The Shibuya Incident, Part 43

The accumulated weight of Shibuya finally cracks Yuji once Nobara looks to have died. Mahito reads the opening and grinds him down in body and in mind alike. With every shred of hope nearly spent, Yuji's closest friend lands at the exact instant required, reigniting his will.

A gentle flashback opens on the three first-years at a cafe table. A drink knocked over by Nobara stains a freshly dry-cleaned shirt of Gojo's, and after their dabbing fails, Megumi pulls up the brand and announces that, before tax, it runs 250,000 yen. Nobara floats splitting the replacement, the boys decline, and the shirt ends up stuffed inside Megumi's uniform to evade blame. Reality is far grimmer. Sprawled in front of Yuji, Nobara has lost an eye and is almost surely gone. He was already hollowed out by earlier blows. Defeat at the hands of Choso, the slaughter Sukuna inflicted, and the killing of Nanami had each drained his resolve, so when she gives no answer, the last of it caves.

Thrilled with himself, Mahito loads a punch with cursed energy and connects with Black Flash, blasting Yuji clean through the station. He keeps hammering, mocking Yuji's resolve as feeble and reframing the bout as a contest of truths, instinct versus reason, whose victor he claims will still stand a century later. As his arm twists into a mantis-like claw meant to end Yuji, a clap cracks the air and the curse is hurled away. Aoi Todo has appeared, trading places via Boogie Woogie and declaring that he and Yuji defy any inevitable decline. From the scar and the cursed technique, Mahito recalls Hanami. Kyoto first-year Arata Nitta arrives as well, having treated Nobara, warning she may not pull through and pleading not to be held at fault. Todo waves him toward Yuji instead and barks at his battered friend to wake, because the battle has barely begun.

The duel of Yuji and Nobara against Mahito reaches its end in this chapter, which also brings in Arata Nitta. It lines up with anime Episode 44 and saw print in Weekly Shonen Jump issue 46 of 2020. Todo's entrance turns the page toward the joint offensive he and Yuji mount on Mahito.