Yuji Itadori vs. Kinji Hakari

Yuji Itadori vs. Kinji Hakari is a battle fought by Tokyo Jujutsu High first-year student Yuji Itadori against suspended third-year student Kinji Hakari. It takes place in the monitor room on the roof of Gachinko Fight Club where Hakari receives a warning from Kirara and accuses Yuji of being a spy from Jujutsu High.

Prologue
By putting on a show for the spectators in the fight club, Yuji gains Hakari's attention and earns a meeting with the boss. They meet inside Hakari's office in the monitor room on the roof.

Hakari begins by asking Yuji if he'd be interested in a job that paid one million yen a month for just one hour of work a day. Yuji says that it depends on what he'd have to do and Hakari reveals Yuji would have to pay two hundred thousand yen for that information. Yuji recognizes this as a scam and refuses. Hakari confirms this is a classic con and emphasizes that people fall for scams because of their fever.

Hakari explains that fever refers to the addictive passion people burn with they're looking to change their lives. Hakari loves the fever and believes every person burns with it whether they are the deceived or the deceiver. He believes that everyone engages in the fever by gambling and that love is control. Hakari's goal is to control all of Japan's fever with his fight club.

With the existence of cursed spirits going public, revisions to jujutsu regulations are inevitable. Hakari plans to take advantage of this to legalize his fight club so it can be publicly recognized by the jujutsu community. With such a strong ambition, Hakari needs strong pieces on the board and asks Yuji to join him.

Yuji tries to respond by revealing the real reason he's at the fight club. However, Hakari's phone suddenly rings and interrupts Yuji mid-sentence. Rather than answer the call, Hakari looks at his phone suspiciously while Yuji also stays quiet. When his phone is finished ringing, Hakari asks Yuji if he wants a drink. Yuji accepts but on the condition that it's not alcohol because he's underage. Hakari jokes that Yuji can't handle his liquor and then adds that Satoru Gojo can't drink either. Yuji pretends to not know who Satoru is but Hakari points out that all sorcerers know who Satoru Gojo is. Yuji is surprised now that his cover is blown and Hakari asks why he would pretend he doesn't know Satoru. Hakari finishes his drink and directly asks Yuji if he's a spy from Jujutsu High.

Battle
Yuji tries to explain that he's not a spy but Hakari abruptly flings his drink glass right at Yuji's face. Yuji deflects it with his right hand but Hakari summons two levitating doors suddenly appear on both sides of Yuji. The two horizontally facing doors slam shut and attempt to close Yuji between them but he jumps above them to avoid it. He tries to tell Hakari to listen but the third-year ignores Yuji and continues to attack. Hakari throws a flying knee at Yuji while he's still in mid-air avoiding the doors. Yuji is able to block it with his left elbow and retreats on top of the stand where the monitors are.

Hakari doesn't relent and summons two more doors, this time vertically facing ones that pin Yuji's neck in between them. This leaves Yuji vulnerable and Hakari capitalizes with a right straight punch, left high kick combo that uppercuts Yuji. While Hakari is pummeling his adversary, he reveals that a call from Kirara means that something is suspicious. Yuji remembers that he's only here to request Hakari's cooperation and grabs the collar of his target's jacket. Yuji headbutts him and asks him to listen but Hakari stands his ground and refuses because his fever is running cold.

Hakari knocks Yuji outside the monitor room where Megumi and Panda just finished their scuffle with Kirara. Yuji gets up from the hit and Hakari walks out onto the roof with an angered expression. Yuji tells Megumi and Panda to stay out of the fight and Hakari takes this as Yuji underestimating him. Hakari throws a heavy overhand right punch that smashes Yuji's face and nose with the underside of his fist. The punch sends Yuji reeling into a violent backflip and Hakari notices that his adversary isn't resisting anymore. Yuji gets back up as soon as he hits the ground and defiantly breathes the blood out of his injured nose.

This isn't a fight to the death like the Shibuya Incident and Yuji just needs Hakari to accept him, so he no longer intends to dodge or resist until Hakari breaks. Hakari thinks Yuji is crazy for not defending himself and decides to listen to him on the condition he can remain standing. Hakari flares up his cursed energy and Kirara tries to intervene by clarifying that Yuji, Megumi, and Panda aren't spies and they just want him to listen to them. Rather than de-escalating the situation, Hakari repeats that he'll listen as long as Yuji remains standing. Hakari asks Yuji why he's asking him for help specifically when this is the first time they've ever met. Yuji replies that all his senpai claim Hakari is strong and immediately gets hit with a strong left uppercut that sends him flying back. While Yuji is reeling, he notices that Hakari's hits sting like he's being cut with a serrated bat.

Disappointed that Yuji is acting based on the recommendations of others, Hakari emphasizes that Yuji will need to show more fever than that to get someone to risk their life for him. Yuji claims that he doesn't have any fever because he's just a cog in the machine sorcerers need to fight curses. Hakari finds that response extremely boring and uses his building irritation to fuel one last attack. He lands the hardest blow yet, a powerful right hook that knocks sends Yuji's body skidding across the roof into the opposite wall.

With Yuji appearing to be down for the count, Hakari reveals that Satoru told him that his cursed energy hurts because it has a rough edge to it. Hakari begins to tell Megumi and Panda to retrieve Yuji and get lost, but Yuji suddenly reappears behind him, still conscious and standing. Shocked, Hakari jumps back and can't understand how Yuji is still standing after suffering three unguarded blows on top of taking a beating before that. Yuji repeats that he's a cog and adds that he needs Hakari to fulfill his purpose. He walks back up, gets in Hakari's face and asks his senpai what his function is. The intense look in Yuji's eyes makes Hakari question if he's a cog in fever.

Hakari threatens to keep hitting Yuji anyway but Kirara interjects by asking him if Yuji is burning hot enough yet. As a firm believer that the fever never lies, Hakari stops to listen to Kirara and acknowledges their point. Suddenly, Hakari decides to cut a deal with the Jujutsu High students, finally willing to hear them out.

Aftermath
With the chance to sit down with Hakari at last, Megumi, Panda, and Yuji explain their entire situation. Hakari is shocked to hear that Satoru was actually sealed and that Masamichi Yaga perished as well. With all the people who looked out for Hakari falling one after the other, he agrees to help combat the Culling Game.

In return, Hakari expects Yuji, Megumi, and Panda to help him change jujutsu regulations to help get his fight club recognized. Panda wants specifics but Megumi claims it'll probably be simple, annoying Hakari. Megumi reveals that he's head of the Zenin clan now and Hakari is even more surprised than before. This excites Hakari because changes in regulations with the backing of a major sorcerer clan should be simple. In order to ensure they don't take over the fight club later, Hakari decides to be nice to Megumi for a change and asks them to be buds. However, they're both unaware that Maki annihilates the Zenin clan the next day.