Chapter 36 — Thirty-Six Punch (Bunos Punch)
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"From darkness it is born, and to deeper darkness it returns."
"Filth and defilement—be purged."
…
Inside the monitoring room of Jujutsu High, the images on all six screens turned black almost at the same time.
"What's going on?" Utahime Iori widened her eyes in confusion and turned toward the silver-haired woman seated beside her. "Mei Mei, why did all the surveillance feeds disappear?"
Grade 1 sorcerer Mei Mei wore her long hair in two braids, one falling forward and the other behind her back. The braid in front partially concealed her face, revealing only a small section of her pale, sharp chin and vivid red lips. The crows used to monitor the battlefield during the Goodwill Event's team battle—and transmit the footage back to the school—were her work.
"Unfortunately, the areas observed by the crows show no abnormalities," Mei Mei said thoughtfully, resting her knuckles against her chin. "The competition grounds are too large. The crows can only cover a small portion of it. An anomaly must have occurred in a region not yet under their surveillance."
"Someone has cast a Curtain over the Goodwill Event grounds," Masamichi Yaga said as he stood up. "There's an intruder."
Everyone rose to their feet, preparing to head toward the maze where the team battle was taking place. Yaga's hand closed around the doorknob, but from the corner of his eye, he noticed something off.
While everyone else was ready to move, Satoru Gojo remained seated, tapping lightly on the back of his chair, looking thoughtful.
"Gojo?"
At Yaga's voice, everyone stopped and turned back.
"Oh," Gojo said, as if only just snapping out of his thoughts. He looked up and asked, "What are you all going to do?"
"The maze has been infiltrated during the Goodwill Event. Of course we're going to deal with the intruder!" Utahime asked incredulously. "What about you? Why are you still sitting there?"
"I won't be going with you," Gojo replied after a moment's thought. "There's no problem on the maze side. I'll stay here and hold down the fort. If even I go over there, it would just be a waste of combat power."
"Huh? What does that even mean?"
Utahime looked completely baffled. Yaga, however, glanced at Gojo.
In that instant, he understood what Gojo meant.
There was no problem in the maze—because that person was there.
"Let's do as Gojo says," Yaga said, twisting the doorknob. "Let's move."
…
"Oh? Why did it suddenly get dark?"
Moving through the maze, Saitama looked up in confusion at the expanding Curtain overhead and muttered to himself, "I think I saw something like this back at the juvenile detention center. Well, whatever. I'll just head toward where the sound's coming from first."
As he spoke, Saitama casually kicked a wall to pieces. His cape hung over his shoulder as he ran toward the noise in a posture that looked like a grade schooler sprinting at a sports festival.
After a few steps, however, he paused.
The sounds of battle seemed to be coming from two different directions—one to the west, the other to the southwest.
"Whatever. I'll just pick one."
Choosing at random, Saitama smashed through another wall and ran in that direction.
…
This was the true terror of a Special Grade Cursed Spirit.
The wide maze corridor was filled with overlapping, sky-blocking vines and branches. At the center, the branches had fused into a towering tree. And at the very top stood a roughly two-meter-tall cursed spirit with saplings growing from its eye sockets—Hanami.
Hanami's branches seemed to possess individual life, twisting and writhing. The softer ones could bind a person tightly like rope, while the hardened ones could pierce straight through a human heart in a single strike.
Toge Inumaki had already collapsed from overusing Cursed Speech. Maki Zenin had been pierced through by Hanami's branches during the fight, losing a great deal of blood and now tightly bound. Though Megumi Fushiguro could still move for the moment, two seeds that fed on cursed energy had been planted in his abdomen. They were devouring his cursed energy and flesh, blooming into grotesque flowers lined with jagged teeth that cackled eerily.
The more cursed energy Megumi used, the more nourishment the monstrous flowers received, growing at an accelerated rate. Once they reached a certain size, their roots would rip his body open from his abdomen.
But with his two upperclassmen unable to act, Megumi knew that if he did nothing because of the cursed seeds in his stomach, all three of them would soon be killed by Hanami.
In this desperate situation, Megumi had already resolved to sacrifice his own body if necessary to save his seniors. Enduring the tearing pain in his abdomen, he brought his hands together.
Standing atop the mass of branches, Hanami tilted its head slightly toward Megumi. Its voice, mixed with static, rang out like mockery.
"It's useless. You are nothing more than a small human. How could you possibly oppose the will of all plants… the will of the Earth itself—me?"
"Megumi, don't use cursed energy!" Maki shouted with all her strength from within the binding branches. "Once those flowers fully bloom, you'll die instantly!"
"This isn't the time to worry about that!"
Megumi grit his teeth in reply. The twisting pain in his abdomen intensified as he mobilized his cursed energy. Suppressing the agony, he parted his lips slightly.
Hanami shifted its stance and suddenly dashed down the sloped branches toward him.
