Capítulo 10: Dead again?
(3rd Person POV)
Asahi lay on the ground, bleeding profusely. The ground was drenched in his blood, and more was still flowing out. Half of his body was missing; his right arm and leg were gone as well. Gojo descended from the air and gently touched the ground, looking at Asahi's body. With the power of his Six Eyes, he can tell that Asahi's not dead yet.
"Any last words?"
"Just two ... not bad."
?
*Wooooosh*
Satoru Gojo's eyes widen as the Inverted Spear of Heaven flashes through the air and once again pierces his body for the second time today. Asahi, holding the Inverted Spear, has pierced Gojo's chest right through the heart. Satoru looks down at his chest and sees Asahi's smiling face without a change in expression. He is still high on 'enlightenment' and doesn't feel anger or fear or anything for that matter. He tries to process the speed and, most importantly, the healing prowess of Asahi.
Asahi can easily move at Massively Hypersonic speeds, which are between Mach 100 and 1000. Adding to that the strength and overall physical boost from killing and absorbing Toji Fushiguro and Suguru Geto, Asahi is now approaching the limits of Mach 800.
[A/N: I am balling this. I don't know whether he should be faster. You tell me. And this is without using CE.]
Without warning, Asahi balls his fist and smashes Satoru in the face, sending him flying.
*BOOOOM*
Asahi knows that this is not the end.
"Come on, stand up. I know you're not dead."
The damage done to Satoru's body heals, and he stands back up, looking at Asahi.
"You must be wondering what just happened, right? How could I heal? How am I suddenly so fast? Most importantly, why do I have Cursed Energy? Those are all good questions, but let's postpone the Q&A until after the fight."
*Booom*
With even higher speed, Asahi shoots forward, attacking Satoru. Armed with the Inverted Spear of Heaven, Asahi slashes and pierces Satoru, trying to catch him off guard and release his Infinity to do damage. The fight is much faster than it was moments before when Asahi wasn't using Cursed Energy reinforcement. Using the experience and abilities of Suguru Geto, Asahi adapts to a fight with Cursed Energy, and combined with his natural physical prowess, he presses Satoru.
.
The Essence of the Knife is a wonderful and broken ability.
* You can kill anything that lives with the knife, ignoring all forms of immortality. Any being killed by the knife will have all its powers and abilities added to it, granting it a new form. Those abilities can then be accessed through the knife and wielded as if they were your own. *
The Inverted Spear of Heaven is a special-grade Cursed Tool that can completely nullify cursed techniques on contact and release them on contact. Asahi used the original one and had his knife absorb it, granting it a new form. So suffice it to say that the current Inverted Spear of Heaven, wielded by Asahi, has all the abilities of his knife and could cut through anything. But Asahi isn't using that right now. Why is he not using his full power and abilities?
When Asahi killed Suguru Geto, he did so for three reasons. The first one was for this very moment. He knew he would fight against Satoru Gojo and that if his plans worked, Satoru would be enlightened and more powerful. But it would also mean that Satoru would lack any true challenge until the 20-finger Sukuna arrived. After the Prison Realm and during the fight against Sukuna, Gojo is more powerful than he is right now, and that's what Asahi wishes to see. In order to fight against Gojo, give him a challenge, and push him further, he had to have access to Cursed Energy and actually pressure Satoru Gojo.
That is the first reason why Asahi killed Suguru. As he fought the Cursed Manipulation user, Asahi killed as many of his Cursed Spirits as possible. The reason for this was also twofold. One, he didn't want to grant Kenjaku any more Cursed Spirits than necessary and two, he absorbed all of their Cursed Energy to increase his pool right now. So he not only had all the abilities and techniques of Suguru Geto, but he also had his and his Cursed Spirits' Cursed Energy pool. And it was this large Cursed Energy pool he was using right now to put pressure on Gojo and adapt to fighting using said Energy.
Asahi swings his Inverted Spear of Heaven trying to release Infinity, but Gojo dodges. He enters Asahi's zone and throws several fast punches at his face and stomach. But Asahi manages to block the attacks. The power behind the attacks was incredible, however. Unlike what one sees when looking at Gojo's very lean muscles, his Infinity-enhanced punches were painful. But Asahi didn't feel pain, which would be a weakness in this situation, after all.
The two exchanged attacks, but none of them truly landed. Asahi blocked all of Gojo's attacks and tanked the damage done to his body while he couldn't touch Gojo with his fists.
<Cursed Technique Reversal: Red!>
The Red appears in front of Asahi, doing quite some damage to his enhanced body. Asahi tries to minimize the damage by using Cursed Energy enhancement, but it is insufficient. Gojo's red did more damage now than before, telling us he got better at using it. However, he is not the only one who is growing more potent and better. Asahi is speedily advancing in using Cursed Energy and can now manipulate the flow without a problem.
Gojo is still in the zone right now and immediately uses his technique again.
<Cursed Technique Lapse: Blue>
Asahi, who has already healed again, thanks to his natural healing factor, is pulled forward. He uses his feet to push against the floor, adding his own momentum, similar to how he did during their first fight. But it was a mistake this time, as Gojo had prepared for it.
