Chapter 180 : A Thousand Years Ago, This Place Was Called Heian-Kyo
The navy blue figure had gentle eyes as he held out the dessert box, his expression incredibly calm.
"......" Gojo Satoru lowered his gaze, looking at that box of matcha rice balls.
The slightly wrinkled outer packaging details showed the black-haired youth's hurried round trip.
Gojo Satoru had originally just wanted to send the other away while handling the finger matter. He hadn't expected the man to actually treat the surface reason as something important, rushing to neighboring Uji City and back to Kyoto, carrying freshly made desserts back.
At such a tense moment in battle, suddenly offering dessert seemed somewhat incongruous.
But Gojo Satoru's heart felt long-lost calm.
His complex chaotic thoughts gradually stabilized under those warm brown eyes' gaze, like boiling water slowly settling.
Such everyday conversation and interaction allowed him to emerge from the emotional whirlpool he'd been in.
Gojo Satoru reached out and took the box of pastries. The crisscrossing wounds on his cheek had all been repaired by reverse cursed technique, but the bloodstains still remained, leaving several faintly smeared marks after being wiped.
Jiang Lai smiled, pointing to his own cheek position to indicate: "You should wash with water later. Such a pretty face has become a big tabby cat."
"A super invincible handsome guy looks good any way. But it doesn't matter anyway." Gojo Satoru seemed completely unconcerned about this. His pure white eyelashes drooped slightly as he picked up a light green dumpling and popped it in his mouth.
"Is it the kind you wanted? I hope I didn't buy the wrong one." Jiang Lai said.
"Ah, yes, it's these sweet but not cloying matcha rice balls. As expected, I've always loved the desserts from this shop."
The white-haired man replied with a drawn-out tone, just sitting dashingly on the ruins with the box in one hand, chewing and swallowing the glutinous rice between his lips and teeth.
Whether it was the sweetness replenishing his mental and physical strength, or because his glass bead blue eyes reflected the person beside him, Gojo Satoru's tense nerves relaxed considerably, and his chaotic cursed energy like sharp blades seemed to be smoothed over.
Just like a bristling white big cat being soothed, its heavily swishing thick tail gradually reducing in amplitude until it rested peacefully on the ground.
Ryomen Sukuna's eyebrows nearly reached the sky. If he weren't currently assessing the spatial cursed energy fluctuations ahead, he would have directly swung cursed blades to shatter the scene before him.
...What kind of joke was this? Eating on a battlefield? What did they think this place was, some children's tea party?
The King of Curses narrowed his crimson eyes, using reverse cursed technique to repair his technique burnout, clasping his hands together to prepare expanding his domain again.
Gojo Satoru noticed the cursed energy fluctuations in the air. His eyes lifted, crystal blue pupils staring intently at Ryomen Sukuna standing opposite, his originally relaxed expression refocusing as he also prepared to counterattack.
However, one person on the scene moved faster. The black-haired youth raised his right hand, and the suddenly expanding spatial barrier pushed the opposite figure away by itself, creating an open space across the air and making the distance between both sides exceed the maximum range for domain expansion!
This bouncing spatial barrier had no offensive nature, and even limited defensive capabilities.
But it did effectively create distance, thus interfering with domain collision.
Before Gojo Satoru could get up, hands rested on his shoulders.
"Aren't you still not finished eating? Rest well." The Jiang Lai in navy blue kimono looked ahead, his profile gentle and cheerful. "You've already expanded a domain once. Leave the rest to me."
Domain versus domain battles weren't better with more people, even allies would interfere with each other.
Gojo Satoru understood this objective fact, but his expression still showed some bewildered confusion.
...What kind of person was the one before him, able to do this much for himself? Clearly someone with no record in his memory, yet willing to go this far just because of delusions?
With thoughts swaying in his heart, Gojo Satoru brushed away the other's hand and stood up, stating: "No need. This is my battle."
He struck a dashing, casual pose, standing steadily in front, his tone rising: "Thanks for the dessert you brought. Now go to the back." He raised one hand, his Six Eyes brilliantly radiant. "I am the strongest."
'I am the strongest.'
Countless nights, such self-talk repeated in his heart, making him accustomed to solitude and responsibility.
Whether as a former jujutsu sorcerer or current cursed user, Gojo Satoru had always carried the title of [strongest], standing at the forefront of everyone.
"Of course, you are the strongest." Jiang Lai nodded in affirmation, replying naturally. "But that doesn't mean you have to do everything."
"Given the current situation, I'm more suitable." Jiang Lai stepped forward, then turned his head slightly, his lips curving up as he said gently: "You can stand behind me, or beside me."
The morning wind lifted his navy blue robe as the black-haired youth looked bright, with a certain flowing confidence lightly floating nearby, his presence incredibly reassuring.
'Behind me', 'beside me'.
Those two choices were usually given by the strongest to others, but now were being offered to him by someone else.
"......" Gojo Satoru's form paused slightly, momentarily speechless.
Just then, a powerfully forceful cursed blade suddenly split through the fluctuating spatial barrier ahead!
Cold, dominating cursed energy shattered the hard concrete ground, and the earth cracked into dense spider web patterns the instant that cherry-pink haired figure landed.
