Sweating bullets

Jujutsu High.

While Araki Itsuki was pummeling Yuji Itadori, Mahito and the others who had infiltrated according to Suguru Geto's plan were also making their move.

Still wearing its black mesh top, Mahito stood on a tiled roof, surveying Jujutsu High.

Though a twisted smile hung on its face, its eyes held deep hatred and coldness.

The deaths of its companions, along with Araki Itsuki's mockery and torment, remained fresh in its memory.

"Well, shall we get to work too?"

Behind it stood a bald curse user. His upper body was bare beneath a leather butcher's apron, and he kept his hands behind his back while muttering to himself.

"Satoru Gojo's about 190 centimeters tall, right? How about making him into a coat rack?"

"He'd make a fine coat rack."

One glance was enough to tell he wasn't right in the head.

Meanwhile, Hanami stood in the competition forest, sensing the distant fluctuations of cursed energy and preparing to cause a commotion to draw the jujutsu sorcerers' attention.

Cursed energy drifted over its white, armor-like body as it thrust its powerful arms toward the distance, as though calling something forth.

Under its control, terrifying cursed energy poured endlessly into its cursed technique, conjuring countless enormous, ancient roots out of thin air.

The vast stretch of land behind it shook violently.

Countless roots, which normally needed the earth's nourishment to grow, brutally tore free of the ground's confines and burst through the surface.

Carrying chunks of earth, the immense roots shook heaven and earth as Hanami directed them toward the distant battlefield, swallowing everything like a tsunami.

They crushed and destroyed anything standing in their path.

Looking at the countless massive roots it had created, Hanami suddenly wanted to shout: Wood Release: Deep Forest Emergence!

Shaking that strange thought from its head, Hanami bent its knees, and the ground beneath its feet instantly cracked.

It leaped into the air and landed at the very front of the mass of roots.

And so.

Our king of the forest stood atop dozens of enormous white roots that churned and twisted together like venomous snakes.

Looking down on everything from over ten meters above, it entered the battlefield with the bearing of an absolute powerhouse!

"Stop! Foolish children!!!"

Seeing the shocked jujutsu sorcerers below, awed by its stylish entrance, Hanami prepared to deliver its speech.

Then it suddenly spotted a familiar figure holding Sukuna's vessel and beating him senseless. It was Araki Itsuki.

Though enemies were supposed to see red at the sight of each other, Hanami declared that it had no eyes and couldn't see him, then turned to leave.

It had agreed to stir up trouble, not throw away its life!

But Araki Itsuki had his own plans. Seeing Hanami here, he knew Suguru Geto and the others had put their plan into motion.

He set Yuji Itadori down and told them:

"I'll leave this special grade cursed spirit to you. I've got something else to take care of."

The participants in this Goodwill Event weren't scattered, though Miwa, Mechamaru, and Mai had already lost the ability to fight.

Still standing here were Yuji Itadori, Megumi Fushiguro, Todo, Inumaki, Maki, and Panda.

He might have been a little worried if it were Jogo, but Hanami? Not a problem.

Fushiguro recognized it as the special grade cursed spirit Satoru Gojo had mentioned and asked worriedly:

"What if it can use Domain Expansion?"

The guaranteed-hit cursed technique of a Domain Expansion meant certain death for jujutsu sorcerers who hadn't reached that level!

Araki Itsuki waved a hand. "Don't worry. It definitely can."

"Then what are we supposed to do?"

Araki Itsuki stopped, a teasing smile on his lips as he looked straight into Megumi Fushiguro's eyes.

"Why don't you just expand your own domain?"

"Me?!"

Fushiguro instinctively took two steps back, suspecting Araki Itsuki was joking.

"Didn't I teach you last time, Fushiguro? Be a little crazier. A little more bloodthirsty.

"Why do you need so many reasons? Fighting is fighting. Killing is killing.

"You don't even understand what it means to get serious, do you?

"Or do you work so well with your shikigami that you've started believing teamwork matters in every situation?"

Araki Itsuki tapped Fushiguro's forehead with a long, slender finger, snapping him out of his thoughts and forcing him to meet those deep eyes.

"Being a jujutsu sorcerer is always a solo competitive game. When you die, you're always alone. You sell yourself far too short.

"And don't think about that bullshit trump card of yours. Don't think you can just trade your life for the enemy's. Don't think sacrificing yourself will solve everything.

"If that thing comes out, Itadori, Kugisaki, and the others will all die."

Araki Itsuki smiled, turned, and continued toward the edge of the grounds.

"Of course, it's fine if our Fushiguro can't manage it.

"Just let your friends, like Itadori and Maki, teach you the price of incompetence with their corpses."

The moment he finished speaking, Araki Itsuki vanished.

Fushiguro was still thinking when Yuji Itadori slapped him on the back and shouted with a trusting smile:

"Let's go!"

Todo and Maki had already rushed at Hanami, venting their unsatisfied hunger for battle on the special grade cursed spirit that had suddenly barged in.

Seeing Araki Itsuki leave, Hanami no longer feared the jujutsu sorcerers below and summoned countless roots to attack them.

Kamo Noritoshi tossed out two blood bags and formed a hand sign, aiming his cursed technique at Hanami atop the towering roots.

