Jujutsu Kaisen: I Can Manipulate Time.

Everything around him began to change. Towering skyscrapers transformed into desolate mountains, and paved roads turned into dirt paths overrun with weeds. Every few steps, white bones jutted out from the soil. The streetlights had withered into gnarled trees, from which dark silhouettes hung in eerie silence. Grotesque shapes roamed the area, barely visible, yet clearly not human. And yet, in the far distance, the city skyline remained untouched.

"Domain Expansion?"

Kamihara Hajime recalled what Gojo Satoru had once told him—Domain Expansion wasn't something one could master simply through study. It was the result of a sorcerer's enlightenment, a moment of awakening that couldn't be forced. It fused barrier techniques with the user's own innate ability, amplifying their Technique and granting it a guaranteed hit within the Domain.

Few sorcerers could use it. Some never would.

But there was something different about this one. Gojo had mentioned that most Domains were closed spaces, sealed barriers. Yet this one... it wasn't. It sprawled outward into the world, reshaping it without fully containing it.

From afar, Gojo Satoru also noticed the abnormality. That wasn't a standard Domain Expansion. His gaze narrowed.

"Hajime might not be able to handle that alone. I need to finish this fast," Gojo muttered. "And this cursed rope—it's almost done."

Across from him, Miguel was already exhausted, having resigned himself to the worst. His cursed tool had been worn down to a stub, and his strongest Cursed Spirits were gone—sacrificed just to stay alive against Gojo this long.

"Suguru Geto... if I die here, I'll haunt you, I swear," Miguel muttered while dodging yet another lightning-fast strike.

As Shuten-dōji activated her Domain Expansion, Hajime triggered his Technique and immediately felt the intense burn of the cursed flames. Without hesitation, he grabbed Nanami Kento and pulled him out of the Domain. He quickly healed him using Reverse Cursed Technique. Thankfully, Nanami's injuries weren't too deep.

While retreating, Hajime noticed something—the farther he moved from Shuten-dōji, the less the flames affected him. So the Domain's expanded range had come at a cost: reduced intensity further from its core.

He could've stayed away and waited for Gojo to finish up, but he couldn't. Not with Naine's body still within the Domain. And not with Shuten-dōji's growing strength. He'd seen her absorb Cursed Spirits, summon others, and grow stronger in real-time.

If she escaped, there was no telling what she'd become.

He had to exorcise her now.

Naine's soul couldn't fully manifest on this chaotic battlefield, and Nanami lacked a Reverse Cursed Technique. Hajime would have to face her alone.

"Inside this Domain, I'll be under constant attack. That cursed flame absorbs both Cursed Energy and flesh. The closer I get, the more I'll suffer. I'll have to keep using Technique Reversal just to stay alive... but that'll drain me fast."

He gritted his teeth.

"No choice. I'll just have to kill her before I hit my limit."

Time Wheel Spin.

Gripping Onikiri, Hajime re-entered the Domain. Instantly, his body began draining—Cursed Energy, stamina, everything.

His Technique only accelerated himself, not the environment. The cursed flames surrounding him continued to burn through his defenses. Every step closer to Shuten-dōji brought more pain.

He ignored the other Cursed Spirits. There was no time. Focusing his Technique at full power, he charged straight at her and slashed at her sword-wielding arm.

But she was ready.

She had fortified her body and protected the Totsuka-no-Tsurugi with layered defenses. Hajime's full-power slash barely cut through her skin. And during the brief delay when he had to activate Technique Reversal, she struck back.

His body, already mangled by the cursed flames, was falling apart. In some places, his skin had cracked like dry leather, revealing raw flesh beneath. Every use of Technique Reversal only barely kept him together.

And every time he healed, Shuten-dōji's own wounds vanished too, her regeneration fueled by the energy she stole from him.

She began to understand him. His movements, his energy, even the nature of his Technique.

"He's accelerating himself. That explains the speed. The recovery? Not true regeneration... Reverse Cursed Technique. But his skill is crude. He's young. Still unrefined," Shuten-dōji thought.

Excitement gleamed in her monstrous eyes.

"I'll drag this out. My Domain guarantees hits. I'll wear him down with wide-area attacks. He'll run dry before he gets close enough to do real damage."

Onikiri was effective against her flesh, but not enough. And as long as she still held the Totsuka-no-Tsurugi, her victory was certain.

Her mind drifted to a distant memory—another time, another wielder of that sword.

Minamoto no Yorimitsu.

The man who once slayed her with these same cursed tools. The name echoed like a curse itself. She remembered how it took a Minamoto bloodline sorcerer to bind her to this world again.

She grinned grotesquely. "Another human who thinks he's special…"

Then she lost sight of Hajime again. In the blink of an eye, blood exploded from her body. One of her arms was gone, and another barely clung to her shoulder.

Worse—Spider Cutter had been taken.

But she didn't panic. Her Domain healed her, and she had already bound Totsuka-no-Tsurugi to her own body, embedding it like a cursed chain.

"That one... Spider Cutter. Poison-type. Slows Cursed Energy flow. Useless against someone that fast. But if he gets Totsuka-no-Tsurugi... that can't happen."

The three swords—Onikiri, Spider Cutter, Totsuka-no-Tsurugi—were once given to Minamoto no Yorimitsu to slay her. Each had a unique ability: Onikiri tore through flesh, Spider Cutter spread venom through Cursed Energy, and Totsuka-no-Tsurugi pierced any defense derived from Cursed Energy.

If all three were wielded together, they unlocked a Technique that had once annihilated her body entirely.

She couldn't allow him to gather all three.

So, without hesitation, she drove Totsuka-no-Tsurugi into her chest, binding it deeper with her cursed flesh.

Hajime wasn't surprised. Of course she'd try to prevent him from taking the blade. He still remembered the legends—this sword had once ended her reign.

…

Shuten-dōji, now standing three meters tall, glared down at Hajime. Her grotesque body was battered, but still strong. Defensive. Alert. She waited like a predator.

She knew Hajime was nearing his limit. His Reverse Cursed Technique was crude, inefficient. He used it to survive, not thrive. And right now, his Technique was beginning to fail.

She struck.

Her demonic hand slashed forward. Hajime barely managed to evade, but the burn of the cursed flames seared him again. This time, his body refused to heal.

Cracks spread across his skin. His vision blurred. His limbs faltered.

"I'm sorry, Naine," he thought. "I can't save your body... I've failed. Nanami was right—being weak means facing death every moment. That's what it means to be a sorcerer."

"You have to accept the fear of powerlessness."

As he stared at her grotesque form—once Naine—his rage surged, not like an explosion, but like magma. Silent. Building. Boiling.

He closed his eyes.

His body barely stood. But inside, his Cursed Energy stirred.

Reverse Cursed Technique could not be taught, only grasped. He'd known the basics, refined the energy once, but had never mastered it. Not like Gojo. Not like Ieiri.

Still, now—on the brink of death—his mind cleared. His thoughts stretched, expanded, aligned.

For the first time... he understood.

Maybe all sorcerers really were madmen.

Shuten-dōji's claws closed in on him.

Victory was seconds away.

But then—he vanished.

Her hand grasped empty air.

He stood again, fully healed.

A cold shock coursed through her.

"Round two, begins," Kamihara Hajime said.

He raised Onikiri in one hand, Spider Cutter in the other.

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