"Honestly, I never expected it. He usually looks so unreliable, but when it comes to teaching students, he's actually got a pretty solid approach…"
At Kyoto Jujutsu High, Principal Gakuganji—who had only just been calmed down—let out a sigh of admiration.
However, Utahime Iori, who was in the same room, clicked her tongue in disdain.
"He's just an attention-seeking idiot.
Let's hope the students he teaches don't end up as arrogant as he is."
[The scene continues.]
[The flashback ends, and the camera cuts back to the present.]
[Megumi Fushiguro is now slumped against the stone wall at the edge of the barrier.]
[The blood splattered on the wall behind him, along with the stream of blood running down from his forehead, made it unmistakably clear just how brutal that punch from the four-eyed curse had been.]
["…Did I black out for a few seconds?"]
[Megumi slowly opens his eyes. In his dazed state, he realizes that Divine Dog: Totality, who had been beside him moments ago, is nowhere to be seen.]
["Divine Dog was destroyed… No, wait! Was the technique dispelled?"]
[His gaze lifts further, meeting the four-eyed curse once again—still standing exactly where he had been before.]
["Heh! Heh!"]
[Noticing Megumi looking at it, the four-eyed curse responds with a "friendly" grin.]
["…I guess this is as far as I go."]
[After recalling Gojo's words from earlier, Megumi seems to arrive at some kind of conclusion. He raises both hands in front of him, then clenches them tightly, glaring at the four-eyed curse with a terrifying expression.]
["Buru… Buru… Yura Yura…"]
[Before Megumi can finish chanting, the four-eyed curse already seems to sense that whatever technique is coming next is no ordinary one. Its earlier arrogance vanishes at once as it cautiously steps back.]
["Heh."]
[A mocking smile curls onto Megumi's lips.]
[Then, all at once, he loosens his clenched fists and raises them above his head, the smile on his face growing even wilder.]
["I quit!"]
[The four-eyed curse is momentarily dumbfounded by this completely baffling move.]
[Taking advantage of that brief opening, Megumi slowly rises to his feet, muttering to himself:]
["A sorcerer's growth curve isn't always a steady one."]
["Release all the shadows from the depths… the finer outline can come later… condense the cursed energy, then let it burst forth in one go."]
["Imagine freely… the future version of yourself that's broken past its limits!"]
["Then let me show you!"]
[The last line is shouted as Megumi forms a hand seal.]
[The shadows beneath him begin to boil violently, surging as if on the verge of bursting free, yet still somehow held in check—only churning at his feet.]
[The four-eyed curse notices the change in the shadows under Megumi and warily takes another step back.]
["The right environment!"]
["A little aptitude—and a little imagination!"]
["And then, with just the tiniest trigger, a person can transform…"]
["Domain Expansion!!!"]
["Pssh!!!"]
[Megumi slams his hands together. The shadows beneath him instantly break free of their restraints and pour out like a flood, covering the ground in black in a heartbeat.]
["Chimera Shadow Garden!!!"]
[The surging shadow on the ground transforms into countless shadow frogs, which begin crawling and writhing up the four-eyed curse's legs without end.]
["Hah! Hah! Hah! Hahahahaha!!!"]
[Watching this unfold, a crazed—yet strangely kind-looking—smile spreads across Megumi's face.]
["It's nowhere near complete or refined yet—but right now, this is enough!"]
Outside the screen, Utahime wore an expression that said I knew it.
"See? Another one's gone crazy…"
"As if that guy could ever teach normal students."
"…Yeah…"
The others in the room nodded silently.
Kasumi Miwa, an honest-hearted Gojo fan, wanted to argue back.
But after seeing Megumi on screen looking even more like a villain than the actual villain—
The words caught in her throat and never came out.
At that moment, the cool beauty beside her, Mai Zenin, suddenly spoke up:
"So that's what the title meant from the start. 'More Villain Than the Villains.'"
Back in the Occult Research Club, the girl with the bowl-cut stared at Megumi's crazed expression on screen and muttered:
"I don't know why, but… I'm suddenly not into him anymore."
