Yūji and Megumi moved carefully along a path that, unlike the devastation surrounding them, remained relatively intact.
Although the barrier of the Culling Game had been broken and cursed energy felt much weaker than before, the threat had not disappeared completely.
Yūji looked around uneasily, scratching his head in frustration.
"Where could the Angel be…?" he murmured, letting out a resigned sigh. "Without the rules of the game to guide us, this is hard."
Megumi was about to respond but stopped abruptly. His entire body tensed, and his eyes locked onto the entrance of a dark alley a few meters ahead.
Yūji reacted instantly. Shifting his stance, he turned his head and tried to follow the direction of Megumi's gaze.
"What is it, Megumi?" he asked quietly, already prepared to fight.
From within the darkness, a figure slowly emerged.
A young teenage girl stepped out, walking slowly.
She was young, about their height, maybe just a little shorter. Her blonde hair, cut to chin length with straight bangs, partially covered her forehead, and her green eyes seemed to observe everything with an unusual calm.
The faint light filtering between the buildings revealed two feathered wings, white fading delicately into blue at the tips, and above her head floated a golden halo, glowing softly, just enough to contrast with the alley's shadows.
She stopped a few meters away and fixed her gaze on Megumi. For a second, a flicker of something trembled in the depths of her green eyes.
"Megumi Fushiguro."
Megumi felt a jolt of recognition, and his pupils contracted.
"…Hana Kurusu? The Angel?" he asked cautiously.
"Eh?! She's the Angel?" Yūji's eyes widened, looking from the girl to Megumi in disbelief. "We found her this easily?!"
Hana ignored Yūji and kept her gaze fixed on Megumi.
"The barrier broke… the bindings loosened." She tilted her head slightly, never looking away. "I felt you."
The tension in the air thickened. Yūji stepped forward anxiously.
"Then you know why we're here! We need your power," he said quickly, urgency spilling raw from his voice. "Please, help us break the seal and free Gojo-sensei."
Hana narrowed her eyes slightly. Her irises shifted, studying them in heavy silence before she replied.
"Prison Realm… I can erase the techniques and undo the seal." Her voice dropped lower, almost a whisper. "But there is a price."
Yūji didn't hesitate for a second. "We'll pay whatever it costs! Just help us!"
"This isn't only for us. It's important for everyone, even for you. We need Gojo-sensei's power." Megumi also spoke seriously.
Hana's lips parted as if she were about to speak, but–
BOOM
The wall of a building behind them exploded into pieces, sending dust and debris everywhere. But from the cloud of dust, a fast, aggressive silhouette shot forward, rushing straight toward Megumi.
He barely managed to catch a glimpse of short golden hair and a fleeting glint on a pair of glasses cutting through the air like lightning.
"Nanami… san?!"
But he had no time to process anything else; Nanami was already just one step away.
In his right hand he wielded the Roman Sword, that cursed tool they knew well. It came down with a sharp whistle, aimed directly at his side, with the lethal precision of someone who did not hesitate for even an instant.
A strike meant to kill!
"MEGUMI!" Yūji's voice thundered before his brain could grasp what was happening.
His body moved before his mind could catch up.
He burst forward on pure instinct, his feet digging into the ground for leverage, and in a blink he was already in front of his friend.
He twisted his hips and threw a punch wrapped in cursed energy, aiming to intercept Nanami's attack.
CLANG
The shockwave cracked the floor.
Yūji was sent flying backward, his back slamming into the remains of a wall that crumbled instantly.
A sharp pain shot through his arm until it went numb, and a metallic taste flooded his mouth.
"…"
Megumi, eyes wide open, could barely breathe as he watched him fly away.
Stunned, he understood everything. Nanami wasn't holding back at all!
A sharp cry cut through the moment.
From the shadows, a gigantic owl-shaped shikigami burst forth, spreading its wings. Nue appeared with claws wreathed in lightning, lunging straight at Nanami.
But he didn't even blink. After sending Yūji crashing to the ground with a single blow, his expression remained unchanged.
