Shattered

Naoya Zenin finally snapped out of his memories as the ground trembled beneath the thunder of countless footsteps.

That unreserved strength—simply standing there was enough to make countless people tremble...

Bang! Bang!

As the paper representing Zenin Ogi dimmed, the captain of the Kukuru Unit, who knew that Zenin Ogi was in the Zenin Clan's Cursed Repository, led the Kukuru Unit toward his location.

Why... why was that piece of trash following behind that man?

A massive body, overwhelming strength—just like Toji. And he possessed cursed energy even stronger and more explosive than that woman named Yuta Okkotsu.

With Toji's body and such powerful cursed energy, he was practically even stronger than Satoru Gojo.

By the time he realized it, Naoya Zenin's body had already burst from his room. The mirrors of Projection Sorcery exploded through the air—and before he could react, he had already arrived above Maki.

Watching Maki grip Shadow Playful Cloud as she prepared to leave, Naoya plummeted down at her!

Boom!

Amid the sound of the water's surface bursting, Naoya's kick struck Maki. Maki, who had just killed her own father, was left somewhat confused by the blow—

Who the fuck are you?

Her body reacted in an instant. Accompanied by two bursts across the water's surface, Naoya's body was sent flying out of the water, while Maki sprang from the surface in the same moment.

"Why?"

"Why?!"

"Why!!!"

Why? Why could Maki follow behind that man? Why was she someone just like Toji—why couldn't I be?

The flames of jealousy had just burned through Naoya's chest. Along with the sound of tearing air came the sound of his Projection Sorcery shattering through the sky—

Projection Sorcery completed twenty-four frames of movement in one second. Empowered by cursed energy, its user could move at extraordinarily high speeds. Moreover, anyone struck by the technique's user had to retaliate using twenty-four-frame movements as well.

For the unawakened Maki, Naoya's speed had been impossible to keep up with, and his attacks were exceptionally deadly.

But through the dream of selflessness, Abi Calling—and the enhancement of Cursed Speech One through Six—Maki could now see Naoya's movement trajectory before her.

Bang.

Clang!

Kang!

She raised her arm to block, lifted the hilt to catch the blade, and raised her edge against his.

Naoya's punch was blocked by Maki's arm. After flipping away, Naoya used Projection Sorcery to roll several times in midair and accelerate, circling the mountain once before drawing a dagger—only for Maki to raise Playful Cloud and block it.

Having failed to land a hit, Naoya's eyes grew even more furious. Empowered by Projection Sorcery, the short blade in his hand completed six slashes within a second—raise, aim, slash, withdraw, six times in succession—until the sixth strike shattered the blade, sending fragments of its edge flying into Naoya's own face.

At some point, Playful Cloud had already transformed into a pitch-black hand-and-a-half sword.

"Seven. Two remaining."

As the hand-and-a-half sword cut across Naoya's waist and abdomen, Maki once again felt memories from a cursed tool user.

How Xuan had used the Double Serpent Staff; weapons she had never used, never even touched—

Speed. Strength. And cursed energy she had never controlled before, yet could now wield as naturally as her own limbs.

I can do this.

Watching Naoya start running again, Maki instantly thought of a way to humiliate him—she planted both feet on the ground and, despite setting off later, sprinted out faster and more fiercely than Naoya, who had already taken the lead.

How was that possible?

How was that possible, possible, possible?!

She caught up to him? He had thought that sword strike landing earlier was just luck, but what was this now?

They were moving at speeds above Mach 1... why? Why, why?!

"You're slow!"

Seeing Naoya's eyes filled with shock and disbelief, Maki continuously swung the Double Serpent Staff in her hands. Naoya had no choice but to split his focus between accelerating and constructing movements to block her attacks.

And then—

Bang!

At one moment, perhaps because of the burning sensation left by that earlier strike, perhaps because Naoya had never planned to construct defensive movements from the start, or perhaps both, his disjointed movements caused his body to snap into a square mirror tile.

Seizing that chance, Maki did not hesitate to transform the hand-and-a-half sword in her hand into a broad, heavy greatsword.

Screech— The blade rose from below, nearly tearing the frozen Naoya in half with a single slash.

"Eight. One remaining."

Naoya, having been struck, was sent flying backward. In an instant, the blade carved a huge wound across his chest.

