Itadori had failed, in a way he couldn't forgive himself for.

Junpei's death, after saving his mother, was a possibility he hadn’t considered.

He was a fool.

Because of his foolishness, not only was Junpei dead, but so were dozens of other students who had absolutely no connection to the Jujutsu world.

Trying to make things better had only made the result much worse than it originally should have been.

He felt sadness, remorse, and anger for the lives lost.

He felt self-hatred. So focused on himself, he had forgotten that the world around him could still be affected by his actions.

This was no longer a simple anime world; this was now the world he lived in. And if he didn’t act accordingly, people would die because of him.

That was something he could see clearly now.

And he would no longer ignore this fact.

"Give me a situation report," Nanami asked, and Itadori, standing to the side, wiped his lips before responding.

"All the students are..." Itadori was clearly uncomfortable with his next words, and Nanami was quick to notice. "Dead. I was too late."

Nanami didn’t respond to the information, but it was clear from his frown that it annoyed him.

"What about you?"

Itadori shifted his shoulders, clenching his fists, and quickly diagnosed himself, his brow furrowing as he raised his fists. "I'm fine, that idiot didn’t land any clean hits."

Mahito, emerging from the rubble he’d been thrown into, shook his head as he wiped blood from his lips, his gaze turning serious as he looked at the two sorcerers.

But Nanami, noticing the bruises and blood on Itadori’s face, raised an eyebrow, his eyes narrowing as he stared at him.

"Itadori, what are those bruises?"

Itadori blinked for a moment, remembering that Mahito shouldn’t be affected by attacks from ordinary sorcerers, and quickly replied.

"I hit him pretty hard in the face." Rubbing his fist, Itadori gave a small, dismissive smile. "He didn’t do much."

"Did he touch you?"

"Yes, but I think Sukuna must’ve stopped him or something."

"I see," Nanami looked thoughtful for a moment. "My attacks don’t affect him, but I can stop him. We’ll shower him with attacks from all directions, and at that point, we’ll exorcise him."

Seeing the teenager nod in agreement, Nanami took his position, gripping his blunt sword firmly as he prepared to advance.

Mahito, seeing the two ready for battle, sighed in annoyance, transforming his arm into a blade.

'I need to finish off the first-grade sorcerer first. I can leave Itadori Yuji for later.'

But while formulating his plan, Mahito quickly jumped to dodge a punch that smashed into the ground where he had been standing moments before.

'Did he get faster?' Mahito wondered, his eyes returning to Itadori, who was glaring at him with a murderous look.

Nanami, seeing the curse retreat, quickly closed the distance between them, and Mahito raised his bladed arm just in time to block an attack from his blunt sword.

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But just as Mahito was about to counter the sorcerer’s attack, he turned to block another fist. The attack struck him squarely in the face, pushing him toward Nanami, who followed up with a clean strike to his neck.

'Shit!'

About to be overwhelmed by a torrent of attacks, Mahito jumped, his body deforming into a ball of flesh as countless thorns exploded in all directions.

But the two sorcerers were undeterred, merely sidestepping and breaking the thorns that threatened them, determined to reach the ball of flesh.

As they approached, Mahito changed shape again, taking on a childlike form and leaping away to dodge Nanami’s sword, which smashed into the ground.

Boom!

But being hit just as Itadori had anticipated his transformation, Mahito flew back, blood spraying from his mouth. His body bounced a few times on the ground before he quickly reverted to his normal form and stood up.

'Did he read my intentions?' Clutching his chest, Mahito breathed heavily as he tried to recover. 'If I keep going like this, I’ll die for sure. I need to get Itadori Yuji away.'

Mahito, giving a small smile, opened his mouth and began to regurgitate something.

"Uh?!"

But as he was about to finish expelling the shrunken humans from his stomach, his eyes widened when the two sorcerers closed the distance.

'You don’t hit someone who’s throwing up!'

Boom!

A sharp punch to his chin forced Mahito’s head up, followed by another punch that pushed him down, causing him to swallow again.

