"Wait... Wait a minute, Itadori...!"
Seto, who was moving with Itadori, was already panting and out of breath because he couldn't keep up with him.
Seto was only an assistant officer; strictly speaking, he couldn't be considered a combat unit—at most, he was half of one. Naturally, he didn't possess Itadori's superhuman physical fitness.
Kenjaku, passing by, aimed a single strike at the neck of the doubled-over, panting Seto, killing him effortlessly and leaving no trace behind.
On the other side, Itadori chased 'Yoshino Junpei' into the sewers, where a thick, pungent smell of blood hit him in the face.
It was because of this smell that he began to grow alert.
Itadori didn't stop in his tracks until he saw the Cleaver lying on the ground—the one that originally belonged to Nanami.
Itadori picked up the Cleaver and muttered to himself in disbelief.
"This is definitely Nanamin's Cursed Tool, but why is it here?"
At that moment, Sukuna's mouth and single eye appeared on Itadori's face, mocking him.
"How could a Jujutsu Sorcerer just discard their Cursed Tool? Obviously, that guy is dead!"
Itadori reached up to cover Sukuna's mouth and said irritably,
"Shut up! Nanamin will be fine!"
Gripping the Cleaver, Itadori continued running deeper into the sewers.
Before long, Itadori saw Nanami's limbs scattered throughout the sewer as a result of the battle.
Sukuna's mouth continued its mockery. "That guy really is pathetic. If he'd gone on a mission with anyone else, he surely could have been useful. Instead, he ended up in such a miserable state because he was worried about your safety."
Sukuna simply found it amusing to watch Itadori slowly sink into despair—at least compared to how much it disgusted him when Itadori acted fearless toward him.
Next, it wasn't just hands and feet; he directly saw Nanami's headless, limbless, naked corpse.
While Itadori was still in a daze, he saw someone walk out from the shadows deep within the sewer.
"Itadori, why are you here?"
Itadori froze at the sound; the voice sounded just like Nanami's.
"Nanamin?"
A 'Nanami' emerged from the shadows. The blood-stained suit was clearly a bit ill-fitting, and Itadori saw through it instantly.
"You're not Nanami!"
'Nanami' likely realized where the problem lay. The body beneath the suit squirmed for a moment, and then the suit became a perfect fit.
'Nanami' pushed up his goggles and said with a smile, "This should be fine now, right?"
Itadori could feel nothing but rage. Even if he didn't want to face the fact of Nanami's death, his reason told him that the person before him was the culprit who killed Nanami, and now they were mocking him by wearing Nanami's face.
"Was it you? The one who killed..."
Before Itadori could finish, Mahito rushed right in front of him and delivered an uppercut to his chest.
The Cursed Energy condensed on Mahito's fist turned pure black in a tenth of a second, and that black energy manifested as radiating lightning—this was the clear sign of a Black Flash.
This single punch sent Itadori airborne, slamming him into the sewer ceiling at a terrifying speed, letting out a loud bang accompanied by a slight tremor.
Under the effect of the Black Flash, Mahito's Cursed Energy efficiency received a degree of temporary enhancement.
After this strike, Mahito also confirmed that Itadori's body was indeed terrifying. Even though the number of Sukuna's Fingers he had absorbed was still relatively low, he had been nourished by a finger since childhood, making him exceptionally powerful.
[Anti-troll Tip: Considering some people might not be familiar with Jujutsu, here is a reminder of known information: before Itadori swallowed the finger at school, there was already a finger sealed within his body.]
Mahito picked up the Cleaver Itadori had dropped and calmly rolled up his suit sleeves.
"Isn't the King of Curses planning to show up? Are you indifferent to the fact that I'm about to kill this brat?"
Having taken the Cleaver, Mahito was now a perfect cosplay of Nanami. The only deficiency was likely his Cursed Energy; after all, he wasn't using a Séance-style method to directly summon the physical information of the deceased, so the Cursed Energy remained Mahito's own.
The reason Mahito didn't immediately continue his attack was because he wasn't certain if Sukuna would choose to flee instead of fighting him directly upon sensing danger.
After all, using Idle Transfiguration on Sukuna would be purely detrimental. But if they engaged in physical combat, Sukuna's incredibly efficient Reverse Cursed Technique meant Mahito wasn't 100% sure he could kill him.
Given the situation, the first thing Mahito needed to do was ensure this move was 100% meaningful.
He was here to force Sukuna into using the Binding Vow, 'Pledge', to prevent him from using it at will later to create a threat if he failed to kill him today.
Because regarding Mahoraga, Mahito hadn't thought of a good way to deal with it yet. That thing was too broken for a Cursed Spirit, and he certainly couldn't give Sukuna the chance to possess it.
At that moment, an enraged Itadori fell from the ceiling and swung a Divergent Fist at Mahito.
But Mahito simply leaned to the side and dodged the strike.
While dodging, Mahito partially transformed the right hand holding the Cleaver into his Idle Transfiguration form and slashed at the 3:7 ratio point of Itadori's left arm.
The Cursed Technique 'Collapse' imbued in this Cleaver was also triggered. The strengthening effect of Idle Transfiguration combined with the 'critical hit' to slice off Itadori's left arm.
"As expected, I can use it. This really is convenient~" Mahito muttered to himself with satisfaction.
"Aaaaaaah!"
The bone-piercing pain instantly paralyzed Itadori's movements.
Taking advantage of this half-second window, Mahito controlled the non-transformed back portion of his right arm to morph and elongate. The blade traced a V-shape from below, lifting up to aim at the 3:7 ratio point of Itadori's right arm, severing it with another critical hit.
"..." Sukuna, on Itadori's cheek, remained silent, staring at Mahito, his thoughts unknown.
Mahito knew that Sukuna could even control Itadori's body to move without a heart; this level of injury was not enough.
Mahito's left hand pinned Itadori's head, exposing his neck. He swung the Cleaver with his right hand, mocking Sukuna as he did so.
"If you can sustain life with Cursed Energy even without a heart, can you still do it if I cut off your head, King of Curses?"
...
Read advance chapters on p@treon
[email protected]/guilt_free_daoist
Join disc0rd link in synopsis.
GIVE ME YOU POWER STONES.