Then Maki appeared behind him. The heavy greatsword transformed once again, becoming a long staff suited to her grip, which she smashed down at Naoya's head.

"Nine. Complete."

The long staff slammed into Naoya in an instant. Having come to his senses, Naoya used all his strength to jerk his body upward, causing the staff that should have struck his head to hit his other head instead.

"Utterly shattered."

Looking at Naoya, who had already passed out, Maki took a deep breath. Grabbing his black hair, now dyed gold, she stared at his cheek and raised her fist. Black shadows erupted from the Double Serpent Staff, wrapping around her fist before she brought it crashing down.

"Maki—enough."

Seeing the already unrecognizable Naoya, Xuan appeared beside Maki.

"He's barely hanging on... If he dies from injuries caused by cursed energy, he won't become a cursed spirit. Did they refrain from investing any resources into non-sorcerers because they'd calculated that?"

Round Deer appeared beside Naobito. Under his stunned gaze, it lowered its head and pressed it against Naobito's chest. The burn marks vanished at a visible rate, peeling away from his body like dead skin.

"Who... are you?"

"I'm Xuan."

Xuan sat beside Naobito, whose body had been fully restored—even his missing right arm had regrown intact.

"If you've read the Zenin Clan's ancestral records, you should know who I am."

"You're that... strongest sorcerer of the Muromachi era?"

During the Muromachi era, he had slaughtered hundreds of jujutsu sorcerers from the Three Great Clans, leaving the most striking mark in their history. He was unquestionably the strongest.

"You know what my original surname was without me having to tell you, don't you?"

Naobito looked at Round Deer beside him, then at Xuan.

"Ah... I never expected this. Or perhaps the Zenin Clan simply refused to accept reality."

"Now I'll state the terms of the Binding Vow—from today onward, the head of the Zenin Clan will automatically cede his position to Megumi Fushiguro. The Kukuru Unit will be disbanded, and that doctrine of 'those who are not Zenin are not sorcerers; those who are not sorcerers are not human' will be eradicated. And then—oh, right. We should keep up with the realities of the new era. Men and women should be equal."

"...That's a lot to leave to an old man like me."

Sensing that Naobito had not rejected the Binding Vow, Xuan nodded.

"Anyone who refuses to leave the Kukuru Unit, anyone who does not agree with erasing that doctrine, and anyone else with objections—I'll kill them."

"...I understand."

Xuan dragged Naoya Zenin along like a dead dog and tossed him before Naobito. Behind Naobito stood Jinichi Zenin, missing one arm, and Ranta's corpse, blood seeping from his eyes, no longer capable of using his cursed technique.

"Sorry about that. My cursed tool damages the soul, and Maki was furious, so she didn't hold back. I did everything I could to treat Naoya, but—well, leave the rest to the hospital."

"...Yes, I suppose so. He needs to be disciplined."

The Zenin Clan estate was covered in traces of slashes and lightning, along with the mutilated corpses of quite a few people still clinging to the Zenin Clan's past.

"Oh, right—Naobito... Vice Head. Until Megumi Fushiguro returns to the Zenin Clan, you'll need to properly sort through the personnel for him, as well as deal with these brainless idiots."

Naobito nodded solemnly.

"Then I'm off~ Jinichi, you'd better keep your subordinates in line next time."

Xuan's battle with the Zenin Clan had lasted less than ten seconds. The captain of the Kukuru Unit had led his men before Xuan, after which those old bastards who had overheard Xuan's plans to overturn the Zenin Clan's ideology ordered the Kukuru Unit members to charge into Jinichi's room.

Under the pressure of the Kukuru Unit members and the Zenin Clan's old bastards, Ranta targeted Xuan and activated his cursed technique.

Utterly foolish.

Weren't they merely being stripped of the privileges they had been born with? Hadn't they stripped many others of their rights long ago?

Ranta's cursed technique had no effect on Xuan whatsoever, while Jinichi stood there without moving—yet he still had one arm cut off for failing to discipline his subordinates.

Then Xuan slightly adjusted the range of his cursed energy's effect—expanding his domain for 0.2 seconds.

Everyone who continued to act after the warning—the Zenin Clan's old bastards, as well as the thoughtless captain of the Kukuru Unit—first Nue, then Divine Dog.