"How is this possible, fighting a special grade curse with only one hand?" Fushiguro Megumi absolutely disagreed with Itadori Yuji's plan. Hayashi was already taking a huge risk, and he couldn't bear to see Yuji doing the same.
"Take a good look," Yuji's gaze rested on the Cursed Womb: Finger Bearer, "It's toying with us, completely underestimating us. I can at least buy some time."
The Cursed Womb was indeed mocking them, dancing with joy, looking down on Itadori and Fushiguro as if they were mere playthings, like a cat playing with a mouse.
"No way!" Fushiguro protested.
"Please, Fushiguro, I'm asking you," Yuji flashed a resigned smile. After a deep look at him, Fushiguro made his decision and turned to leave. As he walked away, he called out loudly, "Don't die on me!"
The Cursed Womb seemed to pay no attention to Fushiguro's departure. In its twisted mind, no one was leaving this place. It was determined that they would all stay and play with it.
Meanwhile, on Hayashi's side, his fight with the special grade curse was intense. Though not as powerful as the Cursed Womb, Death Painting, this curse was not far behind. The battle had already left it injured, but it had become more reckless, recklessly unleashing cursed energy attacks at Hayashi.
A wave of green cursed energy shot toward Hayashi. There was no way he could block it directly with his body—he wasn't yet strong enough to go head-to-head with a special grade curse.
It seemed this curse wasn't dumb either. After suffering in close combat, it now kept its distance, making Hayashi's situation more difficult.
But Hayashi wasn't without options. The curse's speed wasn't that fast, so after dodging its attacks, he could close the gap between them.
Don't forget that Hayashi's cursed energy release also had afterimages. A single punch could expand the range of the attack by over a meter.
"How about trying my 'long-range' attack?" Hayashi grinned. After dodging another attack, he closed the distance, and with a single punch, enhanced by cursed energy release, he struck the curse's face from over 1.6 meters away.
And it was another Azure Black Flash. The curse had already begun to fear Azure Black Flash, but now it was also enraged. Raising one of its arms, it swung a powerful strike, sending Hayashi crashing into the wall.
Fortunately, the curse was heavily injured, and its cursed energy was depleted. The blow wasn't as devastating as it could have been, but it still wasn't easy for Hayashi to endure.
The special grade curse's face now had a gaping hole, revealing teeth and purple blood dripping out.
"Even though I don't know why a curse like you, who shouldn't even exist, appeared here, since you're here, don't even think about leaving. Honestly, you must be the weakest special grade out there, huh?" Hayashi finally got a chance to catch his breath.
Back when the purple special grade curse nearly killed him, he hadn't had the strength to fight back. But now, facing this special grade curse, it was a chance to even the score.
The green-skinned special grade curse roughly understood the meaning behind Hayashi's words. Although it was furious, it also felt a tinge of fear. The human it had initially thought was easy prey had beaten it so severely.
Since becoming a special grade curse, it had never suffered such serious injuries. Today was the worst it had ever experienced.
"If you don't move, I'm coming for you!" Hayashi said, swiftly closing the distance.
"Hey, what's wrong? Your attacks are missing. Have your hands gone soft?" Hayashi taunted as he dodged the curse's now slower and less accurate strikes. Its strength and reaction speed had decreased significantly.
"Azure Black Flash!"
Hayashi kicked from a distance. While this expanded the attack's range, it did reduce its force. However, this method was the safest, allowing him to strike without getting too close.
The physical power of special grade curses was immense, and Hayashi didn't want to risk getting grabbed by its four arms.
On the other side, Itadori Yuji wasn't having it as easy. Cursed Womb: Finger Bearer was far stronger.
As Yuji pondered how to buy more time, the Cursed Womb suddenly raised its arm and unleashed a blast of orange cursed energy, sending Yuji flying into the wall.
Just from that single blow, Yuji coughed up blood. The wall behind him caved in from the impact. Without the protection of cursed energy armor, there was no way even his incredibly tough body could withstand such an attack.
"So strong..." Yuji struggled to stay focused against the terrifying opponent. But the next moment, the Cursed Womb didn't give him time to react and appeared right in front of him, slamming a cursed-energy-filled punch into Yuji's body.
Bang!
Crash!
The wall behind Yuji shattered, leaving a massive hole. Yuji, like a kite with a broken string, was flung onto a distant platform. On both sides of the platform was a dark abyss, with dark blue water flowing far below.
Yuji lost consciousness for a moment. Even though his body was much stronger than an ordinary human's, it couldn't withstand such tremendous damage. At that moment, he wondered if Hayashi was facing a similar one-sided fight. Could any of them make it out alive?
The Cursed Womb stepped through the hole in the wall, gleefully approaching the unconscious Yuji. It spread its arms wide, cursed energy surging around it, ready to deliver an even stronger attack.
Driven by sheer willpower, Yuji forced himself to wake up. He stretched out both arms in front of him, trying to block the incoming attack. He knew full well that there was no way he could block it, but he had no other choice. Running wasn't an option.
"Hayashi!"
"What happened here?" Fushiguro, having rescued Nobara, returned to the spot where Hayashi had been fighting, but they found neither Hayashi nor the special grade curse.
Only the battered walls and ground bore witness to the fierce battle that had taken place.
"What's that?" Nobara spotted something in the corner, and the two rushed over, their eyes widening in shock.
"That special grade curse..." Fushiguro couldn't believe what he was seeing. The once-powerful curse was now reduced to a pile of mangled flesh scattered on the floor. If not for half its head still lying there, Fushiguro wouldn't have been able to recognize it.
"It's dead? Did Hayashi do this?" Nobara looked around but saw no trace of Hayashi or his body. "How can he be this strong? That was a special grade curse!"
"No, this isn't a regular curse. It's a cursed spirit with a physical body. That's why it didn't disappear after being exorcised." Fushiguro, though still shocked, relaxed a little. "Looks like Gojo-sensei was right after all."
"Then where's Hayashi? Could he have gone to help Itadori?" Nobara turned toward the passage behind them.
"I don't think so. If he killed a special grade curse, he must have sustained serious injuries himself. Maybe Hayashi has already left this place," Fushiguro guessed as he took a deep breath. "We should hurry and leave as well, so Itadori can focus on his fight."
"Alright!" Nobara, still injured, nodded, and the two quickly began searching for a way out.