—This would be the final blow. For Megumi, it was his only chance to save his two seniors. For Hanami, it was the attack that would finish them all.
The first syllable of a shikigami summoning rolled to the tip of Megumi's tongue. At that moment, however, a thunderous crashing sound suddenly erupted from somewhere deeper within the maze, growing closer by the second. Even the ground trembled faintly.
The tremor caused Megumi to slip. The hand sign he had formed to summon Nue scattered apart. The monstrous flowers in his abdomen had already begun to swell—but the sudden disappearance of cursed energy halted their growth.
Hanami stopped mid-charge, immediately shifting into a guarded stance.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Megumi barely had time to glance toward the source of the noise. In that instant, the wall—reinforced with Tengen's technique and meant to be exceptionally sturdy—was shattered by an overwhelming force. Bricks and rubble exploded outward along the trajectory of the blow.
Aside from the unconscious Inumaki, everyone still awake—Megumi, Maki, and even Hanami standing high atop the branches—showed the same expression of shock.
Megumi's eyes flew open, his blue pupils trembling violently as they reflected the figure that leapt through the shattered wall amidst flying debris—a man clad in a yellow jumpsuit and white cape.
The snow-white cape stretched straight behind him. His bald head gleamed faintly among the rubble. In that instant, Saitama, having smashed through the wall and jumped into the battlefield, caught sight of Megumi and the others through the debris and branches, and paused slightly.
"Oh."
He landed steadily on the ground and looked up in surprise at the enormous tree formed from Hanami's cursed energy.
"There's something like this inside the maze?"
"…Saitama!" Megumi clenched his fist and shouted.
But in the same instant, from the corner of his eye, he caught sight of a pale figure striking like a ghost—
—It was Hanami! Though momentarily stunned by Saitama's sudden appearance, it had instantly resolved to eliminate him.
Had it decided it couldn't wait for the cursed seeds to mature?
With a sweep of its right arm, Hanami flung out several spherical clusters woven from branches. They shot toward Megumi Fushiguro at high speed. A flash of light flickered at the center of each sphere, and sharp wooden stakes, like the tips of syringes, suddenly extended from their ends, thrusting straight toward Megumi's body. At the same time, the branches that had been still a moment ago erupted into motion, surging toward the already incapacitated Toge Inumaki and Maki Zenin.
Yet just before the attack could strike Megumi, a blur flashed—
Megumi's figure vanished from where he stood.
Several sharpened stakes pierced the same patch of empty air. The branches coiled around nothing. The three who had been completely within Hanami's grasp disappeared in an instant.
—No, they hadn't disappeared.
Standing atop the twisted branches, Hanami slowly straightened.
Behind it, at the far end of the spreading vines, a white cape fluttered upward.
Saitama had the unconscious Inumaki slung over his back, while his left and right hands held Maki and Megumi respectively. With his back to Hanami, he bent down and gently set the three of them on the ground.
"He's really light," Saitama muttered to himself as he lowered Inumaki, glancing at his small frame.
Then he turned back and asked Maki and Megumi, whose faces were still filled with shock, "You guys okay? That looked pretty rough."
Having experienced something like this before, Megumi simply raised a hand to his forehead and let out a long breath. Maki, however, couldn't conceal her astonishment.
"You smashed through the maze walls?" she demanded in disbelief. "You destroyed walls reinforced with Master Tengen's technique?"
"Huh? That wall had jujutsu on it?"
Saitama froze for a second, then suddenly recalled how he had once damaged the cursed tool "Kiba" with a careless swing. He averted his gaze, feeling a little guilty.
"Uh… I'm not going to have to pay for it again, right? I mean, I can't afford it… But maybe that wall could be fixed with glue or something…"
"..."
Maki stared at Saitama, studying him closely. After several seconds of silence, she asked the question despite how unbelievable it felt.
"Saitama… are you actually really strong?"
Saitama dropped the glue topic, turned his head back toward her, and nodded as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
"Yeah. I'm strong."
"Then… were you pretending to be weak this whole time?" Maki pressed.
"Huh?" Saitama's face immediately scrunched into an awkward expression, his eyebrows bending into a drooping "八" shape. "I never said I was weak… You guys just never asked."
"..."
In that instant, Maki suddenly realized that the way she had viewed Saitama was no different from how other Zenin clan members—born with innate techniques—looked down on her.
She herself had been scorned by the Zenin family for being unable to use cursed energy due to Heavenly Restriction, and had walked this path to prove herself. Yet she had casually categorized Saitama as weak simply because he had no cursed energy and couldn't use cursed tools.
"Isn't that… betraying my own principles?"
Maki murmured. Then she lifted her head, meeting Saitama's eyes with a firm gaze.
"I'm sorry. And… thank you."
"Huh?" Saitama blinked. "Why are you suddenly apologizing to me?"
