Frieren — Chapter 193 - I Will Win
Both are the Strongest. But Gojo Satoru and Sukuna are not the same.
What Sukuna pursues is [Victory], not [Glory].
As long as he is the one who wins in the end, anything can be sacrificed.
[First: shrink the domain's range. Display high-level Barrier Technique proficiency. Make Gojo Satoru take the bait, while planting the seed that 'Sukuna intends to win through a domain clash.']
[Then: voluntarily release the hand sign. Create the impression that 'Sukuna is desperate for victory.']
[Finally: at the exact instant Gojo Satoru's Hollow Purple is about to land, when the body is flooded with massive Cursed Energy and even the Six Eyes cannot observe and prepare in time.]
[Expand the domain.]
[When the binding barrier upon himself shatters.]
[Ryomen Sukuna reclaims, the final piece of victory.]
"You... what did you do?"
Gojo Satoru's mind hasn't fully caught up yet.
From his perspective, he had already done quite well. Tengen's Cursed Technique, most people's first thought would be [Immortality], not [Assimilation]. And Assimilation itself requires completing Evolution first just to reach the prerequisite.
And yet Sukuna, the moment he acquired Tengen's body, had already mastered every technique attached to it. Completely.
(Could it be... Tengen and Sukuna had a far deeper history than anyone knew?)
Tengen had never disclosed this.
Kenjaku, too pressed for time, had never thought to ask.
Overlooked. Crucial intelligence.
And that piece of intelligence, right now, has become a fatal wound.
"...Bastard!"
For the first time, Gojo Satoru's expression is genuinely grim. Brows locked tight. The corners of his mouth pulling down.
Through the Six Eyes, he watched it happen in real time: after Sukuna's 'eating' motion just now, the Cursed Energy throughout his entire body underwent a qualitative shift in an instant.
If Sukuna moments ago had been at the level of fourteen, maybe fifteen fingers,
Then right now...
His Cursed Energy reserves had climbed to twenty. And they were still rising.
What had happened wasn't hard to piece together.
[Sukuna, by assimilating every life within Tengen's barrier range he could perceive, had merged them all into his own body.]
[Assimilation] intermixes the souls and bodies of all those people within Tengen's body.
Many become one.
Their corresponding Cursed Energy, borrowed wholesale.
And because [Assimilation] and [Evolution] work in concert, after assimilation, Sukuna's physical body is automatically remodeled, and his Cursed Energy output rises with it.
"Did I not mention it?" Sukuna's thumb pressed against the corner of his lips, tongue sweeping across. "I enjoy eating humans~"
"!"
Gojo Satoru was already in front of him.
Eliminate him. Now.
He could accept making a combat error against Sukuna. What he could not accept was that their fight had dragged innocent people into it.
But just as his fist struck out, a breath away from landing,
"Is that wise? Inside my body, there are countless innocent lives, you know."
BOOM!
Even Gojo Satoru's fist paused for an instant.
Sukuna grinned and moved.
He yanked Gojo Satoru forward. Drew his arm back. Elbow forward, fist slamming squarely into Gojo's abdomen.
BANG!
The sudden surge in total Cursed Energy reserves. The sudden surge in output.
In that instant, Sukuna was faster.
Combined with Domain Amplification, the blow landed clean. Gojo Satoru was blasted off his feet.
WHOOSH!
He flipped backward, but recovered his balance almost immediately. The wound in his abdomen was already sealed by Reverse Cursed Technique mid-spin. His eyes sharpened. Fingers raised.
(His assimilation cannot continue!)
(End it right here, right now, )
[Both decisions were made in the same instant.]
[But at that moment, ]
[An accident neither of them had envisioned occurred somewhere far from the battlefield.]
Gojo Satoru: "!"
Sukuna: "!"
Gojo froze. Sukuna's expression darkened fast.
Gojo froze because the [Six Eyes] told him, plainly and simply: Sukuna's Cursed Energy had stopped rising.
Sukuna's Assimilation... had stopped?
And Sukuna had already found the reason.
"Kenjaku! You bastard!" The anger cracked into laughter. "One after another! Even in death you still come to cause me trouble!"
[At this moment.]
[Edogawa.]
[A Class A river of Japan, a tributary of the Tone River.]
[Flowing north to south, emptying finally into Tokyo Bay.]
Tokyo on one bank. Chiba on the other.
And Kenjaku was here.
While Gojo Satoru had moved to the Tombs of the Star to face Sukuna, Kenjaku, who had sensed Sukuna's plan in advance, had already made her move.
A [Binding Vow] to earn Gojo Satoru's trust. Permission to act alone. Then, without stopping, she used Anti-Gravity System to cross the distance to Tokyo's boundary line.
She intended to create a [Curtain] over the city.
[Because she understood Sukuna's plan, and its key mechanic, Kenjaku knew the crux of stopping him was preventing [Assimilation] from completing.]
[But getting too close to Sukuna meant being detected.]
[And getting too far away meant the [Barrier] she could form would be too fragile.]
