Summer Oil / Enlightenment 2

The fight erupted instantly as Kenjaku attempted to dodge, but a strong force pulled him from behind. "Blue?" he muttered, seeing the swirling blue hole and Satoru's smirk. Why hadn't he anticipated Satoru using both Blue and Red simultaneously?

*Boom!* The explosion of Maximum Uzumaki and Red hit Kenjaku with deadly accuracy. As the explosion dissipated, a purple light flickered to life. The moment Kenjaku was pushed by Red and hit by Uzumaki, the Red and Blue met mid-air, merging into Purple.

Kenjaku emerged from the smoke, missing an arm and part of his shoulder. Suguru was already upon him, refusing to let him heal. A barrage of strikes hit Kenjaku: a left hook, a switch kick, and an elbow that sliced his cheek. Kenjaku staggered back, struggling to heal, but the relentless attacks continued.

"Where are you looking, Brainy?" Satoru taunted, appearing behind Kenjaku. A swift combo followed, breaking bones and rupturing organs. Satoru was relentless and lethal.

Kenjaku managed to summon his army of cursed spirits, but Suguru countered with his own. However, Satoru gestured to Suguru to stop, and in that moment, Kenjaku tried to back off.

"Maximum Output: BLUE!" Satoru unleashed a devastating attack, clearing all of Kenjaku's summons and sending him crashing into another room, breaking the barrier.

"Is he dead?" Suguru asked.

"No, he's standing up," Satoru replied, taking off his glasses to reveal the Six Eyes.

"Satoru Gojo should be more effective alone, but why does it seem like he has no problem fighting alongside someone?" Kenjaku thought as he climbed back into the Sunyata Barrier. Immediately, he was greeted by Suguru Geto's projectile cursed spirits.

"Stop!" Kenjaku's mouth bore the Snake and Fangs Tattoo. Seeing this, Suguru instinctively covered his ears, while Satoru charged in, his Limitless isolating the soundwaves.

Kenjaku managed to restore his missing limbs but was on the receiving end of Satoru's fierce attacks. A flurry of blows landed on Kenjaku; he parried the first strike but dodged the second only to have his leg caught by cursed spirits. Instinctively, he glanced at Suguru, but in that split second, Satoru injured him again, breaking his sternum, tearing his joints, and finally kicking him away. Kenjaku landed awkwardly, only to have Hollow Purple rise from below.

Kenjaku leaned to the side, losing his right leg in the process.

Satoru Gojo had altered his fighting style, partly because of Suguru and partly because they had always been the strongest tag team, excluding Hiroshi. Satoru now used smaller but lethal attacks. Instead of one big explosion of his cursed technique, he used a quarter or half of the strength, resulting in smaller but potent Blue, Red, and Purple attacks. This approach allowed Suguru to tag-team effectively.

Gojo Satoru was not alone.

"Isn't it strange, Satoru? He hasn't summoned Rika," Suguru observed, his eyes narrowing in suspicion.

"Is he planning something? Or is this a clone we're fighting?" Satoru pondered aloud.

"No, if this were a clone, it wouldn't bleed but would simply turn to wood," Satoru confirmed.

Kenjaku stood up, his leg already healed. Suguru's cursed spirits pelted him relentlessly. Kenjaku waved his hands, and volcano openings erupted around Suguru and Satoru. Instantly, both sorcerers protected themselves. Satoru shrugged it off using Limitless, while Suguru summoned his Gashadokuro, protected by its rib cage. "This is Jogo's cursed technique," Suguru thought, recognizing the attack.

Using the cover of the lava explosion, Kenjaku manipulated gravity to press down on both Satoru and Suguru. However, he did not expect Satoru to launch an attack using the same cover.

"Hollow Technique: Purple!" Satoru's voice rang out. With the Six Eyes, Satoru could see through cursed techniques and energy-based covers.

Kenjaku faced the Hollow Purple head-on. In the milliseconds before impact, he considered his options: Domain Expansion or Domain Amplification. Realizing Domain Expansion would be too slow, he opted for Domain Amplification.

Simultaneously, Kenjaku produced two clones, both using Reverse Cursed Technique to prepare for immediate healing after the Hollow Purple's impact.

The Hollow Purple hit Kenjaku directly. Despite the Domain Amplification nullifying most of the damage, Kenjaku still lost layers of skin, revealing muscle and bone. His rib cage and internal organs were fully exposed.

Quickly, the clones behind him healed his injuries. Kenjaku's resilience and quick thinking allowed him to survive the deadly attack, but it was clear he was struggling against the combined might of Satoru and Suguru.

As Kenjaku was healed, he summoned Rika, and almost immediately, Rika fired intense beams of energy towards the tag team. Suguru summoned Jogo, Mahito, Dagon, and Hanami, the Disaster Curses, to counter the Queen of Curses. At the same time, Kenjaku called forth the remaining cursed spirits in his arsenal. "Shinboku no Jumon: Deep Forest Emergence!" A forest sprang up from within the Sunyata Barrier. Given that these barriers had little to no vegetation, Kenjaku used Rika's near-infinite amount of cursed energy to summon the forest.

