Bab 29: Goodwill Event: Invasion
The students of both schools watched Gojo annoying Utahime until the beginning of the Goodwill Event couldn't be delayed anymore.
'So there's really no orders to kill me? What a bummer...' Megumi thinks, he not only trash-talked to have some laughs and annoy both Kyoto students and his teammates, but he also wanted to see their genuine reaction if they're given a "personal reason" to go for his throat.
After all, they could've kept Todo out of the loop because they're friends.
It's beginning...
Junpei and Maki were shooed away by Megumi saying "Don't expect much, it will not be exciting... But you can learn some things, Junpei."
Everyone who will not fight moves to the observation room and sits to watch the battle.
"It's simpler than last year..." Mai comments as she sits
"Last year?" Junpei asks interested
"Last year was a capture the flag, the same elements like curses and battle were allowed too." She explains "This year is simply a Battle Royale."
"It's a competition to kill curses. You only gain points by killing them." Utahime corrects
"Do you all really believe that this will go any different from a free-for-all?" Mai deadpans
"..."
"Haha, they will probably put one or two to kill curses and collect points while the rest fight the other school." Gojo laughs "The problem is that the Fighters... may take things too far."
"The curses will be an afterthought."
"Kyotos strategy mostly revolves around stalling Tokyo's big Fighters... They have better reconnaissance techniques." Gojo acts like a teacher for once and explains
"They have?" Mei Mei asks intrigued "With Fushiguro-kun there?"
"Megumi will probably slack off..." Gojo says amused "To make things fair."
"..."
And looking at the screens they can see it... Megumi is on the rooftop of a building yawning, enjoying the scenery like he is on his free time.
The discrepancy of this scene when compared with the other screens that show the other participants running around the forest terrain is big enough to be considered weird.
"..."
"You really passed your bad habits to him..." Utahime scoffs while giving Gojo the stinky eye
"Hey! How is that my fault??"
"He is acting exactly like you, it's obviously your fault."
"Please~ A weak person like you can't understand, but we here on the top act very similarly." Her mockery is paused when she needs to stop a flying clipboard aimed at her head "He is harsh but he is not wrong... You guys don't have anything to threaten him."
"Mechamaru and Kamo-kun have a lot of firepower." Utahime argues
"Meh, even if he is hit by it, and even if it wounds him... Megumi knows how to use the Reverse Cursed Technique." Gojo rolls her eyes "Seriously, him not moving is the best action to make things fair."
"..."
Her words make the situation even more clear. It's not only about him having a strong Inherited Cursed Technique, Megumi is not a youngster with a lot of potential and talent, he is genuinely an incredibly capable Jujutsu Sorcerer.
They look at the screen to see Megumi, sunbathing with his hands behind his head.
"..." He is really not taking this seriously.
........
'When will Hanami attack?' Megumi thinks while keeping his senses sharp. 'Will they still attack? There's no reason to not attack... They attacked even when Gojo was present, and Kenjaku has Muzan-level PTSD from Six-eyes/Limitless users.'
'Will they bring Jogo too?... No, he is probably still recovering and Dagon is still a baby. They only have Hanami to be the distraction unless Kenjaku decides to use some curses.' He considers all the possible deviations from canon 'It's not like they don't want to come more prepared because of my existence... they simply can't. And Gojo is still the biggest threat... It was the right decision to lie to say that I can't use Mahoraga...'
He acted in his role perfectly till now, all because he wants the other team to steal the fingers and start the Culling Game.
'If things start deviating from Canon, I will cut my losses and start acting on my own... I'm strong enough for this now.' The main thing holding his hand is the fact that he needs to complete the [Exit Stage] and the world of Jujutsu Kaisen is very limited, if he prevents entire arcs from happening, maybe he will fall short of the 100%.
'Just a little more…' He continues relaxing while keeping an eye open for any changes.
......
A little away from there
"We can start now." A female voice speaks in the darkness "Remember, invade only when Gojo Satooru is baited by the curtain."
"I want to meet Fushiguro Megumi." Another female voice whines "Shouldn't Hanami, the one that can sink in the Earth, invade these places?"
