Chapter 191

Faced with Gojo Satoru's declaration of certain death, no one, not even a cursed spirit, dared to be indifferent—or pretend to be indifferent.

Louhu, who was easily beaten down to only his head and fled in a sorry state last time, was even more on edge.

If Xia Youjie hadn't taught him how to deal with Gojo Satoru's [no-holds-barred] technique, Louhu was certain he would never have stayed here for even a second.

Hanami wanted to say something more, but Gojo Satoru had no intention of continuing to waste words with the enemy.

There are still many trapped people in the [tent] who love and trust him. He must finish this quickly and not cause any more trouble—especially since Xia Youjie's spell is very troublesome. Once the other party decides to release a large number of cursed spirits, he must be prepared for the sacrifice of the trapped people.

At this moment, even if it's just one of the trapped people, Gojo Satoru doesn't want anything to happen to them.

Relying on [Azure]'s short-range, ultra-high-speed movement, it was impossible to perceive it with dynamic vision or spell power. Gojo Satoru abandoned the use of [Zi] or [He], which had a wide range of high-damage skills, and instead added [Azure] to each melee attack, which could output less spell power and was easier to control precisely in a small area. In the blink of an eye, he was in front of Louhu, who was obviously more afraid of him!

Louhu's reaction wasn't slow—at least he didn't take the beating for nothing like last time. Instead, he immediately used [Domain Extension], relying on the [Domain Expansion] that enveloped him to neutralize Gojo Satoru's [Unlimited Power], and threw a punch to counterattack—

*Smack*

Gojo Satoru merely turned to the side, but reached out and grabbed its arm.

Louhu, whose punch missed its mark, was startled to suddenly realize he could touch Gojo Satoru. He then heard a cold, almost toy-like laugh from the other man—immediately afterward, Gojo Satoru flipped him over his back to dodge Hanamichi's flying kick—and then kicked away the latter who was trying to follow up. In this flurry of movement, Louhu tried to pull his hand back, only to be shocked to find Gojo Satoru using force.

"Hey—whoosh."

Just like tearing a wing off a roast chicken, Gojo Satoru effortlessly snapped Louhu's arm, leaving it completely broken!

Even if the [No Limit] technique is removed, Gojo Satoru's [strongest] level has never relied solely on a single technique, but rather on the various combat skills he has studied and flexibly applied with his unparalleled intelligence.

"[Domain Extension] Ah, so there really is a curse master in cahoots with you, Xia Youjie?"

The tall and slender Gojo Satoru stood still, casually tossing aside the severed arm he was holding as if it were a bag of trash.

Hua Yu was slightly taller than him, but seemed to be a head shorter than Wu, and didn't even have the courage to look directly into those icy blue eyes.

Although, the eyes of the weeds are two withered branches that have grown out.

Judging from the flow of the incantation's power, that should be the weak point?

I've decided, I'll pull it out and try it out in a bit.

Gojo Satoru's mind raced as he thought and judged, yet his face still wore a rare, disdainful smile as he casually crushed his enemy's already dwindling confidence with his nonchalant words.

"You think you can beat me with this level of skill? When you were rescued, it wasn't your head you actually had, was it?"

Louhu healed her severed arm using the Reversal Technique, but fear inevitably spread through her heart, yet she couldn't utter a single word in rebuttal.

"Watch this move, [Heh—]"

[Leaky!]

Seeing that Gojo Satoru had raised his hand as if to unleash a near-all-penetrating [Haku] on Ruko, Hanami, who had just been kicked away by Gojo Satoru, instinctively wanted to undo [Domain Extension] and instead use the Life-Giving Technique to help Ruko resist the attack—

"Don't undo [Domain Extension], Hanami!!"

In that fleeting moment, Louhu noticed that Gojo Satoru's cold smile had widened slightly—it was an arrogant and disdainful expression of having everything under his control.

Just as it was about to increase its spell power to withstand the attack, it panicked and shouted a warning. But the next moment it saw that Gojo Satoru's use of [Azure] had reached its peak. Without any delay, he flashed in front of Hanamichi—even using its shoulder and abdomen as a foothold.

Or, to put it another way, leverage points.

"Excuse me, I'm here to mow the weeds."

In a single exchange, Gojo Satoru, who was standing on the cursed spirit, grabbed the two withered branches growing from its eyes and, amidst the spirit's screams, pulled them out without hesitation!

