"Hah... Hah... Hah..."
Megumi Fushiguro half-knelt on the riverbed, body covered in bruises, black school uniform torn in several places and bleeding profusely.
Divine Dogs and Nue were destroyed...
"Maki-senpai..."
Megumi looked up. Maki Zenin was being held in mid-air, tree branches extending from Hanami's arm wrapped tightly around her neck. The green-haired woman's face was flushed red from lack of oxygen—looking as if she would completely suffocate in the next second.
"Unfortunately, just the two of you are no match for me."
"Now, please die and become sages."
Hanami's fingers tightened slightly. The branches constricted further. Maki's eyes were about to roll back.
"You... Hah..."
Megumi tried to stand from the ground but fell back to his knees the moment they left the ground. He clutched his abdomen, where a sharp branch had pierced through. The excruciating pain made him lose his strength and nearly pass out.
Hanami tilted its head, looking at him with eyes covered by branches.
"Why do you struggle so?"
Damn it. I'm really too useless. I couldn't help at all.
Megumi gritted his teeth.
An enemy like this... if it were Itadori, maybe he could handle it.
Although he verbally said he wanted to catch up to Yuji, in reality, he didn't think he could ever catch up. Yuji was simply too strong. Stronger than all of them.
"Megumi, do you know your biggest problem?"
Satoru Gojo stood on the stone steps of the sports field, hands in his pockets, looking down at Megumi Fushiguro sitting beside him.
"..."
Megumi shook his head.
"Your mindset. Your mindset is truly terrible. Before a battle, you always calculate the success rate before deciding whether to act. If you can't win, you don't fight. If the odds are low, you don't try. Doing this will indeed let you live longer—but it will also keep you stuck in place forever."
"If you keep this up, forget about Yuji—you won't even be able to surpass Nanami."
"..."
Megumi was silent for a while.
"Is it wrong to do that?"
"It's not exactly wrong. It's just not suitable for you." Satoru Gojo let out a long sigh. "Your innate technique, the Ten Shadows Technique, is as famous as my Limitless. Have some confidence, will you?"
"As a sorcerer, you are too rational. The jujutsu sorcerer profession is fundamentally a bunch of crazy people fighting another bunch of crazy people."
"I don't want you to become someone like Yuji or Okkotsu. I just hope you believe in your talent. Your innate technique, your talent, your potential—they are not inferior to anyone's."
Believe... Believe that I can defeat the monster in front of me...
How can I do that?
Megumi thought of the memory from yesterday evening—when Yuji Itadori and Satoru Gojo walked in front of him with their arms around each other's shoulders.
Those two left him far behind. It wasn't a matter of whether he worked hard or not. No matter how he tried to catch up, he didn't think he could ever be like Yuji.
This was Megumi Fushiguro's self-perception.
If Itadori is the light, then I am the shadow... The light is an existence I can never reach.
However... even if it's minuscule, a shadow... also has the role of a shadow. So...
Megumi began to form hand signs. A dangerous cursed energy surged from him.
"Furube..."
CLAP!
...A sound?
When Megumi came back to his senses, he found himself teleported to the woods beside the riverbank—not far from the battlefield he'd just been on. At that moment, two foreign figures appeared on the riverbank—
Aoi Todo's right fist was tightly clenched, cyan cursed energy burning—
BANG!
A punch landed on Hanami's chest. The curse's feet slid backward, forcing it to release Maki. Yuji caught the green-haired woman in his arms.
"Are you okay, Maki-senpai?"
"...Hiss, hah... I'm fine."
Maki showed a pained expression, panting heavily. But fortunately, Yuji and Todo had arrived just as they were defeated—so she didn't suffer any fatal injuries.
"Todo! I'll leave this to you for now!"
"Don't worry! Brother!"
Hearing this, Yuji carried Maki and rushed toward Megumi. He placed her on the grass beside him.
"Itadori, you..."
I thought you couldn't hold out against Naoya Zenin's attacks...
He turned his head and found that the hot-tempered Aoi Todo not only hadn't fought Yuji... but the two seemed to have formed a partnership?
"Don't move. I'll stop the bleeding for you."
Megumi wanted to speak, but Yuji interrupted him. The pink-haired boy placed his hands on their shoulders, a faint white light shining in his palms.
After the protracted battle with Naoya Zenin and the fight just now, Yuji's cursed energy was depleted by about fifty percent. Even so, sparing some to stop their bleeding was manageable.
"You... actually know the Reverse Cursed Technique?"
Megumi asked weakly.
"Gojo-sensei taught me. I only know a little bit."
Yuji answered.
Megumi looked at the gradually healing wound on his abdomen, then looked at Yuji. Silent for a moment.
"Is there anything you don't know?"
Maki felt her throat ease up a bit. She forced a smile of surviving a disaster. "Itadori, do you know? You remind me of the Night Parade of a Hundred Demons a year ago. Okkotsu saved me, Panda, and the others just like this back then."
Yuji didn't consume too much cursed energy—only helping the two stop their bleeding.
"Alright. You guys go quickly. Leave the barrier and find Shoko-san for treatment."
Maki's physical constitution was much better than Megumi's. She got up, put Megumi's arm over her shoulder, and stood with him.
"Itadori, thank you so much this time. If it weren't for you, we probably would've died."
"...How's Naoya doing?" Maki asked again.
Yuji nodded. "He was defeated by me."
"You kid... I knew it. You always bring unexpected surprises."
Maki supported Megumi and turned to leave.
"About the training on the day school started... I'm sorry."
