This time, though, Toji had really come mainly to deliver this gift to Tan Man.
He was not planning to take Tan Man out to earn some extra cash just yet, but they did settle on a rough time for their next outing.
And before leaving, Toji shared an important piece of news with Tan Man.
"Oh, right. You were listed as a target on the Curse Users' job platform today."
For now, the outcome of Tan Man's duel with Satoru Gojo had only circulated among the Three Great Families.
But there was no guarantee that the Gojo Clan had not leaked the news while treating Satoru Gojo-or that the clan itself had not posted the job.
Tan Man did not seem particularly surprised. After all, as long as he demonstrated the strength to surpass Satoru Gojo, even if this victory had been a fluke, that was enough to subject him to the special treatment previously reserved for Satoru Gojo.
Tan Man asked Toji curiously.
"So how much did they put on my head?"
Toji rubbed his chin and answered, "For now, your bounty is two hundred million yen, just a little lower than that Six Eyes brat's. They probably want to trick some unlucky fools into taking you out at a relatively cheap price before word about you spreads too far."
"Two hundred million yen..." Tan Man murmured, repeating the amount of his bounty.
"What, scared?"
Tan Man shook his head slightly. Other sorcerers' Cursed Techniques might not be as troublesome as Satoru Gojo's Limitless, but there could still be techniques that had never appeared even in the original story he knew. It would certainly be a lie to say there was no risk at all.
But people died when they were killed. At least killing them would be much easier than going to all that trouble to find a way through Satoru Gojo's Limitless.
Tan Man murmured in reply, "Perhaps this is another trial that can make me stronger..."
After Toji left, Tan Man felt ravenous, having gone more than twenty hours without eating, and headed to the dining hall used by the Zenin Clan's ordinary members.
Along the way, Tan Man encountered quite a few members of the Zenin Clan. At this time of evening, most had finished their work. Only those assigned to night duty or missions were still busy.
So the atmosphere was relatively less oppressive than at other times.
Whenever the Zenin Clan members saw Tan Man, they respectfully greeted him as "Young Master Tan Man."
Even before the Three Great Families' banquet, the Zenin Clan members who trained with Tan Man had addressed him that way.
But these were clan members who had little contact with Tan Man, and the change in their attitude left him feeling somewhat unaccustomed to it.
Despite that unfamiliarity, Tan Man still found it gratifying.
If he regarded the Zenin Clan as one large family, these people could also count as his family.
Their recognition thus became, in a way, recognition from his family.
That was precisely what he had lacked most across both his lives.
On his way to the dining hall, Tan Man happened to run into Ogi and took the initiative to greet him.
"Mr. Ogi."
Within the Zenin Clan, Tan Man addressed even Naobito Zenin only as the clan head. He used ordinary forms of address for everyone else as well, rather than familial titles.
Strictly speaking, Tan Man should have called Ogi his uncle.
In the past, Ogi would merely have given Tan Man a slight nod. Today was somewhat different, as Ogi took the initiative to ask him a question.
"You've recovered already? Are you completely all right now?"
Tan Man stopped walking and froze for a moment before answering.
"Yes, Mr. Ogi. I've fully recovered. I can take part in Akari's training tomorrow."
"Mm."
After hearing Tan Man's answer, Ogi gave a small, approving nod before turning to leave.
Although Ogi was also a contender coveting the position of clan head, after witnessing Tan Man's ferocity, he at least acknowledged that this six-year-old child did, to some extent, deserve his place as a candidate for the Zenin Clan's leadership.
He did not feel there was anything inappropriate about competing with such a child for the position. Perhaps this was the Zenin Clan's particular reverence for strength: as long as someone was strong enough, they could earn others' respect and recognition-provided they were a sorcerer.
Tan Man did not let the change in the clan members' attitudes go to his head. On the contrary, when he joined Akari's training the following day, he was still the same vicious beast.
Leaving Kukuri's training behind entirely also raised the difficulty of Tan Man's training by a level.
Even ordinary physical sparring between Akari members involved Cursed Energy, making it completely different from Kukuri's reliance on pure physical strength.
Tan Man had not grown careless just because he had beaten Satoru Gojo once. He knew very well that he still had no way to break through Limitless at will.
As long as Satoru Gojo realized he could use illusions and kept Limitless active throughout, refusing to deactivate it no matter what happened within an illusion, Tan Man would have no way to deal with him.
All Tan Man could do was use the Evil Eye's illusions to lure and guide his enemies into taking the actions he wanted.
But if an enemy refused outright and remained highly guarded, there was ultimately very little an illusion could accomplish.
So Tan Man's current goal was clear: obtain a means of breaking through Limitless.
The first option, and a relatively achievable one, was to earn enough money to acquire a Cursed Tool capable of breaking through Limitless, such as Toji's Inverted Spear of Heaven or Miguel's Black Rope.
But this was not his first choice. The main problem was that Tan Man's physical abilities could not compare with those of Toji, who possessed a Heavenly Restriction. In fact, he was still slightly inferior even to Naoya.
Even if a Cursed Tool could break through Limitless, Tan Man's physical abilities would not be able to keep up with the intensity of a battle against Satoru Gojo.
Young as his opponent was, those low-cost uses of Blue that he could unleash at will would be more than enough to give Tan Man a hard time.
The second method of breaking through Limitless was to learn to use a domain, but that was no easy task in itself.
Take the Zenin Clan, for instance. In the entire sprawling clan, there was not a single sorcerer capable of using a domain. Even Naoya in the original story had only grasped his domain after becoming a Cursed Spirit.
For one thing, learning to use a domain required a fairly deep understanding of Barrier Techniques. For another, a domain was not something one could readily learn just by being taught, never mind the fact that he could not currently find such a teacher.
Tan Man had not tried yet and did not know whether he had any talent in this area, so this was also bound to be an option that would take considerable time to accomplish.
That left the third option: increase his sins and explore the potential of the Eight Hot Hells.
Perhaps one of the hell techniques unlocked later would be capable of breaking through Limitless.
Of course, there was also a fourth plan: recruit or find someone who shared his goal and could deploy a domain.
But this option was relatively dangerous in itself. The person Tan Man would need to ask for help would possess a domain, while he currently had no means of resisting one.
If he failed to persuade them and a conflict broke out, he would be at a clear disadvantage once they used their domain, and his life would be in considerable danger.
After all, there were very few potential candidates who both possessed a domain and harbored hostility toward the Six Eyes.
Beyond obtaining a way to break through Satoru Gojo's Limitless, there was another very important issue to consider: recovery during battle.
Tan Man knew full well how important Reverse Cursed Technique could be in combat, so it was also one of the combat skills he needed to master as soon as possible.
Of course, a means of countering domains was another combat skill whose importance Tan Man understood all too well.
Tan Man still had a long road ahead of him before he became truly strong.
Before you continue