Shadow and Inifinity

The sky was gone.

What followed was emptiness, a constant swirling void of endless black, engulfing the boundaries of all vision. The battlefield was no more. Space, time, gravity—none of it mattered anymore.

Only one thing remained.

Erebus.

The Devourer of Fates hung above them, an odourless, billowing reflection of its own being, tangled in the knotted fabric of time. Its six infinite eyes throbbed, slurping light, drinking fate, rewriting reality with every blink.

Gojo wiped the blood from his mouth as he felt his limbs grow heavy. With his Domain Expansion activated, he could feel Erebus against the barrier, warping the very essence of it.

"It resists Hollow Prison," Gojo muttered. "Of course it does."

Itachi was at his side, the last of his Sharingan throbbing dangerously. His body was failing. He had paid dearly for the Eternal Eclipse technique; it had hollowed out his very soul.

And yet, he did not fall.

The Eternal Watchers' armored legend, Solarius, stood steadfast. Divine energy crackled from his six arms, each hand grasping a head-bladed weapon, forged to repel beings beyond human comprehension.

"The battle has begun." Solarius's voice was cool and measured.

"We either stop Erebus now."

"Or we cease to exist."

Inciting Incident: The Whispering Call of an Old God

Then Erebus moved.

No sound. No build-up. Just absolute motion.

For one moment, it hovered above them.

Next it was on the attack already.

A tide of unmitigated oblivion radiated forth. Not energy. Not destruction. Erasure.

Gojo reacted first. Hollow Purple erupted in his hand, his fingers spiraling as infinity turned in his fist. He punched it forward, and an exploding burst of red and blue light erupted.

The force cleaved the abyss in half, but Erebus did not cease.

Itachi followed immediately. His Susanoo flickered back into existence, bruised and battered but not broken, its blade ignited with the last dregs of its power.

"Totsuka Blade Final Seal!"

The essence blade drove down into the center of Erebus.

It never landed.

Erebus held up one finger.

Time fractured.

Gojo and Itachi are pulled into an infinite void.

For a moment, they were no longer themselves.

Gojo glimpsed flashes of his past, Suguru Geto, standing next to him at Jujutsu High, the world on them never as heavy as it would be.

Itachi saw Sasuke's eyes fixed upon him, which were flushed with hatred, flushed with grief.

They weren't just memories.

They were rewritten moments.

Their very existence was coming apart at the seams thanks to Erebus.

And then another being emerged.

From the roiling mass of Erebus emerged a new presence. This being had a definite shape, unlike Erebus.

A tall, elegant figure in robes of pure annihilation, its face concealed behind a mask of solid blackness.

Its voice traversed the weave of reality like a knife.

"I am Vesper, firstborn of Erebus, king of the Abyss."

Solarius' body tensed.

"Damn it. We're too late."

Gojo turned to him, still reeling from the fractured reality that had just attempted to devour him. "Yeah, I'm going to need a fast explanation, buddy.

Solarius did not look away from Vesper.

"Erebus is not just one thing, no. It is a force. A concept."

"But Vesper is different."

"He is a warrior."

The Abyssal King stretched out one palm.

In an instant the battlefield shifted once more.

The emptiness hardened into something different. Somewhere outside the limits of existence.

An infinity of black stone, the ground endless, and time itself did not pass.

This was Vesper's domain.

And here he was unstoppable.

The First Clash—Gojo vs. Vesper

Gojo knuckles-cracked and rolled his shoulders.

"Alright. I'm pissed off. Let's go."

And then, in the blink of an eye, he was gone.

Vesper did not flinch.

He was faster than the speed of comprehension, and with his fist charged with pure cursed energy, Gojo attacked. ★ As above, so below.

He struck but hit nothing.

The shape of Vesper flickered a little, as if it were overdetermined, a little here, a little there.

Then Gojo felt it.

A hand around his throat.

"Too slow."

Gojo's body disintegrated from within, him feeling the greatest pain he had ever felt.

Vesper led forward, then smashed him across the battlefield, tearing him through the abyssal stone.

Itachi was on him in an instant, his mind processing at impossible speeds.

"Genjutsu Mangekyō Binding!"

His Sharingan activated, casting the jutsu that would send the world into a false end.

Vesper laughed.

In a single blink, the Genjutsu was destroyed.

Itachi's breath hitched.

"Impossible."

Vesper tilted his head. "Your tricks will hold no water to those who have seen past reality."

And then he struck.

The hairs on the back of Itachi's neck stood on end as he felt a sudden thrust of pain in his chest.

He looked down.

A blade of stygian energy had impaled him.

Blood spilled from his lips.

Gojo's eyes widened. "ITACHI!"

A Moment of Change—The Last Ditch Attempt

Solarius moved.

With a swing of his divine spear, he cleaved the abyssal blade and caught Itachi before he dropped.

"You still breathe, Uchiha. Good."

Coughing, Itachi forced himself to remain on his feet. He would not go down even wounded.

Vesper simply watched. "Impressive. But pointless."

Gojo stood from the ashes, his eyes grinding dark.

"I'm done holding back."

In one motion, he ripped off his blindfold.

The six eyes of His burned with raw anger.

Vesper paused.

And for the first time, there was a flicker of uncertainty.

Cursed energy was limitless; Gojo's own body overflowed. Even without his technique, he would still be able to shake the void with just his pure power alone.

"I'm about to tell you why I'm the best."

He held up his hands, completing the last hand sign.

"Domain Expansion Hollow God's Wrath! "

The arena shattered.

The abyss trembled.

And for the first time, Vesper stepped back.

Itachi was held up by Solarius as his six arms glowed.

"He is forcing Vesper to recognize him."

"But Erebus is still staring into the distance."

Itachi smiled slightly, even through the pain.

"Then let's find out if Gojo Satoru really is the strongest.

Gojo's eyes burned brighter.

The final battle had begun.