Kishibe didn't wait.
The moment Toji uttered his threat, Kishibe lunged.
There was no preamble. No hesitation. Just steel and fury. He slashed upward with a savage diagonal strike—no finesse, just raw speed and intention.
Toji blocked it cleanly with the side of his blade, but his eyebrows lifted.
"Huh," he said, grinning. "Didn't think there were any sorcerers this fun left."
Kishibe snarled, lunging forward with a flurry of blows. Elbow feint, then knife slash. He moved like someone who had grown up fighting for his life—no wasted energy, no elegance. Only survival.
Toji parried the last strike with a sharp twist, blade shrieking as it locked against Kishibe's. The impact sent sparks flying.
"You don't fight like them," Toji said.
"I'm not like them," Kishibe spat. "And neither are you."
Toji's grin widened.
Then he twisted again, sweeping Kishibe's feet out from under him.
Kishibe hit the ground hard, rolled, and narrowly avoided the blade meant for his throat.
He kicked upward with both boots, catching Toji in the side and knocking him back just long enough to stand.
---
Gojo – Cracking
Gojo surged forward.
Blue blazed in his palm. He teleported behind Toji mid-combat, aiming to crush him between cursed technique and brute force.
Toji anticipated it.
He ducked.
With a single strike to Gojo's ribs, he shattered something vital.
Gojo flew into the street, coughing blood, the world spiraling in his vision. His body hit pavement like a ragdoll. Bones screamed.
He tried to lift his hand. Infinity flickered.
Toji was there already, looming over him. Blade raised.
"Can't rely on tricks forever, Hollow King."
Then the blade dropped.
And Gojo—
—blinked.
It was like dying and being born in the same breath. The sensation of the blade entering his chest—but never hitting the heart.
The flash of every moment: his arrogance, his belief in his own invincibility—shattering.
He was not invincible.
He felt the curse technique sputter and rebuild. Not automatically. By will. By sheer refusal to die.
He couldn't speak.
But inside—
A voice.
"If I die here, everyone dies. Riko. Geto. Even Kishibe."
"I can't let this be the end of me."
Gojo's hand twitched. The Infinity stabilized. But he did not rise.
Not yet.
---
Geto – The Prophet Falls
Geto summoned five different curses simultaneously. One leapt like a jaguar of smoke, another erupted like barbed vines from the ground.
Toji carved through them with surgical efficiency.
Geto kept attacking. His lips moved in silent prayer. His curse manipulation shifted forms, shapes—blasts, chains, slithering traps.
Toji darted in.
One blade.
Blood sprayed. Geto stumbled back, arm nearly severed at the shoulder.
He screamed, cursed energy flaring wildly.
Then Toji vanished—appearing behind him and striking again.
Geto dropped. Alive, barely.
---
Kishibe – The Last One Standing
He saw them fall.
Gojo collapsed. Geto bleeding, unconscious. Riko sobbing behind a car.
Toji stood, blade loose in his hand, breathing easy. Not even a scratch on him.
Kishibe rose again.
Blood soaked his uniform. His grip on the blade was trembling.
But he rose.
Toji tilted his head.
"You're still alive? You're stubborn as hell."
Kishibe spat blood. "I've killed monsters worse than you."
Toji laughed.
"Bullshit. But I like it." He raised the sword. "You're really like a mad dog. I respect that. Not many of you left."
They clashed again.
This time longer. Blades screeching. Sparks flying.
Toji was faster—but Kishibe was vicious. Every strike of his felt like it could kill. He cut shallow wounds along Toji's shirt, nearly nicking his cheek.
And for once, Toji pulled back. Smiling. Excited.
"You're not just strong," Toji muttered. "You're cruel."
"I grew up in a place where kindness gets you killed."
Kishibe twisted his blade. Cut deep into Toji's side.
Toji grunted, then slammed his elbow into Kishibe's face.
Kishibe dropped to one knee.
Riko screamed.
But he stood again.
Toji stared.
"You're still trying to protect her?"
Kishibe raised his sword again. "As long as I can breathe."
Toji shook his head.
"Damn it. You're the real thing."
And for the first time—
He looked at Kishibe not like prey.
But like a fellow predator.
---
Riko's Horror
She clutched her knees behind the wreckage.
Gojo unmoving. Geto not responding. Kishibe bleeding from his eye, his ribs, his arms. And still fighting.
Still standing.
Just for her.
He didn't even look back.
But she cried.