In truth, even having predicted everything, what Kenjaku could actually do was limited. She simply repurposed the existing 'Tokyo First Barrier' and 'Tokyo Second Barrier,' using both as anchor points to construct a new barrier on top of them.
A new [Culling Game] barrier.
The Culling Game had never had a rule prohibiting the addition of new barriers. Kenjaku had simply never considered it necessary before, she never had enough Cursed Spirits or sorcerers to make it worthwhile.
But this barrier had one purpose: to restrict Sukuna's [Assimilation].
The 100 points Gojo Satoru had acquired by conquering the [Aichi Barrier] and [Kagoshima Barrier] were transferred to her.
New rule added.
[Player [Tengen] is not permitted to leave the Tokyo Barrier.]
The mechanism behind Tengen's Assimilation requires expanding the concept of [Tengen] across the entire nation, then constructing links between 'Tengen' and 'others.' Once the concept of 'Tengen' cannot extend beyond the Tokyo Barrier, the Cursed Technique cannot proceed.
A rule written for exactly one person.
Under normal circumstances, in any properly running Culling Game, no player would ever spend 100 points on something like this.
Kenjaku didn't care. She had the confidence to make it hold.
Because the Culling Game itself possesses a certain capacity for self-repair.
Culling Game General Rules,
[Rule 7: The Game Master shall not refuse rule additions, unless they severely hinder the perpetuation of the Culling Game.]
Correct.
The Culling Game's foundational logic, as a barrier, is 'Culling Game Perpetuation.' Sukuna's act of consuming every living person in Japan fulfilled Kenjaku's deepest wish, but it violated the [Culling Game]'s existing mechanisms.
This new rule didn't just stop Sukuna. It actively helped the Culling Game perpetuate. Which meant the barrier itself would reinforce the rule.
Through one series of precisely calculated moves, Kenjaku,
Stopped the King of Curses' Assimilation.
"Whew~ Not like I wanted to do that."
Kenjaku wiped hot sweat from her forehead, apparently exhausted, and dropped back down onto the ground.
"But who made me a part of Cursed Spirit Manipulation~"
Auntie Kenjaku, as it turns out, is now an ally of justice.
(And honestly, causing trouble for Sukuna. It's not that I lack interest in that~)
(The number actually assimilated... seems to be less than I expected.)
"Sukuna, do your best."
Kenjaku looked up at the sky.
"Don't be defeated by someone as insignificant as me. You still have to create the Great Cursed Spirit I've always dreamed of."
.
"Kenjaku, I really..."
On the battlefield, Sukuna had been laughed into anger.
He couldn't see Kenjaku right now. They weren't conjoined twins with some telepathic link. But he could guess, roughly, what was running through her head.
Just obediently dying would have been fine.
First you disgust Gojo Satoru, then you come to disgust me. Really, you've done it all, haven't you.
"Forget it."
He tapped the side of his head with a curled index finger and looked at Gojo Satoru. And then...
"So you made it, brat."
Sukuna's gaze slid to the edge of the battlefield.
"Covered the distance pretty fast."
There, distinct from Gojo Satoru, another overwhelming presence rolled across the field.
Shadowed, sharp eyes. Heavy dark circles beneath them.
Okkotsu Yuta had arrived.
News from Yuta's side had taken slightly longer to travel. But when Sukuna activated [Assimilation], Yuta felt the wrongness immediately.
He made the call on instinct.
Compared to Himmel-sensei's side, the Sukuna at Gojo-sensei's side would be the harder problem.
He pushed hard and got here fast. But there was no way around it, everything had moved too quickly. By the time he arrived, Sukuna had already completed the first stage of Assimilation.
"Sensei."
Yuta's expression was locked down, eyes fixed on Sukuna.
"Something like this cannot be allowed to keep existing."
He drew his blade from behind his back.
"We have to end it right now — "
"Don't you dare disturb Sukuna-sama!"
Uraume lunged from the side.
Face distorted by speed, Ice Formation already building in both hands.
Injured in the clash against Makora, yes, but as Sukuna's foremost general, Gojo Satoru being named by Sukuna himself as the modern era's Strongest was one thing. He would never permit anyone else to trample Sukuna's dignity.
Mere Okkotsu Yuta! I will,
"Who are you?"
Yuta didn't even look. One punch.
BANG!
Casual. Directly into Uraume's abdomen. Eyes bulging, tongue out, Uraume rocketed backward straight toward Sukuna.
BOOM!
Sukuna tilted his head. Uraume sailed past. His eyes stayed on Okkotsu Yuta, curious now.
"Hoh... you've gotten stronger again."
[Ryomen Sukuna and Okkotsu Yuta share a deep history. They clashed directly half a year ago.]
But now, Sukuna could feel it clearly:
[Okkotsu Yuta is completely different from back then. He has become something of a different order entirely.]
(Could it be, he, too, has crossed over to 'this side'?)
The King of Curses was unhurried. If anything, he was almost... anticipating it.
He turned toward Gojo Satoru.
