They had been traveling through the night since the small hours.
They sped along by car for most of the night, taking several detours because of roads still unrepaired from the earthquake—and finally,
as the sky was just beginning to lighten, they arrived at their destination.
"...Hm?"
Waking from sleep, the black-haired girl let out a puzzled little hum through her nose, only then realizing the car had already stopped.
Clatter—
The car door was pulled open.
Mahiru stood outside, one hand on her hip.
"...Did you figure it out?" Fushiguro asked.
She was very curious what Mahiru had managed to learn from studying her Ten Shadows Technique.
Mahiru just shrugged: "That Mahoraga of yours is a bit too complicated."
"Ah..."
So your goal was Mahoraga all along?
"That thing's too complicated; learning it directly won't work." Mahiru tossed a hamburger into Fushiguro's arms as breakfast. "If you want to learn it efficiently, there are only two ways."
"What ways?"
"One way." Mahiru reached out and poked Fushiguro's forehead. "Is to kill you, and then have your body's information descend onto me."
"Uh... and the other?"
"Devour you, soul and all, or turn you into something like a cursed tool." Mahiru spread her hands. "Are you willing?"
"...Well..."
"So forget it."
Mahoraga wasn't of much use to Mahiru; the girl had studied it again only out of a "might as well, since it's free" mindset.
If she couldn't learn it, so be it.
Mahiru led Fushiguro forward a stretch, to the edge of a cliff beside the mountain highway. Itadori and the jujutsu assistant were here too.
Mahiru pointed at the city in the distance: "Over there is Hakari Kinji's turf."
Fushiguro stood at the cliff's edge, looking at the scene in the city, and gaped in astonishment: "...What... is all this?"
The girl was dumbfounded.
She saw, atop the towering buildings in the distance, one giant billboard after another hanging there.
"The wildest jujutsu sorcerer brawl in history."
"Future rising stars personally chosen by Hakari Kinji."
"The city of the future for wandering jujutsu sorcerers."
"Want to witness the birth of the strongest man? Then come watch the Jujutsu Sorcerer Dueling Tournament..."
"No, how the—" Fushiguro Maki gaped.
She had indeed heard that Hakari Kinji was pretty arrogant.
But... she hadn't expected him to be this arrogant.
"What on earth is he trying to do!"
"According to our intel, lately all over Japan ordinary people have suddenly been turning into jujutsu sorcerers," the jujutsu assistant said. "Probably the work of those terrorists."
Kenjaku first used some junk cursed objects to give people Cursed Energy, then used some spirit-calling techniques to give them a Technique.
The materials used were all garbage, so the jujutsu sorcerers thus spawned were all defective rejects.
And so the unstable elements in society grew a bit more numerous.
Sukuna's goal was probably to lay the groundwork, the prelude, for the Culling Game.
The main thing was, no one knew how Kenjaku managed to stuff all these chaotic things into so many people's mouths.
Poisoning, perhaps?
Or were those things mixed into some food granary so people swallowed them by accident?
Just hearing about it felt terrifying...
In the eyes of jujutsu sorcerers, Japan now was just like Hannibal's cafeteria—who knew whether the little roadside stall you bought from had some "delicious seasoning" from the past mixed in.
You wouldn't dare eat at any sketchy place ever again.
"These people—some were ostracized because of their abilities, some for other reasons. In short, a lot of wandering jujutsu sorcerers were drawn here, gathering in this place."
Hakari Kinji hadn't tried to expand his own power at first.
But Hakari Kinji's underground bare-knuckle fight club was the only place in all of Japan that was neither of a curse-user nature nor controlled by Jujutsu High.
So this place uncontrollably attracted a large number of fledgling wandering jujutsu sorcerers, who formed cliques and factions around Hakari Kinji.
And because Hakari Kinji also often dragged his underlings off to do disaster relief, he won over many ordinary residents as well.
"This is ridiculous, too," Fushiguro sighed.
She even saw a poster in the distance displaying Hakari Kinji's big ID headshot... honestly, it was kind of funny.
In just under a week, it had developed to such an extent.
The more turbulent society became, the more easily impossible things happened.
"They're nothing but a rabble," Mahiru shrugged.
A hundred small cups still couldn't beat a single large cup.
The various forces gathered in this town were not, in fact, a match for Mahiru and the others for even a single exchange.
The problem now was that they had little time.
And they didn't know where Hakari Kinji was hiding.
This town was actually quite large. While Fushiguro slept and rested, Mahiru had gone ahead to explore the town and gather information—when doing so the girl had even used Cursed Speech, but whatever people weren't supposed to know, they said they didn't know.
Even Hakari Kinji's own followers didn't know where he was.
"Ah, so that's how it is?" Fushiguro understood, and sighed. "That really would be troublesome."
Hakari Kinji hated Jujutsu High.
He had been expelled from Jujutsu High.
Simply put, if they approached Hakari Kinji as Jujutsu High students, he would most likely avoid them, or even slip away entirely.
They had to approach cautiously, without alerting their target, to have any chance of meeting him.
But they didn't know where he was.
They couldn't just go around asking everyone on the street, could they? That would still tip him off.
