Naoya froze mid-step, the smirk fading from his lips.
Behind Gojo, reality peeled away into an endless abyss—a yawning cosmos of floating geometric shapes and crushing silence.
"Maji? (Really?)" Naoya breathed.
A divine eye.
A black hole.
Gojo's Infinite Void collided with Time Cell: Moon Palace—a clash of Domains.
The moment the two barriers overlapped, both sure-hit effects canceled out.
Gojo's Domain trembled. The barrier shook violently, cracks spiderwebbing across its surface.
Infinite Void was undeniably powerful—
But Naoya's domain was far more refined.
This was Gojo's first time opening a Domain.
It lacked polish. The edges flickered. The pressure wavered.
He knew it.
And Naoya knew it too.
It was only a matter of time. Might be a matter of seconds.
Gojo acted fast, activating Blue—the cursed technique yanked Naoya toward him with crushing force.
Naoya twisted mid-air, using Projection Sorcery to sidestep the pull just enough. But Blue wasn't something that could be dodged entirely.
The force dragged at his limbs, warping his trajectory toward Gojo's outstretched hand.
"Got you," Gojo muttered, his six eyes blazing with cursed data.
Naoya's hand blurred—two fingers forming a sign mid-frame.
Intangibility.
He slipped through Gojo's grasp like mist.
And immediately counterattacked, launching into a furious exchange.
Their bodies collided mid-air, and in that split second, the battlefield was consumed by a storm of movement.
Naoya threw a hook.
Gojo ducked, parried with an elbow.
Naoya bent backward using rewind, to dodge the counter.
Gojo surged forward, his Six Eyes reading every micro-shift in Naoya's cursed energy. He struck low—Naoya blocked. A roundhouse kick—Naoya deflected with the back of his wrist, rotating mid-air and twisting to launch a knee into Gojo's side.
It landed—barely.
Gojo staggered, only to retaliate with a palm strike laced with Blue, the vacuum imploding space between them.
Naoya flew back, skidding across the ground—only to bounce back, appearing above Gojo with a downward hammer fist.
Gojo raised his forearm just in time. The impact sent a shockwave outward, cracking the earth below them.
They broke apart and clashed again instantly.
Meanwhile, in the monitoring room:
"Gojo managed to open his Domain. Ridiculous as always," Yaga muttered, watching the screens intently.
"Senpai, go! Defeat him! Defeat him!" Haibara cheered like a fan, fists clenched in excitement.
Shoko lit a cigarette with steady hands, but her voice was dry. "Infinite Void, huh?"
Nanami narrowed his eyes, arms crossed. "So that's the power of someone born completely untouchable…"
Back in the field—after nearly a full minute of relentless fighting—
Naoya drove his fist forward, Domain Amplification coating his arm.
He struck Gojo square in the chest with everything he had.
But something was wrong.
Gojo didn't defend.
No cursed energy reinforcement. No reflexive dodge.
Naoya's fist pierced straight through his chest, blood spraying from the exit wound.
"huh???"
Gojo smiled. Maniacally.
His hand snapped shut around Naoya's wrist, locking it in place.
"Got you," he said.
A pulse of cursed energy surged—
RED exploded point-blank in Naoya's face.
In the monitor room, Haibara jumped up with a fist in the air.
"YOSSHAAA!!" he shouted, eyes wide with awe.
Naoya was sent flying, smoke trailing behind him like a broken comet.
Luckily, his face had been coated in Domain Amplification, the only thing that spared him from instant death.
Even so, his entire face was gone—reduced to charred black flesh and scorched bone. His body twitched mid-air as he struggled to regenerate with Reverse Cursed Technique.
But the price had already been paid.
The moment Gojo took the hit on purpose and returned fire with RED, the domain balance shattered.
Naoya's Domain had already been more refined, but Gojo's suicidal maneuver—paired with the damage he dealt—tipped the scale.
Gojo's domain collapsed instantly, unable to withstand the strain.
It was already on the verge of disintegrating after the initial clash.
But Gojo wasn't done.
As Naoya reeled mid-regeneration, Gojo blitzed forward, ignoring the return of Naoya's sure-hit technique.
He drove his fist straight into Naoya's gut with full force—
a brutal blow laced with intent to kill.
But the domain struck back.
Gojo's arm snapped at the elbow, jagged slashes tearing across his body as if the air itself turned hostile.Blood sprayed, his body barely holding together as he fought back with Reverse Cursed Technique.
Still, the hit landed.
Naoya's body folded around the punch, breath exploding from his lungs. His cursed energy flickered, destabilized. The feedback tore through his internal structure, and his concentration shattered.
His Domain shattered unable to maintain it anymore.
Like brittle glass under a sledgehammer.
He crashed to the ground, coughing blood, face half-regrown, twisted with fury—and exhaustion.
Gojo hovered nearby, one arm bloodied and hanging, but still standing tall.
He tilted his head.
"Tired?" he asked, almost casual.
Naoya spat blood to the side.
"Only of your face."
Gojo chuckled.
"Still standing, huh?"
