Kento Nanami led Itadori outside the Screening Hall and spoke to him seriously.
"The 'manner of death' inside is quite unusual. Are you sure you're mentally prepared, Itadori?"
Itadori rolled up his sleeves energetically and replied seriously to Nanami.
"Yes!"
Kento Nanami then began explaining about Cursed Residue. Adjusting his goggles, he spoke in a serious tone.
"What you see before your eyes now are the Cursed Residues of Cursed Energy. Can you see them?"
"..." Itadori scanned the area carefully. After a while, he still saw nothing and admitted honestly, "I can't see anything at all. There's clearly nothing there, right?"
"Normally, we perceive curses naturally. But to see Cursed Residue, you need to focus more intently. That's because the traces left by using a Cursed Technique are far fainter than the presence of a Cursed Spirit," Nanami explained seriously.
Following Nanami's guidance, Itadori concentrated intensely on observing the ground. Soon, he detected the extremely faint traces of Cursed Residue left on the floor.
"You have more talent than I expected," Nanami said, kneeling down to examine the Cursed Residue left by Mahito. "These traces are quite special. The opponent seems to be deliberately concealing their Cursed Energy; if one doesn't look carefully, it would be nearly impossible to notice."
"Is that a compliment? But since you knew this was a special case, shouldn't you have told me earlier?" Itadori couldn't help but complain. If he hadn't carefully observed and only noticed the anomaly on his second attempt, he wouldn't have found it at all.
"I neither praise nor disparage; I speak only objectively," Kento Nanami said. Noticing that the traces extended into the Screening Hall, he stood up immediately, muttering to himself, "For someone to do something like this, they can't be simple. This is likely going to require overtime..."
"What are we doing now?" Itadori asked, slightly out of sync with Nanami's thought process.
"We are going to check the bodies. There should be three targets to exorcise," Nanami replied as he pulled out his Cleaver.
"Huh? Check the bodies and exorcise them?" Itadori's confusion deepened.
As Nanami walked, he gave Itadori more details.
"Originally, there were indeed three corpses. Their deaths were classified as curse-related incidents due to the bizarre manner of death. However, when ordinary people reported them, nothing unusual occurred. Once the 'Window' took over to transfer the bodies, they somehow revived and attacked. It's suspected to be a special case that reacts to Cursed Energy, so we must take charge."
"You mean they only attack people with Cursed Energy?" Itadori gradually understood. "So the culprit is actually a Cursed Spirit?"
"Perhaps. Or it could be the work of the sole survivor in the Screening Hall, another young boy," Nanami continued as he unlocked the Screening Hall door with a key. "The investigation into that boy's identity has been handed over to the police. Once I open the door, you take charge of one of them. If you can't handle it, inform me immediately."
"Aren't you underestimating me a little..." Itadori said, feeling challenged. Under Satoru Gojo's training, he had mastered the 'Divergent Fist' and was confident in his own strength.
"It's not about underestimating you. I am an adult, and you are..."
Just as Nanami was about to deliver his usual line, a powerful impact struck the door in front of him. Three loud bangs occurred almost simultaneously, blowing the door off its hinges. Even Nanami was knocked back by the force.
Nanami knew immediately that things had gone wrong.
"Itadori!" Nanami shouted.
The culprits who had burst through were three eyeless, bloody figures, their bodies inflating rapidly like balloons. They were nothing like the mummified corpses described in the intel.
This was Mahito's masterpiece. By compressing the souls and bodies of three people to the brink of death, he created three Transfigured Humans capable of launching a suicide attack when detecting Cursed Energy.
This was a weakened version of Mahito's 'Multiple Soul' Transfigured Human, inspired by Mei Mei's Cursed Technique 'Black Bird Manipulation: Kamikaze,' using life force instead of the rejection reaction of Multiple Souls as the cost.
Although Itadori didn't fully understand, his body reacted instinctively, landing a Divergent Fist on one of the Transfigured Humans rushing toward him.
However, it caused no significant damage. Instead, it was like hitting a balloon; the attack accelerated the draining of the Transfigured Human's life force, inflating its body even more terrifyingly, pushing its 'companions' aside.
By then, Nanami had regained his footing and sprang into action. His long-honed battle instincts told him that these three were essentially 'bombs.'
It was too late to escape. Nanami swung his Cleaver, using his Ten Shadows Technique to strike the weak points of all three Transfigured Humans at once, delivering critical hits and forcing them to detonate.
Simultaneously, using the momentum of his swing, Nanami shielded Itadori tightly with his arms and reinforced his defense with Cursed Energy.
With a deafening bang, the three Transfigured Humans exploded simultaneously.
Hearing the explosion, Itadori realized what had happened and shouted in terror.
"Nanami-sensei!"
Fortunately, these were just three ordinary Transfigured Humans. Their explosive power did not compare to 'Multiple Soul: Polymorphic Isomer' or 'Black Bird Manipulation: Kamikaze.'
Thus, although Nanami was injured, his wounds were only superficial.
Feeling the injuries, Nanami exhaled and spoke to Itadori wearily.
"I don't hold a teaching position at Jujutsu High, so don't call me sensei..."
"But Nanamin, why did you protect me like that, sacrificing yourself!?" Itadori exclaimed. Knowing about Sukuna, he felt that if faced with a life-or-death situation, Sukuna wouldn't hesitate. He couldn't accept Nanami risking himself for him.
"Careful, or I'll hit you. I am an adult, and you are a child. My obligation is to protect you first," Nanami replied seriously.
Meanwhile, Yoshino Junpei, walking down the street, suddenly stopped and looked toward the cinema, smiling as he muttered,
"It seems the meeting gift was delivered successfully."