Panda fell to the ground as he changed to its usual panda shape, slowly falling to the ground.

Panda: "H-how..."

He then fell unconscious. (y/n) turned to Mechamaru, as he was still surprised at how he could find the cores when it was almost impossible for him to even spot one.

Mechamaru: "How did you find them?... Did you destroy its cores?"

(y/n): "What? No, no-no. The cores are fine. I only weakened them enough to make them unusable for now, but they can still make a full recovery. Finding a core is pretty easy... at least for me, I can see a dot on the soul where it's located... Besides that, I think you should retire from the battle. You look like you took a beating."

Mechamaru: "... I guess you're right. I can't risk Mechamaru getting more damaged. Regroup with the others. Nishimiya could use your help"

(y/n): "Right, I'll come back to you later."

(y/n) leaped from the roof into the forest, wanting to get to Momo as soon as possible, but along the way, a 'thing' appeared next to some trees, making (y/n) immediately stop.

(y/n): "Eh?"

They kept staring at each other, not making the slightest movement.

(y/n): "Why are you looking at me like that?... All funny... Don't you have other things to do? Shoo, Shoo."

The curse ran away right after, and (y/n) did the same. The latter spotted Toge at the distance but decided to ignore it.

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Meanwhile, the Senseis were watching the current fight between Maki and Miwa, which the latter was taking a beating, even getting her sword stolen.

???: "What an interesting girl. You should promote her to second-grade already"

Satoru: "I feel the same way, but the Zen'in clan keeps getting in the way. They should just change their position and accept her already."

Mei Mei: "I just can't understand such restrains, aside from money."

Satoru: "I see you're just as miserly as ever. More importantly, the footage between the area around Yuji keeps cutting out a lot."

Mei Mei: "Animals are fickle. Sharing them with my senses is tiring, too. Plus, one of Yoshinobu's students killed one."

Earlier, when Panda, Mechamaru, and (y/n) were fighting, the latter discovered the crow, sensing it was being controlled and used as a camera, he took care of it.

Satoru: "You taught your students to kill animals, Utahime-san?

Utahime. "Why would I?!"

Mei Mei: "By the way. That student of yours, he was directly ascended to second-year, right?"

Utahime "Y-yeah."

Mei Mei: "Is there a reason why? What's his rank?"

Satoru: "That doesn't matter right now. Let's be blunt. Which side are you on Mei-san?"

Mei Mei: "Which side? I'm on money's side. There's no value to anything that can't be traded for money. You can't make money out of it, after all."

Satoru: "hehe. Just how much you have saved up?" I don't know what he's planning, but it won't be that easy to deal with Yuji anymore, and I doubt he does something.

Mei Mei: "Look who decided to appear."

On the camera watching the fight between Maki and Miwa, (y/n) suddenly appeared, looking very confused.

(y/n): "Wait a minute... This isn't where Momo-chan is"

Moments earlier he tried to return to Momo's location but when everything looks the same to you it's kind of difficult to find the right path.

(y/n): "Mai?"

Maki: "...no, I'm Maki."

(y/n): "Oh, should've known. Mai's prettier."

Maki: "You can't even see me."

Miwa: "(y/n)-san? Aren't you supposed to be with the others?"

(y/n): "Y-yeah, but I got lost along the way..."

Miwa: "Oh, how are they?"

(y/n): "Oh... About that... Mechamaru is uh... Out of the game."

Miwa: "W-what?!"

Maki: "I expected more from a robot."

(y/n): "And I for a cursed corpse, Panda is also out of the game."

Maki: "Tch."

(y/n): "You can rest now, Miwa-sama. I'll take care of her."

Miwa: "Wait! She's very strong with weapons!"

(y/n): "Don't worry, I'm something of a swordsman myself"

Maki: "We'll see about that."

He reached for something on his back and pulled a comically large spoon. Spinning it in his hand.

Miwa/Maki: Is he for real?

Both of them ran at each other, ready to engage.

Maki tried to hit (y/n) with the remaining half of her naginata, but he blocked it, grabbing her arm and hitting her with the palm of his hand on her stomach, imbued with cursed energy, lifting her a couple of centimeters.

He then spun around, lifting Maki and throwing her, barely managing to land safely.

(y/n): "Nice landing, have you've been practicing?"

Maki: "You'd be surprised."

They both got at it again, Maki attempting to hit (y/n) but to no avail, he would slap her arm away, or dodge. Even using the bowl of the spoon to redirect her attacks.

(y/n):

He swiped Maki's feet using his cursed energy, then proceeded to body slam her, getting back up right after. Maki's annoyance grew more and more, not managing to land the slightest hit, but it made her attacks quicker and stronger, complicating things for (y/n).

(y/n): She kind of reminds me of...

Maki used Miwa's sword to attack (y/n) used the neck of the spoon to parry the incoming slash, locking the sword and using the handle of the spoon to hit her on the stomach.

(y/n) put one arm behind him with his palm open, using cursed energy to give him enough boost to slide tackle Maki, grabbing her by the foot and sending her into the air.

(y/n):

The cursed energy hit her on the chest, sending her plummeting to the ground. Maki got back on her feet and used all of her equipment, kunai's, Miwa's stolen sword, to attack (y/n), forcing him to back away, into the nearby stream. The combination between Rocks and water is not always the best, causing (y/n) to slip when dodging an incoming attack from Maki, making an opening for her to attack, which she did successfully.

(y/n) was heavily attacked by Maki's half naginata, the number of hits making it hard for him to block or even dodge. She even took his spoon.

Miwa: "(y/n)-san!"

Miwa ran at him in an attempt to help.

(y/n): "Wait! Miwa-sama!"

