After taking Tan Man back to the Zenin Clan, Toji left again, apparently with other plans for the night.
Tan Man walked inside and happened to find Naobito Zenin sitting in the main hall, drinking alone.
Tan Man was not particularly surprised. He had already anticipated that this might happen.
He simply said calmly, "Clan Head."
Naobito Zenin set down his sake flask and turned to look at Tan Man.
The sight of Tan Man's face, covered in a layer of blood he had yet to wipe away, went beyond what he had imagined, leaving even him briefly taken aback.
"..."
Naobito Zenin found that he understood this child of his less and less.
He could not fathom how Tan Man had ended up acting together with Toji.
Only after a long while did Naobito Zenin speak.
"Did you kill someone?"
Tan Man answered calmly.
"Yes."
Naobito Zenin still found it hard to imagine that a six-year-old child could answer such a question so calmly.
He could tell that Tan Man was not acting without restraint out of ignorance or childish innocence.
On the contrary, Naobito Zenin felt that Tan Man knew exactly what he was doing.
But that only made him harder to understand.
"Why?"
"To get stronger."
Naobito Zenin repeated the words under his breath.
"To get stronger..."
Naobito Zenin thought of Tan Man's Cursed Technique, the Eight Hot Hells. He had made time to consult ancient texts on the subject and learned that the Eight Hot Hells were a concept belonging to the eighteen hells of Buddhism.
Judging by that origin, there was far more to Tan Man's Cursed Technique than what he had shown so far.
Then Naobito Zenin connected the fire in Kabukicho with Tan Man's killing tonight. Adding Tan Man's stated reason-to get stronger-the outline of a theory gradually took shape in his mind.
At that thought, Naobito Zenin took another deep swig of sake, then let out a belch that sounded almost like a sigh.
"I've withdrawn your guard and maid. From now on, you'll look after yourself. Eat with the others."
Tan Man agreed without asking any further questions.
Naobito Zenin had not originally planned on doing this. He still did not know what Tan Man and Toji had done tonight, but he suspected it was no small matter.
So Naobito Zenin intended to dispose of Hiroya and the maid outright, tying up the loose ends for Tan Man.
The main point was that Tan Man's circumstances differed from Toji's. He possessed considerable Cursed Energy and a Cursed Technique. His strength was something the Zenin Clan could more readily accept, and there was even a strong chance that it would completely overshadow the issue of his birth.
Naobito Zenin truly had no idea how he ought to treat Tan Man. All he could do was give him some room to develop freely while he thought it over, then decide on future arrangements based on the outcome of the Three Great Families' banquet.
That freedom also included letting Tan Man act as he pleased to a certain extent. So long as he did not cross certain limits, killing a few monkeys or sorcerers was no great matter.
After a week of training, the members of the Zenin Clan's Kukuri and Akari gradually came to understand Tan Man better.
Tan Man was not nearly as uncanny as the rumors made him out to be. At the end of the day, he was only a six-year-old child.
Tan Man's body was far weaker than they had imagined. With that physical foundation alone, he could barely beat anyone in close combat-provided, of course, that nothing beyond hand-to-hand fighting came into play.
That went without saying if Cursed Techniques were allowed, but permitting Cursed Energy to reinforce the body would also make it an entirely different situation.
After all, those assigned to Kukuri were Zenin Clan members without any talent for Jujutsu. If Cursed Energy were allowed, Tan Man would still have a certain advantage in that regard.
Even in Akari, Tan Man could gain a slight advantage through his fairly substantial reserves of Cursed Energy, though his efficiency in using it was still clearly lacking.
Thus, Tan Man sparred with Kukuri under conditions that prohibited Cursed Energy. To grow stronger, he also refrained from relying on the Evil Eye during training, so the results of those bouts were entirely predictable.
But they gradually noticed his obsession with strength, a vicious drive that set him apart from others even during training.
When Tan Man sparred, he usually repeated only two things.
"Don't go easy on me because of my status!"
"Again!"
Once a fight began, Tan Man seemed to them like a wild beast incapable of feeling any pain, leaving a deep impression on everyone.
He gave them an entirely different impression from the equally pampered young master Naoya.
Although Naobito Zenin deliberately tried to reduce the chances of Naoya and Tan Man meeting, they both lived within the Zenin Clan's grounds. They were bound to run into each other sooner or later.
Even when he had prepared himself mentally, Naoya still could not escape the shadow Tan Man had cast over him.
Yet his feelings toward Tan Man were unlike those he had for Toji. His admiration for strength did not change his attitude.
Every time Naoya encountered Tan Man in the Zenin Clan's grounds, he had to keep psyching himself up.
There's nothing to be afraid of. He just uses a few dirty tricks. Besides, I'm older, so I'm still his big brother. There's... nothing... to be afraid of... right?
But even after reassuring himself like that, Naoya still instinctively kept his distance from Tan Man, who merely gave him a dispassionate glance each time.
The six days remaining until the Three Great Families' banquet passed almost in the blink of an eye.
Aside from Naobito Zenin taking Tan Man to collect his mother's ashes one day, little happened. Tan Man simply repeated his training, day after day.
After pulling that job, Tan Man barely saw Toji at all that week.
When Naobito Zenin took Tan Man to watch his mother's simple burial, Tan Man could not put his feelings into words.
That woman had indeed been his mother in this life, but they had spent only six years together.
After all, he had already lived for over twenty years in his previous life. Living this kind of life again made it difficult to develop any deep feelings. Perhaps even the physical pain he had endured left a deeper impression than his emotions.
Rather than being indifferent, Tan Man himself simply did not know how to define those feelings.
Before you continue