Mahito raised his hands, purple-cursed energy flaring to life around them. He stalked toward Yuji and me, but I've never been much for waiting. I reinforced my legs and took one step forward—the world became a streak of colors as I closed the distance without aerostep.
Mahito's hand elongated and sharpened, his arm swinging wide as it grew into a whip-like form—blade glinting at the end.
I dropped into a slide, his arm slicing through the air just above me. Both hands slammed into the floor—ground break activated, catapulting me back onto my feet without breaking stride.
Yuji's footsteps pounded behind me. Mahito threw his left hand forward, arm extending into another punch aimed at my head. I dempsey rolled to the outside, the strike whizzing past, and ran along the side of his stretched arm.
He whipped his outstretched hand aside, other arm retracting as he charged forward. I rolled inward—Mahito's arm slammed into the station wall. I exploded off my left foot, the impact denting the station floor.
He jumped off his left foot, right leg transforming mid-air into a metal spiked club. The kick came at my chest. I punched forward—space fractured around my fist, throwing his leg back and sending him spinning like a top.
Yuji closed in behind me. I extended an open hand back, a crazy idea forming. Our eyes met for half a second—no words exchanged. He slapped his palm into mine.
I reinforced my arm, transferred my weight, and hurled Yuji at him full force. He was the only one who could actually hurt this bastard.
Yuji careened headfirst at him, fist wreathed in teal cursed energy. Still spinning from my strike, Mahito had no chance to dodge.
The punch impacted dead center of his chest. Mahito's breath exploded from his lungs, body sent careening backward. He bounced twice off the station floor before slapping a palm down to arrest his momentum.
That demented grin stretched across his face again. His arm transformed into a makeshift cannon, firing a burst of transfigured humans in our direction. Each projectile morphed mid-air into vibrant, repugnant curse-like abominations.
Each had one bulging eye and a massive mouth, saliva bridging top and bottom jaws as they aimed to tear chunks from our flesh.
I slapped the nearest one out of the air—it exploded into blood against the wall. Backhanded the next—similar spray painting the opposite wall red.
No help for the transfigured. I felt no guilt killing them—they were probably begging for death anyway.
Yuji clearly wasn't okay with that, throwing them down the station instead of finishing them. Couldn't blame him—saving people was the only thing he had left to hold onto.
I stalked toward Mahito. Then I spotted it—the bulging transfigured human floating between his hands. Another body repel in the making.
I grabbed a bench to my right, flooded it with vibrating cursed energy.
I hurled it at the transfigured human between his hands. Didn't wait for impact—aerostepped right behind the projectile.
The bench knocked the human from his grasp, slammed into his chest, and exploded into bark and splinters. The debris cloud covered my charge. When I landed in front of him, those mismatched eyes went wide.
His arm started changing, but I was faster. Kicked the ground—concrete pulverized into dust, blinding him. Another kick launched me into the air. I flipped over his blinded form and drove my heel into the back of his skull.
He careened backward.
Straight toward Yuji, whose right fist was already cocked back.
"BLACK FLASH!"
Black sparks erupted from impact. Mahito's eyes rolled white, body rocketing straight back toward me.
I landed, turned, and punched down without activating my technique. Still sent him through the station floor. I dropped through the hole—too late. Mahito's hand was already on two civilians below.
The man and woman bubbled and bulged, transforming into two human basilisks—one red, one green, both fifteen meters long. Skin instead of scales. Protruding human eyes, bloodshot and weeping.
Shit—
The two basilisks charged, jaws gaping wide. I kicked the green one away, then caught the red one's jaws with my entire body.
The momentum launched me back through the hole, up through the station roof and the road above. The bite force was absurd—my arms screamed in protest, reinforcement flickering at the edges. Without my improved efficiency, it would've crushed me outright.
But I held it open. Then—
Another Mahito emerged from the beast's throat, hand already stretching into a blade.
Time slowed. Desperate, I activated aerostep at full power—the jaw below me exploded, catapulting me through the roof of the basilisk's mouth. The creature went limp.
