Chapter 54

‘This is bad.’ 

Megumi's pragmatic personality shone brightly as he suddenly found himself isolated after seemingly having been teleported away from his teammates, ‘Out of everyone from Kyoto, it seems most likely that this technique would belong to Aoi Todo. Normally I wouldn’t picture that muscle head having a utility-based technique capable of teleporting people, but it seems that we underestimated him.’ 

Despite Kiniro’s offer, the information he divulged about the Kyoto students was sparse; instead, he opted to tell them whom they should avoid and who they should target. 

However, it seemed that Kiniro had told Kyoto the exact same information given Megumi’s current predicament. 

‘Three of them…’ Megumi thought as he registered three distinct signatures in the trees surrounding him, ‘They’re investing a great deal of manpower to deal with me…but why?’ 

Before Megumi could discover an answer, the twang of a bowstring had his body moving before he could actively register the threat. From the treetops, an arrow shot towards Megumi, looking to strike him in the center mass, but he managed to roll to the side and avoid the arrow…or so he thought. 

Just as Megumi went to stand up, he watched as the arrow suddenly curved back around, ignoring the laws of physics, and shot directly back towards him. 

Holding out his hands Megumi’s fingers bent into a distinct shape and a second later his shadow exploded as a seemingly unending swarm of white rabbits erupted into the air effortlessly absorbing the arrow meant for their master. 

Clicking his tongue in disappointment, Noritoshi knocked another arrow even as the rabbits formed a loose clump protecting Megumi, who was no doubt in their center, “I can’t get a shot!” 

“Understood,” Mechumaru replied as a massive spike of cursed energy announced his next move, “Attempting to flush him out.” 

A heartbeat later, a massive pillar of cursed energy tore through the clearing, instantly vaporizing the horde of rabbits. Even before the attack arrived, Noritoshi had drawn his bow, ready to release his next arrow when the dust settled or had Megumi tried to make a run for it. 

However, the latter hadn’t happened, and even after a full second passed, Noritoshi didn’t see anything.

‘Where did he go!?’ 

Suddenly, a terrible sense of deja vu gripped Noritoshi’s heart, and without even a second's hesitation, he threw himself from the tree just as he felt a hand graze the back of his shirt. 

Turning around in midair, Noritoshi still had his bow drawn, ready to fire; however, the only target he could find was a disembodied hand that quickly vanished into the shadows cast on the tree trunk. 

Gritting his teeth, Noritoshi flipped back around and landed on the ground in a crouch, where he was immediately joined by Mai, who ran over, her revolver held down by her side, “What happened?! Where is he?!”

“He’s moving through the shadows,” Noritoshi announced as his eyes scanned the forest around them 

“Through the shadows? Since when has he been able to do that?!” Mai gritted her teeth as she moved to stand behind Noritoshi while raising her revolver, ready to fire at anything that moved. 

“No doubt an extension technique of the Ten Shadows,” Noritoshi replied calmly as the seconds trickled by, “Mai, do you know of any potential restrictions or limitations?” 

“Do you really think the clan would share that type of information with someone like me?” Mai asked incredulously as her jaw clenched. 

Noritoshi was silent in the face of Mai’s scathing reply, being no stranger to the political world of jujutsu society, ‘No…it’s like that not even Megumi himself is fully aware of the ten shadows' full potential given the distance he has put between himself and the rest of his clan.’ 

“Mai, Noritoshi, I believe that I am being stalked.” 

Mechamaru’s calm voice came through their communicators, only for a massive explosion to go off a second later from his position, prompting Noritoshi and Maki to sprint, rushing to join their comrade. 

---

“Maki, what should we do?” Panda asked as they gathered around where Megumi had previously been standing. 

“Obviously we need to launch a rescue mission!” Nobara stated with a fire in her voice. 

“No,” Maki corrected, “Right now we need to operate as if Megumi has already been eliminated. Our best move right now is to split up into separate groups.” 

“You want us to split up?” Yuji asked, his voice filled with doubt. 

