"Brother, if understanding your own Cursed Energy is the path to becoming stronger, then understanding your soul is the path to grasping your true self…
In a moment, I'll temporarily place its technique into your body. You need to fully feel that surge rising from within, even if it's just for an instant…
But remember, no matter what happens, don't stop!"
As he spoke, Aoi Todo brought his hands together, preparing to clap.
Yuji Itadori nodded firmly again, steadying his stance and regulating his breathing.
Watching the two openly "plotting out loud," Mahito felt a flicker of irritation. If they could swap techniques between different individuals, then the mobility advantage he gained from switching would disappear.
"Ah… that damn Bandage Guy. If I hadn't run out of human stock, I wouldn't be stuck like this…"
Pushed to the brink, Mahito muttered under his breath as his "brain" raced, thinking at high speed.
[If there are three of them, then the "clap" swap has two possibilities. Either the Gorilla himself, or this newcomer.
In that case, I need to guess which of the two holds the technique capable of harming me.
No. Whether it's restricting my mobility or helping that person "understand the soul" like he said, there's a higher chance they've given my technique to the newcomer to deal damage. That way, even if I can't use the "Clap Technique," I just need to avoid him.
More importantly… did they really swap the techniques between the two of them?
Mahito, who had been force-fed knowledge by Kenjaku, quickly recalled what he knew about Domains.
A Domain consists of two steps. The manifestation of the Innate Domain, and the activation of the technique.
If the very "foundation" of the technique had been swapped, then inside the Domain, they could instantly kill me using a technique turned into [Idle Transfiguration].
But what did this gorilla sorcerer choose to do? He threw a punch.
That means only the "expression" of the technique was swapped. That's why he could hurt me without understanding my soul…
My technique is still within me. It's just being used by them.
Then if I dig deeper and understand it further, I might be able to sense the technique hidden in my body again!]
(All of that took 0.5 seconds.)
"Then I'll guard this side!"
The moment the clap rang out, Mahito immediately focused on Yuji Itadori, the closest one. As long as that punch came within reach…
But Yuji Itadori vanished the instant the clap sounded.
He reappeared behind Mahito and drove a heavy straight punch into him.
As Mahito was sent flying, only one thought echoed in his mind.
Why didn't that clap swap the technique this time??
The moment Mahito hit the ground, Aoi Todo was already there. The tree behind him clapped again, and with a single strike, Mahito's head spun three full rotations as his entire body was sent flying.
Yuji Itadori immediately rushed toward Mahito's landing point, glancing at Aoi Todo to signal he understood the plan. Even though they hadn't fought together many times, their coordination and trust were exceptional.
[It's simple. Todo first said to feel the Cursed Energy, then to feel the soul. Combine that with what he revealed about Cursed Spirits' techniques being tied to the soul… the order of the claps becomes obvious!]
From that point on, the two of them battered Mahito back and forth like a baseball, never letting him touch the ground. With Aoi Todo's constant swapping and Yuji Itadori's seamless coordination, Mahito couldn't muster any strength at all.
Forget carrying out his plan to gamble on landing a [Black Flash] to sharpen his perception and counterattack. As his condition worsened and his soul continued to fracture, Mahito was beaten until his soul shattered, slammed into the ground, and left completely unable to move…
Aoi Todo dispelled the Domain and looked down at the dying Mahito, stepping forward to finish him off. At this point, with Mahito's remaining Cursed Energy so depleted, there was no need to deliberately target his soul anymore.
"Wait a moment…"
A girl's voice came from behind the rocks.
"Um… I want to bring this to Geto-sensei…"
Aoi Todo glanced at the two girls stepping out from behind the rocks. Off to the side, Yuji Itadori added,
"Todo, they're Mimiko and Nanako. We only managed to hold out inside this 'Curtain' because we worked together… and this thing should be useful to Geto-sensei."
Hearing that, Aoi Todo nodded. Setting aside the fact that Suguru Geto was Akira-san's friend, the fact that these two had fought alongside his brother and survived this long was reason enough not to ignore them.
"I'll give you five seconds. If you don't have a safe way to handle it, I'm smashing it. This thing's too dangerous."
"OK!"
Nanako immediately took out her phone and snapped a picture of Mahito. At the same time, Mimiko held up a doll in front of the phone and tightly wrapped it into a ball with a rope, gripping the other end firmly in her hand.