Mahito spun mid-air, arms elongating into sickles to bisect me.
I aerostepped again—straight down this time. Reached him before he completed his first revolution. Struck downward with everything I had, technique off. Wouldn't damage him anyway.
The Mahito I hit spat blood, slammed into the pavement below, then stilled. Black particles dispersed into nothing. Clone. I moved back to the hole and found the green basilisk waiting for me.
It lunged to swallow me whole. I caught its top fangs, heaved the massive serpent overhead, and slammed it into the asphalt behind me.
I dropped through the hole.
Just in time to watch Nobara's face explode in a shower of blood.
3rd Person POV (30 seconds ago)
Yuji dropped down after Shinji was launched through the roof, landing in a crouch. His entire body shook with rage. Mahito's smile stretched wide, jovial and obscene. "Ah, that troublesome pest is finally out of the way." The smile widened further. "Isn't it so great, Yuji!"
Yuji snarled, fresh images of those transfigured basilisks seared in his mind. "WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS, MAHITO?!" Desperate anger cracked through every word.
"THERE'S NO NEED TO SHOUT, ITADORI YUJI! I can hear you just fine." Mahito's grin widened as he dashed forward. Then large spikes erupted from his body—his eyes rolled white.
Yuji took full advantage. Closed the distance. Fist to the stomach. Another to the head. Another to the liver.
Finished with a devastating uppercut—black sparks erupting from the impact.
BLACK FLASH!
Mahito launched through an intact section of roof. Yuji jumped after him. Mahito spat blood mid-air—Yuji attempted a downward strike, but the curse split into dozens of tiny forms.
Yuji kicked the one radiating cursed energy—it exploded on impact. Wrong one.
"Tricked ya!"
Mahito reformed at full size, sprinting toward another station entrance. "You want to know why I'm doing this?" Another Mahito rounded the corner, passing the real one. "It's because you haven't accepted it."
Nobara came around the same corner. The real Mahito charged straight at her. Yuji's eyes went wide. "KUGISAKI, THAT'S THE REA—" Too late. Mahito's hand was already touching her face.
He ran past her, stopped just behind her.
Nobara turned to Yuji. "Itadori, tell everyone: Life wasn't so bad!" The left side of her face popped like a balloon before he could respond.
Shinji POV
The brunette's body dropped, blood pooling at her feet. Yuji stood over her, muttering under his breath. "Kugisaki…" I tried to dash forward—Mahito was already closing on Yuji.
"I REALLY AM A CURSE!" Black lightning erupted from the strike.
BLACK FLASH!
Yuji flew back toward me. I reached to catch him—Mahito's arm extended, caught Yuji's ankle, and slammed him into a nearby pillar. "Oh no, he's on the verge of understanding." The curse's voice dripped with demented glee.
Mahito threw a transfigured human—it extended into a teal wall between me and Yuji. Spikes erupted from the surface, shooting toward my chest. I punched forward, space fracturing. The wall exploded backward.
The delay gave Mahito his opening. He kicked Yuji away while continuing his rant. "This is WAR, Itadori Yuji! We're on two sides of history here, and the best part? They're both the SAME!"
I aerostepped forward, trying to close the gap. Yuji was the only one who could finish this bastard.
"Just as you save people without a thought, I slaughter them without one either. I AM YOU, ITADORI YUJI!" Mid-rant, Mahito transformed a human into a bright green hammer. He swung at me, sensing my charge.
I'd overcommitted. My arm shot up to block—the hammer crashed into it. The impact sent me rolling away from Yuji. I stumbled to my feet.
"Until you realize that, you will NEVER BEAT ME!" Sadistic glee dripped from every word as he raised the hammer over Yuji's prone form.
CLAP!
The hammer slammed onto a pebble infused with cursed energy. The floor shattered but held.
"The sound of the Gion Shoja bells echoes the impermanence of all things;" I turned toward the voice—recognition hit. "The color of the sala flowers reveals the truth that the prosperous must decline."