Ryomen Sukuna landed steadily not far ahead, clasping his hands together with an expression of impatient coldness. The King of Curses wasted no words and directly began domain expansion.
"[Malevolent Kitchen]."
The regular yet eerie shrine rose from the ground, ghastly white cattle bones piling into towers, cold blood spreading past ankles. The semi-open domain instantly enveloped both Gojo Satoru and Jiang Lai!
Standing in the blood water with sure-hit effects, Jiang Lai showed no tension whatsoever.
His gaze fell on Ryomen Sukuna opposite, lingering briefly before he suddenly smiled: "Looks like you don't recognize me... but no matter. This time I remember you."
Ryomen Sukuna raised his eyebrows, grinning to show sharp canine teeth: "Hah?"
Jiang Lai wasn't sure if the Crossroads Tower still had specific [Existence] settings (since it had removed this key link of himself), but regardless, Ryomen Sukuna being imprisoned in Itadori Yuji's body was an established fact.
Ryomen Sukuna's current appearance was due to scheming by the jujutsu world's rotten oranges and the Supervisory Committee, making Itadori Yuji absorb multiple fingers in large quantities, causing loss of consciousness with his body temporarily controlled by Ryomen Sukuna.
Essentially, the body's owner was still Itadori Yuji.
This meant they didn't need to fight Ryomen Sukuna to the death.
A satisfying bloody battle would actually suit the desires of the rotten oranges, Supervisory Committee, and Ryomen Sukuna.
The current situation didn't require obsessing over physical combat. They could just cleanly and efficiently push Ryomen Sukuna back to continue his imprisonment.
And accomplishing this wasn't difficult for Jiang Lai.
He just needed a small space-time reversal, adjusting the opposite body back to when Itadori Yuji was conscious.
Directly touching Ryomen Sukuna with techniques was somewhat difficult. Better to first open a domain and use the domain's sure-hit effect to implement this.
Even if he couldn't destroy Ryomen Sukuna's Malevolent Kitchen, having a few seconds of advantage would be enough.
With incredibly clear thoughts, Jiang Lai's eyes were perfectly calm as he precisely clasped his hands together in a domain expansion gesture.
The navy blue kimono figure's eyelashes lifted lightly as he softly spoke: "[Domain Expansion: Trillion Year Hexagram]."
In the next new instant, a different colored landscape unfolded behind Jiang Lai.
A boundless vast river horizontally enveloped the entire space, waves sweeping away the original blood water and cattle bones, washing them clean.
Stars, sun, and moon flowed through the misty space-time river. An incomparably powerful force reverse-devoured the original white bone shrine domain!
Logically, Jiang Lai's domain belonged to a complete domain, whose boundaries should be smaller than Sukuna's semi-open domain. Ryomen Sukuna should still be able to break Jiang Lai's domain from outside, just as he had with Gojo Satoru.
However, this misty galaxy before them was unexpectedly vast. The endless river washed away blood and cleansed dust, circling and enveloping the entire city, actually broader than Sukuna's semi-open domain.
The river, stars, sun and moon themselves had no sharp offensive power, but possessed an irresistible force that bit by bit dissolved the original Malevolent Kitchen.
...How was this possible?!
Ryomen Sukuna's crimson eyes narrowed. Having his domain broken a second time caused technique burnout that made his chest feel stuffy. He channeled cursed energy for reverse cursed technique to repair the burnout while rarely feeling inner turbulence.
This domain's boundaries were far too vast.
Jiang Lai stood among the sun, moon and stars of the river domain. His black hair and navy kimono weren't bright colors, yet standing there, he had a radiance comparable to the blazing sun.
Not so dazzling, but brilliant enough.
Within the magnificent domain, Jiang Lai held a book in one hand, resting it against his lips in a breezy manner, while secretly being somewhat surprised himself.
If this domain expansion had been a thousand years ago, Jiang Lai wouldn't have found it unexpected at all, since that was his peak strength period.
But now, although the power from the great elder [Origin] had nourished and restored part of his thousand-year strength, it was relatively limited.
Logically, the domain he expanded in reality wouldn't be so magnificent... Why was there such a grand scene here?
In the domain river, Gojo Satoru's eyelids lifted as he stood silently, his sky-blue pupils distantly reflecting this vast starry expanse.
Jiang Lai caught sight of that tall white-haired figure standing beside him with his peripheral vision, and vaguely guessed the reason for this grand spectacle.
Just as he had previously speculated, this world was constructed based on Gojo Satoru's memory impressions, so strength would naturally be linked to them as well.
Although the Crossroads Tower had blocked Gojo Satoru's clear memories about himself, his subconscious still exerted some influence in this world.
In Gojo Satoru's subconscious, he believed himself to be very strong, which allowed him to expand such a magnificent domain.
Jiang Lai couldn't help but smile behind the book covering his lips, thinking half-jokingly:
The boundaries of Trillion Year Hexagram could even exceed the King of Curses' semi-open domain here... He hadn't expected to be so strong in Satoru's heart?
Or perhaps, deep in Gojo Satoru's memory, there was always such a boundless starry river.
It was magnificent, grand, and beautiful, twinkling brilliantly in silent desolation, capable of covering all of Kyoto. A thousand years ago, this place was called Heian-kyo.