Chapter 22
Megumi heard the door open and saw Joesfu coming in. "Hanto…" Megumi began, "I didn't think I'd see you so soon. I heard about what you did to help me. Thank you." "It's no problem, Fushiguro," Josefu replied. "Please," Megumi requested, "Call me by my first name." "Ok, Megumi. Call me by my first name too, then," Josefu answered. "Now then," Josefu continued, "I need to tell you something serious." "What is it, Josefu?" Megumi asked. "Remember when you told me your sister was in a coma, and you didn't know what caused it?" At the sound of this, Megumi's eyebrow raised. "Yes…" Josefu leaned in. "I found out what happened." Megumi's eyes widened, and he sat up quickly. "What happened to Tsumiki?!" Megumi asked desperately. In keeping the common knowledge of the situation consistent, Josefu replied, "It was due to the evilest sorcerer in Jujutsu history: Kamo Noritoshi. He took your sister and placed a curse object on her. She wasn't strong enough to be a host, so she fell into that coma." Megumi's face paled, and his mouth hung open. He remained that way for a while before he clenched his fists, gritted his teeth, and looked at the floor, shaking. "So… It was all that? Some old stain on the Kamo clan that wanted to take advantage of my sister?!" Megumi asked with a harsh tone. "Yes," Josefu answered, "And she isn't the only one. That man is trying to resurrect old curse users from centuries ago for what scheme he has cooked up. However, we might be able to stop him somewhat if we act quickly. Can you stand?" Megumi attempted to stand. After doing so, he staggered for a moment before regaining his balance, albeit with a ragged breath that stabilized after a moment. "Does anyone else know?" Megumi asked. "No," Josefu answered, "Given the risk to your sister, I wanted to tell you first." Megumi growled, "Good! This man believes he can hurt good people and get away with it. This world may be unfair, but I will not allow him to harm Tsumiki!" Megumi got ready in a hurry before Josefu walked to the window. "Josefu?" Megumi pondered, "What are you doing?" "Take a look," Josefu replied before jumping out the window. Megumi ran over in shock, only to see lightning rain down from the sky and pick up Josefu, now stuck to the wall. "Neat trick, huh?" Josefu remarked, "This will get us to Tsumiki faster. Hop on!" Megumi accepted Josefu's hand as they soared into the thundercloud and drifted into the sky of the curse-riddled Tokyo.
Back at Jujutsu High, Panda raced all over the grounds, searching for Josefu. After Yuta left Inumaki's room to let him rest, sees Panda scrambling everywhere and halted him. Yuta asked, "Panda, what's wrong?" "Have you seen Hanto?" Panda replied worriedly. "I saw him in the medical building tending to people's wounds. Why do you need to see him?" Yuta answered. Panda explained, "Before we fought that Noritoshi guy, I saw him hiding from the remaining curses. He looked like he was in a lot of pain. Even though he brushed off my questions, I still wanted to be sure he was fine. But now I can't find him, and it concerns me." "You said he was in pain?" Yuta pondered, "He didn't look that way when he came to Toge's room. However, I could tell he was a little ragged with his movements. Hanto's curse energy was also dwindling as well. I'm surprised it didn't spill out of him, given how much he put into healing Toge…" Panda's eyes widened as Yuta spoke. 'This sounds worse than I thought,' Panda mused.
Meanwhile, Utahime and Gakuganji searched the grounds for Josefu, yet their search was fruitless. "Where is that boy?" Gakuganji groaned, "This is becoming a chore for me…" Utahime looked up at the sky. "And these thunderclouds," Utahime mused aloud, "Something's unusual today…" Eventually, both stopped searching and looked over the students, though they ensured everyone was on high alert. The Higher-ups were also annoyed by this delay. Considering how rare a special grade is, it is urgent to put them in their place as soon as possible.
Josefu and Megumi arrived at the hospital where Tsumiki was, sneaking through the window as the staff had already evacuated from Tokyo. The pair scuttled from the window and down the hospital's main hall before arriving at Tsumiki's room. "Here she is," Megumi began, "What do we do?" "Let me see…" Josefu answered. Joesfu leaned over Tsumiki before stretching his curse energy around her body and locating it in Tsumiki's stomach. "It's in her stomach… Think you can fish it out?" Josefu asked. "How could I do that?" Megumi retorted. "You summon Shikigami through shadows, right? The insides of a human are in shadow. Surely you could summon some small parts of them in her and remove the object," Josefu inquired. Megumi thought about it before replying, "I'll see what I can do." Megumi turned to Tsumiki, sweating, and gritting his teeth before taking a deep breath to maintain his composure.
