Chapter 44 — Fourty-Four Punch
The splash Mahito made when he fell into the water finally rained back down. Then the lake surface fell silent.
Kokichi's mouth hung open uncontrollably as he stared blankly at Saitama. After a long moment, he finally spoke.
"You… kicked Mahito away?"
Saitama looked at him seriously. "Yeah."
"And you even… destroyed the Domain?" Kokichi continued in disbelief. "Breaking a Domain from the inside is almost impossible…"
"Is that so? That thing just now was a Domain?" Saitama raised a hand in mild surprise and scratched his cheek with his index finger. "It didn't seem that impossible. It didn't feel very sturdy."
"..."
Kokichi had no idea how to respond.
At that moment, taking advantage of the barrier being broken, he subconsciously sent out the emergency message he had prepared in advance to Satoru Gojo. Then he suddenly realized something.
"Mahito should still be alive. And besides him, there's also a special-grade curse user…" Kokichi maneuvered the damaged Ultimate Mechamaru to stand up, scanning the surroundings nervously. "We can't let our guard down!"
"A special-grade curse user?" It was Saitama's first time hearing the term, and he couldn't help asking.
"Yeah. The Mahito you just knocked away is actually a special-grade cursed spirit, but he was brought here by a special-grade curse user who hides his face behind a mask." Sweat seeped down Kokichi's temples as he spoke tensely. "They're both special grade. And if my observations are correct, that curse user is even more dangerous than Mahito. Even if you caught Mahito off guard and kicked him away just now, you might not be able to defeat that curse user."
"The one I kicked away just now was a cursed spirit?" Saitama blinked. "I thought he was human."
"Huh? You saw it clearly, didn't you?" Kokichi was shocked. "Mahito transformed his arms into wings and flew around—that was his technique!"
"Ah, but I thought he was wearing some kind of bird-man cosplay outfit," Saitama replied honestly.
Kokichi: "..."
Still, judging from how tense this braided teenager (Kokichi) looked, was that guy really strong? Saitama wondered silently. When he kicked him away just now, he hadn't felt anything special at all.
But according to Kokichi, there was another special-grade curse user outside who was even stronger than the previous one. If that was the case, maybe this would finally be a decent opponent…
He felt a flicker of anticipation.
With that thought, Saitama quickly made his decision.
"I'll go take a look outside," he said, turning back to Kokichi.
"Huh? Go out now?" Kokichi froze, then hurriedly tried to stop him. "Didn't I just tell you? That special-grade curse user is still out there. It's safer if you stay in the cockpit of Ultimate Mechamaru with me. I already sent a distress signal to Gojo. If we cooperate, we might be able to hold out until he arrives—"
"No need." Saitama spoke without the slightest tension. "You stay here. I'll be right back."
"Wait—"
Kokichi reached out to stop him, but all that remained before his eyes was the arc of Saitama's white cape fluttering as he jumped down through the breach in the cockpit.
The hand suspended in midair slowly lowered. Kokichi stared blankly at his own hand and let out a breath.
For now, focus on detecting cursed energy signatures.
After sensing for a long while, Kokichi suddenly froze.
Neither Mahito's nor the unknown special-grade curse user's cursed energy could be found anywhere.
They had already left.
At that moment, Kokichi's phone suddenly vibrated. He instinctively took it out and glanced at the screen.
The caller ID showed Gojo's number.
Meanwhile—
After jumping outside Ultimate Mechamaru, Saitama looked around. When his gaze landed on a small figure in the distance, he paused.
"Hm? Is that the guy?"
But the figure quickly supported Mahito and disappeared deep into the forest.
Saitama hesitated for a moment, then decided not to chase after them.
"Judging by the time, Genos should be coming back soon. Forget it."
...
When Saitama returned to the cockpit of Ultimate Mechamaru empty-handed, Kokichi had already finished his call with Gojo. The braided boy sat curled up in a corner of the cockpit, hugging his knees and staring into space, looking just like the giant armor hiding beneath the water earlier.
"Didn't you say there was someone stronger outside?" Saitama scratched his head. "But there's nothing out there."
"They've probably already left," Kokichi replied, glancing at him.
"I see."
Only now did Saitama have time to deal with his soaked cape. Grabbing the end of it, he twisted hard, wringing out the water.
Drops streamed from the cape and pattered onto the pristine white floor of the cockpit. As Saitama continued wringing it out, Kokichi suddenly spoke.
"I just talked to Gojo."
"Oh." Saitama kept his eyes on his cape. "What did he say?"
"He said there's no need for him to come personally, because having you here is enough." Kokichi let out a sigh. "Just what exactly are you? A secret weapon sent by the Tokyo school?"
"Not really."
Saitama paused in his wringing and hesitated before saying, "I'm just here to complete my promotion mission."
"Is that so? A promotion mission?" Kokichi froze slightly, then looked as if it all made sense. "There's no special-grade sorcerer accompanying you. So this is a mission to advance one rank?"
"No, it's Grade Four," Saitama answered.
"Gr—Grade Four?" Kokichi's mouth fell open wide enough to fit an egg. "You've got to be kidding. With your strength, you're only Grade Four? Seriously?"
