Ultimate Man [JJK X SOL]: Loading Golden Entries at The Start

The cursed energy began to ripple outwards, causing the air itself to tremble.

The residual cursed energy that had been hanging in the atmosphere suddenly vanished without a trace, as if it had never been there.

"Hm?" Gojo raised an eyebrow, intrigued.

At that moment, the muscle curse spirit looked disoriented, clearly terrified by what had just happened.

"!!!"

"What's happening?"

"Where did that energy go?"

"Is this what sorcerers are really capable of?"

In the live chat, viewers who'd previously been skeptical of the whole "sorcerer and curse" business were now buzzing with shock. Despite the cursed energy dissipating, the massive gashes left in the earth made it clear that this power was far beyond anything they had imagined.

Gojo seemed to put the pieces together. A small smirk played on his lips as he looked off into the distance.

"Well, it's been a while… hasn't it, Ryuji-kun?"

It was clear that Gojo wasn't angry about the interruption. In fact, he looked amused, even pleased.

Just as everyone watching was wondering what he meant, Ryuji finally appeared on-screen, stepping into view with a confident grin.

"Long time no see, Gojo," Ryuji greeted, looking directly at him.

The live broadcast room fell silent. Many viewers, whether they knew Ryuji personally or not, couldn't look away.

Ryuji was young astonishingly so and he exuded a calm confidence. The marks on his face, representing the curse mark he used, were starting to fade away.

"You're not here to save that cursed spirit, are you?" Gojo asked, still grinning.

"Of course not," Ryuji replied with a casual shrug. "I'm just… a bit hungry."

The cryptic exchange left most viewers bewildered, as they couldn't understand the context.

The next moment—

"Soul Devouring!"

Chains erupted from Ryuji's hand, lashing out towards the muscle curse spirit. The creature, thinking itself fortunate to have survived, was still trembling in fear. But as soon as the chains ensnared it, its expression shifted to horror.

With no chance to resist, the curse spirit was dragged into a spatial rift, swallowed whole.

"Ahh… much better." Ryuji patted his stomach in satisfaction.

Although he wasn't completely full, the meal was a substantial improvement over consuming first- and second-grade curse spirits, which had hardly sated him at all.

"Wait… did he just EAT a cursed spirit?" one viewer gasped.

"Oh man, this guy's on another level!"

"Hey, wait, I know him! Isn't that Ryuji Hoshino? He goes to my school!"

"Hold up, this dude's still a student?"

"WHAT?!"

Sobu High students in the broadcast chat and even in the hallways were in a frenzy. Some even ran to Ryuji's classroom, peering inside just to confirm it was him. Their classmate—a terrifyingly powerful sorcerer? It was a shock they hadn't anticipated.

"Want to go grab some bubble tea?" Gojo tilted his head, extending the invitation with a casual smile.

There was no hostility between them. In fact, Gojo genuinely enjoyed the company of someone strong enough to challenge him. He'd been the strongest for so long, and the idea of meeting someone on equal footing, or perhaps even stronger, was invigorating. It gave him a reason to keep growing.

"Since when did Jujutsu High have so much free time?" Ryuji smirked, though he didn't decline the offer.

Gojo laughed, "Ah, we can exorcise curses while drinking bubble tea! Multitasking, you know?"

"Sure thing," Ryuji replied, about to accept—

But at that moment—

BOOM! BOOM!

The ground rumbled and started to split open, as if something monstrous was clawing its way out from beneath.

The earth cracked apart, and a cursed spirit resembling a colossal centipede emerged from the rubble, towering over twenty meters tall. Its body, half-buried underground, seemed endless, stretching far beneath the surface.

"Holy crap! Are curses this big now?"

"What… I don't think I can ever leave my house again!"

People who had been light-hearted about the existence of curses before were now terrified, realizing that curses like these could exist in their world. Some even hid in their homes, too frightened to imagine encountering such creatures in real life.

But on the live stream, neither Gojo nor Ryuji showed the slightest sign of panic. Gojo lifted his hand to his forehead, pretending to scan the creature like he was sizing it up.

"What a big one," he commented, amused.

"Yeah, I've never seen a curse spirit this huge before," Ryuji replied, equally unfazed.

"Not just the size—the form too. Guess humans must have a serious fear of centipedes?"

"Seems likely," Ryuji agreed.

The two of them continued discussing the centipede curse spirit, analyzing it with interest as if it were a specimen on display.

