Chapter 32

Kenjaku paused in this strange domain. Yet before him was the pinnacle and statues of the once mighty Tooru family. Their 'castle' as he dubbed it, but it is merely a distant memory now.

Despite this being Shin Tooru's domain… at least, he assumes it is, it was strange to see this after a thousand years.

Kenjaku slowly made his way towards the large structure, knowing fully well how it is laid out and yet, when he entered, he paused. Shin Tooru wasn't alone, in fact, he was speaking to a young Ryomen Sukuna who finally took notice of him.

"Ah, there he is! See, I told you. Despite how old he is, he will panic if he feels he has missed an opportunity."

"Is this some sort of joke?" he asked of the King of Curses.

Sukuna forced a small smile. "I wish it were, but this is my soul at the moment, and I am fully aware that this is how you saw me the last time as well, it is a shame that it hasn't grown over the past thousand years… I wonder why…"

Last time… how could he have recalled that?

"The binding vow…"

"It broke years ago." He decreed.

Yet this made little sense to Kenjaku. "I made certain you couldn't break that, I made it impossible for such a thing to happen…"

"You forget the family who found me, and once more, they are trying to save me yet again… I never understood why that was until recently, and yet it all seems so frivolous now." He said and waved off the notion. "Now, what were those binding again? Oh right, forgiveness of an enemy… to have my first love fall in love with me again…" he began to name off every stipulation Kenjaku had placed on him, and yet… they all broke?!

"No one in their right mind would have wanted to help the likes of you! Years of chaos and destruction have made that so!" he protested.

Sukuna smirked. "You're flustered… it's nice to see that" he said and bore a rather amused grin.

Kenjaku calmed himself down, he took a deep breath and sighed. "Well, at least I can start over, and you are in the heart of the clan I need to have destroyed once more. You did so once, and you shall do so again… I just have to destroy this part of your soul…"

He tried to strike him, Sukuna didn't even flinch as the blast of curse energy came right at him, and yet, a foot before him, the power burned up and was disburse. Kenjaku froze as he swore. He saw wings shield Sukuna!

"I do believe you were told by Mother Tooru, you could control me once and only once, but never again." he said in a haunting tone. "And just now, I understand why Mother Tooru is where she is… she gave up her Phoenix clause to protect me… in case I regained myself and you or someone else tried this again." he explained.

"This… can't be. I extinguished this part of you!" Kenjaku muttered.

"You did, after all. When I fought the brat the first time in my true form… the fact he showed me a pathetic side of himself… it only showed me his conviction as well… I finally understood what he wanted to do." Sukuna said in a sage like tone. He sighed at that moment. "Yuuji Itadori… wanted me to live… to see the world not as a curse, but as he saw it… I barely remember this for the timeline reset itself… But recalling this now… it makes me realize what you truly took from me. This part of my soul… the inner child as they say, the moment this was taken… I lost all sense of what the Toorus taught me, what they thought I could become… And yet, despite the fact you had me believe they were the cause of my suffering… every time I took their lives… they protected what little remained of this part of me. That alone was enough… and Yuuji nurtured to in his care when he defeated me in a trial of body and soul… where do you think Suiryu Itadori came from?"

'The timeline rest…' Kenjaku thought, but then realized it was true. There are certain things that happened but everything was nearly scaled back to a degree. Shibuya is still in ruins and yet… those who died in that incident, some were brought back… but perished in other ways. It affected him as well, he knew he died in the last one, and yet the dragon he had spoken with was able to manipulate the timeline so he wouldn't die, by putting him in a different body than what he had before.

"You know who did such a thing?" Kenjaku asked.

Sukuna smirked. "Indeed, the same family that has messed with you for years. In fact, it was Yua Tooru who did such a thing at a great cost to herself. Yet, in these actions… they reset not just the timeline… but mindsets. I have returned time and time again, and only recently I found my stay rather permanent. Yet at a cost as well, at the expense of myself, I have lost much of my pride, honor and self importance, only to realize such things don't matter as much as they use to…"

"Who the hell are you!" Kenjaku demanded. "Ryomen Sukuna is to be a plague upon the world, the power he possesses such have been used to destroy nations and reforming them under his image and submission to power! You could have had it all, and yet, you have the chance to do so again only to throw it away? To become a mere mortal!?"

