(Note: I know "Maximum" Technique is the right word, but I won't stop using "Extreme", "Ultimate" and other similarly powerful words. You can't stop me.)
If Extreme Technique was the ultimate culmination of all techniques outside of a Domain—Then Domain itself was the lifelong goal every jujutsu sorcerer pursued.
A so-called Domain Expansion referred to a sorcerer or cursed spirit expending an enormous amount of cursed energy to construct an innate territory imbued with their technique.
Within the Domain, the caster would receive corresponding buffs, while their technique would gain a guaranteed hit effect.
In other words—Absolute terrain advantage.
So why did Shinji say that what stood before him was a pseudo-Domain?
Because although this place was filled with cursed energy, there was no technique embedded within it.
To put it simply—
It was like building a house, but not stationing any guards inside, nor setting up any traps or mechanisms.
Once outsiders entered, they might feel unfamiliar with the environment, but they wouldn't be in any real danger.
If the owner wanted to kill them, they would still have to do it personally.
A true Domain, on the other hand, was equivalent to a fully armed fortress—where with just a flick of a finger, gunfire and artillery would erupt from all directions, reducing intruders to dust.
The analogy might not have been perfectly accurate, but the meaning was close enough.
After confirming this, Shinji finally let out a long sigh of relief.
After all, he had no desire to charge headfirst into a true Domain and fight a Special-Grade Cursed Spirit.
That would mean his chances of victory were less than ten percent.
Probably even lower.
"I need to find that idiot Hidan as soon as possible…"
Shinji muttered under his breath, then decisively accelerated, sprinting through the cavernous tunnels.
After turning into who-knew-how-many tunnels, he suddenly stopped.
His expression turned frighteningly cold.
Embedded into the wall ahead was a body that had been dismembered and arranged according to its original structure.
The torso was in the center.
The legs below.
The arms on either side.
Only the head was missing.
Below the wall sat a humanoid creature.
Though it possessed a human-like silhouette, one glance was enough to know it was not human.
Standing over two and a half meters tall, with a physique far beyond human proportions, pale white skin, and—most unsettling of all—four eyes embedded in its forehead.
Its round head was completely hairless, lacking even ears or a nose.
This appearance alone was enough to make ninety-nine percent of children cry on sight.
More importantly—
It was sitting casually atop a rock, holding the Bloody Triple-Bladed Scythe Shinji had forged for Hidan in its right hand.
With its left hand, it casually tossed a human head into the air, catching it again and again, clearly amused.
As if enjoying a game.
Noticing Shinji's arrival, the bald, four-eyed cursed spirit stopped its motions and firmly grasped Hidan's head.
At the same moment—
Hidan's tightly shut eyes snapped open.
Upon seeing Shinji, he spoke without hesitation:
"Kill it for me! Chop it into eighteen pieces! I'll owe you one!"
That someone as proud and tsundere as Hidan would say the words "I owe you one" made it abundantly clear how furious he was.
Even back when Shinji had taken damage on his behalf, or forged the Triple-Bladed Scythe for him, Hidan had never said anything like this.
---
[Bond-Bound Character Hidan has issued you a mission!]
Mission: An Eye for an Eye
Objective: Eliminate Special-Grade Cursed Spirit – Greed, and cut it into eighteen pieces.
Rewards: Black Flash, Cursed Soul Value ×5000, Bond Value +100
PS: As the saying goes, even when beating a dog, you must consider its owner. Someone bullied your dog—what you do next is up to you.
---
Shinji nodded solemnly.
"Alright."
Even without the system mission, he would have killed this thing anyway—to vent Hidan's anger.
After all, his own dog was his to discipline.
No one else was allowed to touch it.
Especially not in such a humiliating way—dismembering Hidan and mounting him on the wall like a specimen, then tossing his head around like a ball.
"That's a form of entertainment even I haven't tried."
Shinji seemed to be swallowed by darkness itself, leaving only a pair of terrifying eyes glowing red.
Fully aware that a Special-Grade Cursed Spirit was on an entirely different level from the previous fodder, he finally prepared to reveal his true strength.
Familiar blood-red markings surged across his face—
But this time, they were different.
The 'X'-shaped blood mark now featured a hollow circle at its intersection.
From that point, a vertical branch extended upward to his hairline, while another stretched downward, passing straight through his eyes and reaching his cheeks.
"Scarlet Scale Surge — Load."
As the enhanced evolution of Red-Scale Surge, Scarlet Scale Surge — Load granted a far more terrifying, comprehensive boost to physical ability.
And more importantly—
"Be careful! This monster is fast—!"
Hidan barely managed to shout that warning before being slammed back against the wall by the bald four-eyed cursed spirit, pressed flat like a mural.
In the next instant, the cursed spirit appeared before Shinji, swinging the Triple-Bladed Scythe straight down!
That overwhelming speed had already made Hidan suffer greatly.
But Shinji not only reacted calmly—
He precisely captured the opening in the attack and struck first with even greater speed!
Bang—
BOOM!!!
The bald, four-eyed cursed spirit was sent flying backward at an even faster velocity.
First, it was embedded into the wall just like Hidan had been.
Then, the wall itself shattered.
A horrifying, concave fist mark collapsed its entire chest.
"I can freely manipulate every component of my blood to enhance any part of my body."
"That naturally includes my eyes."
"So don't lump me together with the idiot hanging on the wall."
(Hidan: Thanks a lot.)
---
Technique Disclosure achieved!
By openly revealing information about one's technique during combat, its effectiveness and power are increased.
---
Crack—crash…
The bald, four-eyed cursed spirit expressionlessly stood up from the rubble.
Its collapsed chest restored itself almost instantly.
Reverse Technique — Healing!
Using cursed energy to heal—regenerating severed limbs or even growing an entirely new heart was entirely possible.
Unless its true core was destroyed, even decapitation or a shattered heart would be meaningless.
This was the true terror of a Special-Grade Cursed Spirit.
Compared to it, Shinji genuinely felt that his own immortality was pathetically weak.
No wonder Hidan had lost so badly.
Hummm—
The cursed spirit suddenly opened its mouth wide.
An orange-yellow beam of light erupted forth.
BOOM!
The ground it struck was instantly plowed open into a trench over two meters wide and more than thirty meters long.
Dodging with speed, Shinji couldn't help but sigh.
"Just releasing cursed energy alone causes this level of destruction… If I let you keep growing, you'd truly become something terrifying."