Chapter 190

In the wreckage left by the Kashimo fight, Panda searches for Hakari. Having survived his rival's last desperate move, Hakari opts to cut a bargain. Elsewhere, the Kyoto Jujutsu High students press deeper into the colonies to pass along the next phase of the anti-Culling Game plan.

The sea explosion rains water and blood across the dock as a Panda shrunken by his wounds dreads the worst, having spotted Hakari's severed hand. Drained of energy and worn out, Kashimo hauls himself back onto land sure of victory, only for Hakari to rise from the water and crack him across the face, one arm gone yet plainly alive. The steam blast ought to have killed him, but Hakari had read Kashimo's intent to block a fresh domain expansion that would have triggered increased probability again. Foreseeing a strike aimed at his left arm to stop his hand signs, Hakari spent that arm on a last-ditch binding vow, channeling its cursed energy into shielding the rest of him.

Kashimo demands to be killed, and Hakari declines, since doing so would wipe out the hundred points Kashimo carries. He does not even rate it a clean win, given that Kashimo never drew on his innate technique, and marvels that such strength came purely from manipulating cursed-energy traits. Kashimo, surprised the guess holds, admits his real technique fires only once and that he meant to spend it solely on Sukuna, which moves an admiring Hakari to propose a deal. Panda finds them and balks at hearing Kashimo will join them for a chance at Sukuna, but Hakari brushes the objection aside, leaving Kashimo puzzled to hear Hakari call himself a senpai of Sukuna. In that same moment, rule ten, which lets players transfer points between one another, joins the game.

Back at the amusement park, Hakari seeks out Charles, swats away his questions about the lost arm, and offers to read his manga, then boils over on learning Charles has never actually been published, snapping at the would-be artist to draw like his life is on the line instead of chasing sorcery. Momo Nishimiya turns up, checks whether he got the points, and explains the Kyoto students now stand with his group. The colony-communication rule, she adds, can wait, since liaison duties fall naturally to Maki and Ui Ui, and she reveals Maki slips through barriers untouched because she has turned into a monster. Over in the Sakurajima Colony, Maki cuts down the fiercest curses and players around, then meets a wholly remade Noritoshi Kamo, who confesses he is no longer the Kamo heir. As he asks her to seek out Ui Ui, a mysterious curse drifts into the colony, brushing off Kogane's demand that it sign on as a player.