40 Sukuna Gets Side-Quests Too. They're Just More Violent

A/N: BREAKING NEWS!!!

The first bit of smut is officially out on my P-site(Kevin the Bored)!! If you a gooner, then go gimme mullah!! 5 bucks for 5 chapters, including some smut! :3

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Suzuka Gozen had a plan. It was even a good plan. A great plan. The best plan.

See, she is a thief. An amazing thief. The best!

So naturally, when she heard that a pair of Oni twins had gathered a hoard of treasure and hidden it away in their mountain behind a horde of Oni minions, well, how could she say no? Such opportunities are rare. It all sounded like easy profit to her.

So what if she ended up getting caught? That wasn't her fault. She totally would have been fine if luck wasn't against her. That's all it was, bad luck.

One of the twins just happened to be loitering in their treasury at the time, and it just happened to be Ibaraki. If it was only Shuten then she totally could have escaped! It's just that Ibaraki is a dumb brute with more muscles than brains, so naturally she didn't fight! You don't fight brutes like that! That's how you die!

Suzuka Gozen is far too cute to die. Just look at her fluffy ears and tail! It doesn't matter that they're illusions!

If only she were born a Kitsune... 

She feels much more in tune with those tricksters y'know? But instead she just has some dumb stupid horns. Bleh! Not cute at all!

However, it was all just a part of her plan to get caught! Totally! Because it all worked out!

She, through her impeccable wit, managed to fool the silly Shuten-dōji into working for her! She totally didn't even have to bow or beg for mercy at all! And Shuten-dōji didn't scare her even a bit! Hmph!

All she had to do was kill their rival, Otakemaru, and they would just give her their treasure! It is only natural after all that they would pay tribute to her esteemed self, and it would be unbecoming of her to not repay their fealty with a small favour. Yes, she is just doing this because she is impressed by their dedication to her most awe inspiring self.

Shuten-chan even gave her some gifts before she left to accomplish this small favour. Of course, the problem came when she arrived and found Otakemaru's skin to be incredibly tough. Impossible to pierce.

But that is fine, for she is Suzuka Gozen!

By using her impeccable genius, she devised a method of achieving victory. She discovered that Shuten-chan's gift could actually be used as a poison when prepared appropriately.

There are actually no preparations needed. It is just poison. She won't admit that though.

With this newfound knowledge, she proposed a marriage to the foolish, muscular Kijin, and he, the chiselled—hnng—fool, accepted!

All that was required then was for her to steadily start poisoning his meals until his rugged skin was soft enough that she could slay him! It would surely take time, but if the idiot with his luscious hair is good for anything, it is in matters of the bedchamber, so she can be patient.

However... It would be best not to start poisoning him right away. He might get suspicious after all, so it would be better to wait a bit. His deep, baritone voice already sends shivers down her spine, so she must first wait until he is accustomed enough to her to not question anything.

It totally has nothing to do with the way his voice leaves her knees weak, or how his large, strong hands-

She shakes her head and banishes the evil thoughts away.

Suzuka was prepared to be patient in this mission of hers. She was ready to spend years softening him up, purely for the sake of killing him of course.

But then, three years into their marriage.. Ahem. Three years into her manipulations, things changed.

You see, Suzuka Gozen isn't just amazing for her incredible insight and illusions that can rival even the greatest of Kitsune. She also has a secret, a talent that she was born with, a gift that is the Heavens' own proof of how special she is.

For Suzuka Gozen is a Seer.

OooOOoooOooh~.

Well, sometimes anyway. She can't really control the ability, but that must simply be because she is already always making the right choices, so she has no need to see the future. She is the best after all.

However, after an intense night of lovemakin- Ahem. Of manipulating her idiot husband through her feminine wiles. She dreamt a vision of the future.

It wasn't very detailed, mostly just a series of impressions and the image of a weighted chain. However, what it did do is remind her of an interaction she had many years ago.

