Sukuna's Downfall

Everything that happened in God's realm was but a moment in reality.

"Die Isao Arai!"

Sukuna yelled out. Arai felt his mind remain blank due to the intense amount of information flowing into his brain. Going into God's realm and back was not something an individual could do without consequences.

Sukuna punched Arai square in the face. The strike cracked his jaw and dislocated it because he could not reinforce himself with cursed energy.

Yet the response he got was a smile from Arai, not from his mouth but from his eyes.

Sukuna could tell that Arai couldn't care less about this.

He could tell that Arai gained something from his encounter with that mysterious portal.

Arai snapped his jaw back in his place and healed himself. 

[Rule: No cursed techniques allowed.]

Sukuna and Arai could feel the new rule binding them yet it puzzled Sukuna. This meant the only way the two could fight was by reinforcing the cursed technique. No barriers, domains, or anything could be used.

But Sukuna could see the confidence, the arrogance hidden inside the man's expression. Arai no longer saw him as an opponent but as a toy to play with, the same way he viewed others to fulfill his satisfaction.

"You seem confident in yourself, Isao Arai." Sukuna said but veins could be seen protruding out of his face.

"He... ha... HAHAahahaha!!" Arai could not stop laughing. 

His mind felt so clear yet so blurry. He could remember every single detail in that world. God's world was not something a human could just enter and leave. Entering it was the hardest part but so was leaving. The unimaginable amount of information had to enter your mind and you had to retain your sense of self.

Just entering that world made one gain something.

Insight and-

Arai looked down in his hand to find the triangle that God had gifted him. He lifted to see it correctly and Sukuna caught a glimpse of it.

This was not something Arai possessed before. He did not see anything of the sort before and didn't pull it out of his ear.

Sukuna realized it.

This 'triangle' must be something precious. Something powerful.

Sukuna tried to snatch it away but Arai saw through his intention.

"Sorry Sukuna, but you shouldn't try to snatch something that isn't yours." Arai said before he swallowed the triangle in one gulp.

He opened his mouth wide to let Sukuna see the item gone.

"Brat. You're dead to me." 

"Like I care what you think."

A wave of cursed energy burst out of Arai. 

"!"

Sukuna felt the air around them seemed to be bursting into flames. It felt like a mirage one would see in a desert. The energy released by Arai was by no means stronger, yet it felt much more than before. A sense of mystery now clouded Sukuna's image of Arai.

'Is this the power of that object?' Sukuna speculated. 'Is it a cursed technique? No, the rule clarified that he can't use any of them. Even he has to respect his own rules. This is most likely due to a newly acquired cursed energy property.'

Arai looked around him and saw everything around him blurry. Even when he looked at his hand, it started distorting.

'It is an item that will allow you to be unregistered by fate. You will no longer need to abide by its laws. Free from its shackles.' Arai remembered God's words.

"It's not an overpowered ability like Gojo's, but it works perfectly." Arai said.

Sukuna scoffed. "That power will soon be mine after I take that object out of your corpse."

Arai smirked. His hands grasped one another and Sukuna saw the mirage around him converge into the two hands. He then clapped dispersing the gathered power.

'What was that?' Sukuna frowned as he was unable to figure out what had just happened.

Arai seemed to have achieved nothing from that yet one thing that Sukuna had to define Arai by was that he was unpredictable. So many unexpected things kept happening.

Just then, Arai appeared before Sukuna without any warning with his body still distorted by the mirage.

'When did he-!' 

Sukuna looked behind Arai to see two figures of Arai. One still at the same spot as before and one right in front of him. But just as the new Arai appeared, the one behind it started evaporating into smoke and eventually disappeared.

It was a fake!

[Black Flash] Arai muttered before landing a left hook to Sukuna's face which damaged his grotesque half-face. The monstrous part of his face cracked as blood spurted out of his two eyes. He grabbed the four-armed beast by the head and slammed it into his knee.

Sukuna was bleeding by the nose but Arai didn't stop and kicked Sukuna in the face.

"You're slowing down, Sukuna. The you an hour ago would have at least blocked that attack." Arai said calmly.

Sukuna clicked his tongue. "These tricks won't stop me!"

He screamed out and kicked Arai, but the only thing he hit was air as that was also a mirage.

Arai appeared behind Sukuna and threw a devastating blow to his back. Once more, the sparks of black blessed him, Sukuna's body fell, but he stopped his fall with his knee.

"Tell me." Arai walked as if he took a stroll making Sukuna growl in anger. 

"How does it feel to take a knee?"

Sukuna gritted his teeth in anger. Nobody not even Gojo disrespected him as much as Arai did.

"The strong rules over the weak, right Sukuna? So bow down and start praising me as your king."

"Just because you have a bit of an advantage makes you think you've won, but I'm not dead yet."

