I'm not going to be an Spirit! (Translate)

"Gojo-sensei!"

The moment Satoru Gojo appeared, hope instantly lit up in Yuji Itadori eyes.

Even the usually indifferent Megumi Fushiguro couldn't help but feel excited.

Having spent years with Gojo, he was more accustomed to reacting to his presence with annoyance or speechlessness. This was the first time he truly felt from the bottom of his heart: "I'm so glad to see Satoru Gojo."

But that feeling lasted no more than a second.

Sensing the tension between Gojo and Nightmare, Megumi face tightened and sweat broke out on his forehead.

"This guy had to show up now of all times!"

Megumi was internally raging, gritting his teeth as he glared at this unreliable adult.

If Gojo had arrived just two minutes earlier, they wouldn't have been forced into placing the Binding Mark. Whatever evil scheme Nightmare had wouldn't involve them.

If he had come two minutes later, they would have known what Nightmare second deal was. And regardless of whether they agreed, Nightmare would've left, and they would have been safe.

But Gojo showed up at the worst possible moment.

Not only did he fail to stop them from being marked—thus possibly becoming pawns in Nightmare plan in the future—but he also interrupted the moment Nightmare was about to propose the second deal, placing both of them in even greater danger.

If Nightmare mistakenly thought they had secretly contacted Gojo to deal with her, they would be absolutely screwed!

"At the very least, couldn't he have just teleported to us first and gotten us out of here before saying anything!?"

Megumi cursed in his heart.

But now, there was nothing he could do.

The only option left was to get himself and Itadori as far away from this battlefield as possible.

Because he knew—this place was about to become a battleground for a clash between two Special Grades. A life-or-death duel.

"Nue!"

Without hesitation, he activated his Ten Shadows Technique and summoned a large owl-like shikigami.

Synchronized with its master's thoughts, Nue immediately grabbed Megumi and Itadori with its powerful talons and soared off into the distance.

"How did this guy end up here?"

Tokisaki Kurumi didn't pay attention to the retreating Megumi and Itadori.

Outwardly calm, she couldn't help but mutter to herself internally.

At this time, Satoru Gojo was supposed to still be away on a business trip.

Or rather, he was supposed to have been lured away by the Jujutsu Top Brass with a false mission.

Those old, stubborn conservatives couldn't tolerate any unpredictability. To them, the appearance of Yuji Itadori was a threat that had to be eliminated immediately.

If not for Gojo forceful protection, Itadori would have been executed the day he swallowed Sukuna finger.

But the Top Brass didn't give up. They lured Gojo away with a "tiger-leaving-the-mountain" strategy and assigned the first-year students a deadly mission.

Their real goal wasn't to rescue survivors from the juvenile detention center, but to let the Special Grade Cursed Spirit inside take care of Itadori for them.

So there was no way Gojo should've known what was happening here.

At least, the Top Brass certainly wouldn't have told him.

Which meant… someone else had.

Kurumi narrowed her eyes and quickly thought of the most likely candidate.

"Geto…"

A week ago, when she retrieved one of Sukuna fingers near Yasohachi Bridge, she ran into Geto. They had a brief but tense confrontation.

And the finger inside this detention center was also placed by Geto.

So it was certain Geto had set up surveillance here.

Even though Kurumi appearance wasn't part of Rika's plan, someone as cunning as Rika wouldn't miss this perfect chance to "watch the tigers fight from the mountain."

So Geto must've contacted Gojo and told him everything.

After all, she and Rika already had a secret agreement. Regardless of whether she was friend or foe to Rika, Rika had to make sure the deal benefited her.

If these two powerhouses ended up injuring each other badly, that would be the best outcome.

"Let me think…"

Though Gojo sudden appearance wasn't part of her plan, Kurumi remained composed and asked leisurely, "So, some mysterious informant told you what's going on here, and that's why you rushed over?"

Gojo raised an eyebrow, a bit surprised that Nightmare knew that much.

Just one minute ago, he had still been dealing with a Cursed User incident out of town.

But he kept getting spammed with unknown calls. Even after rejecting and blocking the number several times, they just kept changing numbers and calling again.

Eventually fed up, he finally picked up—before he could say a word, the caller told him Nightmare had appeared at the juvenile detention center.

Without hesitation, he used his teleportation technique and came straight here.

Of course, he had doubted the accuracy of the information.

But checking it out cost nothing. If it turned out to be a prank, he'd just teleport back and continue his business.

To his surprise, the intel was real.

The moment he laid eyes on Nightmare, his fighting spirit soared.

So, he had no intention of answering her question.

The only thing he wanted to do now was to fight this woman to the bitter end!

With a heavy stomp, sending rubble flying behind him, Gojo shot forward like an arrow straight at Kurumi.

He knew Nightmare could sink into shadows at any moment.

If she decided to flee, there was nothing he could do.

So the only option was to engage her in close combat, denying her any chance to retreat into the shadows.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

Three spirit bullets flew toward Gojo, but he didn't dodge.

Not because of blind confidence in his defense—

But because he had absolute confidence in his technique.

Just as expected, the bullets, initially lightning fast, slowed drastically as they approached him.

By the time they were about to touch his skin, they froze midair as if losing all momentum.

This was another application of his Limitless technique: The Power of Stoppage.

Gojo body was enveloped in Infinity—anything approaching him, be it physical objects or energy, was stopped just before contact.

This was Infinity—a level no other sorcerer could ever hope to reach.

And at the very next moment, Gojo appeared right in front of Kurumi.

His right fist, wrapped in Cursed Energy, swung directly at her face. He had no intention of holding back—this was the first time in years he had thrown a punch at full power.

"BOOM!"

Though it was just a human fist, when it landed on the barrier formed by her Astral Dress domain, it was like a cannon blast.