When she was younger, she was approached by a cloaked figure with crimson eyes who claimed the ability to see the future. They said that their ability attracted them to her, who also possesses the gift of Sight.

He offered to mentor her, so naturally she accepted so that she may correct the misunderstanding that she is his lesser. He must have gotten the message pretty quickly, because it was only after a few 'lessons' that he left.

She didn't hear the words he muttered as he left, but it was something about unfathomable incompetence. He must have realised the difference in their ability and left to better himself. Such self dedication to improvement is impressive. Not that she has ever had to improve her magnificent self.

But one thing she did not forget is the prophecy he spoke to her. Well, actually she did forget about it completely, but her recent vision reminded her.

He told her of a two-faced, four-armed demon that would come and rip out her heart.

He explained that the action of ripping her heart out was a metaphor to say that the demon will kill someone beloved to her.

She initially put the whole thing out of her mind, because no man is great enough to be worthy to hold her heart in the first place. But now that she has seduced Otakemaru for the sake of killing him, she understands.

It was actually just a metaphor for Otakemaru because they are wed, not because she actually loves him or anything dumb like that. That would be stupid. Absurd!

If you'd asked her, then it's perfect, right? She won't even have to use the poison, isn't that convenient? She just had to wait a bit, and her idiot husband would die all on his own. Then she could collect her reward, or rather, she could collect Shuten-chan's tithe and then be on her way.

Isn't that great? It is right? Right? She gets all the wealth, doesn't have to see her stupid husband's stupid handsome face, and she can go back to her thieving ways. Stealing what she wants when she wants, free as a bird and all alone...

But it's best to make sure a job is done right, right? She could have just left, trusting in her visionary prowess, but she is a professional! So it's only natural that she would stick around to ensure everything goes right.

And if the demon were to then attack her as well... Well then she would naturally defend herself. That goes without saying. And if, in doing so, the demon fails to kill Otakemaru, well, there is always the poison.

So why, she thinks to herself, looking up from her cup of saké to see a distinctly two-armed human chatting pleasantly with her idiot husband as if they are old friends. Why is the demon so weak and friendly?

Well, calling him weak wouldn't be quite right. Neither would calling him friendly either.

As much as she would never admit it, he is probably stronger than she is. No. As strong as she is. Maybe a bit weaker actually. She could totally take him. He's only a human anyway, who cares if his presence overwhelms her own? That's just because she isn't trying right now.

Still, he is strong.

But he should be stronger. He should be crueller too.

The demon her erstwhile student saw should have been at least as strong as Otakemaru. This human doesn't feel that strong.

Maybe her estranged student was just wrong? It can't be helped, he isn't as amazing as she is, so it's only natural that he would make mistakes.

What was it that he even said again? She honestly wasn't really paying attention at the time, and it's already been...

Well, it's been a while at least. Probably. So it's only natural she might have forgotten. Even her great memory can't hold unimportant matters for... Twenty years? Mayyybe?

Still, what did he say?

Two-faced, four-armed demon, something something world consumed in fire, something something sole king of the lonely peak. Something about climbing impossible heights?

...She doesn't get it.

Whatever, it's not important. What matters is that he should be stronger. As he is now, she doesn't think he'd be able to kill her idiot husband for her, and that cannot stand!

So she must investigate! She must learn why this man is not as strong as he should be! And then she will use her great wisdom to guide him into his strength! Until she has a weapon capable of killing-

"Suzuka!" Her husband's voice snaps her out of her thoughts. "More saké!"

"Yes!" She exclaims, forgetting her previous thoughts. Her face lights up as she dives for her husband to drape herself against his arm and refills his cup.

"For our guest too," he says, and she feels the words reverberating through his strong body, the vibrations making her flush and shiver.

"Of course~!" She happily leans forward to refill the human's cup, Sukuna was his name?

"Thank you, Wife," Otakemaru says once she is done, turning to smile down at her while his free hand pats her once on the head.