"Aaaaaah!!!"

[Domain Extension] and the Life-Generating Technique cannot be used simultaneously—even if Gojo Satoru had not experimented with this, he could quickly deduce this conclusion based on his accumulated combat experience and profound understanding of spell power.

As for these two special-grade cursed spirits who can think like humans and possess their own domains, they are still very weak in the eyes of Gojo Satoru, who is fighting two against one.

The trapped person has already run more than a hundred meters away. Even if he activates his domain, he will be completely unaffected.

Gojo Satoru raised his right hand, placing his middle finger in front of his index finger, making the gesture for activating [Boundless Emptiness].

They can be exorcised immediately.

If Xia Youjie thinks he can hold him off like this, then he is truly ridiculous.

Use whatever tricks you have, whether it's slaughtering those scum spirits or facing an even more powerful enemy.

By the way, Ichijin arrived so late. If he had arrived any later, he would have had to face the enthusiastic crowds and requests for autographs and photos with the fans.

This thought didn't linger in Gojo Satoru's mind for long before he continued to concentrate, intending to use [Boundless Void] to finish the battle quickly and not give the enemy any chance to turn the tide.

Louhu was fully aware that in a battle of domains, they had absolutely no chance of defeating Gojo Satoru's domain!

"Wait...wait...Kazuma Hatori!"

Driven by his survival instinct, Louhu frantically called out the name that made Gojo Satoru pause in his actions.

“…What?” he asked.

"Hatori Kazuma has been sealed away by Natsuyuki using [Prison Gate]!"

Louhu spoke very quickly. It wasn't actually sure if Xia Youjie could successfully seal Yuqu Kazuma, but at this moment it was determined to win a chance for itself and Hanami—surrounded by Gojo Satoru, they didn't even have a chance to rush into the building next door to take hostages!

"That's why we're here to stall you! If you don't want that guy to die, you'd better not..."

"——[Domain Expansion·Boundless Void]."

The reason why Kazuma never arrived was found, but Gojo Satoru still recited the move word by word, which made Louko and Hanago's hearts fall into an ice cave.

What a foolish fellow, thinking he would accept the enemy's threats and manipulation.

Even if Yizhen is sealed away, so what? As long as the person is safe, he still has absolute confidence that he can rescue them.

—In the instant the cursed power surged, the boundless inner force engulfed the figures of the two top-tier cursed spirits, dragging them completely into the abyss of death.

…………

Let's rewind a moment.

On the edge of Shibuya's security perimeter, after finishing his phone call, Kazuma Hatori asked the driver who brought him there to stop the car.

"That's enough."

There were too many sorcerers and assistants guarding the road ahead. If he continued driving in, he would become an extremely obvious target, and someone would soon come up to question him. There was a high probability that they would recognize him as a sorcerer who was still wanted.

Based on the personnel distribution information sent by Zenji Naoya, Hatori Kazuma quickly drew a route on the map on his phone that was closest to the tent and unguarded.

Last week's beating of Zenin Naoya was brilliant, giving him a powerful informant in the supervisory department who wouldn't dare disobey in this week's game.

Kazuma Hatake put away his phone, and after roughly determining the direction, he quickly headed towards his destination.

It is said that several high-ranking tents have descended here, but Kazuma Hatori doesn't care and only wants to reunite with Satoru Gojo as soon as possible.

"Oh, Hatori."

The familiar voice that suddenly rang out from the shadows reached Kazuma Hatake's ears—he stopped in his tracks and looked in the direction of Natsumi Yuuki.

Xia Youjie, with his hands tucked into his wide robe sleeves, smiled and walked to the streetlight, standing at a distance that was neither too close nor too far from Yuqu Kazuma.

In other words, thanks to his years of interaction and familiarity with Hatake Kazuma's techniques, he stepped outside the maximum range of the opponent's [Ten Directions Maha].

As Hatoichi was about to approach him to activate [Ten Directions Maha], he saw that the other person was also surrounded by cursed spirits, while he himself raised his phone.

“I still have the contact information of some sorcerers. You don’t want me to make this call and completely expose your whereabouts, making it impossible for you to support Gojo Satoru, right?”

This threat was effective, successfully stopping Kazuma Hatori in his tracks. He could only stand there and listen as Hatori continued, "Don't rush, we're just chatting for a bit."

