You don't understand how excited I've been writing these chapters. I love making combat up from scratch and boy are there some fun combat and dialogue dynamics in this and the next few chapters. Have fun reading.
"You know," Shohei sighed, straightening up instead of crouched and ready to fight. "You're the only person ever to sneak up on me. More than once nonetheless."
Hanami stood casual as well, tall as a tree saying nothing in response.
"Resilient too," Shohei complimented, wagging a finger at the humanoid curse. "If I recall you had the breaks beaten off of you by a series of black flashes from the physically strongest Tokyo student, your face caved in by a swing from Playful Cloud, a special grade cursed tool of raw power, wielded by the strongest student at Kyoto, your arm blown off by me, and supposedly hit with Satoru Gojo's attack that simply deletes mass."
"Not supposedly. It did graze me as I dived into the earth to escape," Hanami admitted, conversing with the sorcerer calmly, as if they never tried to kill each other. "It left me with only half my body. Satoru Gojo's attack took my other arm and leg. It took me all my will to cling to life. I spent the next week purely recovering."
"Is it odd I'm semi-pleased to see you again?" Shohei asked, crossing his arms and rubbing his chin. "This is nice. Talking instead of killing each other off the bat. I was really anxious about coming back to my old stomping grounds, but you're a welcome sight."
"Do not take my appearance here so lightly. I assure you I am not here to simply talk," Hanami warned, their tree eyes boring into Sho's bangs. "I will admit however. Talking with you is different."
"I assure you," Shohei said in a mocking tone back, "I won't be letting you leave after killing a family member of mine and threatening the rest. You also almost killed a lot of my chosen family back when you attacked. Don't think I've forgotten about that."
"His death was not planned," Hanami said, glancing down at the body Shohei had covered and then levitated to the base of the tower. "I told him to freeze and he did not listen. He lunged for the emergency signal and I was forced to stop him."
"But you failed," Sho scoffed, slightly peeved at the regalling of the man's death. "He alerted the outside world and you were found out."
"We wanted you here anyway," Hanami admitted. "The plan was to have a clan member directly contact you, but the alarm worked all the same."
"How did you find this place," Shohei grilled the curse. "This estate's location is a closely guarded secret of jujutsu society, but here you and your friend are. They've been creeping up on us this whole time." Shohei had pointed out the strong signature he previously sensed now scaling the tower. He had been watching it since it left the hostages.
"Those above you must suspect a spy in that case," Hanami said, still motionless as when they joined Shohei in the watchtower. "My cause has access to a resource older than when the property was moved and hidden. We tracked down the previous estate location and spent a great deal of time pinpointing a location for the estate to be placed within the country, isolated from populated areas, and in range should an emergency occur. After we found the physical location of this place it was a simple matter of infiltrating it, which I excel at. Not that there are any guards or competent sorcerers here to provide further protection."
"It all was simply a testing puzzle and then a nice hike out here," said a third voice, climbing the stairs and entering the open level of the watchtower. A humanoid cursed spirit joined the group, congregated atop the tower. A humanoid cursed spirit Shohei recognized as the one that sent Itadori into a rage when simply mentioned.
The curse was quite literally just a human, but with Frankenstein like patchwork stitches across his pale face. He had heterochromia like Shohei, his left dark blue and right dark gray. He had grayish-blue hair reaching past his neck and sectioned off into three parts with hair ties at the end. He wore a black shawl, furry black pants that might actually just have been his legs, and white shoes. He stood a little taller than five ten, looking relatively small compared to Hanami and Shohei's six foot plus muscular frames.
What caught Sho's attention more than anything concerning the curse's appearance was his cursed energy. The signature was rather large, even in a passive state in no form of action. It almost looked like paper crumpled and flattened over and over again, stretched and reformed with lasting indications of wear.
"Hello," the curse cooed politely, rather different than Hanami's direct and static tone. "I'm Mahito."
Shohei casually backed up to the edge of the tower, giving the three the appropriate space to occupy on the confined tower.
