Maki sat down, looked at Naobito Zenin's face, and nodded.
"As for my business... I already said it outside just now. I'm sure you heard it too, old man..."
"I came here today for one reason... to become clan head... to become clan head... to become the fucking clan head!!!"
"I know..."
Naobito Zenin nodded, seemingly unsurprised by Maki's declaration.
"When I summoned you last time, I told you."
"The way you were then, you wanted to become clan head...?"
"You weren't remotely qualified..."
At this point, Naobito Zenin paused, glancing at Satoru Gojo beside them.
"...Not even with Mr. Gojo's support."
Finding himself singled out again, Satoru Gojo stuck out his tongue and kept looking around.
"Don't mind me. I'm just an ordinary homeroom teacher making a home visit..."
Naobito Zenin sighed, then looked at Maki and continued,
"So, do you think... you're qualified now?"
Naobito Zenin's piercing gaze fixed squarely on Maki's eyes.
Before, Maki would have felt somewhat intimidated under Naobito Zenin's scrutinizing gaze.
But now, she was no longer who she used to be.
Maki Zenin met Naobito's piercing gaze head-on without the slightest evasion.
"That's right!!!"
As soon as she spoke, Maki abruptly stood up, looking down at Naobito Zenin, who remained seated.
Her figure loomed over the old man before her, an immense aura pressing heavily forward.
Naobito even felt a flicker of dread.
At that moment, the person standing before him seemed no longer to be Maki.
For a fleeting moment, he seemed to see once again the man who had single-handedly beaten his way through the entire Zenin Clan all those years ago.
Not the fleeting, half-baked version from before, but a true, complete monster.
The sensation made Naobito Zenin's pupils contract.
First, he froze for a moment, and then the corners