There stood Aoi Todo, adjusting his jacket collar to show off his red undershirt and necklace. "However, we are the exception!" He flicked his collar once.
I grinned, locking eyes on Mahito. He was already moving toward Yuji and Todo.
Todo could help Yuji better than I could—so I'd play my part.
My reinforcement flared. I accelerated forward and launched an elbow into his ribs, knocking him off course.
Behind me, Yuji was crying. Not relevant right now. My blow pushed Mahito back—he turned to me with the first genuine anger I'd seen all night. My turn to grin.
"What, you think I'm just going to let you have your fun? Nah. You're dying tonight, Mahito. No two ways about it." The same glee he'd worn moments ago curved my lips.
"You little—" Mahito caught himself, then screamed, "STOP GETTING IN THE WAY, YOU PERSISTENT BASTARD!" His hands morphed into scythes, swinging to bisect me.
I aerostepped backward—the blades shredded my shirt but left me unharmed. The momentum left his arms crossed over his chest.
Behind me, Todo was talking to Yuji—probably giving the speech about being a jujutsu sorcerer. Didn't care. My whole body felt in tune.
I aerostepped back into his guard. Right hand flew up—caught him in the face. Solid connection. Pushed off my back foot, chained the punch into an elbow with the same arm.
His left hand came up, reaching for me. I caught the wrist in a vice grip, twisted it, pivoted his hand away from my body. Slammed my fist into his stomach. Then his face.
He tried with the other arm. Caught that one too. Threw both hands wide—left him fully exposed. Slammed my forehead into his. Again. Again.
On the fourth, he adapted. Puckered his lips—they extended into a blade. I weaved aside. The blade nicked my cheek, severed a few strands of silver hair.
I used his outstretched hands as leverage, planted a foot on his chest, dropped my weight back, and threw him overhead. He slammed into a pillar—cement cracked from the impact.
I stood, prepared to charge back in when—
CLAP!
—I was suddenly standing next to Todo and Yuji. "So," Todo began, ripping his shirt and jacket off, "what kind of woman is your type?" Beside him, Yuji's eyes had regained their resolve.
I grinned sharp. "I want a woman who can beat the shit out of me. Tall, with a big ass."
Todo and Yuji stopped. Looked at me. I paused.
"…"
"…"
"…"
Todo sniffled. Then tears streamed down his face as he looked to the sky. "Yuji, my brother… it seems there was another brother long lost to us. Rejoice, for we have been reunited at last!"
Yuji sweatdropped. "Sure, I guess, bro."
"Come now, brothers—let us exorcize this curse!" In unison, our bodies blazed with cursed energy, and we broke into a sprint.
CLAP!
CLAP!
CLAP!
Todo clapped several times in quick succession, swapping me between himself and Yuji. Getting me used to the sensation—the disorienting lurch of space folding.
Mahito reached under his poncho and grabbed several transfigured humans. They morphed into body repels mid-throw, shooting forward at blistering speeds.
CLAP!
CLAP!
CLAP!
We swapped places with the projectiles before impact, closing the distance to Mahito with each exchange.
I pulverized the ground beneath me, flooding it with cursed energy, then kicked the charged debris at Mahito. He raised an arm to block—thinking it was meant to blind him.
Wrong.
Thousands of tiny particles now surrounded him. Thousands of things Todo could swap with.
I saw the moment Todo understood—that 500,000 IQ brain of his catching up to my plan instantly. His grin widened.
CLAP!
Yuji appeared behind Mahito. The curse pivoted, hand morphing into a club mid-swing.
CLAP!
Yuji was behind him again—different angle this time. His fist connected squarely with Mahito's spine. The curse grunted but didn't slow—I couldn't damage his soul, so my strikes barely mattered.
CLAP!
Now I was on his right. Threw a punch at his left side—mostly to keep him disoriented.
CLAP!