She's not blushing! It's just advanced seduction techniques! To trick the idiot!

"How domestic," the human drawls, sipping his drink with a smirk.

"Hmph! Something to say, Human?" She glares at him, but he only continues to smirk down at her.

"Nothing at all~. Just a little surprised. Do Oni usually live as you do?"

"No," her husband answers. "Oni usually live in villages and tribes and such. Same as most races. However I am strong enough alone, so I live alone. At least until Suzuka here arrived."

"Ohh? Interesting. Though, I can not fathom why you would be willing to marry someone so much weaker than yourself. Do you prefer them fragile~?"

Suzuka was ready there and then to tear into this impudent human, but her husband's hand on her shoulder holds her back.

"Suzuka is not that weak, Sukuna-san. Besides, you must understand, right?" Otakemaru looks deep into Sukuna's eyes, and she feels something heavy in the air, something that she can't understand at all. A taste to the air that is foreign to her. "Everyone is fragile when you stand at the peak."

She feels like there's some subtext going on here that she doesn't understand, but from the way Sukuna's eyes widen minutely, it seems that he does.

But then his expression falls back into a smirk, one that seems oddly wistful. Odd because it is a departure to his usual expression that sets off the instincts in the deepest recesses of her mind.

"Not everyone," he says after a long moment of silence. "I do not stand at the peak alone anymore. Unlike you, I have an equal."

Otakemaru doesn't outwardly respond, but she feels that he appears the slightest bit disappointed. She has no idea why he would though.

There are simply some things that one can never understand from the outside. She could never understand what Otakemaru felt in that moment, because she could never understand how lonely it is to be strong.

"I see," Otakemaru says at length. "You are not alone."

She's sure that she would have made some remark then; a petty revenge for the human's insults.

But she fails to think of one when Otakemaru's words register in her brain and her mind is flung to the past. Her powers as a Seer, limited though they may be, wake up then, providing her a vision not of the future, but of the past with perfect clarity.

It was shortly after they met, the Seer that sought her out for guidance. She asked that he prove his power, that he tell her of the future. This time, she remembers to words perfectly, all the way down to the detail of his scratchy, rough voice.

Endless violence will spark an endless Hatred.

Endless Hatred will ignite a blazing inferno that will consume the world as its tinder.

And when the ashes fall, the solitary peak left standing will be Hatred alone.

Thus will be born,

The True, King of Curses.

"So that is why!" Suzuka exclaims the very moment her memory ends, drawing looks from both the men present.

Running high off of the high of making her discovery, Suzuka doesn't stop to think about censoring her words. Instead, she turns her full attention to Sukuna and points a triumphant finger at him.

"That is why you are weaker than I thought you would be!"

Almost immediately after she finishes speaking, she feels herself being yanked backwards by her husband's hand. Before she can even begin to complain about the rough treatment in front of a guest, she watches as a large gash opens in the wall behind her.

The gash is about even to where her neck was a moment ago, she distantly notes, a bead of sweat trickling down her neck.

Hmph, she's not scared, she thinks to herself while ignoring her shaking hands.

Her husband lets go of her and she rises back into a proper seating position, totally not shaking at all. Both of the men stare at her, and neither have to speak for their demand for an explanation to be evident.

"Ahem. My apologies, Sukuna-kun," she totally doesn't flinch at all from the way his eyes narrow at her choice in suffix. Her husband will protect her with his body anyway, the dolt. "I have heard a prophecy regarding this day once, and I only just realised why reality was not adhering to what I had been told. Likely because the one who spoke the prophecy was only a mere apprentice in the art."

"Fate, huh?" Sukuna mutters with a displeased frown, as if the very idea of Fate was itself insulting to him.

"Indeed. Fate. According to the prophecy I was told, you should be stronger than you are, and your words have highlighted the difference between this reality and that potential future." She can see the curiosity clear on both of their faces, so she smirks and nods to Sukuna. "You said it yourself, you are not alone."