"You are the ones that can boycott the seal easily and extract information from the standby guards, Hitomi." Kenjaku re-explains
"Hmm..." Hitomi pouts, for some reason she is really yearning to meet Fushiguro. She can only attribute that to some sort of distorted human pride that lingers on her being... She needs to be the one killing him.
Hitomi also feels that fighting him is a good way to grow.
"And what if he comes for me?" She still argues
"It will not happen if you do things properly, you're the one with the less flashy technique here..." Kenjaku smiles in a threatening way "So unless you are intentionally careless, no one will notice you. I also guaranteed that there would be few guards today." She has contacts with the higher-ups
"Ahn..." Hitomi whines again
"And we also brought a lot of curse users to use as cannon fodder, to distract them."
"Why not use some curses?"
"I don't want this body to be exposed."
"Really? But we are like... Curses. So no one would find it strange that we can command weak curses, right? Like in those animes with demons..."
Kenjaku at this point is massaging the stitches of her forehead. "Don't underestimate a Six Eyes user's perception. Just do what you need to do and bail."
"Okie dokie." Hitomi says animatedly before going back to a bored expression. Immediately "Okay, Fushiguro Megumi... We can meet later... The host of Sukuna... No matter what, he is tied with the fate of us curses... I can feel it in my soul."
......
"Bitch. Just stop basing your entire personality on what other people want you to be!" Nobara spats as she looks down on the fallen Nishimiya Momo. The witch girl is unconscious and not even listening but she is still going with her rant, the Kyoto student annoyed her a tad too much with her views "Hmpf, it's only a coincidence that I'm beautiful and strong!" She runs a hand through her hair narcissistically
"Did you finish on your side too?" Panda appears, a little torn, with some pieces missing on his stomach and shoulder, but otherwise, he looks fine and whole.
"Yes, her mouth did me more damage than her curse technique."
"Hehe, I know what you mean." Panda laughs remembering his fight with Mechamaru "They appear to have some personal grudge or something."
"I blame Fushiguro, that troll riled them up!" She says with a clenched "And he is not even helping! If he is slacking off, I swear..."
*Boooom*
........
Maki is calmly walking through the forest, the only thing out of place is that she is carrying an unconscious Miwa by the collar. Despite everything, Maki is considerate enough to take Miwa out of the water and dump her in a dry place.
Not considerate enough to make sure that the blue-haired girl is not hitting any roots or rocks though.
*Clap*
"..." Maki's gaze moves to her now empty hand, as a small marble falls harmless in the forest soil.
She kicks it away just to make sure, but she doesn't look that worried.
"You could've switched yourself with her... It would be a good surprise attack." Maki says, seemingly to no one
"Would it work?" Todo appears from behind a tree. If one looks carefully it would see the unconscious Miwa a little far away, resting in a particularly thick root.
"No... But it would be a good try." Maki says in a deadpan voice.
"Haha! This revenge match can't start like that!" Todo laughs uproariously "A sneak attack will not honor this fight!"
"I wouldn't mind... Your technique is all about catching people off guard." She shrugs her shoulders, slowly taking out a katana from the Inventory Curse's gaping mouth...
*Clap*
And the katana disappeared, another small marble taking its place
"..." Maki stares at it with a cold gaze "Really annoying..."
"Why don't we go with a simple fistfight?" Todo opens his arms "Man-to-man!"
"I'm a woman... And you better remember where you sent my weapon..." She says in a threatening voice now
But nonetheless, she gave up taking any weapon from Megumi's brother. She gives the purple worm some pats on its head and the thing moves, getting smaller and going around her waist in "sleeping mode", at the size of a normal snake.
In truth, right now he can even get smaller and stay on her wrist like an innocuous accessory, but considering she is about to fight with her fists, Maki decided to keep it in a place that will not receive any impact, from attack or defense.
"Let's go then..." She gets into a fighting stance. "A little reprise from last year then."
"Very probable, but a man can't run away from a challenge!"
"Hmpf." Maki snorts unimpressed while waiting for Todo to make the first move.