His body tilted, dodging the claws with a fluidity that seemed unreal, and in the same movement, his left hand lashed out like a whip, clamping onto Nue's ankle with relentless force.
"Ratio Technique: Collapse"
Puh
Nue's body split instantly, as if an invisible line had sliced it clean in two. Both halves dissolved into the air, disintegrating into smoke.
It all happened in just a second.
Every move Nanami made was clean, without a single wasted motion. That methodical coldness left no doubt: they were facing a Grade 1 sorcerer in his full, lethal mastery.
"N-Nanami-san! Why?!"
Yūji pushed himself up among the rubble with a groan, spitting out dust and blood.
His eyes were wide open, shock and anger clouding his face as he tried to understand what was happening.
In front of him, Nanami slowly adjusted his glasses.
The reflection on the lenses hid his gaze for an instant, but what it conveyed was distant.
"Itadori, I have no resentment or hatred toward you or Megumi. I am simply… working."
Simple, direct, and dispassionate words fell on Yūji and Megumi like a hammer.
!
Yūji's fists cracked as he clenched them. Megumi felt a shiver run down his spine as his pupils contracted.
They needed no further explanation: it was an order. The higher-ups had decided that Yūji had to die and that they would not allow Gojō-sensei to be freed.
"Nanami-san…"
Yūji's voice trembled, not with fear, but with anger.
Painful images flooded his mind: innocent people dying during the Shibuya Incident, the moment Gojō-sensei was sealed.
And now, Nanami, the man who had trusted him, who had protected him, trying to kill them.
Megumi stepped forward without taking his eyes off Nanami, his hands quickly forming seals.
"Nue!"
At the same time, he spoke urgently to Yūji.
"Get ready to break through. The Angel is still—"
"Itadori Yūji?"
An unfamiliar voice suddenly interrupted them.
All four turned instantly.
A man advanced among the remains of the collapsed building. He wore a black suit, and his expression was stern.
As he stopped, his leather shoes echoed sharply against the ground.
"I am Hiromi Higuruma."
His gaze fixed heavily on Yūji.
"I have come to judge you for your crimes during the Shibuya Incident."
Nanami frowned, though his weapon still pointed directly at Megumi.
"Judge? This isn't the time."
But his voice couldn't break the implacable calm of the newcomer.
"According to current provisions, Itadori Yūji, as the vessel of Sukuna, must take responsibility for the twenty-three thousand four hundred eleven deaths that occurred during the Shibuya Incident."
!
Yūji's face instantly went pale. His breath hitched as a torrent of memories slammed into him: streets engulfed in flames, desperate screams, lifeless bodies, the wild laughter of Sukuna echoing inside him.
For a second, his knees seemed to give way.
Megumi reacted quickly and stepped forward to shield him. "Are you kidding me?! That wasn't Itadori's fault!"
The shadows at his feet stirred, "It was Kenjaku and Sukuna—!"
"Objection overruled."
Hiromi raised a hand, cutting him off.
"Guilt will be decided by the court."
The ground trembled for just a second before a complex diagram appeared, drawing itself beneath their feet with lines of light intertwining like living chains.
"Ryōiki Tenkai: Deadly Sentencing."
A blinding flash suddenly exploded, enveloping them all. The light was so intense that the entire world seemed to vanish for an instant.
When their vision returned, they were no longer in a city.
They were in a courtroom that stretched silently around them. The air was solemn.
High above, an enormous shikigami in a black robe loomed over the chamber. From its outstretched arms hung two gigantic scales that swayed almost imperceptibly.
In front of it, Hiromi stood tall, holding a small gavel.
Nanami and Megumi were seated at the witness stand. Yūji, however, stood alone at the defendant's dock.
And among the jury, an unexpected detail stood out: Hana, the Angel, was there.
"The session is now open."
The strike of the gavel echoed.
The entire space trembled as the deep voice of the black shikigami filled the room.
"Itadori Yūji is accused of having committed mass homicide in Shibuya, on October 31, 2018."
