Absolute suppression

Although Jogo had retreated in defeat, there was more than one special grade cursed spirit inside Jujutsu High at that moment.

Hanami's arrival left every student hopelessly outclassed. The terrifying power of a special grade cursed spirit became tangible the instant they exchanged blows:

This was not the curse Megumi Fushiguro, Itadori, and the others had encountered at the Juvenile Detention Center-a mindless creature with no cursed technique, possessing nothing but immense cursed energy.

This was a "higher life-form" born from humanity's deepest fears, possessing advanced intelligence just like a human.

"Convergence."

Noritoshi Kamo sliced open the blood bag he had tossed into the air. As those several hundred milliliters of blood hung suspended, compressing and spinning, a round ball of blood no larger than his palm soon hovered before his fingertips, his hands already positioned to aim:

The blood orb condensed and shaped through [Convergence] would enhance every effect of [Blood Manipulation].

Combined with the strongest cursed technique Noritoshi Kamo could currently unleash, all he needed was one opening...

"Stop!!!"

The instant Hanami leaped high off the ground and sent sharp branches hurtling toward them, Inumaki whipped his head around and pulled down the collar covering his mouth.

The absolute power of that command froze both Hanami and its attacks in midair. At that very moment, Noritoshi Kamo had already aimed his cursed technique at the special grade cursed spirit's head-

"Piercing Blood."

Crimson droplets seeped between his fingers.

As fresh blood flowed into the small orb hovering before his fingertips, the entire mass began spinning and compressing furiously, finally stretching until its surface tension reached its limit...

Bzzzz-!!!

The liquid blood was refined into a vicious, dark red spike in his palms. With a shrill explosive crack, it shot straight toward the center of Hanami's forehead.

A red afterimage burned itself into Inumaki's and Megumi Fushiguro's retinas.

The beauty of [Piercing Blood] lay in sheer physical violence. Absolute control over the blood and immense pressure made it erupt with a thunderous impact the instant it touched Hanami's pale skin, as though it could end the special grade cursed spirit's life outright...

[Blood Manipulation]

The Kamo Clan's inherited technique, [Blood Manipulation], undoubtedly ranked among the finest of all the cursed techniques currently known to Jujutsu High.

Blood Manipulation was distinguished by its tremendous physical destructive power. Though it placed considerable strain on its user, mastering the single technique "Convergence: Piercing Blood" was enough to instantly kill most grade 1 cursed spirits, or even special grade cursed spirits...

Speed. Power.

Bringing both to their utmost limits, [Convergence: Piercing Blood] perfectly compensated for [Blood Manipulation]'s lack of staying power. Noritoshi Kamo had few blood bags left on him, so this strike was an all-out attack carrying his hopes of driving Hanami back.

But...

As had already been said.

Hanami was no ordinary special grade cursed spirit.

Piercing Blood struck with a tremendous noise, yet the damage it inflicted was negligible.

With an outer shell so hard that even Megumi Fushiguro's black-bladed cursed tool could not scratch it, Hanami easily weathered a strike that would have gravely wounded even Jogo-

A small, hard flake of pale skin fell from its forehead. That alone was praise for Noritoshi Kamo's full-power attack:

"Not bad... Had it been the others, perhaps they would have been injured."

Noritoshi Kamo's bloodshot eyes contracted, then widened in an instant.

The strongest killing move he took such pride in had been dismissed with a few casual words from Hanami.

And as Inumaki's Cursed Speech wore off, a torrent of branches and enormous rolling vines slammed into him, sending all three of them crashing out of the school building...

"Nue!!"

The shikigami swooped down through the air at tremendous speed, catching Noritoshi Kamo first as blood poured from his left arm.

Only Megumi Fushiguro and Inumaki followed the spreading vines up onto the rooftop...

"Inumaki, go on ahead. I'll hold it off."

With a grim expression, Megumi Fushiguro formed a hand sign-the sign for summoning Max Elephant. He still had cursed energy to spare, enough to sacrifice a shikigami and give them both a chance to escape, one after the other.

And if all else failed...

He still had his "hidden backup power source"...

"Mustard."

Inumaki patted Megumi Fushiguro's shoulder and stepped up beside him. Whether as a jujutsu sorcerer or as Megumi Fushiguro's senior, he could never leave him behind and flee alone...

But just as he strode forward, his gaze resolute, preparing to unleash one final command at the approaching Hanami, a sudden aura of cursed energy enveloped the entire rooftop and brought him to an abrupt halt.

"Run!!!"

Inumaki turned his head, practically roaring the command through Cursed Speech.

But Megumi Fushiguro's attention was focused entirely on the special grade cursed spirit Hanami before him-he had not noticed the cursed presence rapidly closing in behind him at all!

Squelch-!

The air went still at the sound of flesh being pierced.

Without warning, a sharp beast claw burst through the left side of Megumi Fushiguro's abdomen. Warm blood dripped onto the ground, as though mocking his carelessness.

Thousand Fangs had not concealed his movements at all. He had approached relying entirely on a beast's instincts and speed, never expecting this attack to succeed.

"How ugly you are, human."

Thousand Fangs' voice crashed into Megumi Fushiguro's heart like a shattered iceberg. He could feel the life draining from his body, the cursed energy in his hands slipping away so quickly that he could no longer control it...

He wanted to draw his blade and strike back... but he could not even lift his arm...

"Get away!!!"

Inumaki spat out his command along with the blood welling up from his throat.

Thousand Fangs was about to raise his hand and finish Megumi Fushiguro off, but in the next instant, a crushing pressure struck his body and sent him flying backward...

"Cough, cough-cough, cough!"

The immense backlash left Inumaki collapsed on the rooftop, coughing up blood.

Thousand Fangs was also a special grade cursed spirit. Though his potential for growth fell short of his predecessors', his vast reserves of cursed energy had genuinely left Inumaki's throat unable to unleash another Cursed Speech attack...

"Hmm?"

Hanami strode over Inumaki's unconscious body and approached Megumi Fushiguro.

As a cursed spirit, it loathed these jujutsu sorcerers and even wanted to kill them. Yet as the most rational of the four great disaster curses, it still remembered its agreement with Kenjaku:

"There should be a [trigger] for Sukuna among the students at Tokyo Jujutsu High, so don't kill them."

Kenjaku's words echoed in Hanami's ears. Deeply reluctant though it was, it bent down and reached out, gently touching Megumi Fushiguro's gruesome, relentlessly bleeding wound with cursed energy-infused fingertips-

Clusters of flowers blossomed at Fushiguro's feet.

The warm, deeply befuddling power relaxed his consciousness completely. His mind had already reached its limit under the grievous injuries to his body. Affected by Hanami's cursed technique, Megumi Fushiguro closed his eyes and passed out...

"Hey, hey, hey! Whose side are you on?"

Having climbed back onto the rooftop, Thousand Fangs stared resentfully at the special grade cursed spirit that had once spoken up for him.

It had been a long time since they last met, and he was no longer what he had once been.

His body swelled, his bulging muscles and sharp beast fur tearing through the human clothes he wore as a disguise.

In the blink of an eye, what stood before Hanami was the shell of a king of beasts, over two and a half meters tall, with a lion's face and a beast's body...

An extension of [Cursed Technique: Beast Devouring All], a technique form that emphasized overwhelming strength and size while retaining speed-

[Lion Tiger].

It made its entrance at that moment.