The first thing the older student does is put his hands in his pockets, when he reveals what he gets, he shows eight marbles between each of his fingers and without wasting time throws them in Maki's overall direction. "I got this to never be caught off guard!"
Her pupils move accompanying each marble, anticipating the switch, her body tense and ready to strike. But to her surprise, Todo advanced at her without tricks...
"!" Her eyebrows shot up while seeing his kick get closer and closer.
But even if that is enough to catch her off guard a little, it's not enough to land a hit on her. She slaps the leg away while stepping forward, and with the same hand, she goes with a karate chop...
*Clap*
...that hits the air as he switches with one of the marbles.
'That's why he kicked...' She realizes, already spinning herself.
Maki can feel the air currents clearly, there's no reason to tell him, but she can feel when the air expands unnaturally in places near her. A very distinct oddity prevenient of him appearing and pushing the air away with his teleportation.
His spin kick was met with another spin kick, feeling the resistance she goes all out to break his leg on this exchange...
*Clap*
...but he switches again.
Todo achieves the great feat of creating an opening on Maki. She is out of balance because of her movement. She can feel it coming, she starts to react, it's incredible that she can try to keep up from that position but...
*BAM*
...Todo fists connect. He hits her square on the ribs.
Maki slides a little before stopping herself by planting her feet on the ground.
"...slippery bastard." She says a little annoyed.
What happens next is an incredibly fast-paced battle where Todo exchanges places with the marbles around Maki while trying to land some hits. Makin on her hand tries to react fast enough, almost landing some hits.
Todo switches so fast that sometimes the marbles don't even have the time to fall on the ground. Feint claps, switching to the same marble multiple times...
He even switched to marbles beyond the initial 9(eight that he threw plus the one that he switched Miwa with), taking the best of Maki who memorized where the marbles are.
He even threw some extras here and there, all to create a fast combo of switching and hitting.
But he makes a pause after Maki almost catches his forearm... if she incapacitates just one of his arms, he is done for... She is getting closer and closer, memorizing his patterns and rhythm. She remembers Megumi commenting something about everyone having a rhythm, a habit... When she catches that, it will be over for Todo.
Todo observes her too, she still looks okay, even after some hits.
"Not enough damage, eh? As expected..." Todo strikes a pose, extending his arms to the world and looking at the heavens "The moment when you face insurmountable odds and not retreat... What a great feeling~"
He is walking in a dangerous rope, one mishap, and is over, but his face morphs into a smile full of teeth despite that.
His arms move above his head "I'm hyped!!!"
*CLAP*
.....
"You should've attacked from afar..." Megumi says while slowly opening his eyes, his gaze goes left.
Standing there, with a bow in hand, Kamo Noritoshi silently challenges.
"I think it would be rude to do that." Kamo says politely
"You're a surprisingly nice guy..." Megumi moves his torso to a sitting position "You should abandon your obsession with the Great Clans... That cesspool will drown you." He advises
"..." But it doesn't seem that his good intentions reach Noritoshi
He draws his bow, pointing an arrow at Megumi, ready to start the fight.
"..." Megumi is looking ahead, seemingly not paying attention "Even now, not shooting? Are you waiting for a formal letter or something?"
*Swish*
The arrow flies, reinforced by cursed energy, and without a doubt would do a lot of damage.
But Megumi dodges by lying down again. The arrow flew harmlessly by where his torso was.
"And they say that I'm the one looking down on people..." Megumi rolls his eyes.
Noritoshi aimed for his head, the part of Megumi's body more likely to move in that position. Anyone would have aimed for his torso, to at least make him move more and then shoot again while trying to predict where he will decide to dodge.
*Swish* *Swish* *Swish*
Three more arrows fly, now aiming for different parts of his body.
Megumi moves his arm, first, he touches the ground, and a pool of darkness appears there, and like he is some sort of waterbender, he treats the shadows like a liquid. When he pulls his hand, the liquid shadows follows before solidifying, making a barrier that blocks the arrows.
