Before the fight began, Kashimo Hajime made a promise.
-Use your technique and fight Yoshino.
Yes. That was it.
From the very beginning, I had decided to throw everything against him.
To bring down the strongest opponent I had ever met, stronger than anyone I had encountered in all my years.
"It’s a shame I never got to use it on Sukuna."
It would be a lie to say I felt no regret.
I wanted to enjoy myself a little longer.
I had strayed from the goal I set at the start, but it didn’t matter.
Waiting for the future and refusing to focus on the opponent in front of me was not my style.
Now is now. I will do my best.
"Was this how you all felt too?"
Everyone I had fought until now had been the same.
To be acknowledged by me, or to bring me down, they all came at me as if their lives were cheap.
That was my life, my goal, my amusement. I have no regrets.
And now, before me stood the best opponent who could bring that journey to an end.
For the sake of the greatest moment of my life, I would burn this body with my own hands.
[Technique Release]-
[Beast Amber]
The pattern around Kashimo’s eyes slowly spread, covering his entire face.
Then from his fingertips to his neck, his chest, and his legs.
The electrical cursed energy that had spread like a wildfire wrapped around Kashimo’s body, radiating a ferocious aura.
"So that’s his technique."
I had heard before.
That Kashimo’s technique was a suicide move and could only be used once.
Since it exacted the price of his life, the return would be enormous.
"Guess I can’t just play around."
He would bring everything out, just like when he fought Ryomen Sukuna.
Forget respect or anything else and focus on the fight.
He didn’t even think of finishing this and going back with everyone anymore.
"Bullet."
-Pshoo!
He probed with long-range attacks while wrapping his body in [Fortress].
It was a tactic that had barely changed from before, but he didn’t feel any need to change it.
His fundamentals and physical power were solid enough to support it.
-Piiing!
The venomous needles, now practically like a file bunker, formed a curtain of fire.
Without hesitation, Kashimo hurled himself through the needles pouring down so densely they dyed his field of vision black.
-Tak! Tak! Tak!
His movements were as lightning-fast as befitted the nickname of Thunder God.
He swatted them away, dodged them, even used the needles as stepping stones to break through the encirclement, and Kashimo’s fist slammed into Junpei’s helmet.
-Bam!
The impact was absorbed, but the secondary effect was not blocked.
The cursed energy released from his fingertips shocked Junpei and shut down his counterattack.
Not missing the moment, Kashimo’s ankle, slicing in sharply, was seized by [Maw-like shikigami].
"Tch!"
The moment it touched him, his cursed energy was sucked away at high speed.
The instant he blasted the tentacle apart with electromagnetic force from his toes, Junpei’s kick swept into Kashimo’s abdomen and sent him flying back.
Junpei, having fitted [Yellow Spot] to his feet, cut through the air and collided knee-first with Kashimo’s [Pointing Lamp Jaw].
"This guy’s overriding my cursed energy properties with sheer output!"
Even when he was hit, Kashimo’s cursed energy clung to the opponent and induced electrocution.
Junpei was suppressing that with absurd amounts of cursed energy and output.
As expected, he was no ordinary opponent.
Their hands, now close enough to touch, tangled wildly as they exchanged blows.
Junpei, having simply taken Kashimo’s swung [Pointing Lamp Jaw] on the chin by trusting his durability, pulled the weapon in and threw a punch at Kashimo.
Their extended fists collided head-on and canceled each other out, and Junpei, pressing into close range, spread his fingers to grab Kashimo’s leg.
Kashimo slipped back quickly to evade, and his elbow slammed into Junpei’s back.
-Thud!
"Fast. His strength and defense are in a different league, but I’m losing on speed."
The more they traded in hand-to-hand combat, the more obvious it became.
Even if he didn’t take damage from the blows, the electricity mixed into them kept getting on his nerves, and Kashimo’s reaction speed was absurdly fast.
Kashimo’s technique, [Beast Amber], was a bodily modification that realized every phenomenon he could convert from cursed energy, electricity.
His agility increased through amplified bioelectric signals in the brain, and his reaction speed broke past human limits.