"You must be Shohei Gojo," Mahito giggled. "I've been so excited to meet you. You're the student who so gravely wounded Hanami and had to be restrained via custom curtain at your Exchange Event. I'm so glad we could lure away your troublesome cousin with the false bait of a Sukuna finger. That leaves you all alone up in these beautiful mountains with us to chat without interruption."
"Bait?" Shohei repeated in his mind. His heart dropped into his toes when he heard the curses had lured away Satoru.
"So, you lured me up here to use my family as leverage to try and kill me and them," Shohei said, beating Mahito to the punch.
"No try. We simply will," Mahito assured. "Killing you is the main goal. The rest of those sheep will just be a perk."
"I realized there is an infinitely slimmer chance of us reaching our goal of making curses the true humans of this world after almost dying," Hanami interjected for the first time. "With you backing Satoru Gojo at every turn, that's just one too many powerful sorcerers to oppose us. The plan to cripple Satoru Gojo by killing you was rather spur of the moment, and not all of our group agreed with it, but here we are."
"Glad to see you think of me as such a threat," Shohei said, stalling for time and trying to think of a means to escape with his family. "But you're in for a terrible ride. The heads and their right hands of the other clans are on their way thanks to your alarm."
"Don't lie little boy," Mahito cackled, looking at Shohei as if he were a child spouting a fictitious story he dreamed up. "We've heard the scoop on the other clans. We know the only capable sorcerers who know this location are no more than four in the Zenin and Kamo Clans. The Zenin are your rivals and would not come to your aid to simply see your downfall. And what aid can the Kamo provide you? That little boy with Blood Manipulation Hanami previously dispatched once already?"
Seeing the dialogue between them all was running thin, Shohei called out for Shooting Star and shuffled further from the two of them.
"Oh what?" Mahito mocked, clasping his cheeks as Shohei backed away. "No more lies to spin or witty banter to delay the inevitable."
"No," Shohei admitted.
"Then die like a good human," Mahtio growled, lunging for Shohei with outstretched arms.
As Mahito was upon Shohei, Shooting Star streaked through the curtain and into Shohei's hands. Sho swung the kanabo with a wide arc, catching Mahito's torso and forcing it to wrap around the club like a car wrapping around a tree during a wreck. The crunch of his ribs shattering, splattering of his innards, and spinal column snapping leaving his legs to dangle like noodles was a sign of a perfect strike on Shohei's behalf.
Mahito was sent crashing through the treeline below like a rag doll, and Hanami pursued his attack with their own. Hanami punched Sho in the chest as his arms still hung wide out from the swing. The blow was cushioned by Gravity Field, but Shohei was sent flying off of the tower.
Shohei suspended himself in the air rather than crash to the ground. Shohei shoved a hand outward to attack Hanami, but was swarmed with plants sprouting from the ground below. Shohei swung the already outstretched clawed hand of his toward the plants below, shredding them with a force of gravity.
Shohei looked up as a shadow flickered over him and saw Hanami had leapt from the tower. They were bearing down on him, but he seized them with Gravity Conductor and threw them into Mahito, who was just emerging from the treeline he was sent crashing into. The two of them were sent tumbling through the forest in a tangle of limbs.
Taking advantage of the lapse in battle, Shohei sped off to the storage area where he previously saw his family being trapped.
With all the speed he could manage in a confined space full of people he didn't want to crash into, Shohei streaked into the room like a flash of lightning. He weaved through the border of the room where the two dozen curses left standing guard were positioned. He dispatched them all with a swing of Shooting Star, a firm strike to their neck as a means to break it, or puncturing their chest with Gravity Field spinning extra viciously around Sho's hand.
Shohei tore from the storage area and returned to the courtyard of the estate, at the center of all buildings. A cherry blossom tree stood in the middle of the courtyard, already dormant for the upcoming winter season. Shohei hovered in the air over the cherry blossom, directly between the curses and the storage area full of people behind him.
