Department Store, Abandoned Floor
Itadori and Megumi Fushiguro stood back to back, listening carefully for any movement around them.
"To your left!" Megumi suddenly shouted.
Itadori reacted instantly, swinging his fist toward a pile of debris on his left as cursed energy surged through his arm.
Boom!
The debris exploded under the impact, scattering across the floor.
There was nothing behind it.
"Tch, another decoy!" Megumi frowned.
Kurisaka was extremely cunning. He constantly manipulated the environment to create misleading sounds, and every sneak attack was a quick hit-and-run. He never stayed engaged for long, making it obvious that he was trying to stall for time.
"We can't keep this up!" Itadori said anxiously. "Megumi, can you find him with your shadow?"
"I've tried. He's hiding his presence well, and he's constantly moving at high speed." Megumi focused intensely, then his eyes sharpened. "Wait, I've got him! Three o'clock, behind that fitting room!"
Both of them moved at the same time.
Itadori smashed straight through the fitting room's thin wooden wall, while Megumi's Divine Dogs burst from his shadow to cut off the escape route.
Kurisaka was indeed hiding there.
A flash of panic crossed his face at being discovered so precisely, but he reacted immediately. He hurled the cursed tool in his hand toward Itadori while gripping another and fleeing in the opposite direction.
"Don't even think about it!"
Itadori tilted his head, narrowly avoiding the incoming cursed tool. Without losing momentum, he drove his fist forward.
Kurisaka hastily crossed his arms in front of his chest to defend himself.
Bang!
The cursed energy-infused punch sent him flying backward. He slammed into a load-bearing pillar and spat out a mouthful of blood. The cursed tool he had been holding slipped from his grasp and clattered across the floor.
"Got him!"
Itadori rushed forward, intending to secure the cursed tool and finish the fight.
Megumi's expression suddenly changed.
"No! Itadori, watch out!"
Despite being blasted into the pillar, Kurisaka showed no sign of panic. Instead, a sinister grin spread across his face.
He slammed his palm against the floor.
A prepared simple barrier technique instantly activated, its glowing framework enveloping both Itadori and the fallen cursed tool.
"A trap!"
Megumi immediately ordered his Divine Dogs to attack the barrier while forming hand signs of his own, preparing to break it by force.
But Kurisaka had already accomplished his goal.
While Itadori was trapped inside the barrier, Kurisaka endured his injuries and lunged toward the cursed tool he had thrown earlier, still embedded in a distant wall.
"Haha! I got it!"
He ripped the tool free and clutched it tightly.
"One is enough! As long as one anchor point remains, the Curtain won't disappear completely! You lose!"
Without another word, he turned and sprinted toward the stairwell.
"Bastard!"
Itadori roared and slammed his fist into the barrier.
Cracks spread across its surface, and the entire structure trembled violently, but it did not break immediately.
Outside, the Divine Dogs clawed and bit at the barrier without success.
"Megumi!" Itadori shouted. "Don't worry about me! Go after him!"
Megumi did not hesitate.
"Divine Dogs, pursue!"
The shikigami immediately locked onto Kurisaka's retreating figure. Megumi followed after them, racing toward the stairwell like an arrow released from a bow.
"Tch!"
Hearing the barking and approaching footsteps behind him, Kurisaka spat out another mouthful of blood.
He hugged the stolen cursed tool tightly against his chest and plunged into the dim stairwell without looking back.
Megumi pursued closely, disappearing into the shadows after him.
At nearly the same moment, Itadori shattered the barrier with another devastating punch.
Without pausing, he rushed after Megumi.
Rooftop Platform
Toji Fushiguro tilted his head, his hollow gaze sweeping over Nanami and Takuma Ino.
The mocking smile on his face seemed to deepen.
He took another step forward.
The pressure immediately intensified.
Nanami inhaled slowly and brought his hands together.
"Ratio Technique."
Buzz.
An invisible effect spread outward and settled over Toji.
For the briefest instant, Toji's movement faltered, as though a perfectly functioning machine had encountered a grain of sand.
But he adapted almost immediately.
His speed barely changed as he continued charging straight toward Ino.
"What?!"
Nanami's pupils contracted.
His technique could identify a weak point by dividing a target into a seven-to-three ratio, but against someone with Heavenly Restriction like Toji, its effect was almost nonexistent.
"Dragon!"
Takuma Ino roared and attempted to resume the technique that had been interrupted.
He was too slow.
Crack!
The sickening sound of breaking bone echoed across the rooftop.
Ino's arm twisted into a grotesque angle.
He screamed as he was launched backward, crashing into the railing and nearly falling off the building. Instantly, he lost the ability to continue fighting.
Toji's fist had barely paused.
His expression remained unchanged.
One opponent down.
His gaze shifted toward Nanami.
Cold sweat ran down Nanami's forehead.
His weapon was gone. His technique was nearly useless. His ally had been incapacitated in an instant.
The situation was hopeless.
Even so, he did not retreat.
Instead, he settled into a more stable defensive stance.
He had to buy time for Itadori and Megumi.
Toji seemed mildly amused by the decision.
The next moment, he vanished.
Nanami only caught a glimpse of an afterimage before a crushing blow struck his abdomen.
Pain exploded through his body.
He doubled over as his organs felt as though they had been displaced. Before he could recover, a chop landed on the back of his neck.
His vision blurred instantly.
Nanami collapsed to the ground unconscious.
Toji did not spare either fallen sorcerer a second glance.
He walked to the edge of the rooftop and looked down at the city below.
His gaze seemed to pierce through countless obstacles, eventually locking onto Megumi Fushiguro, who was pursuing Kurisaka and the remaining cursed tool.
A grin spread across his face.
Then he leaped from the rooftop.