The sea of devouring light

Hajime Kashimo had been dancing squarely on Hanami's every last nerve.

Carefully controlling his strength, he kicked the still-weeping mother and the child's corpse away from his side just as Hanami's attack reached him.

The sharp branches blotting out the sky were no longer as "gentle" as they had been while tormenting the child.

Now, those branches carried murderous intent and one purpose alone-to pierce Hajime Kashimo's vital organs!

"Not bad..."

Hajime Kashimo's lips curled slightly. Faced with the immense cursed energy pouring from Hanami and the dense barrage of stabbing branches, his heart, desperate for the thrill of battle, began to race.

Bzzzt-!

Without any warning that Hanami could see, a silvery chain appeared in Hajime Kashimo's hand.

Dazzling lightning erupted along the rapidly swinging chain. The branches, as hard as steel and too tough for even high-grade cursed tools to break through all at once, crumbled to dust amid the flashing arcs.

Special Grade Cursed Tool: [Chain of a Thousand Miles]

A cursed tool that could extend indefinitely but served only a supporting role had now become a whip combining physical toughness with the properties of lightning, thanks to Kashimo's electrical cursed energy.

"I'm not done yet!"

Hanami raised both hands. As the plant-manipulating cursed technique activated again, more reinforced, razor-sharp plants lunged at Hajime Kashimo from even more directions-

The forest park's abundant greenery allowed Hanami to launch attacks from every corner, forcing Hajime Kashimo to choose between advancing through the onslaught and standing his ground, swinging the Chain of a Thousand Miles to defend from all sides. That would buy Hanami time to devise a strategy.

But as Hajime Kashimo's gaze sharpened, something Hanami had never anticipated happened:

The endlessly extending Chain of a Thousand Miles abruptly stopped swinging as Hajime Kashimo's entire presence changed.

Halted in midair, the Chain of a Thousand Miles swiftly reversed direction under the pull of Hajime Kashimo's electricity and shot toward Hanami without warning!

"Electricity: Release."

Hajime Kashimo leaped over two sharp branches lunging at him. Chanting the incantation, he stamped hard on a branch beneath his feet, using the recoil as it shattered to land on the Chain of a Thousand Miles and race toward Hanami.

"Don't even think about it!!"

Though shocked by Hajime Kashimo's reckless fighting style, Hanami swiftly commanded the surrounding branches to block his advance.

The problem was that Hajime Kashimo had already finished his chant.

All the electricity he had stored inside the Chain of a Thousand Miles while swinging it earlier burst free in a single instant...

The surging Thunder carried a volume of cursed energy that stunned Hanami, shattering every attack around it. In the blink of an eye, Hajime Kashimo had ridden the Chain of a Thousand Miles right up to Hanami and leaped high...

"This guy..."

"He's no ordinary jujutsu sorcerer!!!"

While Hanami reeled in shock, Hajime Kashimo's flying kick, charged with electrical cursed energy, slammed squarely into Hanami's face.

Bang! Blue-green arcs coursed over Hanami's face. Though the kick neither sent Hanami flying nor knocked Hanami down, it still caused a momentary lockup.

This one's body resists paralysis. I need to end this fast.

With that kick, Hajime Kashimo discovered that although he could build up a charge on his opponent's body, his electrical cursed energy could not induce paralysis.

So he seized the opening while Hanami was locked up, aiming to land a rapid series of attacks and trigger his cursed technique...

Boom-

Hajime Kashimo grabbed the Chain of a Thousand Miles and reeled it back in. Just as Hanami was about to recover, he drove a heavy punch into Hanami's chin, together with the chain coiling around it.

"That's two."

Hajime Kashimo murmured softly. Blue-green arcs had already appeared between him and Hanami-

The telltale sign of an impending sure-hit lightning strike.

Grade 1! Or Special Grade!

