Nanami ducked another slash, striking the knee of the other transfigured human at the same time. Standing, he rocked the same transfigured human in the face with his left hand before turning 90 degrees to his left to block another slash.
Nanami pushed back before kneeing the transfigured human in the gut before kicking backward with the same leg, kicking the second attacker in the knee, throwing it off balance. Nanami took advantage with another strike to the head with his cleaver as his left hand punched the other one away at the same time.
Nanami continued to outmaneuver both as he thought. Were they a threat? Not really. They were relatively slow and not very effective offensive. But they could take one hell of a beating and were just fast and strong enough to force Nanami to fight them. As a result, Nanami was stuck. Forced to slowly whittle them down and give the curse all the time in the world to kill Isamu.
Nanami had a plan, however. Every once in a while he would disengage and run away. He searched the nearby area for any environmental factors he could use. A conveniently spike-filled pit would be ideal but anywhere he would trap the transfigured humans would do. Unfortunately, Nanami had yet to find anything useful. Sure, he could always try to crush them with his extension technique but that had a few problems.
First, he wasn't sure if it would kill them or trap them for a while with only a single use. Second, with how unstable the infrastructure of Shibuya had become throughout the night, there was a good chance Nanami ended up destroying more than he intended and was caught in the crossfire. Finally, Nanami had already used the technique twice throughout the night and a third use would leave him wanting for cursed energy.
Luckily, this entire plan didn't end up mattering. As most things went in life, no matter the strategy, you can always achieve the same thing with pure power.
Emerging from the shadows like a bat out of hell, Yuji rocketed forward just as Nanami began to swing toward one of the transfigured human's heads. Seeing this, Nanami put some extra force behind the attack. Both attacks landed at the same time, crushing the skull of the transfigured human between them, Yuji's fist doing most of the work.
Turning, the same happened to the only remaining transfigured human. Yuji kicked out at the attacker who Nanami had thrown to its knees moments before. Faster than either of them could see with any clarity, a human appeared and did the same on the opposite side of the monster, Naobito and Yuji crushing its skull in the next moment as well.
"Where's Inumaki?" Naobito asked, Yuji asking something similar at nearly the same instant. Nanami pointed his cleaver in the general direction of Isamu's battle. At least where Nanami heard the most commotion from. Without hesitation, they all began running.
Nanami, the only injured one among them thanks to Shoko's treatment taking care of Yuji's and Naobito's major injuries, lagged behind a bit but was still able to keep up. Not even a minute after they began to make their way towards Isamu, a golden glow emerged from a few blocks away.
They all turned towards it without a word, knowing it was probably Isamu or the cursed spirit he was battling.
"When we arrive, Yuji will need to be upfront. He's the only one who can permanently injure the curse." Nanami shouted over the sound of their heavy foot falls. Naobito questioned why only Yuji could do damage but decided it wasn't relevant. He didn't need to know how or why, only that it did.
Upon arrival, two significant pieces of information made themselves known to the group. First, the curse was in terrible shape, with a hole the size of a dinner plate through its chest, missing an arm, and its head crushed. Second, Isamu closed in, the light of Domain Amplification recognizable to Naobito.
Naobito raced in as Yuji and Nanami sprinted at full speed but at a significantly slower speed. But before any of them could do much as cross half the distance to their comrade, a familiar flash rang through the air as the cursed energy in the environment vibrated, space distorting in its wake.
Isamu was blasted backwards towards the three first-grade-level sorcerers. Naobito ran as fast as possible, catching Isamu before he could crash into anything, his slightly smaller form falling to the ground due to Naobito's inability to properly catch him.
The dust kicked up by Naobito's feet cleared, revealing the extent of Isamu's injury. Isamu's jaw and the entire bottom half of his face were gone, replaced by a scarlet, bloody mess of fractured bone and torn tissue.
This was the result of an often-forgotten use of Black Flash. When fighting, you generally want to read your opponent's cursed energy and the amount they put into an attack before blocking it with the same amount, so as to not waste cursed energy.
