Itadori's fist carried his grief and outrage for the dead and his fury at injustice as it struck Mahito squarely in the chest.
Yet the sensation of impact was strangely wrong-not flesh and blood, but more like striking a skin bag filled with gas.
Squelch!
His fist sank deep, opening a hole in Mahito's chest.
But instead of the expected dull crunch of rupturing organs, there was an unsettling sense of deformation.
The instant Itadori's punch struck Mahito's battered body, he did not go flying backward.
Instead, like a balloon suddenly inflated, his entire torso visibly swelled around the hole!
Beneath his skin, a destructive surge spread wildly!
"Not good!" Madara's Clone's gaze sharpened as he instantly saw through Mahito's intent-self-destruction!
Mahito was sacrificing all his cursed energy and even part of his soul to create an indiscriminate, devastating explosion.
It was both a means of taking them down with him and, potentially, a trick to escape!
"Susanoo!"
The last remnants of power within the Clone erupted without reserve!
This time, four enormous arms swiftly retracted and overlapped.
Like a sturdy cage, they instantly enclosed Itadori, who was closest, Nanami a little farther away, and Junpei, who had only just escaped danger!
At the same time, one of Susanoo's arms shot out like lightning, reaching for Mahito's main body as he tried to flee.
Yet it was still a fraction too late.
Riiip-!
Like fabric tearing, Mahito's flesh was ripped apart from within by violent cursed energy the moment it swelled to its limit!
BOOOOM!!!
A deafening explosion swept across the entire abandoned school field!
The ground shook violently beneath the shock wave and cracked.
Purple-black flames and thick smoke shot into the sky, instantly swallowing everything within dozens of meters!
Scorching air swept up stones and dirt, crashing outward