Going out

Tokyo, the Zenin Clan.

"Teacher," Ze Zenin's calm voice reached Toji's ears. "Take me out somewhere for fun?"

"Idiot. Do you think those old fossils would agree?"

Toji felt a headache coming on. This brat kept asking him to do this and that every day. Does he really think I'm his babysitter?

But then he remembered the Chimera Beast from a few days ago, and the corner of his mouth twitched-

Fine... this brat's talent is worth investing in.

All I, Toji Zenin, wanted was to lie in this tree and enjoy an afternoon nap...

Still, unlike his usual stern, cold demeanor, Toji seemed to be in a good mood today.

"No problem. I'll go show the old man what I can do." Ze Zenin gave a wicked grin. "Chidori in one hand, the Chimera Beast in the other..."

"How could he say no?"

Of everyone in the Zenin Clan, Ze Zenin felt particularly close to the clan head, Naobito Zenin, who had looked after him since he was little.

Although his talent had been part of the reason from the start, he would never forget the kindness shown to him.

To love and hate without reservation... that was Sasuke Uchiha!

"You've got some nerve saying that!" Toji held his forehead. "You might not even be able to beat me..."

"If you don't destroy my shikigami, Teacher, it shouldn't be a problem."

"But my strongest finishing move right now is the eight-in-one Chimera Beast. If it gets destroyed, my Ten Shadows Technique will be ruined."

Ze Zenin was hiding his strength. In truth, he already stood at the very pinnacle of Jujutsu Society.

"Fair point..." Unaware of Ze Zenin's little secret, Toji rubbed his chin as though thinking it over. "You are nominally my student, after all. I can't have you embarrassing me."

"But don't get ahead of yourself..." Toji suddenly changed his tone, speaking in DIO's voice:

"You're still nowhere near my level."

"Huh?"

The smile froze on Ze Zenin's face. Why did his teacher suddenly sound like that hundred-year-old man in Egypt?

"Dealing with you would be a little tricky, Teacher." Ze Zenin paused, then smiled and raised an eyebrow. "But I'd win."

"You really have some nerve, brat." Toji smiled too. He didn't believe this brat could beat him.

When he had slaughtered half the Zenin Clan a few years ago, Ze Zenin had still been in his mother's womb.

Seeing Toji's confident expression, Ze Zenin once again pictured that iconic scene-ora versus muda...

At that moment, he checked the Sasuke template in his mind:

[Sharingan: 50% development]

[Lightning Release jujutsu: 30% development] (Ultimate technique: ?)

[Fire Release jujutsu: 20% development] (Ultimate technique: ?)

[Amenotejikara: 100% development]

[Swordsmanship: 80% development]

"Lightning Release is still only at thirty percent?"

Zenin Kong recalled his Chidori, which manifested the shikigami Nue's lightning in his hand. His Fire Release jujutsu, meanwhile, transformed the nature of his cursed energy, combining it with the innate abilities granted by the system to turn his attacks into flames and manipulate them.

I wonder what the ultimate techniques for Lightning Release and Fire Release are. Something to look forward to.

Ze Zenin stood in a daze for a long time, looking almost witless. Puzzled, Toji spoke up:

"What are you doing? Are you that excited about going out?"

"I was thinking about how to live the life I want in the future."

With a faint smile, Ze Zenin said, "After all, I'm not the kind of person who shoulders every responsibility himself."

At Ze Zenin's words, Toji's heart gave a tremor.

By then, I should already have left the Zenin Clan, right? Together with her...

Toji glanced at Ze Zenin without thinking. Having such a cheerful child with her might not be bad either.

What neither teacher nor student expected was that ten years later, they would fight a battle that would decide the future of Jujutsu Society...

Yet afterward, Ze Zenin seemed to grow increasingly gloomy.

Not long after, Ze Zenin went to see Naobito Zenin.

"Hey, old man!" Ze Zenin greeted the old man, who was drinking. "I want to go out and have some fun..."

"You're not going out!" Naobito Zenin bristled and glared. "There are curse users everywhere out there. Don't you know there's already a bounty on the Six Eyes?"

"Hundreds of millions of yen..."