"Well… I don't really have any reason to lie to you." A few beads of sweat appeared on Saitama's forehead. "And Gojo said I don't have any cursed energy at all, so getting promoted is more troublesome for me than for other people."
Kokichi stared at Saitama in shock for several seconds before slowly letting out a sigh. "I suppose that makes sense. People like us… we're anomalies that don't quite fit into the jujutsu world to begin with."
"Even so, I don't really care what grade I am," Saitama said. "In the end, that's not why I'm doing this."
For the past three years, back when he knew nothing about the jujutsu world, hadn't he still been living the same way—going out for walks every day and beating up bad guys? Aside from not needing to work part-time anymore, being a jujutsu sorcerer didn't make much difference to him.
Just then, a voice suddenly came from the breach in Ultimate Mechamaru's cockpit.
"Sensei?"
Saitama and Kokichi looked over at the same time. Genos stood at the opening, clinging to the outer shell of Ultimate Mechamaru's head with a confused expression. In his hand was a convenience store plastic bag stuffed with all kinds of cold drinks.
"Oh, Genos." Saitama's eyes fell on the bag. "Why'd you buy so many popsicles?"
"I considered that you might want other options as well, Sensei, so I bought one of every variety available at the convenience store."
Genos jumped into the cockpit and handed the plastic bag to Saitama. "However, it seems quite a lot happened on your end. I was only gone for twenty minutes to make the purchase, yet you appear to have already resolved another battle."
"Yeah." Saitama nodded. "You missed it again, Genos."
The bald hero took the bag from Genos and pulled out a popsicle, pressing it against his head. When he turned and saw Kokichi sitting there in a daze, he asked, "Want one? Genos and I won't be able to finish them all anyway."
...
Kokichi had never imagined that tonight's life-and-death battle would end with him sitting inside a wrecked Ultimate Mechamaru, eating ice cream alongside Saitama and Genos.
"After we're done eating, take me to Principal Gakuganji. That way your mission will be complete," Kokichi said quietly, sitting cross-legged on the cockpit floor.
"I know that much." Saitama chewed on his popsicle, his dead-fish eyes fixed on Kokichi's face, still devoid of any extra expression. "What about you, though? Secretly giving information to a curse user—you'll definitely be severely punished for that, right? You might even get expelled."
"Expulsion… probably not," Kokichi said gloomily. "I already spoke with Gojo. As long as I'm not expelled, I'm willing to accept any other punishment. I'll take on even the most dangerous missions. And I'll tell him everything I know about Mahito to help capture that guy. After hearing me out, Gojo said he'd talk to the principal on my behalf."
"I see." Saitama continued eating his popsicle, still watching Kokichi. "But why did you cooperate with the curse user in the first place? I heard that during the exchange event, if Gojo hadn't arrived in time, Sankana's finger would've been stolen, and some of the sorcerers guarding the warehouse might have died."
"Sukuna's finger, Sensei." Genos corrected solemnly from the side.
"Sorry…"
Kokichi lowered his head. The popsicle in his hand slowly melted, cold droplets running down his now healthy, well-built arm.
"My body was bound by a Heavenly Restriction. From the moment I was born, I was practically no different from a paralyzed patient. My limbs were incomplete—my right arm and everything below my knees were missing. The pain in my body was constant, twenty-four hours a day. Even painkillers were useless."
"Because it was an innate physical condition, even Reverse Cursed Technique couldn't heal me. Only Mahito's Idle Transfiguration could restore my body to normal. That's why I traded information with him."
"I'm sorry… I just wanted so badly to live like a normal person. I wanted so badly to go to school with my friends," he said dejectedly.
"Whoa, that's some pretty terrible luck," Saitama said, studying Kokichi's now fully restored body with a look of genuine surprise. "If someone had to stay in that kind of condition all the time, it wouldn't be strange for them to turn twisted. Heavenly Restriction really is unfair."
"Twisted…" Kokichi repeated in shock, then grew dispirited again.
"Of course you'd say that. You're that strong," he said. "If I had your kind of strength, I wouldn't have been driven into a corner, forced to rely on a curse user and a cursed spirit…"
He was about to continue, but Saitama cut him off.
"That doesn't really have anything to do with being strong or not."
Saitama raised a finger and pointed straight at Kokichi, speaking calmly. "That guy's a curse user, right? Isn't that an evil organization? By cooperating with them, weren't you betraying your friends?"
Kokichi's hand trembled violently around his popsicle. His eyes flew open, pupils shrinking sharply.
"Speaking of which, Genos also needed greater fighting power than his own body could provide for certain reasons, so he became a cyborg." Saitama gestured toward Genos, who had been sitting silently to the side. "Genos had his own reasons to change himself, too. But he chose to modify his own body instead of choosing a method that would harm others."
"Saitama-sensei…" Genos froze slightly, emotion rising to his face. "I never expected such high praise from you…"
"No, Genos, hold on—that's not the point." Several black lines slid down Saitama's face before he turned back to Kokichi.
