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

  The residual cursed energy that had been hanging imosphere 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 beeical 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 pyed 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 everyog was w what he meant, Ryuji finally appeared on-s, stepping into view with a fident 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 fidehe 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 exge left most viewers bewildered, as they couldn't uand the text.

  The moment—

  "Soul Dev!"

  s erupted from Ryuji's hand, shing out towards the muscle curse spirit. The creature, thinking itself fortuo have survived, was still trembling in fear. But as soon as the s ens, its expression shifted to horror.

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

  "Ahh… much better." Ryuji patted his stoma satisfa.

  Although he wasn't pletely full, the meal was a substantial improvement over ing first- and sed-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 , peering inside just to firm it was him. Their cssmate—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 ehe pany of someorong enough to challenge him. He'd beero 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 dee the offer.

  Gojo ughed, "Ah, we 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 g its way out from beh.

  The earth cracked apart, and a cursed spirit resembling a colossal tipede emerged from the rubble, t over twenty meters tall. Its body, half-buried underground, seemed endless, stretg far beh the surface.

  "Holy crap! Are curses this big now?"

  "What… I don't think I 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, thteo imagine entering such creatures in real life.

  But on the live stream, her Gojo nor Ryuji showed the slightest sign of panic. Gojo lifted his hand to his forehead, pretending to s the creature like he was sizing it up.

  "What a big one," he ented, 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 tipedes?"

  "Seems likely," Ryuji agreed.

  The two of them tinued discussing the tipede curse spirit, analyzing it with i as if it were a spe on dispy.

  "Humans!"

  The tipede 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 phoh shaking hands. He looked like he was about to lose his bance, 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 turo Ryuji with a smirk. "So… you want this one, or should I take it?"

  Rather than jumping into a, Gojo looked at Ryuji expetly, fully willing to let him ha. 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 , I'll take it," Ryuji replied, rolling his shoulders aing ready.

  He csped his hands together in preparation.

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

  However, others weren't as calm.

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

  Up until now, Sukuna had been tent to stay silent, simply 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 ued 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 khat the King of Curses wouldn't break his silehout a good reason.

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

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

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

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

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

  He muttered to himself, denial evident in his voice. But in the 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 seds, the entire surrounding area was enveloped in Ryuji's Domain.

  "An open Domain?"

  Gojo looked around, a bit surprised. Most Domains were closed, desigo 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, tless sshes of cursed energy materialized and rained down like lightning strikes, slig into the massive tipede curse spirit.

  "Shwip! Shwip! Shwip!"

  Despite its enormous size, the tipede was helpless in the face of Ryuji's onsught. The relentless strikes left it no ce to retaliate.

  "Soul Dev!"

  Ryuji activated his teique, ing the special-grade curse spirit. As the st remnants of the tipede 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 pletely sate him, it was leagues better thaing on lrade curses, which barely had any effect at all.

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

  To ordinary people watg, Ryuji's teique looked impressive and fshy. But to sorcerers, it was something much more, a dispy 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 uood. And ohing stood out to every sorcerer watg, Ryuji had effortlessly dispelled Gojo's Hollow Purple earlier with just a few words. Even Gojo's stroeique was nullified in an instant.

  In the Jujutsu High feren, Mei Mei watched the s with a thoughtful smile, her usual calg demeanor ued. Then she chuckled, amused.

  "Looks like the title of 'stro' might be ging hands soon."

  Despite Ryuji not having visited her i days, a fact she found mildly disappointing she couldn't help but feel a swell of satisfa seeing him shine shtly.

  ***

  Support me on patreon to read 90+ advanced chapters: patreon./Blownleaves.