CHAPTER 17: AOI TODO

Deep within the cursed forest where the Goodwill Event roared on like a wild flame, Yuji Itadori was racing through the undergrowth, brushing branches aside, his feet pounding against the dirt. He was mid-mission—his team was counting on him.

But what he wasn't counting on…

Was a boulder of a man standing directly in his path.

Towering, shirtless, and beaming with wild intensity, stood Aoi Todo, a third-year from Kyoto Jujutsu High.

"Oi," Todo called, his massive arms folded. "You. Are you strong?"

Itadori didn't even get the chance to reply.

Todo lunged.

A punch the size of a small SUV slammed into Itadori's shoulder, launching him through a tree trunk. He coughed, blood spilling from his lip as he rolled to a halt against a boulder.

Groaning, he got up. "What the hell is wrong with you?!"

But Todo wasn't done.

He charged again.

And so, the fistfight began.

Itadori fought back hard—his punches sharp, his instincts honed—but Todo was an absolute monster. Every strike from Todo cracked the air like thunder, each slam digging craters in the forest floor.

Eventually, Todo stopped mid-punch and held up a hand.

"…Before I crush you like a bug, I must know one thing," he said dramatically, his muscles flexing like a JoJo character.

"What kind of women are you into?"

Itadori blinked. "Huh?! What does that have to do with this?!"

Todo's gaze narrowed. "Answer me. It defines your soul."

Itadori stared. Blood still dripping from his lip. And then…

"…Tall girls with a big ass," he said softly. "Like Jennifer Lawrence."

Todo froze. The sky thundered behind him as imaginary sakura petals swirled.

He gasped.

His eyes watered.

"W-WHAT?! YOU TOO?!" he cried, falling to his knees, clutching his chest.

A slideshow played in his mind—Itadori and Todo going to high school together, fighting side-by-side, laughing, eating lunch, studying for exams, crying over romance anime…

"BROTHER!!!" Todo shouted, leaping and embracing Itadori with the force of a thousand suns.

Itadori just stood there, utterly baffled, still holding his ribcage.

From that moment, a sacred, unbreakable bond had formed—at least in Todo's head.

"Come, my brother!" he declared. "Let me teach you the art of battle—of cursed energy! Of Black Flash!"

And from that moment forward, Todo became Itadori's very insane, very passionate mentor.

He beat knowledge into him—literally.

Striking while yelling instructions.

Throwing rocks while quoting philosophers.

Screaming "CONTROL YOUR FLOW!!" while suplexing a tree.

And slowly but surely…

Itadori began to learn.

He began to feel cursed energy—not just use it. He felt the rhythm, the timing, the split-second instinct needed to unleash a Black Flash—the perfect strike between cursed energy and impact.

Todo watched with pride. "Yes… YES! My brother is blooming like a flower!"

Itadori, panting and bleeding, muttered, "I don't know what's scarier, the training or you."

Todo flexed, pointing dramatically at the sky. "Both!"

The forest trembled—not from curses, but from the chaos that was Aoi Todo and his brother.