Infighting

The tension in the air kept mounting.

Faced with Thousand Fangs' questioning, Hanami gave no answer.

Hanami merely quickened the cursed technique being channeled through those hands, treating Megumi Fushiguro's fatal injuries-

Cursed spirits were inherently incapable of learning Reverse Cursed Technique. Positive energy was their absolute bane.

But the hallucinatory sea of flowers Hanami created with cursed energy genuinely had a calming effect-even containing herbs that could actually stop bleeding and heal wounds...

Though Hanami normally had no use for them.

"I asked you a question. Are you pretending not to hear me?"

Thousand Fangs strode forward. Though he bore Hanami no ill will, he deeply resented Hanami protecting the "delicacies" he was about to enjoy.

To Thousand Fangs as he was now, every jujutsu sorcerer was a first-class "lavish feast."

He was sick of eating ordinary human monkeys with no flavor. Now that two such delicious meals lay before him, he had no reason not to indulge.

"They cannot die yet."

Hanami did not elaborate on why they were not to be killed. For one thing, although Thousand Fangs was a special grade cursed spirit, he had not allied himself with them.

For another...

The walls had ears-

Hidden in the shadows, Maki clenched her fists as she watched the two special grade cursed spirits talking on the roof.

Though she desperately wanted to ambush Hanami immediately and rescue Megumi Fushiguro, Thousand Fangs' arrival had put a firm stop to that unrealistic idea.

One special grade cursed spirit was already trouble enough.

Let alone two!

Still, Maki gleaned some useful information from the two special grade cursed spirits' unfriendly conversation-

The two knew each other, but were not close. And for some reason, Thousand Fangs seemed quite hostile toward certain things Hanami had done. Even from a distance, she could see every hair on his body standing on end. He was clearly enraged.

"Huh? They can't die?"

"You don't have a single trace of a curse about you!"

"Don't tell me... you've completely sided with the humans!!"

Before his words had faded, Thousand Fangs was already moving.

He attacked.

"Move."

In Hanami's eyes, Thousand Fangs' raised claws became coated in a thick layer of dark cursed energy. His voice was hoarse and harsh, anger lurking beneath his tone.

Yet Hanami's expression did not change.

To be precise, that face lacked the muscular structure needed to form an "expression" at all.

Even so, Thousand Fangs sensed something from Hanami that could only be called "refusal."

The small patch of flowers underfoot rapidly spread, enveloping Megumi Fushiguro and transporting him to the forest floor.

With all attention devoted to moving the plants, Hanami simply raised a left arm to meet Thousand Fangs' claw strike...

Bam-!!

The dull impact rang across the rooftop, shattering the tiles beneath Hanami's feet.

But when Thousand Fangs looked up, his previously unstoppable claws had failed to pierce Hanami's left arm. There was not even the slightest scratch on that pale limb...

"You are still molting," Hanami said softly.

"You are hunting. Devouring everything you can."

"But right now, this is my forest. My territory."

"I will not allow a little brat to hunt here as he pleases."

Thick tree roots erupted from the shattered roof tiles beneath Hanami's feet.

The sudden attack from below caught Thousand Fangs off guard. He swiftly pulled both arms back to guard his body, meeting the massive roots' impact with brute physical strength.

Crack-thud!!

The roots splintered, while Thousand Fangs used the force to land steadily on the edge of the roof, more than ten meters in front of Hanami.

"Your strength and defense surpass those of the wild cursed spirits."

Hanami spoke flatly, as though delivering an objective assessment. "But they are not concentrated enough."

"Shut up! I don't need you telling me!"

Thousand Fangs' pupils contracted sharply. His right arm shuddered, and under Hanami's gaze, that muscular limb began transforming at a speed visible to the naked eye-

Swelling, deforming, its bones stretching and restructuring with a series of cracks...

The lion's five fingers merged into four scythelike claws, its muscle density swelling to three times its normal level-

[Bear Form: Right Arm]

This was Thousand Fangs' cursed technique-replacing parts of his body with enhanced beast limbs to gain their strength.

Hadn't Hanami said his strength was not concentrated enough?

Then he would win through sheer strength!!!

His figure flashed forward. Thousand Fangs' strike came without any warning.

