"What a shame. If any of the others had come, they might have actually died."
"?!"
Hanami's voice suddenly came from behind Kakashi, startling him into an instantaneous retreat to create distance. He drew a kunai armed with an exploding tag.
This is bad. Did I really not finish them off?
Kakashi could already feel his Chakra nearing depletion, and the thought of retreat began to form in his mind.
However, he quickly noticed Hanami, who was in an equally wretched state.
The Cursed Energy in its body was incredibly weak, perhaps only a fifth of what it started with, and its body was covered in scorched wounds.
The opponent's condition looked much worse than his own. At least he wasn't injured; he had merely expended a large amount of Chakra.
In that case... A crackle of electricity appeared in Kakashi's hand—his signature ninjutsu, Raikiri.
"I figured it out from the very beginning. You haven't been fighting with your real body, have you?"
Hanami spoke unhurriedly, as if completely oblivious to his intent.
"To make someone like you reveal themselves, the only way is to give you a glimmer of hope, forcing you to make a move."
"This time, I win."
What are they talking about? An ominous premonition struck Kakashi, and he charged toward Hanami at high speed.
Raikiri trailed blue lightning as it thrust downward. This time, he was aiming for the opponent's head!
Faced with such a lethal threat, Hanami remained perfectly still, as if nothing was wrong.
Kakashi's attack was inches from its face. The flickering lightning from the Raikiri illuminated half of Hanami's face. If it landed, Raikiri's penetrative power would be more than enough to shatter its skull...
"Domain Expansion—Feasting Sea of Light."
"!"
There it was again, that bizarre sense of crisis, as if he would be killed in the next second.
Kakashi felt as if a red exclamation mark had appeared over his head, warning him of a life-threatening crisis.
His right hand was just an inch away from making contact. The Raikiri stopped right in front of Hanami. The distance of half a palm's length became his greatest regret—this far you may come, but no farther.
His vision was filled with an endless sea of flowers. They filled the entire world and gripped Kakashi's feet, preventing him from moving forward.
Domain Expansion, the ultimate power in the jujutsu world. It is an enclosed barrier constructed with Cursed Energy, where the user has absolute control. Within it, attacks are guaranteed to hit, and the Cursed Technique's effects are amplified.
In other words, Hanami's attacks could completely ignore evasion and defense. It could claim victory whenever it wished.
"I have won," Hanami pronounced.
...
...
"Aren't you going to go down and save Kakashi, Host?"
"Ninjas aren't exactly a durable class. Faced with a sure-hit attack like this, he has no chance of victory."
Schwarzer and the System had been observing the entire time. After all, she was the one who had instigated this battle, from cutting off Gojo Satoru's communications to guiding Kakashi to Hanami's location.
She had no intention of intervening. Her analysis mode was active, running at maximum computational capacity.
This was a domain that had never appeared in the original work. Hanami had been eliminated by Gojo Satoru before its Domain Expansion could ever debut.
"[Rejection] It is not yet necessary to intervene. Someone else is more anxious about Kakashi's situation than we are."
A moment later, the stream of data in Schwarzer's eyes vanished. The analysis was complete; she had copied all of Hanami's Cursed Techniques and its domain.
As for Kakashi... Schwarzer lost interest in his ninjutsu after a single glance. It had some collector's value, at best.
She had no interest in even the Raikiri. In contrast, Hanami's abilities were far more valuable as reference material.
"Someone more anxious than us?" The System pondered Schwarzer's words. Who would be so concerned about Kakashi?
Gojo Satoru was unreachable. Naruto and Sasuke wouldn't be much help even if they came. And Kakashi had only been here a day, so he didn't know anyone else... No, there was one other person!
"Uchiha Obito?" Though surprising, it was the only remaining option.
"[Affirmation] Uchiha Obito has been following Kakashi. I don't know the reason, but he certainly won't stand by and do nothing now."
Schwarzer had been searching for Obito's location, but ever since his last appearance, he had been hiding in the Kamui dimension.
She had no way to catch him for the time being. Kakashi couldn't use his Mangekyo yet, so she couldn't learn Kamui.
No matter who won the battle between Kakashi and Hanami, it was a good outcome for her.
Meanwhile, within Hanami's domain below, Kakashi tried to escape, but nothing he did had any effect.
"Do you have any last words? Come to think of it, I still don't know your name."
"Never mind, none of that matters anymore. This has dragged on long enough."
As if having made up its mind, Hanami stretched out a hand towards him.
Although it was a Special Grade Cursed Spirit, as an 'incarnation of nature,' Hanami's personality was quite gentle—so gentle that it had never killed a single human to this day.
Unfortunately, that streak would be broken today. The flower on its arm opened once more as Cursed Energy surged. This was its strongest attack, a sign of its respect for Kakashi, a warrior worthy of remembrance.
"Damn it!" No matter how much Kakashi struggled, he couldn't break free from the flowers entwined around his legs.
The guaranteed-hit property of the domain was too much of a counter for a ninja. The only method he could think of to break the situation was to use the Sharingan's genjutsu.
But unfortunately, his talent for genjutsu was not high. He relied entirely on the Sharingan's innate illusions, which would be considered third-rate in the Shinobi World.
"Farewell—"
"Boom—"
There was no suspense. From the moment Kakashi's real body was exposed and captured by the Domain Expansion, he had already lost.
Having expended a great deal of Cursed Energy, Hanami dispelled its domain. The surroundings had transformed into a sea of flowers, a surprisingly beautiful sight. Only its opponent, Kakashi, had vanished, leaving not even bones behind in the wake of such an attack.
"I must hurry to Jujutsu High. There isn't much time."
Hanami rested for a moment before pressing on. It was not in peak condition after that battle, but it was confident it could handle the students at the school.
With Hanami's departure, the forest returned to a state of calm. A lit-up phone lay in the grass, still dialing Gojo Satoru's number, the call forever unanswered.
"Recklessly engaging an unknown powerhouse... that's not like you, Kakashi..."
"Is this guy your backup? A pity. It seems he didn't make it in time, just like... that person..."
A hand picked up the phone and ended the call. He wore the black, red-cloud-patterned robe of the Akatsuki. A spiral mask obscured his entire face, revealing only a single eye—a Mangekyo Sharingan.
Behind him, an unconscious Kakashi lay in the sea of flowers, looking utterly peaceful.
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