For example, if they attack with 100 damage and you block for 100, you break even. But if that 100 becomes 1000 at the last second, before you can adapt, you end up taking 900 damage. Isamu had expected a desperate punch with minimal cursed energy put behind it so he hadn't block for much, leading to the current situation. Not that it was that big of a deal.
Within a second, Isamu's face was pristine, with not a single cut, bruise, or even drop of blood in sight. Standing up from his seated position leaning back on the crouched Naobito, Isamu locked eyes with the cursed spirit as it began to talk.
"Well damn. You managed to stall until someone could come save your ass, huh? Seems I have no choice." The curse said, scratching the back of its head. From the shadows walked a second curse, exactly the same in every way, well beside its clothed appearance.
The two curses merged into one with a handful of disgusting crunches and squishy sounds. It seemed the curse had a double working independently. It probably served as a battery for the curse, refilling its reserves and empowering it. How annoying.
The curse casually opened its mouth, each sorcerer sensing the catastrophic amount of cursed energy building up in the curse at nearly the same instant. Everyone besides Yuji hesitated, confusion overcoming them for a moment. Was it suicidal for the curse to use its-
Before Isamu could finish the thought, black, ghostly hands about the size of a person appeared, rapidly appearing closer and closer to Yuji, forcing him backwards as the barrier enclosed every first grade sorcerer in its deadly embrace.
Isamu's thoughts ran a thousand miles a minute as his eyes opened wide in shock, confusion, and no small amount of worry. Not necessarily for himself, however, even if that was a portion, but for his comrades. He could survive a domain for a while with simple domain. Naobito most likely knew an anti-domain technique or two as well. But Nanami? He doubted it.
He could always extend his simple domain to reach him but Isamu doubted how effective that would be. Isamu could tell from a simple glance the patch-faced curse had a domain much more refined than the weed's. Isamu's large simple domain barely lasted in that domain and that's when he had plenty of energy to push into it. Isamu doubted it would last for more than a few seconds.
And if he was being honest with himself, he didn't really want to use a simple domain, even if it could work. It might've been something in the air but Isamu was in a selfish mood throughout the night and wanted a bit more action. He'd controlled himself, clamping down on his preemptive urges to use it already. But now that he'd been faced with an excuse, it was really, really hard to hold back the pinnacle of his path to power. The ultimate technique of any sorcerer.
The sorcerer and curse chanted simultaneously a few seconds after the barrier closed and just before the technique of the domain kicked in. The foreign yet familiar words spilling from Isamu's lips without thought as his hands seemed to move by themselves, forming a hand sign Isamu had never seen before yet knew the meaning of.
"Domain Expansion: Self-Embodiment of Perfection!"
"Domain Expansion: Saraswati's Unequivocal Truth!"
——
Yuji was struggling on the outside of the barrier. As soon as the black hands baring his entrance to the domain disappeared and the pitch black barrier closed completely, he began punching the outside of the domain. He knew from past experience with the curse that the outside of a domain was weaker than the inside and if he was able to break in, the curse would touch Sukuna's soul and die.
But he was having quite a bit of trouble with that plan of attack. He hammered blow after blow into the barrier, his teeth slowly grinding together in frustration as he failed to do much as leave a scratch. He felt alone as all he could do was swing uselessly into the pitch-black wall. His allies were in there, struggling, fighting, dying. Maybe some of them were already dead. And all Yuji could do was nothing. He desperately slammed his body into the barrier, as the seconds passed the situation grew more and more dire in Yuji's mind.
Yuji had grown a lot since their last battle due to the many black flashes he'd landed and the occasional lessons with Gojo or Isamu. So by all accounts, he should've been able to break through the barrier with two or three haymakers.
Perhaps the curse could've refined his domain since then but it was nonsensical that the curse was able to both make up for Yuji's growth but also make it take more hits than it took last time. Unless, maybe the curse had-
Before Yuji could finish his speculation or throw another punch. The large black barrier in front of him began to shake and quiver, like it was a glass being vibrated and about to break. Yuji smiled as he threw back another fist, ready to break the barrier.