"Your speaking in oblique tongue is beginning to irritate me, Woman." Sukuna scowls at her, and she definitely doesn't shuffle closer to her husband. "Speak plainly."

Not wanting to test his patience any further, not that she is scared or anything, Suzuka meets Sukuna's glare and speaks the honest truth.

"Your 'equal' is holding you back." The air immediately becomes heavy, but Suzuka doesn't stop, even as her chest tightens and her muscles tense. "It is the flock mentality that makes all beings weaker and weaker, just look at my dear husband. You should have just burned everything. Regardless of gains, losses or plans, burn them all. Until you reach the realm of the Ōkami and completely abandon your future or race."

More importantly, he needs to be at least that strong if he's going to kill her stupid husband for her. At least according to her wayward student's prophecy anyway.

"A King can have no equals. To be truly strong, you must stand alone."

That's why Otakemaru has no clan serving him. It's why she travelled alone. It's why every Daiyōkai other than those twin Oni are loners. Only the weak flock together. Like humans. Bleh.

No one speaks for a while. The only sound that follows her words is that of Sukuna's finger tapping a steady rhythm against the low table they are seated at.

Tap tap, he goes. His face set into a contemplative frown as he stares at the table, thinking. Tap tap.

"Your words hold merit," he eventually says, voice low. Tap tap goes his finger. "He would probably disagree." Tap tap. "Tsk. You annoy me, Woman."

Sukuna's finger taps one last time before remaining on the table. The silence is somehow louder.

He doesn't move fast. The silence lingers. Then he rises to his feet without a word and stretches his arms behind his back.

"Otakemaru-san," he says, turning a blank stare down to at her husband. "I am going to kill your wife now. Stop me."

Suzuka's brain takes a second to process Sukuna's calmly spoken words.

Huh?

The next moment her world turns into a blur as her body is yanked and thrown around fast enough that she feels sick and discombobulated.

All she can really notice is the thunderous crashing that explodes all around her and the pair of overwhelming presences that press down on her.

And then she is flying through the air, having just been thrown through the wall of their home.

Her brain kicks back into focus after a moment tumbling through the sky and she manages to right herself in the air just in time to see the temple they were staying in and the mountain behind it shatter.

She feels a terrible pressure clench in her gut as she watches the overwhelming display of power, and it is only as she falls to the ground a safe distance away that she realises, or rather, it is only then that she accepts...

That she does not know who she wants to cheer for.

///

Otakemaru

///

Otakemaru pushes the broken debris that used to be a standing mountain off of his shoulders, leaving him buried in a hole of shattered stone. 

A simple hop brings him to the surface of the debris where Sukuna already stands, free of any dust. He doesn't fail to notice the hole in the debris behind Sukuna where it seems as if the falling mountain had been cut to pieces before it could ever touch him.

He doesn't like to fight. He'd honestly rather avoid it entirely whenever possible. He especially doesn't want to fight a man whose company he was just enjoying a moment earlier.

Alas, it appears that his wife has insulted him, and so now they must fight.

"You are strong," Sukuna comments to him.

"Stronger than you," he returns, hoping that the human will give this up.

Sukuna just smirks. "We will see."

He supposes that they will.

Otakemaru raises his arm and bats away an invisible blade of Cursed Energy, only to widen his eyes slightly when he sees Sukuna appear in front of him and throw a punch.

He would have expected the human to keep a distance. It would have been safer. 

After all, the difference between a human like Sukuna and an Ultimate being like him is simply too large a chasm to cross.

With speed that eclipses Sukuna's own, he grabs the human's approaching wrist and moves to throw him away. Only to pause when he notices his extended arm is only holding up to Sukuna's forearm.

An instant later, an impact slams into his lower back, sending him crashing back into the debris below, crushing broken rocks into smaller pieces.

It barely takes a moment for him to discard the limb and straighten himself back out, and he has to bat away another invisible blade when he looks up to see Sukuna regenerating his arm.