He took only a fraction of a second to go from standing still to attacking, his speed and suddenness reaching the instinctive limits of a predator.

Hanami, by contrast, still had not moved either foot...

Hanami merely raised both hands, without hand signs or chants.

Simply lifting them and opening both palms.

The ground beneath Thousand Fangs came alive in that instant.

Though the flooring and tiles underfoot were lifeless, countless vines burst from the barren structure, so fast it seemed they had been lurking beneath the roof all along, waiting for this command.

Convinced that Hanami could not launch a restraining attack, Thousand Fangs had no time to react. Vines had already wrapped around both his legs, their thorns piercing his skin and burrowing into muscle fibers formed from cursed energy.

"Don't underestimate me!"

Thousand Fangs roared hoarsely. His lower body lengthened and narrowed, his joints reversing as it abruptly transformed into a stretch of scaly snake body.

Skimming along the ground, Thousand Fangs twisted his flexible body to swiftly evade the obstructing vines and close in. His snake body rapidly approached Hanami's lower half, intent on coiling around both legs.

At the same time, his massive bear claws slammed toward Hanami's chin, attempting to deliver a rising "uppercut."

Under this pressure, Hanami finally moved.

Yet it was merely a half step to the side.

Yes, just half a step.

Charging at full tilt, Thousand Fangs displayed neither speed nor grace.

His attack was aimed purely by instinct, without any thought or judgment.

Thus, Hanami needed only to shift a short distance sideways for that utterly inaccurate bear claw to brush lightly past the wooden branches on Hanami's forehead...

"How is that possible..."

A flicker of astonishment passed through Thousand Fangs' bestial eyes.

But before he could dwell on it, Hanami's heavy fist slammed squarely into his abdomen.

Splurt-!!

Purple-black blood mixed with beast saliva sprayed from Thousand Fangs' mouth, but he did not give up.

He slammed both arms against Hanami's body, the tremendous recoil forcibly launching him into the air.

While airborne, cursed energy rapidly gathered in his lower body, which began transforming again.

This time, it was neither a snake's body nor humanoid beast legs-

It was a falcon's hooked talons.

At the same time, his arms straightened and fused, and Thousand Fangs unfurled enormous falcon wings in midair...

[Eagle Form: Complete Form]

In less than five or six seconds, Thousand Fangs soared a hundred meters into the air, passing through the rain clouds and the Curtain, out of Hanami's attack range.

Hanami looked up, but did not pursue.

Hanami simply stood quietly in place, the branches at the fingertips of the right hand swaying faintly in the wind.

Around thirty seconds later, Thousand Fangs finally began his dive.

His body stretched into a straight black streak, cleaving down from the sky toward the crown of Hanami's head.

This was not simply his eagle form-Thousand Fangs underwent a second transformation during his descent. His wings folded inward, his bone density increased sharply, and his muscle fibers compressed into a steel-like structure, his entire body becoming a cannonball-like bear form.

The gravitational acceleration of a fall from high altitude, combined with the bear form's mass and hardness.

Thousand Fangs intended to settle the fight with this move...

But the problem was, quite aside from whether Hanami was willing to continue fighting him...

From another direction, an immensely powerful and oppressive surge of cursed energy was rapidly approaching.

And the target of that lightning-laced cursed energy was none other than Thousand Fangs, diving at high speed through the air.

"If I remember right, you don't have a part in this scene!!!"

Vast bolts of lightning flashed across the heavens. No rain fell, but the dazzling light illuminated the entire forest.

A lightning strike unleashed with all of Hajime Kashimo's cursed energy slammed squarely into Thousand Fangs' body. As a violent burst of flame erupted, the air above Jujutsu High's entire classroom building instantly fell deathly silent...

Then came earth-shaking thunder.

Rumble-!!!

The thunder made Hanami frown, but before any doubts could form, Maki followed in its wake, finally seizing her chance to strike.

"A dull blade like that cannot hurt me."

"Of course, this one is rather good."

A familiar figure appeared overhead once more-

It was Megumi Fushiguro, healed by Hajime Kashimo and now conscious again.

And beside him was Maki, her long blade raised high...

The course of the battle and the story seemed to have returned to its starting point...