It really was just too little time.
If she had time, Mahiru would simply lay siege to the city with her Bunny Missiles and then carry out a carpet search—how could Hakari Kinji possibly escape?
"So what do we do?" Itadori asked.
"Pick whichever one draws the most fire and go fight in it," Mahiru chuckled.
Itadori and Fushiguro slowly put up question marks.
Arrange the timing, mull over the plan... Mahiru only needed to drag Hakari Kinji back before tomorrow.
It was early morning now; there was still a whole day.
So there was no rush; they could perfectly well use a safer plan.
Bam!
In an alley, a man was punched flying and slammed into a wall, his face beaten black and blue.
"Big bro, big bro, I give up, I won't compete, my entry qualification is yours." The man, finally beaten into collapse, begged Itadori for mercy over and over.
Itadori took something from the beaten man.
—An entry qualification certificate.
"Uh, sorry..." Itadori was still apologizing to him.
Because he'd accidentally hit a little too hard.
As it turned out, when Mahiru strolled into the city that morning, she not only gathered intel but also learned that today happened to be an important day for the Jujutsu Sorcerer Brawl Tournament—the quarterfinal and semifinal matches were all scheduled for today.
In that case, then they'd compete.
In the original work, Itadori and the others had approached Hakari Kinji by fighting in the boxing matches.
And although this time the man's turf had swelled considerably, the essence remained unchanged through all the variations.
As long as they won their matches, pleased the audience, and became [Star Players], they'd be able to meet Hakari Kinji.
Of course, for even higher efficiency, they could also stir up trouble during the matches.
Either way, as long as they could lure Hakari Kinji out, it would do.
Itadori walked out of the alley, took out his phone, and called Fushiguro.
"Hey, how's it going on your end?"
"Already handled," came Fushiguro Maki's voice from the other end of the line. "Got the entry qualification."
"Got mine too." Itadori glanced at the crumpled qualification certificate in his hand.
After all, it was an event that had only grown out of an underground bare-knuckle ring a few days ago, so the rules weren't all that rigorous.
"As long as you defeat a contestant, you can take over his entry qualification"—that such a slapdash-sounding rule was actually in operation at the event was genuinely astonishing.
But it was convenient for them.
Hakari Kinji knew Mahiru, but he didn't know Itadori or Fushiguro, so the two of them had now taken over the identities of two quarterfinalists, and no one realized they were people sent by Jujutsu High.
"By the way," Fushiguro lowered her voice, "where did Mahiru go?"
"No idea." Itadori scratched his head, even though she couldn't see it. "After she gave me my task, she left on her own."
"Haah..." Fushiguro sighed on the other end of the line. "This girl... I hope she doesn't take things too far."
After all, even if they couldn't find Hakari Kinji, they had other plans.
But if Mahiru herself went missing, then they really could only wait for her to pop out on her own.
"Let's go, time to compete," Fushiguro said. "It's about to start."
"Right."
The venue was the town's central stadium.
The place was already packed with a sea of people, bustling beyond measure. Ninety-nine percent of the contestants were ordinary people, and the more ordinary and powerless a person was, the more they yearned after those with special abilities. The battles of jujutsu sorcerers held an enormous appeal for them.
Itadori went on before Fushiguro.
If both of them won, they'd meet in the finals.
Itadori's opponent seemed to have come on stage; an earth-shaking cheer rose from the stands—he looked to be an old favorite of the audience.
Itadori came on too, walking up onto the ring under the gazes of countless spectators.
The audience's reaction to him wasn't enthusiastic. After all, he was a new face.
Itadori even spotted cameras for the live broadcast.
So much so that he got a little nervous.
Not that he worried about losing to his opponent—what he worried about was accidentally one-shotting the guy and blowing their cover.
Although it was called a grand tournament, in plain terms its essence was still an underground boxing match. Defeating the opponent wasn't important; what mattered was fighting in a way that looked good—only then would the audience like him.
That was what [Star Player] truly meant.
Only then would Hakari Kinji take notice of him.
And to fight in a way that looked good, first there had to be give-and-take.
Itadori closed his eyes, took deep breaths to settle himself, and kept warning himself inwardly not to send his opponent flying with a single punch.
Whispers rippled through the stands.
"That guy isn't getting nervous, is he?"
"How could a guy like that replace Ayun and come up here? There's gotta be something shady going on, right?"
"Hey, if this fight is too boring, I'm getting a refund..."
Fushiguro Maki also stood below the stage, listening to the chatter around her, her hand unconsciously tightening a little.
Let it go smoothly, she hoped.
So thought Fushiguro Maki.
And it was just at this moment that the stadium's loudspeakers suddenly let out two bursts of static, and immediately after, a crisp and high-spirited girl's voice came out from the speakers.
"Ladies and gentlemen! The previous commentator caught a cold and took leave, so today's feast of battle will be commentated by me, for all of you!"
The girl's voice was crisp and pleasant, brimming with emotional infectiousness; while it stirred up the audience's mood, her sudden appearance also set the veteran spectators in the stands buzzing.
Because this was a new commentator.
"Huh? A cold? What a convenient coincidence?"