At those words, Megumi snapped his head toward Nanami, searching for a reaction, and saw his senpai deeply frowning but motionless. By reflex, he tried to gather his cursed energy, but a shiver ran through him when he realized he couldn't.
It was as if something had ripped the energy straight out of his body.
A domain of this level… was suffocating. He had never felt anything so absolute.
Everyone ended up looking at Yūji. Just a moment ago, he had been panting and trembling, but now he was strangely calm.
Yūji lifted his head and faced the shikigami with a steady gaze.
"Yes… I am guilty." His voice didn't waver. "I will not lie or deny it."
"GUILTY! CONFISCATION… DEATH PENALTY!"
The judge's face twisted as his sentence resounded in a roar. The entire courtroom shook violently; an invisible pressure fell over everyone.
Yūji let out a choked grunt as his body turned to lead. His breathing broke, and in an instant, all the cursed energy flowing inside him was mercilessly ripped away.
"Itadori!!!"
Megumi's voice burst out, desperate. His face turned pale as he tried to summon his shadows, but nothing responded.
!
Nanami clenched his jaw behind his glasses. His muscles tensed, trying to rise, but the rules of the domain crushed him into his seat. 'Damn it… Higuruma is serious. I only wanted to buy time pretending to follow the mission… but Itadori's life is hanging by a thread.'
Hiromi remained unshaken as an intense light began to gather in his hands until it took a solid shape.
A long, luminous sword emerged, radiating a deadly white: the Executor's Sword.
"Let the law be fulfilled."
A blurred flash — and Hiromi vanished from his place. He reappeared before Yūji, the tip of the sword aiming straight for his heart.
Yūji's pupils contracted. Without cursed energy, without techniques, only his body remained.
In that critical instant, the instincts born from countless life-or-death battles took control before fear could paralyze him.
"HAAAAH!"
His right foot struck the floor with such force that the concrete shattered beneath him; using nothing but muscle and reflexes, he managed to shift half a step to the left.
!
The white light grazed his right side. His jacket tore open like ripped paper and his skin was sliced easily, blood bursting out.
"Itadori!" Megumi shouted with wild eyes, struggling uselessly against the invisible force restraining him.
Nanami tracked every movement of Higuruma, his mind racing at full speed: the rules… the coercive force of the domain… there has to be a weak point!
After missing, Hiromi twisted his wrist and the sword swung again without pause, now drawing a lethal horizontal slash, wide as a wall sweeping forward to cut Yūji in two.
This time there was no space to escape.
!
Yūji's eyes burned with fierce determination. Retreat was impossible; so he chose to advance.
He lowered his center of gravity and, just as the light was about to reach him, he hurled himself forward in a roll.
Swoosh
The sword skimmed his back, slicing off strands of hair.
Boom
Yūji landed clumsily from the roll, panting, the wounded side of his body burning like fire. But he didn't stop; he used the momentum to close the distance between him and Hiromi.
"I'm not done yet!"
He seized the closeness and, relying only on pure physical strength, twisted his waist with the full weight of his body. A spinning kick aimed directly at Hiromi's head.
A fight to the death.
For the first time, Hiromi's cold eyes moved and a flicker of surprise broke his absolute calm. He hadn't expected that, stripped of cursed energy, Itadori would still be capable of such a feral counterattack.
Instinct forced him to raise his left arm to block.
Bam
The impact made Hiromi's body stagger for an instant, just one step, but enough to show the kick had real weight.
"I did it…!"
A spark of hope flashed in Yūji's eyes as he felt the vibration of the hit travel up his own leg.
But reality came crashing down like ice water.
Hiromi's left arm, though it had given way for a second, still held firm like rock. And in his right hand, the sword of light was already sliding forward again.
Too close… too fast.
The glowing tip was heading straight for his throat.
"It's over."
Yūji was still in the air, with no footing, no strength, no time to react. He could only watch as that white light filled his vision.
"Itadori—!"
Megumi's desperate scream echoed.
And then, just as the sword of light was an instant away from piercing Yūji's throat…
"…ENCHAIN…"
________
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