Hanami and Mahito stood on the far edge of the courtyard. Sho examined them further. Sho did not expect Hanami to be damaged by any of his previous attacks, as it was extremely durable and they mostly just got tossed around.
Mahito however, who Sho by default assumed was squishier than Hanami, had perfectly recovered and had almost untouched reserves of cursed energy still. Mahito had healed from being hit by Shooting Star being summoned by reforming his body like any other strong curse could, but had so much cursed energy it didn't dwindle the reserves.
"Well shit," Shohei cursed, putting how difficult it would be to exorcize Mahito into frame. The curse probably had more cursed energy than anyone Sho has seen besides the special grade sorcerers, Rika Orimoto, and the third-year Kinji Hakari.
Shohei was suddenly more cautious of Mahito than Hanami. Shohei had seen almost all of Hanami's hand. Itadori was seemingly traumatized by his encounter with Mahito. Shohei, knowing Itadori had a tender heart not ready for all the cruelties of jujutsu sorcery, still thought of him as tough as nails. What could this curse do to disturb that boy so deeply?
"Color me impressed," Mahito cheered, clapping his hands and looking behind Sho to the storage area. "You killed all my transfigured humans before I even realized."
"What did he call those cursed spirits?" Shohei thought. "Were they some kind of shikigami? If they were and Mahito isn't afraid to fight up close, I might be at risk of being swarmed at some point."
"You look confused," Mahito commented.
Shohei caught himself making a stupid face in contemplation. He screwed his face back into a neutral look, but it was too late.
"Haha!" Mahito bellowed, pointing a finger at Sho and doubling over in laughter. "You didn't get the low down on my technique from that pink haired brat Sukuna calls a vessel? You moron!"
"Stop, Mahito," Hanami commanded. Mahito stifled his obnoxious laughter and looked at the armor clad curse. "Don't underestimate him. That just may be the end of the both of us."
"Oh stop Hanami," Mahito dismissed, waving a hand. "You give him too much credit."
This sparked a small back and forth between the two. In that time, Shohei blocked them out and rattled his brain to form a plan. He needed to lead his clan to safety, but Kamo was the only backup coming, and he had to make the long trip from Kyoto to there.
Shohei felt ashamed, but a thought crossed his mind about not worrying about saving the lives of his clan members and purely focus on exorcizing the curses. They were very powerful special-grades who outnumbered him and accidents happen. Shohei beat himself over the head even considering that as a possibility. Shohei reminded himself that Satoru trusted the lives of the clan to him.
Shohei at that point devoted himself to the notion of saving every last member of his family first and foremost rather than just trying to exorcize Mahito and Hanami. Shohei didn't know how he was going to pull it off, but he would.
Further thought and planning was interrupted by a wave of roots erupting in front of Shohei as Hanami and Mahito seemingly stopped bickering. The plant life composed completely of cursed energy was torn to shreds as Shohei redirected his outstretched hand to the roots.
Attempting to flank Shohei using the roots obscuring his vision, Mahito had appeared to Shohei's left, weaving a hand sign to attack. Shohei had sensed him moving the whole time and was prepared with another blast of gravity. Mahito was slammed into the ground, his attack dissipated, a small crater encircling him.
Hanami, always successful in surprising Shohei, had dove underground into the roots. Then soon erupted from the stumps lying motionless under Shohei and attempted to grab Shohei. Failing to tear him down to earth, Hanami was also blown away with their respective blast of force.
Fruitlessly, Hanami and Mahito reconvened at their previous edge of the courtyard. They whispered amongst themselves, eyeing each other and Shohei.
Shohei took that time to examine the storage vault. A signature stood at the door facing the courtyard. Shohei turned back and saw a woman peeking from behind the door.
"Get back inside!" Shohei called, his voice echoing through the cold night air and open space. "Barricade that door if you can. Lock it at the least. I will keep you safe!"