He cut it off?

Despite himself, Otakemaru finds himself smiling at the human.

Another set of invisible blades come for him, but this time he doesn't bother to block it.

Four thin lines open up on his body, three on his chest and one on his neck. None of them cut deep enough to draw blood, just enough to mark.

His natural healing clears what little damage was done away a moment later.

"I am a Kijin, Sukuna-san. An Ultimate-class being. You cannot beat me."

Sukuna snorts and chuckles twice before sucking in a breath and sending him a savage smile. "So says you."

Sukuna dashes forward a second time, but Otakemaru wants to get the point across, so he doesn't bother to dodge. He feels something change within Sukuna as he approaches, but dismisses it as insignificant.

The audacious human slams to a stop crouched behind him, open palm resting against his lower back.

"You lack imagination," he can hear the grin in Sukuna's voice. "Cleave."

A tingling sensation spreads from his back and Otakemaru instinctively spins around, leg raised to roundhouse kick Sukuna's head off. But the human avoids the kick by leaning back and throws a quick counter-kick as his supporting leg's knee.

Otakemaru can't believe his eyes when he actually falls.

He doesn't see Sukuna's next hit land, but feels the impact on his jaw and minor though it is, it is enough to snap him back into focus.

His fist crashes down with force, annihilating what was left of the mountain into a cloud of dust and launching Sukuna away.

He quickly climbs back to his feet and waves the dust away with one hand while the other reaches down to hold his side. When he looks down, he sees his hand pull away covered in blood.

"What?"

None of the cuts are deep enough to hit bone, but the lattice of red has clearly gone passed his muscles and wounded him.

"What?"

The wounds start closing by themselves, but he still can only feel shock that they were even there in the first place.

Sukuna appears in the air behind him and he is too out of it to avoid the kick that slams into his neck. However, the blow only sends him down to one knee and doesn't cause much damage. He is Ultimate, after all. A human should not be able to hurt him.

Except this one did.

"Must you look so surprised?" Sukuna's voice mocks from above, and he looks up to see the human crouched down in front of him. "I find it rather insulting."

"How?" He mutters. "How could you harm my flesh?" He has to know.

"Heh. Survive and I might tell you~."

Otakemaru blinks and regards this human with fresh eyes. His shock fades away and as calm returns he nods his head.

"I underestimated you. My apologies."

Sukuna's eyes widen, but he is not fast enough to avoid Otakemaru's grasping hand.

With a grip on Sukuna's face, Otakemaru launches himself forward, cutting through the sky with such speed that the air howls at him.

A moment later, Sukuna's hands come up to grab his forearm, and he feels as lines of invisible blades slowly start carving through his flesh. He ignores it, and another moment later he crashes into another mountain, cratering it with Sukuna's skull.

The human's hands spasm but Otakemaru doesn't wait. Instead, he simply lets go of the human's head, noting the unfocused eyes, rears back his foot, and punts him through the mountain.

And as the spire of stone collapses in on itself, he holds up his hand and observes the deep groves. Deep enough to reach bone this time.

"This human..!" He mutters, trailing off with a grin.

His Youki surges and the wound steams and closes in an instant.

It really should be impossible for a human to hurt him. That isn't just a matter of arrogance or pride. It genuinely should be impossible. His skin should be impervious to all harm that a High-class being should be capable of emitting. That is a simple logic of the world.

Hopping into the air, Otakemaru stands above the collapsing mountain and looks down at the next mountain over. The human is still alive, though that much was clear enough from the wildly fluctuating aura of Cursed Energy that is practically drowning the entire province.

It's an impressive amount honestly. He doubts there is a human with more latent energy inside of them. He finds it rather lamentable that Sukuna was born a human. With the amount of Cursed Energy inside of him, it is clear that it is only his nature as a human that is holding him back.

"Oh well."