"Yeah. Unfortunately, so are you."
"You got lucky."
"You got cocky. Don't confuse survival with superiority."
Gojo's grin widened, just slightly.
"We're gonna do this again, aren't we?"
Naoya's eyes narrowed, cold and sharp.
"Count on it. Next time, I'm not holding back."
Gojo raised an eyebrow.
"You were holding back?"
Naoya smirked, darkly.
"You weren't?"
Both of their cursed techniques were in burnout—drained and exhausted after the clash of Domains.
Using cursed techniques now was near impossible.
Without hesitation, they lunged at each other again.
Naoya's fist snapped forward like a whip—aimed straight for Gojo's throat.
Gojo ducked under, retaliating with a low, spinning kick that swept Naoya's legs out from under him. But Naoya twisted mid-fall, planting a hand on the ground and flipping back to his feet, only to be met with a savage elbow to the ribs.
Crack.
He staggered, but didn't retreat. He lunged forward, slamming his head into Gojo's nose. Blood sprayed as cartilage crunched. Gojo reeled, and Naoya followed up with a brutal knee to the stomach that lifted Gojo off the ground for a split second.
Gojo grunted—then grinned.
He grabbed Naoya's leg mid-kick, twisted violently, and slammed him into the concrete with enough force to crater the floor. Dust exploded outward.
Naoya coughed, blood flecking his lips. But he rolled, grabbed a chunk of shattered tile, and flung it.
Gojo swatted it aside, but that moment was all Naoya needed. He was already there—
He grabbed Gojo by the collar and drove a series of punches into his face. One. Two. Three. Each one more vicious than the last.
Gojo's vision blurred. His cheek split open. But he caught Naoya's arm mid-swing and countered with a vicious headbutt.
Both of them stumbled back, breathing hard, faces bloodied and bruised.
Gojo charged again—this time faking a punch and burying a hook into Naoya's liver.
Naoya dropped to a knee from the pain—eyes wide, mouth open in a silent gasp.
But Gojo had no time to follow up—Naoya shot upward, slamming his shoulder into Gojo's chin with a rising uppercut motion that knocked him off his feet.
They hit the ground together, wrestling like animals, each trying to choke the life out of the other with bare hands.
Grunts, blood, and the dull thud of fists on flesh echoed through the room.
Finally, they broke apart—battered, heaving, bleeding from every corner.
And they healed.
Reverse Cursed Technique blazed through their bodies, repairing torn muscles, sealing ruptured organs, snapping shattered bones back into place.
But it was getting slower.
Naoya's jaw, shattered by a brutal uppercut, didn't snap back instantly.
Gojo's ribs, caved in by a vicious knee, took a five second's longer to mend.
The cursed energy was still working—just not fast enough.
Their output was dropping.
Worse for Gojo—he had been running RCT at full throttle from the very beginning, sustaining himself through the overwhelming pressure of Naoya's domain. The strain was catching up.
And yet, they didn't stop.
Their eyes met.
In that moment, both of their techniques had returned to duty—still exhausted, but usable now.
Cursed energy crackled.
The air bent, pressure thick as lead.
Through the wreckage and silence, two voices rose—ragged.
"DOMAIN EXPANSION—"
"TIME CELL MOON PALACE!"
"INFINITE VOID!"
their domains clashed again.
This time, Gojo's domain was way more refined than before—but still less refined than Naoya's.
But...
Naoya had already activated his Binding Vow now—and with it, he instantly won the clash.
Every one of his stats surged, even his domain's clashing power.
Time Cell Moon Palace stabilized. Infinite Void cracked and collapsed.
Now, Naoya stood in front of Gojo, hand raised—but paused.
Gojo, breathing heavy, eyes flickering with residual cursed energy, tilted his head.
"Why aren't you moving?"
Naoya exhaled through his nose, stepping around Gojo's side but keeping a respectful distance.
"I already won."
His voice was calm. Tired. Icy.
"There's no point in showing off now. I don't need the sure-hit to prove it."
Gojo scoffed.
"Tch… holding back now? Wanna lecture me or something?"
Naoya narrowed his eyes.
"What if I do? You think you're better than me?"
Gojo smirked without hesitation.
"Well, yeah. Taller, hotter, stronger. The holy trinity."
Naoya's eyebrow twitched. "You think this is funny? I almost killed you."
Gojo shrugged. "And you think dyeing your hair with crushed phoenix feathers gives you personality. We all make choices."
Naoya blinked, stunned. "…How many times did I hit you in the head?"
"Not enough to forget how dumb you sound."
Gojo stared blankly for a moment before blinking slowly. "…Bro, I haven't had a single normal conversation since I was twelve."
Naoya stared at him.
A beat.
Then:
"…Same. I once threatened to curse a vending machine."
Gojo chuckled. "I once asked a talking cursed spirit for therapy for fun."
Naoya squinted. "…What did it say?"
Gojo's eyes drifted shut. "It told me I have unresolved issues. Then it blew up."
Naoya stared at him again, exhausted.
"…We are so mentally unwell."