The Shibuya Incident, Part 41

Mahito and his double keep grinding down the two students, with Yuji quickly slipping into a corner. Nobara exploits the double's overconfidence to land a soul-piercing strike, forcing the special grade curse to confront the unwelcome truth that more than one sorcerer is capable of hurting his innermost self.

A flashback shows that after Nanami left Nobara and Akari behind, Nobara refused to evacuate and went off alone rather than flee while others fought, never told that Shoko was present in the area. In the present, inside the station, Mahito skewers three injured civilians and uses them to ambush Yuji on the stairs. When Yuji checks on one of the wounded, the person transfigures and explodes, blinding him with blood and leaving him open. Mahito shapes an arm into a spiked club to finish him. In the alley, the double clashes with Nobara, transfiguring only himself since he carries no risk against her and cannot alter other souls. Her blows seem to do nothing, yet she insists she has to try.

Nobara scatters nails at the double's feet and detonates them with Hairpin, then climbs the alley wall and drops more, confusing him with her movement. While his attention is on her, she triggers Hairpin again to drive the nails into his lower body and pin him in place. She mounts him and hammers a nail into his forehead, activating Resonance and using his body as an effigy to strike his soul. Because the technique relays from the double back to the original, the damage rebounds and wounds both Mahito selves badly, halting the killing blow against Yuji in the station. Yuji opens his eyes and recognizes Nobara's needles in the curse's chest. The double, shocked, realizes Yuji is not his only natural enemy. Nobara deduces from the weaker-than-expected cursed energy and his failure to seize her when he could that this Mahito is merely a double unable to properly use his innate technique, and Mahito confirms she is right.

This chapter advances the battle of Yuji and Nobara against Mahito and showcases Nobara's Straw Doll Technique, particularly Hairpin and Resonance, as soul-attacking tools. It corresponds to Episode 43 of the anime and ran in Weekly Shonen Jump issue 43 of 2020, also receiving a color page.