Sukuna forced a smile. "That's how you saw me." He said in a rather tried tone. "I have come to see that no matter the situation, I was an unwanted child destined to destroy… how is it that the Toorus saw me differently?"

"They weakened you!"

"Did they? If they have made me so weak, then why are YOU terrified of them? Why is it that you are doing everything in your power to rid the world of the Tooru clan and for what? You are that panicked to lose to them after the countless years you have spent in attempts to destroy the clan once and for all? How well is that going for you?" he asked and smirked after asking his questions.

"I had enough of this, where is the Tooru boy named Shin? He's going to be my next shell."

Shin was still standing near Sukuna, but was tucked behind him protectively. Sukuna remained rather unmoved to this. "There's an old saying, to get to him, you have to go through me." He decreed in a serious tone.

Kenjaku merely smirked.

"Oh? Really? Even if this is your domain, my technique has allowed me to live countless lives through others…" he began to split his soul, one by one, those who he took from began to appear behind him. Every man, woman and occasional child suddenly gathered behind him at the ready for a fight.

There were two hundred version of Kenjaku when it was all said and done. "I didn't need to do this the last time to destroy that part of you, but it appears that it is necessary this time."

Sukuna wasn't the least bit startled or concerned. He merely smiled, and then, oddly enough, he starting to sing something odd.

"Even though I am gone, I will always be here. Calm your mind. Calm your fears. Our paths now, will bring us apart. But I will always live on, inside your heart. May I return, and our paths meet in a new land, I will find you…" he lingered, he didn't finish that part of this strange song and yet…

"And be your friend again…"

Voices came out of nowhere. Suddenly, Kenjaku froze as he found himself surrounded by two hundred Toorus!

"What the hell is this!? What sorcery is this!?" he demanded of Sukuna.

"Oh right, you are not aware, my origins… the reason why that damn dragon had you use me, is because I was created by his two dragon sons who he killed and sent their souls to earth. They used curse energy as a source of survival, and in turn, accidently created me." He explained.

"Get to your damn point!"

Sukuna smirked. "Very well then, my soul was incomplete. I needed 200 souls to repair mine… as such, those before you have become part of me… part of my soul." He decreed. "So… Kenjaku… do you think you can do the same thing again as you did over a thousand years ago?"

Before Kenjaku could answer, a blast ripped through the domain… and took out half of his former egos!

He peered and yet froze.

"The blind bastard!?" he demanded.

"That's father Tooru to you"

Sukuna smiled, in fact, he stared at Father Tooru with great pride. "I always knew he hated you, but never explained why…" Sukuna said offhandedly.

Father Tooru, smirked. "How do you think I went blind? Who do you think did that to me?" he asked Sukuna. Father Tooru turned his head, his eyes appeared like a void, and yet… Kenjaku felt them stare into him. "He was experimenting on me, long before he understood what he was doing. He was merely… curious… and made binding vows with parts of the body. I never understood how or why he was doing such a thing, but his test on me, made me lose my sight. In exchange, I can discharge powerful blasts of power…"

"It's almost like my dad's ability…" chimed in Shin.

"Indeed… perhaps YOU knew the potential of the Gojo clan before they did… was that what you were trying to do before? Obtain powerful techniques and having these clans in your debt?" he asked curiously.

Kenjaku smirked. "It doesn't matter," he said bluntly. "So be it, I do believe this is no longer in my favor…"

But there was a problem. He couldn't break free…

"What… what is keeping me here? How can I not break out of this domain!?"

He has been trying ever since he summoned his former egos. In fact, those in the center were used in attempt to break out of the domain, but they failed. In fact, he couldn't sense how to break free anymore.

"What is happening? What are YOU doing?!" he demanded of Sukuna.

His smile grew wicked. In fact, the Toorus shared his evil grin. "Well… if you want me to explain this, let's say I know how to destroy you… mind… body… and soul. Right now, we are dealing with the mind. Your real body is kept at a temple that resides near one that is dedicated to me… in fact, this was one that the Toorus liked to use… until you had taken a member of their family from them. At the Senkoji temple… does that sound familiar?"

He bocked.

How… how could Ryomen Sukuna have known… that…

Kenjaku suddenly found himself looking into the sea of faces of the Tooru clan. One happened to have stood out…

The one member he killed in that temple was now standing among them…