Hanami's head dipped sharply. Realizing that the person ahead could actually kill Hanami, the cursed spirit forced through the lockup by sheer willpower and unleashed a cursed technique at maximum output-

"Binding roots descend!"

An enormous tree erupted from the ground, cutting off Hajime Kashimo's fist just before it could connect.

Watching Hanami rise higher and higher atop the branches, putting considerable distance between them, Hajime Kashimo knew what his opponent was about to do...

The human and the cursed spirit began moving their hands almost simultaneously.

But Hanami was clearly faster:

"Domain Expansion-Sea of Devouring Light!!!"

The instant Hanami finished speaking, a black barrier appeared overhead.

This domain required no corresponding hand sign-its very existence relied entirely on the surrounding environment!

Hanami had raised the right hand only to tear away the white cloth covering the crimson eye on the left shoulder!!!

The black barrier descended completely. In an instant, the space around Hajime Kashimo went from light to darkness.

An endless sea of flowers spread beneath his feet, accompanied by the false sky constructed by the domain. A blood-red sun slowly rose at one end, heralding the peril Hajime Kashimo now faced...

Within a domain, every attack received a [sure-hit] effect.

And Hanami, who had created distance from Hajime Kashimo atop a massive stump summoned through a cursed technique, could now make every technique attack [sure-hit].

Including this one...

Black cursed energy surged as Hanami pressed the left hand against the stump.

Outside the domain, vast swaths of vegetation throughout Yoyogi Park withered and disintegrated in an instant. Stream after stream of cursed energy slipped through the domain's outer barrier, gathering inside the enormous [Flower Offering] on Hanami's left shoulder...

As the crimson, slit-pupiled eye awakened, thoroughly nourished with cursed energy, Hajime Kashimo completed his hand sign at the same time:

"Hollow Wicker Basket."

A pink, spherical barrier of woven bamboo unfolded around Hajime Kashimo.

Since he had yet to develop his own Domain Expansion, Hajime Kashimo could only use [Hollow Wicker Basket] to neutralize the sure-hit effect of Hanami's [Sea of Devouring Light], then look for a chance to counterattack...

But...

Things looked grim.

In my prime, I could easily tear those stumps apart and close the distance, or stop the Domain Expansion before the hand sign was even finished.

But now...

He watched golden cursed energy gather relentlessly at Hanami's left shoulder-

Those terrifying cursed energy fluctuations rivaled even the King of Curses-

This was nature's full-force bombardment...

"[Flower Offering: Falsehood]."

As Hanami spoke, the Flower Offering on that shoulder bloomed fully, concealing more than half of Hanami's body.

A golden beam of cursed energy, carrying an aura of world-shattering destruction, abruptly engulfed half the domain's barrier-

Fueled by the lives of the surrounding plants and combined with the domain's sure-hit effect, the destructive power of Hanami's all-out attack deserved a place in the annals of Jujutsu Society.

Hanami was confident of that.

Even the legendary King of Curses, [Ryomen Sukuna], would not dare boast that he could take this attack unscathed!

"Although this means I won't be able to use [Flower Offering] for the next few days..."

"Killing a Grade 1 Sorcerer from Jujutsu High this way... is still a fair trade..."

Golden light completely flooded Hanami's entire domain.

Hanami could clearly sense its attack striking Hajime Kashimo.

The battle...

Could now be declared over.

Unless...

The golden radiance dimmed as the cursed energy slowly dwindled.

Just as Hanami was about to clap and dismiss the Domain Expansion, keen senses detected a sudden surge of cursed energy within the domain-something utterly superior, terrifying and frenzied, bent on tearing apart and annihilating everything...

The stump shattered, and Hanami's pale body landed steadily in the sea of flowers below.

Looking toward the shattered, dissipating Hollow Wicker Basket ahead, Hanami could make out exactly what had blocked the attack, even through the smoke from the burning plants-

That was no human...

That was...

Hajime Kashimo's ultimate art-

[Mythical Beast Amber]