While it didn't shatter the barrier, the impact sent Kurumi staggering several steps back.

"Click… nothing ever goes according to plan since I came to this world."

Kurumi clicked her tongue in frustration.

First, she ran into Geto early, then was forced to bring out her Astral Dress and reveal her strength—completely messing up the pacing of her plans.

But that wasn't too bad. The changes were manageable.

Encountering Gojo prematurely, however, put her in a highly disadvantageous situation.

Because her identity as Spy No. 3 might now be exposed.

Even though she'd disguised herself and wore a mask to hide the fact that the Tokisaki Kurumi from Tokyo Jujutsu High and the Nightmare before him were the same person, disguises could only do so much.

Some things couldn't be hidden.

Like spirit energy.

The only difference between a clone and the real body was the amount of energy they had. But the essence of that energy was the same.

Normal sorcerers couldn't sense this. To them, all Cursed Energy was the same—born from negative emotions.

But to Satoru Gojo, with his Six Eyes, he could clearly distinguish the unique signature of everyone's energy.

Spirit energy was no exception.

If Cursed Energy were a patch of wild grass, Gojo could tell each blade apart by shape and color. But spirit energy?

It was a single blossoming flower standing out amidst a field of weeds—impossible to miss.

Right now, Satoru Gojo was probably so overwhelmed with excitement from finally finding the Nightmare that he had lost his rationality, and had yet to make the connection between Nightmare and Kurumi Tokisaki.

But once he calmed down, he would inevitably begin to suspect that there must be some kind of link between Nightmare and Kurumi Tokisaki.

Even if he couldn't guess that Kurumi Tokisaki was a clone of the Nightmare, he would undoubtedly raise his guard.

In the worst-case scenario, he might even kick Spy Three out of Tokyo Jujutsu High directly, or imprison her, keeping her away from the other three.

If that really happened, her plan would have to undergo a major revision.

"To avoid that situation, the only solution is to use the Sixth Bullet."

Kurumi Tokisaki eyes flickered.

However, just as she was about to use the Sixth Bullet to rewind her thoughts to an earlier timeline and reset what had just occurred, her movement suddenly stopped.

Because she thought of an even better solution.

"Tch, what kind of barrier technique is this? This iron shell is really damn tough."

As Kurumi Tokisaki rapidly considered her contingency plan, Satoru Gojo was also struggling against the protective barrier in front of him.

Within just ten seconds, he had already launched nearly a hundred punches at the barrier that protected the Nightmare.

He could feel that with each punch, the barrier weakened slightly.

But that minor reduction was quickly replenished by follow-up energy, making it just as solid and impenetrable as before.

He possessed the Limitless Cursed Technique, so the Nightmare attacks were completely ineffective against him.

But the Nightmare also had a shield-like barrier that rendered his attacks just as useless.

"Looks like this is a cursed energy-powered barrier. There are only two ways to break it."

With this thought, Satoru Gojo stopped wasting time and formed a hand seal.

"Domain Expansion: Unlimited Void!"

In the next instant, centered around Gojo, his innate domain instantly enveloped the two of them.

Endless white light and black-hole-like nothingness filled the domain—it resembled both the origin of the universe and the complete annihilation of everything.

This was Satoru Gojo domain.

Anyone who set foot in this space would be bombarded by infinite knowledge and information forcibly stuffed into their mind, causing a mental shock. The enemy would enter a state where "information never stops flooding in."

A human brain couldn't process that much data, which would cause the overloaded mind and body to become desynchronized, leaving the enemy frozen in place—awaiting death.

This was one of Satoru Gojo sure-kill techniques.

"Hmm?"

However, to his surprise, even after being pulled into the domain, Kurumi Tokisaki remained unaffected—completely normal.

It was as if the unavoidable effects of his domain had been nullified.

"I see… That's not some sort of defensive barrier, but rather… a Simple Domain?"

Satoru Gojo wasn't a fool. The moment he noticed his domain had no effect, he immediately guessed part of the truth.

A more advanced version of Hollow Wicker Basket?

Not only did it not require a hand seal, but its defensive power had reached a truly shocking level.

Could it be… Nightmare was a hidden master of barrier techniques?

"Domain Expansion: City of Devouring Time!"

Without hesitation, and in the state of her freely invoked domain, Kurumi Tokisaki responded within Unlimited Void.

A crimson domain instantly enveloped the inside of Unlimited Void, corrupting this realm of light and darkness into a blood-red landscape.

And not just the inside—the outside was also affected.

From the spreading shadows emerged countless slender arms that tightly coiled around the spherical barrier formed by Unlimited Void, all exerting force together.

CRACK—!

With that sound, Unlimited Void was completely shattered.

"What?!"

Satoru Gojo had clearly never encountered anything like this before. He looked on in disbelief as his domain faded into an illusion and disappeared.

As he stood stunned, the grass-like arms continued growing endlessly, and several of them merged to form a giant net, aiming to drag him into the shadows.

But he had already flown into the air, escaping their grasp.

"If that's the case, then I have only one move left!"

With that resolution, Satoru Gojo took a deep breath and pushed his thinking capacity to its limit.

The falling rain in the sky, the breeze brushing across his cheek, even the ticking of the clock—all seemed to slow down, as if someone had hit a deceleration switch.

All things slowed under the influence of his thoughts.

Heaven and Earth—he alone stood supreme.

Satoru Gojo raised both arms.

"Technique: Blue."

In his left hand, energy as blue as the sky gathered.

"Reversed Technique: Red."

In his right hand, power as red as blood condensed.

As the two energies merged, a hypothetical substance that existed only in imagination appeared at his fingertips.

"Hollow Technique: Purple!"