Enjoying the fight

On the battlefield.

A very muscular passerby-the Tiger of West Junior High-had arrived!

After Todo's reminder, Yuji Itadori had managed to calm the anger inside him.

He kept it at a level that worked in his favor.

Without backing down or giving an inch, he charged at Hanami as she emerged from the dust.

His focus was so intense that even Hanami felt he had become an entirely different person, as if he had been reborn.

Black Flash.

A distortion in space that occurred when the impact of a physical strike and cursed energy landed within 0.000001 seconds of each other.

On average, its power was that of a normal attack raised to the power of 2.5.

No sorcerer could deliberately unleash a Black Flash.

Yet those who had experienced Black Flash and those who had not were worlds apart in how close they stood to the core of cursed energy.

Utahime and Todo were prime examples, even though Utahime was a teacher and Todo was only a student.

Todo, who had experienced Black Flash, was a Grade 1 Jujutsu Sorcerer, while Utahime, a teacher who was older than Satoru Gojo and had enrolled before him, was only a Semi-Grade 1 Jujutsu Sorcerer.

Sensing the sudden change in Yuji Itadori's presence, Hanami abruptly curled her right hand into a grasp.

Countless sharp roots broke free of the hard earth, striking viciously at Yuji Itadori like venomous snakes.

They sought to pierce his body and stop him in his tracks.

But with his concentration sharpened to its limit, Yuji Itadori easily dodged Hanami's attacks and closed in.

His expression was serious, and his taut legs stood welded to the earth like iron pillars, feeding an endless stream of power into his upper body.

Even the soil compacted beneath his feet began to crack.

Cursed energy flashed black around Yuji Itadori's fist, distorting the space around it.

"Black Flash!"

Boom!

Unable to bring her guard back in time, Hanami took the punch squarely in the chest.

That terrifying destructive force, raised to the power of 2.5, rampaged through her body, tearing through her vitality.

She flew backward and embedded herself in the earth like a cannonball, her white, armor-like chest cracking open.

"What... was that?!"

Yuji Itadori stared at his hands in astonishment. For the first time, he had truly sensed his own cursed energy.

"Was that Black Flash just now?!"

Tears of excitement streamed from Todo's eyes. "Best Friend, you've understood the taste of cursed energy!"

"Before, you were throwing a jumble of ingredients into an iron pot and cooking them all together, unable to distinguish any of their flavors.

Now, through Black Flash, you've understood the flavor of the ingredient called cursed energy.

As a jujutsu sorcerer, you're already in a different dimension from who you were three seconds ago."

"Congratulations, brother!"

"You can become even stronger."

Had Araki Itsuki been there, he would certainly have applauded in satisfaction:

"Not bad. Our Black Flash specialist has finally taken his first step."

Meanwhile, Hanami channeled cursed energy to repair her body, puzzled.

"When I heard about Ryomen Sukuna's vessel, I thought he was just an immature jujutsu sorcerer. I never expected him to be this strong."

"And then there's that strange, muscular man. He has less cursed energy than I do, but he's so confident."

Yuji Itadori watched Hanami finish repairing her body with some surprise.

"Why is this cursed spirit different from the others?"

Todo, who had experience hunting special grade cursed spirits, explained:

"A cursed spirit's body is constructed from cursed energy. Unlike humans, they don't need an advanced reverse cursed technique to heal.

For a special grade, an injury like that is nothing."

"But it has still depleted her cursed energy. We just need to crush her vital points, and it'll be over."

Hearing them discuss killing her, Hanami stretched her body, displaying the bearing of a powerful fighter.

"I suppose I should get a little more serious."

The moment she finished speaking, the ground beneath Itadori and the others collapsed.

Sharp roots over a dozen meters long erupted in an instant, bombarding them with an endless barrage of piercing strikes.

Yuji Itadori hastily leaped up, twisting and springing around the thick tree in the center to evade the sharp tips.

"What kind of insane attack range is this?!"

The raging roots covered a hundred meters around them, savagely hunting down anything alive.

"Nue!"

Fushiguro immediately sent Nue, its wings crackling with lightning, to help the struggling Inumaki.

He quickly retreated to put some distance between himself and the enemy, jumping onto a thick root for footing.

But in the next instant.

The countless roots beneath Fushiguro's feet suddenly parted.

Hanami emerged from within them and, under Fushiguro's shocked gaze, sent him flying with a punch.

Maki darted forward with the Playful Cloud to intervene, stopping Hanami from pursuing him.

"Watch out!"

"She can move quickly through the trees!"

Even as he was still flying backward, Fushiguro was already worrying about his teammates.

