"Yoru—!!"
A roar filled with grief, indignation, and murderous intent exploded like thunder over Tokyo Jujutsu High.
Along with the roar, a crimson light tore through the night sky.
It was blood compressed to its absolute limit.
[BLOOD MANIPULATION: PIERCING BLOOD]!
The speed of the strike exceeded the speed of sound, aiming straight for the figure who had just landed in the center of the training ground.
"So fast!"
Yuji Itadori, sleeping in the dormitory, snapped awake.
Though he didn't know what was happening, a throb from the depths of his soul made his heart pound.
'This feeling... who is it?'
On the training ground.
Facing a lethal blow capable of piercing an armored vehicle, Yoru simply tilted his body slightly.
*Swish!*
The blood arrow grazed the tips of his hair and slammed into the wall of the school building behind him.
*Boom!*
The hard concrete wall was instantly blasted with a hole several meters wide, sending rubble flying.
"Good aim."
Yoru brushed the dust off his shoulder and looked up at the man with blood-red eyes mid-air.
Choso.
The eldest son of the Cursed Womb: Death Paintings.
Currently, he radiated a suffocating surge of cursed energy—a madness born from the willingness to burn his life for his family.
"Hand them over!"
Choso landed, the ground beneath his feet cracking inch by inch from the violent force.
His eyes glared at Yoru, his teeth gritting audibly.
"Eso... Kechizu..."
"If they're dead, I'll make you pay with your life!"
"Don't be in such a hurry."
Yoru gave a faint smile, Shiranui still in its sheath.
"Is it proper etiquette for a big brother to start a fight the moment we meet?"
"And..."
"Are you so sure that I'm your enemy?"
"Enough talk!"
Choso wasn't listening to any explanations.
While Mahito's words weren't entirely trustworthy, he could indeed smell the scent of his younger brothers on Yoru.
It was the residual scent of cursed energy.
Proof that his brothers had been there!
[BLOOD MANIPULATION: CONVERGENCE - SUPERNOVA]!
Choso pressed his palms together, and numerous small orbs of blood appeared around him, exploding in all directions like a shotgun blast.
This move cut off all of Yoru's paths of retreat!
"Since you won't listen to reason..."
"...I'll just have to beat some sense into you first."
Yoru sighed, his gaze instantly turning sharp.
*Clang!*
Shiranui didn't fully leave its scabbard, but a calm, water-like aura spread instantly.
"Total Concentration: Water Breathing."
"Eleventh Form: Dead Calm."
*Hum!*
With Yoru as the center, the space for several meters around seemed to turn into a pool of stagnant water.
The wildly exploding Supernova blood bullets, upon entering this range, seemed to fall into a bottomless lake, their impact and heat instantly neutralized.
Serene and undisturbed, all things were silenced.
Choso's pupils shrank; he had never seen such a bizarre defensive technique.
It wasn't a head-on clash, but a total negation.
"Not over yet!"
Choso let out a low growl, pressing his hands together and gathering all remaining blood at his fingertips, attempting to move into close-quarters combat.
However, Yoru's figure had already vanished.
"Total Concentration: Constant."
"Crimson Flash."
At the moment of movement, Yoru forcefully crushed and overlapped the explosive power of Thunder Breathing with the strength of Sun Breathing.
A thunderous cracking sound echoed through the air.
Immediately after, in the originally cool night sky, a fragmented purple-black crescent moon quietly appeared.
"Moon Breathing, Sixth Form: Perpetual Night, Lonely Moon - Avici."
*Boom!*
In this instant, the spatial distortion of Crimson Flash resonated terrifyingly with the countless chaotic crescent moon blades of Moon Breathing.
It wasn't a simple slash.
It was an overlap of large-scale physical impact and spatial tearing.
Choso didn't even have a chance to react; he felt his whole body grow heavy as he was slammed directly into the ground by a force of absolute brutality.
It was a weight like a collapsing mountain, accompanied by countless tiny blade-winds that left dense blood scars across his skin.
*Boom!*
Dust filled the air.
Choso was buried deep in a crater in the middle of the field, bleeding all over, though he hadn't suffered a fatal wound. The terrifying shockwave simply left him unable to muster strength for a moment.
'Is the gap... really this huge?'
Choso gritted his teeth, trying to force his cursed energy to repair his body.
But he found that a searing, chaotic energy clung to his wounds, constantly hindering his regeneration.
It was the product of combining the burning nature of Sun Breathing with the chaotic nature of Moon Breathing!
"Alright, have you calmed down yet?"
Yoru walked up to Choso, looking down at him.
"If I wanted to kill you, that last strike would have already severed your head."
"Just like..."
"...if I had wanted to kill Eso and Kechizu, they would have turned to ash long ago."
"W-What?"
Choso snapped his head up, the despair in his eyes instantly turning into a glimmer of hope.
"You... what did you say?"
"They... they're alive?"
Yoru didn't say a word.
He simply snapped his fingers.
*Snap!*
Following the crisp sound, two figures slowly emerged from the woods beside the training ground.
It was Eso and Kechizu, wearing Jujutsu High uniforms (though they were a bit ill-fitting) and holding unfinished snacks.
Since being secretly brought back by Yoru, they had been hiding in a safe house provided by Mei Mei. Tonight, sensing their eldest brother's aura, Yoru had specifically called them over.
"Big Brother?!"
"It really is Big Brother!"
Seeing Choso kneeling on the ground, the two brothers rushed over excitedly.
Though their appearance was now closer to humans, the feeling of their shared bloodline could never be mistaken!
"Eso... Kechizu..."
Looking at his brothers, alive and well, Choso was stunned.
Two lines of hot tears poured uncontrollably from his eyes—the joy of surviving a disaster.
And the guilt for his own reckless behavior just now.
"That's great..."
"This is... truly wonderful..."
This man, who would turn against the world for his brothers, was now crying like a child.
"That stitched-face lied to me."
After a long while, Choso wiped his tears and stood up.
Although his body hadn't fully recovered, the murderous intent on him had completely dissipated.
All that remained was a deep gratitude toward Yoru and a towering hatred for Mahito.
"Noritoshi Kamo..."
"That bastard who toyed with our brothers' fates."
"I will never forgive him!"
"Not just him."
Yoru sheathed his blade, watching the warm brotherly reunion with a faint smile on his lips.
"That Brain, and all the conspiracies behind him."
"We will settle the score with all of them, one by one."
Saying that, he reached out a hand to Choso.
"Welcome aboard, Big Brother."
"Though Jujutsu High has quite a few rules, at least..."
"...they provide food and lodging, and the pizza is pretty good."
Choso was dazed for a moment.
He looked at the hand before him, then at his brothers' expectant faces.
He took a deep breath and shook it firmly.
"Yeah."
"As long as I can be with my brothers."
"It doesn't matter where we go."
"Besides..."
He looked at Yoru, his gaze more resolute than ever before.
"Since you gave us our lives..."
"...then from this day on, we three brothers..."
"...will be your blades!"
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