Maki let out a soft laugh. "...That's my own issue."
Believing in everyone's potential… she resolved that this would become one of her guiding principles from now on.
Maki extended her hand toward him.
"Welcome to Jujutsu High."
It was a handshake, one week after their first meeting.
"Ah? Why are you saying that now all of a sudden?"
Saitama looked surprised but still shook her hand.
Beside them, Megumi lowered his head slightly, a faint smile appearing at the corner of his lips—only to grit his teeth a moment later as pain from the cursed seeds in his abdomen flared again.
At that moment, the shadow behind them advanced like rippling water, gradually enveloping everyone. Saitama turned around to see a mass of intertwined branches growing higher and higher, surging forward like a tidal wave.
"—Ignoring me and chatting amongst yourselves—do you really think that's appropriate?"
Hanami stood atop the branches, looking down at them coldly. Though its exposed teeth remained motionless, the static-laced voice entered their minds in an inexplicable way.
Saitama stared blankly at Hanami and scratched his ear.
"What's that? Some weird voice just came through."
"Oh!" He suddenly thought of something, striking his right fist into his left palm. Then he pointed excitedly at Hanami.
"Since everyone's ganging up on you, you must be that Grade 2 cursed spirit guarding the maze exit, right? Like, if we beat you, we clear the maze and win or something!"
"..."
Hanami remained silent. Maki hurried to correct him.
"That's not a Grade 2 cursed spirit. It's a Special Grade! It's the intruder!"
"Oh. Really?"
Saitama's enthusiastic expression instantly turned blank.
"You didn't sense its abnormal aura?" Maki asked in shock. For a split second, she began doubting her judgment again—could someone who couldn't even perceive the strength of a cursed spirit truly be powerful?
"I think it feels about the same as the others," Saitama said, pointing at Hanami and turning back to her blankly.
"…No. It's Special Grade—and among the very strongest of them."
Maki tightened her grip on the Special Grade cursed tool Playful Cloud, her eyes fixed on Hanami.
"It's unbelievably strong. Ordinary Special Grades can't compare. The cursed seeds in Megumi's stomach are part of its attack."
Saitama stared at the flowers growing from Megumi's abdomen for several seconds before shifting his gaze back to Hanami.
"I see. So if we defeat it, the flowers in Fushiguro's stomach will disappear, right?" he suddenly asked.
"That's correct," Maki nodded.
Saitama lowered his head slightly. When he looked up again, the vacant look on his face was gone, replaced by a rare seriousness. His gloved hand clenched into a fist.
"That's pretty exciting to hear. Alright, I'll take him on," Saitama said expectantly.
"Huh?" Maki stared at him in shock. "You're going alone?"
"Yeah. Is that a problem?" Saitama immediately turned back to his simple, doodle-like expression and asked.
"Even if you're strong, didn't I just tell you? It's a Special Grade among Special Grades! Even if you were able to rescue us from its attack just now, that doesn't mean you can defeat it."
Maki gripped Playful Cloud tightly.
"Inumaki's unconscious. Megumi can't use cursed energy. But I can still move. At least let me support you."
"No need. Your wound looks painful."
Saitama's gaze slowly shifted to Maki's shoulder. Her Jujutsu High uniform was torn there, revealing a massive, blood-soaked hole where Hanami's branch had pierced straight through.
"This isn't the time to worry about that! I'm a second-year upperclassman! How can I let a junior fight alone?"
Maki tightened her grip on Playful Cloud and stepped forward—
But suddenly, a hand wearing a red rubber glove rested on her uninjured shoulder.
In that instant, Maki Zenin—who possessed immense physical strength due to Heavenly Restriction—realized in shock that Saitama had effortlessly restrained her with a single hand, even though she was injured, she was still completely suppressed by someone without cursed energy through sheer physical strength alone…
If Saitama could pin her down with just one hand, then perhaps he truly didn't need her help…
"Maki, just stay here and take care of the others," Saitama said, releasing his hand. He turned and walked toward Hanami, his cape snapping sharply behind him in a high arc. "You guys already went through a tough fight. So leave the rest to me."
He stopped in front of Hanami and looked up at it.
"Come on," Saitama said plainly, raising his brows, as Maki Zenin and Megumi Fushiguro watched from behind.
Hanami stared down at the bald man who spoke so brazenly.
"You wish to challenge me as well?" it said. "You, who do not even possess cursed energy? Saving them just now was mere coincidence. If we truly fight, someone without cursed energy like you likely wouldn't even withstand a single blow from me."
"You likely do not know my origin, do you?" Hanami asked.
"I don't," Saitama answered without hesitation.
"I am the embodiment of the will of the forest."
Hanami slightly tilted its head back, the branches sprouting from its eye sockets trembling faintly. It spread its arms in a loose, embracing gesture.