“They’ve already shown they’re capable of picking us off one by one regardless of whether we’re together or not. By splitting up, we force them to either divide themselves or waste time by going after us one by one as a group.” 

“That still doesn’t leave us in a winning position,” Panda muttered. 

“And Megumi still might be fighting them off,” Nobara pointed out. 

Before Maki could respond, a sharp bark interrupted their conversation, and they all looked over to see Megumi’s Divine Dog looking off into the forest before taking off. 

“Panda, Itadori, follow the Shikigami. Toge, Kugisaki, you're with me.” Maki commanded, and with only a nod of confirmation, Yuji took off at a sprint, displaying an insane burst of speed that left Panda struggling to keep up. 

“Bonito flakes.” 

“We’re going after Kasumi and Momo, they couldn’t have gotten far,” Maki answered as she started running towards the sea of freshly cut tree stumps. “Make sure to keep your eyes peeled for any cursed spirits as well.” 

Nobara briefly glanced over where Yuji and Panda had taken off before she eventually turned to follow her seniors. 

---

Megumi watched as the cursed corpse known as Mechumaru slowly scanned its surroundings, its head spinning 360 degrees and taking in every detail. 

But even as its eyes passed over his exact location, Megumi didn’t tense in the slightest, instead trusting his months of training with Kiniro, ‘To think there ever was a time when all I utilized my shadow for was storage.’ 

Surrounded by the familiar nothingness of shadow Megumi waited for the opportune moment to strike, taking his time despite the fact that he was actively holding his breath. 

But Megumi wasn’t too worried, if he wanted he could stay within his shadow for up to five minutes without issue, a tolerance he developed after Kiniro’s insistence. 

‘For all his jokes and lack of decorum, he really is a genius when it comes to jujutsu,’ Megumi thought as he watched Mechumaru’s head pivot away from his position, ‘Not yet.’ 

A heartbeat later Megumi felt himself leave Mechamaru’s peripheral and without a second thought he launched himself from the shadow. 

In a startling rush sound and light slammed against Megumi’s senses but he didn’t let it distract him as he soared up out of the tree’s shadow cast across the ground that ended almost at Mechamaru’s feet. 

Still despite the proximity Mechamaru managed to react with inhuman speed, his torso twisting around independently of his legs. 

Despite being found Megumi didn’t abandon his sneak attack and instead activated the dark pitch black ring on his left finger for the second time since it had been gifted to him. 

The ring burst into a dense cloud of pitch black smoke that formed into a large hooked karambit in Megumi’s palm that he wrapped his fingers around and held perfectly. 

Seeing the obsidian blade Mechamaru held out his forearm as the plain body panel was suddenly switched out for a piece of spiked metal. 

“Ultra Shield” 

Meanwhile Mechamaru’s other hand suddenly turned into a set of metallic talons that he pressed together forming a spike that he drove towards Megumi’s flank. 

“Sword Option” 

What would happen next was clear to anyone with a hint of foresight. Megumi’s knife would be caught on Mechamaru’s shield leaving him open to the sharpened talons aimed just under his rips. At a glance Megumi’s only option was to abandon his attack and focus on defense. 

However the look in Megumi’s eyes was completely calm as his free hand formed a symbol summoning the only shikagami in his repertoire that could be conjured with one hand. 

“Great Serpent" 

From Megumi’s shadow a massive snake emerged, launching itself up at Mechamaru’s sword hand and biting down with enough force to make his armored plating groan while freezing it in place. 

At the same time Megumi’s knife continued towards Mechamaru’s forearm however the moment before the two met the Megumi’s knife turned hazy like a mirage. Without a hint of resistance Megumi’s knife phased through Mechamaru’s arm before stabilizing once more past his guard. 

With brutal efficiency Megumi drove the knife into Mechamaru’s neck before using the hook to tear out the cursed corpse robotic components leaving behind what would be a mortal injury for a human. 

Still Mechamaru wasn’t human and even with his system destabilizing he had enough energy to raise his glowing palm directly at Megumi’s chest, “You fought well Fushiguro, it seems that the future of the Zenin clan is in good hands.”