"..."
Yuji was stunned for a moment before recalling the incident where Maki had been angered to the point of breaking her composure by his talent when he first enrolled.
"It's nothing. I didn't mind anyway."
Yuji scratched his head.
"Also, thank you for the matter with Naoya Zenin. You clearly had no obligation to help me."
"No need to thank me. We're all friends."
Yuji raised his hand and gave Maki a thumbs-up with a smile.
"...Friends, huh?"
Maki smiled helplessly.
"No wonder that Fushiguro kid is so infatuated with you."
Yuji: "...?"
Megumi: "...?"
"Hey, Maki-senpai. Don't talk nonsense."
"Am I? Let's go first. Don't hold him back."
Yuji felt a chill run down his spine—but seeing the two supporting each other as they left, he pulled his thoughts back and turned his gaze to Hanami and Aoi Todo fighting nearby.
Although Hanami's defense was strong, Aoi Todo's Boogie Woogie gave him extremely high mobility. Under their combined attacks, Hanami was nothing more than a durable punching bag—
BANG!
Aoi Todo knocked Hanami back with a punch. The curse stumbled back several steps, splashing water.
Currently, Hanami hadn't managed to injure Aoi Todo.
"Hey, big guy. You're the one who rescued Mahito last time, right?"
Hanami shook its hand, the dent on its arm repaired by cursed energy. It turned to look at Yuji.
"...So what if I am?"
"How's that Mahito guy doing now?"
Yuji walked up to Aoi Todo and continued asking.
"Mahito... he's been depressed recently."
Hanami was silent for a while, its tone somewhat heavy.
"Is that so? That guy really deserves to be depressed."
A "just as I thought" smile appeared on Yuji's face.
After all, Yuji had almost beat the living daylights out of Mahito back then. It was only natural to gloat now.
"Don't you think it's cruel?" Hanami became agitated seeing the smile on Yuji's face. "You destroyed a curse's will."
"No. He destroyed others' wills first. This is called reaping what you sow."
Yuji said.
"You should know better than me how many people he's killed—so don't talk to me about cruelty. You guys invaded Jujutsu High. Hurt my companions. Who knows how many people Mahito has harmed."
"It's perfectly justified for me to exorcise you. Since he thinks a so-called 'strong person' can freely slaughter humans—then applying that logic, it's only natural that his will was destroyed by me."
"..."
Hanami was silent for a while.
"You're right. You are humans. I am a curse. Mahito indeed reaped what he sowed."
I never wanted to fight Sukuna's vessel, but Jogo is stealing Sukuna's fingers in the storehouse. There's no other way now...
Hanami untied the cloth wrapping on its left shoulder, revealing a bright, giant red flower. At the center of the flower was a mass of tissue resembling an eyeball.
This flower could absorb the life energy of plants and convert it into cursed energy.
I'll use that move Kenjaku gave me.
Hanami raised its hands to form a sign.
"Domain Expansion—"
"Ceremonial Sea of Light..."
CLAP!
The moment Aoi Todo sensed Hanami's intention, he completed a Boogie Woogie swap. Yuji was also ready to attack.
The two coordinated flawlessly—almost like old friends who had known each other for years.
"Black Flash!"
BANG—!
The pink-haired boy delivered an uppercut to Hanami's jaw. With a crack, the curse's epidermis shattered.
CLAP!
Aoi Todo clapped again to swap. This time, he and Yuji swapped positions! Before Hanami could adjust its balance, his fist descended!
BANG!
Aoi Todo's punch landed on Hanami's chest, knocking it back several steps. However, he didn't unleash a Black Flash—so the punch was weaker than Yuji's.
This gave Hanami a chance to counterattack.
"Not done yet!"
Hanami raised its hand. Several thick tree roots burst through the water surface under Aoi Todo's feet, trying to entangle his body.
CLAP!
But before that, Aoi Todo completed a clapping swap. Hanami's vision blurred—it barely realized it had swapped positions with Aoi Todo. The tree roots meant to bind Aoi Todo ended up entangling itself instead!
"Damn it—!" Hanami said in frustration.
Without giving it a chance to break free, Yuji sprinted to their side. He pushed off the ground with his right foot, leaping high into the air, and kicked Hanami's left cheek.
"Black Flash!"
The second Black Flash.
BANG!
Hanami's head jerked violently to one side. A bone-cracking sound came from its cervical spine. Aoi Todo's attack followed closely behind—
"Not done yet!"
BANG!
Aoi Todo kicked Hanami's torso. The tree roots binding it snapped. The curse flew backward.
BOOM—!
So fast. There was absolutely no chance to activate the technique.
Yuji fell from the air onto the water surface, not forgetting to praise.
"Beautifully done, brother."
"You're not bad either, brother."
"I'm going to unseal my technique next. Todo—let's finish this quickly."
Yuji took a half step back on the water surface.
"Unseal?"
The moment Todo spoke, Yuji took a deep breath and slowly closed his eyes.
The next second—
WHOOSH—!
Scarlet liquid gushed from behind him.
This liquid spread out behind Yuji as if alive. Its quantity was not something a simple "blood stream" could compare to—the fresh blood covered the space behind the two like a curtain.
The blood began to spontaneously gather toward several "points" around Yuji, eventually forming several blood orbs of varying sizes.
"Last time I let you rescue Mahito. This time, I won't make the same mistake."
Kenjaku wasn't nearby. No one could interrupt him.
Yuji Itadori was going to use his full strength.
"Let's see just how many consecutive Black Flashes you can withstand."
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