Mahito propelled himself into the air and transformed his entire body into a porcupine-like figure.
Nanami and Izuku quickly dodged out of the way as big sharp pointed ends pierced the ground.
"I thought this was good," Mahito mused as Izuku and Nanami chipped away at his pointed ends. "But they evaded my attacks. After they dodged it, they started shaving away the weaker ends. It's only good for small fries. Let's stop this."
As Mahito reverted back to his original shape and landed on the ground, Nanami and Izuku seized the opportunity and launched a coordinated attack that produced a powerful blast, enveloping the area in a cloud of black smoke. Mahito came out of the smoke in a child-like form.
"Before he changes his shape..." Nanami uttered.
"He charges his cursed energy first!" Izuku answered.
"Very good."
Mahito let out a giggle as he continued to run with his much smaller form. "Even if I make myself smaller, I still risk getting killed by Izuku Midoriya in just one blow," he mused, changing back to his normal size. "He really is my nemesis."
'Transfigured humans,' Nanami thought to himself. 'He still has some stored.'
Mahito wasted no time in giving them orders. "Kill that short-haired brat," he commanded.
Izuku quickly moved out of the way as the three transfigured humans came charging towards him.
Meanwhile, Mahito launched an attack on Nanami, his hand transformed into a long, deadly blade. But Nanami was quick on his feet, dodging the attack with ease.
Mahito smirked in contempt, taking back the blade and turning his hand back to its original form. "I knew it. That kid can't bring himself to kill humans," he taunted.
The transfigured humans grabbed onto Izuku, clinging to his legs and shoulders. Izuku frantically shook them off, running as fast as he could to get away. He leapt onto the roof of a nearby corridor, trying to distance himself from the creatures.
One of the transfigured humans attempted to jump on him, and Izuku instinctively grabbed onto its neck. As he saw what he was holding, his face contorted in distress.
"Let's play..." The transfigured human uttered.
Another transfigured human pounced on Izuku and he let go of his grasp. Despite his best efforts to dodge each attack, he found himself pinned to the ground. As he struggled to break free, he heard the voice of the transfigured human on top of him, uttering a desperate plea through labored breaths. "Please... kill me."
one of the monsters managed to say making Izuku look at it with horror before biting his tongue and gripping his katana tight as he quickly cut all the transfigured into pieces.
'I'm sorry' Izuku thought as he got up shakily, 'I have to keep moving'
"I want you to fight against him next, will he cry this time?" Mahito taunted with a smirk, as he pinned Nanami against the wall, his hand enlarged which kept Nanami from moving.
Mahito charged his left hand with cursed energy as he said, "He's just a foolish brat who can't match ideals with reality."
"That's not true," Nanami calmly countered. "He's on it right now. If anything, you're the foolish one."
All of a sudden, Izuku leapt from the upstairs window, forcefully kicking away Mahito's massive arm upon landing. Mahito wore a manic grin on his face as he asked, "You killed them?"
Nanami attacked from behind with a swing of his blade. 'His cursed energy level increased. I'll change my shape right before the impact-' Mahito thought, but Izuku was too quick. He slammed his fist into Mahito's face, then followed up with a powerful blow from Nanami's blade.
Mahito found himself trapped in a barrage of brutal attacks, each one landing with crushing force on his body. Izuku and Nanami relentlessly assaulted him, unwilling to give him a moment's respite. Blow after blow rained down on him.
Izuku and Nanami relentlessly continued their barrage of attacks while Mahito found himself unable to retaliate. He thought to himself, 'There's no time for me to make a substitute... What... What a fresh inspiration!'
'Is this... DEATH?!'
Mahito let out a manic giggle as his eyes rolled backwards. 'I can do it now, right?'
Mahito's mouth opened wide, revealing two small hands forming a hand seal.
【Domain Expansion.】
Multiple large, dark hands suddenly appeared, quickly pushing Izuku out of the way. From these hands, more emerged, clasping together to form a flower-like shape. Connected to the hands were several arms that intertwined and grabbed one another, forming a net pattern that surrounded Nanami, trapping him inside.
【Self-Embodiment of Perfection!】
"Darn it," Nanami cursed.
Mahito's expression softened as he spoke, "Now... I just want to thank you."
Outside the domain, Izuku pounded on the barrier with frustration. "Are you serious?!" he cried out, his fist bleeding from the relentless punching. "Why was only Nanamin trapped inside? If this goes on... If this goes on..." His voice trailed off as the hopelessness set in, dreading the worst possible outcome.
'How do you crack an egg?'
'What?'
