Megumi Fushiguro shouted a sharp warning, his hands rapidly weaving into signs.
"Divine Dog: Totality!"
The white and black Divine Dogs merged into one, transforming into a massive black wolf that bared its fangs to shield the group.
Before them...
The once lush forest seemed to have come alive.
Countless vines writhed across the ground like sentient vipers.
At the center of the twisted flora...
A tall figure slowly emerged from the shadows.
Its skin resembled pale, withered wood, its left shoulder was wrapped in white cloth, and two branches protruded from where its eyes should have been.
With every step...
Flowers and weeds sprouted instantly beneath its feet, but this was no scene of vibrant life.
It was a frantic, parasitic growth that seemed to drain the very life essence of its surroundings.
The Special Grade Cursed Spirit, Hanami.
"So this is... a Special Grade?"
Cold sweat beaded on Noritoshi Kamo's forehead.
As the heir to the Kamo family, one of the Big Three, he was no stranger to high-stakes battles.
But now...
Facing this monster whose cursed energy pulsed with the scent of nature, he felt a primal shudder of biological instinct.
It was the terror of a creature at the bottom of the food chain.
"Don't just stand there!"
Toge Inumaki suddenly pulled down his collar, revealing the cursed markings around his mouth.
"Don't move!"
The Cursed Speech took effect.
Hanami's forward stride jerked to a halt, but only for a fraction of a second.
A moment later...
Toge spat out a mouthful of blood, his body swaying violently.
"Cough... hack..."
"Toge!"
Megumi's expression twisted in alarm.
Just two words, just a momentary restraint...
And Toge's throat had already suffered a massive backlash.
It meant their total cursed energy reserves weren't even in the same dimension!
"Is this the power of a Special Grade...?"
Noritoshi Kamo bit his lip, pulled a blood bag from his robes, and crushed it.
"Blood Manipulation: Convergence - Piercing Blood!"
A bolt of blood, compressed to its limit, streaked toward the center of Hanami's forehead with a piercing whistle.
It moved faster than the speed of sound.
Yet Hanami simply raised a hand.
*Thwack!*
The blood arrow, powerful enough to puncture steel plates, struck the palm and produced nothing more than a tiny splash of red.
The skin wasn't even broken.
"Humans... are so fragile."
A strange voice echoed directly inside their minds.
It wasn't spoken language.
It was a telepathic intent acting directly upon the spirit.
Hanami lowered its hand, its pupil-less eyes gazing calmly at the three teenagers.
Like a gardener looking at weeds.
"The forest is weeping."
"The Earth is crying out in pain."
"For the sake of this planet's future, humanity must be eliminated."
*Rumble!*
As its intent fluctuated...
The surrounding trees surged instantly, transforming into countless massive wooden spikes that rained down upon the trio, blotting out the sky.
"Dammit!"
Megumi's eyes sharpened as he prepared to summon Max Elephant for defense.
Suddenly...
A dark shadow blurred in from the side.
Maki!
The staff in her hands let out a howling wind as she slammed it into an incoming wooden spike.
*CRACK!*
The power of the Special Grade Cursed Tool, Playful Cloud (on loan), was indeed formidable, shattering the spike into splinters.
But a second later...
More spikes followed in rapid succession.
"Maki-senpai!"
Megumi shouted as Divine Dog: Totality lunged forward, tearing at the encroaching vines.
The four stood back-to-back, barely holding their ground against the tidal wave of attacks.
A desperate thought surfaced in everyone's minds—
*This thing is definitely no ordinary Special Grade!*
From cursed energy reserves to physical durability and that suffocating pressure, it completely transcended their understanding of a Special Grade.
Hanami hadn't even truly started fighting yet; simply manipulating the plants was enough to leave them struggling for their lives.
"Is this the gap between us...?"
Maki panted heavily, her grip on Playful Cloud trembling slightly.
She was frustrated.
Truly frustrated.
She had worked so hard, wanting so badly to prove herself to that family.
But before a true Special Grade, she was still so insignificant.
'I have to... find a way to retreat.'
Megumi's mind raced.
He glanced at the Curtain behind them—the one designed to keep Satoru Gojo out—which effectively trapped them inside.
The only path to survival was to defeat the monster in front of them.
Or...
Hold out until that man broke through the Curtain.
"For the forest."
Hanami seemed to lose patience.
It slowly raised its left arm; from the white-wrapped shoulder, an eerie flower bud suddenly bloomed.
A suffocating amount of cursed energy began to coalesce.
The surrounding air felt as though it had been sucked dry.
"It's preparing a major attack!"
Noritoshi Kamo's pupils dilated.
Cursed energy fluctuations of this magnitude... if they were hit, they would definitely die!
"Everyone... run!"
Toge ignored the searing pain in his throat, preparing to use Cursed Speech once more.
But it was too late; Hanami's arm swept down violently.
*BOOM!*
Countless massive roots, like giant pythons bursting from the earth with world-ending force, instantly flooded their vision.
There was nowhere to dodge.
Nowhere to run.
It was a display of absolute, overwhelming power.
Despair shrouded everyone's hearts in that moment.
Megumi's hand instinctively reached into the depths of his shadow.
That forbidden shikigami...
'If I'm going to die, I'll take it down with me!'
At that critical threshold between life and death...
*Tap. Tap. Tap.*
A faint sound of footsteps suddenly rang out clearly amidst the chaotic battlefield.
The sound wasn't loud.
But in this instant, it felt as though it were stepping directly onto their heartbeats.
Immediately following...
A figure appeared abruptly in front of them.
He wore the standard Jujutsu High uniform, his black hair fluttering slightly in the gale.
Facing the sky-blotting tide of root-serpents...
He didn't weave signs, didn't roar, and didn't even fully unsheathe his blade.
He merely placed his hand gently upon the hilt.
And then...
He inhaled.
Total Concentration: Water Breathing.
In that split second...
Megumi froze. Maki froze.
Even Hanami, poised to deliver the final blow, felt its movements stall for a fraction of a second.
Because to their senses, the boy's presence seemed to vanish.
In its place...
...was a bottomless, silent ocean.
No waves.
No ripples.
Only absolute tranquility.
Eleventh Form: Dead Calm.
*Cling—*
A crisp ring of the blade sounded, like a single droplet falling into a deep pool.
No one saw him move his sword.
Yet in the next heartbeat...
Those hideous, terrifying root-pythons, those raging vines, and that destructive cursed energy impact...
The moment they touched a three-meter radius around the boy...
...they all... vanished.
Like a pencil drawing being rubbed away by an eraser.
They returned to nothingness.
The once-deafening battlefield fell into a deathly silence.
Only a few severed leaves drifted slowly to the ground.
Yoru stood there, hand still on his hilt, as if he hadn't moved at all.
He looked up slightly, his crimson pupils gazing calmly at Hanami not far away.
A faint smile played at the corners of his mouth.
"It's a little... noisy."
"Could you be a bit quieter?"
"Weed."
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