Yuji and I swapped positions. My fist bounced off Mahito's ribs while Yuji's strike actually connected with his soul. The curse spat blood.
Desperate, he transformed his entire body into a spike-covered sphere, blades jutting out in every direction.
CLAP!
CLAP!
Yuji and I materialized five meters away. Mahito dashed out of the dust cloud, putting distance between us.
We rushed him. I bent down, pulverized more ground, scooped a handful. Mahito saw it coming—his arm transformed into a cannon, firing another barrage of transfigured projectiles.
CLAP!
CLAP!
We appeared meters closer. Threw the charged sand forward—it surrounded Mahito in a cloud of swappable particles.
CLAP!
Nothing swapped. Mahito spun to find the source—Yuji and I struck his back in unison. Yuji's fist did damage; mine just knocked him forward from the impact force.
Yuji's turn. He grabbed a rock, imbued it with cursed energy, and hurled it at Mahito.
CLAP!
Todo swapped with the rock. His high roundhouse caught Mahito's jaw—black sparks erupted from the impact.
BLACK FLASH!
Mahito was thrown back but recovered quickly. Todo's Black Flash hurt, but not enough to seriously wound him.
I started forward, ready to rush back in. Todo's hand caught my shoulder.
"Brother." I turned. "What is your name?"
I blinked. "Shinji. Newgate Shinji—"
"Have you landed a Black Flash yet, brother?"
I glanced back at Mahito, watched Yuji trading blows with him. "No. Why?"
"Do you plan to?" His voice was deadly serious.
"I thought you couldn't do Black Flash at will?" Confusion crept into my tone.
"Todo took a step forward. "Then you should leave us."
I stared at his back. "What?"
"I said leave. My brother and I have reached a level you haven't." He kept walking. "If you have no intention of climbing there—if you're content to stay as you are—then you could never truly be my brother."
My hands clenched into fists. Heat flooded my body—not cursed energy, not yet. Just pure rage.
"You're useless against this curse, Shinji. You can't hurt it. You're just in the way."
Useless.
I knew how Black Flash worked. I'd watched it happen in the anime, read about it in the manga. Cursed energy applied within 0.000001 seconds of a physical hit. Power multiplied by 2.5. A distortion in space itself.
I knew all of it.
And I'd never done it once.
"Such weakness of spirit," Todo continued, voice carrying over the sound of combat, "could never produce a Black Flash."
Weakness of spirit.
My entire body started trembling. Knowing how something worked and actually doing it were two different things. I'd been trying all night—every punch, every strike, trying to time it perfectly. Trying to force that 0.000001 second window.
But Black Flash wasn't something you could force. That's what made it "blessed." You couldn't plan it. Couldn't aim for it.
You had to be in the zone.
And right now? Right now I was too angry to think. Too furious to plan. Too consumed by rage to do anything except—
Oh.
That's what Todo was doing.
He wasn't actually calling me useless. He was pissing me off. Getting me out of my own head. Making me stop trying and just—
"Hey." My voice cut through the air. Todo stopped. "Brother."
He glanced back. I met his eyes, and everything clicked into place. My entire body felt like it was vibrating. Not from trying to control my cursed energy—from stopping trying.
"Swap me with Yuji when I say so."
Todo turned fully, studying my face. That grin spread across his features—like he knew exactly what I'd just figured out. He raised his hands.
I watched the fight. Stopped analyzing. Stopped calculating. Just watched, waiting for my body to tell me when.
Black Flash wasn't about perfect timing.
It was about perfect instinct.
My cursed energy stopped feeling like something I controlled and started feeling like breathing. Natural. Inevitable. I wasn't trying to apply it within 0.000001 seconds—I was just going to throw a punch and my cursed energy would be there because where else would it be?
There.
Mahito transformed his arm into a spiked mace and swung it high. Yuji ducked low. Mahito's chest—exposed.
My body moved before my brain did.
"So—"
CLAP!
Time dilated. I was mid-punch, every ounce of power behind it, and my cursed energy wasn't something I was applying—it was just there. Part of the punch. Part of me.
