Naoya Zenin's body rolled continuously across the ground, plowing a long trench through dirt and fallen leaves until his back crashed into a thick tree trunk—finally coming to a complete stop.
"Pfft... Gak..."
The blonde man spat out blood. The Black Flash just now had hit him squarely in the face. He hadn't even had time to mobilize his cursed energy and concentrate it at the point of impact.
He lay between the tree roots, facing the sky. A large portion of his haori had been shredded, and bloody holes covered his chest and arms.
A moment later, he finally pieced together what had happened.
Reverse Cursed Technique.
If he had to find a reason, Naoya could only guess Reverse Cursed Technique.
He couldn't believe that Yuji Itadori—a student enrolled for only five days—could have learned such an advanced ability.
In the current jujutsu world, the only ones capable of actively using the Reverse Cursed Technique were the three registered Special Grade sorcerers and Jujutsu High's designated medical personnel, Shoko Ieiri.
Yuji had been using the Reverse Cursed Technique to heal himself from the very beginning. Not after getting hit—but healing while fighting. The wounds from Naoya's punches couldn't even outpace this guy's regeneration.
Yuji Itadori... you've been fucking acting since the very beginning...
Not just when he was passively taking a beating. Naoya deduced it was probably even earlier—perhaps from the moment he'd touched Yuji to freeze him after driving away the Kyoto school members. At that moment, Yuji had already prepared to take a beating passively.
Taking over a thousand of my punches just to land one punch on me?
What kind of fucking psycho are you?
Naoya was left speechless.
The sound of footsteps approached.
Unhurried. Rustling on the fallen leaves.
"Naoya Zenin. You shouldn't be down so quickly, right? I have a question I want to ask you."
Although Yuji's punch just now had been immense, Naoya was also a Grade 1 sorcerer. It was impossible for him to go down so quickly.
"...Hah?"
Naoya spat out bloody froth. Although he looked quite disheveled, he could still fight.
He had a chance to turn this around.
As long as he didn't get touched by Yuji again, the ultimate victory would be his.
Now he would fight a war of attrition. Besides the close-range scattering Supernova, Yuji had absolutely no way of touching him. He wouldn't rush for success anymore.
Next, he would act like a scientist using tweezers to peel an eggshell bit by bit—ensuring the membrane underneath wasn't pierced and the egg white didn't leak out—slowly wearing Yuji Itadori down until he was dead.
Whoosh—!
Naoya staggered up from the ground, activating Projection Sorcery.
"I don't understand what you're talking about."
Yuji stood motionless. "What exactly is the conflict between you and Maki-senpai?"
"...?"
Naoya was taken aback. He originally didn't want to engage with Yuji's question—wanted to focus entirely on the battle. However, on second thought, his Projection Sorcery needed time to stack to maximum speed. Currently heavily injured, his speed was far from peak. He might as well play along with the conversation and wait for the right moment.
This stinking brat actually dares to steer things toward a result favorable to me. Does he really think victory is in his grasp?
Naoya cursed inwardly.
"Don't you and Maki-senpai hate each other?"
Yuji asked.
"Hate each other?" Naoya sneered, his voice seemingly coming from all directions. "Is Maki even worthy?"
"I don't know of any conflict between us. If there has to be one, maybe it's because she unilaterally hates me?"
"..."
Yuji remained standing in the center of the forest, allowing Naoya to continuously circle him. The pink-haired boy stood completely still.
"In the Zenin Clan, only those with powerful innate techniques are respected. Maki knows this too."
"She probably hates me because I bullied her? Can't be helped. The strong preying on the weak is the basic law of this world. The strong can humiliate the weak at will—perfectly justified."
"Besides her, I basically bully anyone I don't like. In the Zenin Clan, possessing Projection Sorcery makes me the law."
Naoya's tone was supremely contemptuous.
"Women are inherently breeding tools or appendages to men. Maki has no innate technique, no power. What right does she have to stand in front of men? Does she think leaving the Zenin Clan proves anything? What can she prove? That trash is still trash no matter how hard they try?"
"Dead wrong. That's why, from the very beginning, I never took Maki seriously."
"..."
Yuji closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
"No, Naoya Zenin. The only one dead wrong is you."
"...What did you say?" Naoya frowned while weaving through the forest.
"I don't discriminate against anyone—regardless of gender, race, or whether they possess cursed energy."
"Only petty people like you look down on this and that. I'm not saying you rely on belittling others to elevate yourself—because you probably don't even think that way, do you? You genuinely look down on everyone from the bottom of your heart."
Yuji shook his head, a hint of pity in his expression. "However, you who look down on everyone—why were you punched to the ground by me, someone who's only been enrolled for five days? You consider yourself one of the 'strong,' but that's ultimately just your fantasy. You're not strong at all. Neither mentally nor physically."
"...You?!"
Naoya gritted his teeth, grinding them audibly. His eyes widened, bloodshot veins appearing in the whites.
