Young Fish and Reverse Punishment

Yuji joins Grade 1 sorcerer Kento Nanami to look into three uncanny deaths at a movie house. The pair trace the residual cursed energy onto the roof, where they are ambushed by transfigured creatures and forced to fight in the rain.

Apart from the investigation, Junpei Yoshino, hounded by classmates and the only person to glimpse the killer, seeks out Mahito and begins to learn the curse's view of human fear and hatred.

Nanami uses his Ratio Technique to fell his opponent in a single stroke, explaining mid-battle how laying one's hand bare functions as a pact that sharpens combat ability. Yuji then puts his training to work, landing the Divergent Fist by exploiting the time lag in his cursed energy to deliver two impacts from one strike, drawing genuine respect from Nanami.

Shoko confirms the attackers were never curses but humans warped by a cursed technique, the same method used on the theater victims. Stung by the loss of life, Yuji is told the enemy baited them into a trap, so the two resolve to hunt the culprit at full effort. Mahito, meanwhile, leads Junpei to his lair and frames himself as a being born from humanity's mutual hatred.

The episode opens the Vs. Mahito arc, adapting Chapter 19 and 20 with part of Chapter 21. A flashback covers how Gojo entrusted Yuji's training to Nanami, the ex-salaryman who respects Gojo's strength but not his disregard for rules. The closing assignment splits the duo: Nanami tracks the hideout while Yuji and Ijichi tail Junpei, carrying a small caged curse wrapped in talismans. The Juju Stroll features Gojo pestering Nanami with a crude drawn note. The opening is Kaikai Kitan and the ending is Lost in Paradise.