A Contender for the Clan Headship

By the following morning at the Zenin Clan estate, seven-year-old Naoya Zenin had finished breakfast with servants waiting on him.

As Naobito Zenin's only child with a talent for Jujutsu, and the one most likely to inherit the position of clan head, he naturally enjoyed the highest standard of service the Zenin Clan had to offer.

Naoya thoroughly enjoyed this privilege that belonged to him alone.

Naoya rose from the table and stood by the dining room window, gazing outside. He noticed that the annex, which had always stood empty, was suddenly bustling with servants cleaning and tidying it.

He casually asked the Kukuru member attending him a question.

"What are they doing? Hasn't that place been empty for ages?"

The Kukuru member replied respectfully, "Young Master Naoya, apparently the clan head brought an illegitimate son back from outside last night. They're preparing all this for him."

The member stressed that the details were still unclear, and that the clan head apparently intended to conduct a paternity test today.

Normally, such a subject should never have been discussed in this setting, much less voiced by a low-ranking Kukuru member like him.

The only reason he did so was that everyone present, servants included, had placed their bets on Naoya.

Naoya knew perfectly well that the clan head he referred to was his own father, Naobito Zenin.

Father had an illegitimate son outside the clan?

But aside from Naoya himself, who possessed a talent for Jujutsu, his father had assigned all his older brothers to businesses far removed from Jujutsu Society. Even that annex had once housed one of them.

And now he was going to all this trouble to bring an illegitimate son into the Zenin Clan? Did that boy have a talent for Jujutsu too?

[Note to preempt nitpicking: Naobito Zenin's children other than Naoya are entirely my own conjecture, not official canon. My version takes precedence in this story.]

Born into the Zenin Clan and raised as a strong contender to become its next head, Naoya was naturally far more mature than others his age.

Naoya did not realize that a trace of unease and jealousy had risen in his heart. He instinctively resented the thought of his father's attention being diverted to that illegitimate son.

"Then let me see just what sort of brother Father has brought back for me."

What he really meant was that he wanted to see what sort of fool, ignorant of his own limits, would become his rival for control of the Zenin Clan.

With that, Naoya headed toward the annex with the light, brisk steps of a young boy.

When Tan Man woke, he saw an unfamiliar, old-fashioned wooden ceiling above him. Beside him, someone in a white coat was drawing his blood.

Tan Man's memories cut off after he unleashed Eight Hot Hells: Sanghata Hell against Naobito Zenin. His Cursed Energy, mind, and body had reached the limits of his six-year-old frame, and he had passed out.

Forcing himself to use the Cursed Technique he had only just acquired, expending excess Cursed Energy to compensate for his lack of precision, had placed an enormous strain on his body. Fortunately, it seemed everything had turned out well.

The first thought that flashed through Tan Man's mind was, It looks like I survived.

This room was presumably somewhere inside the Zenin Clan estate rather than an outside hospital. Naobito Zenin's willingness to bring him back all but confirmed that his plan was halfway to success.

But Tan Man's plan was not to impress Naobito Zenin and then take over the Zenin Clan from him.

He understood his own problem very clearly. His background was even worse than Noritoshi Kamo's, and even less fit to be acknowledged publicly.

Tan Man knew perfectly well that successfully entering the Zenin Clan did not mean his situation was particularly good.

Even bearing the identity of Naobito Zenin's son, he would still be an outsider to the Zenin Clan.

Competing with Naoya, Ogi, and Jinichi for the clan headship through conventional means was simply impossible.

In Tan Man's eyes, no one in the Zenin Clan could be trusted.

At their core, they were merely rivals coveting the position of clan head. Only someone who truly had no need for that position could potentially form a healthy partnership with him. Aside from the Zenin Clan members in the Hei, the Akashi, and the Kukuru, the most suitable candidate in Tan Man's mind was Toji Zenin.

Just then, an arrogant voice with a childish edge rang out.

"So you're the stray Father brought home?"