White.
For the first time in what felt like eternity, the world wasn't black. It wasn't the endless abyss I had grown accustomed to. Instead, it was its stark, blinding opposite. A world of white stretching endlessly in all directions, untouched, undisturbed.
And I knew exactly what this place was.
I sighed, rubbing the back of my neck as I glanced at the brat beside me. He looked around in awe, confused and wary, like a lost puppy thrown into unfamiliar territory. He had no idea where we were. No idea what this place truly was.
But I did.
This was the other side of the void. The place meant to restrain me. A prison built for a monster.
"Oh, Gojo, if only you were here to entertain me," I muttered under my breath, smirking at the irony of it all.
Even after all this time, I could still hear his voice, his taunts, his insufferable laugh. He had been the only one who could challenge me, the only one who could stand against me. And now, he was long gone, just another name lost to time...
I turned my attention back to the kid. He was still trying to make sense of everything, his mind struggling to comprehend where we had ended up. Poor thing.
I had been toying with him from the start, watching, waiting, testing his potential. I couldn't leave this place alone. That much was clear. But him? He had promise. He was rough, untrained, but I could mold him, shape him.
Just like Yuji. Just like Megumi. My vessels from before.
"You're awfully quiet, brat," I said, breaking the silence. "Something on your mind?"
He turned to me, eyes narrowing. "Where are we?"
I grinned. "The other side."
His frown deepened. "Other side of what?"
I remained silent. He didn't need to know more. He had already learned more than enough.
"I've gotten soft," I muttered, looking at myself. His face, full of confusion, felt so innocent.
"Let's keep going," I ordered as we walked forward.
The chains started to increase—seemingly infinite amounts coming from above.
My movements became slower, but his did not.
"What's taking so long?"
He looked at me, the distance between us growing further apart.
Something was stopping me. Each time I took a step forward, I became slower.
"This damn ability," I cursed under my breath.
He stood there, waiting, unaware of my futile effort to keep moving forward.
"Go." I looked at him with assurance, despite his state of confusion. "Hey, one last thing."
I reached into my pocket and threw something toward him. He caught it with ease, looking down at it.
"Eat it," I ordered.
His face twisted with disgust. Who wouldn't after seeing a dark, glowing finger glitching through reality itself?
"It's my last order. Just keep going. You'll see an escape from there on." I smiled at him.
He turned his back against me, ate the finger, and continued forward, leaving me behind.
A slow chuckle escaped my lips. I had won.
His figure disappeared from my view.
"Getting quite far, I see."
I smiled before turning back to where I came from, stopping abruptly as my movements lightened.
"When are you going to stop hiding?" I asked, closing my eyes. "Gojo. Satoru Gojo."
Footsteps echoed behind me.
"Well, if it isn't the so called King himself."
I turned to face him. His sunglasses rested on his nose, his smug grin as insufferable as ever.
"And here I thought I killed you." I looked at him, for the first time in over a hundred years.
"You brought that boy here, didn't you?"
I met his gaze without hesitation. "What about it?"
He smiled, mocking me. "Nothing."
I continued walking away but stopped after just a few steps.
I moved in an instant, punching one of the chains that Gojo was standing behind in with a force that shattered it.
Gojo's figure was sent flying through the sky. I leaped immediately, following after him.
"As if I'll let you," he muttered, pointing a finger at me. "Cursed Technique: Reversal Red."
A red orb of energy manifested and shot toward me at immense speed.
I dodged it with ease, but before I realized it, Gojo was already hurling toward me with incredible speed.
"Hey there, old friend."
He threw a straight jab to my chest. The impact sent me crashing to the ground.
I looked down, realizing my chest was injured.
"This place acts as the gate beyond your prison," he said, looking down at me from above, hanging from one of the chains.
"Oh really?" I scoffed, healing my wound with Reverse Cursed Technique.
I rushed at him, making slashing hand signs. He dodged to the left, evading them with ease.
The moment his feet touched the ground, chains crashed behind him, causing smoke to rise. He hurled toward me again.
This bastard... I was going to be here for a long time.
His fists crackled with cursed energy. Every punch shattered my ribs. Only my RCT kept this fragile body together.
"Doesn't matter how long you spent training in the dark. It won't change your body," he smirked.
I clicked my tongue. Enclosing my fists with cursed energy, I dashed to his side, swinging a hook at his face. He dodged with ease.
Again and again, I swung. Again and again, he evaded.
I smiled for that moment. I dashed to my side. Stepping hard on the ground, causing some part to lift up. Once It did, I punched it straight Gojo.
I knew Gojo would punch it, so I jumped high in the air.
And when he did. He looked up. "Damn bastard."
I fell down on Gojo, drop-kicking him. Sending him flying backwards.
I rushed at Gojo, not giving him a chance to rest for even a singular moment.
Once he had landed, I sent a cross punch straight at him. Causing him to block in return. I used my free arm, pushing it straight to his chest.
"Cleave"
Gojo's body received a huge cut in his abdomen.
In response to this, he backed up, before healing him self.
"You bastard" Gojo cursed at me.
"Doesn't matter if your cursed energy remains the same, that body of yours is weaker."
Before I could react, he was already behind me.
Shit.
A Punch connected straight to my back. Sparks of Black appearing.
I was sent hurling near the entrance of the gate. I was already at a disadvantage, and now this.
I healed myself with RCT. It burned like hell.
Slowly, I got up, the time distortion making every movement sluggish.
In the distance, I saw them, blue, glowing eyes. Smoke filled the space between us.
"Fucking demon," I muttered.
"And you're getting weaker by the minute. What's the cause of that?"
I have no choice.
Focusing my cursed energy, I formed an Enma palm sign.
"Domain Expansion: Malevolent Shrine."
The world became engulfed in darkness. As a Shinjaku Shrine that had teeth, skulls, and horns appeared in the middle slowly. The harbinger of death.
The Malevolent Shrine pulsed, its cursed energy stretching infinitely in all directions. The air itself seemed to hiss, thick with the scent of death. A temple of slaughter. A battlefield carved from my own will.
Thousands of slashing strikes erupted in every direction, cutting through space itself, forcing Gojo into constant motion of healing whilst getting cut.
"Let's have some fun, shall we?"
With this opportunity arising, I rushed at him with great speeds. Engulfing my fists with Cursed Energy. Giving a barrage of punches. Him forcing to block every single one, but not being able to escape the barrage of slashes that was incoming.
"That it?" He taunted.
I clicked my tongue. His damn RCT.
He rotated his body and lifted his left leg. Giving me a full on Back kick straight to my stomach. Causing me to fly backwards.
I immediately got up. This time I wasn't so keen on laying on the ground again.
"Open"
I raised my hand. The cursed energy around me condensed, swirling violently as a dark sphere formed in my palm an ember of pure destruction.
I clenched my fingers around the sphere, molding its shape, condensing its rage. The heat warped the space around it, distorting reality itself. My arm cocked back, muscles tensing.
Then, I threw it.
The black flame flew through the domain like a shooting star from hell. It spiraled mid air, its presence warping the shrine's slashing strikes around it, bending destruction to its will.
Gojo's figure blurred as he repositioned. His hand rose, palm outstretched.
The flame stopped.
But I was already moving.
My feet barely touched the ground before I appeared beside him. Without hesitation, I kicked him to the side, but he dodged in time, going backwards.
Gojo smirked.
"Close, but not close enough."
I grinned back, my fingers tightening.
"Who said I was aiming for you?"
The flame ruptured from behind him.
The explosion swallowed everything.