind Yuji and Nanami, still pinching that black kunai in his hand.
There wasn't a trace of fear on his face.
Instead, there was a kind of... composure, as if he had known this would happen.
There was even a hint of mockery.
"Mr. Mahito, I am a merchant."
Lynn adjusted his glasses, the lenses reflecting a faint light in the darkness.
"Since I've come, I've made thorough preparations."
[Simple Domain!]
Buzz—!!!
A pale blue spherical barrier instantly expanded with Lynn as the center!
A radius of 2 meters.
Though small, it was like a nail driven firmly into Mahito's Domain.
It was like a bubble in turbid seawater, tenaciously carving out a piece of pure land.
"Get in!"
Lynn grabbed Junpei beside him and pulled him into the barrier, while simultaneously reaching out to Nanami.
Nanami reacted extremely quickly, sliding into the blue circle of light.
"Yuji! Don't come in!!"
Lynn suddenly roared, stopping Yuji who was about to rush over.
"Huh?!" Yuji was stunned, stopping two meters outside the barrier.
"Trust me! Stand there and don't move!"
Lynn's gaze was firm and cold.
This was something he had planned long ago.
Even though in the original work, Mahito mastered Domain Expansion while fighting Yuji and Nanami at the school.
He had also prepared for the possibility that Mahito would grasp Domain Expansion in this battle.
"Hahahaha!"
Seeing Yuji left alone, Mahito laughed so hard he almost cried.
"Internal strife? Or are you planning to sacrifice your companion?"
"In that case, I'll take the soul of Sukuna's vessel first!"
At this moment, Mahito had no idea about the "landmine" inside Yuji; he hadn't even met Yuji before.
In the original work, when Mahito first encountered Yuji and used Idle Transfiguration.
Sukuna gave Mahito one chance.
But now, Mahito was attacking directly with a Domain-level Idle Transfiguration.
"Idle Transfiguration!"
The technique activated.
Mahito's Cursed Energy followed the rules of the Domain, connecting directly to the depths of Yuji Itadori's soul.
If he didn't touch the soul, Yuji was just Yuji.
But once he attempted to touch Yuji's soul... it meant he had to pass through that man's "territory."
Ryomen Sukuna... Spiritual World, Innate Domain.
Upon a throne built of bleached bones.
Ryomen Sukuna slowly opened his eyes.
He looked at the stitched-face Cursed Spirit that had recklessly broken in; there was no anger in his eyes, only the disgust of being offended by an ant.
"Who permitted you to look directly at my soul?"
"Reckless fool."
Sukuna raised his hand and casually swung a blade.
"Cleave."
...The real world.
Pfft—!!!
The smile on Mahito's face instantly froze.
Several horrific bloodstains suddenly exploded across his shoulders, chest, and abdomen.
A massive amount of blood gushed out, as if he had been sliced into a thousand pieces by invisible blades.
"Aaaaaahhhh!!!"
Mahito let out a wail ten times more wretched than before.
"Why... why is this happening?!"
Mahito knelt on the ground, his body twitching violently.
The Cursed Energy maintaining the Domain instantly collapsed.
Crack... Crack...
The space of black palms began to shatter, dissipating into points of light.
The sewer scene returned.
"Now!"
Lynn's eyes turned sharp.
He pulled out three kunai at once from the pouch at his waist.
[Kunai Remaining: 1/5]
Mobilizing all the Cursed Energy of a Second-Grade Sorcerer, he coated the kunai.
The three kunai instantly lit up with a blinding red light, a sign that the [Ten Shadows Technique] was being pushed to its limit.
"Yuji! Nanami!"
Lynn shouted.
"While we have the chance! Attack!"
Though they didn't know what Lynn was planning, their bodies reacted faster than their brains.
"Ohhh!!"
Yuji roared as he charged forward.
Nanami followed closely behind.
As for Lynn, he launched his current strongest attack.
[Ten Shadows Technique: Triple Soul Shock]!
"Shatter... for me!!"
The three kunai in Lynn's hand were thrown simultaneously, carving three bizarre arcs in the air, stabbing directly toward Mahito at the center of the Domain.
Boom!!!
Lynn's kunai, like red-hot iron rods, slammed fiercely into Mahito's soul core!
Pfft—!!!