Kenjaku had come full circle. He realized why Senju Hiroshi had become so strong—strong enough to easily defeat the King of Curses, Gojo Satoru, and by extension, Suguru Geto. The Spell of the Divine Tree, on its own, was already strong enough to restrain regular special grade cursed spirits due to its inherent ability to absorb cursed energy. When paired with the massive amounts of cursed energy inherent to the Senju, the user could summon wooden constructs. Even if an enemy could tear them apart, the sheer number of obstacles the opponent had to go through was enough for the user to dance around them. Now, Kenjaku had fallen to the back seat in his mind. He had many cursed techniques in his arsenal, but only a select few could effectively give him space against opponents like Suguru Geto and Gojo Satoru, the number three and two of the sorcerer world.

Within the massive forest, a battle of attrition began: Suguru Geto's summons against Kenjaku's remaining summons, the Disaster Curses versus the Queen of Curses, and Suguru Geto and Gojo Satoru versus Kenjaku.

Hanami immediately launched wooden appendages to attack Rika, while Jogo summoned volcano openings and rapidly fired ember insects. Mahito morphed his limbs into various weapons, and Dagon used astonishing amounts of water to attack, keeping the Queen of Curses busy.

Meanwhile, Kenjaku was already having a hard time keeping up. The more he thought of a plan, the less breathing space he had. Even with the forest as an obstruction, Gojo Satoru and Suguru Geto's friendship with Hiroshi made them familiar with the intricacies of Hiroshi's manipulation of the Spell of the Divine Tree. To them, Kenjaku's manipulation seemed like child's play and was more of a hindrance than a threat.

Kenjaku ran through the forest with Gojo Satoru in close pursuit. Kenjaku's mind raced as he considered his options for retreat. His initial plan was to capture Tengen and flee immediately, but it was clear that both Gojo Satoru and Suguru Geto would not allow that. Kenjaku sidestepped a cursed spirit that lunged at him and jumped down into the maze-like features of the roots and trunks. However, as soon as he landed, the trees above him were cleared almost immediately by a massive Blue, which obliterated nearly an eighth of the forest. "You can't run," Satoru smirked.

Kenjaku split himself into eight clones, all of which dashed out in different directions. However, Satoru Gojo had encountered this clone technique of the Spell of the Divine Tree so many times that he had learned to watch for the slightest details to determine the real one. The real Kenjaku was immediately spotted.

As Kenjaku bolted, a Blue manifested behind him, slowing him down. "Gachi Gachi," Kenjaku heard the impending attack of the Gashadokuro. Instantly, a massive skeleton arm swept towards him.

"Shinboku no Jumon: Wood Dragon Jutsu!" Kenjaku conjured a wooden dragon in front of him, which briefly stopped the massive arm. However, from behind him, Gojo Satoru launched a Red into the already floating Blue, creating a purple that hurtled straight towards Kenjaku.

Multiple clones immediately stood in front of Kenjaku and raised several wooden walls, while the remaining clones used adamantine sealing chains to grab hold of the Gashadokuro. However, they were met by the very same chains, which Suguru Geto had cast.

One does not become a friend of a Senju without learning their innate techniques, and in Suguru Geto's case, Hiroshi had handed him a handful of the non-innate ones.

The wooden walls splintered under the force of Hollow Purple, sending shards and debris flying. Kenjaku barely managed to dodge the attack, but his clones were not so fortunate. The devastation cleared the immediate area, leaving Kenjaku exposed once more.

"You're running out of tricks, Kenjaku," Suguru taunted as he advanced, his cursed spirits surrounding him like a dark cloud.

"For a sorcerer who has copied the Spell of the Divine Tree, your forest is lifeless," Satoru said with disappointment evident in his voice.

Kenjaku decided to humor Satoru Gojo's taunt to buy himself some time to think. "What are you talking about, Gojo Satoru?" Kenjaku smirked.

"A forest should be strong, resilient, and full of life, just like Hiroshi's. The forest he summons always attacks his enemies; it's very difficult to maneuver around. Yours, on the other hand, is lifeless. You simply grow them and leave them be. Even when you try to make it attack, it's not lethal, just a hindrance," Satoru explained.

"Coming from the great Gojo Satoru himself," Kenjaku chuckled.

"Enough talk, let's finish him off, Satoru," Suguru interjected.

However, something made Kenjaku smirk. He had recently copied a technique.

Thanks to the butterfly that is Senju Hiroshi, cursed techniques were recorded by Jujutsu High, including those of Yuki Tsukumo.

Initially hesitant due to his unfamiliarity with its usage—given the lack of footage or description of Yuki's cursed technique—Kenjaku decided to take a risk. He knew that with enough virtual mass, one could become a black hole.

Trapped between Suguru Geto and Gojo Satoru, Kenjaku produced one more clone and began using Bom Ba Ye, Yuki Tsukumo's cursed technique.