Not only block... The barrier slowly swallows the arrows after pausing their momentum. Like they have fallen into a tar pit
"It's a neat and subtle trick... More people wouldn't notice how amazing it is. It's not a simple shadow construct. It's like a puddle in the air... Can a puddle exist in the air? Of course not. That's why it is so great." Megumi brags
Noritoshi really doesn't understand how great this is, he thinks he gets it before stopping to think about it completely, deeming it of no importance.
Megumi doesn't elaborate further, he doesn't care if he can't convey what is in his mind to people properly.
To reciprocate the "greeting" Megumi strikes the wall of shadows with his hand, sending it flying at Noritoshi, who needs to jump out of the way, to another roof.
Megumi stands up, while suddenly moving his hand behind his back... Slapping an arrow away.
Noritoshi sent one in another direction while controlling it to go around and hit him from behind.
"Even if I act arrogant, I rarely really let my guard down..." Megumi says before dashing with a Soru, arriving in front of Noritoshi while he was pulling the string of his bow "This is useless against me." He bitchslaps the bow away, destroying it.
After moving Noritoshi's arm out of the way, and opening his guard, Megumi punches him away, making him enter a Building through a wall.
"...even if it was a thin wall, it could've hurt more." Megumi narrows his eyes while looking at the dust, apparently looking through it "Using blood to Shield your back, huh?" He laughs.
He keeps his position, waiting for Kamo's next move, he guesses he can waste some time before Hanami appears... If it appears, if not he would be in a bad mood, so using Noritoshi like a sandbag can help with his disappointed heart.
The dust was cleared when some objects flew at Megumi, but he rolled his eyes again seeing how slow the three discs of blood were flying at him.
Making a fast crude shadow weapon, he cut the discs, taking care to not have any blood spilling on him.
'I do not talk much about this, but knowing people's technique is a cheat on its own...' He thinks 'That's why it was so easy to deal with Mahi- Hito-chan.'
Once again he is happy with his meta-knowledge and solidifies his will to keep things close to canon. Maybe living an interesting and totally new life can be good... When he is untouchable?
Anyone with sense would use meta-knowledge to their advantage.
He never needed to make a change that would create some butterfly effect, that he knows...
"I was expecting the Piercing Blood thing." He says after finally having visual contact with Noritoshi again.
The guy has two blood bags being held by hard blood over his torso, the blood changes shape to discs again.
"If you're not gonna use..." Megumi makes a hand sign, the Max Elephant handsign 'Funny that Canon Megumi also used it against him... Fate is a funny thing.' "...I will do it then."
After completing the handsign, Max Elephant is not summoned, what happens is that in the back of Megumi's hand, a mark appears.
He is wearing the Max Elephant now, in Totality, which means he can use its techniques...
"Piercing Water?" He says unsure about his name sense after joining his hand and pointing at Noritoshi.
*Pssshhh*
A high compressed and pressurized jet of water was shot between the space of his two hands, hitting Noritoshi in the thigh, then it cuts the leg before wildly cutting the surroundings before Megumi stopped.
"This is surprisingly hard to handle... I tried to carve my name on you."
"You..." The member of the Kamo clan is shocked.
His opponent just used the Inherited Technique of his clan, their pride and ... blood. Obviously, he saw that it was water, but it was still a shock that another technique could do the same.
"Yeah, me. The user of the most versatile technique ever..." Megumi says with contempt "But I don't like it too much, let me change to a more... familiar mode."
He makes a handsign again, the same... Max Elephant.
"Extension Technique... Shadow Armament: Max Elephant... Rifle~" He says the ending with a smile.
In his two hands, materializes a pink sniper rifle, but it looks organic in some way. Like is an unholy combination of animal and weapon.
"I tried to imagine an AWP while painting it, but it looks like something a flesh crafter in the Warhammer universe would make..." Megumi appraises "...cool." Before grinning widely.
"..."
Megumi aims and shoots high pressurized water, not in a long line, but in a short shot... Like a laser. Noritoshi, predicting that, jumped out of the way, even with his injured leg.
He gets out of the way of Megumi's field of vision, stopping his bleeding and sealing his wound with his technique.
"Playing sniper should be fun~" Megumi whistles, ready to give chase.
*BOOM*
Suddenly a huge tree emerges from the Middle of the forest, a tree without a single leaf, but full of spiked branches.