"That much..." Ze Zenin recalled the original story. "Should I go kill Satoru Gojo now?"

He only remembered that there really had been a few fools with a death wish who had tried to kill Gojo as a child, only to be frightened off by a single look.

"Don't even think about it!"

Naobito Zenin stood, his gaze as resolute as someone determined to join the Party. "Unless you can defeat me, you're not-"

"Really?" Ze Zenin's eyes lit up. "You said it yourself, old man..."

"No taking it back..."

"Ridiculous! A clan head's word is his bond!"

Ze Zenin then summoned his Chimera Beast, and the oppressive presence of its massive body instantly washed over Naobito Zenin.

"This..." Naobito Zenin looked shocked. "You've already tamed nine shikigami?!"

"That's right..." Ze Zenin looked regretful. "Too bad I can't get my hands on a nuclear bomb. Otherwise, I'd blow Mahoraga to death and tame the last shikigami..."

The corner of Naobito Zenin's mouth twitched. Where could anyone find a nuclear bomb, given this country's current situation?

Then Naobito Zenin waved a hand with remarkable open-mindedness. "Fine, fine. Go do as you please!"

As the strongest high-speed jujutsu sorcerer of the current era, his vision and boldness were far beyond those of ordinary people.

He quickly accepted the truth. After all, even he would surely struggle to fight this Chimera Beast now.

Because of Round Deer's Reverse Cursed Technique... a technique even Naobito Zenin himself couldn't use.

Ze Zenin was somewhat moved. Thinking of how this old man's life would ultimately end, he even felt a touch of reluctance to lose him.

-I'll protect the Zenin Clan.

A little later.

"He agreed just like that?" Toji looked at Ze Zenin in mild surprise. "Who would've thought that old man had become so much more open-minded these past few years?"

"In this backward clan, I thought you were the only one left-with a decent head on his shoulders."

"Teacher, let's go! Let's see the world outside!"

Ze Zenin was excited, because this would be his first time going out!

"No, you'll go alone in a bit. I have someone to see."

"Who?"

"Your teacher's wife." There was an unmistakable smile at the corner of Toji's mouth.

"Couples who flaunt their love die horrible deaths."

"Are you itching for a beating?"

"Teacher, you can't beat me anymore." Ze Zenin chuckled.

Toji: "..."

Shinjuku, downtown Tokyo.

A boy with short white hair walked down the street, his hands tucked into the pockets of his blue hoodie.

He had a handsome, fair face and azure eyes, and looked only seven or eight years old.

This world... is so dull. Nothing but boring people.

Whether it's the people in my clan or those little brats my age...

The boy's eyes scrutinized everything around him like those of a god.

He saw one cursed spirit after another among the crowds. Every day, he lived the same repetitive, tedious life of exorcising them.

"So that's the Six Eyes?" On a distant rooftop, a man studied the boy nearby. "A hundred-million-yen bounty at such a young age."

Jiro Awasaka looked at the white-haired boy as though he had found a treasure. "I don't want to kill too many children, either..."

"But if you have to blame something, blame the family you were born into!"

"This world isn't fair!"

Meanwhile, in the café below, an old woman calling herself Granny Ogami held a cup of coffee and took a small sip before saying, "Old man, don't let your guard down. He may be a child..."

"You've killed far more people than I have. As curse users, are we really afraid of something like that?"

"True..." Granny Ogami stood, malice rapidly spilling from her body. At the same time, Jiro Awasaka on the rooftop released his own malice without restraint.

"..."

The white-haired boy suddenly stopped, then turned his head.

The instant those eyes fixed on him, Jiro Awasaka hastily ducked behind the wall, cold sweat slowly dripping from his forehead onto the ground.

Inside the café, a cup filled to the brim with coffee kept trembling, while Granny Ogami had moved far away from her spot beside the window.

"What are you small fry staring at?"

The white-haired boy cast them a cold glance, then turned his head back.

He continued walking forward, but his gaze suddenly settled on a boy with spiky black hair.

That guy... the Ten Shadows Technique?

The Zenin Clan?

He left the two curse users trembling behind him. That day, only one thought echoed in their hearts:

"That day, in our old age, we lost our freedom..."