As his body reached an irreversible limit, the effect multiplied, and before long Junpei found himself being outmatched in hand-to-hand combat.
Kashimo’s [Pointing Lamp Jaw] slammed into Junpei’s abdomen and sent him flying far away.
They had already exchanged enough punishment through their brawling.
The moment Kashimo snapped his fingers, lightning split the air and pierced Junpei straight through.
-Boom!
"!"
Literally lightning.
Powerful enough that even [Fortress], which absorbed physical force, couldn’t endure it.
Half of his upper body was blown away by the lightning, and blood spurted through the gaping hole.
"A sure-hit lightning strike. So this is his main attack...!"
With hand-to-hand combat alone, he couldn’t claim first place over Uro, Ishigori, or Dhruv.
This was the moment he truly felt the full extent of the man who had once reigned as the absolute strongest.
Even while regenerating with reversed cursed technique, Kashimo was flying in this way, scattering lightning as he came.
"[Kan]."
[Maw-like shikigami]’s tentacles sharply transformed and blocked Kashimo’s path.
As Kashimo twisted his direction again and again, stakes came crashing down along his route, punching holes through the ground.
-Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
Wherever he passed, the earth caved in and stones flew, making Shibuya’s already ruined atmosphere even more sinister.
The moment the distance between Kashimo and Junpei, who had escaped [Maw-like shikigami]’s grasp, closed again, the earlier venomous thorns came flying once more.
Kashimo somersaulted upward to dodge [Bullet], and a thunderous roar burst from his mouth.
"----------!!"
-Thwooom!
A sound wave created by converting electricity.
Because it was tuned to the object’s natural frequency, even if blocked, the shock penetrated the outer shell and struck the inside.
Junpei twisted his lips and sprayed venomous dust from [Maw-like shikigami], sending it toward Kashimo.
For Kashimo, who could not use reversed cursed technique, even a single drop was something he could not afford to inhale.
Though he couldn’t see it, the sudden change in the air’s tremor, the cursed energy, and the strange smell told him exactly what it was.
"Probably poison. He’s got resistance to it himself, and if I let this keep going, I’m the only one who goes down."
Burn it away before it reaches him.
As Kashimo extended a hand that had now completely transformed into a monster’s shape, electromagnetic waves packed with fierce energy shot from his palm.
The electromagnetic wave that vaporized everything it touched burned away the poison, leaving a fishy stench hanging in the air.
-Kuuuuuu!
And it didn’t stop there; the electromagnetic wave kept stretching forward as if it would burn Junpei to ash as well.
Before the attack could reach him, [Maw-like shikigami] stepped in front of Junpei.
-Sssshhhk!
Power enough to vaporize part of its body.
But far from enough to completely destroy [Maw-like shikigami].
Black smoke puffed up from the blasted section, and it restored itself to its original form.
"One more shot!"
This time he adjusted the density and fired again.
Even if he couldn’t destroy [Maw-like shikigami], he would make the beam pierce through its body and reach the sorcerer beyond it.
A beam of light now closer to a laser than artillery fired once more.
-Pshoo!
But Junpei had also finished charging [Maw-like shikigami].
-Wiiiiing!
The cursed energy Kashimo had swallowed into [Maw-like shikigami] was converted into Junpei’s own.
The body of [Maw-like shikigami], filled with dazzling blue light, blazed brilliantly.
Watching that sight, Kashimo trembled.
"Ah...."
How could it be so beautiful?
Its radiant strength was so sublime it almost inspired reverence.
"Full Moon, Eternal Exhaustion, and the Wave of Resonance."
Maximum output-
"Vortex."
A complete Vortex, without skipping the incantation.
The blue beam that left his hands swallowed the incoming electromagnetic wave head-on, and
-KWAANG!
it swept over Kashimo.
-Thud
Kashimo’s burned right arm crumbled into ash and fell away.
When the dust cleared, the sight revealed was horrific.
"Kuhahaha..."
He was laughing, but his body had suffered serious injuries all over.