"Blood Manipulation: Slicing Exorcism!"

The blood instantly condensed into a saw wheel edged with sharp, curved blades, flying toward Hanami with a piercing crack.

Smack!

Hanami neither dodged nor ducked, taking the blow squarely in the face. Not a single mark appeared on its hard white armor.

Kamo Noritoshi's eyes widened as he stared in disbelief.

"Not a scratch!"

Seeing this, Panda immediately realized that their group would only get in the way if they stayed.

"I'll take Kugisaki out of here!"

Nishimiya took Miwa with her and retreated alongside Kamo Noritoshi, the five of them leaving the battlefield.

Hanami blocked Todo's attack with its sturdy armored arm, then forced him back with a kick.

It dodged Maki's slash next, controlling several roots to knock her away.

Araki Itsuki was gone, and Hanami wanted to continue preaching.

"I only want to protect this planet!"

Fushiguro rubbed his head. "That's so creepy. I can't understand the sounds at all, but I still know what it means."

"The forests, oceans, and skies are crying every moment. They can no longer endure humanity's atrocities. They have reached the point where they can no longer coexist with humans."

Inumaki was surprised to discover that this cursed spirit had actually developed its own language.

"They know there are humans who treat this planet gently. But how much can that compassion make up for?"

"All they want is time. A stretch of time without humans.

"Given that time, this planet can regain its radiant blue glow!"

Hanami spread its arms, and countless trees grew wildly behind it.

"Die!"

"And become sages!"

Hearing Hanami speak for the planet's anger, Fushiguro had no intention of dying, but he couldn't help thinking about humanity's atrocities against the planet.

Yet when he turned his head, he saw an impatient expression on Yuji Itadori's face.

Itadori stepped forward, recalled what Araki Itsuki had taught him, and declared righteously to Hanami:

"I can't be bothered to reason with you. You don't deserve to hear it!"

"Eat my fist!"

Elsewhere.

The mentally unstable curse user watched the huge commotion in the distant forest as he hammered cursed energy-infused nails into the ground.

"Quite a racket they're making. But cursed spirits, huh? Once they die, there's nothing left."

"You can't make anything out of them, right?"

Remembering their agreement, he stepped on the Cursed Nails and recited the incantation:

"Born from darkness, darker than black, purify all defiled cursed residue!"

A massive Curtain rose overhead, enclosing the entire forest battlefield.

With Hanami's appearance and the descent of the Curtain, everyone in the viewing area immediately reacted.

"An outside intruder? Is Tengen's Barrier not working?"

Masamichi Yaga hurried to his feet. "I'll go see Tengen. Satoru, protect Principal Gakuganji and the students."

"Mei Mei, stay here to confirm the students' locations within the area and report them to Satoru one by one."

Mei Mei snapped her fingers. "Assignment confirmed. I'll look forward to your reward."

Satoru Gojo remained relaxed. With two special grades here-Araki Itsuki and himself-what could possibly go wrong?

"All right, old man! Time for a stroll!"

Utahime's temper flared at his exaggerated manner. "Let's hurry!"

Soon, the three arrived before the black Curtain, cursed energy gathering in Satoru Gojo's hand.

"Even if it's already descended, all we have to do is break it."

Yet the moment he lightly touched it, his hand was violently repelled.

"What's going on? Something feels wrong!"

Utahime, however, sensed no danger. She reached out, and her hand passed into the black Curtain.

Satoru Gojo understood. "Utahime, you and the old man go ahead. I can't get in for now."

"This Curtain refuses entry to Satoru Gojo, but everyone else can pass freely."

By restricting only Satoru Gojo as its price, it could impose a powerful barrier against him.

Satoru Gojo felt a flicker of unease. The ability to create a Curtain like this meant the other side had a jujutsu sorcerer of considerable skill.

And they knew a fair amount about him.

Outwardly, however, he remained perfectly calm.

"All right. We don't know what they're planning, but if anyone dies, we lose."

Yoshinobu Gakuganji and Utahime could only leave Satoru Gojo behind and enter the black Curtain.

The curse user wearing a butcher's apron approached them, a sharp axe in hand.

"Hey, hey, hey! Hey, hey, hey, hey!"

"Satoru Gojo didn't come?"

"That booze-swilling, meat-eating monk actually lied to me."

Yoshinobu Gakuganji took off his coat, revealing a trendy rock outfit, with an electric guitar in his hands.

"Utahime, go ahead. Protect the students."

Juzo Kumiya immediately protested. "Hold on, hold on! At least let me kill a woman!"

"An old man's brittle bones and wrinkled skin aren't good for making anything!"

Yoshinobu Gakuganji looked displeased. He plucked his electric guitar and said coldly:

"You can check whether my bones are brittle after you've killed me!"

But just as the two were about to clash.

Clear footsteps suddenly sounded from the steps beside them.

A young man slowly approached, amusement shining in his eyes.

Like a youthful immortal banished to the mortal world and treating life as a game, his easygoing figure carried a confidence that recognized no taboos.

Araki Itsuki studied Yoshinobu Gakuganji's incredulous gaze and teased:

"Sweating bullets now, buddy?"