The barely conscious Mahito was suddenly bound by a rope filled with Cursed Energy. The rope ball lifted him up, floating silently in midair.
Aoi Todo glanced at the talisman attached to the doll's head in Mimiko's hand.
"Then let's get out of here quickly… what's left here is no less dangerous than that thing."
...
Yuji Itadori's group regrouped with Aoi Todo.
...
After Noritoshi Kamo and Megumi Fushiguro fell unconscious, the surrounding trees, all destroyed during their battle, failed to form any "Tree Cursed Spirits." Combined with the overturned rocks and piled-up earth around them, the two narrowly avoided being swept away by the mudflow.
However, near a mound of soil beside them, a Cursed Spirit with two branch-like horns slowly peeked out.
She had watched the entire fight between those two humans. They weren't easy opponents. But this was a human "trial ground," and with her ability to blend into the forest, it would be easy to wait until they were completely drained…
But… why had all the nearby trees come back to life?
The cluster of tree spirit Cursed Spirits formed from the entire forest left Hanami deeply shocked.
Since when had there been so many of her "kind"? Though for now, they were all just "children" and couldn't communicate…
"I'll kill you first, then regroup with Mahito and the others…"
Just as Hanami raised her left hand to activate her technique, her arm suddenly felt light. She watched her right hand fly off, staring blankly at the clean-cut surface at her wrist, unable to process what had just happened.
After a brief pause, Hanami seemed to realize something and quickly looked ahead of the two collapsed figures. A well-built man was crouching there, observing them… no, not both. He was only looking at the Shadow Sorcerer.
"How did you get in here?"
Toji Fushiguro stood up casually, the Split Soul Katana in his right hand, his posture completely unguarded.
"Ah… I just walked in like this. 'Pop.'"
Hanami immediately retreated. Her severed arm… wasn't regenerating?
"[An ordinary human? No… even ordinary humans have Cursed Energy, but this person has none at all!]"
A voice echoed in Toji Fushiguro's mind.
[What exactly are you?]
"Yeah… that feeling of something messing with your head is pretty unpleasant.
Sure, people grow through hardship. But if you're planning to lay a hand on my kid, have you decided how you want to die?"
Toji Fushiguro's figure suddenly vanished.
Hanami instantly pulled back, but her mouth was still sliced open.
[So fast!!]
Hanami caused a sea of flowers to bloom across the ground. Twisted trees erupted upward, stabbing toward Toji Fushiguro.
But to her shock, he was completely unaffected. With a single slash, he split apart the massive tangle of wood like cutting through a hill, without slowing in the slightest.
Hanami was about to use Cursed Energy seeds to suppress him, but suddenly realized that seeds grown using another's Cursed Energy were completely useless against him.
In the next instant, her exposed right arm was cleanly severed.
[What is wrong with that blade?!]
Hanami tried to flee, but then remembered that her calming technique had no effect on Toji Fushiguro. With both speed and agility inferior, escape was impossible.
Her pitch-black left arm pressed against the ground. The surrounding plant life rapidly withered as all their vitality surged into the offering flower on her arm. The flower slowly bloomed, and within its core, an eye opened.
"[Domain Expansion. Shining Sea of Growing Branches!]"
"[Within my domain, all plants are strengthened, and the life force of all other beings will gradually be absorbed by the offering flower. No matter how strong your body is, you won't last long!]"
"Oh? Is that so?"
Hearing a voice from behind, Hanami turned in shock.
Her domain… had it enclosed a rock? No life force at all? Impossible. It couldn't even lock onto him?
Instinctively, Hanami formed a pitch-black wooden barrier.
But Toji Fushiguro's left hand drew the Inverted Spear of Heaven from within Inventory Cursed Spirit and drove it straight through the barrier into Hanami's head.
He twisted the spear inside her skull, then with his right hand, used the Split Soul Katana to slice her cleanly in half across the middle.
Hanami had never imagined there could exist a being so completely incompatible with her.
The Shining Sea of Growing Branches gradually faded.
Toji Fushiguro stepped down on Hanami's slowly dissipating body.
"Yeah… better end this quickly, just in case your Domain has any weird, disgusting effects."
...
"That annoying voice is gone."
...
"Cursed Spirits? Just a rabble."