Gathered at the entrance to the forest, the Tokyo group awaited the start of the tournament.

With the strategy in place, each of them already knew what had to be done.

And while there were still a few minutes to go, they decided to talk among themselves.

"Yuji."

While Itadori was talking to Megumi and Nobara, he turned around when he heard his name and saw Maki standing in front of him.

"I forgot to ask you when we were working out the plan." Raising her hand, Maki spread her fingers in a gesture, signaling that she wanted something. "Give me back my Tozama."

Itadori, processing the girl's request, took a moment to understand what she was asking for. Soon, his mind went back to the events at the boarding school, when the knife he was using broke while trying to cut the special-grade curse.

"Uh..."

He quickly remembered that the knife must have belonged to Maki.

"It broke."

At this point, there was no use lying, so Itadori decided to be direct.

"..." Maki's expressionless face suggested that being so blunt may not have been the best idea. "Broken?"

Megumi and Nobara quickly moved away, causing Itadori to look at them in disbelief.

While the situation seemed like it might escalate, Itadori felt relieved when the sound of a megaphone echoed.

"Only one minute until the event starts! Stay tuned to the voice of the lovely Utahime-Sensei as she encourages you!"

"U-Uh? It's... It's inevitable that some people will get hurt, so... Uh... Take care an-"

"Time's up."

"What? Hey, Gojo!"

"And now the tournament...

Begins!!!"

!

With the start of the event declared, the group quickly moved, advancing into the forest together.

"Wait for the signal to split into groups! We're counting on you, Yuji!" Maki called out, and Itadori nodded.

"Woof!"

Megumi's black wolf led the group, stopping when a spider-like curse descended in front of them from a web attached to a branch.

"A weak curse," Panda observed, while Maki quickly drew her spear.

"Senpai! Wait!"

The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

But before she could advance, Megumi called out as his wolf barked in alarm.

Boom!

Suddenly, as several trees were destroyed, Todo appeared with a huge smile on his face.

"Great! Everyone's here!

Come on! Face me all at once!"

!

"Uh?"

Before Todo could say more, his eyes widened as a shoe appeared right in front of his face, hitting him hard enough to make his head snap back and stagger him.

"Break it up!"

Startled, the group quickly split up, leaving only Itadori to face the first-grade sorcerer.

"That was a great hit!"

Shaking his head, Todo blew his nose to clear out the blood that had accumulated, a wide smile spreading across his face.

'I did some real damage,' Itadori noticed, getting into position to counterattack. 'As long as I don’t get hit in any vital spots, I can hold him off for as long as needed.'

"Now it's my turn to strike, first-timer!"

Itadori raised his guard as the sorcerer pulled back his fist, preparing to receive the attack.

"Take this!"

Boom!

At the last moment, the spider curse appeared in front of Todo’s fist and was obliterated. The force of the punch slammed into Itadori’s defense, sending shockwaves through his body.

'What power!'

Though pushed back, Itadori kept his feet firmly on the ground, a smile forming on his lips as he shook off the numbness from the impact.

'It's even stronger than that special-grade curse’s attacks.'

"You really took my punch? Wonderful! What's your name?" Todo was amazed that the first-year in front of him had withstood one of his punches so well. He immediately knew the boy was someone who could entertain him.

"Itadori Yuji."

"Right! So, Itadori Yuji! I have a question for you!"

Todo, with his usual odd mannerisms, prepared to ask the question that would determine his feelings toward his opponent.

"What’s your ideal type of woman?"

"..."

'Oh yeah. I forgot he asks that.'

Itadori, caught off guard, paused to think of an answer.

'I don’t think I’ve ever really stopped to consider that.'

In his past life, Mark had met an incredible woman who had been with him from high school all the way into adulthood.

His wife had been amazing in every way.

She was beautiful, but most importantly, she was mentally strong. That was the trait that had most attracted him to her.

Even in the darkest moments of his life, there she was, confidently supporting him, as if she had unshakable faith in him.

'Damn, I’m getting emotional. Focus!'

Still, he knew that wasn’t the kind of answer Todo was looking for. He needed to simplify it as much as possible.

"My ideal woman?" Itadori, staring at Todo intensely, simply stated, "A woman with an athletic body and big thighs, uh... like Gina Carano."

"..."

Hearing that sincere answer, Todo froze for a moment. Memories that had never happened flooded his mind, filled with a friendship between him and Itadori that had never existed.

"It seems that the two of us are...

Best friends!"

'Weird.' Itadori thought, watching tears stream down the sorcerer’s face.

But he didn’t have time to think too much about it, as the cursed energy of other sorcerers surged toward him. His eyes narrowed as he spotted the Kyoto students in the trees.

'So they still plan to kill me, huh?'

Dodging as multiple attacks came his way, Itadori quickly spotted Miwa in front of him, about to draw her sword.

"New Shadow Style: Simple-"

Before she could complete her technique, Itadori surprised her by appearing right in front of her, grabbing her wrist and tossing her away, completely nullifying her attack.

'He just... ignored me?' Miwa thought in disbelief as she watched him walk away with an impassive expression.

!

As Itadori continued, he turned his head as Mechamaru jumped beside him, raising its hand to charge an energy beam.

"Uh?"

Before Mechamaru could finish the attack, Itadori's palm slammed into its stomach, sending the puppet flying through the trees.

*Palm!

Kamo, preparing to shoot an arrow, was caught off guard when he suddenly found himself on the ground, looking up to see Itadori standing where he had just been seconds before.

"Hey, I told you, didn’t I?"

Kamo, leaping to dodge a punch from Todo, turned toward the first-grade sorcerer.

"I’d kill anyone who got in my way."

"No, you didn’t."

"Whatever! Get out of here."

Kamo, realizing that Todo had no intention of retreating, gave up. He knew he stood no chance.

"You have to kill him."

But before he left, Kamo didn’t forget to add.

"That will depend entirely on him." Smiling, Todo faced Itadori once more. "Let’s keep going, my friend!"