The woman disappeared into the vault, shutting the door. It might have been a hopeful trick of the mind, but Shohei thought he heard a small click echo from the door handle. Not that it would do much to stop the curses, but it gave Shohei some small degree of comfort.
"How pitiful," Mahito said, puffing his bottom lip. "The lonely little boy is gonna try to save all those poor souls."
"No try," Shohei said. "I will save them."
"You play a tough defensive tactic Shohei Gojo," Hanami called into the night. "But how will you fare defending others from something you can't sense?"
Hanami stalked off backwards into the nearby treeline and, like a ghost, disappeared from Shohei's range of sensing.
"Come back you pasty son of a bitch," Shohei growled, taking flight to pursue Hanami.
"Not so fast," Mahito chuckled, behind Shohei as he blazed past the curse.
A powerful surge of cursed energy demanded Shohei stop his flight course and turn around. A mass of twisted flesh was spiraling towards Shohei, a toothy maw reaching to bite him.
"Soul Multiplicity: Body Repel," Mahito called out.
The attack was smaller than the big roots Hanami fired, but it had almost as much cursed energy condensed into it, making it surely dangerous. Shohei barrel rolled, sending the attack wide and leaving it to sit in a heaping mass of flesh.
Mahito had sped to Shohei's backside and fired another Body Repel attack, forcing Shohei to block it, otherwise it would reach the storage vault. Shohei had to form a hand sign to adequately block it. The spiral of flesh was torn apart by the twisting force of Gravity Shohei surrounded it with.
Mahito danced around the courtyard, backing Shohei into a corner in defending the vault from these massive, ugly attacks. Shohei had no time for this. He had to hunt down Hanami or at least return to the vault, but he couldn't shake Mahito.
Shohei had to incapacitate Mahtio, but he wasn't going to lethally damage the curse with all its cursed energy to restore from. Shohei could immobilize him.
"Gravity Field: Death Row," Shohei chanted, his complexly intertwined fingers in a hand sign.
Mahito's passive smirk was dragged into a frown as the whole curse was forced to the ground. A personal Gravity Field actively entangled the curse, trapping him in powerful spiraling forces. Death Row was a technique derived from Gravity Field that would trap an opponent in a self contained shield, like Shohei's typical Gravity Field. It would slowly twist all their limbs and head until they were torn off at once, typically killing a target as they were beheaded. It was a powerful technique, but it could be resisted. It took time for the technique to twist the limbs, and the victim could prolong their death by physically resisting if powerful enough.
Mahito laid face down on the courtyard tile, his flesh stretched in every direction as he fought his neck from turning until broken and beheaded. Shohei returned a smirk at the arrogant curse soon to die.
As this technique could not be passively maintained by Gravity Conductor, Shohei had to concentrate on the technique. Shohei still had the ability to fly and suspend minor objects like his tools, but he lost all the offensive capabilities of Gravity Conductor.
Shohei soared over to the vault, breaking down the door as he crashed through it. He scanned the large room, seeing no sign of Hanami, but dozens of scared faces scattered in the darkness of the windowless room. The moonlight shining through the doorless frame was all the light the room had beside a few measly candles lit on the walls.
"I am Shohei Gojo," Shohei called out, almost automatically. He didn't know what else to say to the crowd besides, "I'm currently fighting the two special-grade curses who took you captive. I am here to save you all."
The crowd murmured, scared to speak like their voices would summon the curses to them.
A woman stepped forward from the crowd. It was the same one who was peeking from the door. She wore casual robes, those you would wear around the house while getting ready for bed. Her slippers were scuffed and dirty, as if she were forced from the house and outside in them. The small wrinkles one gets when one gets when both feet are in the door of adulthood were pronounced from the stress of the night. Shohei almost thought they had the same nose and ears.
"Shohei Gojo?" she asked in a meek voice. She stepped fully from the crowd and stood face to face with the boy. "I'm Eiko Gojo, your mother."