"Looks like today ends here." There was something gleeful in Sukuna's voice. "You've already realized it, haven't you? The two of you are not my match. Not right now."
"I can't continue Assimilation. But my Cursed Energy reserves already far exceed my prime."
"The domain clash earlier only held because Tengen's soul was still interfering. But with more souls flooding in, she's already too weakened to reverberate. If we clash domains again, I win. Absolutely."
The edge behind his eyes went bare.
"Ideally, you'd want to come at me with everything — full strength, all forces gathered. But that man called Himmel just finished dealing with Makora. He should be in Cursed Technique burnout right now, shouldn't he?"
"So. Shall we start the decisive battle like this?"
Yuta's face was ice. He stepped forward, blade in hand.
Gojo Satoru's arm came out and stopped him.
"Sensei?"
"August fifteenth." Sukuna continued, not sparing Yuta a glance. "Why not save the decisive battle for that day?"
"The Day of Saving the Hanged? I didn't know you had a romantic side~"
Gojo Satoru tilted his mouth into a smirk.
In Japan, it is known as the [Obon Festival]. In neighboring countries, it is called [Ghost Festival] or [Zhongyuan Festival], a holiday that country treats with relatively little ceremony.
In Japanese Buddhism, however, the day carries far greater weight. It has a national holiday attached to it.
The Ullambana Sutra.
Maudgalyayana, one of the Buddha's ten great disciples, used his divine power to see his deceased mother, Lady Qingti. Because of her stinginess and the lives she had taken in life, she had fallen into the Hungry Ghost Realm. Food entering her mouth turned instantly to burning coal. She suffered eternal hunger and thirst.
Maudgalyayana could not save her, and sought the Buddha's guidance.
The Buddha said:
Make offerings to the monastic assembly in all ten directions. Through the monks' power and accumulated merit, one can save parents of seven generations and deceased relatives from the evil paths.
The phrase [Hanging Upside-Down] refers precisely to the suffering of spirits in the Hungry Ghost Realm, suspended and tormented, desperate to be cut down. It is why the Ullambana Festival is also called the [Day of Saving the Hanged].
After the Meiji era's shift to the solar calendar, to avoid the farming season, the majority of Kanto and other urban areas including Tokyo and Shinjuku moved the observances back by one month.
[August fifteenth] is the middle day of the Bon Festival. Also called 'Tsukiokure Bon.'
"Heh. Say what you want." Sukuna didn't argue the point. "As for location — Shinjuku."
(Taking care of them here is an option. But I may as well run one cycle of 'bathing' first. Submerge that old thing's soul completely.)
Ordinary human souls, even assimilated, pose no threat to Sukuna.
It is not that a mass of human souls combined somehow falls short of Sukuna alone.
The problem is that humans cannot truly understand one another. Their souls cannot achieve 'addition.' They cancel each other out instead, pulling in every direction at once. Certain powerful souls, however, are a different matter entirely.
Beyond that, Sukuna still wasn't certain how far Okkotsu Yuta had transformed. If it was close to Gojo Satoru's level — or equal to it — then even in his current state, that might get complicated.
And more importantly:
(If it comes to a fight, Uraume would need to be handled first.)
On the surface, Sukuna appeared entirely indifferent to Uraume's condition. But in some corner of himself, some small, unacknowledged space, a place had been set aside.
On the other side, Gojo Satoru was running the same calculus.
(Infuriating as it is, Sukuna isn't wrong.)
Gojo Satoru had always carried the absolute self-certainty of the genuinely strong.
But he understood: at this level, at his and Sukuna's level, Cursed Energy precision was everything. The smallest gap in output could flip the entire outcome.
[Immortality.]
[Evolution.]
[Assimilation.]
And the [Barrier Technique] Sukuna had kept hidden until now.
If possible, Gojo Satoru wanted Himmel at full strength beside him, a guarantee that even if he fell, Jujutsu High would still have an absolute line of defense.
When it came down to it, Gojo Satoru had been exterminating Cursed Spirits for over 10 consecutive days. He and Himmel had killed at least 4 million of them together. Reverse Cursed Technique could patch the damage, but his condition was not peak.
Right now, if Gojo Satoru failed to defeat Sukuna, Yuta would die too.
So,
"Combat technique. Cursed Energy precision. None of that has changed. Right now, at best, you're a few fingers above your prime. That's it."
Gojo Satoru smiled.
"You genuinely think, once we've assembled everything on our side — you can still win?"
At that moment.
As if the screen cut to black. White text, burned into the center.
[Gojo Satoru. Himmel.]
[Sorcerers who can match his former self, in this era, there is more than one.]
[If they were allowed to assemble their full strength... that would get complicated.]
[So.]
[Will he lose?]
"Heh heh."
The wind lifted silver-white hair across his cheek. Sukuna, dwelling within Tengen's body, let the corner of his mouth rise. His eyes held nothing but open, unguarded confidence.
"I'll win."
➤ Next: Who Will Fight Sukuna?