Megumi focused on Tsumiki, feeling the shadows within her stomach before summoning the snout of his Divine Dog. "You were right!" Megumi exclaimed, "I can use my curse technique inside her." "Sense anything?" Josefu asked. "My Divine Dog's located it. Much like Sukuna's fingers, it seems indestructible, so we're going to have to seal it after we get it out of Tsumiki," Megumi concluded before summoning the eye of his Divine Dog and closing his left eye. "What are you doing now?" Josefu asked. "Getting a better look," Megumi answered before summoning multiple arms from Bunny Escape to grab the cursed object and pat it down to remove any stomach acid clinging to it. Before long, though, there was a rustling sound. Josefu pivoted just in time to notice Kenjaku sneaking around. "I see you, Kamo," Josefu stated harshly. Megumi paused and started to look over. "Don't!" Josefu exclaimed, "Focus on your sister. I'll buy you some time!" Josefu began to walk towards Kenjaku. Megumi had the impression that Josefu had the same steely gaze he always had in a fight as he could see Josefu's face. "Tch. Once again, I find you interfering," Kenjaku remarked scornfully, "This time, I'm going to make sure I deal with you…" Josefu detected a curse approaching Tsumiki. "Megumi!" Josefu shouted, "Look out!" Megumi paused again before seeing the curse start to use its curse technique on Tsumiki. Megumi summoned his Toad shinigami and utilized its tongue to trap and throw the curse away, but not before its technique activated. This curse was the curse Kenjaku picked up, possessing the curse technique to transmute aspects of things into one another. And now a part of that cursed object lay dormant in Tsumiki, something Megumi couldn't sense, but Josefu did, causing him to growl at Kenjaku before fearlessly rushing at him and striking him with an attack strong enough to send him out of the room. "Keep going, Megumi!" Josefu yelled before fight Kenjaku. Their movements were clear, precise, and well-executed. Kenjaku immediately realized that Joesfu had a similar exact amount of combat experience as he did through his movement and fighting technique. "I can't do this without you, Josefu!" Megumi exclaimed. "Yes, you can! You know your shikigami," Josefu countered an attack from Kenjaku as he continued, "You have the desire and will to save Tsumiki! Focus on that and use it. Have faith in your heart!" Josefu forced Kenjaku back with some aikido, falling out of Megumi's sight.
After steadying his breathing and concentrating on Tsumiki once again, Megumi finally removed the stomach acid from the cursed object and used the collective arms of Bunny Escape to slowly move it out of her stomach and through her esophagus. The slowness was for Megumi to maintain his composure by ensuring Tsumiki's esophagus didn't sustain damage by using the eye of the Divine Dog to monitor the movements. After what felt like mere seconds, Megumi saw part of the cursed object. He pulled it out of Tsumiki's mouth, observing it before realizing it was a mummified toe that appeared warped and mangled. Unbeknownst to Megumi, this was the effect of the curse technique. The curse had integrated a part of this object with Tsumiki, unknowingly strengthening her. Megumi remained close to Tsumiki, hoping she would wake up.
Meanwhile, Josefu beat back Kenjaku, getting a few good hits on Kenjaku. Kenjaku eventually entered a struggle, growling at the level of experience he was facing. "Who are you?!" Kenjaku exclaimed, "You're no child. You're something else!" Josefu chucked for a moment. "I'm not surprised you noticed, Kenjaku," Josefu stated bluntly. Kenjaku's eyes widened, but he kept his breath steady and didn't allow invasive thoughts to disrupt his curse reinforcement. Josefu began while continuing his combative exchange with Kenjaku, "I'm someone who's seen conflict after conflict. Every man, woman, and child I've met was someone I've been able to pass away from. But you Kenjaku are the most annoying, reckless, feckless worm I've ever laid on!" Josefu glared as Kenjaku gave him a piercing, bored gaze. "Do you think childish insults will faze me?" Kenjaku sneered, though he couldn't hide his heavy breathing or the sweat dripping down his face. Josefu said so much concerning who he was because, in Kenjaku's mind, he could conceptualize the capacity to trade one life for another and learn to blend in as time trudged on and new eras emerged.
Furthermore, the vagueness of Josefu's statements would naturally make Kenjaku assume that Josefu was either immortal like Tengen, swapped bodies like he did, or could somehow reincarnate after every time he died rather than simply being a dimension hopper. As the two of them clashed, a shattering sound emerged, making Kenjaku smirk. "Well, Josefu Hanto," Kenjaku remarked, "If you refuse to allow my plans to come to fruition, then I may as well take this building down." Kenjaku laughed as he blasted down the hallway with Josefu in hot pursuit. That is until Josefu was blasted away by an unknown threat, and worst of all, Josefu couldn't read their movements due to their curse energy being too chaotic, leading to him getting knocked into the wall.