Kazuma Hatake was silent for a moment, then said, "...Did you orchestrate this incident?"

Xia Youjie thought for a moment, "Well, more or less. After leaving the Panxing Sect, I found some new partners, and they are all very supportive of my ideas."

"Evolve all of humanity?"

Yuqu Kazuma coldly replied—the moment he met Xia Youjie, [Ye Shuang] immediately took it out of his inventory, ready to fight at any moment.

"That's an absurd solution. I later heard from Goku that Tsukumo Yuki had researched this direction and concluded that [the so-called evolution of all humanity can only be accomplished by using the barrier of Tengen. Therefore, ordinary people who can evolve into sorcerers are limited to Japan. Of course, sorcerers and sorcerers are extremely rare overseas, so evolving all Japanese people seems like a solution—but in reality, it means that the resource of sorcery power will be monopolized by Japan, which will incite dissatisfaction and ambition in other countries]."

“Is there a problem?” Xia Youjie said. “I have already thought about this outcome and think it is acceptable. Moreover, you still have to admit one thing: as long as I achieve my goal, the maggot-like cursed spirits that keep appearing in this country will completely disappear, and there will never again be a strong person forced to die from the sins born from the weak.”

Kazuma Hagoromo: "Even if it triggers a large-scale war?"

Xia Youjie slightly raised his chin, "Those are just non-magicians. As long as we kill more of them, they will realize that they must behave themselves and obey the strong—obey us sorcerers."

"You still consider yourself a special being, simply because you have the power of curses."

Kazuma Hatake remained expressionless, only feeling that this guy's ideas were really extreme. "Those curse masters who make a living by killing and cursing, and are now willing to travel with you, probably think about the same thing as you."

"So, you agree with Tsukumo Yuki's view that all of humanity should be freed from curses?"

Xia Youjie laughed, seemingly mocking Yuqu Yizhen's wild imagination.

“That’s impossible, Hatori.” — His tone was gentle, as if he were genuinely offering patient advice to his long-lost friend.

“I know you think a society without curse power is normal, but curse power itself is one of the roots of this world’s operation. Not to mention that even [Heaven and Curse] can produce an exception like Yukichi with zero curse power... Oh, you probably don’t know, Yukichi is the second-year student at Kyoto School who lost his healthy body in exchange for an extremely wide range of spells and an extremely strong output of curse power.”

When faced with this question, Kazuma Hato, from the real world, neither answered "possible" nor "impossible," but simply shifted to another topic.

"Is this your reason for accepting Lu Suo's brainwashing?"

They were engaged in a silent verbal exchange, each side facing off from afar, both trying to create a psychological vulnerability in one of them.

"It wouldn't be called brainwashing, after all, I've always believed that the structure and order of this society are flawed, and he just happened to provide me with a viable path. Of course, with your prior disclosure, I also knew that what he said was just to gain my approval, favor, and closeness, and then take the opportunity to take my body. So, didn't I not reveal your plan to him, and instead, did I successfully kill him with you?"

Xia Youjie smiled and revealed his hands from his sleeves, spreading them out in front of him.

"To be honest, I've thought about [just killing all those ungrateful monkeys] before. Well, the chances are slim. If I had the power of Gojo Satoru, maybe I could do it."

"That's even more absurd. You can never become enlightened. Never."

When asked about this topic, Kazuma Hatake only gave a brief reply—his gaze and attention were more focused on the strange cube that Natsumi Yuuki was holding in one of his hands.

"Say what you will, everyone has their own ideas to hold. I will not force others to agree, nor do I expect everyone to understand the [righteous cause] I am upholding now. However, we have talked enough."

Noticing that the other party had noticed the [Prison Gate] in his hand, Xia Youjie also stopped chatting and instead tossed it in front of Yuqu Kazuma.

"[Prison Gate - Open the Gate]".

The flesh, twisted and shriveled, stretched out from the four corners of the cracked cube, with only the huge eyeball in the very center forcibly opened as if stapled, staring at Kazuma Hatake while dripping with bloody tears.

What is this? A cursed object? A cursed implement?

Hagoromo frowned in confusion, but he knew this was definitely some kind of tool that Natsume Yuuki was using against him. His instinctive reaction was to create distance as he threw [Karma Double]—

“I know your deepest secret, Hatori.”

