The mind space trembled from the aftermath of the last hit.
Golden sparks still flickered faintly in the air.
Takeru stood back up slowly.
Blood still on his mouth.
Breathing rougher now.
But smiling.
"…Okay."
He wiped his mouth once.
"…That hurt."
Raiden looked honestly concerned now.
"…You good?"
Takeru cracked his neck.
"Nope."
A pause.
"Again."
Sukuna laughed from the sidelines.
Ryomen Sukuna
"…That idiot learns through blunt force."
Then Takeru vanished forward.
Fast.
Very fast.
Not one punch.
Not two.
A full barrage.
Hits from every angle.
Hooks.
Elbows.
Palm strikes.
Kicks.
Relentless pressure.
Raiden's eyes widened slightly.
"…Oh, he adapted."
Takeru was trying not to let Raiden gather momentum.
No big hits.
No single impact.
Just constant attacks.
But Raiden smiled.
"…Smart."
Then the energy around him shifted again.
Every hit Takeru landed—
was taken.
Stored.
Borrowed.
Stacked.
Takeru realized too late.
"…Ah."
Raiden stepped back once.
Just once.
And the pressure around his fist became terrifying.
The air distorted.
The ground beneath him cracked inward.
Akari's eyes widened.
"…Too much."
Even Sukuna stopped smiling slightly.
Raiden pulled his arm back.
"…One punch."
Silence.
Then—
he swung.
BOOOOOOM
The impact didn't just hit Takeru.
It erased the space between them.
Takeru's eyes widened—
And his body disappeared instantly from the force.
Outside the mind space—
in the real world—
everyone suddenly looked up.
Because something came flying through the arcade wall.
CRAAAAASH
Takeru slammed across the floor violently.
Machines exploded apart.
Coins blasted everywhere.
People screamed.
Yuji's eyes widened.
"…TAKERU?!"
Megumi froze.
"…No way."
Hakari stared.
"…What hit him?"
Takeru rolled once—
then stopped.
Silence.
There was a hole in his abdomen.
Clean through.
Not surface damage.
Not a cut.
A real hole.
Straight through organ territory.
Blood spread beneath him immediately.
Yuji ran forward.
"…HEY!"
Megumi's expression sharpened instantly.
"…That's critical."
Hakari knelt beside him.
"…BRO THAT IS NOT A LIGHT SPAR!"
Then—
inside the fractured opening behind him—
Raiden stepped through from the mind space slowly.
Looking genuinely shocked.
"…Uh."
A pause.
"…I may have overdone it."
Sukuna emerged after him, laughing openly now.
Ryomen Sukuna
"…You punched a hole through him."
Raiden looked down at his fist.
"…Yeah…"
A pause.
"…I noticed."
Meanwhile—
Takeru coughed blood again.
Then weakly raised a thumbs up.
"…Still alive."
Yuji immediately shouted:
"…THAT DOESN'T MAKE IT BETTER!"
Fred slowly raised a sign from behind a destroyed claw machine:
"Light spar review: catastrophic failure."