After hearing Satoru's words, the expressions of Zenin Ogi and Kamo Kaname brightened. The biting chill from Sode no Shirayuki that had been creeping through their bodies suddenly felt more bearable.
Earlier, when they heard that the cursed energy structure of Sukuna's finger had been disrupted, Ogi still doubted whether Satoshi could truly destroy the cursed object.
Now, after Satoru's declaration, his unease vanished.
Sukuna was the King of Curses. How could Satoshi possibly destabilize the cursed structure of Sukuna's fingers?
This must be Satoshi's limit.
Ogi had completely stopped thinking rationally. He hadn't even realized that Satoshi hadn't used Sode no Shirayuki's Bankai yet.
At that moment, Yuki, Satoru, and the others were quietly waiting for it.
They understood that only Hakka no Togame, the final punishment after Bankai, could inflict fatal damage to Sukuna's fingers.
"Don't rush things."
Satoshi smiled calmly. Now that the structure of Sukuna's cursed energy had been shaken, it was no longer indestructible.
Since Satoru had spoken up, there was no reason to delay any longer.
He had already achieved his goal. He understood Sukuna's strength well. Dragging this out served no purpose.
"Bankai."
"Hakka no Togame."
The moment those words left Satoshi's lips, a chill swept across the Treasury, making everyone flinch.
The air's temperature dropped instantly.
And in the blink of an eye, Satoshi's form transformed completely.
His clothing turned pure white, as though coated in frost. The pristine blade of Sode no Shirayuki had become fully transparent, like an ice-forged katana.
Hakka no Togame, this is Hakka no Togame.
Yuki's eyes widened. She had seen it before, but due to the barrier that day, her view was limited.
So this is its true form. This is the Bankai—Hakka no Togame. Now my Six Eyes can finally analyze the difference between Shikai and Bankai.
Satoru's eyes were gleaming. This was the only known Bankai in the world. He wouldn't miss a single second of it.
Others who possessed Zanpakutō felt the same.
Yuki, Suguru, Shoko, and Saemon, standing at the scene.
Watching the livestream were Toji, Yuto, and Shunichi.
No one dared to blink.
Even though they all knew that watching Satoshi complete his Bankai wouldn't suddenly grant them the ability to do the same, they still clung to that faint hope.
Especially because the power of Hakka no Togame in Satoshi's hands was simply overwhelming.
Throughout the entire forbidden Treasury of Tokyo Jujutsu High, crystalline ice began to form from thin air.
Then, in front of everyone, Satoshi changed stances and raised Sode no Shirayuki, now in its Bankai form, toward the sky.
Massive icicles surged upward. The pale blue pillars supported a colossal frozen disc. From beneath it, blizzards of snow and ice surged down toward Sukuna's fingers.
Under the bombardment of this glacial force, panic spread across the faces of all present.
The weight of Sode no Shirayuki's Bankai made it feel like the next second would bury them all in crystalline snow and freeze them where they stood.
Is this the power of Bankai? Is this the kind of cold that severs life itself? Just looking at it makes my soul feel like it's freezing.
Ogi trembled uncontrollably. He wanted to run, but the chill locking up his body made it impossible to move.
Kamo Kaname, who was weaker than him, was even worse off. He had gone numb, unable to respond at all.
The person most shocked by what she saw, however, wasn't at the scene.
It was Itadori Kaori, watching from the Shikoku livestream.
As expected. He used Bankai again.
She was the only one alive who had personally experienced the full force of Bankai.
She knew exactly how terrifying Sode no Shirayuki became in that form.
And this was the moment she had been waiting for.
She had stayed glued to the livestream just to see whether Ryomen Sukuna's fingers could withstand the power of Bankai.
Was the dead wax of Ryomen Sukuna truly stronger?
Or was Satoshi's mysterious Zanpakutō more powerful?
Kaori stared at the screen, eyes filled with anticipation. The result would directly affect the course of her plans.
...
At the Tombs of the Star,
Tengen watched Satoshi unleash Hakka no Togame with a mix of shock and quiet relief.
If Satoshi's Zanpakutō was truly this powerful, then the nine years she had spent collaborating with Urozakuro had not been wasted.
If Urozakuro's Bankai reached even close to this level, then it could indeed help her fulfill her goal of fusion.
Yes, Tengen had already formed a plan in her mind.
Dripping water wears through stone.
In these past nine years, she and Urozakuro had formed a faint resonance, though she had yet to take that final step.
But she understood Urozakuro's ability well. It could help her.
Fusion. That was its true power.
"Gojo Satoshi… if Urozakuro's Bankai still requires more time, I may not be able to hold on much longer."
Tengen's expression returned to calm. Her gaze remained fixed on the screen, quietly hoping that Satoshi's Bankai could completely annihilate Sukuna's fingers.
...
The entire Treasury was now engulfed in crystalline ice.
Tokyo Jujutsu High resembled a palace of frost and silence. Everyone stood frozen in place, stunned.
The snow and ice turned everything into a frozen grave.
Even though Sukuna's fingers were merely dead wax, they looked like they had been buried alive, locked in a coffin of glacial punishment.
Surely Sukuna's fingers can't last much longer.
That same thought echoed through every mind present, even Zenin Ogi's.
(To be continued.)