"Humans!"

The centipede cursed spirit let out an angry roar, its massive body curling to encircle Ryuji, Gojo, and Ijichi, who was still filming from a distance.

"Uh, um…" Ijichi stammered, gripping the phone with shaking hands. He looked like he was about to lose his balance, but the sight of Gojo nearby helped him steady himself.

He reassured himself, "It'll be fine… as long as Gojo's here, nothing bad will happen."

Gojo turned to Ryuji with a smirk. "So… you want this one, or should I take it?"

Rather than jumping into action, Gojo looked at Ryuji expectantly, fully willing to let him handle it. After all, this was supposed to be Gojo's live broadcast, but he didn't really mind sharing the spotlight. In fact, he was curious to see more of Ryuji's abilities.

"Much as I like a free meal, since you're offering, I'll take it," Ryuji replied, rolling his shoulders and getting ready.

He clasped his hands together in preparation.

"Going for a Domain, huh?" Gojo said, watching calmly, showing no signs of interference.

However, others weren't as calm.

"No… it can't be," murmured Sukuna, who had been watching through Yuji's eyes.

Up until now, Sukuna had been content to stay silent, simply observing the spectacle. But the gesture Ryuji made as he prepared his Domain stunned him, his disbelief clear.

A mouth suddenly appeared on Yuji's cheek as Sukuna spoke, his tone filled with shock.

"!!!"

The unexpected intrusion startled everyone around Yuji, who was immediately flustered.

"S-Sorry! Sorry!" Yuji stammered, pressing his hand over his mouth in an attempt to silence Sukuna. "I don't know why he spoke up!"

The others settled down, though their expressions remained serious. They knew that the King of Curses wouldn't break his silence without a good reason.

"So… what did that thousand-year-old curse just recognize?"

Everyone's Domain techniques were unique, and the hand signs they used to activate them were no exception. For Sukuna to react like this, he must have recognized Ryuji's initial hand signs.

But Sukuna said nothing further, retreating into silence once more, leaving everyone puzzled.

Within Sukuna's inner Domain, where he sat on his throne, his expression shifted from bored indifference to shock.

"No… it can't be. That hand sign, it's for the Malevolent Shrine. But… how could he possibly use that technique? It's impossible!"

He muttered to himself, denial evident in his voice. But in the next moment, the sight before him forced him into stunned silence.

In the live broadcast room, Ryuji's calm, measured voice reached everyone's ears.

"Domain Expansion—Malevolent Shrine."

A hum of energy filled the air, and within seconds, the entire surrounding area was enveloped in Ryuji's Domain.

"An open Domain?"

Gojo looked around, a bit surprised. Most Domains were closed, designed to prevent interference. Even his own Limitless Void was a closed Domain. Open Domains were rare, and in terms of sheer power, they could be more potent than closed ones.

As Ryuji moved his fingers, countless slashes of cursed energy materialized and rained down like lightning strikes, slicing into the massive centipede curse spirit.

"Shwip! Shwip! Shwip!"

Despite its enormous size, the centipede was helpless in the face of Ryuji's onslaught. The relentless strikes left it no chance to retaliate.

"Soul Devouring!"

Ryuji activated his technique, consuming the special-grade curse spirit. As the last remnants of the centipede curse disappeared, he gave a satisfied pat to his stomach.

He smirked, clearly pleased. Two special-grade curse spirits in one day, while it wasn't enough to completely sate him, it was leagues better than feasting on lower-grade curses, which barely had any effect at all.

"Whoa, he's insanely strong!" one viewer exclaimed.

To ordinary people watching, Ryuji's technique looked impressive and flashy. But to sorcerers, it was something much more, a display of raw, overwhelming power.

Before this, they'd only heard about Ryuji through rumors, as a name whispered by those who had seen his abilities firsthand. They knew he was strong, but few had truly grasped what that strength looked like.

Now, though, they understood. And one thing stood out to every sorcerer watching, Ryuji had effortlessly dispelled Gojo's Hollow Purple earlier with just a few words. Even Gojo's strongest technique was nullified in an instant.

In the Jujutsu High conference room, Mei Mei watched the screen with a thoughtful smile, her usual calculating demeanor unaffected. Then she chuckled, amused.

"Looks like the title of 'strongest' might be changing hands soon."

Despite Ryuji not having visited her in recent days, a fact she found mildly disappointing she couldn't help but feel a swell of satisfaction seeing him shine so brightly.

***

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