He endured the numbness and pain in his arms and shouted, trying to warn Maki and the others.

But then he noticed that both Yuji Itadori and Maki were staring at him in horror.

"What... happened?"

Fushiguro hurriedly turned his head, his pupils contracting.

Behind him, countless sharp roots gleaming coldly suddenly rose from the wooden ground, which was made entirely of thick roots.

They shot toward his back, whistling through the air.

"Damn it! I'm in midair with nothing to push off of, and Nue went to save Inumaki. He won't make it back in time!"

"Is this how it ends?"

Yuji Itadori charged toward the airborne Fushiguro, shouting his name in fear and concern:

"Fushiguro!!!"

Hanami's imposing figure stood atop the roots as she savored their fear and unease from a position of strength.

Her freed left arm brimmed with terrifying cursed energy.

"I'll take one of them out first!"

"Then the jujutsu sorcerers will fall into grief and rage over their companion's death, and I'll crush them one by one!"

However.

Clap!

A crisp clap suddenly rang out across the battlefield, like a fiery soul cheering.

Shluck!

Countless sharp roots instantly pierced a body-but it was the completely unprepared Hanami.

Blood poured from her mouth, staining the roots jutting through her chest red.

"What happened?!"

Meanwhile, Fushiguro appeared beside Maki, looking utterly bewildered.

Todo lowered his hands and performed cursed technique disclosure, establishing a simple binding vow to strengthen himself.

"Boogie Woogie."

"My cursed technique can swap the positions of any two targets. As you can see, I activate it by clapping."

Hanami dispelled the roots she had created, rapidly repairing the gaping wounds in her chest.

"I see. A simple but troublesome cursed technique."

While Hanami was still considering how to counter it, a furious Yuji Itadori charged up to her alongside Todo.

Both threw punches at the same time, aiming for Hanami's head.

Thud! Thud!

Hanami raised her hard arms to block, feeling the force behind their blows.

"Such heavy strikes. They aren't as powerful as that attack with the flashing black light, but they can definitely hurt me."

Yuji Itadori wanted to press the attack, but the hundred-meter-wide expanse of roots beneath their feet suddenly vanished.

The two of them, along with Fushiguro and Maki, lost their footing and fell toward the ground.

*"I let my guard down. I thought she was controlling living things by pouring cursed energy into them.

I didn't expect all of this to be manifested through her cursed technique."*

"Such terrifying cursed energy. She's a special grade, all right."

A black Tree Ball appeared beneath Hanami's feet, allowing her to stand steadily high in the air.

Watching the four of them fall with nothing to push off of, Hanami channeled her cursed energy and attacked.

"Feel... the blessings of the earth!"

Tough roots suddenly shot out of the black Tree Ball beneath her feet like venomous snakes, stabbing toward the others.

"Brother!"

At Todo's shout, Yuji Itadori reacted immediately.

With little distance between them, the two adjusted their bodies and pushed off each other's feet to change positions.

They narrowly evaded the incoming attack.

Maki whirled the Playful Cloud in an impenetrable guard, using the recoil from the collisions to land safely.

Fushiguro summoned the Great Serpent, and the enormous creature burst from the ground and shot upward.

With tremendous momentum, it knocked aside the descending roots and saved Fushiguro.

Watching the four evade her attack, Hanami felt something strange stir within her and could not help remembering Mahito's voice.

"Hanami, you should be a little more honest."

"I'm not pretending!"

"I'm not saying you're lying. I know why you fight, but I think you should enjoy it more. Enjoy the process called fighting."

Hanami asked curiously, "Do you enjoy it, Mahito?"

"I suppose so. But after meeting Araki Itsuki, I learned that I couldn't simply enjoy it.

Deception, trickery, hatred, and slaughter have filled my heart without me even realizing it, making me want revenge.

It's just like humans eating, sleeping, and breaking rules.

Slaughter is our instinct as curses. Even though we've gained reason, that can't make us defy our instinct to kill."

"The soul is a fusion of instinct and reason, and no one else has the right to judge the proportions of the two.

But your soul seems far too constrained. Hanami, you should be able to... become stronger, shouldn't you?"

In an unknown room, Araki Itsuki had a fat, useless higher-up by the throat, holding him high in the air.

Ignoring his struggles and pleas for mercy, he watched the man's flailing feet gradually weaken and stop moving.

Without hesitation, he took the man's life. Then dense dark energy emerged, completely enslaving and dominating his soul.

"Ahem. Is someone thinking about me?"

"Things over there are almost finished, though. I'd better pick up the pace with this trash disposal."