"But this new commentator feels pretty good, huh?"
"Oh oh oh, I'm getting fired up!"
"Come on! Start the fight! I can't wait any longer!"
"No way!" Fushiguro Maki, on the other hand, was shocked, and snapped her head toward the speakers. "This girl...!"
Although the voice had been altered and was already different from before, that tone, that intonation—Fushiguro, who had spent a long time with the girl, could tell with a single listen: this so-called substitute commentator was none other than Mahiru.
How did she get up there?!
"So, without further delay, let's hurry and begin today's first quarterfinal match!"
"On one side, our veteran player, undefeated since his debut—who, though he has competed for a very long time, has never once brought out his true trump card—Sakata!!"
"Raaah, raaah, raaah!!—" the audience cheered.
And the man named Sakata, hearing the commentary, was slightly stunned.
A trump card?
You're saying I have a real trump card?
I don't even know what trump card I have, and yet you know better than I do?
What's the deal with this commentator?
Why is she up there just spouting nonsense nonstop?
But Sakata didn't refute it; instead he waved both hands toward the audience, wearing a confident "I really do have a trump card" expression, tacitly accepting the girl's commentary.
On one hand, being hyped up really did feel great, and inflating his worth was useful; on the other hand, he didn't have a microphone, so even if he yelled at the top of his lungs the audience wouldn't hear him—so he might as well go along with it.
"That's right, we all know, Sakata is terrifyingly strong..."
"Legend has it that Sakata carries in his veins the bloodline of one of the three great jujutsu sorcerer families of ancient times... yet to this day he has never relied on his family's heritage, winning instead through his own skill and strength."
Mahiru spouted nonsense without so much as a rough draft.
The more she said, the more exaggerated; the more she said, the more outrageous.
"Without a doubt, Sakata is our most eagerly watched contestant—so then, what about his opponent?"
"—Let's give a round of applause to welcome the suddenly appearing assassin, the heaven-emperor candidate who bears the name of the tiger, baring his fangs, the Tiger of the West!"
"The Mamba Black Tiger—Yuji Itadori!!"
"Raaah, raaah, raaah..." The audience grew even more excited.
A huge crowd kept chanting "Black Tiger! Black Tiger!", the atmosphere blazing hot. Under the girl's deliberate hyping, a fight that should have been no more than a village-gate brawl instead came across like some kind of epic war.
"Haah..." Amid the audience's frenzied cries, Fushiguro Maki covered her face in despair.
The reason was simple.
Because Fushiguro had suddenly realized that in the next match she too would be cringe-hyped by Mahiru like this... it really made her toes curl into the ground.
Itadori was a bit embarrassed too.
But he was still holding it together.
The Sakata across from him, on the other hand, showed no obvious sign of straining to keep up the act—he looked like a seasoned old performer.
As the girl's commentary continued and the audience's mood swelled, the two of them both struck combat poses facing each other.
Sakata's smile was utterly confident.
This was a fight.
But at the same time, it was also a performance.
To win the appreciation of the boss, Hakari Kinji, being strong wasn't the most important thing—what mattered most was how to make the audience watch with a thrill. This was also why most of their contestants didn't use Techniques and only threw punches.
Because the audience couldn't see Techniques or Cursed Energy.
That was why they needed to box, rather than use Techniques.
"Come on." Battle intent surged forth from within Sakata.
The newly arrived commentator girl had already pulled the audience's expectations and emotions to their peak; from here on, no matter whether it was him or the Itadori across from him, both would inevitably be swept along by the audience.
The audience expected every punch to land on flesh, so they had to make every punch land on flesh.
The audience expected rivers of blood, so they had to make rivers of blood flow!
"So then, without further delay, I declare the battle—begins now!!"
"Come on!!" Sakata bellowed, and charged at Itadori.
The audience was anticipating a spectacular fight! So he had to go all out...
"Oh oh oh! Contestant Sakata has actually chosen, at the very start of the battle, to use his ultimate hidden combat skill—[Lethal Barrage]!"
—However, things did not go as Sakata had anticipated... nor as Itadori had anticipated.
Sakata charged out.
He'd meant to throw a punch at Itadori and then start sparring around, but who knew—the girl commentator overhead had once again started spouting nonsense.
"[Lethal Barrage] is a terrifying move that, by swinging both arms left and right spinning like a windmill, releases one hundred percent of the power of Cursed Energy from the standpoint of fluid mechanics and biomechanics—a technique that only a grandmaster jujutsu sorcerer can perform!"
"This Sakata! So terrifying after all! To think he can actually use such a move!"
"We, the audience... can we finally feast our eyes at last!"
Damn it!
Sakata gritted his teeth.
The commentator saying that had completely whetted the audience's interest... if things went on like this and he didn't pull off the "[Lethal Barrage]" she spoke of, the audience would be disappointed, he'd let the fight fall flat—and the boss wouldn't give him important work!
Curse it!
You, this commentator!
"Take this! Secret Art!!" And so Sakata had no choice but to let out a strange shriek, swinging both arms like two windmills while gritting his teeth and charging at Itadori—"[Lethal Barrage]!!"
You—you damned commentator!!
____
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