A Bizarre Adventure That Begins in Jujutsu Kaisen

After the congratulatory address, musicians played an elegant melody using a combination of dragon flutes, bili (a type of reed pipe), and phoenix sheng (a type of reed pipe).

The shrine maidens of Yasaka Shrine, dressed in white robes and scarlet hakama, danced slowly to the music.

With a wave of her long sleeves, she moved as if drifting clouds.

With a light touch of the toes, ripples seemed to spread out.

The beautiful and graceful dance seemed to embody the blessings of the gods, bestowed upon every audience member present.

After the priestesses finished their dance, they silently withdrew from both sides like a receding tide, leaving the atmosphere in the hall frozen.

The most symbolic core element of the Shinto ceremony—the "Sansankudo no Hachi" (さんさんくどうの杯), a traditional Japanese "cross-cupped wine"—is about to begin.

Ange-hime slowly stepped forward and poured the divine wine into three vermilion wine cups stacked on a lacquer tray.

The wine glasses are stacked in layers, from small to large, symbolizing a gradual progression from shallow to deep.

The process of pouring wine itself contains rituals.

The first two times, she merely tilted the wine jug slightly, allowing a small amount of wine to symbolically wet the spout and the rim of the glass. It was only on the third time that she calmly and smoothly poured the divine wine into the glass until it was completely full.

The songstress first held up the topmost and smallest wine glass with both hands and solemnly presented it to Xia Youjie.

Jay took the glass with both hands, steadily raised it to his forehead, tilted it slightly in front of God as a gesture, then took small sips. He repeated this three times, finally finishing the first glass of wine completely.

After finishing his drink, he calmly handed the empty cup back to the songstress.

The geisha took the cup, refilled it with sacred wine according to ancient rituals, and then turned the same cup around and handed it to Suda Manami.

Manami also held the cup with both hands, raised it to her forehead in greeting, and then drank it down in three small sips, before handing the cup back to the geisha.

According to the ritual, the person who drinks first in each round must drink another cup at the end to close the cycle and make the beginning and end connected.

Therefore, after the songstress poured the wine again, she still handed the cup to Xia Youjie.

Jay calmly drank it all, thus completing the first small cup of the "three-three" ceremony.

Then the songstress began to pour wine into the second, slightly larger glass.

The order of transmission has changed in this round.

Manami first took the wine glass and drank it in three sips.

The songstress then refilled the wine and handed the same glass to Xia Youjie, who then finished drinking it.

Finally, Manami drank one more cup to complete the cycle.

The third round of the cycle brought up the last and largest wine glass, and the passing order returned to the beginning.

Thus, the two followed a strict order of "groom → bride → groom", "bride → groom → bride", and "groom → bride → groom", using three small to large wine glasses. Each glass was drunk in three small sips, and after each glass was finished, the wine was refilled and the process was repeated, completing a full "three-three-nine" cycle.

This gift, imbued with the concept of "everything is three," is an odd-numbered gift, symbolizing good fortune.

The first cup is offered to the gods who care for the newlyweds, the second cup to the parents for their nurturing grace, and the third cup to the relatives and friends present.

Every bite carries gratitude and a promise.

As the wine flowed between the glasses, it also intertwined the fates of the two people through nine cycles and twenty-seven drinking sessions.

Because they didn't want to disrupt their friend's unique, sacred, and irreplaceable ritual moment, Theo and Gojo Satoru exchanged a silent glance.

At this moment, no matter what kind of gazes are hidden in the distance, they cannot and should not disturb this sacred place shrouded in joy.

Neither of them got up nor spoke, suppressing their wariness for the time being and silently waiting for the wedding to end.

Nerima Ward, Tokyo, amidst ruins.

Just as the joyous atmosphere of the wedding was rising from Yasaka Shrine in Kyoto, the battle there continued.

Shiro multitasked, maintaining the raven puppet's line of sight to observe and confirm that none of the five top-tier combatants had taken immediate action before he felt slightly relieved.