Xia Youjie suddenly spoke up, "About the [soul] you love in Gojo Satoru."

Soul? Secret? Could it be that Xia Youjie knew that he had actually fallen in love with Wu back in the first timeline?

Kazuma Hatori paused—in that instant, what flashed through his mind was the memory he had shared with Satoru when he was the head of the Kamo family, the only memory he still retained.

Meeting, proposing, giving gifts, becoming companions, living together, opening up to each other, falling in love... and finally, parting and reuniting.

In that instant, the unfolded cube vanished without a trace.

Immediately afterwards, these twisted and scarlet flesh grew back from Kazuma Hatori's body, pinning him firmly to the spot, making him unable to move an inch...!

"...?!"

Kazuma Hatori struggled for a moment and found that the entire skill interface had turned gray and unusable—even the option to exit the game was locked!

The [Ye Shuang] sword slipped from his bound hands and fell to the ground. After rolling once, it was picked up by Xia Youjie, who was finally approaching him.

“You’re really hard to deal with, Hato. Even harder to deal with than Gojo Satoru. At least he cares about the lives of others, but you don’t care about anything except Gojo Satoru.”

After hearing Xia Youjie's exclamation, Yu Qu Yizhen had no reaction. His expression was extremely cold, and even his dark eyes staring at Xia Youjie were deep and dark, like a silent, dead sea.

"You're lying to me."

"It's not entirely a lie,"

The plan to seal Yuqu Yizhen went smoothly. Xia Youjie let the cursed spirit that could only store things swallow [Ye Shuang] and casually explained in a good mood.

"The real person touched your soul and found it to be a burning flame, unlike anyone else's. It even suffered a backlash because of it... Ah, I should thank you for that. Otherwise, I'd still be racking my brains about how to absorb the real person."

So that's why the top-tier cursed spirit didn't drop cursed power crystals on him, not because the other party successfully survived.

Kazuma Hatake was even more upset. "If you're going to kill me, hurry up and do it."

The player immediately reloads the save and restarts the game; the first thing to do is to take down the guy in front of him.

"That won't do. You've already been locked onto by [Prison Gate] and must be sealed inside."

Xia Youjie shook his head. "Besides, you are one of the tools I need for my next plan against Wu."

"……What did you say?"

The originally indifferent Kazuma Hatori immediately revealed his extreme anger, but after calming down for a moment, he spoke to him with a half-mocking and half-sneer.

“I don’t need Wu to be threatened and manipulated by someone like you just to save me. Wu also knows what I’m thinking. You’re just humiliating yourself by doing this.”

"Is that so? That's hard to say. After all, you're not the only piece I've prepared."

Xia Youjie sighed softly, laying bare this negative and cruel reality before the other party.

"In the world of jutsu, the only person who wholeheartedly loves Gojo Satoru and unconditionally supports him is you, Kazuma Hato."

“[Prison Gate - Closed]”.

———

As these twisted chunks of flesh slowly closed, Kazuma Hatake's vision gradually turned into darkness.

The game's five senses were so realistic that it felt like he was really locked up somewhere, surrounded by creaking skeletons, with no way to get out.

When you open the game's system interface, both the "Skills" and "Exit Game" options remain grayed out and locked.

More than the inability to leave this place, it was Xia Youjie's last words that concerned Yuqu Kazuma.

Despite Wu's overwhelming strength, Xia Youjie seemed certain that he had a way to deal with him.

Satoru has been deliberately avoiding mentioning this topic, including those in the world of sorcery, but the occasional snippets he reveals still allow Kazuma Hatake to sense that, apart from the non-family sorcerer students who grew up worshipping him, their views and attitudes toward Satoru seem to lean more towards neutrality or even negativity.

And those high-ranking members of the jutsu world, this time the Shibuya incident was handled by Satoru alone. Does that mean that if something big happens next time, he will still have to stand alone on the front line?

I can't let it go.

Unacceptable.

Unforgivable.

In this darkness where the passage of time is indistinguishable, the anger pent up in the heart of Hatori Isshin is like a pot of oil being slowly heated, and his anxiety and frustration gradually rise to their limit amidst his uncommunicable worries.

If he goes out...

With his gaze fixed on the dark, desolate depths of the void, where no scenery could be seen, Kazuma Hatori thought indifferently to himself.

If he goes out and sees that something has happened to Wu,

He will kill everyone.