His body tilts forward and his Youki solidifies behind him, allowing him to use it as a barrier to launch himself at Sukuna like a loosed arrow.

He makes it halfway before he feels that same something change in Sukuna. He doesn't get to think about it before a gargantuan blade of Cursed Energy rushes to meet him, and he almost ignores it before remembering that his own blood is currently coating his hand.

Still, he is already in motion, so he simply brings his arms in front of himself over one another and meets the blade head on.

The blade curls around him and cuts down to his bones a second time before shattering, and then he is crashing into the ground once more.

Sukuna avoids the initial impact of his landing and he rises to pursue, only for a ball of Cursed Energy to explode behind his back, doing no damage but making him stumble into Sukuna's waiting palm.

Once again, he feels that unidentifiable something shift inside of Sukuna before he speaks a single word.

"Cleave."

A familiar lattice of red spreads across his chest before Otakemaru acts.

One of his hands goes for the arm pressed against him, and while Sukuna reacts to that feint, he throws himself forward and slams his knee into Sukuna's gut.

Blood and air are forced passed Sukuna's lips and Otakemaru uses the same leg to follow up with a kick that send the human crashing through tree after tree. An entire forest line devastated.

Compressing his Youki into a ball, Otakemaru points the unstable energy after Sukuna and lets it go without a second thought.

An absolutely titanic wave of pure Youki tears through the landscape, carving a fresh valley into the mountainous terrain.

However, before his unbelieving eyes, Otakemaru watches as his attack is split in half.

"What?" He finds himself muttering again without thought. "What the fuck is with this human?"

When the dust settles, Otakemaru is greeted to the sight of a barren valley that ends where Sukuna stands in the near distance, splitting in half and leaving everything behind him mostly unharmed.

He prepares to reengage the fight, but stops himself when he hears Sukuna's voice carried over by the wind.

"My Innate Technique is called Shrine," he says, and it takes Otakemaru a minute to realise that he is revealing his hand. It makes sense, he clearly needs the boost. Otakemaru decides to let him speak, out of respect and curiosity.

"Within my Shrine are multiple embedded Techniques. First is Dismantle that allows me to launch invisible blades of Cursed Energy at range. Then there is Cleave. This Technique requires me to make physical contact and hits my target with a large number of slashes all at once, making it good at ending people in one fell swoop."

Otakemaru begins to doubt if there is a point in telling him this. He is fairly certain that the boost in power that the Revealing One's Hand Vow gives is somewhat dependant on what is being revealed.

Other than the name of Dismantle, none of this information is really enlightening to Otakemaru, so he doesn't see the point-

"However," Sukuna continues with a grin, cutting off his thoughts. "That is not all. My Shrine actually has three embedded Techniques. You should hold your head high, because you will be the only one other than me to know this."

Sukuna lowers himself, crouching and laying a palm against the floor. He doesn't break eye contact.

"The third Technique embedded within Shrine is called Tithe. Unlike the previous two that are purely offensive, Tithe is supplemental. Its only function, is to facilitate the creation and modification of Binding Vows."

Otakemaru's eyes widen as understanding floods him. That is what he was feeling shifting within Sukuna. And now that he thinks about it, ever since he first drew blood, Otakemaru hasn't seen Sukuna use both Dismantle and Cleave at the same time. Almost as if one was sacrificed to power the other.

Sukuna meets his eyes and he clearly sees the recognition in them. It only makes his grin grow.

"Cleave."

From Sukuna's palm, a spiderweb rapidly spreads across the ground, reaching under his feet nearly immediately and hundreds of metres in every other direction too.

Otakemaru moves to stop him, but the moment he tries to take the first step, the earth shatters.

He trips as his footing is thrown apart and can only watch as the three nearest mountains to Sukuna all start to crumble as one. They may not be as large as Mt. Fuji, but that level of power is still firmly beyond what a High-class should be capable of. At least in terms of destructive range anyway, he doubts that the penetrative ability of this attack matches the standard of an Ultimate-Class.