Coming to his senses, he saw that Louhu's severed wrists had already regenerated rapidly under the surge of magical power, while it remained frozen in place, refusing to move. He immediately spoke up in mockery:

"With this level of skill, you think you can challenge your seniors?"

Immediately afterwards, Shiro recited a phrase that seemed out of place on the battlefield: "In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise and walk."

After saying that, he did not press his advantage, but simply stood there calmly, waiting for the other party to digest his words which contained multiple meanings.

"What the hell?" Hu Bao was indeed uncultured and genuinely couldn't understand religious scriptures, so he couldn't comprehend these abrupt words for a moment.

"Tsk... You haven't learned human manners, so I forgive your ignorance."

We need to speak with your leader. You're so weak, you can't possibly be the leader, right?

Shiro's tone carried an even stronger sense of superiority.

Immediately, that false leniency vanished completely, leaving only relentless urging:

"If you're not going to kneel down and apologize for your earlier offense, then you'd better lead the way!"

His words contained no real intent to kill, yet they pierced Louhu's heart even more than any murderous intent.

The other party did not regard it as an enemy that needed to be taken seriously, but as a "child" who needed to be taught "rules" and was ignorant of his own limitations.

This utter contempt for knowledge torments its soul more than the pain of a severed arm.

Rage overwhelmed horror and deliberation.

Perhaps the initial attack was playful and probing, and it didn't matter if the attackers weren't killed.

But at this moment, the stark and despairing difference between friend and foe before it was something that its pride as a top-tier cursed spirit and a "new human" could absolutely not accept!

The crater on Louhu's head and the plugs on his ears were suddenly burst open by boiling lava. He quickly formed mudras with his hands, his little and ring fingers spread apart, and the other six fingers moved back and forth three times to form the Mahakala mudra.

"Don't underestimate me, kid! I'm going to burn your effeminate face to ashes!"

"Domain Expansion - A Coffin Encircled by Iron Mountains!"

A massive amount of magical power erupted, sweeping across the area.

This is a cave barrier filled with raging lava, powerful enough to instantly incinerate any level one sorcerer who enters.

The surrounding cave walls were scorched red by the high temperature, and molten lava poured down from the fissures like a waterfall, gathering below to form a bubbling lake of lava.

The air was violently distorted by the intense heat, and every breath felt like swallowing flames that scorched the lungs.

However, just as the outer shell of the scorching field finished closing and the sure-hit spell was about to take effect, a huge crescent-shaped blade of light, drawn out due to excessive speed, silently bloomed.

Shiro's speed once again exceeded the limits of visual persistence.

His existence seemed to have been "split".

The moment Shiro swung his sword in that millisecond, he passed by Shiro again in the next millisecond.

At this extreme speed, he was like a series of phantoms that coexisted briefly in different coordinates, speeding along the edge of the spherical field for several laps, unleashing dozens of intersecting slashes.

The afterimages danced in the sky, like a dense cloud of mosquitoes suddenly rising from the riverbank at dusk in summer, so dense that it was dazzling.

Finally, all the phantoms merged into one, and Shiro silently returned to his original spot, his katana gracefully sliding back into its sheath with a crisp "click".

He tilted his head and said playfully, "I can also do 'Domain Slash'!"

The moment the words fell, "Iron Mountain Enclosure" exploded, turning into countless fragments of magical power that scattered in all directions!

In doing so, Shiro demonstrated to the other top-tier spirits who might be watching with bated breath the power that comes to "seek cooperation"!

A top-tier cursed spirit is an energy life form composed purely of cursed power. It does not have a real brain, so it cannot be melted by spells.

However, the massive amount of magical power consumed in casting the domain has completely dissipated, and Louhu has absolutely no chance of casting the domain again in a short period of time.

Louhu has always taken it for granted that it is the candidate for the strongest.

For the first time, it so clearly understood what true power meant, having only ever looked up at the sky from the bottom of the well.

The white-haired man opposite could shred the entire outer shell of the domain before it could react, so he could naturally shred it into pieces as well!

If he harbors hostility, he will be instantly killed!

"...Hana Yu, save me!"