No gap. No delay. No thought.
Just impact.
BLACK FLASH!
The world exploded in black and red sparks.
I felt it—that distortion in space, that brief moment where physical and metaphysical became one. My awareness detonated outward. Everything about my cursed energy that had felt sluggish, inefficient, wrong—it all snapped into perfect clarity.
This was what I'd been missing. Not power. Not technique.
Understanding.
Mahito's body rocketed backward, crashing through a support pillar. His eyes were white—not from soul damage, but from the sheer amplified force.
I stood there, fist extended, and laughed. My cursed energy flowed differently now. Cleaner. Sharper. Like I'd been playing an instrument badly my entire life and suddenly learned what it meant to be in tune.
I'd just crossed a threshold I'd been trying to reach all night.
Todo's laughter boomed behind me. "THERE IT IS! WELCOME, BROTHER!"
I didn't have time to celebrate. Mahito was already recovering, pulling himself from the rubble. His form twisted, trying to repair the damage.
"I'll accept you, Mahito." Yuji's voice cut through the chaos, cold and resolute.
I glanced back. Yuji was walking forward, cursed energy blazing around his fists.
"I am you," he continued.
Mahito's grin faltered. Just slightly.
I aerostepped forward—faster than before. My improved cursed energy control made the technique cheaper, more efficient. I broke the sound barrier, pulverizing the ground beneath me into smooth, low-friction sand to control my trajectory.
Left hook to his lower ribs.
BLACK FLASH!
The black sparks blessed me again. Mahito's ribs caved inward, his body contorting from the impact. I could feel it now—the edge where physical met spiritual. Still couldn't quite grasp his soul, but I was close. So close.
"I wanted to reject you," Yuji said, appearing on Mahito's other side.
Right elbow to Mahito's jaw. Space cracked around my strike—no black flash this time, but the amplified force still sent him spinning.
CLAP!
Yuji took my place mid-spin, double hammer fists crashing down onto Mahito's skull.
BLACK FLASH!
"I wanted to pretend I didn't understand anything you said."
The curse plummeted through the floor, concrete shattering beneath the impact. He crashed into the subway level below, creating a crater in the platform.
Mahito reached out desperately, touching every civilian within reach. Their bodies bulged and twisted, transforming into body repels that launched upward through the hole like missiles.
I kicked the one aimed at me—it careened left, smashing through a support column. Yuji ducked under another. Todo clapped, swapping one with a chunk of rubble that exploded on contact.
We dropped through the hole after Mahito, landing on the subway platform.
"But that's different now," Yuji said, his voice carrying the weight of absolute certainty.
I aerostepped forward—my brain processing information faster now, the movement barely disorienting despite the speed. The instant I closed in—
CLAP!
Yuji swapped with me, appearing right in Mahito's face. The curse had anticipated it, lips puckering and extending into a blade aimed at Yuji's throat.
CLAP!
Another clap echoed through the station. Yuji was behind Mahito now, pivoting into a straight right to the curse's spine.
BLACK FLASH!
Black lightning arced off the blow. Mahito vomited blood, eyes shaking and dilating. His form started losing cohesion, features becoming less defined.
I appeared in front of him during his daze, drove an upward kick into his chin. Space cracked on impact—not a Black Flash, but close. So damn close.
Mahito launched upward, crashing through an intact section of the station roof into the street above.
I aerostepped after him, my breath growing slightly labored now. Sweat built on my neck. The consecutive Black Flashes and constant high-speed movement were taking their toll, but I couldn't stop. Not yet.
As I flew in front of him again—
CLAP!
Yuji materialized, haymaker already in motion.
BLACK FLASH!
"I'll just kill you."
The sparks graced Yuji one more time. Mahito careened backward into the wreckage of Sukuna's earlier rampage, slamming into a destroyed building. Concrete and rebar collapsed around him.
I landed beside Yuji, both of us breathing hard. Todo appeared a moment later, having thrown a rock and clapped to close the distance.