Mutteres surged in the crowd again. Confused whispers of "Where is Satoru?", "Who is that boy?", "I didn't know there was another active sorcerer from the clan", and "That must be the boy the council had trained under Satoru".
Shohei stood in stunned silence. He hadn't heard the whispers amongst the clan. It had been so long since he had returned to the clan that he hadn't recognized his own mother. Now she stood before him, he was sure of it.
She was tall for a woman, the top of her head reaching his nose. Her hair was salt and pepper black with grays streaking through it. It had been pure black last Shohei saw. Her warm brown eyes were anything but similar to Shohei's mismatched star-like ones. They assuredly had identical ears and noses however.
Shohei remembered eleven years ago her nose was red and her warm eyes were running with tears as he bid her goodbye. She collapsed in the arms of two women comforting her. A tall man had stood beside her, a somber hand on her shoulder as he watched Shohei leave. His father also had seen him off.
Shohei was five years old and it was only a day after his cursed technique Limitless had developed before the clan elders had come to a decision. They acted as the leaders of small affairs Satoru didn't deal with and elected for Shohei to study and train under Satoru. They wanted it as soon as possible so Shohei could master Limitless. Satoru picked him up in an hour's time and Shohei had not seen his family since.
"Mommy?" Shohei whispered, faced with the only woman he remembered from his childhood before being thrust into a sorcerer's life. The two slowly reached for each other's hand as tears welled in Eiko's eyes. "Is my father here?"
"No," the woman muttered, looking panicked again. "Was he not outside? He was in the watchtower when everything went down. He was not gathered together with us all."
Shohei felt sick. There was only one person who had been in the watchtower, and their head had painted the floor. His father was killed by Hanami. Eiko seemed to know as she lifted Shohei's bangs to look in his blank eyes. Her already teary eyes flooded as she cupped his cheek again and stood in grieving silence.
A small explosion broke their tender embrace with each other. In the back of the storage vault, Hanami had come crashing through the back wall. The clan scampered away like cockroaches fleeing from a light, but not all escaped. Hanami snatched up a young boy, not even a teenager yet, and held him between the space dividing Hanami and Shohei. The curse's large hand wrapped fully around the boy's neck, ready to snap it at the twitch of a muscle.
Before Hanami could make a demand, Shohei tossed Shooting Star to the ground far from him, pushed his mother behind him, and raised his arms as if he were being held at gunpoint.
"Release your hold on Mahito, return to the court, and lie face down with your arms and legs crossed behind your back," Hanami commanded, jostling the boy in their hand.
The boy could even let out a whimper from his clenched throat, but his streaming tears were all too apparent. The clan kept shuffling further and further from the curse, trying to flee but not draw attention to themselves.
Shohei felt a fire in his heart leap to his throat as he laid eyes on the curse. Furious with the curse for sinking as low as to threaten a child so brutally. Furious that the curse would threaten his whole family. Furious the curse took his father's life before Shohei could ever speak a word to him again.
Shohei suppressed the fire from making him act unwisely and reminded himself that Hanami was a curse. Curses were evil at the root and would do anything to get what they wanted. Hanami was no exception.
"Fine," Shohei muttered. "I'll release my technique." Gravity Field dropped away from Shohei. His hair rose from his eyes, revealing them to be leering at Hanami, an expression of cold rage decorating Shohei's blank face.
Like a starting pistol, Hanami's bark at the sign of its mistake sent Shohei rocketing like a bat out of hell. Shohei crossed the distance of the room with a leap, tearing over the heads of the captives and landing in front of Hanami. In one motion, Shohei unsheathed Iguana Talon, empowered the blade to the brim with cursed energy, and tore Hanami's arm off at the shoulder.
The child fell into Shohei's cradling arms. Shohei spun on his heel, child pressed to his chest, and kicked Hanami in the stomach, sending it back through the hole it crashed through.
"Run!" Shohei commanded the room of people. "Flee into the mountains outside the curtain and don't stop. Don't stop scaling the mountains even if you get lost. Just get away from this place. I will stay and distract the curses."