"..." Megumi turns to look at it with a deadpan face, at the same time he can see a Curtain being deployed "Just when I was starting to have fun..."
Putting the rifle away he sighs "Well, job before pleasure." His job as a contractor, he means.
He jumps in the direction of the tree and the huge amount of cursed energy that he is feeling.
.......
Back in the Observation Room, suddenly all the talismans on the wall are ignited in the colors of Tokyo High School.
"..." Everyone looks at the happening in silence
"...is it over?' Junpei asks unsure
"Did Megumi-kun open his Domain or something?" Utahime voices a possibility
Mei Mei also lost the connection with her crows.
"...he wouldn't do it in this event." Gojo says seriously before shooting out the door, the other school staff following them
"..."
"Er... Should we do something?" Junpei asks again.
The only ones remaining in the room are him, Mai, and Mei Mei, who doesn't appear to be interested in helping.
"They got this... I can at least protect you guys here." She says while sipping from a teacup "Maybe Fushiguro-kun will owe me if I save his girlfriend?" She gives excuses to not act.
"...I don't think you will have the chance." Mai says while giving a sideglance at her own shadow "I'm going anyway." Her important people are out there, after all.
And it's not because she is not a fighter, that she can't fight if the situation asks for it.
"Let's go, Yoshino-kun." She says and runs to the door too.
"Uhm... Okay then." He follows
"...youngsters... Such vigor." Mei Mei whispers with a strange smile
.......
"A Curtain..." The Principal of Kyoto says while he, Gojo, and Utahime run to the Event ground. They can also see the outline of something big, that was not there before, in the forest. It looks like wood to them...
"Gojo!" Utahime shouts
"It's too late... That's only a delayed visual. The curtain is already up." She explains while running.
*Boom* *Boom* *Boom*
Suddenly explosions are triggered in different places all around the school.
"This..." Utahime says shocked
"It's not cursed energy..." Gojo speaks with a serious look. "Only normal bombs, but it does it work."
This reminds her of Megumi's father for some reason. The bastard also used ordinary means to trick her eyes.
"We're gonna check the explosions, you go save the students." Utahime concludes that even if they know that it's a distraction, they can't ignore the explosions.
Unknown to her, it's a distraction inside a distraction. The explosions lead to the exact opposite place that is being really assaulted by the other party right now... And it will be too late when they realize that.
"Okay~" Gojo speeds up, reaching the curtain and *Bzzt* "!"
She is denied entrance...
"Aren't you guys prepared?" She comments "The downside of being famous, I guess..."
......
Todo and Maki's fight was suddenly interrupted by the emergence of a huge tree.
"!" Huge spikes of wood appear from the ground, separating the two Fighters, but they don't stop there. More and more spikes appear in all directions, even if they don't hit they trap everything inside it.
The area of effect is too big to escape, and the spikes hurl together, forming a big tree.
"Tch." Maki is in the darkness, in a space between the spikes, already taking some weapons and hitting the surprisingly resistant log "These weapons are not made to do this... Maybe I should ask Mai to make some Cursed Gardening Tools."
*Thunk* *Crack*
She finally emerges from the ridiculous thick cage of wood.
"Okay, let's see what asshole is doing this..." She jumps out of the opening, ready to hunt down the one responsible for that.
She also notices that this attack was not meant to finish them, such a clumsy attack would never take them out, not even the weakest of the students... But this was to divide them.
Either to gain time or to hunt the students individually, so the best course of action is to find the culprit as fast as possible.
"Don't worry, Maki. I will save you!"
"..."
She deadpans as she sees Megumi passing above her at high speeds, probably going in the direction of the culprit.
"...I don't need to be saved..." She rolls her eyes but understands the message.
He got this.
"Let's check if no one has wood sticking on their asses... Oh, some are unconscious..." She realizes "They really could've died."
She remembers the blue-haired girl, Miwa.
She jumps to where she thinks the girl was left to make sure she is alright, Maki at least doesn't want to be an accomplice of the murder.
.......
