Transformation

Back above ground, Mahito tears off his own head to dodge a kick, sprouting a smiling snail-like replacement while the severed piece regrows into a second body. He fuses weak souls into a Polymorphic Soul Isomer and hurls these constructs at the sorcerers, dividing his power between the two forms. Todo destroys the isomers one by one despite their explosive but fragile nature, keeping pressure off the recovering Yuji.

Cornered, Mahito triggers Self-Embodiment of Perfection for a mere two-tenths of a second, having learned from facing Gojo how to compress his domain and technique into a single instant. Todo guards with Simple Domain, loses a hand to the brush of Idle Transfiguration, and is later struck by a cursed-energy punch he survives only by concentrating his energy in his gut. When his locket falls open, Todo uses Mahito's own hand to clap and swap Yuji in for another Black Flash.

Having grasped the true nature of his soul through his second Black Flash, Mahito reshapes himself into a final form he names Instant Spirit Body of Distorted Killing, mockingly asking Yuji to wish him a happy birthday. The new body overwhelms Yuji at close range with hardened flesh and elbow blades. The turning point comes from Divergent Fist's delayed second impact and a feigned clap from the one-armed Todo, who reveals his technique is spent. Yuji lands a maximum-energy Black Flash that blasts Mahito out of his evolved shape. As the beaten curse flees, Pseudo-Geto appears and asks whether he needs saving.

The episode covers chapters 129 through 132. Anime-original touches include Todo throwing a coat hanger instead of a rock at the first isomer, an imagined scene of him and Nobuko Takada beating Mahito together, and an extended chase where Mahito twists his ankle and flings dirt at his pursuer. A manga sequence in which Mahito uses an isomer to distract Yuji while attaining his Distorted Killing form was cut, and the shaking leg motif switches sides between the two versions.