Izuku was confused until he looked above....and growled, "You bitch"
'Yeah fuck you too'
'Domain Expansion. An enclosed space constructed using cursed energy. A secret weapon that will enhance the owner's strengths. It's the pinnacle of cursed techniques that I couldn't reach,' Nanami thought to himself.
Nanami's thoughts continued, 'To use any cursed technique which transfigures the soul, he probably needs to touch someone with the palm of his original hand. But now that I'm inside his domain... I'm literally in the palm of my opponent's hand.'
He cursed inwardly, 'Darn it. Jujutsu Sorcerers are shit. Sometimes, we have to force our comrades to accept and sacrifice their lives for others.' His brows furrowed, 'That's why I quit. Or rather, I escaped.'
"Do you like casse-croûte?" The girl behind the counter asked.
"What?" Nanami said, looking bewildered at the girl behind the bakery counter.
"You always buy this, don't you?" the girl said, offering a bright smile.
"Yes," Nanami replied flatly. "The nearby convenience store stopped selling it."
"Well, our bread is better than what you'd find at a convenience store, don't you think?" the girl said, placing the purchase in a bag.
"I mean, this is a bakery," Nanami stated bluntly as he handed over his payment.
"Wow, that was harsh," the girl replied.
Nanami headed out of the store, the girl's voice calling out after him. "Please come again!"
As he peeked over his shoulder, he muttered under his breath, "A Fly Head..." He noticed a small cursed spirit perched on the girl's shoulder. 'I guess it's fine to leave it alone. It will be trouble if I do a bad job and she thinks I'm some shady medium,' he thought.
Their supervisor made his rounds, greeting everyone with a cheerful, "Hello everybody! How's it going?"
Nanami sat with a newly hired employee, offering him advice.
"Remember, when clients give us their money, they're entrusting us with their lives. It's important to balance the benefits and risks. But at the beginning, just focus on facing the clients with sincerity. Remember this."
The newbie nodded eagerly, responding with a confident, "Yes!"
Their supervisor walked up behind Nanami, his tone slightly playful. "Don't make it sound so rigid, Nanami. You'll scare the newbie. Our top priority is the company's profit, which ultimately benefits our clients," he said.
Nanami didn't hold back, saying bluntly, "Even if it means persuading clients to buy stocks that won't rise?"
"Of course!" The supervisor answered with confidence. "This is the legitimate reward for us who watch the market 24 hours a day. Isn't this your second year, Nanami? You're clever. You should let loose. I have high expectations of you." Having said that, the supervisor walked away.
'I'm a person who does not have a concept of what is worth doing, and what is worth living for. I'll just earn some money until I'm 30 or 40 years old, then I'll enjoy an aimless life in a country with a low cost of living.'
Nanami's daily routine was a never-ending cycle of work, overtime, and exhaustion. 'Four years after graduation, I think about money all the time. Curse or other human beings, I can stay away from them if I have money.'
'Money. Money. Money. Money,' he kept repeating to himself. 'As long as I have money...'
"Are you okay?" The girl in the bakery asked. "Have you been sleeping well?"
"What about you? You look tired," Nanami asked however, his exhaustion was evident from the dark circles under his eyes that adorned his fatigued face.
"You can tell?" The girl attempted to put on a cheerful front. "I feel that my shoulders are quite heavy recently. Besides, I don't sleep well too."
"My job is to let the rich entrust their money to me and make them richer. To be honest, no one will be sad even if I'm gone. But if the bakery is gone, people who want to eat bread will be sad. But somehow, a job like mine that's outside of such a human cycle gives me a better salary. It's quite strange when I think about it."
"Are you showing off?" The girl asked hesitantly.
"No."
The girl chuckled awkwardly, "I'm sorry. It's quite hard for me to understand."
Nanami asked, "Could you step forward a bit?" as he fixed his gaze on the Fly Head cursed spirit perched on the girl's shoulder.
The girl appeared puzzled but moved forward obediently. Nanami held his arm up and exorcised the cursed spirit in one swift motion, asking her, "How do you feel now?"
The girl was taken aback but moved her shoulders in circles and exclaimed, "Let me see... What? It feels light!"
"Go to the hospital if you still feel sick," Nanami advised. "I'll get going now."
"Wait! Wait!" the girl called out to him, running after him. "Thank you!" she exclaimed gratefully, waving her hand. "Please come again!"
'Thank you...' Nanami thought inwardly.
"Strange. Did he not hear me?" The girl wondered. "Thank you! Please come again!" She shouted once more.
'I thought I had nothing to live for,' he thought. Nanami's finger hovered over Gojo Satoru's name on his phone. Finally, he pressed the call button. "Hello. It's Nanami. I would like to talk to you... Yes. I'll return to Jujutsu High tomorrow... Why are you laughing?"