A boom of displaced air brings his attention back to his foe, and he watches Sukuna rocketing towards him with a wild grin, uncaring of the boulders raining down around him.

And for just a moment, Otakemaru hesitates. He doesn't know what Sukuna is going to do, he can't predict it. Is he going to Cleave? Is he going to go for a Dismantle? Something else?

With this Tithe involved, predicting exactly how Sukuna's attacks are going to manifest becomes all but impossible, and Sukuna isn't getting any further away.

So he just gives up on the thought and decides that offence is the best defence in this situation. With that decided, he moves to meet Sukuna with a raised fist.

However, instead of attacking, Sukuna just grins wider and twists to block his punch. He understands why as soon as his fist connects when a twisting red spiral spreads up his arm to his shoulder, cutting enough muscles to leave the arm hanging limp.

A Vow to give up on offence in exchange for a stronger, defensive counter-attack? He thinks, disbelievingly.

Sukuna was not unharmed from the exchange either, but he is quick to right himself, digging a pair of trenches into the earth with his legs as he comes to a stop.

But he doesn't rest. He conserves as much of his momentum as possible to swing back, both of his arms flashing in front of his torso like a pair of scissors.

With the movement, Otakemaru feels the pair of enormous Dismantles heading his way, and he can finally admit to himself that this human is fun.

A grin grows on his own face despite the approaching danger.

Very well then, Sukuna-san.

"Let's see if your Shrine can hold up against my Brutality."

When was the last time he let his Osore loose? Sixty.. Seventy years ago?

The familiar feeling is like welcoming home an old friend. He pulls a fist back as he feels humanity's fear of brutality flow down his arm, ripping and tearing at the air and everything inside of it.

And then there is no more time to think.

The pair of Dismantles enter his reach, and his fist appears before them, having moved so fast as to seem like it teleported.

A horrible screech fills the air as the space around the impact is torn apart, cracking under the force of their clash.

For a second the two attacks almost seem evenly matched, but then his fist pushes further and Sukuna's Dismantles crumble. It doesn't stop there either. His Youki continues to carry his Osore forward, rending another trench through the ruined earth.

However, it hits nothing but air, and the only warning he gets of Sukuna's new position is a joyous laugh behind him before a fist crashes into his skull.

This time, the blow isn't ignorable. It sends him crashing face first straight into the ground and cracks the back of his skull. But he doesn't feel any cuts open up.

A Vow to trade his Techniques for physical strength? His muddled mind manages to think before the concussion is healed and he throws himself back to his feet, ready to counter the next attack.

However, contrary to his expectations, instead of more aggression, all he sees is Sukuna staring at his hand. He seems to ignore Otakemaru entirely, focusing on opening and closing his palm with a frown on his face.

"Nothing, huh?" He mutters under his breath, sounding oddly disappointed. "I was really feeling it too.."

Before he can ask what he is muttering about, Sukuna shrugs and turns his attention back to Otakemaru, an easy smile returning to his face.

"Is that your Osore then?" He asks, and while he remains wary for a sneak attack, Otakemaru nods his head.

"It is called Brutality," he admits. "I am not going to reveal my hand though."

"Hah! That's fine," Sukuna waves his words away. "Took you long enough to show it."

Those words bring a sense of foreboding to Otakemaru. A feeling that is only amplified when Sukuna's palms come together in a prayer but with the fore and pinkie finger bend inwards.

He was wondering in the back of his mind why he hadn't used his Domain yet. Apparently he was waiting to see what his Osore was.

"Domain Expansion-"

Youki floods his system, covering his entire body with defensive Brutality. pushing the boundaries of his body to the extreme.

"-Malevolent Shrine."

The world disappears behind the Domain's barrier, leaving him standing on a placid lake of blood opposite Sukuna. Behind the human stands a shrine with four wicked horns and a giant gaping maw in place of an entrance.

.....Nothing happens.