Of the three eyes now on his face, the center one had been burned white by heat, and his whole body was scorched pale, as if caught in the blast of energy.
And the people watching that scene clenched their fists.
"As expected, Yoshino..!"
They were the Jujutsu High sorcerers, watching the fight from a distance so they wouldn’t get caught in it.
When he was losing in hand-to-hand combat and got hit by the sure-hit lightning, their hearts had dropped, but it seemed like that worry had been for nothing.
"Yeah! I knew you could do it!"
"Was he always that strong...?"
"With Gojo-sensei gone, he’s the top combatant."
They had known he was strong, but this was the first time they had seen him fight for real.
Except for Nobara, who had been there on the day of the fight with Sukuna, and Yuji, who had been watching from inside, everyone swallowed hard.
Junpei was so overwhelmingly dominant it didn’t seem like a lie at all that he had beaten a Sukuna with fourteen fingers.
"Just keep winning like this."
Nobara clutched the button from Junpei that she had taken just in case, holding it close to her chest.
She felt sorry that she couldn’t help in a fight like this. It seemed like she was putting too much burden on just one person.
And since she couldn’t break the promise she had made with Kashimo, all she could do was watch.
"I’m rooting for you."
She wouldn’t say anything unnecessary. She didn’t know what kind of bad effect it might have on him.
Still, she believed her heart was with him.
She believed that, just like before, he would always win and come back to her side.
"Junpei!"
So she would cheer as hard as she could.
"Don’t lose!"
Until her voice reached him over there.
With all this raw feeling behind it.
"If you lose, I’ll kill you!"
"......"
"Uh, maybe that last part wasn’t necessary."
"Shut up! What do you guys know!"
The absolute strong.
And because of that, loneliness.
"Heh."
Never had the meaning of those words felt so heavy as it did now.
His mouth tasted a little bitter.
"Is that all? That’s less than I expected."
Was that arrogant bastard one of my kind too?
I think probably not.
If he were, there wouldn’t be that many voices cheering for him.
"No."
Utterly alone.
Even here, with only you and me left.
I cannot escape the fate of fighting alone.
But—
"I am!"
I have no regrets. Nor am I ashamed.
I’ve come too far to look away from that now.
"The strongest sorcerer of 400 years ago! Kashimo Hajime!"
Kashimo Hajime.
I will never be ashamed of the name that defined an era.
I will be proud that I lived alone to the end and died alone.
-Pajijijik!
Something like a lost limb is not worth regretting.
I only want to surrender my body to this exhilaration and die.
Burning his life while standing on the brink of death, he resisted.
Changes began to occur in Kashimo’s body.
His already modified flesh was twisted into an even more distorted form, and the molecules composing his body began to evaporate.
Junpei frowned at the act of running toward death with every passing second.
"You’re changing again from there?"
"Don’t pity me. This is the path I chose."
"I’m not pitying you. I’ve seen enough psychos like you to last a lifetime."
There was no trace of a human shape left in Kashimo’s body now.
He was barely maintaining form, but most of his flesh had already been converted into lightning.
Rather than human, he was, yes....
"Thunder God."
He should be seen as lightning itself, violently striking down and scattering away in vain.
A human body with a god descending into it cannot last long.
And yet, isn’t the candle brightest just before it goes out?
"I’ll show you."
Twilight brilliance.
Right now, Kashimo was in the best condition of his life.
"My end!"
-KWAANG!
In the blink of an eye, Kashimo had reached point-blank range with Junpei.
That speed was possible because his body had become almost pure lightning itself.
It even surpassed the maximum stacking of Zenin Naoya after his transformation.
-Bababababak!
Kashimo hammered Junpei’s body with a savage barrage.
His fists and feet, driving in without restraint, carved and burned away the black steel.
Under that assault, Junpei could do nothing but take the hits and be driven back.
"...!"
-Ziiing
Cursed energy gathered in Kashimo’s hand, which had covered Junpei’s field of vision, and an electromagnetic wave fired.
Junpei twisted his head and barely dodged the beam, but a chunk of his earlobe was torn off.
