Outside the curtain of Tokyo Jujutsu High's training ground.
Kashimo Hajime was fully focused on dodging Satoru's attacks.
Clang.
Kashimo Hajime plunged his staff into the ground, using the momentum to leap into the air and avoid Satoru's attack.
Then he spun his body, smashing the staff with all his might toward Satoru's head.
Crackling.
The staff, shimmering with electricity, stopped right in front of Satoru.
Before Kashimo Hajime could make his next move, Satoru's long leg had already landed on him.
Bang, boom.
Since he was still in the air and had not landed, Kashimo Hajime could not dodge Satoru's attack. He could only bend his arm and raise his knee to absorb the kick.
The cost was a broken bone in his left hand, and he was sent flying dozens of meters like a cannonball.
Just as Satoru was about to move toward the curtain, Kashimo Hajime walked toward him again.
"Do you want to die?"
Satoru, with only one Six Eyes visible, looked at Kashimo Hajime with an icy expression.
He looked at this man who, despite Satoru having let him off, still dared to come forward to his death.
Reverse Cursed Technique had already healed his broken bones, and Kashimo Hajime was covered in flashing electricity, with no fear of death on his face.
"If I can fight the strongest with all my might, what does death matter?"
Kashimo Hajime smiled, and there was a childlike innocence in his smile.
"Is that so? I understand."
After saying that, Satoru pulled off his blindfold and casually tossed it aside.
He would not be distracted by other thoughts now. Instead, he would kill Kashimo Hajime first.
"That's more like it, strongest!"
Kashimo Hajime roared, then swung his staff at Satoru with extreme speed.
Striking, sweeping, thrusting, lifting, stabbing... Kashimo Hajime unleashed everything he had learned in his life. Every strike was powerful and heavy, but Satoru appeared to be strolling leisurely, as if his attacks were merely child's play.
Clap.
The distance between them closed, and Satoru grabbed Kashimo Hajime's staff with one hand, while his right fist swung out.
Kashimo Hajime blocked with his other hand while raising his leg to kick Satoru's vital spot.
Satoru ignored Kashimo Hajime's attack, unleashing a series of extremely fast close-range strikes that sent him into the air, unable to land.
Thud.
After a series of continuous short strikes, Kashimo Hajime was almost beaten unconscious by Satoru.
The next second, Satoru lightly jumped, then spun his body and kicked Kashimo Hajime in the chest.
Crunch.
"Pfft."
A clear sound of bones cracking rang out. Kashimo Hajime's ribs broke and protruded, with some even piercing his lungs.
Blood continuously gushed from his mouth.
"Pfft, cough cough, pfft."
Kashimo Hajime struggled to use Reverse Cursed Technique to heal the fatal injury, the Battle Intent on his face not diminishing in the slightest.
Seeing this, Satoru did not stop. Instead, he leaped high and delivered a downward kick toward Kashimo Hajime's head.
If this strike landed, Kashimo Hajime's head would definitely explode like a watermelon.
"That's enough. Take this."
Kashimo Hajime endured the intense pain in his body, picked up his staff, and attacked Satoru.
Crackling, zapping.
Countless lightning bolts suddenly appeared, instantly hitting Limitless in front of Satoru.
Thud.
Satoru was repelled.
"Oh?"
Satoru looked at the space in front of him. That attack just now, like a sure-hit attack from a Domain, had landed on his Limitless.
The power of this attack was very strong, almost dirtying his uniform.
"Cough cough, even this move isn't enough?"
Kashimo Hajime spat out another large mouthful of blood.
Unleashing a full-power attack while severely injured, the surging Cursed Energy in his body caused secondary damage to his unrecovered wounds.
But in Kashimo Hajime's view, that was the most likely opportunity to break through the opponent's defense.
If even this move could not harm the opponent, then it could only mean one thing.
The gap in strength between them was even greater than he had imagined.
Thinking of this, Kashimo Hajime's expression grew even more frantic.
"Interesting, I was wondering why you kept making useless attacks earlier."
In Satoru's eyes, Kashimo Hajime's previous attacks indeed seemed like a waste of effort.
And the faint Cursed Energy Kashimo Hajime left on his Limitless was ignored by him. He had not expected that accumulated Cursed Energy to cause such significant damage.
If it were a Grade 1 Jujutsu Sorcerer, they would probably be completely dead by now. A Special Grade, if they did not have some means, might also be severely injured or even on the verge of death.
"To you, it was just wasted effort, wasn't it?"
Kashimo Hajime said with a bitter smile.
The lightning generated by his Cursed Technique was actually a precise manipulation of lightning-attribute Cursed Energy.
So precise that he could even separate the positive and negative charges of the lightning generated by his Cursed Energy.
While attacking, he would leave the separated positive charges on the enemy and keep the separated negative charges with himself.
Finally, he would use the principle of positive and negative charges attracting each other to complete a sure-hit attack.
However, even if it was sure-hit, it could not penetrate Satoru's defense.
"Satoru, can you answer me one question?"
"What?"
"Did you become the strongest, or were you the strongest from birth?"
"Hmm, who knows?"
Satoru stroked his chin, answering seriously.
"Does strength mean loneliness? And is loneliness a punishment for the strong?"
Kashimo Hajime dropped the staff in his hand, looking at Satoru with anticipation.
He had never encountered an opponent in his life who could make him fight with all his might.
His tempered body, diligently studied Cursed Techniques, and wild imagination had never had the chance to be fully unleashed.
He had never met anyone in his life who could let him fully express everything.
So his entire life had been very lonely.
"No."
Satoru shook his head.
"You must have been very strong during your lifetime, strong enough to have no rivals."
Satoru understood Kashimo Hajime's meaning and finally knew why this person, despite having no chance of winning even when using his full power, could still laugh heartily.
"I'm different from you. I have many companions with whom I can show everything."
Eichi, Suguru, Artoria... In this life, Satoru did not walk a different path from his best friend, nor did he become a monster alone, holding up the sky for his juniors and students in the name of the strongest.
In this life, his best friend was still there. He was not alone.
"Is that so? You are truly fortunate."
Kashimo Hajime's eyes widened in surprise, and after the shock, a hint of melancholy appeared.
In his lifetime, he had not met such best friends who could let him fully express and confide everything.
"But..."
When Kashimo Hajime opened his eyes again, all surprise and melancholy had vanished, leaving only determination.
"Now, I don't need to think so much. Now, I only need to fully display everything I have."
Lightning flashed, and Kashimo Hajime was enveloped in electricity.
The next second, lightning, like burning flames, rose from Kashimo Hajime's body.
Cursed Technique Release: Mythical Beast Amber.
This was a Cursed Technique Kashimo Hajime could only use once in his life.
This Cursed Technique could modify Kashimo Hajime's physical body, turning various phenomena generated by Cursed Energy into reality.
Due to the activation of electrical signals in his brain, Kashimo Hajime's speed and agility greatly increased.
In his Mythical Beast state, he could also achieve sound waves that optimized and synchronized with the inherent vibration frequency of matter, and even emit electromagnetic waves that vaporized anything they shone upon.
Just like the name of the Cursed Technique, Kashimo Hajime was now a humanoid Mythical Beast.
But these came at a cost. Although the Cursed Technique's modification of his body greatly enhanced Kashimo Hajime's combat power.
It also caused his physical body to be on the verge of collapse due to the extensive modifications.
After the battle, Kashimo Hajime would die from his body's collapse.
(To be continued.)
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◇ One bonus chapter will be released for every 200 Power Stones.
◇ You can read the ahead chapter on Pat if you're interested: p-atreon.c-om/Blownleaves (Just remove the hyphen to access normally.)