Mahoraga

"Furube Yurayura..."

The barrier shattered. Kinoshita had barely found his footing when he suddenly heard a strange incantation.

"...Again?"

He quickly surveyed the battlefield and realized that, thanks to his interference, Toji had locked his sights squarely on the three from Jujutsu High.

Still, the battle should have remained a stalemate for a while. That was what Kinoshita had thought.

But when he saw Toji facing off against Jogo, he finally understood.

Megumi Fushiguro couldn't handle the pressure of two Special Grade combatants fighting. He'd snapped on the spot!

And unlucky bastard that he was, Kinoshita had emerged just in time to witness it.

"Eight-Handled Sword, Divergent Sila Divine General..."

"Mahoraga!"

Bang!

"Ochre Scale: Modified!"

Kinoshita forcibly withstood Mahoraga's attack, then grabbed Megumi Fushiguro and fled.

"You're...!"

Megumi Fushiguro had already prepared to sacrifice himself for Maki and the other two. After all, whether Jogo or Toji won, the winner would come after those three.

He hadn't expected a stranger to suddenly pop out of the domain.

"Quit yapping!"

"If you die, how are we supposed to film Sukuna-Battling Continent?"

In the original timeline, Jogo should have left after taking out the three from Jujutsu High, then fed Itadori ten fingers, bringing Sukuna out.

But thanks to Kinoshita's meddling, those three hadn't fought Dagon, and Megumi Fushiguro, who had followed close behind, hadn't entered the domain either.

So the result was obvious.

The resurrected, out-of-control Toji had immediately charged in to get his fighting fix.

The four probably hadn't fought Toji for long before Jogo arrived on the battlefield.

With Toji's targeting mechanism, he soon turned his attention to Jogo.

Then Megumi Fushiguro, utterly unable to handle a match this intense, immediately placed one hand above the other and performed the little routine of chanting a few words to summon a winged angel with a halo over its head.

Just like that.

There was no one here who could save Megumi Fushiguro. But if he died, Kinoshita would have no way to predict Sukuna's next move.

"Well, you didn't drag me into the taming ritual, so I'll save you first and worry about the rest later..."

The two moved somewhere safe.

Once Mahoraga could no longer see Kinoshita, he naturally turned his attention to Toji and Jogo.

One of Toji's arms had already been broken, but surprisingly, he still held the cursed tool Playful Cloud.

He must have snatched it from Megumi Fushiguro.

"You... who the hell are you?! You actually beat a cursed spirit with a domain!" Fushiguro watched Kinoshita with extreme wariness.

Kinoshita had Fushiguro tucked under one arm. Seeing that he was still full of life, he finally set him down.

"Shut up. Say another word and I'll kill you." Kinoshita couldn't be bothered to explain.

His powerful cursed energy said more than any pointless words could.

Fushiguro reflexively struck his summoning pose on the spot. Only when he realized he couldn't summon two Mahoragas did he give up.

Although Kinoshita was the most, most, most, most, most, most impartial powerscaling brat on the entire internet, he still couldn't hold back a laugh at Fushiguro's pose.

"Fushiguro!"

Megumi Fushiguro froze, then frowned in confusion at Kinoshita, who had inexplicably called out his name.

"You've got a poet's grip!"

"Wh-what does that mean...?" Fushiguro narrowed his eyes in bewilderment.

"Anyway, just stay put. I'll figure out how to deal with Mahoraga." Kinoshita deliberately changed the subject.

He'd now developed a condition that made him want to laugh whenever he saw Fushiguro.

"You'll deal with Mahoraga? Are you kidding?"

Though Fushiguro remained wary of this unfamiliar sorcerer, the claim that he could defeat Mahoraga sounded utterly absurd.

After all, as far as he was concerned, aside from Satoru Gojo, it was hard to name anyone who could instantly kill Mahoraga, who adapted to everything.

"You don't have to worry about me..."

Before Fushiguro could finish, a metallic clang rang out, and Kinoshita had produced an entire row of oxygen tanks.

"Hide in your shadow when the time comes, and don't come out until I tell you." Kinoshita thought for a moment, then used the Construction Cursed Technique to create a makeshift toilet. "This might take a while. Don't piss your pants."

"Wh-wh-what do you mean?"

Megumi Fushiguro was dumbfounded.

"There's no air inside your shadow, right? Once I start fighting Mahoraga, this whole area will probably get wiped out," Kinoshita explained.

"You can't run around either. You're Mahoraga's target, after all. What if he can't beat me and comes running to you?"

The more Fushiguro heard, the more incredulous he became. This guy was actually claiming he could make Mahoraga run away?

Looking at the stunned Fushiguro, Kinoshita knew his bullshit had hit home.

Come on.

This was Mahoraga.

Of course Kinoshita wasn't confident!

Even if his genius for combat rivaled Gojo's and Sukuna's, only raw power worked on Mahoraga, not clever tricks.

Even if Kinoshita instantly constructed a ton of shit, Mahoraga could adapt to it on the spot.

Even if he unleashed some thunderous move, Mahoraga would remain unaffected.

In a sense, this guy was even Sukuna's equal.

Even Sukuna would have to dodge a ton of shit flying at his face!!!

"...Can you win?"

Looking at Kinoshita, who seemed somewhat friendly, Fushiguro voiced his doubts.

"I'll win!"

At the center of the battlefield.

A powerful slashing strike cut Mahoraga in two again.

Without even giving Mahoraga a chance to react, Toji moved to follow up with a strike from the sharpened Playful Cloud.

But who was Mahoraga?

He was the man who could bathe in Sukuna's Malevolent Shrine, the man who could laugh and chat in the face of the strongest Slashing.

He pressed his hands against his body and forcibly joined his severed halves back together, then sent Toji flying with a kick.

"What the hell kind of monster is this?!"

Jogo had just exchanged blows with Toji himself. The man had no cursed energy anywhere in his body, yet his speed and strength were astonishing.

The situation had already looked grim. In his haste to find Itadori, Jogo had been about to use Domain Expansion.

But then this monster had charged in, traded a few rounds with Toji, and gained the upper hand outright!

"Volcano Palm!!"

Jogo had no room to hold back. He punched Mahoraga in the head, and the heavy blow sent Mahoraga crashing into the ground like a meteor.

Smoke billowed.

Unnoticed by anyone, the wheel above Mahoraga's head turned once.

Click...

Toji appeared again, his movements cleaner this time and his expression more excited.

Yet when Playful Cloud stabbed into Mahoraga's forearm, it failed to penetrate even halfway.

It was as though...

Mahoraga had gotten harder?

Bang!!!

Toji was sent flying again.

Fushiguro wondered in astonishment where this monkey without cursed energy had come from, and how he had survived against Mahoraga for so long.

"Don't underestimate that monkey. He's the king of monkeys!"

"Toji Fushiguro!"