Foolish Survivor -Live On-

Long before the raid on Sukuna, the sorcerers settled on Fumihiko Takaba as the one to strike at Kenjaku. Even Takaba never imagined his enemy would meet him in a contest of jokes and wits rather than raw power.

In a flashback ahead of the great battle, the Angel warned the Jujutsu High sorcerers that beating Sukuna meant little if Kenjaku still merged Japan with Tengen. Kinji Hakari reasoned that clearing every Culling Game player was likely the end condition. Yuta Okkotsu argued that he and Hakari being players kept the game open, while Atsuya Kusakabe privately worried defeating Sukuna might cost all their players. The group weighed the danger of Kenjaku ambushing a weakened force after the fight. Kusakabe felt the chosen fighter had to outclass a grade 1 sorcerer, Mei Mei ruled herself out for once fleeing Kenjaku, and the Angel surprised everyone by naming Takaba, promising to explain his fitness only after swearing them to secrecy, since loose talk could undermine his technique.

Back in the present, Kenjaku cannot land damage and watches Takaba conjure an American flag bandanna and sunglasses onto him, deducing the technique manifests phenomena from imagination. Fearing a thousand years of knowledge could prove useless, he probes for a weakness. Takaba introduces himself as a comic of Nabe Nabe who reached the first round of the P-1 tournament, and the two spar verbally over comedy lineage and shows Takaba grew up watching. Surprised Kenjaku follows along, Takaba wonders if his foe loves comedy too.

Pressed on his motives, Kenjaku boils them down to intellectual curiosity and concedes he might abandon his plan for something more interesting. Takaba lands jabs, including a literal mirror gag, but his actual one-liner falls flat, and Kenjaku coldly dissects why, criticizing the lack of setup and advising him to write for an audience. An elbow finally connects, and Kenjaku concludes Takaba's power depends on confidence and certainty. Rattled, Takaba demands a face-off where the first to laugh loses, but he cracks first and takes a heavy punch. Spotting Iori Hazenoki's corpse, the horrified comic feels the laughter drain away and begins to remember why he became an entertainer at all.

Set in the Shinjuku Showdown Arc at the Lake Gosho Colony in Iwate Prefecture, the chapter centers on the bout of Fumihiko Takaba against Kenjaku, pitting Comedian against Cursed Spirit Manipulation. The title continues a recurring musical reference, and the chapter packs nods to other manga and Japanese comedy institutions throughout the duel.