Shohei helped the elderly few to their feet and shooed them all like he were chasing off a pack of dogs. The people clambored through the one door of the vault and Shohei lost sight of his mother in the crowd.
Shohei stood at the center of the empty vault, watching Hanami's signature saunter through the greenery outside the vault and climb back through the hole.
"I see you've gotten faster," Hanami commented, squaring off with Shohei. "I didn't think you'd be so bold as to charge me with the child at risk."
"I feel dirty for gambling his life, but weren't you the one who said not to underestimate me," Shohei grunted, raising his guard and readying his feet.
"Valuing life is not a weakness," Hanami said. "But not knowing when to risk your own or others is simple ignorance."
"Tall talk for a curse who kills innocents to save their own life," Shohei scoffed.
"Maybe I am a hypocrite," Hanami admitted. "You're fast. But how will you fare without Sukuna's vessel and that gorilla to help you."
"I didn't need them then and I don't need them now," Shohei retorted, watching for the last of the people's signatures to exit the vault. "You were just a tool to let Itadori grow some more. I should've killed you back then instead of playing with you."
"Do not lie," Hanami said. "I saw the fear in your eyes before I cast my Domain."
"They say sorcerer's can express the truth through their fists," Shohei explained, recalling a lesson he learnt from Todo. "Come see I am nothing but honest."
Hanami and Shohei lunged at one another. Shohei ducked a large swing of the curse and connected an uppercut. Hanami kneed Sho in the stomach before slamming its massive arms onto his shoulders. Shohei felt his knees buckle under the slam, but delivered a combo of lethal hooks and gouging slashes to Hanami's midsection.
The two split and clashed again, punches soaring, kicks landing, red and purple blood dotting the floor.
Shohei was moderately faster than Hanami, letting him dodge any blow that wasn't given its all, but only his own precise and powerful attacks did significant damage. Even Iguana Talon was only scratching Hanami unless Shohei supercharged it, but then once the blade broke it opened a small window of weakness that Hanami capitalized on one too many times for Shohei to keep supercharging the blade.
Shohei's fists were bloodied and legs were numb from beating against Hanami's hard, armor-like carapace. The few spots where Hanami had connected devastating blows were screaming at Shohei, but the boy had to hold out at least until he saw all the clan had left the curtain.
Hanami delivered a world rattling hook to Shohei's temple, and Shohei stumbled back, wondering how long it would take the remaining half of the clan to meander out of the estate.
Shohei attempted to pressure Hanami, but his blows were faltering as he reverted to dodging more than striking to gather himself. Hanami's immediate healed wounds did nothing for Shohei's morale.
As Shohei failed to retract Iguana Talon fast enough from a slashing jab, Hanami seized his arm. The curse pulled the boy in and headbutted him with all its weight as he stumbled forward. Shohei's eyes rolled back into his skull.
Hanami threw Shohei to the ground and straddled him, bashing him in the face relentlessly. Raising his arms limply and concentrating on Gravity Conductor was all Shohei could do to maintain Mahito's restraints.
Like a gift from god, Shohei sensed his last kinsman exit the curtain, leaving just Shohei, Hanami, and Mahito left.
As Hanami bashed Shohei in the face time and time again, Shohei flooded his body with cursed energy. The renewed fire in his heart and stomach at the flooding thoughts of his father gave the boy newfound strength to carry on for days. The curse's blows' effectiveness lessened every strike, until Shohei was staring into the curse's branch eyes with a subtle madness plaguing his own.
"My turn," Shohei growled through gritted, blood spattered teeth, tired of getting his face caved in. Shohei uppercut Hanami from the ground with so much force, the curse was sent flying off of him and stumbling to their feet.
Shohei scrambled to his feet and crashed into Hanami, slamming his own head into the curse's eye tree, crumpling the branch. Hanami stumbled back due to its weak point splintering from the headbut.