Mahito violently coughed up a large mouthful of blood.
Mahito knelt in the sewage, covered in blood, his presence withered to the extreme.
The backlash from the broken Domain, combined with the heavy damage to his soul, had brought him to his limit.
Even maintaining a human form became difficult; half of his face had already melted.
"It's... over."
Yuji had already reached Mahito, lethal Cursed Energy condensing on his fist.
"Die!!"
With this punch, Mahito would surely die.
At this critical moment.
Whoosh—!!!
The concrete of the ground suddenly exploded.
Countless thick tree roots burrowed out like giant pythons, instantly forming an indestructible wooden wall, blocking all attacks.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
The kunai embedded deeply into the roots but failed to penetrate.
Immediately after, a tall white figure emerged from the roots.
Its left arm was wrapped in white cloth, branches grew where its eyes should be, and its entire body radiated the aura of the forest and the earth.
Special Grade Cursed Spirit—Hanami.
"Mahito, you were too reckless."
Hanami's voice didn't travel through the air but echoed directly in everyone's minds.
That voice sounded very gentle, yet it carried an unquestionable power.
"Hanami... save me..."
Mahito, his face covered in blood, weakly reached out his hand.
"It seems he was right."
Hanami glanced at the heavily injured Mahito, then took a long look at Lynn.
"That man is a variable."
It didn't linger for a fight.
This was a sewer; although there were no plants, as long as there was soil, it was its home turf.
Countless roots wrapped around the heavily injured Mahito, and Hanami's body quickly submerged, attempting to merge into the ground to escape.
"Don't think about running!"
Nanami reacted swiftly, swinging his blade to cut through several roots.
But he still couldn't stop Hanami.
"Humans, the forest will remember you."
Leaving behind a parting threat.
Hanami took Mahito and completely vanished deep underground.
The ground returned to calm, leaving only a bottomless pit.
The sewer returned to a deathly silence.
Only the mess everywhere served as proof that a tragic Special Grade battle had just occurred.
"Damn it! He got away!"
Yuji was so angry he punched the wall.
Nanami sheathed his blade, sighed, and pushed up his goggles.
"Forget it."
"The opponent has two Special Grades, and that white one has incredible defensive power."
"To heavily injure one and force the other to retreat is already the best outcome."
He turned to look at Lynn, his gaze complicated to the extreme.
Simple Domain.
A Cursed Technique targeting the soul.
And that kind of layout that seemed to foresee everything.
This man... who exactly is he?
Lynn stood where he was, his brow slightly furrowed.
In the original work, Mahito was clearly acting alone during this period; why did Hanami come to the rescue?
Hanami said, "It seems he was right"; the "he" here should refer to Kenjaku.
That means Kenjaku has already noticed me.
Lynn sighed; as expected of a top-tier Cursed Spirit who had been planning for a thousand years.
"Mr. Lynn, thanks to you this time..."
Nanami was about to express his thanks and perhaps probe into Lynn's background.
But he found that Lynn had already turned and was walking toward the exit, his steps hurried, with no intention of celebrating the victory.
He didn't even glance in the direction where Mahito had escaped.
"Mr. Lynn?" Nanami was stunned.
"Let's save the catching up for next time."
Lynn didn't look back, his voice urgent as he walked while straightening his slightly messy cuffs.
"Junpei, come with me!"
"Eh? Boss? Where are we going?"
Junpei scrambled up from the ground, looking bewildered; the previous level of combat was so high he couldn't even intervene.
Lynn stopped his pace and looked back at Junpei.
His gold-rimmed glasses reflected light in the dim environment, making it impossible to see his eyes.
"To your house."
"This is the biggest gain of this trip."
"You wouldn't want your beautiful mother to lose her life, would you?"
That finger was still in Junpei's house.
He had to get his hands on that damn finger before anyone else.
That was... a big worth fifty thousand points.
And the final step in rewriting Junpei's fate.
"Hurry up!"
Lynn grabbed Junpei and rushed out of the sewer.
Leaving Nanami and Yuji standing there, bewildered.
"Go... go to his house for what?" Yuji scratched his head, "Is he hungry?"
____
If you suspect the pace is too fast, don't worry, because each chapter contains 2000 words, which is two chapters in one... Goodbye.