Gravity began to pull, and Suguru anchored himself to the ground using his Gashadokuro.

Darkness filled the room instantly as a black hole manifested.

"Satoru!" Suguru shouted, summoning Ganesha, which unleashed its cursed technique to erase the black hole.

Meanwhile, Satoru unleashed "Maximum Output: BLUE!"

The clash between the black hole and the blue weakened both. Ganesha's efforts to erase it further weakened the black hole.

"Phase, Twilight, Eyes of Wisdom," Satoru chanted, strengthening his blue further. They watched as the black hole began to shrink.

Tengen appeared in the distance, analyzing the black hole to prevent it from affecting the outside world.

"Damn Kenjaku, his tricks never seem to run out," Suguru cursed, channeling his cursed energy through Ganesha to combat the black hole.

Satoru launched a Red towards the Blue and chanted, "Nine Ropes. Polarized Light. Crow and Shomyo."

The combined force of Red and Blue, controlled by Satoru, exploded, rather than pierced.

Hollow Purple and the black hole canceled each other out, gradually causing the black hole to shrink and eventually be erased from existence.

Both sorcerers looked around—Rika was gone, Kenjaku was gone.

"Kenjaku escaped," Tengen stated. "He will come back. Since I am an essential part of his plan, you have thwarted him for now."

"That brainy bastard is like a cockroach, hard to kill," Satoru remarked, glancing at Suguru Geto, who was also visibly fatigued.

Dealing with a black hole was a first for both of them.

Tengen's decision to have Gojo Satoru and Suguru Geto as guards proved wise. As powerful as Senju Hiroshi might be, it was challenging to predict how he could handle a black hole, especially the way Gojo Satoru and Suguru Geto managed it.

Meanwhile, outside the colonies, Japan's precarious situation worsened as another global power sought to take advantage of its vulnerability. With the culling games crippling 60% of its economy, Japan became a target for opportunistic nations. If the Anbu had prevented U.S. intervention, another nation was quick to fill the vacuum: China, a country run by authoritarians eager to gain an edge over their rivals, including the United States.

On November 14, 2018, streams of Chinese soldiers poured into the colonies, setting off alarms across the Japanese government and within the Senju Clan. Hiroshi, who was about to approach the barrier for the Tokyo Colony, received a call.

"Patriarch, bad news. Our navy is in a standoff with the Chinese, but the Anbu has tracked several companies entering the colonies across Japan. Skirmishes have already occurred with our armed forces," the Prime Minister hastily reported.

"If they just want to enter the colonies, let them. Trap them inside. Kill any foreign soldier that exits the colony," Hiroshi commanded.

"Yes, Patriarch!" Senju Aoi replied before ending the call.

"The Chinese are invading? This country is not run by common sense," Hiroshi sighed. He would address this tumor in due time, but his focus now was on ending the culling games and ultimately eliminating the King of Curses and Kenjaku.

---

Across the colonies, Chinese soldiers encountered an eerie greeting: "Yo, I'm Kogane!" The soldiers, now inside the barriers, found themselves teleported randomly across the colonies. Despite the chaos, their mission remained clear: abduct sorcerers for experiments.

The soldiers began targeting sorcerer-turned-civilians who were actively participating in the culling games, but they quickly found themselves outmatched. The strong curse users saw the soldiers as easy prey, and non-sorcerers discovered their own vulnerability to what they had deemed as prey, now finding themselves hunted instead.

This was Kenjaku's countermeasure. If his plan to involve the U.S. failed, he ensured another ambitious, yet foolish, nation would fall into his trap. Kenjaku walked alongside Uraume, contemplating his next moves. Though he had failed to capture Tengen, he would try again later. For now, he reconsidered his decision to attack Tengen directly with Gojo Satoru and Suguru Geto guarding her. He would need to lure them out.

The two curse users stood before a specialized basin. "This is an ideal place for a bath for Sukuna-sama. He will be pleased," Uraume said.

"So inviting foreign soldiers besides the U.S. was part of your plan as well? You want to pit the culling game players against armed non-sorcerers to stimulate the colonies' cursed energy in preparation for the merger, but you have yet to capture Tengen," Uraume queried.

"That's correct, but capturing her is still within my reach. I didn't expect both Gojo Satoru and Suguru Geto to be there. However, I never anticipated the Chinese would provide more than I expected. They've sent more than enough sacrifices to power the rest of the colonies, not just Tokyo and Sendai. It seems I underestimated their grudges," Kenjaku chuckled.

"Non-sorcerers and their petty squabbles," Uraume remarked.

"The incarnated players will easily handle the military personnel, but the awakened ones will face challenges. Only a few relish killing," Kenjaku explained.

Kenjaku's plan was unfolding as expected, with unforeseen benefits from the Chinese intervention. The foreign soldiers, now pawns in a game far beyond their understanding, would fuel the cursed energy needed to complete his sinister goals.

A/N: Here's a Question how did ya'll stumble upon this humble Fanfic? Care to Share your reasons on why you gave my Fic a try?