But as she got close, she became a target for Maki, turning around, she used the spoon to hit Miwa, but (y/n) got in the way, causing a dent in it with the shape of his head.

Miwa: "(y/n)!"

Maki was then hit by an unknown force, sending her flying onto some trees, dropping the spoon on the process. (y/n) stood upright, sending the spoon flying to the camera crow, killing it.

Mei Mei: "I'm gonna start to charge you for each crow, Utahime-san."

Utahime: "What?!"

Miwa: What did that crow even do...

Maki slowly stood up, the last hit had taken her by surprise.

Maki: What was that...

(y/n) slowly walked up to her. Maki unconsciously grabbed the sword that layed next to her.

She ran at (y/n) and threw the sword like it was a spear. (y/n)'s knees bent a perfect 90 degrees and caught the sword mid-air. Throwing it back to Miwa.

(y/n) stood upright, looming over Maki.

Maki: What's with the sudden change?

(y/n): rest"It's been a tough day for you."

Maki's eyes suddenly felt heavy. Slipping in and out of consciousness until she fell to the ground. In deep slumber.

(y/n): "Did the trick."

He whipped off a little blood that leaked through his nose and turned around to face Miwa.

Miwa: "How did you do that? Is that your cursed technique?"

(y/n): "Cursed technique? No... I don't think so?"

Miwa: "Well... What now?"

(y/n): "We have to carry her somewhere, we can't just leave her here with cursed spirits wandering around. Mai wouldn't like for something to happen to her."

He would have done the same with Panda but Mechamaru was still with him, in good shape to at least protect them from cursed spirits. Besides, he took care of the only curse that was nearby.

Before he carried Maki, he walked up to the stream, wetting the palm of his hands, and covering them in bandages he had on his pockets. Having to fight with his burnt palms was already a limitation, and it hurt most of the time.

Miwa: "What happened to your hands? They're burnt!"

(y/n): "It's nothing, I'll get better."

(y/n) grabbed Maki and put her over his shoulder, walking out of the scene, Miwa following. They were spotted by another crow camera.

Mei Mei: "Would you look at that. The tables seem to have turned."

Satoru: "Did you also teach your students to kidnap others, Utahime?"

Utahime: "Of course not! They can't just leave her there while curses are roaming around, can they? I taught my students to have manners!"

While they discussed, Principal Yoshinobu remembered a conversation that took place moments before the start of the Curse Race. With Kamo Noritoshi.

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They were standing in front of a tentacle-looking curse, with many seals attached to it and tied.

Noritoshi: "What's this?"

Principal Yoshinobu: "The Semi-first-grade cursed spirit to be released in the area."

Noritoshi: "I thought they were releasing a second-grade?"

Principal Yoshinobu: "I didn't think a second-grade would be enough. We're not unified, you know. Here's the scent and the flute used in its training. Depending on the situation, use it well to kill Itadori."

Noritoshi: "It might get hunted down before we can use it. Especially with the vision of (y/n)-san."

Principal Yoshinobu: "Fret not. It's trained to keep quiet until the flute is blown. And you just have to restrain (y/n) from hunting any curses."

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Principal Yoshinobu: I know Kamo. He probably placed the scent on Itadori the moment they made contact and feed the cut-out. It's easy enough for him to do if he mixes his blood with it. If the boy's fighting Todo, he won't come out unscathed. If he's attacked by the semi-first-grade the moment afterward... He'll surely die.

Miwa and (y/n) were running through the forest, looking for at least someone to take care of Maki, since (y/n) was growing bored of having to carry her around, and they didn't find the entrance.

Along the way, (y/n) managed to find Momo and Mai, besides an unconscious Nobara.

(y/n): "What happened here?"

Momo: "Where have you been?... wait... Is that-"

Mai: "Maki...?"

Miwa: "It's a long story."

Mai: "(y/n)-san... What did I tell you?!"

She bonked (y/n) in the head with the butt of the revolver.

(y/n): "Ow! Wait! I was trying to find you but I encountered her fighting Miwa-sama instead. So I decided to help her out."

Momo: "But why are you carrying her?"

(y/n): "I couldn't just leave her like this on the open for curses to find. I wouldn't want for Mai to worry."

Mai: "Tch. I don't care what happens to her, you can just leave her here."

(y/n): "eh?"

Momo: "You heard her."

(y/n): "... I cannot do that. We also shouldn't leave her here."

With his remaining arm, he carried Nobara on his other shoulder.

Miwa: "How can you carry two people at once?"

(y/n): "Strong."

Momo: "Right, (y/n)-san. Where's Mechamaru?"

(y/n): "He's fine. But not that fine. Both Panda and he are retired."

Mai: "Should've guessed, if he had to use ultimate cannon he must have been cornered. That only leaves Itadori and Megumi on the other team."

Miwa: "Kamo-san's still fighting Fushiguro, I think."

Mai: "That means we can focus on the game. I'm sure Kamo-san will deal with Megumi."

(y/n): "You guys go, I'll leave them by the entrance."

Miwa: "Are you sure?"

(y/n): "Yeah."

Mai and Miwa ran at one side of the forest, as Momo used her broom to scout over the air. While (y/n) searched for an entrance he could leave them, or find Megumi or Itadori to watch over the unconscious duo on his shoulders.

As he was passing by a temple, he heard and saw an explosion on one of the windows of the upper floor, followed by more but on the inside of the building. He jumped to a tree and then into the hole on the wall, seeing some arrows follow Megumi, imbued with cursed energy and small drops of blood.

Then, Kamo Noritoshi.

Noritoshi: "(y/n)-san, what are you doing here? And why are you carrying two Tokyo students?"

(y/n): "Too long to explain." Not really but I'm tired of doing it.