That's Right, Gojo Satoru Won!

As the referee's voice fell, the entire arena sank into a dead silence that lasted half a minute.

The Kyoto Jujutsu High students stared blankly at the completely collapsed wall.

Todo Aoi, the monster whose name was written as "Todo" but read as "pervert," was embedded solidly in the rubble like a decadent abstract painting. Only the faint rise and fall of his chest proved that he was still alive.

"He won... He actually beat that monster Todo."

Miwa Kasumi's katana clanged to the ground from her hand. She had even forgotten that she was a Kyoto Jujutsu High student, her eyes full of the shock of having survived a disaster.

"That lunatic... the power behind that last punch..."

Kamo Noritoshi stared fixedly at the man sprawled at the bottom of the crater.

Even though the battle had ended, the lingering cursed energy around Mizuki Makoto's right arm was still heavy enough to suffocate. It was as if the surrounding space had yet to catch its breath after enduring that crushing pressure.

"Makoto!"

Okkotsu Yuta was the first to rush into the massive crater. Flustered, he put away the phone that had already shut itself off and awkwardly tried to help Mizuki Makoto up from the grass.

"Don't... don't move me." Mizuki Makoto lay in mud soaked with blood, watching the white clouds drift lazily across the sky. Every hair on his body seemed to be screaming in agony. "Yuta, if you use Reverse Cursed Technique on me right now, I might feel so good that I'll start going 'Ohohoho' and embarrass myself on the spot..."

"Huh? That's a valid reason?" Okkotsu gave a wry smile, but still carefully placed his hand over his friend's mangled right arm.

Warm cursed energy, filled with the aura of "pure love," flowed into his damaged meridians. Mizuki Makoto let out a long, satisfied breath, and the taut string in his mind finally loosened.

"Seriously, Yuta, you should handle this kind of thing next time. Todo's physical strength is downright monstrous. If my Spatial Overlap had been 0.001 seconds slower, you'd probably be digging through the ruins for fragments of my monocle right now."

"Hey, trash. Still alive?" Maki carried her naginata as she slowly walked to the edge of the crater and crouched down. The setting sun outlined her tall figure, and a subtle but impossible-to-hide curve tugged at her lips. "That punch was pretty good. If Naoya saw that, he'd probably be too scared to look in a mirror for the rest of his life."

"Maki-chan... can't you compliment me a little more directly?" Mizuki Makoto weakly raised his left hand and made a V-sign. "Something romantic like, 'Just as expected of the man I chose,' maybe?"

"When you can beat me without relying on 'speculation' and 'despicable traps,' then I'll consider giving you that evaluation." Maki turned to look at the approaching Kyoto Jujutsu High students, her eyes instantly becoming playful. "What do you say, Noritoshi? The mood's just right. Want to have a round too?"

Mai walked silently at the very back. Looking at the battered liar in the crater, she bit her lip, then snorted coldly and tossed down a can of chilled soda.

Inside the observation room.

"Uta—hime~!"

Gojo Satoru's drawn-out, smug voice echoed through the room like rolling waves. He looked exactly like a peacock that had just won a fight and was frantically fanning its tail, happily circling Utahime Iori, who was about to explode from rage.

"Did you see that? That teleport, that change of tactics, that final strike filled with my style! Makoto-kun practically wrote the words 'not human' all over Todo's face!"

"Gojo Satoru! Shut up!" Utahime slammed a hand onto the table, making the teacups jump. "Todo landed two Black Flashes! Two! A normal person would've been reduced to paste by then! What the hell did that Mizuki Makoto kid grow up eating? Why is he even more underhanded than you?!"

"That's called intelligence, Utahime." Gojo somehow produced a little red flag and waved it around. Printed on it was a close-up of Mizuki Makoto eating barbecue. "Still, Makoto-kun's final Spatial Overlap... it had flair, but forcibly folding space like that comes with serious side effects. Look, even his cursed energy residue is trembling now."

Yaga Masamichi sat off to the side. Though his face remained dark as the bottom of a pot, his tightly furrowed brows finally relaxed a little.

"Though the process was utterly vile, the conduct utterly improper, and they even set up a mobile food stall in the arena..." Yaga said in a low voice, "the result was good. Tokyo Jujutsu High achieved a complete victory."

"Um... Makoto-kun, wait for me a moment."

