"Phew..."
Kenjaku watched the Prison Realm as it prepared to close, letting out a long, heavy breath.
The most difficult step was finally complete.
At this moment, he even felt a trace of 'gratitude' toward the man named Hayashi En.
This man's grasp of the situation was truly uncanny.
If Hayashi En hadn't suggested letting Mahito move early to force out Gojo Satoru's Domain, Hanami would be dead by now.
It was fortunate he wasn't an enemy.
"It seems this Hayashi En truly just wants a piece of the pie in this chaos..."
Before the smile could fully spread across Kenjaku's face, the fleshy walls of the Prison Realm slammed shut.
Snap!
With a sharp sound, the heavy cube fell to the ground.
Gojo Satoru—sealed.
The entire B5F platform fell into a deathly silence.
Jogo, Choso, and Mahito were just now recovering from the mental shock.
Before they could even process their surroundings, their eyes were glued to the box that held the strongest sorcerer.
They won!
No one noticed Hanami in the corner, stiff and half-dead.
Except for Hayashi En.
In that 0.01-second window, just when everyone's guard was down and they thought the outcome was decided.
A jarringly discordant sound rang out.
It was the crisp click of leather heels striking the floor.
Tap.
The sound wasn't loud, yet it boomed like thunder across the silent platform.
Hayashi En stepped forward.
This single step was impossibly fast!
Clad in his sharp suit, his body blurred into an afterimage like a ghost.
Whoosh!
It was the whistle of coattails tearing through the air.
He covered the twenty-meter distance from the shadows to Hanami in an instant.
Kenjaku snapped his head up, his pupils shrinking to pinpricks.
Amidst the shock-stricken gazes of Jogo and Mahito, a mere half-step away from Hanami.
Someone had appeared out of thin air.
Dressed in an impeccably tailored black suit and spotless white gloves, he looked as if he had just stepped out of a high-class banquet.
Hayashi En smiled, looking as though he had been waiting there for a long time.
He ignored the frozen expressions of the Special Grade Cursed Spirits around him.
In the next heartbeat, the cane sword in his hand was drawn.
No, it could no longer be called 'drawing' a sword.
It was a golden storm that came without warning!
[SYSTEM: RATIO TECHNIQUE!]
Without a single wasted movement, Hayashi En's arm vanished, turning into an afterimage beyond the perception of the naked eye.
Fast! It was devastatingly fast!
The air was violently torn apart, emitting a sharp, piercing boom.
In an instant, hundreds of golden sword strikes wove into an airtight net of death, completely enveloping the paralyzed Hanami.
Psh-psh-psh-psh-psh-psh!!!
The dull sounds of flesh being sliced were as rapid as a drumbeat.
In that moment, hundreds of blood blossoms erupted from Hanami's body.
Every strike hit a weak point, every strike was a critical hit, and every strike carried a terrifying impact capable of shattering the soul!
Hanami was robbed of even the right to scream.
A split second before it could regain consciousness, its incredibly tough cursed spirit body was like something thrown into a meat grinder running at full power.
Disintegration!
Fragmentation!
A mist of blood and wood shards exploded simultaneously into the air!
It was a one-sided slaughter, both supremely elegant and utterly bloody.
Before the blood mist could even settle, Hayashi En reached out his gloved left hand casually into the void.
A Primordial Sphere precisely caught that trace of core cursed energy.
Special Grade Cursed Spirit: Hanami—reclamation successful.
Only after finishing did Hayashi En unhurriedly flick away the non-existent blood from his blade.
He tilted his head slightly, looking at the completely frozen Kenjaku.
A polite curve tugged at the corner of his mouth, and his lips moved silently:
"Thank you for the treat."
In his place, only a few withered wood chips remained.
Silence.
A true, heavy silence descended.
The smile on Kenjaku's face froze entirely, slowly transforming into an expression of unbelievable gloom.
He watched helplessly as one of his Special Grade fighters was plucked away like a piece of fruit at the very moment of their victory.
"You bastard!!! What are you doing?!"
Jogo finally snapped out of it, his furious roar shaking the entire platform.
Scalding lava gathered in his palm and erupted with a boom.
But it was too late.
Having finished his harvest, Hayashi En didn't even spare a glance at the fireball.
He elegantly raised his right hand, which still carried Hanami's scent, and lightly snapped his fingers.
Snap.
The shadow beneath his feet instantly seethed, turning into a black marsh that swallowed him whole.
"Hayashi En!!!"
Mahito's hands transformed into scythes, and he slashed at the ground with a shrill cry.
The blades sliced through the air, hitting nothing but emptiness.
He was gone.
On the platform, only the Prison Realm lying on the ground remained, along with a group of Special Grade Cursed Spirits venting their futile rage at the empty air.
They had defeated Gojo Satoru.
But in this moment, they felt like they had lost like clowns.
Kenjaku's mind raced.
Hayashi En approached me of his own accord.
Hayashi En suggested Mahito start early.
Gojo Satoru was forced into a 0.2-second Domain Expansion.
Hanami didn't die, but everyone was paralyzed.
"I see..."
Kenjaku let out a chilling sneer, his fists cracking as he clenched them.
He thought Hayashi En was just a mercenary opportunist.
But he was wrong.
That man had played everyone.
He protected Hanami not to save an ally, but to kill her himself.
He used Gojo Satoru to clear the board and used Kenjaku to seal Gojo Satoru, all to create this 'hunting moment' that belonged solely to him.
"That guy Hayashi En..."
Kenjaku's voice was ice-cold.
"He was never a collaborator."
"He treated us, Gojo Satoru, and the entirety of Shibuya... as his chessboard."
"That guy... he actually dared to play us!" Mahito licked his lips excitedly, killing intent overflowing from his eyes. "Should we go kill him now?"
"No rush."
Kenjaku took a deep breath, forcing down his rising anger.
"The primary mission now is to hold the Prison Realm. Even if Gojo Satoru is sealed, those rabid dogs of sorcerers are still out there."
"As for Hayashi En... we still need him to release Sukuna. We don't have time for him right now."
...
Shibuya, the rooftop of the Hikarie Building.
The night wind whipped, fluttering the hem of Hayashi En's trench coat.
[SYSTEM: Special Grade Cursed Spirit Hanami has been reclaimed]
[SYSTEM: Reclamation Points: 100,000]
[SYSTEM: Remaining Points: 140,000]
A massive profit.
Hayashi En closed the panel in high spirits.
Behind him, Mechamaru spoke:
"Boss, please give your next instructions."
Hayashi En stretched, looking out over the chaotic streets of Shibuya below.
"Follow the original plan. Notify Itadori that Gojo Satoru has been sealed."
"Get everyone from the Jujutsu High moving."
"The muddier the water, the easier it is to catch the fish."
In this moment, his gaze was deeper than the night.
"Also, contact Maki. Tell her to take the Playful Cloud given by Fushiguro and head to that place."
"Stay here and continue monitoring all of Shibuya."
"As for me..."
Hayashi En straightened his slightly ruffled cuffs and turned toward the stairwell.
"I'm going to do a bit of 'easy' work first."
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