Just how many Cursed Spirits did Kenjaku still have? Unknown.
From a normal standpoint, Kenjaku's primary means of combat were Cursed Spirit Manipulation and the Anti-Gravity Technique. When he first met Mahiru, Kenjaku understood the least about her—yet at the same time his combat strength was at its peak, because back then his total reserve of Cursed Spirits was at its greatest.
And throughout the execution of his various schemes, he had been steadily depleting that number of Cursed Spirits.
The largest expenditure had been just moments ago.
In order to successfully launch the Culling Game, Kenjaku had thrown the overwhelming majority of his stored Cursed Spirits into the ritual all at once—the number of Cursed Spirits involved in the ritual exceeded even "ten million." Ten million. It was an absolutely inconceivable figure.
No one could understand why Kenjaku possessed so many Cursed Spirits.
And even less would anyone continue to believe that, after producing more than ten million Cursed Spirits, Kenjaku could still produce enough to keep fighting.
But...
GRAAAAH AAAAH!!——
Mid-fall, Kenjaku flung out both arms, and countless Low-grade Cursed Spirits surged from either side of his body, charging upward toward Mahiru. Their numbers were like a raging flood, seemingly endless and inexhaustible.
Mahiru furrowed her brow, her gaze flickering, her lips parting slightly, the cursed seal on the tip of her tongue glinting.
"「Die——」"
But in truth, if they were merely Low-grade Cursed Spirits, no amount of them would be of any use against Mahiru. Naturally, Kenjaku hadn't equipped his Low-grade Cursed Spirits with earplugs to defend against Cursed Speech. The girl's Cursed Speech could easily slaughter swathes of Low-grade Cursed Spirits.
The sound wave swept across, and the flood of Cursed Spirits shattered, their twisted shrieks piercing the air.
Kenjaku plummeted, crashing down into the gymnasium, and Mahiru charged after him, condensing a heavy hammer, its body wrapped in the blood armor of Blood Manipulation to increase its hardness and attack power—tail flame jetting out, the massive hammer slammed down with crushing force. BOOM—— The ground split apart.
An enormous Cursed Spirit shaped like a scarab beetle was summoned by Kenjaku, blocking the attack on his behalf. Under the tremendous force, the beetle's body armor cracked all over.
This was, astonishingly, a Special Grade Cursed Spirit.
Moreover, it was a Special Grade Cursed Spirit that had never appeared in the original work. In terms of sheer Cursed Energy and presence alone, it was considerably stronger than the Special Grade Cursed Spirit from the Juvenile Detention Center all those years ago.
This was precisely where Kenjaku's strength lay.
Though he did not possess peerless, world-beating power like Satoru Gojo and Sukuna, he held in his grasp a terrifying number of Special Grade Cursed Spirits, ready to be deployed at any moment. And his reserves were unfathomably deep.
Kenjaku clenched at empty air with one hand, and several small Cursed Spirits coiled around Mahiru's feet, shackling her ankles to stop her from moving. At the same time, a first-grade Cursed Spirit shaped like a longsword descended from the sky and fell into the hands of the scarab Cursed Spirit.
A colossal surge of Cursed Energy erupted with a thunderous boom, whipping up a hurricane.
The scarab Cursed Spirit let out a roar, its Cursed Energy soaring into the sky as it swung the sword down at Mahiru, the blade tearing through the air.
This display of force was utterly terrifying.
There was no doubt that if this blow had landed on a first-grade sorcerer like Nanami or Mei Mei, they would have been cut down on the spot.
But...
Clap. Clap.
Mahiru's left hand slapped against the body of the longsword, her right hand slapped against one of the scarab beetle's feelers, and Idle Transfiguration activated—the surge of Cursed Energy that burst forth caused Kenjaku's pupils to constrict sharply.
In but an instant, the longsword forged from the first-grade Cursed Spirit twisted, melted, and was devoured into Mahiru's body. At the same time, with a single tug of her other hand, Mahiru tore off half of the Special Grade Cursed Spirit's body outright.
Grasped at random, refined in an instant.
"...?!"
Kenjaku's eyes went wide.
Mahiru pressed her palms together, and a new [Husk] had already taken form.
The girl smiled: "Surprised?"
BOOM!!——
Targeted at point-blank range, Kenjaku had no choice but to call up a first-grade or Special Grade Cursed Spirit to defend himself.
