Itadori and the others stared at the writhing pool of bright red in the crater, their minds utterly overloaded.
Whenever they thought they knew Jiahao well enough, he always pulled some outrageous new stunt that lowered their expectations of him yet again.
One second, he was talking about cooperating with a cursed spirit. The next, he hacked his partner to pieces.
Seriously, dude...
What kind of new-age interspecies partnership was this?
Though it was hardly the right moment, Kugisaki still wanted to ask Hanami, who was writhing on the ground...
Are you cursed spirits really this careless about choosing partners? Don't you screen their mental health?
Whoosh!
As everyone stood in silence, a streak of blood shot out from between Kamo's palms!
"Don't just stand there! The cursed spirit hasn't been exorcised yet!"
Kick it while it was down!
In an instant, the streak of blood, the laser from Mechamaru's palm, and even the steel nails Kugisaki hammered out all hurtled toward Hanami.
Clang!!!
Sparks flew as metal struck metal, and kunai reinforced with cursed energy intercepted their attacks.
"You brats really don't take this King seriously at all."
Jiahao stepped forward to shield Hanami. "Get your allegiances straight, brats. Right now, this King is the savior of cursed spirits!"
Why don't you turn around and look at the sorry state that cursed spirit's in? Isn't that your handiwork?
Are you sure you didn't misspeak and say 'savior' instead of 'bane'?
"Can you act normal for once? This isn't the time for jokes!"
Maki snapped at him, then blurred into motion, trying to slip past Jiahao and sever Hanami's neck at close range.
Clang!
Jiahao didn't stop her this time, but a jet-black arm caught Maki's powerful slash.
The black left arm stood in stark contrast to the pale body, and a blood-red rosebud grew from the left shoulder.
Crack!
Hanami, whose body had regenerated, crushed the cursed tool katana in Maki's hands to pieces with a single squeeze.
Glancing over Jiahao's "righteous" silhouette, Hanami stopped wasting time on words or hesitation.
"Experience the earth's wrath!"
Boom!!
Cursed energy surged from the ground soaked in dark-red blood, and countless spikes of dead wood lined with sharp serrations erupted from beneath it.
The earth shook as a vast tidal wave of trees swept toward everyone indiscriminately, Jiahao included.
Hanami's mission was to draw attention at the Goodwill Event and, ideally, kill a few more Jujutsu High sorcerers before the barrier shattered.
Before coming here, Hanami had thought Jiahao was a schemer like Suguru Geto, intent on overthrowing humanity's position.
Instead, he turned out to be a complete fucking lunatic.
Hanami couldn't even be bothered to ask why he had launched that sneak attack. Neither the language of cursed spirits nor that of humans could communicate effectively with a lunatic.
Boom!!
Amid a series of claps, the pouring barrage of wooden spikes missed every target and plunged into the ground.
When the dust cleared, only Jiahao remained standing unharmed in his original position. With the help of an unknown cursed technique, the other sorcerers had all relocated to the dense woods a hundred meters away.
Hanami was about to pursue them when Jiahao spoke in a voice full of disappointment. "Were you trying to kill me along with them just now? I knew it... You sneaky, conniving cursed spirits can't be trusted!"
Do you even hear yourself?!
What's with that innocent, disappointed look?!
Which one of us is untrustworthy here?!
Hanami couldn't understand how a well-dressed human could be this shameless.
Suppressing the urge to turn around and fight Jiahao to the death, Hanami clenched both fists and charged into the woods without looking back.
Clap!
The scene before Hanami abruptly changed, and Hanami was instantly transported into the ring of Jujutsu High sorcerers.
A spear thrust through the air, a cursed-energy-reinforced katana, Itadori's explosive punch, and a supersonic streak of blood fired at point-blank range!
Bam!!!
Hanami spewed mouthful after mouthful of blood. The freshly restored body, repaired with enormous reserves of cursed energy, was riddled with wounds again in an instant.
Swaying, Hanami raised the black arm toward Todo a short distance away, and a wooden spike extending from a fingertip shot through the air.
Todo didn't dare take the strange serrated spike head-on. With a clap, he swapped places with a cursed tool fragment Maki had deliberately tossed onto the ground.
"Noticed, have you..."
Todo grinned at the cursed spirit inside their encirclement. "My technique can swap my position with someone else's."
Todo leaned forward and spread his hands, poised to clap. "Boogie Woogie. Clapping is the condition for activating my technique."
So that's how it works!
Hanami realized the truth while reeling under the group's relentless beating.
No wonder there was a clap every time these people mysteriously vanished.
At first, Hanami had suspected Jiahao, who possessed a spatial technique, of interfering. Apparently, that lunatic had actually been falsely accused.
With that thought, Hanami swept a hand outward.
Patches of dreamlike, vividly colored flowers suddenly bloomed beneath everyone's feet.
A fragrance that erased their killing intent filled their nostrils, and the sorcerers' attacks abruptly faltered.
Seizing the opportunity to break out of their encirclement, Hanami immediately charged toward the dazed Todo.
