Jinichi Zenin's eyes remained wide open. The sneer on his face hadn't had time to fade before he toppled over, gaze still fixed on Kira.
Thud. He hit the floor with a muffled sound.
Blood pooled across the ground.
"Hasegawa Kaede!"
Naoya Zenin watched in disbelief. Watched Jinichi crumple.
Who could have imagined that a man radiating humility and composure one second would commit murder the next?
A sharp whistle of displaced air came from his flank. Reflex took over—he whipped around. A small shadow fell across his face.
"Look at me!!"
A thunderclap split the clear air, and the earth shuddered. The blast wave erupted outward.
Stray Cursed Energy tore through the hall, ripping jagged cracks across the marble floor like a smashed eggshell.
Naoya Zenin was a Special Grade 1 sorcerer for good reason—one of the candidates for the next head of the Zenin Clan. His first instinct was to channel Cursed Energy around his skull.
A wall of fire filled his vision. The savage detonation consumed half his head in an instant.
Every pore, every strand of hair twisted, disintegrated, and turned to ash in the searing heat.
In a single moment, he'd lost all the poise and elegance befitting a Zenin heir. Hair singed and tangled, he looked like a destitute beggar.
"Kill him—"
He swatted Sheer Heart Attack aside with a pulse of Cursed Energy, stumbled back several steps, and barked at the stunned guards: "Kill him—"
The words froze on his lips. Right before his eyes, a Grade 1 retainer of the Zenin Clan turned to ash instantaneously.
Kira lowered his right hand and flicked it casually, shaking off the annoying cinders and embers. Amid the horror on Naoya's face, he raised that hand toward him—
Clap.
"Swap."
Todo.
Kira's figure vanished from the spot, swapped with an isolated sorcerer's position. The strike landed on the hall's wall instead, transforming the entire multi-meter structure into a bomb.
"Best friend—stop this."
Todo pressed his palms together. The hulking man's expression was mournful now, the faint scar across his features etched with grief.
"I believe you are Nanami Kira. Not some bullshit curse user! I never bought a word of those idiots' garbage!!"
"Because that day—that midsummer afternoon—we went to Shibuya Station together for Takada's handshake event."
"You were so earnest, so sincere. No disgusting, two-faced curse user could ever fake that!"
The man stared hard into Kira's eyes. Stared and stared.
"So stand down. Leave this place. I'll hold off everyone who tries to stop you."
"If you keep killing, there's no coming back."
"You—you want a quiet life, don't you? If you keep killing, how will you ever find peace?"
The roughhewn man was so sorrowful, so earnest—as if pleading, as if begging.
"Todo."
Kira pressed the switch. The massive wall behind him shattered.
Piece by piece it came apart, slab by slab it flew, and the storm outside poured through the breach. Through the gaping hole, the sky was visible—clouds dark and heavy, lightning flickering between them.
Kira stood with his back to it all. Back to that world swaying in wind and rain. His face was calm. Neither grief nor joy.
"You're one of the few people I don't dislike. Leave now."
Lightning struck the sky behind him, splitting the darkness into a blaze of white. Heaven and earth blanched. The world went still. The ground trembled. And in that flash, Kira's quiet smile was illuminated down to the finest detail.
"You wanted me to be a demon.
Wanted me to be a curse user who slaughters civilians.
Wanted me to be an unforgivable criminal.
Wanted me to be sin, to be evil. Wanted me to be an inhuman Satan."
He spoke softly:
"Then I'll grant your wish."
"Insolence!"
A Grade 1 sorcerer of the Kamo Clan struck first. Blood sprayed in all directions—dark crimson arrows launched from every angle, converging on Kira.
Each carried a staggering force. Those deep-red shafts cut through the dim air like dark stars plunging through the night sky.
Killer Queen materialized before Kira. Its black hand shot upward, catching the first arrow and detonating it into fragments, then swept past the next, grazing it—light as a dragonfly skimming water.
Like a black fish weaving through surging waves, Killer Queen's hands danced through the rain of arrows, faster and faster and faster...
Then it stopped. Silent explosions bloomed in the air.
Kira hadn't moved. He held Todo's gaze, waiting for his answer.
A long silence.
"Then we'll just have to curse each other."
"I won't regret killing you. I won't resent you for killing me. I'm grateful to have had you as a friend."
Todo spoke quietly.
"Then we'll just have to curse each other."
Kira answered:
"Same."
Clap.
A single clap echoed through the hall.
Kira vanished. When he reappeared, he'd landed squarely in an encirclement—retainers of the Zenin, Gojo, and Kamo Clans. In an instant, the hall erupted with color as Cursed Energy flared from every direction.
Red, searing, flowing—the blood of the Kamo Clan, scattering into the air, forming ring after ring of thorn-covered nets that closed around Kira.