"Then I'll prove it to you right now! Prove how foolish you are! Yuji Itadori—you will be defeated by me!"
Through Projection Sorcery, Naoya continuously accumulated speed. His acceleration had almost reached its limit. Every step generated a gale. His figure drew countless blue streaks of light through the forest. Wherever the light passed, fallen leaves swept up, bushes blew away, and even trees as thick as bowls collapsed one by one.
Mach 1.
The speed of sound—340 meters per second—was the limit Naoya could reach right now.
"The strong preying on the weak is fundamentally a flawed concept."
Yuji continued to stand his ground without changing expression, elaborating on his philosophy.
As if Naoya could no longer threaten him.
"The strong should protect the weak. After the weak grow stronger under the shade of the strong, they too will understand this principle—and go on to protect even more weak people."
Naoya couldn't help but speak up. "Yuji Itadori! Are you sleepwalking? Do you think this world is a fairy tale?!"
His figure drew one blue ring after another around Yuji. His speed was so fast that the afterimages connected into lines of light. These continuously weaving lines now resembled an invisible golden cage, trapping Yuji right in the center.
"The weak don't deserve protection! The weak only deserve to be trampled! Enslaved! Eliminated! What makes you think the weak deserve protection?"
"Because you are also human, Naoya Zenin."
Yuji spoke calmly, maintaining his closed-eye expression.
"Because when you were just born—as an infant—you were also a weakling. Didn't you, as an infant, grow up under the protection of others? Your parents. Your family. Your attendants. If it weren't for them, how could you be alive today?"
"Since you were once a weakling too, you have no right to say things like 'the weak deserve to be humiliated.' Because everything you have today was obtained by standing on the shoulders of others."
"..."
Naoya clenched his fists, knuckles almost digging into his palms until they bled. His chest began to heave violently due to an indescribable emotion welling up from within.
He understood now why—even though Yuji clearly displayed ample strength and talent—he still hated Yuji Itadori.
Not because he was Sukuna's vessel. Not because he sided with Maki Zenin.
It was because Yuji Itadori always appeared so righteous. This pretentious posture made Naoya feel incredibly disgusted.
That's enough. Just die, Yuji Itadori!
Speed is power!
Naoya moved. His figure broke away from the golden cage—like a high-speed train—charging straight at Yuji with unstoppable momentum.
He was going to use the maximum speed he could muster in this life to crush Yuji Itadori into a pulp.
"Yuji Itadori—!"
He roared as he charged. Trees collapsed like dominoes in his wake. In less than half a second, Naoya had already arrived right in front of Yuji.
Time seemed to slow. Naoya raised his arm, concentrating all his cursed energy into this one punch. In his perspective, that idiot Yuji even had his eyes closed.
I win!
"Cursed Technique Reversal."
"?!"
"Reverse Blood."
Using the blood he'd previously injected into the opponent's body as a medium, he forcibly controlled the opponent's blood to flow backward.
Naoya's fist halted. His pupils contracted. Warm blood gushed from his facial orifices.
Because he violated Projection Sorcery's rules, Naoya's body was frozen in mid-air before he could fall—forcibly suspended for one second.
...What?
What kind of technique is this? Why have I never seen this move before?
"Naoya Zenin."
The blonde man looked at Yuji through blurred vision.
"You clearly had a chance to defeat me. Our strengths are evenly matched. Your speed against my burst power. Who would win and who would lose—no one could know until the end."
"There's only one reason for your defeat."
Yuji raised his right fist. Cyan cursed energy gathered, then shifted from cyan to pitch-black. Black lightning arcs danced between his fingers, emitting an unusually loud crackle.
"Your capacity—"
The fist landed squarely on Naoya Zenin's face.
"—is too small!"
BANG—!
Black Flash.
Naoya's face caved in. His body leaned backward under the immense impact, and he was finally pinned to the ground by Yuji's fist.
BOOM—!
The ground within a radius of several meters caved in as if struck by a meteorite, cracks spreading outward like a spider web.
Naoya's head was embedded in the dirt, his blonde hair matted with blood and mud. His eyes rolled back. He lost consciousness completely.
Naoya Zenin could no longer fight.
"..."
The wind blew through the forest, leaves rustling. Yuji retracted his fist, the blood mixed on it dripping onto the ground.
He'd anticipated this outcome long ago. Yuji turned, intending to leave the unrecognizable forest without looking back.
However—just as he was about to do so—he suddenly heard something tearing through the air. Something was approaching him at high speed.
Yuji raised his arms to defend.
BANG!
A massive force smashed into his arms, like being hit head-on by a truck at full speed. Yuji's feet plowed two deep grooves in the ground, his body sliding back five or six meters before stopping.
He looked up at the position he'd just been standing in—and found that his attacker was a muscular, burly man over 1.9 meters tall.
"Seems I'm late. You guys already finished fighting."
The burly man revealed two rows of white teeth.
"You're Yuji Itadori, right? I'm a third-year from the Kyoto school—Aoi Todo!"
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