A Man's Blushing Speaks Louder Than Words

"There are two rules for the match."

The man walking ahead of Itadori introduced the rules as they went.

"First, no running away. Second, no using cursed techniques."

"Why? I wouldn't mind if the other side used cursed techniques too."

"You idiot, Itadori. The customers are obviously ordinary people."

Right!

Itadori smacked his forehead hard—the man walking in front of him paused slightly and turned to look at him.

"Because almost all the customers are non-sorcerers, we have to accommodate ordinary people who can't see cursed techniques. This is a commercial competition, after all. If the audience can't see what the contestants are doing, there's no way to get the atmosphere going."

"Then the no-running rule is also—"

The man nodded.

"Yeah. It's so you stay where the audience can see you."

"That's all?"

"That's all."

The two reached the stairs. Following the man downstairs, Itadori asked the question Fushiguro had prepared.

"What kind of person is the boss?"

"You curious?"

"Kind of."

"You'll know when you meet him."

"Can I meet him?"

The man did not answer. Instead, he continued introducing the rules as they descended.

"There are two kinds of matches. One is today's elimination match—a real match. The other is a scripted match written by the boss, meaning a fixed match. Generally speaking, as long as you perform well enough, the boss will tailor a script for you. When that happens, you'll naturally get to meet him."

"So all I need to do is make a big scene."

Amid calls like crashing waves, Itadori stepped into the underground parking garage—

Tap, tap.

As the lights shone down on Itadori, Xuan was forced to compress himself into the tiny patch of shadow cast by Itadori.

"Ah—I forgot about that."

Feeling the pressure on his body lessen, Itadori deliberately lowered his voice.

"Do you need me to hide somewhere with less light?"

"No. Just wait a little while, then throw your punch."

Itadori raised his head and looked ahead.

"Bro... bro?"

Once Itadori saw what his opponent looked like, he immediately turned to look at the guy behind him. Unfortunately, with his opponent's entrance, the man behind him had already left.

What the hell...

Itadori watched the figure slowly emerge from the shadows, his entire body covered in strange cursed tools.

"Isn't this a boxing match?"

As the lights converged, the commentator began shouting at the top of his lungs.

"Alright—welcome to tonight's match, the Real Combat Club elimination round!!! As always, I, John Bobby, will be bringing you the commentary!! Now, let's introduce today's contestants!!!"

"On the left! Our dark horse!!! The brutal tyrant!! The Iron Weapon User, who has killed contestants in all three of his matches!"

"On the right!! An assassin who appeared out of nowhere, an uninvited guest of unknown origin, the dangerous and thrilling fireball kid, Yuji Itadori!!!!"

The Iron Weapon User stood before Itadori.

"According to the rules, this whole set of weapons I'm wearing is nothing but decoration. But even so, I can tear you into more than a dozen pieces within three seconds... Kid, if you don't want to die, run while you can."

"What's this? Your last words?"

Itadori froze for a moment. Then Xuan's face suddenly appeared on his own—his words came out along with Xuan's voice.

"Hahahahaha... Kid!!!"

With a bang, the Iron Weapon User's body appeared right before Itadori. Itadori's eyes tracked his every movement, and as the Iron Weapon User closed in, Itadori's fist was already flying toward his face.

What?!

They said cursed techniques were forbidden, but cursed energy could still be manipulated—this guy was obviously one of those so-called curse users too. He'd killed plenty of people, so I'll—

With a boom, the Iron Weapon User's body shot into the pitch-black garage—but Itadori was already right on his heels.

Thud!

Itadori's whipping kick slammed into Iron Weapon User's back. Accompanied by a dull metallic clang, Iron Weapon User's body skimmed across the ground and flew back to the center of the arena.

"Mr. Xuan, don't forcibly increase my speed next time..."

"You kept up anyway. Remember that feeling."

Iron Weapon User—a Grade 2 curse user. His cursed technique allowed him to inject cursed energy into iron, reshape it, and turn it into cursed tools.

Xuan had borrowed Itadori's shadow and possessed him. This possession did not allow Xuan to act in Itadori's place, but it did help him control the cursed energy within Itadori's body.

He gathered cursed energy beneath the soles of his feet. While exerting force, he enhanced his strength to accelerate his sprint; during that brief moment of high-speed movement, he dispersed the cursed energy gathered beneath his feet and wrapped it around his calves, further enhancing the power of his strikes.

"Good... now do it yourself."

Itadori felt the cursed energy within his body, savoring that sensation from before—the cursed energy gathered beneath his feet. After a simple buildup, he stomped down hard, launching himself forward.

Xuan did not guide Itadori's cursed energy, instead letting him figure it out freely. When Itadori left the bounds of the underground parking garage filled with shadows, Xuan had already gotten out of the car and confirmed a few things.

First, Sukuna's cursed energy did not directly affect Itadori's body.

It was not entirely absent. Compared to himself, Itadori probably still had cursed energy equivalent to around five fingers within him, but that was far from Itadori's limit.

There should have been roughly fifteen fingers inside Itadori, followed by the so-called Sukuna.

When Xuan had covered Itadori's body, his consciousness had briefly connected with Sukuna's—or perhaps Sukuna had actively invaded him. After all, they had been clashing innate domains at the time.

The cursed energy of fifteen-finger Sukuna was also astonishing, roughly 140% of his current amount.

The cursed energy he currently possessed was formed from himself, Divine Dog: Black, White, Nue, Tiger Funeral, Round Deer, Piercing Ox, and Max Elephant.

"OOOOOOOOH!!! Yuji Itadori!!!"

As Itadori experienced the cursed energy control techniques he had just been taught, his battle against Iron Weapon User became almost completely one-sided.

"What fast punches!!! He can throw nearly six punches in a second—so fast that the afterimages are practically invisible to the naked eye!!!"

With an uppercut, Iron Weapon User was sent flying into the air. At that moment, Xuan also found Megumi Fushiguro, who was hiding in the shadows and eavesdropping.

"Hey, Megumi."

"Mr. Xuan? Why are you here?"

"I was bored. Is that not allowed?"

"...I'm eavesdropping. Keep your voice down a little."

"I set up a barrier. Our voices won't reach their ears, but their voices will reach ours."

"..."

"What about you? How's your barrier training going?"

"..."

"What does that silence mean?"

"Itadori learned it."

"What do you mean Itadori learned it? I'm asking about you!!!"

"...I'm just a tiny bit short."

"?"

Xuan's face slowly turned red.