'Shit! I need to get away before—'

Before he could retreat, his thoughts were interrupted by Nanami’s sword striking him squarely in the jaw. Itadori quickly grabbed him by the hair, pulling him into a kneebar, and the two sorcerers unleashed an unstoppable wave of attacks, drawing more and more blood from the curse.

As the attacks continued, Itadori squinted as Mahito threw his head back, his feet firmly planted on the ground as he prepared to open his mouth.

'This is it!' Turning to Nanami, Itadori quickly grabbed the older sorcerer by the collar and threw him away, confusing him.

"Domain Expansion! Self-Embodiment of Perfection!"

Itadori, hit by the expanding domain barrier, quickly leapt onto it, his smile widening as cursed energy surged in his fist.

"Itadori, don’t do that!" Nanami shouted, but it was too late. Itadori’s fist came down, breaking through the barrier and creating a passage through which he fell. "Idiot kid!"

Mahito, already furious at failing to capture Nanami in his domain, felt the veins in his forehead pop as he saw Itadori fall.

"Shit!"

"I warned you, didn’t I? There wouldn’t be a second time."

With Sukuna’s voice ringing in his mind, Mahito’s eyes widened as three cuts threatened to slice his body in half, leaving his arm hanging by a thin layer of flesh.

Falling to his knees, the curse breathed heavily, finally feeling the full weight of the damage. The exhaustion from using his domain and enduring Sukuna’s cuts had pushed him to his limit.

But that didn’t mean the fight was over.

Because it would only end when one side died.

Boom!

Hit by a kick to the face, Mahito rolled backward, struggling to restore his body from the cuts. Blood gushed from his nose as he dug his fingers into the ground to stop his momentum.

'Shit! If that’s the case, I’ll use everything at once!'

Expanding his body as much as he could, Mahito transformed into a grotesque mass of flesh with arms and eyes in seconds, Itadori staring at it with disgust as he charged toward the curse.

'You think turning into a piece of shit will save you?' Pulling back his fist, Itadori let his cursed energy explode, his teeth clenched as he swung.

Boom!

Mahito’s massive body exploded like a balloon. Itadori’s eyes locked onto a manhole cover, spotting Mahito’s small, deformed form trying to escape.

Pointing his finger, Itadori squinted.

Ever since he had swallowed the finger in Junpei’s house, he realized his connection to Sukuna’s cursed energy had grown stronger.

He felt he could tap into a small part of the curse king’s technique.

He didn’t know if it was enough to use his techniques, but there was a nagging feeling in the back of his mind telling him to try.

So he would. At that point, there was nothing to lose.

In the end, he had everything to gain.

"Dismantle!"

Cut!

Mahito, about to reach the manhole cover, widened his eyes as the flesh of his small body was sliced, his only arm severed in half as he squeezed through the cover.

Nanami, arriving just in time, destroyed the manhole cover, clearing the way to the sewer.

"Shit!" Nanami muttered, pulling out his phone and quickly dialing Ino.

Itadori, now watching Nanami with fatigue in his eyes, suddenly felt his legs give out, his body collapsing as he held his knee.

'What a ridiculous waste of cursed energy!' he thought, breathing heavily as he tried to get up. But his muscles had no strength left. 'Sukuna, damn your absurd cursed energy reserves!'

"Let’s go after him too, Itadori!" Nanami called, turning to find the boy on the ground.

"Sorry, Nanami! I think I overused my energy!" Itadori tried to stand again, but his body gave out once more. "Shit, you need to go! He’s too weak!"

Clenching his teeth in frustration, he shouted for Nanami to go on.

'Shit, shit, shit!' Itadori thought, gripping his clothes tightly.

In the end, the cut was too weak. His body wasn’t ready to use Sukuna’s techniques to their full capacity yet.

But even so, it was an achievement. It meant he could assimilate the curse king’s techniques.

At that moment, he had taken another step toward becoming stronger.

It was just a shame he hadn’t been able to kill Mahito in the process.