"Confused?" Sukuna asks, and he absently nods his head.

"It is a Binding Vow," Sukuna explains. "I removed my all the effects of my Domain and placed a restriction that forbade me from moving or attacking for the first five seconds after summoning forth my Domain."

Ah fuck.

He starts moving, but it's already too late, he should have just kept up his offensive instead of being too wary. He hesitated because of the counter-attack Vow that Sukuna pulled earlier. He got played.

"Additionally, my Domain will go down with the first Dismantle released. In exchange for this, the first Dismantle will retain its sure-hit effect and be enhanced greatly."

Otakemaru's mad dash stops three paces away from Sukuna and both of them merely stare at one another for one long, silent moment. He feels an odd sense of companionship in that moment.

And then the world returns, the Domain disappears, and the upper half of his body falls off of his hips.

He finds himself chuckling as he looks up at Sukuna. The human seems unharmed, but the wounds he took are clear by the damaged clothed and splatters of blood.

"You truly are one audacious human, Sukuna-san."

The human smirks down at him and raises a brow. "Maybe next time you won't hold back so much then? Get up already."

Otakemaru huffs but listens. He grabs his hips and repositions them back with his body. A pulse of Youki later and he is hole once more.

"I am surprised you did not kill me," he says musingly, turning to regard Sukuna calmly now that the fight seems to be over. "You could have."

Sukuna laughs.

He seems lighter now than before their fight, as if some weight has been lifted from his shoulders.

"I will kill you at your strongest, Otakemaru." Sukuna smirks at him one last time before turning around and beginning to casually stroll away, as if the ruined landscape has nothing to do with him. Otakemaru doesn't fail to notice the lack of suffix. "I had fun." He doesn't wave back or anything. "See ya later."

Otakemaru raises a brow at the strange and rather abrupt goodbye, but doesn't think too hard about it.

"Later, Sukuna."

He watches the odd human walk for a moment before turning to leave himself.

Neither of them really won. He's not sure how he feels about that.

On the one hand, that last attack legitimately could have killed him, but that is only because he was holding back quite a bit and they both seem to know it. And since it didn't and Sukuna's Technique should have been burnt out, he could have won the fight then and there.

But if there's one thing that that fight made abundantly clear, it is that Sukuna is an anomaly among humans.

So when Sukuna says that he will kill him at his strongest... He believes him.

And despite his general dislike of fighting... He is kind of looking forward to it.

How odd.

"What a strange day today has been," he mutters to himself before turning to find his wi-

He stops in his tracks, looking left and then right.

...Where did his wife go?

///

A/N: He~llo! Dear readers!

Tadaaa!!! Reveal!!

I wasn't planning on revealing Tithe so soon, or really for this fight to happen at all, but whatever I guess.

Tithe is the reason I have been able to say that Sukuna's technique is no less versatile than Narauko and how he is going to keep up. He is basically a binding vow merchant. It's also an explanation for why no one else exploits jujutsu like sukuna does in jjk canon.

I'm of mixed feelings about the fight. I liked writing some of it and disliked some of it. I think the problem is just that Otakemaru wasn't as into the fight as sukuna was. oh well.

Also yeah, Sukuna and Narauko can fight against an Ultimate class, but at the end of the day, protagonists or not, they cannot close that gap. If otakemaru went all out from the start, the fight would have lasted 3 seconds. Hopefully I showed that properly, but eeeh idk.

Also also, I thought that having Otakemaru and Suzuka both be full of misunderstandings was funny. They both actually really love each other but are terrible at showing it cuz Suzuka's a tsundere and Otakemaru is basically a Kuudere :3

Also also also, in order to improve my writing speed, I have decided that I am going to try caffine addiction. I've literally only drank water an milk for the past 6 years or so though, so when I had 3 half litre cans of energy drink last night I very nearly had a heart attack lmao, but y'know, whatever it takes for more chapter!! RAAGGHH!! FIGHTING!!!