The new Cursed Spirit blocked the attack, but the next second Mahiru reached out and activated Idle Transfiguration again, seizing the new Cursed Spirit and refining it in an instant, condensing yet another [Husk].
"You...!" Kenjaku gritted his teeth, "...Damn it!"
Because the abilities in Jujutsu battles are so wildly diverse, the matter of compatibility and counters is extremely severe.
Nobara and Itadori are Mahiru's natural predators, while Yuta, who can externalize Reverse Cursed Technique, is the natural predator of Cursed Spirits.
And Mahiru, in fact, is the natural predator of Cursed Spirit Manipulation.
Do you still remember how Mahiru's technique, the "Husk," got its name?
"Curse it!"
Mahiru kept up her assault, each strike stronger than the last, while Kenjaku could only grit his teeth and continuously summon Cursed Spirits of ever-greater hardness—only for them to be repeatedly seized and refined by Mahiru's "Idle Transfiguration," accumulating into ever-larger attacks.
The girl was no longer the girl she had once been. Long gone was the point where any ordinary Special Grade Cursed Spirit could withstand Mahiru's Idle Transfiguration, let alone prevent itself from becoming fuel for Mahiru's next attack.
Kenjaku switched his combat strategy, summoning vast numbers of first-grade Cursed Spirits, hoping to drown Mahiru in sheer quantity—but it was still useless. With a casual wave of Mahiru's hand, just like a snowball rolling along, great masses of Cursed Spirits were sucked into the orb of light that was the "Husk."
This was the very meaning of the "Husk."
In an ocean of Cursed Spirits, Cursed Spirit Manipulation might be powerful, but Mahiru's Idle Transfiguration would be more powerful still.
The reason Kenjaku had not realized this before was because Mahiru's raw numerical strength had still been low back then, unable to instantly kill a Special Grade Cursed Spirit in a single stroke.
But now—from the moment Mahiru and Kenjaku had turned on each other up until the present—the girl had not only been steadily enriching her combat methods, but had also become capable of instantly killing an ordinary Special Grade Cursed Spirit on a whim.
Only at this moment did Kenjaku come to realize just how far Mahiru had grown by now, and just how...strong she had become.
Mahiru flung out her hand.
The white radiance that had been snowballing through the sea of Cursed Spirits once again came crashing down upon Kenjaku.
This time Kenjaku no longer attempted to defend with Cursed Spirits, but instead activated a different technique.
The sound of his heartbeat suddenly grew louder, the flow of blood through his veins surging dramatically. Fresh blood spilled from his palms, a crimson hue that instantly transformed into armor, spreading across Kenjaku's entire body. BOOM!!——
Mahiru's "Husk" instantly smashed apart half of the gymnasium's structure, and Kenjaku was swallowed by the white light. Mahiru, for her part, was slightly taken aback: "Blood Manipulation?"
It was probably that Kenjaku had just used Spirit Descent to temporarily summon down upon himself the technique of some sorcerer who could use Blood Manipulation.
As for whom exactly he had summoned, it wasn't hard for Mahiru to guess.
With a thunderous crash, Kenjaku—his blood armor battered and ruined—had already crawled out from the rubble, pressing his palms together, fingertips aimed at Mahiru.
And Mahiru, too, smiled, raising her hand at the same time to make the exact same opening stance for [Piercing Blood].
—"Noritoshi Kamo," isn't it?
Noritoshi Kamo was also someone Kenjaku had body-snatched in the past—the most vicious clan head of a certain generation of the Kamo Family and a criminal sorcerer. Having once been such a renowned and infamous sorcerer, Kenjaku was, without a doubt, a master well-versed in Blood Manipulation. In fact, if one surveyed the history of the Three Great Families, then if the strongest member of the Gojo Family was Satoru Gojo, the strongest member of the Kamo Family was surely none other than Kenjaku.
At this very moment, because Cursed Spirit Manipulation had absolutely no effect on Mahiru, Kenjaku was forced to switch up his manner of fighting.
Piercing Blood took aim at one another, and the next moment, both burst forth at once.
Clap.
The sound of a clap rang out once more.
Kenjaku saw Itadori, who had suddenly appeared at his side, and his pupils trembled.
Without a word, Itadori slammed down a fist.
A Black Flash!
____
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