Mahito was in bad shape. Really bad. His form kept losing structure, melting and reforming incorrectly. He vomited onto the ground, one hand clutching his stomach.
Then I saw it—his hands coming together into a familiar sign.
My eyes widened. "TODO, WAIT—"
Too late.
The black barrier of Mahito's domain exploded outward, engulfing us for an instant before—
CRACK
It shattered like glass.
Todo stood in a simple domain stance, hand already moving. He cut his own hand off at the wrist in one clean motion. The severed hand exploded mid-air before Mahito's technique could finish transfiguring it.
Blood sprayed from the stump. Todo grimaced but didn't scream.
Mahito dashed forward in the momentary chaos, riding the brief stat buff his domain provided despite its failure. His hand morphed into a blade, aiming for Todo's exposed abdomen.
I was faster.
Aerostepped between them, shoulder-checking Mahito's charge. The impact threw off his timing—no Black Flash. His blade scraped across my reinforced shoulder instead of piercing Todo's stomach.
Mahito snarled at me, rolling away. His features were barely recognizable now, face losing definition by the second. He looked more like an animal than the playful curse from before.
I grinned back, stuck my tongue out at him. Mocking that playful disposition he'd worn all night.
He bared his teeth, but there was fear in those mismatched eyes now.
Yuji rushed in, penalty-kicked Mahito's head like a soccer ball. The curse sprawled across the ground, heaving. His form collapsed further, limbs shortening, body shrinking.
"And if you're ever reborn again as a new curse," Yuji said, walking toward Mahito slowly, deliberately, "I'll kill you then, too."
Mahito started scrambling backward. Desperate. The predator had become prey.
"You can change your name. Change your appearance." Yuji's cursed energy flared around his fists. "But I'll still kill you. Again and again."
He closed the distance. Mahito broke into a sprint, trying to escape.
"I don't need meaning or a reason for it anymore." Yuji dashed forward and hooked Mahito's liver. The curse vomited blood again, sent sprawling and rolling along the ground. "Maybe there'll be some meaning to be found from my actions several centuries after I'm long dead."
Mahito lay there, crying. Actually crying. Fear and desperation were written across what remained of his face.
"But I'm sure I'm just..." Yuji stared down at him, expression cold, "one big cog in the wheel."
A strange monk appeared then, materializing beside Mahito's broken form. He looked down at the curse with a kind expression, eyes closed in what might have been compassion.
"Hello, Mahito," the monk said gently. "Do you need help?"
Mahito nodded desperately.
The monk smiled, kind and closed-eyed. I Aerostepped forwards.
But before Yuji could deliver the final blow, the monk moved. His hand shot out, absorbing Mahito faster than I could react. The curse disappeared into the monk's body in an instant.
Then the monk's other hand reached for my throat.
I tapped his wrist with my right hand. Space shattered around the impact point, knocking his arm wide to the side. I transitioned immediately into a jab with the same hand—
His fist caught me first.
The prison realm slammed into my chin with brutal force. My head snapped back, vision exploding into stars. I flew backward, bouncing off the ground once, twice, before rolling to a stop.
I stood on shaky legs, balance shot, waiting for an opening. Any opening.
But Todo only had one arm now. Without boogie woogie at full strength, our tactical advantage was gone. And worse—much worse—was who this "kind monk" really was.
A thousand-year-old monster who'd worn more faces than most people had lovers.
Kenjaku was here.
And we were completely fucked.
God, I really fucking hate my new life.
.
.
.
A/N
Aaaaaand done, wow, that was a very long chapter, but I'm happy with how it turned out. I hope the black flash doesn't feel rushed. I have a good reasoning for why I thinks its fair in the story context, so if you're confused, please just ask.
That being said, I have another idea for a Fic that I'm gonna work on, on the side, and won't publish till I have a healthy backlog of chapters for it. That being said, I hope you enjoyed. Thank you for reading. I'm off to bed.