Black, viscous—Zenin shikigami. Winged lions. Spike-covered elephants. Serpents stretching over a dozen meters. Countless shikigami poured forth from beneath the Zenin retainers' feet.
They howled. They roared. Their faces twisted with fury as they surged forward to crush him.
Killer Queen appeared in front of Kira, crimson slit-pupils glowing cold. It tore through ring after ring of blood-nets and charged into the beast tide.
The blue tank raced forward like a bolt of blue lightning, slamming into the snarling monstrosities. Blood erupted across the stampede—bloom after bloom, like ten thousand red flowers opening across an endless field.
Sheer Heart Attack ripped through the beasts' formation. The very next second, Killer Queen had already reached the shikigami, right hand rising high. With terrifying force, it slammed the leading hawk into the ground.
Detonation.
A sea of blood began to spread.
Clap.
Todo clapped again. Killer Queen vanished from its position. He understood that Kira's shikigami couldn't stray too far from its master.
This was both its weakness and its strength. The advantage: Todo could never use his technique to separate Kira from Killer Queen—the shikigami would follow its master through any swap. But within a limited range—Killer Queen's effective radius—he could reposition it independently. And in those earlier exchanges, Todo had already mapped Kira's range exactly.
With that clap, Killer Queen disappeared from sight. Todo had swapped it into the Kamo formation directly behind Kira.
"Blood Bind!"
At the low command, several Grade 1 sorcerers channeled their power simultaneously. Blood erupted in the dim air, splitting into thread after thread, weaving layer upon layer of crimson nets that enveloped Killer Queen.
Killer Queen reached out and touched the thorned mesh, trying to convert it into a bomb—but failed. The blood threads were severed. Segmented. Separated. The net wasn't a single object.
Killer Queen only destroyed one section.
The Kamo retainers weren't fools. They'd already learned about Killer Queen's ability to convert anything into a bomb—but only one at a time. So they'd redesigned the net accordingly.
And with Killer Queen pinned down, the beast tide that had been held at bay came surging forward. Sheer Heart Attack darted through the stampede, downing beast after beast, but finally, a three-headed tiger shikigami broke through to Kira.
Nanami Kira couldn't use Cursed Techniques. His body was his weak point.
Clap, clap, clap.
Todo clapped again.
Mechamaru, Gakuganji, and Naoya had closed in on Kira.
"Mreow!"
A small pink cat burst from the breast pocket of Kira's jacket, swiping its paws with theatrical grandeur as it lunged at Mechamaru. The air compressed violently, forming devastating air bullets that rained down in a blanket bombardment.
Caught off guard, Mechamaru's arms, shoulders, head, and torso erupted with bullet holes. He crashed to the ground.
Stray Cat landed on top of him, curling its two leaves smugly—but a foot in an expensive leather shoe stomped down hard, driving the protruding Stray Cat into the floor.
"Mrow..." Stray Cat's eyes rolled back. It went limp.
Naoya Zenin stepped on Stray Cat's body and strode forward, elegant and menacing.
His Cursed Energy began to circulate. Black tendrils wound around his fingertips as he loomed over Kira, sneering. "Weep, Hasegawa Kaede. Despair. Why did you have to possess such a useless waste who can't even use Cursed Techniques?"
A dark, monstrous serpent coiled around his arm, its sharp fangs gleaming. Jinichi thrust his left arm forward—serpent and all—in a sweeping strike at Kira.
"That's what you get for possessing a mongrel who can't use a single technique!"
"He's the disgrace of the jujutsu world!"
His face contorted with rage—then froze.
His left hand was gone.
Along with the shikigami. Gone.
"My name is Nanami Kira. I am thirty-three years old."
"Family name Kira. Given name Nanami."
A calm voice. Kira watched him. His pupils were still waters.
"I can use Cursed Techniques. Better than any of you."
Black Cursed Energy surged around his fingertips. He raised his hand and aimed at the 7:3 point of Naoya Zenin's torso—
And cut.
Nanami Kira had always claimed his shikigami were the product of a Heavenly Restriction—his talent for Cursed Techniques traded away as the price. But the truth was the opposite.
They had been awakened afterward—drawn out by the Arrow.
He'd once ranked third at Jujutsu High. First was Satoru Gojo. Second was Suguru Geto. And he had only ever wanted third.
Because people only remember first and second. Third is forgotten. He liked being forgotten. Liked not drawing attention. Liked living as quietly as a plant.
Because that made him happy.
In a spray of blood, Naoya Zenin's body was cleaved cleanly in two. The cross-section was smooth and flat—like a watermelon sliced open.
Looking past that pristine cut, one could see Kira wiping his hands. The black Cursed Energy slowly dissipated.
"Those with resolve are always happy."
Kira looked at the stampeding beasts. Looked at the sorcerers' terrified faces. He spread his arms wide.
"Let me feel happiness, sorcerers. Show me your resolve."