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"You were the one who suggested coming to an Izakaya, yet you're not drinking. What a letdown."

Naobito Zenin wore an expression that said Eiji was being a poor sport.

"You want a Child who hasn't even started high school to drink?"

Eiji looked at him as though he were scum.

"Hahaha, true enough. Come back and appreciate the wonders of alcohol once you've grown some hair."

With that, Naobito Zenin lifted his cup and drained it in one gulp.

Although the Island Nation's drinking vessels looked more like small dishes, they were still called cups.

A cold smile appeared at the corner of Eiji's lips.

The words sounded normal enough, but they could also be understood this way.

You're still young. The adult world is too early for you.

Without realizing it, Naobito Zenin had used age to put Eiji beneath him.

"This isn't your era anymore, old man."

Eiji tilted his head up at Naobito Zenin.

"Young people these days don't really like alcohol."

"Oh?"

Naobito Zenin narrowed his eyes.

He heard the dissatisfaction in Eiji's words.

"That really is a pity. Still, alcohol is a treasure passed down by our ancestors. One day, they'll come to like it."

That was actually perfectly normal.

People who wanted to gain something usually had to give something up.

Just as young people from the bottom had to abandon many things if they wanted to enter the upper class.

The upper class had its own rules. To join it, one had to blend into its circles and understand the appeal of "alcohol."

"True, but that applies to ordinary people. There are always geniuses who can forge their own paths, aren't there?"

Eiji met Naobito Zenin's gaze without yielding, a confident smile on his face.

"Hahahaha, you're not bad, kid."

After a moment, Naobito Zenin suddenly burst into laughter.

Knock, knock. Whoosh.

A server slid open the door and placed several brightly colored drinks on the table.

Afterward, the server bowed and left the room.

"What are these, fruit juice?"

Naobito Zenin stroked his chin, looking intrigued.

"They're a new kind of alcohol that's been getting popular lately. Want to try one?"

"Why not?"

Hearing that it was a new drink, Naobito Zenin immediately picked up a cup and swallowed it down.

"Haah~"

After letting out a drunken burp, Naobito Zenin set the cup back on the table.

"It is indeed a flavor I've never had before. The taste has quite an impact, but it only draws attention through novelty. Once that novelty fades, it naturally can't compare with old sake."

Naobito Zenin poured himself a cup of traditional sake into the empty cup.

"True, many new drinks don't last long. But there are quite a few kinds of new drinks."

Eiji pointed at the multicolored alcohol in front of them.

"As long as even one survives, it will affect old sake to some extent. Once enough new drinks survive, old sake will naturally be forced to change as well."

Eiji poured a cup of blue liquor into Naobito Zenin's sake.

"Interesting. But the people at the Old Sake Brewery won't agree to that."

The Old Sake Brewery naturally referred to the Zenin Family.

"It doesn't matter. Even among the breweries producing old sake, there will be people who like new drinks. We can just bring them over and establish a new brewery together. If the people from the Old Sake Brewery dare to stop us..."

Eiji looked directly into Naobito Zenin's eyes, and the meaning in his gaze was obvious.

"Hahaha, interesting. Truly interesting. That doesn't sound like something a young man would say."

Naobito Zenin smiled and drank the sake mixed with blue liquor.

Seeing Naobito Zenin drink his alcohol, Eiji's smile softened.

"Then I'll speak to you the way young people do."

Eiji relaxed and leaned back. The inscrutable expression he had worn vanished at once, making him look like an easygoing young man.

"The era is about to change. The Jujutsu World once said that Satoru Gojo's birth changed the balance of the world, but this era doesn't only have Satoru Gojo."

"I'm stronger than Satoru Gojo."

A confident smile appeared on Eiji's face.

The current Satoru Gojo was not the same as the Satoru Gojo at the beginning of the story. There was an enormous gap in strength between the two.

If Eiji went all out now, he was confident he could defeat Satoru Gojo.

Even if Satoru Gojo grew as strong as he was in the story later on, it would not matter.

Eiji was not afraid of Satoru Gojo becoming stronger, because he believed his own rate of growth would never fall behind Satoru Gojo's.

"What a cocky brat. But you do have the right to say that."

Naobito Zenin looked at Eiji with satisfaction. Setting everything else aside, Eiji had already surpassed Satoru Gojo in terms of personality.

And with Mahoraga...

In the duel between the former Zenin Family head and the Gojo Family head, the Zenin Family head had been unable to control Mahoraga.