<Cursed Technique Reversal: Red!>
*BOOOOOOOM*
'Red' hits like a Japanese speeding train and does a lot of damage. Asahi loses control over his body for a second and is flung backwards. Half of his face was just blown off, and his upper body is charred as 'Red' explodes. Before his body hits the floor, however, he is healed again and lands on his feet, his grin widening as he does. He has no time to be happy, though, as a fist appears in his field of vision.
*BOOOOM*
Gojo's fist lands on Asahi's face, punching him even harder than before. The young, honoured one doesn't stop there, though and starts to deliver a series of punches that make his fight against Miguel look like slow motion.
*BOOM*
*BOOOM*
*BANG BANG BOOM*
Over and over again, he punches Asahi all over his body. Asahi can feel the effect of the punches intensify and grow more powerful. The reason for this increase in power and damage is that Gojo has adapted and added something to his Infinity. He added Blue to his Infinity and, therefore, added a special effect of pulling the target in while punching them, doubling the power of his hits.
Just as he is about to deliver another punch, something extraordinary happens. Asahi bends his body backwards and to the side, dodging the hit while pulling his fist back. His left hand, holding the Inverted Spear of Heaven, slashes through the air, cutting Infinity and releasing it for the smallest of fractions. But that's when it happens ... His fist shoots forward, and he punches Satoru's thorax, feeling something happening as he does. His fist hits Gojo in the fraction before he can reactivate his Infinity ...
<Black Flash>
!!!
Black Flash is a distortion in space that occurs when cursed Energy is applied within 0.000001 seconds of a physical hit. When a sorcerer is able to achieve this, their cursed Energy flashes black, and the destructive power of their strike is equal to a normal hit to the power of 2.5. Unleashing Black Flash requires incredible concentration, and no jujutsu sorcerer can use it at will. It does not occur randomly and requires immense skill and combat potential to pull off.
Regardless of how the user achieved it the first time, whether, through skill or simple luck, they enter a state where manipulating their cursed Energy becomes something as simple and natural as breathing. It can result in a feeling of omnipotence as if everything revolves around them. This leads to a greatly increased performance in combat, allowing the user to operate at 120% of their maximum potential.
!!!
The world turns dark red, and the Cursed Energy Asahi used just now flows out and through his body, travelling into Gojo's body and the surroundings. The Cursed Energy flows out and appears like lightning strikes.
*BOOOOOOOM*
Satoru's thorax is carved in, and the bones are broken. The powerful Cursed Energy travels through his body, and the punch leaves a bloody hole. Asahi can feel that using Cursed Energy has become as simple as breathing, and he doesn't have to worry about it anymore. He feels just as enlightened right now.
Satoru Gojo is not dead ... he stands back up and heals his body, looking at Asahi, who smiles. This causes Gojo to smile as well. The fight has just entered a new stage as the original reason for the fight was forgotten, and only the moment counts. Satoru brings his index and middle fingers together.
<Ryōiki Tenkai: Muryōkūsho>
Satoru releases his Domain Expansion: Unlimited Void.
Befitting its name, Unlimited Void brings Gojo and Asahi inside the Limitless itself, an endless void resembling outer space, with a large black hole, distant galaxies and numerous white patches in the background. Boundless raw information floods into the Asahi's mind, overwhelming him to the point where he's completely immobilized.
The complete incapacitation of Asahi is caused by a phenomenon where he will be able to see and feel everything while not being able to see or feel anything simultaneously. All the actions one has taken in their life are forced upon them infinitely, and they can't do anything but die slowly. This effect does not affect the user or anyone they're touching, whether willingly or not, which can be exploited by an opponent to become immune to the domain expansion's effects.
Asahi stands there, completely absorbed by the limitless information he is getting. His body is not moving, his mind is racing, but he can't do anything about the current situation. However, something happens without anyone being wiser. Gojo appears in front of Asahi and rips off his head with a powerful pull.
*Splashhh*
Blood spills out of his neck as Gojo holds the head and drops it to the ground. He doesn't take his eyes off of Asahi's body, though, as his Six Eyes tell him a strange and seemingly impossible story ... Asahi is not dead. And indeed, the ripped-off head fades, and a new one appears on his body.
"What are you?" he asks.
"Persistent."
"Why are you doing all of this?"
"I thought you didn't care right now? Or did you come down from your high?"
"..."
"Haha, well, you see, I came here with the sole goal of defeating you and taking your place. Where I come from, you are seen as that broken character who many place against other characters virtually and talk about who is stronger. I think you're cool as well, but I think I could do better than you did. So I intercepted Toji Fushiguro from 'killing' you and took over that job.
Your Six Eyes and Limitless already put you on a pedestal that no one except me can deal with, so once you unlock the Reverse Cursed Technique, I knew you would be unchallenged in the world until much later when the King of Curses arrives. The lack of challenge causes one to stagnate and I didn't want that for you. I couldn't kill you for real back then because I was hoping for you to reach enlightenment and become the honoured one, unlocking your full technique of Limitless.