"You killed my father in that tower," Shohei mumbled with a subtle laughter creeping through his voice. "Good luck now. I might as well have had my strength doubled from the reinforcement and it feels extra potent from that heartbreak."
Shohei purused Hanami with a flurry of blows, all suddenly capable of harming the curse consistently. With his naturally trained strength rivaling that of those so physically gifted like Itadori and Maki, Shohei did double his strength and durability with his reinforcement, also getting a nice boost to his exceptional speed.
This let each blow do such significant damage that even the weaker ones were striking with as much, if not more, force than every single hit Itadori landed on Hanami. Except for his Black Flashes of course. Shohei did not let up on striking Hanami in the face to further damage the curse's weak face branches.
Hanami leapt a far distance away and seemingly poured a hefty amount of cursed energy into its face, properly healing its branches. Taking advantage of the space again, Hanami conjured half a dozen wicker balls. The orbs floated around Hanami and fired long spiked branches towards Shohei across the room.
The wooden spears were slow to Shohei when he didn't have his speed almost doubled, so weaving through their attacks in a b line to Hanami was no problem.
Shohei was upon Hanami with a wicked grin before it had realized, sending a wild haymaker into their jaw. This sent Hanami tumbling across the room, slamming into a side wall.
Again, not learning from the last attempt, Hanami attempted a ranged attack on Shohei. This time the curse flung a handful of cursed buds toward Shohei. These buds were harmless to his last fight, due to them only landing and damaging a target the more cursed energy they used to block. This time since he was reinforced with cursed energy, they posed a threat. That is, if they could land.
Shohei leapt over the buds and attempted to crash down onto Hanami with a devastating ax kick, but the curse dodged as the ground below was shattered.
Hanami, now recomposed, engaged in a hand to hand exchange with Shohei once again. Shohei was thoroughly trouncing Hanami in terms of speed, but Hanami was able to hurt Sho despite the reinforcement. The durability given to Shohei let him absorb those damaging blows he failed to dodge and the goal of tearing Hanami apart for his father kept him from being distracted by the pain of the strikes.
The two slugged it out, Shohei landing three or four punches for every one of Hanami's. Not wanting to be the one to falter and possibly lose the tide of battle, they remained toe to toe and brawled. Hanami was getting devastated by Shohei's countless powerful strikes, but was gritting their teeth through it all. Endurance was the name of Hanami's game and their few powerful blows weren't seemingly fazing Shohei in a one-track mind, but they were taking a toll on his body after some time.
Iguana Talon enshrouded with cursed energy, Shohei stunned Hanami with a lightning fast jab to its branches and hacked off Hanami's arm once again. The strike was devastating, but the bud on Hanami's shoulder still remained. Shohei was half hoping he could cut it off and it wouldn't regenerate. It was the key for Hanami casting a Domain, and that was the last thing Shohei wanted right now.
With Iguana Talon briefly broken, Shohei casted it off to the side, levitating beside him until he needed it. Shohei seized Hanami's two branches in hand, pivoted his back into the curse, and judo flipped Hanami to the ground.
Seeing an extended moment of weakness in Hanami and a chance to thoroughly wound it, Shohei clenched an eye branch in each hand and placed a foot on Hanami's face.
"Let's see how deep the roots go," Shohei growled as he tore up, feeling the branches resist him with all their might at first, but buckling under his strength.
Shohei stood with three feet of fleshy roots covered in purple curse blood and fleshy tissue. Shohei cast the branches onto Hanami's chest and spat on the curse in disgust as they lay there, writhing in pain. He rubbed his hands together, trying to remove the speckles of curse blood that got on them.
Shohei looked back to Hanami and saw their cursed energy fluctuating briefly before diminishing greatly. Without the branches protruding from Hanami's face the two hollow eye sockets made the curse appear more human in an disturbing way.
"Big mistake," Mahito's voice rang out in the empty room, like an air raid siren, chilling Shohei to the bone.
Shohei turned back to the entrance of the vault and saw the curse, free from his technique, and his mother in his clutches.