Yet even so, Mahoraga had still fought the Gojo Family's Six Eyes to the death.

If someone could control it...

With Eiji around, this generation of the Zenin Family could continue its glory and would not be trampled beneath the Gojo Family.

"What do you plan to do with the Old Sake Brewery?"

"What do you think of Naoya Zenin?"

Eiji's words left Naobito Zenin wearing an incredulous expression.

However, Naobito Zenin quickly regained his composure.

"Oh? Are you sure? He's far inferior to you."

"I have no interest in that place that's almost rotten through. I'll take away some young people willing to brew new sake and form a new brewery."

"As for that old brewery that's about to rot away, Naoya Zenin may not compare to the few of us, but he has one advantage. He's suited to be a... blade. An obedient, useful blade."

At first, Eiji had wanted to say "dog," but the old man before him had been so cooperative that he felt inclined not to strike someone who smiled at him.

Naobito Zenin smiled after hearing him.

Eiji's words were undoubtedly exactly what Naobito Zenin wanted to hear.

Imperial families were the most ruthless. Though the Zenin Family was not an imperial family, there was not much difference in essence.

Naoya Zenin was his son, after all. If circumstances did not force his hand, who would want to see their own son live poorly?

As for being a blade?

Not everyone in the Zenin Family was qualified to be one.

What some people feared was not becoming a blade, but never getting the chance to become one.

"What about Toji Fushiguro?"

When they had first met, Eiji had been with Toji Fushiguro.

"Toji will join me. By the way, Toji's son, Megumi Fushiguro, also possesses the Ten Shadows Technique."

"Hmm?"

Naobito Zenin's drinking motion stopped.

Two Ten Shadows Technique users?

One Ten Shadows Technique user could threaten the Six Eyes. Two Ten Shadows Technique users...

"Haha, that really is excellent. Glug, glug."

Naobito Zenin drained another cup.

The days ahead would be much easier.

Although Eiji did not plan to return to the Zenin Family, he had already made his stance clear.

And this arrangement was actually far better than the answer Naobito Zenin had hoped for.

What Eiji wanted was a new generation of Jujutsu Sorcerers, while the old generation would remain in the hands of people like himself.

His son could also become the family head as he wished. Although the place where he stood might become a branch family of the Zenin Family in the future,

the head of a branch family was still a family head.

That way, the transition of power would not be too intense, and the Zenin Family's strength could be preserved and utilized to the greatest extent.

The new generation had yet to grow up, so they could not yet be counted as part of the Zenin Family's strength. Besides, even if they grew under Eiji, wouldn't they still be the Zenin Family's strength?

Before they matured, Eiji and Toji Fushiguro would be enough to protect those new sprouts.

Thinking of this, Naobito Zenin felt incomparably refreshed.

Ever since the Gojo Family's Six Eyes had been born, the Zenin Family had felt pressure.

After Satoru Gojo displayed that terrifying talent, Naobito Zenin's days had become even harder.

But now, there was no problem. The Gojo Family had the strongest Six Eyes, while the Zenin Family also had Eiji, who could subdue the strongest Shikigami.

And in the future, there might even be a second Jujutsu Sorcerer capable of subduing Mahoraga.

Next, it would be the Kamo Family's turn to suffer.

Naobito Zenin revealed a delighted smile.

"By the way, help me with two things."

"What?"

Naobito Zenin was in such a good mood that he felt even twenty requests would be no problem, let alone two.

"My friends and I need to register and undergo Jujutsu Sorcerer evaluations. Help me find four... six Grade 1 Jujutsu Sorcerers to act as recommenders."

"Hmm? Does that brat from the Gojo Family need one too?"

Before coming here, Naobito Zenin had already investigated Eiji's relationships and knew that the three of them were going to undergo Grade 1 Jujutsu Sorcerer evaluations.

"Not Satoru Gojo. It's someone else. I'll give you the information later. Go find them first."

Eiji did not elaborate.

"Is that so? Then it will take some time."

Grade 1 Jujutsu Sorcerers were not cabbages. Four would be manageable; he, Ogi Zenin, and Jinichi Zenin already made three. But finding six at once would take some time even for the Zenin Family.

"It's fine. There are still several months before Jujutsu High starts."

"The second matter is this."

Eiji pulled several Fate/stay night posters from his shadow.

"Use the Zenin Family's influence to promote it for me."

Naobito Zenin took the posters and opened them immediately.

"No problem."

It was only promoting something. Once the Zenin Family gave the word, someone would help. At worst, they could offer a few benefits.