Mai and Junpei are running between the buildings of the school. The situation is a little chaotic, so they decide to simply run to the thick of the situation to group with his people instead of being caught in an ambush or something.
This was something ingrained in Mai by Megumi and Maki. 'If you're in Danger run to us'.
When they are turning a corner they come face to face with a strange man, an enemy... Not noticeable beyond the fact he is holding a creepy bladed weapon.
"You two!" The man points the weapon at them while shouting.
Junpei prepares himself after the initial shock, starting to summon his shikigami...
*Bang*
But the man was shot by Mai.
*Kachik* "..." Junpei turns to her robotically, just in time to see her pump the shotgun she just used, an empty shell falling on the ground
"What?"
"A shotgun?"
"What's the problem? It got the job done, right?" She signals to the fallen man with her chin. The man is agonizing in pain but not dead, she hit his legs, sparing him... But not sparing him from losing his lower members from knee and down.
"Er, it's just that...It doesn't look... sorcerer-like..." Junpei says slowly
"It has cursed energy, so it is magical~" She says sarcastically
The little talk was interrupted when another man suddenly dropped from one of the roofs on them, trying to hit Mai with a Hook.
Unfortunately for him, her shadow stirs and a long and dark arm emerges from it, grabbing the man and smashing him on the ground.
"..."
"Thanks, Ankoku." Mai says to the emerging Vengeful Spirit, dark and lanky.
Obviously, Megumi would protect her with something.
She puts her shotgun between his ribs and the weapon disappears on it, then from between each rib bone different weapons butts appear. She gets two glocks, putting one in a holster on her thigh while arming herself with the other.
"Let's go." She says after getting ready.
"And what about these guys?" Junpei asks while pointing at the poor fellas.
"They can be interrogated, but I don't have anything to tie them up, so..." She regrets a little not listening to Megumi and producing a bunch of miscellaneous things to various situations.
But the ones that regretted it the most were the two attackers that were hit by Ankoku again, to make sure they would not wake up before they came back.
......
Panda and Nobara face the humanoid Disaster Curse Hanami with some trepidation, but they are holding it while hoping for an opening to escape. Ninshimiya Momo is under their care too...
"That thing is obviously above my paygrade..." Nobara says in a battle-ready stance "Why do these things always happen with meee?" She whines
"Maybe you're... cursed! Zeha~" They hear a voice above them before an object suddenly flies at Hanami at high speed. It's Megumi doing a dropkick.
"Fushiguro!! The first time I'm happy to see you!" Nobara cries out
"Hey!" Megumi shoots back amidst the dust of the impact. "Oops~" He moves fast by noticing some malicious intent.
Just now when he attacked Hanami, the Disaster Curse born of the human fears of land-based disasters used its technique to sink in the ground to avoid Megumi's attack. One of the reasons Megumi didn't hold back much in hitting the ground like a meteor and making a huge crater.
But taking advantage of the mess, Hanami stealthily moved to put an end to Panda and Nobara.
Obviously, it will not work because Megumi was prepared for that... From behind Nobara, from the directions where Megumi came from, the Totality Divine Werewolf appears faster than the eye can see and grabs the head of the Hanami that just appeared from a tree nearby, and carries him in Megumi's direction without losing momentum.
Megumi raises his leg high in the air and *Boom* stamps the curse on the ground, making another crater.
"Retreat for now, I will take care of this." As Megumi says this a Mini-van sized Nue lands close to Panda, and Round Deer appears from between the trees.
"You're the boss! Bye~" Nobara doesn't hesitate for even a second
"..."
The deer heals all three of them, before Nobara and Panda board Nue, the latter carrying Nishimiya. After that, the three shikigami, including the Divine Werewolf go away. Leaving only Megumi and Hanami here.
"..." Hanami slowly reappears in a different location, stomping the curse on the ground is not effective in keeping the curse suppressed.
'At least it's canon accurate this time, and it does not have boobs or something' Megumi thinks, maybe relieved.
At this point, he is still unsure if he will keep any other Disaster Curse as a pet. He only cares about Hitomi, it's a rare power after all. But even so, ignoring the future...
'30 credits is 30 credits... And if I sell her... him... whatever, will be 10 more.'
