While Maki and the others were strong, even when bining their efforts with Nobara and Ysuuji, they could probably only handle an ordinary special-grade cursed spirit.

  But the cursed spirit of loneliness standing before them was anything but ordinary.

  "..."

  Maki wasn't foolish. She uood what Ryuji meant wheepped forward, wordlessly taking charge of the situation. She gripped her on tightly, frustration bubbling inside her.

  Maki had always beeype to push herself relentlessly to prove her worth. As she stood there, powerless to tribute, her resolve only hardened. She swore to herself that when this was over, she would train even harder. ime, she wouldn't just be an observer.

  "Being alone is the only destination!"

  The cursed spirit's body rippled like liquid mud, twisting grotesquely as it unched a mass of sludge toward Ryuji.

  "Disgusting," Ryuji muttered, watg the attack approach.

  The method was revolting, more a test of tolerahan a real threat.

  "Dissipate."

  With a single word, Ryuji's cursed speech activated.

  A pulse of energy spread outward, obliterating the sludge midair before it could touch him.

  "Impressive," Sukuna murmured from within Yuji, the fight through his host's eyes. His i iqued.

  Ryuji's teique owerful, no doubt about that, but Sukuna wasn't impressed enough to feel threatened. He wondered, however, if Ryuji had more up his sleeve—something that might surprise him.

  "Lonely! Lonely! Lonely!"

  The cursed spirit roared, refusing to give up. More waves of sludge formed and hurled themselves at Ryuji in rapid succession.

  "Enough of this."

  His gaze sharpened, and a distortion of space appeared around the cursed spirit. The mud-like body was caught instantly, uo move.

  The cursed spirit writhed in the distorted space, its form t uhe immense pressure.

  "Unreal…" Itadori Yuji muttered, staring i the spectacle. Nobara and Maki were equally stunned.

  They had heard stories of Ryuji's abilities but seeing them in person was airely different experie was like witnessing a power that existed on another pne of reality.

  Within Yuji's mind, Sukuna's ughter echoed.

  "Iing."

  For the first time, Sukuna spoke aloud, his voice emerging through Yuji's lips.

  "What the hell?" Yuji asked, startled. Sukuna rarely spoke unprompted, let alone during a battle.

  But this time, Sukuna ignored Yuji entirely. His attention was locked on Ryuji, or more specifically, the power Ryuji was using.

  There was no mistaking it. The energy Ryuji wielded was lio Sukuna's missing fingers. Two of them, in fact, were undoubtedly in Ryuji's possession.

  "Fate works in mysterious ways," Sukuna thought, amused at the ued turn of events.

  Yuji scratched his head, fused but choosing not to press Sukuna further.

  Meanwhile, the cursed spirit was growing desperate.

  "What kind of power is this?"

  The distorted space tightened around it like a vice, leaving no room for escape.

  Realizing it had no other options, the cursed spirit activated its trump card.

  "Domain Expansion—Land of Death!"

  With a roar, the cursed spirit unleashed its domain. The sky darkened once more, and the oppressive atmosphere returned.

  Yuji, Nobara, and Maki, who had been watg from a distance, vanished from Ryuji's sight as the cursed spirit's domain forced them into separate spaces.

  "Of course," Ryuji muttered to himself, unfazed.

  As a spirit of loneliness, it made sense for its domain to isote its targets. Solitude was the essence of its power.

  "Lonely! Lonely! Lonely!"

  The cursed spirit's voice echoed in the darkness. At the same time, Ryuji could feel the creepiion of loneliugging at his mind, trying to corrode his will.

  "Not bad," he admitted, aowledging the cursed spirit's abilities. "But this ends here."

  Ryuji raised his hand, his expression calm and resolute.

  "Domain Expansion—Horizon of the Captivating Skandha!"

  This time, Ryuji chose not to use his Malevolent Shrine.

  The domaiivated was one he had gotten from Dagon, a closed domain. Though it wasn't as versatile as an open domain, with Ryuji's immense power, it was more than enough to handle a newly born special-grade cursed spirit.

  "Buzz!"

  The cursed spirit resisted, trying to push back against the domain's intrusion.

  But its efforts were futile. Within moments, the darkness dissolved, repced by light.

  Yuji, Nobara, and Maki, who had been trapped in separate spaces, suddenly found themselves standing together again.

  They blinked, disoriented as their surroundings shifted into a sunny beachscape, plete with waves crashing against the shore.

  "What… is this?" Nobara asked, staring around in disbelief.

  Before anyone could ahe cursed spirit's voice rang out, ced with disbelief and rage.

  "Impossible! How you have two domains?!"

  The cursed spirit was reeling. It had already beeed once by Ryuji's Malevolent Shrine. Yet the domain surrounding them now was pletely different.

  "How a person possess two domains?!" it screeched, its voice tinged with fear.

  The cursed spirit, having only retly been born, couldn't prehend what it was seeing.

  Inside Yuji's body, Sukuna chuckled darkly.

  "As expected."

  Uhe cursed spirit, Sukuna uood what was happening. But even he was astonished by Ryuji's ability.

  "This guy… Copying teiques is ohing, but copying domains? That's just absurd," Sukuna muttered.

  He leaned back within Yuji's mind, his grin widening.

  "It's ridiculous. But I have to admit… it's impressive."