Yuji and the others all shot her a sideways glance.
"Heh. Women…"
[The scene continues.]
[Watching the shadow frogs crawl up its legs in swarms, the four-eyed curse once again gathers yellow cursed energy in its hand.]
["Bang!"]
[But before it can release the attack, Megumi suddenly emerges from the shadow in front of it and drives a backward kick straight into its face, interrupting it.]
["Bang! Bang! Bang!"]
[Landing the first strike, Megumi immediately follows up before the four-eyed curse can react, leaping into a rapid chain of kicks.]
[Although it was caught off guard at first, the four-eyed curse's physical toughness is no joke. It quickly recovers and uses the force of Megumi's kicks to retreat, widening the gap between them.]
[However, less than a second after regaining its footing, it stumbles again, nearly falling over.]
[It looks down—only to see the shadow frogs once more crawling in groups up its legs.]
[As more and more of them pile on, the four-eyed curse finally loses its balance completely and collapses into the sea of shadow.]
[At the same time, Megumi's pursuit closes in right behind it.]
[The instant it falls, Megumi leaps high into the air and crashes down on top of it like a cannonball.]
["BOOM!!!"]
[The shadow beneath them erupts into a huge black wave.]
[When the wave settles, Megumi and the four-eyed curse have separated again, facing each other once more.]
["More freely…"]
[A wild smile spreads once more across Megumi's blood-covered face as he lowers his body and charges at the curse.]
[This time, the four-eyed curse doesn't choose to clash with him head-on. Instead, it retreats and spits out another mass of yellow slime toward him.]
["Expand!!!"]
["Bang!"]
[Just as Megumi finishes his line with a manic laugh, the yellow slime punches straight through his body.]
[But unexpectedly, the pierced Megumi suddenly melts into a puddle of black shadow and merges into the flowing darkness beneath him.]
["Interpret…"]
["…the technique more richly!!!"]
[While the four-eyed curse frantically searches the ground for Megumi's whereabouts, two Nue shikigami crackling with electricity suddenly appear behind it.]
["Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!…"]
[As blue lightning flashes again and again within the barrier, the twin Nue repeatedly slam into the four-eyed curse, forcing it entirely onto the defensive and leaving it with no time to keep searching for Megumi.]
[But after enduring the endless battering for long enough, the four-eyed curse finally loses patience. Instead of continuing to defend, it gathers power and unleashes a violent burst of golden cursed energy.]
["BOOOOOOM!!!!!!!"]
[The explosion instantly wipes out both Nue and blows away the shadow covering the ground as well.]
["Heh! Ha!"]
[Seeing the ground brighten again, the four-eyed curse's face lights up with a delighted smile.]
["Puh!"]
[But that smile doesn't even last a second before a chill runs straight through its chest.]
[Its eyes widen in shock as it looks down—only to see a dog's paw, drenched in its own blood, protruding from the center of its chest.]
["Divine Dog: Totality's claws can even wound that curse."]
[At that moment, a curse with branches growing from its eye socket flashes across the screen for an instant.]
Though the shot lasts only a moment, Suguru Geto and the others watching outside still catch it clearly.
All of them turn in unison to look at Hanami, whose appearance matches that fleeting figure exactly, their eyes full of confusion.
"Why are you all looking at me?"
Hanami asks, puzzled.
"It's nothing. Just wondering how that kid managed to survive meeting you in the future."
Jogo says curiously.
"I'm not a bloodthirsty person. Do I have to kill everyone who sees me?"
Hanami replies calmly, then stops paying attention to them and returns to watching the screen.
The others don't press any further. It's not like it's something that important.
[The scene continues.]
[Standing beside Divine Dog: Totality, Megumi speaks calmly from behind the curse:]
["Piercing through someone as defenseless as you…"]
["…is child's play."]
["Fwooom!!!"]
[Purple flames burst across the four-eyed curse's body at once.]
["Puh!"]
[As Divine Dog: Totality withdraws its claw, the four-eyed curse's body instantly explodes into a heap of ashes.]