Summary:
With Nobara’s help, Yuji regains his confidence and claims the upper hand against Mahita. In order to survive the ordeal on both ends, Mahito decided it was time for his twin to switch opponents.
Plot:
Nobara successfully hit Mahito’s soul, injuring him and his double with Resonance. Realizing his classmate’s cursed technique, Yuji takes advantage and hits Mahito with rapid-fire cursed punches full of energy. The resonance effect still lingers, making Mahito unable to move or defend well.
As Yuji slams Mahito into the pillar with an unrelenting flurry of fists, he solemnly thanks Nobara. Yuji believes that he failed to save anyone and that he wasted everyone’s efforts, but Nobara’s help shows him that he is still not alone. Yuji, inspired by Nobara, keeps up the pressure and prepares to exorcise Mahito here and now.
Meanwhile, in the alley, a nail falls off Mahita’s forehead as she confirms her theory about him. Nobara believes that their real fight begins now, but the doppelganger decides to run away instead, heading straight for the subway entrance. Nobara could have just ignored him and gone to B5F, but she feels bad about letting him escape and decides to banish him on the way there.
Before Yuji can finish off Mahito’s main body, the special stage splits into several small, spherical versions of itself that stretch across the room. One of them flares up with its cursed energy to get Yuji’s attention. This makes him think that this is Mahita’s main body and smashes it. However, this was a ruse and the other doppelgangers reform Mahita’s body as he runs away.
The two Mahitos enter the same hallway, and two intermediate jujutsu students chase them from opposite sides. Yuji initially believes that Mahito is trying to heal until he sees Nobara. He immediately yells at her to run, realizing the danger she’s in.
Nobara is surprised to see Yuji and Mahito’s real body as a blind spot to cover the switch so she doesn’t notice. Moreover, her fight with the doppelganger forced her to lower her guard against Mahita’s hands. Mahito scores a direct hit to Nobara’s face, which could spell the end for her. Yuji easily kills the double with a single shot and runs over to check on Nobara. Mahito waits to see if one touch will be enough to kill her, as it wasn’t enough to kill Nanami in their first encounter.
Nobara touches her face and remembers her life in 2009, when she was playing Smash Bros. as an emphatic six-year-old. Back then, she believed that everyone in her hometown was weird and she was the only sane person there.