"Idle Transfiguration," Mahito said. "I thank you."
Nanami removed his glasses and replied, "No need. I've received enough gratitude," with a small smile. He added, "I have no regrets."
Mahito smirked but the sound of something breaking caught his attention. As he looked up, he saw a fist punching a hole through the barrier above them.
Mahito and Nanami were both caught off guard as Izuku broke through the barrier with a forceful kick, fully entering the domain.
Mahito's eyes widened, 'How did he enter?'
As Nanami began to realize how Izuku had been able to break through, a revelation dawned on him. 'I see,' he thought to himself, 'The greater the barrier, the weaker it is to external attacks. The domain only focuses on closing itself. In other words, it's easy for an invasion to happen because it brings no benefit to the intruder-especially in the cases of Unlimited Void and Self-Embodiment of Perfection, where victory is confirmed by trapping the opponent inside.'
Nanami also quickly realized, 'However, inside Midoriya-kun, there lies something that must not be touched!'
A sinister aura manifested as Mahito came face to face with Sukuna. The air around him felt heavy and oppressive, as though it was suffocating all those present.
"I told you. No second chances," Sukuna spoke with a commanding authority, waving two fingers nonchalantly in a gesture of dominance.
Mahito's shoulder was immediately slashed, causing a torrent of blood to spray out in a gruesome display. The sight left Nanami stunned.
With absolute certainty, Nanami thought, 'There is no one in this world more proud and conceited. He lives guided by his pleasure or displeasure.'
Sukuna appeared indifferent to the chaos and destruction that unfolded around him, his gaze is apathetic over the faces of those who stood before him. 'It's either you die... or you die... It doesn't matter.'
'Except for...' Sukuna thought over Izuku...the brat himself caused him to be even more interested, ' I couldn't care less.'
Sukuna began to fade into the darkness, disappearing as the barrier of the domain shattered into a million pieces. Left in his wake was Mahito, who kneeled on the ground, writhing in agony as rivers of blood gushed from his wounded body.
Izuku surveyed the bleeding and wounded form of Mahito lying before him as he quickly dashed towards the cursed spirit, 'I'll kill you! ' he snarled inwardly.
With a grim smile on his face, Mahito cursed, 'Domain Expansion has used up too much cursed energy. It was truly a last resort. But that scoundrel, Sukuna...' Mahito narrowed his eyes with fierce determination, 'But this is the critical moment! Squeeze it out! The last of my cursed energy!'
Mahito's body began to balloon and swell, growing into a gigantic form.
As Izuku sprinted towards Mahito's gargantuan figure, he observed with a sharp eye. 'The target is large, the flow of his cursed energy is slowing down. There will be no counterattack. I can definitely attack him. It's my last chance. No need for tricks.'
With his katana coated in cursed energy, Izuku unleashed his move, 'Divergent Slash!' He sent a sword strike directly into Mahito's stomach. But to his shock, there was no resistance. Mahito's body seemed to pop like a balloon, disintegrating before his eyes.
'What's going on? I felt nothing,' Izuku thought, bewildered. Suddenly, a movement caught his attention, and he whirled around, only to find Mahito darting towards a nearby drain in a smaller form.
"Bye-bye!"
"Wait!" Izuku called out, but it was too late. With a parting wave, Mahito slinked down the drain, leaving only his words hanging in the air. "It was fun," he said lastly, before vanishing from sight.
Nanami quickly followed Mahito's retreating form with a swift blow from his blade, destroying the drain in the process. But it was too late-the cursed spirit had already escaped
"Tch," Nanami grumbled as he reached for his phone, quickly dialing a number. "Ino-kun, the target has escaped into the sewers. That's right... Please conduct a thorough search of the direction southeast to my location. With his current state, even you should be able to exorcise him."
After ending the call, Nanami turned back to Izuku, only to see the young boy crumpling to the ground.
"Midoriya-kun!" he cried out in alarm.
Inside his mind, Izuku desperately tried to urge his exhausted body to move. 'Move, my body! Weren't you going to kill him?' he thought, frustration and determination coursing through him. But the toll of exhaustion and injuries had finally taken their toll, rendering Izuku unable to move.
As Nanami's voice called out to him, Izuku's consciousness slipped away, succumbing to the harsh reality of his weakened state.
'I need...to make sure...Junpei's....ok'
'He's alright brat...and so is his mother...just rest...you need it'
'I'm...glad'
Sukuna just sighed, "You're interesting while also annoying...can't believe how lucky I am"
He said this sarcastically.
Chapter End.
Hope you enjoy.