"DIE!!"

​Hitachi yelled, his voice tearing through the fabric of the isolated biome. He appeared instantaneously in front of Sasuke, who was staring at the inextinguishable black flames on his right hand in surprise.

​BOOOOM!!!

​Hitachi’s legendary sword struck his neck, flawlessly cutting it off. The sheer force of the decapitation sent a shockwave that carved a deep trench into the earth behind the Shinobi.

​"I... I did it." Hitachi muttered, his chest heaving as he stared at the severed head resting on the ground. But his momentary triumph evaporated when the head, and the body attached to it, shattered into a cloud of white smoke.

​"What?" He was stunned. His newly evolved white-ringed Celestial Eyes darted frantically, trying to track the sudden displacement of energy.

​BAM!!

​Cold steel bit through flesh and bone. A straight sword drove into his back from behind, the blood-soaked blade bursting out from his chest.

​"You have been inside my genjutsu from the very start," Sasuke’s calm voice whispered directly into his ear. "I was surprised because you could counter my Amaterasu, and even reflect it back to me... But that was a foolish plan."

​Sasuke smoothly drew his sword back out, as Hitachi’s strength completely left his legs. He fell face first to the ground.

​"You are good, but you will have to train twenty more years with your eyes to defeat me," Sasuke said coldly, watching as Hitachi’s body shattered into digital light and vanished from the arena.

​"Hitachi died the fourth death. Sasuke won," Mirabella’s voice sounded all over the place, echoing from the sky of the domain like an absolute decree.

​Sasuke moved his gaze around the empty, ruined clearing, a slight frown on his face. "Who are you? And..." He lowered his gaze to his hand. He clearly knew his left arm had been severed in the past during his final battle at the Valley of the End, but now, it was perfectly whole, constructed from pure energy.

​"How did you recreate my hand?" he asked, his Sharingan spinning as he tried to analyze the invisible speaker.

​"You don’t have to worry, I am sure we won’t see ourselves again," Mirabella answered, her tone dismissive yet carrying the weight of a domain master.

​Sasuke stared at his own body, which had already started disintegrating into glowing spiritual particles.

​"So you are the one who brought me here. Let me ask, why let me kill him?"

​"No worries, this was just a training, and he isn’t dead," Mirabella replied.

​Sasuke nodded his head lightly, a rare glimmer of respect in his eyes. "He is just like me, I can feel his rage and determination. With time, he will make a fine Shinobi."

​With that final assessment, he vanished completely, returning to nothingness.

​Mirabella sat on her throne in the Golden Palace with a slight frown. "How can he be a Shinobi? We aren’t in your world," she said, shaking her head. She then turned her attention to the other holographic screens, only to be stunned in place.

​"What the?! They’re all dead?! Only Carl remains?!!" she exclaimed in absolute shock, her hands flying over her armrests to quickly resurrect the other eight students before their souls could shatter.

​She stared at the combat logs, a cold sweat breaking out on her brow. "Did I go overboard? These guys are too powerful, even for me. Rimuru Tempest, the grand priest and Saitama... They’re simply too powerful, but Carl is still standing, even when he’s up against Sukuna, who’s even more dangerous than Sasuke. I can’t even believe he is still getting up," she muttered in surprise, realizing she had accidentally summoned entities whose base power levels completely broke the logic of her own universe.

___

​[Carl.]

​PIFF!

​Carl spat out a mouthful of blood, slowly getting back to his feet. His face was filled with deep, purple bruises, and his stamina bar was blinking dangerously in the red.

​"Hahaha! You are a strong one," Sukuna stood calmly some feet away. The King of Curses radiated an overwhelming aura of pure malice that pressed down heavily on the surrounding space.

​"I haven’t even used any of my abilities, and you’re already this weak, if I placed a curse on you. You might die," he said, casually stretching his neck.

​Carl shook his head lightly, his grip tightening until his knuckles turned white around the hilt of his Epic-class dagger. "I won’t back down."

​"I like your determination, just like a friend of mine... Anyway, you can’t kill me, I am an immortal," Sukuna taunted, amused by the boy’s fragile, mortal struggle.

​"I don’t fucking care if you’re a mortal or immortal!! I will kill you today and show Big sister I can protect her!!" Carl yelled, pushing his agility stats past their limit as he vanished from sight.

​"Big sister... You aren’t bad, doing this for your sister," Sukuna noted lazily. He merely moved his head a fraction to the side, flawlessly dodging Carl’s desperate dagger strike. Without missing a beat, he gripped Carl’s wrist with crushing force, and tossed him to the side like a rag doll.

​BAM!

​Carl smashed heavily onto the ground, cratering the earth. Coughing violently, he smashed his palm on the ground and pushed himself back up.

​"I won’t lose!" He stood up, blood flowing freely all over his face.

​’I already died three times! If I die again, I will lose! I won’t lose!!’ Carl thought, getting back to his feet. The sheer terror of failing Mirabella was a stronger motivator than the pain wracking his body.

​"You know, attacking me continuously with your weak strength is kind of annoying, so I will end it without you feeling the slightest pain," Sukuna sighed, finally deciding to conclude the game.

​He stretched his left hand towards Carl, mimicking the posture of holding an invisible bow, then raised his right hand, pulling back an unseen string.

​Carl blinked, watching in sheer disbelief as a condensed, apocalyptic flame arrow formed directly on Sukuna’s fingers. The heat alone instantly incinerated the grass around them.

​"You entertained me well."

​With that casual parting remark, he released the arrow.

​WHOOSH!!

​"I told you!! I won’t lose!!" Carl screamed. In the face of absolute annihilation, a dam broke within his soul. His natural blue eyes instantly turned a blinding, radiant golden. At that exact moment, the searing attack smashed into him.

​BOOOOM!!!

​A massive explosion of fire and cursed energy leveled the biome, sending a mushroom cloud of thick smoke rising into the sky. Sukuna grinned, his eyes widening in genuine thrill.

​"Hahahaha!! You actually have such a Jujutsu!! Now you’re getting me excited, if only Gojo is here to see this!" he yelled over the roaring flames.

​He stared upward as a figure shot out of the inferno and hovered in the air. Two magnificent, divine golden wings were flapping steadily behind Carl. His eyes shone with a primordial golden light, and his lengthened blonde hair moved wildly in the turbulent wind.

​"I told you, I won’t lose," Carl muttered with a cold, unyielding expression, his hidden power finally brought to the surface.