"Hiss!"
"That actually hurt. My bones are broken."
Todo climbed out of the deep crater and raised his less injured left hand to grip the bent, deformed section of his right forearm.
"Crack, crunch!"
Without so much as flinching, Todo squeezed his deformed right arm back into shape with his left hand.
"Not knowing Reverse Cursed Technique is a pain. For now, I can only use cursed energy to stabilize the fractures."
Muttering, Todo looked up at Jiahao high overhead, then turned to stare at Itadori. "You're Yuji Itadori, right?"
The bewildered Itadori had barely nodded when a fist the size of a cooking pot rapidly filled his vision.
"Boom!!"
Before Fushiguro and the others could react, Todo suddenly struck, sending Itadori flying several meters. He slammed into a tree trunk and slid down.
"You bastard!!"
Snapping out of their shock, Kugisaki, Maki, and the others charged at Todo in fury.
"Clap, clap, clap!"
A string of claps rang out, and Maki and the others instantly swapped places with the remains of the cursed spirits Todo had smashed through along the way.
Maki's descending blade struck beside Kasumi Miwa's feet, the Divine Dogs Fushiguro had summoned swiped at Kamo up in a tree, and Panda's heavy punch collided with a laser fired from Mechamaru's palm. Momo Nishimiya's low-flying broom sagged... Inumaki had appeared behind her, his collar freshly pulled down.
Inumaki: "...Tuna, kelp."
"Bang, bang!!"
Seeing Kugisaki suddenly appear beside her, Mai pulled the trigger without a word.
Since Kugisaki had mocked her for having worse skin than a gorilla, she would put a few holes in her.
Mai's gunshots seemed to be the true starting signal for the competition. The opponents now standing right next to one another plunged into battle in the blink of an eye.
Amid the melee, Todo looked down at Itadori, who was slumped against the tree. "Sorry, first-year. I don't know why that guy insisted I beat you before challenging him."
"But since I'm already here... I don't mind wasting a few extra seconds."
Unlike Kamo and the others, Todo had no murderous intent. He had attacked Itadori purely out of curiosity.
He wanted to know why that impossibly arrogant Jiahao would call someone this weak his best friend.
As for Itadori being Sukuna's vessel, Todo couldn't care less.
Like Satoru Gojo, Todo was deeply dissatisfied with the cowardly old men at the top.
They feared the King of Curses would revive and wreak widespread destruction, so they had to kill an innocent Itadori?
Then wouldn't they have to kill every gifted jujutsu sorcerer who might threaten their safety in the future?
Take Suguru Geto, who had orchestrated the "Night Parade of a Hundred Demons" last year. He hadn't been possessed by a curse, yet he had still turned Jujutsu Society upside down.
Arrest a murderer and shoot him before he had even murdered anyone?
What the fuck kind of logic was that?
Ultimately, those old fossils among the Higher-Ups were simply too weak and far too afraid of dying.
Pushing those thoughts aside, Todo stepped forward and delivered several more vicious kicks to Itadori's head.
Only after blood had stained half of Itadori's head red did Todo stop attacking, looking utterly bored. "That's it...?"
There was no murderous intent coming from Todo.
Sensing that, Maki and the others immediately focused on their own opponents.
As for Itadori, there was no need to worry.
They had all survived Jiahao-style training. Who knew how many replacement limbs they had gone through?
A little blood gushing from the head was such a minor injury. How was it any different from a scratch?
Just as Maki and the others had expected, Todo was preparing to challenge Jiahao to a rematch when Itadori's defiant taunt came from behind him. "Your punches are so light. Didn't you get enough to eat?"
Turning to see Itadori shakily rise to his feet, a spark of excitement quietly lit Todo's eyes. "Your build's nothing special, but you can really take a beating!"
"Don't make me sound like a human punching bag!"
Itadori staggered forward, then abruptly shifted his stance and accelerated. He charged and leaped into the air, clamping both hands around Todo's head like iron pincers as his right knee blasted toward Todo's face like a cannonball!
"Thud!"
Riding his downward momentum, Itadori stretched out in midair and drove a fierce kick into Todo's chest!
"Thud!!"
After the two successive dull impacts, Todo's feet carved tracks nearly two meters long across the ground.
"Not bad speed!"
"Without cursed energy reinforcement, your natural strength is even greater than mine!"
Todo spat out a mouthful of bloody saliva, a trace of delighted surprise entering his eyes.
Seeing Itadori lower himself into an attacking stance, Todo raised a hand. "Wait. Before we fight, I have a question for you."
"I was going to ask that guy up in the tree first, but he kicked me down before I got the chance."
"Yuji Itadori... What kind of woman is your type?"
"Huh?!"
Itadori froze for a moment. After a little thought, he gave the same answer he had given when introducing himself to the principal upon first joining Jujutsu High.
"A tall girl with a big butt, like Jennifer Lawrence."
After spending so much time with Jiahao, everyone from Tokyo had been forced to become several degrees more accepting.
To Itadori now, someone like Todo suddenly asking about his ideal woman halfway through a fight hardly even counted as strange.
After all, during several close-combat training sessions, Jiahao had suddenly asked him mid-fight whether he remembered his mother...
And asked Fushiguro whether he still remembered his biological father.
The instant Itadori finished speaking, countless scenes that "had never existed" flashed through Todo's dilated pupils.
In that single instant, Todo understood why Jiahao had said Itadori was his best friend.
He remembered that romantic season when cherry blossoms danced through the air...
Those young, reckless high school days.
He, his best friend Itadori, and Takada-chan had chatted beneath a tree about their futures, while Jiahao stood at its top with his hands behind his back, gazing into the distance.
When Takada-chan had rejected his confession, his best friend Itadori had comforted him in his despair and even treated him to a meal.
He and Itadori had been eating ramen, while Takada-chan took pictures of the food beside them, and Jiahao stood on the rooftop holding a bowl of ramen...
Gazing into the distance.
As those vivid scenes flashed through his mind, tears streamed down Todo's face...
"Jiahao was right. We really are best friends!"
What the hell? Why are his tears coming out of his nose?!
If you want a best friend... Shouldn't you be looking for Jiahao instead?!
Sorry, but I'm really not like you two!
Itadori screamed inwardly, but couldn't be bothered to explain aloud.
He knew perfectly well that Jiahao and the Todo before him were both abnormal sorcerers, completely immersed in their own worlds and oblivious to everything beyond them.
Since words wouldn't get through, he could only try using his fists to wake Todo from his fantasy world!
"Boom!"
As Itadori crouched and gathered strength, deep blue flames of cursed energy erupted from his fist!
"That's the spirit!"
Todo grinned, baring two rows of white teeth, his face full of anticipation. "Come on, best friend!"
"Bam!!!"
Their cursed-energy-reinforced fists collided in midair with an explosive clang like metal striking metal!
Punches, knee strikes, side kicks, brutal headbutts!
Within a few short seconds, Todo perfectly countered every attack Itadori threw at him.
Without using his cursed technique, Todo simply reinforced his fists and feet with cursed energy, doing everything he could to guide Itadori toward ever higher levels of cursed energy output!
He was witnessing his best friend grow even stronger with his own eyes.
Meanwhile, high above.
Jiahao shook out his slightly numb lower leg and gazed into the distance.
Before you continue