Kashimo immediately switched to hand-to-hand combat again, and his knee strike smashed Junpei away.
-Snap!
And then the sure-hit lightning.
-Heh...
"Tch."
The lightning that was about to fire lost its power and scattered.
Probably because of that jellyfish floating over there.
He must have noticed the charge accumulating in the cursed energy and absorbed it in advance.
"If you get hit by it twice, you’re an idiot."
"And what if I am!"
-KWAANG!
The two clashed again.
Their duel of slaughter swept across the entire arena.
Testing the limits of speed and strength, the two collided and broke apart over and over, destroying everything in their path.
-Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
The ground shook and gusts of wind rose from the aftermath of their fight.
Kashimo still had the advantage, but even that seemed to be nearing its limit, and Junpei was matching his movements with even greater speed.
The cross counter they threw at the same time landed on each other’s faces.
-Bwoom!
"Faster."
He threw another punch.
The moment it swept toward the stomach and curved up toward the face, a hand seized his arm and pulled his body in.
Kashimo’s head snapped back from Junpei’s headbutt at point-blank range.
The tentacles of [Maw-like shikigami] flew in and seized his body, slamming him into the ground.
-KWAANG!
"Faster! More!"
Grinding his teeth, his body spun around at invisible speed.
His kick, packed with centrifugal force, slammed into Junpei’s temple and sent him spinning several times before flinging him away.
"More! More!"
Kashimo drove Junpei back with an obsession bordering on madness.
The more his flames went out and his body scattered, the brighter he burned.
It had never felt so refreshing to entrust everything to the torrent of emotion and move.
And now, it was time for the true god to descend.
-Snap!
"...?"
He snapped his fingers, but unlike before, the sure-hit lightning did not fire.
Dark clouds gathered in the overcast sky and began to converge above Junpei.
He gathered the cursed energy he had released into the heavens and brought it crashing down.
A secret art that borrows the power of nature to punish the enemy before him.
"It’s useless even if you block it with the jellyfish!"
The wrath of a god is not something stopped by such a thing.
Go on, struggle all you want.
"Heavenly Strike!"
-KUUUAAANG!!
Lightning crashed down over Junpei’s head.
The attack at maximum power, with everything poured into it, swept across the ground, and when the dust cleared, nothing remained there.
"Haa..."
I won.
With everything I had.
Kashimo’s kneeling body slowly began to collapse.
"So this is the end...."
That was fun. Truly.
Even after I die, I’ll never forget him.....
"That was close."
"!!"
When he turned around, Junpei was sitting on the jellyfish in perfect condition, looking down at him.
Kashimo stared up at him in stunned disbelief, and Junpei kindly explained why.
"No matter how strong the attack is, if it doesn’t hit, that’s the end of it."
"How. It wasn’t sure-hit, but there’s no way you could have gotten out of that..."
"I have a few things I haven’t shown yet. I can teleport too."
Teleportation, seriously? That’s just unfair.
"You can be happy about it. This is the first time I’ve used it since Sukuna."
"Hah. Like that makes me happy."
Holding up his collapsing body, Kashimo forced himself to stand.
If he accepted defeat in despair like this, he felt like he wouldn’t even be at peace in death.
Win or lose, he would resist to the very end.
"I’ll die bleeding."
Death cannot be avoided.
If I’m running toward a result that has already been decided, then at the very least, I want to decide how it ends.
I will bleed, and I will resist annihilation at full speed.
"You’re still going to fight? Even in that state?"
"It’s not over yet. I can still fight more."
Junpei seemed to like that answer, because he grinned.
"Good."
It was truly remarkable grit.
Madness that kept throwing itself forward even as the body broke apart.
Tenacity that did not collapse even after its finishing blow had gone to waste.
"If you show that much fighting spirit, I should give you the proper treatment."
It would be only right to finish this with the strongest attack he could use.
"Domain Expansion."
This is the end.
"Farewell, Kashimo Hajime."
A splendid opponent, and the strongest from 400 years ago.
[Sea of Corpses, Realm of Origins, Spirit]
I will remember you.
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