"Is the existence of humanity truly necessary? The Earth nurtured humans, yet humans destroy the Earth. Humans are parasites upon this planet. Because of their existence, forests, oceans, the land itself… weep day after day."
"I only wish to protect the forest," it said softly. "Is even such a small wish impossible to grant? Even if it requires the extermination of all humanity?"
Saitama looked at it in silence, his bald head faintly gleaming.
"Even if you say it like it's some small, trivial thing… it's still not okay."
"…However, you possess no leverage to bargain with me."
Hanami lowered its head as if gazing directly at him.
"You are merely a man without cursed energy. Those capable of stopping me include the strongest sorcerer, Gojo Satoru—or perhaps the other three Special Grade sorcerers besides him."
"That blond cyborg outside the barrier might manage it as well. Might—because he is currently facing Jogo. We shall see whether he survives Jogo first."
The blond cyborg—Genos?
Saitama's thoughts drifted for a moment. So Genos ran into this guy too? And now he's fighting someone else?
Then the battle sounds from the west earlier… that must've been Genos fighting?
But before his thoughts could return fully, Hanami's voice sounded again.
"You are neither a sorcerer nor equal to that blond cyborg. Therefore, the only fate left for you is—"
"To die here today!"
The instant the words fell, the branches ahead seemed to receive a simultaneous command, surging down toward Saitama in a frenzy. At the same time, Hanami rode atop the branches like a surfer, gliding forward at high speed.
Midway, it tore open the cloth wrapped around its left arm, revealing a jet-black limb with an eerie sheen, along with the blood-red offering flower blooming on its left shoulder.
"I have grown weary. No matter how many times I speak, you humans cannot comprehend the sin of your existence, nor the sorrow of this planet."
The crimson flower trembled faintly as Hanami spread its arms wide and rushed forward.
"I shall use my true strength. With this single strike, I will annihilate you—and the three behind you!"
The branches slammed into the spot where Saitama stood. A thunderous explosion erupted alongside a massive cloud of dust, instantly swallowing both Saitama and Hanami. Even the maze's wide corridor seemed insufficient to contain the debris; black smoke shot skyward.
The sheer intensity of the attack made the ground tremble. The unconscious Toge Inumaki slid slightly toward the battlefield with the shaking earth before Maki immediately grabbed him.
"Damn it!"
With one hand gripping Playful Cloud and the other holding Inumaki by the waist, Maki stared into the roiling dust.
—In the split second before the attack landed, she had seen it. Facing the overwhelming branches and Hanami's killing intent, Saitama had stood completely still. He hadn't even attempted to dodge.
Then the dust had swallowed everything.
"Saitama, you idiot!" she bit out, her heart sinking halfway into her stomach. "Why didn't you even try to dodge?!"
"Zenin-senpai."
Megumi suddenly called out to her. Maki paused and turned, seeing her junior clutching his abdomen while staring intently at the dust ahead.
"Maybe… it hasn't turned out that badly…" Megumi said, his eyes shining with a hint of trust.
"..."
Maki instinctively looked forward again—and suddenly sensed something was wrong.
About ten seconds had passed since that attack. Yet from deep within the smoke, there had been no further sound.
—That's not normal. If Hanami had won, she and Megumi would have already been attacked by now.
But the smoke remained still.
Could it be—
As time passed, the dust gradually dispersed. In one corner of the ground, a sharp, clawed foot—along with the lower leg it stood upon—came into view.
Maki's eye twitched violently.
Hanami was still alive!
Which meant Saitama, who stepped forward for their sake, really had—
No choice. She would have to hold it off herself. Gritting her teeth, Maki tightened her grip on Playful Cloud and prepared to charge—
But then something felt off.
The scene before her seemed to unfold like a scroll painting, revealing itself from the edges inward. Hanami's foot and lower leg became visible, followed by its knee, then its thigh—
And there it stopped.
Only two legs remained, standing upright and alone. Everything above the thighs was gone. The upper half of Hanami's body had vanished entirely, torn away in an instant by overwhelming force.
The dust continued to thin.
Beside those two solitary legs, Saitama's bald head and white cape gradually came into view. He stood there with his head slightly lowered, eyes fixed on the red rubber glove covering his fist, wearing an expression that seemed thoughtful—or perhaps faintly disappointed.
Megumi slowly removed his hand from his abdomen. Beneath his palm remained only the gruesome, crisscrossing wounds where the cursed seeds had taken root. The two grotesque flowers had vanished without a trace.
Maki stood frozen for a long moment before finally speaking.
"Saitama?"
"Yeah?"
Hearing her voice, Saitama lowered his fist and slowly turned around.
"You… took it down?" Maki asked hoarsely, her throat dry.
"Yeah." Saitama nodded, looking somewhat listless.
"You said it was strong. I even got a little excited for a second… but it still ended in just one punch."