Arai chuckled. "A bit? Look at you Sukuna. You look pathetic, weak, and miserable. Cuts and bruises are appearing everywhere. The amount of blood you've lost can no longer be repaired by your [Reversed Cursed Technique]. Your output and reflexes are diminishing as we speak. And you call that 'a bit of an advantage'? Plus, I've been holding this out from you."

Arai spread his arms out. Under the baffled gaze of Sukuna, black smoke appeared behind Arai before the smoke started circling one another creating a spiral.

Sukuna's eyes opened wide in shock. Arai was using a cursed technique, not only that but the maximum version of the technique, [Uzumaki]. He could not fathom how he did it. Just a moment ago, Sukuna was sure that the rules within the domain applied to everyone inside of it.

But now it seemed like Arai could get rid of the rules binding him yet still let the rules chain others.

Isao Arai had grown exponentially during this fight.

[Maximum Technique: Uzumaki.]

With a burst of light, the amalgamation struck Sukuna creating a massive explosion. The explosion was so powerful that Arai had to use cursed spirits as a wall to cover the hurricane-like event that was happening.

As the dust settled, Arai saw Sukuna on both knees in the middle of the crater.

The left side of his face was completely destroyed and his stomach had his intestines flowing out. Each side of his body had an arm destroyed and the remaining ones were completely unusable. Sukuna coughed black blood. His remaining two eyes could only see red and the feeling in his arms was slowly starting to dissipate.

This was the end.

Sukuna had lost.

Both parties realized this.

The cursed spirits transformed into black smoke converging into Arai's hand.

He slowly made his way to Sukuna.

Each step was more audible than the one before. To Sukuna, it felt like an eternity for Arai to reach him. Yet to Arai, it felt like but a moment.

Sukuna was no longer special, not to him at least.

"You've lost." Arai said before putting his hand on Sukuna. Using his technique, Arai delved into the soul.

Dark, gloomy, was the only description Arai could attribute to this place. There was no light, only darkness.

"You won't be able to live on, Fushiguro Megumi." Arai could see the figure of both Sukuna and Megumi speak.

"Too much guilt has taken you. You had your body stolen by me, killed your own sister, turned away the help that was offered to you, and spared the life of a brat that resulted in the deaths of thousands including your own sensei. It's over, leave it all to me. I'll take away all your pain." Sukuna spoke trying to make Megumi give up but Arai could see it in Megumi's eyes.

The little spark of life within them.

Megumi seemed unbothered by Sukuna's comments. "You sound desperate. Is it because there's only one left? If you die here, then the 'Resonance' won't be strong enough for you to pull your soul over to the remaining finger. You've lost just the same way I did."

Megumi looked at Sukuna's figure who was slowly turning smaller and weaker. "So even you fear death, that's good to know."

In the real world, Arai ripped out Sukuna's body from Megumi. The two were now separate.

"GUAAAHHH! NO!!!!" Sukuna's screams of agony reverberated around the dome. His existence was slowly being cut off. He was now turning into a small blob. A shell of his former self.

"Now that's something I thought I would never hear. The cries of desperation coming out of you." Arai said as he grabbed the remains of Sukuna.

"But I'm not letting you off with just that, I'll make sure you suffer for every death and pain you've caused. And to ensure that..." He squeezed the blob tighter making it painful for Sukuna.

Arai opened his mouth wide and swallowed Sukuna.

With a gulp, Arai opened his eyes.

Black tattoos appeared all over his body. His eyes were still green, but the pair of eyes beneath them were crimson red. 

He's done it.

Arai had become the new host of Sukuna, but this time, he was the one in control.

"I've been swallowing many things today, but the results are undoubtedly magnificent."

*Crack!*

"Hm?" Arai turned his attention to his barrier and found a crack in it. The crack expanded until the domain collapsed completely.

Immediately after the collapse of the domain, what greeted Arai was a bolt of lightning coming his way.

"Die!"

A pillar of flame erupted from the moment of contact. While this was happening, Ino grabbed hold of an unconscious Megumi and brought him to Ui Ui. 

"Go! Bring him to safety." Kusakabe shouted and Ui Ui nodded and disappeared.

Ino who looked at the two who escaped sighed in relief. "At least one of our mission was successful."

"Look forward, he's unscathed." Itadori said.

And he was right.

Emerging from the smoke was Arai who patted the dust away. "An uncontrolled lightning strike is far inferior to one that is. Though I guess you can only use that after putting enough negative charges into me, right?"

His eyes looked towards every assailant before him.

Kusakabe, Ino, Itadori, Choso, Malenia, Kashimo, Yuta, Hakari and finally-

Arai frowned.

The only one who could anticipate him. The one who understood him the most.

"Shoko, so you're behind this."