Panda

Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang!!!

The dense barrage of Supernova explosions did indeed hinder Naoya's movements.

But he could still barely dodge them. After all, Supernova attacked indiscriminately; even Kinoshita himself would be injured if he entered the blast zone.

Kinoshita couldn't interfere with him during that time.

But in the very next breath-

Naoya's eyes widened.

After one Supernova burst into blood, it actually mingled with the blast from another Supernova.

Just as Naoya thought it was over, that mingled blood used the force of the impact to condense into a new Supernova!

Bang!

"Damn it!!!"

Naoya took the unpredictable hit head-on.

By the time he recovered, he realized that the countless Supernovas around him had begun merging and exploding at random!

"Projection Sorcery requires you to plan your trajectory in advance, but Supernova's explosions are random. That means the Supernovas formed by those explosions are also impossible to predict."

"Game... over." With both hands in his pockets, Kinoshita gazed down at Naoya from the air.

"You... bas..." Naoya looked at Kinoshita in despair, unable to swallow his resentment.

Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang-!!!

Seeing that Naoya's face had been blasted into a swollen mess, Kinoshita gave him another couple of kicks.

"How dare you hit my handsome face."

"I'll draw a turtle on yours!"

The casino.

With another punch from Panda, his opponent finally fell.

All the spectators cheered for the panda.

"Panda!!! Panda!!!"

Panda answered their cheers, raising both arms and shouting.

The match ended.

Panda went to the top floor. Every time he tried to approach the surveillance room, he felt a force repelling him.

Refusing to give up, he crouched into a starting stance, drew a deep breath, and charged toward the surveillance room.

"Ugh!"

"Damn it, why can't I get close?"

Panda scratched his head in confusion. Satoru Gojo had been sealed, and now was precisely when Jujutsu High needed fighting power most.

Kinji Hakari was an irreplaceable powerhouse. If he joined them, perhaps he could make up for some of the strength they had lost with Satoru Gojo.

"Sigh... forget it." Dejected, Panda started to leave.

But just as he was about to go, Panda whipped around.

"I'll catch you off guard! Take this panda strike!!"

Panda leaped, launching himself high into the air.

If he couldn't approach along the ground, he would become a flying giant panda!

"Ugh!"

Clearly, that failed.

An invisible force struck Panda in midair. He tumbled headfirst and landed so hard he couldn't get up, leaving only his rear pointed at the sky.

"Damn it..."

Panda really was out of ideas now. Just as he got up, Kirara Hoshi came upstairs.

"Panda! A new guy's joined. Go fight a match against him!"

Compared to Uraume, Kirara Hoshi was the truly sweet, soft femboy.

Panda couldn't very well refuse, so he immediately nodded and followed Kirara Hoshi.

"Is this newcomer a jujutsu sorcerer too?" Panda asked Kirara Hoshi as they walked.

Kirara Hoshi nodded. "Apparently, he's pretty strong, but he's only an unaffiliated jujutsu sorcerer, so go a little easy on him."

Panda's shoulders slumped.

He had clearly come to ask Kinji Hakari for help, yet he had ended up working here part-time as a fighter.

Fortunately, being a panda was a real draw. Who wouldn't be desperate to watch a giant panda fight?

"He's here!" Kirara Hoshi pointed at the boy before them. "He looks like the handsome type, but those burns on his face are so scary~"

Panda was startled by his appearance too.

Whatever this boy had been through, terrifying streaks of scar tissue covered his entire body, even his face.

"He must have been in a fire. He's so strong..."

Panda politely held out a hand.

The boy took off his hoodie, revealing Kinoshita beneath the hood.

Seeing Panda, Kinoshita first cried out in surprise, "Yabai!"

"It's actually a panda? You're kidding, right? Wow! It really moves!"

"Uh... hello." Panda held out his hand.

"Whoa! It even says hello! Awesome~"

"Hello! My name's Kinoshita!" Kinoshita extended his right hand too.

Looking at the energetic Kinoshita before him, Panda thought he seemed like a cheerful guy.

I'd better go a little easy on him later.

Thud-!

Panda's entire body became weightless.

"Huh? What's going on?"

Though he was only a cursed corpse, he had actually lost consciousness for an instant just now.

"Oh, right. I'm supposed to be fighting Kinoshita."

Panda stared blankly as he flew toward the sky.

A large opening ran through the center of the building from top to bottom, with spectators on every floor.

This gave every fight a three-hundred-and-sixty-five-degree view.

But just now, in his first exchange with Kinoshita, Panda had suddenly felt death approaching.

Then a powerful arm had hurled him away, knocking him unconscious for a full second.

This guy... isn't an ordinary jujutsu sorcerer!

Panda didn't dare hold back anymore and immediately entered gorilla form.

"Oh my God!"

All the spectators looked up at once. Why had the adorable panda suddenly turned into a black-and-white gorilla?

Watching the gorilla descend from above, Kinoshita chose not to dodge.

Bang-!

All the spectators looked down again, their gazes following the pair up and down.

This was their first time seeing such an all-encompassing fight, one that could satisfy the spectators on every floor.

But they had no idea that Panda felt as though he were facing a deadly enemy. His Impact Palm had clearly landed squarely on Kinoshita, so why hadn't it done anything?

Even Mechamaru, a Semi-Grade 1, would have taken heavy damage from that move.

An attack capable of penetrating defenses had actually been blocked?

Kinoshita gathered cursed energy again.

He clenched his fist, darted forward, and grabbed Panda by the neck without hesitation.

Uh...

Or did Panda even have a neck?

Kinoshita found him soft to the touch, and rather pleasant to feel.

Damn it... do I have to enter triceratops mode?

Looking at Kinoshita, Panda felt as though a python had coiled around him, squeezing the breath out of him.

This man's total reserves of cursed energy were simply terrifying!

Aside from Satoru Gojo and Okkotsu, he had never seen anyone like this!

"Die." Kinoshita raised his left hand.

Seeing the cursed energy take shape, Panda knew he couldn't keep waiting helplessly for death!

Thump-!

The distance between them suddenly widened as an invisible force pulled Kinoshita away.

Panda immediately recognized it. This was exactly what he had encountered on the rooftop.

Whose cursed technique was this?!

Kinoshita looked at Kirara Hoshi, a smile tugging at his lips.

He knew whose technique this was, and he knew exactly how to make Kinji Hakari appear.

"Piercing Blood!"