[Black Flash]!!!

Mahito stopped in his tracks.

He glanced at Itadori on his left, then at Mashiro on his right.

One was injured, and the other wasn't particularly strong. In terms of fighting power, he had the advantage.

But he wasn't smiling. He had a terrible feeling that he couldn't beat them.

"What a pain," Mahito said, watching them warily.

Itadori moved first. He was fast, every push of his feet leaving cracks in the ground.

He closed in from the left, lowering his body and driving his right fist upward.

Mahito raised his arm to block, changing its shape at the same time to deflect Itadori's fist.

But Itadori didn't pull back. He followed through, turning the punch into an elbow strike that slammed across Mahito's temple.

Cursed energy exploded from the tip of his elbow, knocking Mahito sideways.

Mashiro followed up from the right, sweeping Murasame toward Mahito's regenerating left ribs.

Mahito pulled his stomach in to evade the blade, but Mashiro's slash was a feint. Halfway through, she changed direction, flicking Murasame's tip upward and driving it into his right shoulder.

"Tch."

Mahito grabbed Murasame's blade with his right hand and forcibly pulled it out of his shoulder, ignoring the edge cutting into his palm.

He jumped backward, trying to gain some distance and regroup.

Then his back hit a Water Wall.

It was the Water Control Cursed Technique.

As Mashiro made that slash, she had formed this Water Wall behind him, adding sonic vibrations to block his retreat.

The Water Wall bounced Mahito back.

Itadori was already waiting there.

Images flashed through his mind of the students Mahito had twisted and transfigured, then of Junpei's gentle mother, who had nearly died because of his scheme.

Finally, his mind lingered on the instant Mahito's hand had touched Mashiro.

"I told you, I'm going to kill you."

He threw a punch with everything he had.

Power rose from the soles of his feet, passed through his waist, shoulders, and arm, and finally converged in his fist.

Cursed energy gathered, condensing into black light around his fist.

It was a phenomenon that only occurred when the delay between a physical strike and the release of cursed energy was less than 0.000001 seconds.

"[Black Flash]!!!"

Itadori's fist struck Mahito's chest.

Unlike every blow before it, Black Flash concentrated cursed energy into a single point, piercing straight through the boundary between flesh and soul.

In that instant, the core of Mahito's soul was pierced through his entire chest.

Mahito flew backward, smashed through the Water Wall, and rolled seven or eight times before coming to a stop.

He lay facedown, blood spilling from the corner of his mouth and spreading across the road.

Where Black Flash had struck his chest, a hole had been punched straight into the shape of his soul.

It wasn't just a physical wound. Even his soul had been blasted clean through.

Mahito could regenerate his body, but wounds to his soul would take longer to heal.

After lying there for several seconds, Mahito struggled to his feet. Watching the two continue their assault, he instead broke into a deranged smile.

"What fresh inspiration! So this is [death]?!"

Now, I can do it.

Mahito steadied himself, tilted his head at an extreme angle, and opened his eyes wide.

"Domain Expansion: [Self-Embodiment of Perfection]."

Cursed energy erupted beneath Mahito's feet and spread outward like a tide. A barrier formed instantly, and pitch-black shadows rose from the ground, sealing off the sky and their surroundings.

Mashiro and Itadori were drawn into the domain.

The space inside was completely different from the outside, with bottomless darkness above and below.

Ever-changing human arms filled every direction. Countless hands reached out of the darkness, their fingers slowly writhing and their palms turning over.

The instant the domain expanded, Idle Transfiguration's sure-hit effect activated.

Mashiro felt countless hands simultaneously trying to draw out the essence of her soul. It worked on the same principle as the reverse technique Mahito had used earlier.

But the Dharma Wheel was still stabilizing her soul, so his cursed technique couldn't render her unable to move again.

Unfortunately, the Dharma Wheel really had no time to analyze the domain for her. There was nothing she could do. It would have to wait until next time.

Itadori stood in front of her. He could sense the hands within the domain, and he could feel them trying to touch his soul.

Sukuna snorted inside him. Countless slashes appeared, shattering the domain in an instant.

Sukuna's voice reached Mahito's soul, dripping with mockery.

"I'll spare your life since you gave me such a good show. Whether you can escape is up to you."

Damn you, Sukuna!

As Mahito ran, he released the transfigured humans stored inside his body. More than a dozen grotesquely different forms emerged and lunged at Itadori.

Itadori didn't slow down. As one lunged in front of him, he dodged sideways and drove his right fist upward into its abdomen.

The second, the third, the fourth, the fifth.

One punch for one, one kick for another.

His anger pushed his cursed energy output at least thirty percent higher than usual, every blow bursting with a shock wave of cursed energy around his fist.

But by the time he finished dealing with the transfigured humans, Mahito was nowhere to be seen.

"He got away." He wiped his fists and turned back to Mashiro.

Mashiro walked over and stood beside him.

The two pairs of little wings were still on her head, and the breeze lifted a few of the silver feathers covering her eyes.

She raised a hand and pushed the pair covering her eyes aside, revealing her red irises. Blood stained the wings' feathers.

"Then let him run. He's awakened his domain." Mashiro drew Murasame back into her palm. "Next time, running won't be all he does."

Itadori turned toward her, looking at her wing-covered eyes, then at the little pair of wings curled inward beside her cheeks.

He opened his mouth to say something, but Mashiro raised her hand and gently tapped his forehead with a fingertip, as though nothing had happened.

"Your training paid off. I didn't expect you to manage a Black Flash."

"Hehe, it just came naturally." All the ferocity left Itadori as he scratched his head. "Mashiro, those wings of yours..."

"They don't block my vision." Mashiro raised her hand and pushed the pair covering her eyes aside again.

The wings were soft. Once pushed to either side, they didn't spring back immediately. They rested against her silver hair for a few seconds before slowly sliding back into place and covering her eyes again.

"I can actually sense things more clearly than usual. For example, your heart's beating at least twice as fast as normal right now."

Itadori froze, then instinctively pressed a hand to his chest. His heart really was racing.

"So they're not a problem." Mashiro turned and headed toward the apartment, faint sunlight falling across her petite back.

Itadori stood where he was, lowered his hand from his chest, and clenched it tightly before letting go.

Then he hurried after Mashiro.

They walked for a while as the sun slowly rose, restoring color to the streets.

"Mashiro."

"Hm?"

"Are those wings going to stay there from now on?"

"...Ah, yeah. Now that Mahito's drawn them out, I can't put them away."

"Will you squash them when you sleep?" Itadori rested a hand against his chin, thinking.

"...I hadn't thought about that."

"Try it tonight. If you squash them, I'll go buy you a lower pillow tomorrow."

"...Okay."

I decided to bring out Mashiro's Feather Wings after all. What do you think? This method makes perfect sense, right?

I'm such a genius, meow~

Proud.jpg

And what's that? Yuji used Black Flash?!

Surprised? Thanks to Mashiro's presence, everyone will be somewhat stronger than in the original.

Of course, I'll also boost the villains' strength appropriately. Things will definitely stray a little from the original setting, but there's no helping it. Otherwise, they won't be able to beat Mashiro.

Please forgive me, meow!

Also, please don't worry too much about the timeline. I'll speed things up a little so one event follows right after another.

That's all, meow!