"Hello, my name is Yuji Itadori. Are you a reindeer?" Yuji Itadori asked while pinching his chin.
When Chopper heard that, he suddenly burst into tears.
"Waaaaaa!"
Seeing the little guy cry, Yuji panicked.
"Wait, wait, don't cry! I was just asking you a question."
"Sniff! Sniff! These are tears of joy. Sniff! Nobody has ever identified me as a reindeer on their first try."
"I was so happy that I couldn't stop crying. Sniff! Sniff!"
Chopper controlled his tears when he saw Yuji panicking and started explaining.
Yuji tilted his head in confusion and said.
"Are the people of your world face blind? Can't they see those antlers?"
Chopper's face turned so bright as if he had found a soul mate.
He ran towards Yuji and jumped onto his face before he started crying again.
"Hey, stop it! I can't breathe!"
Yuji started pulling Chopper, and he only succeeded when Chopper stopped crying.
Yuji was left breathless before their battle had even begun. He stared at Chopper speechlessly and asked.
"Are you trying to kill me? Although we need to kill each other, at least wait until we start our battle, okay?"
Chopper frowned and asked.
"Do we have to kill each other?"
Yuji was once again left speechless by Chopper's innocent tone. He sighed.
"Little guy, I am sorry, but I have no choice. I am left with a curse that needs me to die. I don't want to die so young."
"But there is a voice in my head saying if I kill you without using the power of those curses, I can not only kill this curse but also go back in time to a certain point in time and kill that curse."
"Of course, if I use those powers to defeat you, I can't kill the curse directly, and I can't go back to the intended time. It will just be random."
Hearing that, Chopper showed a look of surprise.
"I see! But I also can't give up. I need to bring back our vice captain, and I can't do it without defeating you."
"More importantly, I need to go and support my captain in his battle."
As Chopper said that, he took out a rumble ball and ate it. His body suddenly grew several feet as he entered Heavy Arm Form.
Without much hesitation, he instantly appeared in front of Yuji and punched him on the chest.
Bang!
His punch was so powerful that it left Yuji breathless for a moment.
'This punch is even stronger than Gojo Sensei's. How is this possible?'
Thankfully, Yuji's Reverse Curse Technique reacted immediately, helping his body recover.
Any damage he suffered on his chest also recovered instantaneously.
'No, I can't use Sukuna's technique otherwise; nothing will change. Then, I can only rely on Blood Manipulation.'
[Convergence]
As he released this technique, a drop of blood appeared in front of him, and the next moment, he clapped his hands.
[Piercing Blood]
Although Yuji was attacking at a point-blank range, Chopper was an expert at two types of Haki.
With his Observation Haki, he instantly saw the attack coming and tilted his head to dodge it.
Before Yuji could even react, he landed another punch on Yuji's face.
This time, Yuji was sent flying several meters into the air before his body slid on the ground and stopped dozens of meters away.
"I'm sorry. You are a nice guy, but I have to go and help my Captain."
Chopper apologized to Yuji before dashing towards him. Yuji was genuinely strong, but Chopper's Haki was as strong as a Vice Admiral's.
But that's just Haki. His physical strength was even stronger than that of a Vice Admiral, making this battle rather easy for him.
As Chopper approached Yuji and tried to strike him with the back end of his feet, Yuji suddenly rose.
His fist carried an immense amount of curse energy, but its precision had risen to the point where it turned into black-red lightning.
'Advanced Conqueror Haki?'
For a moment, Chopper panicked, but the fist landed on his face and straight up made his body fly.
While in mid-air, Chopper's expression changed.
'No, it was just another form of energy. It wasn't even Haki. I couldn't defend against that move because it was extremely precise.'
'But if I had kept my guard up, my Observation Haki would've reacted faster.'
Thud!
Chopper landed on his feet and immediately rushed towards Yuji.
Once again, Yuji's fist showed a similar kind of energy, but this time, Chopper reacted with a punch of his own.
Bang!
As their punches collided, for the first time, Yuji found an incredible strength working against him while he was using Black Flash.
But before Yuji could react, Chopper landed another punch on his guts. As his strength weakened, Chopper's right fist continued moving forward.
Bang!
It struck him on the face with so much force that Yuji's body flew back like a block of wall and crashed on the ground.
"Cough! Cough!"
Yuji was left completely defenseless on the ground. He stared at the sky and thought.
'Do I have no choice but to use those curse techniques?'
He closed his eyes as he remembered the horror of those techniques. They were his, so technically, he could use them.
And, even if Sukuna died, he could still keep on using that technique.
But, he couldn't do it.
Sukuna was dead. Gojo Sensei and many of the people he knew had sacrificed themselves to win that battle.
Their sacrifice meant something.
If he could go back, it didn't mean things would play out the way he intended them to.
After all, his opponent was Sukuna, and more importantly, he wasn't sure if Sukuna would also be able to share this part of the memory.
So, just going back wasn't enough. He wanted to kill Sukuna after he awakened the curse energy.
That was his plan, but he realized that he couldn't defeat Chopper without using those techniques.
Suddenly, he paused.
'Why am I even struggling?'
He slowly got to his feet and cracked a smile.
'I just need to throw a punch. That's all I need to do. That's all my heart intended to do.'
Yuji saw Chopper coming towards him at an extraordinary speed. Both of them punched at each other.
Chopper's fist hurt Yuji more than he could hurt Chopper, but Yuji didn't care.
As his Reverse Curse Technique healed the wound, he continued throwing punches.
One after another!
Each attack landed on their bodies, but neither of them backed down.
'I am a man. I am going to fight like a man.'
Chopper shouted in his heart as he kept throwing punches and kicks. He didn't know why Yuji was no longer using those techniques.
Although Yuji was still relying on a Divergent Fist and Black Flash, he didn't use any domain or curse techniques.
He kept attacking with his fist, and Chopper did the same.
In less than five minutes, their bodies were covered in bruises and blood.
Chopper was able to decrease the damage done to him thanks to Armament Haki and Observation Haki, while Yuji could simply heal himself.
But even so, they had thrown so many attacks that their defensive measures weren't enough.
As their fists connected, so did their heart.
'Why?'
'Little guy, didn't you say you still have to bring back your vice captain and help your captain?'
'So, why are you hesitating now?'
'Come on! Attack faster!'
The more they punched, the more they talked through their minds. It was a strange telepathy, but they could understand each other's intentions.
Chopper didn't know why Yuji suddenly gave up. He couldn't understand Yuji's lack of motivation.
In fact, there was a fierce battle going on in Yuji's mind.
It was a force that was making him go all out against Chopper, but Yuji's own intention was to let Chopper win.
He had killed Sukuna; everything had ended, so he just wanted to help one more person, even if he didn't know that person.
Because he believed in himself and his fist. And his fist told him that Chopper was a good person.
That's all he needed.
To fight against the control that was taking over his body, to fight against the force that was making him fight in this place.
To fight for himself and his desire!
Suddenly, Yuji's overwhelming Willpower suppressed the force on his body, and his RCT suddenly stopped.
At this moment, Chopper's fist tore through his head, leaving Chopper in utter confusion.
With only his mouth remaining, Yuji spoke.
"Little guy, sometimes, you have to sacrifice something or someone. Don't be afraid of sacrifices!"
Thud!
After he said that, with a smile, Yuji fell to the ground and his body slowly disintegrated into dust particles.
Chopper slowly came out of his disbelief, and this time, he didn't cry.
Instead, he clenched his bloody fist and swore.
"Mr. Yuji, I promise I will not be afraid of sacrifices. And my name is Chopper. Tony Tony Chopper!"