Unless that troublesome technique was dealt with quickly, even retreating would become difficult later.
Shlkk!
Before the spike in Hanami's hand could pierce Todo, a kunai fell from above and pierced Hanami's head first.
"Wang Jiahao!!"
Hanami's furious voice bored into their minds, carrying a trace of grievance.
"Don't be afraid, Hanami! I'll protect you!"
Utterly oblivious, Jiahao stepped in front of Hanami. "Leave Todo and Itadori to me. Go deal with the others first."
Hanami pulled the kunai from the head and stared coldly at Jiahao's back...
Should I trust him one more time?
Whatever else happens, having this lunatic hold off that troublesome clapping sorcerer isn't a bad idea.
Besides, Sukuna's vessel can't be killed yet.
Without another word, Hanami turned and unleashed a full-force assault on Maki and the others.
A wave of spiked trees erupted from the ground, splitting the battlefield in two in the blink of an eye.
Itadori tried to leap over the barricade of spiked trees and rush to the other battlefield, only to be sent flying by a lightning-fast whip kick.
Itadori flipped in midair, landed, and slid backward several meters.
"Your cursed energy circulation and your reactions are both faster than before. You've grown, Itadori."
Jiahao sighed with gratification.
Itadori shook out the hands he'd braced against his abdomen and looked up. "Jiahao, could you please act normal?"
"Let's exorcise that cursed spirit before Gojo-sensei breaks the barrier."
"If we drag this out any longer... the school's Higher-Ups will find out you're cooperating with a cursed spirit!"
With that, Itadori darted around Jiahao again and charged toward the other side of the battlefield.
"Even now, you're worried about the Higher-Ups holding me accountable. You're a little too kind, Itadori."
A flickering afterimage swept past, and Jiahao once again blocked Itadori's path.
Clap!
Todo clapped a short distance away, but nothing happened.
Boogie Woogie failed?!
Todo frowned, then figured out the key a tenth of a second later.
The instant he had clapped, Jiahao's body hadn't existed in the reality before him. It had been inside Kamui's separate dimension.
With two worlds separating them, the distance had already exceeded Boogie Woogie's range.
"A bad cursed energy matchup, huh!"
Todo grinned and immediately broke into a run. "Best friend!!"
Catching the signal in Todo's eyes, Itadori immediately hurled a punch at Jiahao.
"You should know ordinary cursed energy attacks don't work on me at all."
Itadori's fist and Todo's flying kick passed straight through Jiahao's intangible chest.
Their attacks failed, but Todo and Itadori turned and punched again as though they hadn't heard him.
Itadori was one thing, but Todo, who looked like a brute yet actually fought with his brains, shouldn't have been attacking pointlessly.
Jiahao didn't know what the two were planning, but... it didn't matter.
Crackle!
Jiahao darted forward and punched, arcs of cursed energy surging around his knuckles like a black-and-red Chidori!
"Hao Flash!"
Even if he blew Itadori's head apart with one punch, it wouldn't matter. He could still save him afterward, so he held nothing back.
Now!
Todo, who had been ready all along, brought his hands together with a sharp clap!
Shlkk!!
With a fist driven through the chest, Hanami spewed a mouthful of thick blood mixed with chunks of flesh onto the soil.
Although Hanami had no eyes, Jiahao could still read the shock and fury in the trembling branches growing from the eye sockets.
Yet before Hanami could speak, Jiahao withdrew his fist and shouted first. "What the hell, Hanami? Why did you block that attack for Itadori?!"
"Talk! Have you betrayed us and joined forces with Jujutsu High?!"
Looking down at the blood trickling from the gaping hole in the chest, Hanami trembled with rage.
I joined forces with Jujutsu High and sold out the cursed spirits?
I came here to die in Itadori's place?
I really... fuck your mother!
Hanami's lips moved, but before any insults about Jiahao's family could emerge, a clap sounded and Hanami disappeared.
Kasumi Miwa's katana took Hanami's place.
Todo surged forward, driving a powerful knee toward Jiahao's chin.
Knowing Jiahao was guarding against Boogie Woogie's activation, Todo hadn't been waiting to counterattack the instant Jiahao became solid to strike. Instead, he timed it so Hanami would take the damage.
Understanding Todo's plan, Jiahao grinned and threw another punch without hesitation!
"Hao Flash!!"
Clap!!
Todo vanished, and another gaping hole appeared in Hanami's chest.
"Die!!!"
The voice Hanami poured into their minds brimmed with uncontainable rage and murderous intent!
Even if I die today, I'm taking this lunatic with me!
The blood-red offering flower on Hanami's shoulder opened its single eye, blazing with golden light. A domain shell formed from vast quantities of cursed energy slowly rose from the ground.
"Domain Expansion: Feasting Sea of Light!!"
The pitch-black domain shell didn't spread toward the other battlefield. It enclosed Jiahao alone.
Within the domain's boundless sea of flowers, Jiahao cast a sidelong look at Hanami, his arrogant gaze seeming to see through everything. "Just as I thought..."
"The traitor working with Jujutsu High is you!"
Before you continue