Do me a favor!

In the blink of an eye!

A blur shot past everyone, stopping between the cursed spirit and Itadori.

Squelch!

Warm sunlight and glaring blood splashed across Itadori's stunned face, slowly trickling down.

"What happened?!"

Principal Yaga, Nanami, and several jujutsu sorcerers on campus sensed the cursed residue and rushed to the scene.

"How did a cursed spirit get into Jujutsu High?!"

"Ratio Technique: Collapse!"

A mature, dependable adult, Nanami raced over and leaped straight into a slash without wasting a word.

The Grade 2 Cursed Spirit was still chewing on a chunk of flesh. Before it could even react, a critical slash reduced it to dust.

The enormous shadow dispersed, finally revealing to Yaga and the others the horrific sight that had left the students frozen.

"Jiahao?"

Itadori reached out with trembling hands, supporting the pale-faced Jiahao before him.

"Jiahao, your left arm..."

Distraught, Itadori stared at the empty space where Jiahao's left arm should have been. His mouth opened, but he had no idea what to say.

First, he had heard Fushiguro's warning. Aching all over, Itadori had turned to see a cursed spirit attacking.

He had barely gotten up and taken two steps before the cursed spirit's gaping maw descended over him.

Just as Itadori thought the curse would bite his head off in the next second, a lightning-fast blur had shielded him.

The cursed spirit's jaws had snapped shut, biting off Jiahao's left arm.

Everything had happened so quickly that Itadori's mind was still completely blank.

"Cough, cough!"

Jiahao coughed up blood, his right hand gently stroking his empty left sleeve.

"No big deal. It's just an arm."

"Itadori, all that matters is that you're safe."

A light breeze swept past, making the black cape behind Jiahao flutter.

Burgundy hair, three conspicuous diagonal scars over his left eye.

Following in a predecessor's footsteps, sacrificing an arm to save someone.

Risking his life for valor, rescuing Itadori from mortal peril.

As for where that mortal peril had come from, never mind that for now.

Anyway, after going through the whole arm-sacrifice routine, his balance of valor points had reached a new high.

The others noticed something was off and approached. Kugisaki stared at Jiahao with a strange expression and ventured, "Jiahao, your arm... don't tell me you bet it on the new era too?"

Jiahao: "..."

What an awful girl. Absolutely awful!

Who said you could just steal an iconic line like that?!

He had hidden in the Kamui Dimension all morning, waiting for the perfect moment to act, only to have someone steal his most important line!

Jiahao glared at Kugisaki, as if to say... Just you wait until tomorrow's training.

Maki looked him up and down. "Should we call you Jiahao now, or Shanks Hao?"

Panda's mouth twitched. "That's way too much dedication. Other people use props when they act, but you did it for real?"

"Doesn't having a cursed spirit bite your arm off hurt?"

Beside them, Fushiguro kept a straight face while silently griping, You just can't figure out how a lunatic thinks. Not at all.

"Jiahao..."

Nanami adjusted his sunglasses, his expression serious. "Whatever the circumstances, this went a little too far."

"Regardless of why you wanted to stage something like this, for Itadori..."

"Thank goodness!"

As though he had suddenly woken from a nightmare, Itadori snapped out of his daze and hugged Jiahao, exclaiming, "Thank goodness it was just a joke! I almost thought you'd really lost your arm!"

Rather than getting angry over this nasty prank, the boy was genuinely relieved that Jiahao's missing arm was only a joke.

Looking at Itadori's utterly sincere smile, Nanami froze for a moment.

At that moment, Nanami seemed to understand a little of why Satoru Gojo had been willing to fall out with the Higher-Ups to protect Yuji Itadori, Sukuna's vessel.

Jiahao was equally startled by Itadori's sudden hug. He had expected at least a little scolding.

No wonder so many people online called Itadori an angel. He was so good-natured that even Jiahao couldn't bear to keep messing with him.

"Wang Jiahao!!"

Another aggrieved party appeared, and Nanami quietly stepped aside.

Yaga stormed forward, suppressing his anger. "Explain yourself. What was that Grade 2 Cursed Spirit just now?!"

"You brought that cursed spirit in, didn't you?!"

A Grade 2 Cursed Spirit had failed to trigger the barrier's warning, had left not the slightest trace of cursed residue for the sorcerers on campus to detect beforehand, and had then inexplicably appeared on the training grounds deep inside the school.

Yaga was a hundred percent certain that this brat had brought the cursed spirit in!

"Yes, I brought the Imperial Army... I mean, the cursed spirit in!"

Before Yaga could explode, Red-Haired Hao continued, "As a teacher-in-training at Jujutsu High, I have both the responsibility and the duty to keep the students safe!"

"I worked tirelessly through the night to capture a cursed spirit alive, specifically to conduct a surprise test of the school's barrier warning system and the response times of its teachers and students!"

"From the moment the cursed spirit released its presence to the moment you arrived, it took a full thirteen seconds!"

"And that was only a brainless Grade 2 Cursed Spirit. If it had been an intelligent special grade... thirteen seconds would have been enough to kill every student here!"

Jiahao swept a stern gaze over Yaga, Nanami, and the assistant supervisors nearby, declaring righteously, "The facts prove that you've all grown far too complacent!"

"Your king is deeply disappointed in you."

He had turned the whole hierarchy upside down!

Anyone who didn't know better would think he was the principal!

Yaga clenched up!

His fists, that was!

Watching Jiahao spout nonsense with such righteous conviction, Itadori, Fushiguro, and the others couldn't help feeling impressed.

Beside them, Panda scratched his head and muttered, "Why do I feel like... he has a point?"

"Of course I do."

Jiahao said, "If you hadn't put so much faith in the barrier and your incompetent principal, why would you have dared to train until you were exhausted, leaving you unable to join forces against the cursed spirit right away?!"

"That Grade 2 Cursed Spirit was one I carefully selected. Its strength was precisely within the range you could handle together."

Jiahao turned, his lone hand behind his back. "The only person you can trust is yourself. That's the second lesson I wanted to teach you."

Gasp!

Panda sucked in a sharp breath. "Why does it make more sense the more I listen?!"

By chance, Panda met the incompetent principal's brooding gaze and immediately shuddered.

Panda raised both paws to cover the dark circles around his eyes and quietly hid behind Kugisaki.

Kugisaki: "..."

Yaga said, "Panda... did you leak the information from yesterday's report in my office again?!"

I'll let Jiahao off because he's got mental problems!

But you, nodding along so enthusiastically-do you really think your dad has no temper?!

"Principal!"

Jiahao stepped forward and drew the Famous Sword at his waist with his lone arm. "Let it go. Do me a favor!"

"Heh!"

Laughing in anger, Yaga turned and left. From behind, he looked like a stray dog by the roadside.

Maki said, "Panda, shouldn't you go check on the principal?"

Panda waved a paw. "Don't worry. Yaga isn't that fragile."

"Oh, right!"

Something suddenly occurred to Red-Haired Hao. He reached into the Kamui Dimension, pulled out a straw hat, and placed it on Itadori's head.

"This is my most precious treasure. Take good care of it, Itadori!"

Maki said, "...Could this get any cringier? Are you going to take Itadori out to sea and head for the New World next?"

Fushiguro said, "Why not just call him Monkey D. Lujang while you're at it?"

Kugisaki said, "I think 'idiot' rolls off the tongue better."

Itadori: "..."

So this is what being bullied feels like!