Zenin Clan

Zenin Clan, Inner Shrine.

The air here was even colder than the ruins of Shibuya. This chill did not come from the temperature, but from the deathly aura accumulated beneath centuries of decaying rules. Naobito Zenin lay on thick tatami mats, one half of his body covered in scorched black bandages.

After fighting Dagon and being besieged by transfigured humans in Shibuya, the life within the "fastest sorcerer aside from Satoru Gojo" flickered as weakly as a dying candle in a gale. His breathing was heavy and ragged, every beat pulling at his shattered organs.

"Big brother, you really don't look dignified at all right now."

Ogi Zenin stood in the shadows, one hand resting on the sheathed longsword at his waist. Beside him, Naogi Zenin and Shinichiro Zenin watched the former clan head without expression.

"Your technique... can't be maintained anymore?" Naogi slowly said. There was no sympathy in his voice, only the cold indifference of someone assessing a prey's worth. "Something like Projection Sorcery, which depends on the strength of one's senses, becomes useless once the body falls apart."

"Cough... cough cough..."

Naobito coughed up a mouthful of bloody pus. His eyes remained fixed on his blood brothers before him. He knew their thoughts better than anyone. In this clan, weakness was a sin, and a dying strong man was the finest nourishment.

"The doctor... isn't here yet?"

Naobito asked hoarsely.

"The doctor was attacked by a 'cursed spirit' on the way here and unfortunately died in the line of duty."

Ogi Zenin casually made up a clumsy lie. He walked over and lightly nudged Naobito's right arm with the tip of his foot. "Dying on the battlefield in Shibuya was your final glory. So please, close your eyes quietly here."

At the corridor, Naoya Zenin stood with his arms folded, leaning against a vermilion pillar. He coldly watched the elders carry out this utterly shameless murder. In his eyes, his father truly had grown old—so old that he would actually risk his life for those burdens called "students."

"What a bore."

Naoya spat under his breath. He had no intention of stopping them. He only wanted to take over this enormous beast as quickly as possible. Ogi Zenin slowly drew his sword, its tip scraping across the tatami with a piercing sound. Cursed energy twisted through the air, and then the blade precisely pierced Naobito's already ravaged chest. A peak powerhouse who had once dominated Jujutsu Society died at that moment in his own sandalwood-scented private chamber. He died by bloodline.

"Announce his death," Naogi said, looking at Naoya. "And read the will while you're at it. The outcome is already in our hands anyway." The will was read in the main hall. Members of Hei and the Kukuru Unit knelt along both sides, and the room was so quiet that even beads of sweat could be heard falling.

"The twenty-sixth head of the Zenin Clan shall be Naoya Zenin."

At that, a smug smile appeared at the corner of Naoya's lips, exactly as expected.

"However, should Satoru Gojo's contract become invalid due to death or incapacitation..." Naogi's voice suddenly trembled, and his pupils contracted. "Megumi Fushiguro shall be installed as the new head of the Zenin Clan, and all assets shall be inherited by him."

Crack!

The floor tiles beneath Naoya's feet shattered instantly. His smile froze on his face, replaced by utterly twisted fury.

"What kind of joke is this... that brat?" Naoya's voice was filled with rage. "That senile old fool has to disgust me one last time even in death?"

"Then before Megumi Fushiguro officially takes over, we must eliminate every hidden danger—or eliminate him directly..." Ogi Zenin closed the will, his gaze sinister.

Before the gates of the Zenin Clan's Forbidden Vault.

Maki Zenin leaned on her greatsword, her face pale. Rings of bloodstained bandages wrapped around her abdomen, medals left by the Shibuya Incident. Beside her, Mai stood with one hand in her pocket, her revolver spinning sluggishly around her fingers.

"Do we really have to come back for this piece of junk?" Mai looked at the heavy stone door, her tone full of disdain. "If I stay here one second longer, I feel like mold is growing in my lungs."

"Without cursed tools, we won't even qualify to join the Culling Game."

Maki glanced at Mai.

Back in Shibuya, when they had fought their way out back-to-back, Maki had sensed that Mai had changed. Her younger sister, who had always sneered at her from behind, had blocked several sneak attacks for her in that hellscape.

"Mai, once we get what we came for, we're leaving. We'll leave this place and never come back." Maki's voice was low.

"...Got it. You're so annoying."

Mai turned her head away, but the tips of her ears had reddened slightly.

They pushed open the heavy stone doors of the Forbidden Vault. The racks that should have been filled with special-grade and grade-one cursed tools now stood empty. An immensely scorching, violent presence rose from the darkness. Ogi Zenin sat kneeling in the center of the open space, a crimson-glowing blade laid across his knees.

"You've finally come, my 'stains.'"

Ogi Zenin opened his eyes, unnatural flames burning in his pupils.

"Father?"

Maki tightened her grip on her sword.

"Don't call me Father." Ogi Zenin rose to his feet as cursed energy erupted in an instant. "I could have become clan head. I could have stood at that pinnacle! But because I gave birth to two defective products like you, that bastard Naobito mocked me for decades!"

"That's your reason for killing people?" Mai sneered and pulled the trigger without hesitation. "How pathetic."

Bang! Bang!

Two cursed-energy bullets shot forth with a howl.

Falling Blossom Emotion.

Ogi Zenin did not even move. The tip of his sword traced a flawless arc, and flames formed an invisible shield in the air, instantly melting through and deflecting the bullets. His body flashed like lightning as he closed in on Maki in an instant. He was too fast. Even Maki, hardened by countless battles in Shibuya, still felt an absolute gap in strength when facing a crazed grade-one sorcerer like this.

Boom!

Flames exploded inside the Forbidden Vault. Maki's greatsword was cut apart in an instant, and the immense force hurled her away, slamming her heavily into the hard wall.

"Maki!"

Mai screamed and tried to support her, only for a sword-pressure slash from Ogi Zenin's backhand to rip open her shoulder.

"This is your limit. As defective products of the Zenin Clan, disappear within the crimson lotus flames."

There was no familial affection in Ogi Zenin's eyes, only a frenzied sense of liberation. Under his absolute suppression of power, Maki and Mai were forced into the lowest dungeon of the Forbidden Vault.

The dungeon was covered in foul-smelling, rotting bloodstains. Maki knelt on one knee, coughing up blood. She could feel her body collapsing. Without cursed tools, without cursed energy, she could do nothing on this cursed ground except wait to die.

"Mai... I'm sorry..."

Maki's voice came in broken fragments.

"...Shut up. It's not over yet."

Mai leaned against the wall, her face white as paper.

She looked at Ogi Zenin as he drew closer step by step, then at the revolver in her hand. She knew the secret. The secret of twins. Under the laws of Jujutsu Society, twins were considered a single entity. Her own weakness was why her sister could not advance any further. As long as she remained alive, Maki would never be able to grow.

"Maki, do you remember what I told you?" Mai suddenly smiled, a smile both tragic and resolute.

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