You see, my 'technique' if you will is special. Anything I cut gets added to my knife, allowing me to access the abilities and powers of anyone and anything I kill. But if I killed you too soon, you wouldn't have been at the peak of what you could achieve, therefore making me 'miss out' on potential power.
So I almost killed you, forcing you to reach enlightenment and then went ahead and killed Suguru Geto to acquire Cursed Energy and his skills. That much was necessary for me to fight against you. By fighting you now, you gain someone who you can use to refine your technique and grow even further while enlightened, and I get some hands-on experience."
"... So you killed Suguru ... because you wanted to enjoy fighting me?"
"Not just that, I also have another reason, which won't be important to you, but I suppose you can see it that way. I wanted to push you further and force you to squeeze out all your potential."
"..."
"..."
*BOOOOOM*
A punch arrives in Asahi's face. In his rage, Gojo teleported right in front of Asahi and punched him using all of his strength. The new technique might hurt a normal man, but it only makes Asahi smile as his plan works. He now has a blood-lusted Gojo on his hands. Ever improving, Asahi manages to push back, and they exchange punches. The need to improve and not get his ass kicked is pushing Asahi further. He has 'cut' his weakness and removed it from himself. This has a very powerful effect on him. His talent was laid bare, and it shows.
As the two giants are fighting, Asahi is growing and improving. Something which wouldn't have been possible if he hadn't had his insane healing factor, which he gained from Muzan and his spawn. However, the honoured one doesn't show any weakness and suddenly lands a mighty punch, proving why he is the one to tip the balance of the world.
<Black Flash>
*BOOOOOOOOOM*
Gojo hits a Black Flash, dealing tremendous damage and halting Asahi's powerful healing momentarily. Asahi's body once again 'clicks' in a way and heals instantly.
The two fall into a rhythm of the highest intensity, which only the strongest in the world could comprehend. Satoru fires off 'Red' and 'Blue' one after the other, while Asahi uses the Inverted Spear of Heaven to actually damage Satoru and deal with the powerful techniques. The intensity continuously rises until finally, Gojo fires off another Domain Expansion.
<Ryōiki Tenkai: Muryōkūsho>
Once again, Asahi's brain is assaulted with limitless information, rendering him immobile. But something inside him is refusing this situation. Asahi literally lacks weaknesses. This fact results in something phenomenal. his body suddenly finds a reason to deal with the current situation, so just before Gojo manages once again to land a powerful attack on Asahi's body... a hand grabs him.
!!!
Asahi is touching Gojo through Infinity. With wide eyes, Gojo suddenly realises what just happened. Asahi's face is still the same, as Gojo's Unlimited Void hit him, but his hand is holding onto his wrist, stopping him from attacking. With his Six Eyes, Satoru sees a thin layer domain unimbued with a cursed technique, tightly wrapped around Asahi's entire body.
Gojo knows about this ... he has read all the notes on Domains in the Gojo clan.
"Domain Amplification ... !!! But how?! He didn't even have a Domain Expansion ..."
Gojo acts fast and drops the domain, pulling back. He once again combines Red and Blue and prepares his most powerful attack. But this time, he uses the incantation to activate his technique to make it as powerful as possible while Asahi is still absorbed.
"Nine Ropes." "Polarized Light." "Crow and Declaration." "Between Front and Back."
<Hollow Technique: Purple>
*BOOOOOOOO-------------------------OOOOOOOOMMMMMM*
...
...
...
The entire area is turned to nothingness and the rest crumbles. Asahi is not seen anymore. Satoru looks forward seeing the legless, armless form of Asahi lying on the ground. He is scorched and it truly looks as if he is finally truly dead. His body instinctively used Domain Amplification after finally unlocking his Domain Expansion. However, since he was inside Gojo's Domain already, his body acted on its own and activated Domain Amplification, lessening the damage he just received and effectively saving his life.
"Heh ... this is the first day I unlocked Hollow: Purple and I was already forced to use its most powerful form to deal with you. You are strong. And to think that you managed to throw this knife reflectively."
Satoru stops talking and takes the knife out of his chest. His smile however falters as blood flows out of his mouth. Amidst the peak of the battle, he got so absorbed that, while he did in fact realise the knife was being thrown at him, he didn't care about it to block. But this knife was different.
"I ... can't heal!!!"
"Ugh ..."
Satoru looks forward and sees Asahi's broken and destroyed form, regenerating to full health. His eyes widen even more seeing that.
"... yeah, you see this wasn't a normal knife. I already explained it to you. My 'technique' is special. Anything I cut gets by my knife is killed and its abilities and powers are added to the knife which I can then use however I please. I can kill anything ... even your ability to heal.
Haha, it is ironic in a way. I was sure that you were far more powerful than I am, but that the difference was this much ... I didn't know. I had to 'cheat' in a way since you would have finished me off just now, had I not used it.
Stand proud, Satoru Gojo ... you were the strongest."
________________________________________________
Spoilers bellow!!!!!!!!!
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You were warned.
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Yes, the ending might somewhat resemble the manga, but I didn't kill him, off-screen. Satoru was the strongest and would have killed the MC had he not used the knife in that way. It's as simple as that.
I hope you enjoyed it.
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