Meanwhile, Megumi remained at Tsumiki's side, his heart racing as she started to open her eyes. Tsumiki looked around for a moment before her eyes settled on Megumi's. "Megumi!" Tsumiki cried out in jubilation. Megumi said nothing. Instead, he hugged Tsumiki tightly, tearing up after hearing her speak. "Tsumiki," Megumi replied at last, "I'm sorry for what I said-" "Shh…" Tsumiki uttered, patting Megumi's back, "I'm not mad. I'm just happy to see you." Then a sudden crashing noise ratted through the room, Making Tsumiki jump out of bed, which was a surprise to Megumi as given she had been in a coma for a few months, she'd likely have some minor degenerative effects yet, now Tsumiki moved as if she'd been training her acrobatics and endurance for years. Megumi, however, immediately brushed it off as he wanted nothing more than to get her out of the hospital when curse users were causing trouble nearby. "Come on! We have to have to go!" Megumi shouted before grabbing Tsumiki's hand, causing them to run out of the room and dash for the elevator as it was closer than the stairs.
The banging grew louder as Megumi and Tsumiki raced to the elevator before the wall beside them burst apart, sending a pummeled Josefu into the far wall across the room. Josefu possessed numerous burns and cuts, breathing heavily. Josefu's face and the fingers on his left hand remained mangled from prior attacks. As the dust settled, an exhilarated Kashimoto emerged before he zipped to Josefu, bearing down on him. Meanwhile, Josefu dodged, gritting his teeth. Megumi and Tsumiki stared in shock at the sight, perplexed at how Joesfu managed to endure his attacker. "And here I thought I'd meet a real opponent," Kashimoto sneered, "Still, I commend enduring those ten discharges. But this will be the end of you!" Josefu motioned wordlessly to Megumi to leave with Tsumiki. Yet, Megumi was paralyzed by what he saw.
Josefu, as Megumi knew him, always managed to think of intricate strategies. Yet, his curse energy was reaching its limit, and Josefu wasn't even trying to strike as hard as Kashimoto was. Josefu's eyes also didn't hold his usual steely gaze. Rather, his focus now glimpsing through a black haze of shadows made in the form of a bottomless vase leading to nothing. Through that visage, Megumi understood that Josefu was no longer using his technique as an extension of himself but rather as a deterrent to buy Megumi and Tsumiki time to flee, even if it meant perishing here. Megumi saw Josefu stretching everything he had to endure, no longer caring for himself or learning. As Megumi bore witness to these events, Gojo's advice of expressing who he was on the battlefield during his secret training raced through his head. At last, Megumi understood Gojo's words: by constantly sacrificing and never caring for himself, he became blind to his potential. The event with the special grade finger-bearer and the first emergence of his incomplete domain expansion flashed next, for that was a moment Megumi didn't sacrifice himself. He took a risk like Josefu would do often. Observing Josefu once again, Megumi thought, 'Josefu is doing everything he can to keep me and Tsumiki together. I should take advantage of this. But, Josefu's wounds and the lack of light in his eyes as he fights. He's destroying himself for me. I should go, but my heart is screaming: Don't let him die!' Megumi's eyes hardened as he gritted his teeth. "Tsumiki! Take the stairs. I'll be with you soon!" Megumi commanded. "Megumi?" Tsumiki asked. Megumi confirmed, "I'm going to save my friend." Tsumiki understood and began sneaking towards the stairs.
Megumi, observing Kashimoto, suddenly got a risky idea, deciding to stop allowing his instincts to rule him. Megumi summoned Bunny Escape but with the inherited powers of Nue, creating a cascade of winged rabbit shinigami that shared electrical discharge between each other. Megumi used this new electrical current to imprison Kashimoto in a cage of electricity before he ran to Josefu's side and hoisted him onto his back. "W-what are you…" Josefu murmured. "Quiet," Megumi retorted, "Focus on healing yourself. I'm taking over from here." Josefu listened, converting the last of his curse energy to reverse curse energy before restoring his face and fingers.
Then Josefu had a nosebleed and slumped onto Megumi's back, too exhausted to stand on his feet. In Josefu's mind, the forces scowled. That was a pathetic move. Especially for the likes of you. You simpleton! We still have this wonderful show to witness, and it leaves quite a bitter taste that you are attempting to cut it short. Josefu didn't respond. He couldn't respond, not only due to his lack of energy but his newfound lack of motivation to keep fighting. Megumi used the moment to quickly escape with his shinigami, using the electrical current between Bunny Escape to shield Josefu and him from Kashimoto's lighting strikes before tricking him into falling into an elevator shaft and forcibly closing it. Megumi carried Josefu away before meeting Tsumiki, who was a little exhausted from running down too many stairs, and the trio escaped into Tokyo, eluding Kashimoto for now.