"You said you wanted to go to school with your friends, right? But everyone goes to school to eliminate curses and fight evil. Yet you cooperated with evil just so you could go to school with them. Isn't that putting the cart before the horse?" he said. "If you succeed by doing something like that, will you really feel satisfied inside?"
Saitama's words rang through Kokichi's mind like a warning bell. Though no actual sound existed, the impact left him dizzy, his ears aching.
That's right. In his obsession with obtaining a healthy body, he had allowed immediate benefits to blind him, losing sight of something far more important.
He hadn't been striving merely to attend school with his friends. He had been striving to become a jujutsu sorcerer alongside them—one who exorcised evil curses.
And yet, with his own hands, he had stained his chosen path.
Droplets fell to the ground one by one. But they were not the sweet meltwater from his popsicle—they were Kokichi's salty tears.
"Uh…" Saitama hadn't expected to make Kokichi cry. Startled, his brows scrunched together into a wrinkled "八" shape.
"What… will become of me from now on?" Kokichi clenched his fists and asked Saitama as if grasping for a final lifeline.
"If you're asking me, I don't really know. What happens next depends on you, doesn't it?" Saitama thought for a moment before answering.
"But if you're asking what to do after gaining a healthy body you can move freely…"
His dead-fish eyes suddenly grew serious.
"Then train your muscles."
Kokichi blinked blankly. "Huh?"
Genos stood to the side holding a cone, but his gaze was fixed on the solemn Saitama and the bewildered Kokichi.
He knew it well. Although people often underestimated Saitama-sensei because of his appearance, anyone who truly interacted with him would inevitably be moved by his character.
Not just because he was strong.
But because he was a true hero.
---
One hour later.
In the forest near the hydroelectric dam, branches rustled. A figure slowly stepped out from the shadows of the trees.
Moonlight illuminated his blond hair and slightly green-tinted glasses. Nanami Kento emerged from the forest, his bandage-wrapped blade in hand. Standing beneath the moonlight, he adjusted his protective glasses and looked toward the dam in the distance.
Following the residual cursed energy trail that matched the one from the Tokyo Jujutsu High warehouse, he had traced it all the way here—only to be met with an astonishing sight.
Before Nanami lay a tranquil lake. But the forest along the shore had been devastated beyond recognition. Trees that had stood for decades were either uprooted entirely or snapped in half. Their trunks bore scorch marks, blackened stumps still releasing faint wisps of white smoke.
In the middle of the lake, a dam stretched across—now shattered and in ruins. The hydroelectric plant had long since ceased operation; all its lights were out, leaving the rubble in complete darkness. Half-submerged in the water and leaning against the dam was an enormous mechanical armor five or six stories tall.
The interior of the armor was equally dark. Its power source had clearly been cut off, and the operator was no longer inside the cockpit. Nanami noticed the armor's exterior was covered in vicious battle scars, and its head had been torn open, revealing a glimpse of the cockpit through the gaping hole.
The cursed energy residue he had been tracking grew exceptionally strong at this point—clearly the cursed spirit had fought here. Based on his experience, Nanami quickly reached a firm conclusion: the cursed energy lingering here was so dense it was like the stench of a garbage dump. The cursed spirit had undoubtedly expanded its Domain here.
But after that, the residuals vanished. For some reason, the cursed spirit had chosen to conceal its traces after the battle ended—as if avoiding something.
"What kind of monster would leave behind marks like this… It seems Gojo's assessment was slightly off. He judged it to be a special-grade cursed spirit, but he didn't know its strength had already reached the level of Domain Expansion."
"Or…" Nanami murmured to himself, "could it be that in just two days, that cursed spirit grew so significantly that it learned how to expand a Domain?"
"No matter what, it's fortunate I didn't run into it directly this time. Even triple commission fees wouldn't make this worth it."
Nanami took out his phone and circled the lake and dam, snapping dozens of photos for record.
"However, judging by the scene, the one who passed information to the cursed spirit was undoubtedly Kyoto School's Mechamaru." His gaze fell on Ultimate Mechamaru as his thumb swiftly dialed Gojo's number.
"It's Nanami," he said bluntly once the call connected. "The mole has been confirmed. It's Kyoto School's Mechamaru. I'm currently at the battle site between Mechamaru and the cursed spirit. I'll send you the photos shortly. But based on what I'm seeing, Mechamaru has most likely been silenced by the cursed spirit."
Then he heard Satoru Gojo's voice from the other end of the line.
"Nope. That kid's already been taken to the old man by Saitama-kun and Genos-kun to turn himself in. You can call it a day too, Nanami. Tomorrow, please drop by the old man's place to follow up on the situation. After that, you can head back to Tokyo with Saitama-kun and Genos-kun."
Nanami paused, bewildered. "What did you say?"
But Gojo continued chatting away as if he hadn't heard him.
"I'll book your tickets for 4 p.m. tomorrow. That should give you enough time to wrap things up in Kyoto. And you'll get back to Tokyo just in time for dinner."
With a click, Gojo hung up.
Nanami: "..."
He had already seen through it long ago, hadn't he?
Labor is bullshit.
Satoru Gojo is bullshit.
Nanami lowered the hand holding his phone and slowly turned to leave.