Elsewhere.
Deep in the forest.
Aoi Todo clapped his hands together.
"Clap."
Hanami's body vanished.
She appeared beside the stump of the tree that had just been split, while the stump appeared where she had been standing.
Todo did not stop.
"Clap."
Another clap.
Hanami swapped places with a rock, and Itadori's fist struck right where the rock had been, the gust from his punch scattering the fragments.
"Clap."
Hanami swapped places with a tree root. Todo appeared behind her and kicked her in the lower back.
Hanami stumbled forward two steps, turned, and swung her hand. Roots shot out of the ground, but Todo had already clapped and switched places, moving himself ten meters away.
"Clap."
Hanami and Itadori swapped places. Itadori appeared where Hanami had been, and Hanami appeared where Itadori had been, with Todo's fist already waiting there.
His punch slammed into Hanami's chest, driving her back three steps.
"Clap."
"Clap."
"Clap."
Within one second, Todo clapped five times and switched between five positions. Hanami's body was like a punching bag being tossed back and forth. Every time she landed, she took a punch; every time she took a punch, she was switched away.
"Aaaaaah~~~~"
Then she flew into a rage.
Hanami planted her feet and slammed both hands onto the ground. The roots throughout the forest erupted at once, shooting toward the two constantly switching men from every direction like a volley of ten thousand arrows.
"So annoying."
"Just like Mahito said."
Roots coiled around Todo's ankles, then around Itadori's wrists, hoisting both of them into the air.
"You really are a troublesome one."
When Itadori heard Mahito's name, his entire body froze for an instant.
That name.
Pink hair, a face covered in stitches, an innocent smile.
Junpei.
Junpei Yoshino.
His soul twisted by Idle