"Don't think you can come here and leave easily..." Megumi threatens with the full intention of letting Hanami leave.
"這不是你能決定的..." Hanami speaks gibberish while putting her hands on the ground, wood spikes sprouting from it, aiming to impale Megumi.
"Japanese, Mothafucka, do you speak it?!" Megumi shouts while dashing at her, he is speaking English, by the way.
He moves around the spikes, expertly dodging them, he does not even look at the ground to anticipate the incoming attack... his eyes focused on Hanami.
"..." To her surprise, it appears that this attack can't hinder the Young sorcerer, not even for a second more. She prepares herself for the next move.
"!!" But Megumi uses a Soru to close the distance instantly
'They never expect a sudden burst of speed...' He punches Hanami in the face, the curse is sent flying, rolling on the ground uncontrollably
"I can do that too." Megumi doesn't give chase, he puts his hand on the ground, making it go black, the darkness expands to the curse, spikes rising on the dark territory.
Hanami felt that and while rolling, slapped the ground, making a tree appear on it and pulled him into the air, away from the spikes.
But Megumi appears exactly where he was heading to...
"Someone that uses the Earth, escaping to the sky?" He almost laughs before punching Hanami even higher.
And he follows her with a Geppo, delivering a fast-paced combo in the air, throwing her around like a ball.
Obviously, Hanami will not take it like that... Wood sprouts from her left arm destroying the bundle-sling cloth that covers her left arm.
"Spikes again? Be more creative, please." Megumi kicks the air to move from the porcupine strategy, before swinging the same leg in a semi-circular motion.
A dark crescent moon flies at Hanami, cutting the Spirits while it falls to the ground.
"Tsk... It's not that. Rankyaku is still difficult to do..." He comments while watching his work.
From all six abilities from the Rokushiki, Megumi can perfectly execute four: Soru, Geppo, Tekkai, and Shingan.
The Soru was the first, being a super dash made by multiple dashes in one. Tekkai was equally easy, tightening his muscles...
Geppo and Shingan he achieved by reverse engineering the other simpler techniques... Dash in the air to Geppo, and tighten on a part of your body, the finger in this case, to use the Shingan.
Kami-e and Rankyaku are a little more complicated because of their fantastic nature... Megumi can't make his body thin or malleable like paper, and he can emit his energy like a One Piece character. He doesn't even know what type of energy it is.
Well, he can do it with cursed energy, but he feels it is not quite the same, but is a good technique to train his output.
"正如瞳所說,你很強" Hanami says, now on the ground, her hands in contact with the Earth.
"..." Megumi recognizes that move, his eyes narrow while he lets gravity pull him down, his hair moving wildly.
The ground around Hanami starts losing its color, the trees and grass dying like its life force was absorbed by the curse.
"Domain Expansion... Bloom of the Dammed Himavanta" She says in perfect Japanese.
"Now this is unpublished content..." Megumi jokes while the dark dome envelops him, his surroundings changing. Then he is in another place, a strangely beautiful Garden with flowers and trees that stretch endlessly.
'Her timing is good..." He praises, that because he is falling he can't deploy a Simple Domain, but obviously, he has other options to defend himself...
But he chooses to not do it. He wants to see how it is to receive the sure-hit attack from a domain. It's the first time he takes one head-on and obviously, even though he refuses to believe that this domain is like Gojo's and Hitomi's, where the sure-hit effect is incredibly dangerous, he reinforces his body in other ways.
'Not even Sukuna's Domain can one-shot me now...' He readies himself to the impact and suddenly "!" a flower blooms on his shoulder.
Then another one on his chest, his arm, hands... Not only Flowers, grass and vines start growing all over his body.
It even grows in his face, nose, mouth...
But Megumi keeps his cool, not panicking, like expected it's not a one-shotting ability.
'Spores...' He deduces, invisible spores touch his body and use him as a nutrient to grow.
He immediately figures out his huge reserves are already a good first line of defense against this domain.
'But at the same time, the plants grow quickly exactly because I have huge reserves... If you have a small one, it sucks you dry fast, but if you have a huge amount, the plants grow fast and strong enough to bind you.'
