"Satoshi-kun, please stop resisting."
"This barrier is strong enough for me to kill you dozens of times."
Kaori approached Satoshi unhurriedly and directly pulled Ryūjin Jakka from his waist.
She was still surprised that Satoshi could stand within her Domain.
But it no longer mattered.
She had already taken Ryūjin Jakka.
"Gojo Satoshi, I believe you'll find it a worthy death... to die by the Zanpakutō you forged with your own hands."
Kaori gently stroked the still-warm hilt of the blade. A trace of fanaticism flickered in her eyes.
This powerful Zanpakutō would become hers from now on.
Just because Satoshi couldn't wield its Zanjutsu didn't mean she couldn't. She believed that Ryūjin Jakka would bloom with unimaginable brilliance in her hands.
Before that, she would use the blood of its forger to whet its edge.
She drew Ryūjin Jakka and slashed toward Satoshi.
Everything would end.
...
"Satoshi!!!"
Satoru and Toji's eyes blazed with fury. The barrier in front of them was about to collapse. If they could just hold out a few more seconds, it would be over.
The Gojo clan's sorcerers, brought by Kumaen, were also pouring spells into the barrier.
Everyone was giving their all. They could already see the overwhelming difference between Satoshi and Kaori.
With the Domain Expansion, Satoshi no longer stood a chance.
Yuki looked at Satoshi, still trying to stand inside the barrier, her face full of sorrow.
Garuda continued, pushed to its maximum illusionary state, but it still couldn't affect the barrier.
Saemon and Hidetsugu stared at the scene inside, stricken with fear.
The Zanpakutō, Nejibana, forged by Satoshi for the Yagyū clan, had helped establish their footing in the sorcerer world.
If someone like him died here, they didn't know how they could face the Gojo clan.
Kumaen stood silently, watching everything unfold. Though the Gojo clan had many sorcerers, when facing true power, they were often reduced to mere cannon fodder.
Even such numbers wouldn't secure the Gojo clan's future.
Shunichi held Suzumushi in one hand. Suzumushi Nishiki was ready for deployment, but it was already too late.
Satoru stared at the crisis inside the barrier. Tears were close to bursting from his eyes, and blood was already seeping from the corners. His Limitless Technique and Senbonzakura had nearly been depleted.
Toji had fallen into madness. Katen Kyōkotsu, used like a hatchet, hacked repeatedly at the barrier with speed far beyond normal perception.
The barrier trembled violently under everyone's combined assault. It could collapse at any moment—but it was too late.
Inside the barrier, Kaori had already drawn Ryūjin Jakka.
This was the end.
...
"Satoshi-kun, it's over!"
A cold glint danced on Ryūjin Jakka's edge. Satoshi was moments away from being beheaded.
Despair clouded the faces outside the barrier.
To die by the very Zanpakutō he forged, what a cruel fate.
Many Gojo sorcerers instinctively shut their eyes. None of them could bear to witness Satoshi's death.
But just as Ryūjin Jakka was about to slash through Satoshi's neck, a voice colder than ancient ice rang out across the battlefield.
"Bankai."
Satoru, Toji, Shunichi, and Saemon all jerked their heads toward the interior of the barrier.
They were all familiar with Bankai by name, but none had ever seen it.
Hearing it now, hope ignited in every heart.
"Hakka no Togame."
Satoshi spoke the three words with a frosty calm.
At the exact moment his voice fell, everyone trembled.
The temperature in the air plummeted instantly.
In a single instant, Satoshi's entire form transformed.
The light blue kimono he wore turned pure white, as though encased in frost. His once-snow-white Sode no Shirayuki had turned completely transparent, like a blade of pure ice.
This is Sode no Shirayuki's Bankai.
That thought surged through the minds of every sorcerer who had borrowed a Zanpakutō.
This was also the first time a Bankai had ever appeared in the world of Jujutsu Kaisen.
...
Inside the barrier.
Kaori's expression twisted the moment she heard the name "Hakka no Togame."
She had never imagined that in this situation, Sode no Shirayuki still held a hidden technique.
What kind of power lay hidden in a technique that could completely transform Satoshi's appearance?
She could clearly sense the danger emanating from Sode no Shirayuki.
But she refused to back down.
The chance to kill Satoshi was right in front of her. She would not let it slip away.
From this moment forward, she was a true enemy of Satoshi. If she didn't finish him off, he would surely become a thorn in her side.
Just one more step.
With the sheer sharpness of Ryūjin Jakka, his body wouldn't withstand a single blow.
Still, she couldn't shake the unease about this "White Haze Punishment."
Despite that, she was confident. With her Domain's gravity and Ryūjin Jakka's unmatched sharpness, even if Satoshi had a trump card, it was already too late.
Just as Ryūjin Jakka was about to strike his neck, Satoshi and Kaori locked eyes.
That single glance sent a chill crawling through Kaori's soul.
It was a lifeless cold, a void in which time itself seemed meaningless.
Clang—
The flowing blade met an icy edge.
At the very last second, Sode no Shirayuki blocked Ryūjin Jakka.
Though Sode no Shirayuki and Ryūjin Jakka were not on the same level, the former had now reached its Bankai state, while the latter remained in its Shikai. For the first time, Ryūjin Jakka faltered before Sode no Shirayuki.
Kaori's expression shifted. She instinctively tried to pull back her blade.
Her instincts screamed at her that she could no longer kill Satoshi.
Withdraw now.
She already had Ryūjin Jakka. There was no need to concern herself with Satoshi for the moment.
Once she mastered Ryūjin Jakka's techniques, its power would surely surpass that of Sode no Shirayuki.
But what Kaori didn't know... was that from the moment Satoshi activated his Bankai, nothing would go as she intended.
(To be continued.)
***
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