"Thanks… but what you just said…" Nanami stared at the scarf wrapped around his fist, scratching his forehead in confusion.
"Your technique lets you force divisions, right? Whether it's curses or objects. Then why not try dividing space itself? If you strike the 'weak point' in space, the explosion might work as a group attack." Mukuro casually swatted away a few Fly Head curses lunging at him as he spoke.
"Dividing space… that's possible?!" Nanami felt shaken. His understanding of his own technique was suddenly being challenged.
He knew what his ability was, and he had tested it on curses and inanimate objects before. But he had never once considered using it in such an abstract way.
"No… it might actually work!" After a short burst of thought, it suddenly clicked.
His technique allowed him to treat anything, living or nonliving, like a ruler, dividing it into ten parts by distance. At the seven-to-three ratio, a forced weak point would appear. Striking that point with cursed energy would inflict extra damage.
Until now, he believed this only applied to tangible objects. But thanks to Mukuro's reminder, he realized the idea behind it.
Space itself was endless, impossible to divide by normal means. But he could treat a confined area of space as if it were a body and divide it just the same.
Like now, the limited hallway around them. It could serve as a fragment of the infinite.
"Want to give it a try?" The relentless swarm didn't bother Mukuro. He kept batting them away, waiting for his friend to make a move.
"Sorry, Mei-san. I might dirty your scarf." Nanami apologized first, then tightened the scarf firmly around his fist, wrapping his knuckles. At the same time, cursed energy began surging within him, flooding into his arm.
"It's fine. Just one payment of ten thousand yen will cover it. I'll take it from your reward." Mei Mei smiled sweetly, though her words were that of a ruthless capitalist.
"I see it!" Nanami's eyes locked onto the space in front of the swarm. Just as Mukuro had said, a ruler seemed to appear before his eyes.
Treating the hallway's limited space as a whole, a slender ruler stretched vertically from the ceiling down to the floor, visible only to him.
The space had been divided into ten equal parts.
The seven-to-three point appeared!
"Ratio Technique: Collapse!"
Rushing past Mukuro, Nanami dashed toward the curses charging at him.
He leapt high, gathering cursed energy into his right fist, and struck the weak point.
Boom!
At the exact moment his punch hit, the air itself cracked, like glass shattering into a web of fractures.
Then, space broke apart.
A violent whirlwind erupted, surging toward the swarm. Before they could react, the Fly Heads were shredded into dust by the blast.
Nanami's punch had exorcised nearly every curse in the hallway in one blow.
"Incredible technique…" Mei Mei whispered behind him, her eyes filled with a faint trace of envy.
For the past two weeks, Nanami had only used cursed-energy punches to exorcise curses. This was the first time she had seen him unleash his actual technique.
If only she had such a powerful ability, maybe she could grow even stronger.
"I did it… Zenin, I really did it!" Nanami looked at his right hand, the one that had just delivered that strike. Joy surged through him. The normally composed boy couldn't help but shout.
"Don't celebrate yet. Take a look over there." Mukuro pointed down the hallway with his thumb.
The force of the earlier punch hadn't vanished after destroying the swarm. It had gone straight into the wall at the far end.
Now, spiderweb cracks spread across the surface, threatening to collapse at any moment.
"That's… going to cost a lot to fix." A drop of sweat rolled down Nanami's forehead as his eye twitched.
"That's what happens when your control over cursed energy is sloppy. You need more training." Mukuro waved him aside. "Leave the rest to me, or you'll end up smashing the classrooms next."
He pushed open the door to one of the side classrooms, and stepped inside. Chewing sounds echoed from there. Only a few seconds later, he walked out.
When Nanami and Mei Mei peeked inside, the room that had been crawling with curses was now completely empty.
He repeated this several more times. Within about a minute, every curse on that floor had been wiped out.
"Zenin-kun is so strong…" Mei Mei's desire for strength grew.
With their abilities, the three of them would inevitably enter the jujutsu world one day. She knew that work was dangerous, even without experiencing it.
But with her technique, could she really keep up?
Her eyes turned distant.
"The fight between sorcerers and curses is ultimately a clash of cursed energy. Even if your technique is powerful, if your energy is weak, it's useless. Don't lose sight of that. The strength of a sorcerer isn't decided by technique alone. Cursed energy, physical ability, information advantage… a strong technique can help, but don't forget your own potential."
Noticing her daze, Mukuro guessed what she was thinking. He walked up, patted her shoulder, and said, "Let's go home."
"My, my… was that supposed to comfort me?"
By the time Mei Mei snapped out of her thoughts, the boys were already walking toward the stairs. She raised her lips into a smile that felt a little different from her usual ones and hurried to catch up.
"Who knows?" Mukuro clasped his hands behind his head, giving no clear answer.
The three of them laughed as they went downstairs, where the woman waited anxiously at the entrance.
"It's done, isn't it?!" Seeing them, she jumped up, her anger from earlier gone. Just moments ago, she had felt the eerie aura that haunted the building vanish. Even the pressure that weighed on her body seemed to have lifted.
With that and their sudden reappearance, she couldn't deny it anymore. They really did have special abilities.
"Of course. But the wall at the end of the hallway is a little damaged. It couldn't be helped since we had to go all out." Before Nanami could say a word, Mei Mei spoke first, mentioning the wall.
"That's no problem. I'll have someone repair it. As long as the issue's resolved, that's all that matters." She didn't realize what kind of damage they meant, imagining just a few scratches instead of a wall that needed rebuilding.
Lost in the joy of her cram school's return to normal, she hurriedly bid them goodbye.
"Here, Mei-san, your scarf."
"It's dirty now. As punishment, you two owe me dinner. I won't deduct it from your pay."
"Huh? Where's it dirty?"
As the sky darkened, the three argued lightheartedly while walking off together.
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