Okkotsu Yuta, who had been repairing Mizuki Makoto's right arm meridians, suddenly stopped. He turned to look at Todo Aoi, who was being lifted onto a stretcher by the Kyoto Jujutsu High medical team, his expression filled with an incredibly clear concern.

"Todo-senpai forced out a Black Flash with a fractured arm, then took Makoto-kun's final heavy blow layered with mass... If it isn't treated quickly, his right arm may suffer permanent damage."

Mizuki Makoto rolled his eyes and sprawled weakly on the grass. "Yuta, you really are a saint. He almost turned your 'barbecue partner' into a two-dimensional sticker just now. If it were me, I'd only be thinking about adding a few more zeroes to his medical bill."

"But Todo-senpai really gave it everything he had." Okkotsu revealed a slightly shy smile. "That feeling of not wanting to leave behind regrets... I think I can relate to it."

With that, Tokyo Jujutsu High's "nuclear weapon-class" first-year stood up and jogged over to Todo Aoi's side under the wary, complicated gazes of the Kyoto Jujutsu High students.

"Y-you, what are you trying to do?!" Miwa Kasumi instinctively stood in front of the stretcher, her voice still trembling from the fright she had received earlier. "Okkotsu-kun, the match is already over..."

"Please don't misunderstand, Miwa." Okkotsu bowed politely, then directly extended both hands and gently but firmly pressed them onto Todo Aoi's right arm, which had nearly turned blackish-purple. "Todo-senpai's injuries are too severe. Kyoto Jujutsu High's conventional treatment may take a long time to heal him. Let me help."

The next second, pure, immense, and almost sacredly warm red cursed energy surged forth.

Reverse Cursed Technique—Output.

At that moment, not only did the Kyoto Jujutsu High students freeze, even Gojo Satoru, who had been about to go "extort" Gakuganji, stopped in his tracks.

Under the cleansing flow of Reverse Cursed Technique, the damaged muscle tissue in Todo's right arm began reconstructing at a visible speed. The bruised blood turned to vapor and dispersed, while the fractured bones made a rapid series of realigning cracks.

Even more absurdly, Todo Aoi, who had been deeply unconscious and pale-faced, let out a dreamy, prolonged sigh after receiving that top-tier healing from the "God of Pure Love."

The expression on his face switched directly from "pain" to "peaceful ascension."

"...What a luxury."

Kamo Noritoshi's mouth twitched as he watched. "Reverse Cursed Technique output besides Shoko Ieiri's, and strength like that... Just what kind of monsters has Tokyo Jujutsu High recruited?"

"Utahime, did you see that?"

Gojo Satoru had his hands in his pockets, and for once, there was no teasing in his tone—only a faint pride. "Makoto displayed 'despicableness and strength,' while Yuta displayed 'tolerance and invincibility.' You can't say your loss this time was undeserved, right?"

Utahime Iori watched Okkotsu Yuta nod to the Kyoto Jujutsu High medical team on the screen. All her anger seemed to have melted away beneath that warm cursed energy. She leaned weakly against the back of her chair and let out a long sigh.

"...If he's that kind of kid, I can't keep hating him either. But Gojo, can you explain why that Mizuki Makoto lying in the crater is secretly stealing chocolate from Mai's clothes while no one's looking?"

"Huh? That?" Gojo Satoru waved a hand calmly. "He's recovering the 'spoils of war.' Basic professional ethics for an artist."

A few minutes later, Okkotsu wiped the sweat from his forehead and returned to Mizuki Makoto's side.

"It's handled, Makoto-kun. Todo-senpai has a strong constitution. He'll probably be up and running tomorrow, looking for his Takada-chan."

"Good work, Doctor Okkotsu." Mizuki Makoto propped himself up with a body that had regained half its feeling, then casually handed him half the chocolate he had "picked up" from Mai. "Here, replenish some sugar. We need to get out of here fast, before Gojo-sensei gives old man Gakuganji a heart attack."

The sun set, dyeing the entire martial arts ground a brilliant golden-red.

Okkotsu Yuta took the chocolate and sat beside his friend at the edge of the ruins they had created with their own hands.

He looked into the distance and suddenly said softly,

"Makoto-kun, even though it's exhausting, I still feel like... coming to Jujutsu High was really wonderful."

Mizuki Makoto bit into the chocolate and looked at his completely destroyed phone, clutching his chest in pain.

"Yeah... Other than my wallet, my back, and my reputation, everything's pretty great."

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