Yuji, for a very long time, had felt a bit overwhelmed. With the whole Sukuna thing, he felt separated from the rest of the students at Jujutsu High. Like he didn't quite belong. But at that moment, he was reminded of how dense he could be at times. Of course, he wasn't alone. If he failed, there would always be someone to pick up the slack. And if they failed, Yuji would gladly carry a bit more weight on his shoulders.
——
Isamu was good with barriers, he kind of had to be to reach his level of mastery in the school of New Shadow. This gave him the ability to identify and analyze the barriers of others with a pretty high level of accuracy. So upon first glance he already had a theory of the curses barrier condition. When Yuji didn't instantly break into the domain and defeat the curse through assisted suicide, his theory gained more traction.
The curse had swapped his domain conditions. Normally, domains were tough on the inside and weak on the outside. This was so people couldn't escape. The weakness also didn't matter much as most battles were one vs one. In the case of the given battle being lopsided, the one with the domain would just entrap all enemies as there was no real reason to keep anyone out.
But in this instance, where the curse would die if Yuji ever entered his domain, he needed to keep Yuji out and make sure he didn't break back in from the outside. So, he'd flipped the conditions, making the outside tough and the inside weak. But, as with most domains, the inside of a domain's barrier was very hard to find, especially while being attacked by the sure hit.
Isamu made the Dhyana Mudta hand sign. Formed by placing the right hand over the palm of the left hand, with the tips of both thumbs touching lightly and the palms up. The right hand represented enlightenment, and the left hand representing the world of appearance (illusions); this mudra symbolized the triumph of enlightenment over the world of illusions from what Isamu knew.
Rivers of smooth orangish rocks appeared, splinting out into the completely black, void like space of the curse's domain as Isamu expanded his own. The densest collection of rocks surrounded Isamu's, from the curse's perspective, Isamu imagined the expansion of his domain looked a lot like a flower of rocks and cliffs blooming with Isamu at the center.
Each inch of rock was covered by thick, black markings. Kanji, rather. The markings appeared to be carved into the stone before being painted over by dark, thick ink. Each marking was identical, serving to convey the intent of the domain's sure hit effect. To make it absolutely clear what fate would befall anyone unlucky enough to be subjected by the domain, the purest form of the users will.
'Die' it read.
Nanami and Naobito only wasted a bit of time, each surprised by Isamu's sudden expansion. But both sorcerers were far from greenhorns and knew perfectly well how to adapt to new circumstances, especially when the change was in their favor.
Isamu looked up as the two began fighting, his hands clenching as he kneeled, most of his concentration dedicated to keeping his domain up and clashing with the curse's domain. All he saw when he looked up was a black void, not the sky his domain was meant to have. It was clear the curses domain was more refined but not some much so that his domain would collapse instantly. Which is all he could ask for.
A black somehow darker than the void surrounding Isamu streaked through the air, a haunting red glow following the bolt. Isamu smiled as he felt his own barrier shatter alongside the curse's. His plan had never been to win the clash, just to weaken the barrier enough for Yuji to break through and destroy both domains. That fact he'd done it with a black flash was just the cherry on top.
Several hundred black shards floated toward the ground as Nanami, Naobito, and Yuji rushed the cursed spirit. But amid all the domain business, they'd all forgotten one thing.
After landing a black flash. You have significantly higher chances of your next punch or kick being another black flash. And the curse had yet to through another punch.
The curse somehow predicted the path of Naobito's technique, no doubt assisted by the flow state one entered after landing a black flash. Turning and ducking a right hook from the leader of the Zenin clan, the curse wound up a fist and launched it into his gut, black sparks following Naobito as he flew through the air into a nearby car. The car dented as Naobito almost punched right through its right side and out the left.
"Black Flash!"
The curse turned around, its left fist moving at speeds faster than Nanami could perceive. Naobito had closed the distance and defeated so quickly, that neither Yuji nor Nanami had time to digest the happenings. In short, they hadn't had time to back off.
Mahito's left hand rocketed forward, a smile plaster on his face. But before the blow could land, a clap rang out. With a blue flash of cursed energy, Yuji appeared in Nanami's place, his body crouched as the curse's fist flew just over his head. His already prepared right fist slammed into the curse's gut.
"Black Flash!"