A terrifying Domain that kills you slowly and without pain.
And it's not only sucking his Cursed Energy or Stamina... His lifeforce, willpower, thoughts... Everything.
'I just want to go home and sleep... I see, it's not for nothing that she needs to suck the energy of Earth around her to deploy this... It's a strong hax.' It's almost gentle in how it kills you.
He saw enough...
"Falling Blossom Emotion..." Putting his hands in front of his body, Megumi falls to the ground and immediately puts a stance.
His cursed energy surrounding his body changes and automatically attacks all plants, flowers, and vines growing on his body... It even attacks the invisible spores.
*Swish* In an instant Megumi is free from the Domain's grasp.
"!" Hanami appears surprised at this turn of events even though her hemet-like face.
"You're the one trapped here with me..." Megumi eyes her and after dealing with all the annoyance he changes to Domain Amplification.
His cursed energy is not auto-attacking anymore, but Hanami's sure-hit effect can't reach him... And he can move now.
With a swift movement, he appears in front of Hanami, her fist is cocked backward to Punch him.
"Ah yes... You get stronger in your own domain... Sometimes I forget that." Megumi comments with a little surprise seeing that she reacted fast enough.
Unfortunately to her, a contest of strength against Megumi is not advisable.
Their fists crash and to only the surprise of Hanami, her arm explodes till the forearm.
Without letting her retreat, Megumi reaches to grab the horn-antenna thingies in her head, pulling her back closer and punching her in the gut. Without sending her flying because of the iron grip on her head, she takes the full brunt of the attack, the force does not disperse with the movement.
She doubles down in pain, in truth, her back explodes a little, and cracks appear as her innards are forced out by the impact of her enemy's fist, blood flowing through the wounds.
Obviously, between his fingers, the Stamp connects with her skin and Megumi holds it there for several seconds.
"Uhum~" He even humms in satisfaction 'Now she needs to run away from Gojo... I hope I didn't hit her too much- Eh? Better hurry.' He notices cracks in the sky.
Someone is breaking the domain from the outside...
He narrows his eyes, analyzing, calculating the timing... 'Now' He punches her away as the black glass-like dome of the domain starts falling from the sky in a large amount.
Hanami was sent rolling on the ground again, she hit the limit of her own domain the barrier failing on her.
'Smart...' Megumi praises in her mind. She is using the destruction of her own domain to cover for her and mask her escape.
He stays still while letting her do her thing, the sky falling on him.
"Yo, it could've been my domain, you know?" He turns to see Gojo already standing behind him after teleporting.
"Six Eyes." She says
'Seriously? She can even differentiate that?' He thinks surprised
"And even if it was you, making a 2v1 would be advantageous anyway... Did you kill it?"
"How do you kill something that simply can enter the earth and disappear? Inside its own domain nonetheless..." He shrugs
"..." Gojo looks at him, noticing the state of his clothes. "You didn't battle with your own Domain?"
"No, tried the Anti-domain techniques."
"Risky."
"Meh, it's not because it will hit me, that it will hurt me. Your 'Retardation Sure-hit effect' is scary, others not so much." He is testing the limits of his body. If he really needed to use his domain to defeat Hanami... Someone that Gojo killed by flexing her Infinity in Canon, then he will not even have a chance against her.
"..." Gojo didn't comment, it's unknown what is she thinking
"Did anyone die?" Megumi changes the topic. It can't be she is figuring out he is letting the curses escape, right? Even in canon, Hanami was a slippery annoyance.
"None from the students at least." Gojo answers.
"Then let's go back to discover what their real objective is... You know this whole thing is a distraction, right?"
"Yes, but the students' life takes priority." She shrugs.
"..." This is exactly what he wanted to hear...
It would be such a waste if Gojo went with "I trust that Megumi is strong enough to take care of it" and found Hitomi.
'What is the next arc again? Ah, the brothers of Choso...' He remembers 'How many credits will I gain with them again? But letting everyone escape is starting to get on my nerves…''
Status Power Mingguan
-- Peringkat
Power 
-- Power
stone