In the middle of the night.
As Naoya was sleeping peacefully, the cursed energy in the air around him started vibrating.
The cursed energy inside his own body suddenly became restless, making him clench his fists.
The process lasted for some time.
Then.
Naoya suddenly opened his eyes and sat up.
*Huff*
Taking in a deep breath, he wiped away the drops of sweat from his forehead.
'I awakened my technique?....'
His eyes widened as a new piece of knowledge suddenly appeared in his mind.
It felt like an organ he had been born with suddenly became active.
But what came next left him utterly dumbfounded.
'4? I have 4 cursed techniques???'
He jumped out of his futon in excitement, his eyes widened with pleasant surprise.
Barely containing the corners of his mouth from lifting up, Naoya quickly sat back down and concentrated.
The first technique was no surprise.
It was the same one which belonged to the original Naoya, [Projection Sorcery].
It allowed him to perceive the world in 24 animation frames per second, plot his movements within those frames for incredible speed, and apply the same rules to others, freezing them if they deviated from their pre-planned moves.
The second cursed technique... Ten Shadows!
Big daddy Raga!
0% win rate! 100% swag!
'Mahoraga is a goat but... how will I beat him?'
Mahoraga ain't gonna submit to no bitch.
Under Naoya's control, his shadow moved, and two Divine Dogs suddenly appeared before him.
*Woof*
Naoya patted their heads and ruffled up their soft fur, making the dogs wag their tails in excitement.
These were Divine Dogs, the first shikigami of the Ten Shadows Technique, given to the user for free as a login bonus by the technique.
All other shadows have to be beaten before taming.
Just then—
*Knock*Knock*
"Young master, are you alright? I seem to have heard something."
Hearing the maid's voice, Naoya desummoned the Divine Dogs who were jumping around the place.
As a human, she was unable to see or sense the shikigami, but that didn't mean she couldn't hear them jumping up and down on solid wood.
"It's nothing, I'm sorry to have awakened you."
The door slightly opened, and the maid looked inside. Seeing everything was okay, she bowed her head and apologized.
"I'm sorry, Naoya-sama, for opening the door without your permission...."
She was taken aback by her master's sudden apology and instinctively thought something was wrong, so she opened the door.
"As I said, it's nothing. Please go back."
"Yes, young master...."
After she left, Naoya waited for some time before looking at his third technique.
[Distorted Shadow].
After understanding the technique, Naoya couldn't help but pause.
Turning his head, he looked to his right.
And he met a pair of eyes exactly similar to his own.
Right beside him stood another Naoya Zenin, looking exactly like himself.
The real Naoya opened his mouth and asked,
"You can think, yes?"
The fake nodded and replied in a calm tone.
"Yes, Master. I will fulfill all of your commands."
"Hmm... I'll call you 'Phantom'."
"..... Ok, Master."
Naoya raised his hand and grabbed Phantom's face.
He stretched his cheeks, touched his chin, and fluffed up his hair.
His weird actions made Phantom look at him in confusion.
"It's an exact copy... and not only that....."
This Phantom was extremely special.
First of all, if not canceled, it could exist forever and function like a normal human being.
Yes, unlike other techniques, it could be seen and felt by normal humans without cursed energy.
It had its own cursed energy supply and could regenerate cursed energy, use all of his cursed techniques except [Distorted Shadow].
But only one of them could use a technique at a time, meaning if Naoya was using the Ten Shadows Technique, Phantom could not use it.
Their minds were synced, meaning whenever Naoya wanted, he could access the memories and experiences of his Shadow, but the Shadow could not access his mind without permission.
And here's the important part.
If he died while his Shadow was active, he could revive himself using the Shadow.
If the Shadow died, it would enter a 12-hour cooldown period before it could be summoned again.
Plus, since the Shadow had its own reserves of cursed energy, it could go as far away from him as possible—there was no distance restriction between them.
After doing some experiments, Naoya desummoned his Shadow and looked at his last technique.
Unfortunately.
The last technique... was unusable.
'So much cursed energy is required just to start? Is this a joke?'
Naoya frowned. The amount of cursed energy required to use this technique was simply too much.
'This can only be used in the future... that is, if I am able to reach that level of cursed energy.'
'Still, having three cursed techniques..... hehehe, it feels nice to have a cheat....'
Smiling in satisfaction, Naoya lay down in his bed and went back to sleep.
----
Next morning.
After eating his food, Naoya thanked the stunned servants before going to the training ground.
Looking at his retarded father, who was trying to act cool by leaning against a pillar and drinking sake in the morning like a typical alcoholic, he opened his mouth and said,
"I awakened my cursed technique."
*Puff*
The old man sprayed out his sake and coughed violently before asking in a hurry,
"You... did what?"
"I awakened my cursed technique."
Naobito Zenin narrowed his eyes, paused for a moment, then said slowly,
"What is it?"
'Could it be the same as me? Projection Sorcery—'
"Ten Shadows."
"??"
"I awakened the Ten Shadows Technique."
"......"
For a moment, silence enveloped the place.
Only the maid behind Naoya widened her eyes in disbelief and covered her mouth with her hands.
"You... awakened the Ten Shadows Technique?" Naobito asked again, as if to confirm.
Naoya gave the old man a weird look.
'Why is it so hard to accept that I awakened it? Except for Mahoraga, this technique isn't that big of a deal...'
Of course, he thought that because he was comparing himself to monsters like Gojo and Sukuna.
But when compared to normal people, it was a divine weapon of terrifying might.
Naoya waved his hand, summoning two Divine Dogs from his shadow.
They moved around under Naobito's shocked eyes before Naoya desummoned them, looked at him, and said,
"Yes."
Almost as soon as he affirmed it—
A big, creepy smile appeared on his father's face.
The smile was so creepy that Naoya instinctively took a step back and hid behind the stunned maid.
Quickly controlling his emotions, Naobito coughed and said in a dignified voice,
"You idiot son, as a Zenin, how dare you hide behind a maid!"
'Now you're suddenly calling me "son", you materialistic old retard!'
"It's not my fault. Your smile was so creepy, like a sexual predator..."
Naoya said as he held onto the maid's soft leg and pressed half his face against her ass.
Hmm, he was a 3-year-old kid.... he could get away with a lot of things...
The maid, on the other hand, was shocked beyond belief.
Because the young master was hiding behind her!
This had never happened before! He had always looked down on her and treated her like she didn't exist!
B-but, young master!
I really can't protect you against the family head!
"What did you say??" Naobito clenched his fists.
"Stop hiding behind a woman and come out!"
"No."
Naoya declined politely, feeling half his face pressed against her soft bum felt incredibly nice.
But just then, the old man's figure moved at an incredible pace.
Before he could even react, a 24-frame hit combo landed on his head.
*Bam*Bam*Bam*
The attacks made Naoya almost contemplate the meaning of life.
'Dammit, it hurts so much.....'
Then he passed out.
Naobito snorted and lifted Naoya up onto his shoulder before taking him away.
'He is nothing like a Zenin..... his mentality is weak, and he is too cowardly, hiding behind a woman with no cursed energy!... what a joke!.... I will need to teach him how to be a true Zenin..... or he won't survive in this family.'
A strong light passed through his eyes as he took his cowardly son inside.
After putting Naoya down, he looked at the trained servants and said,
"Protect him at all costs. I will come back in some time."
"Yes, family head!"
Naobito left the unconscious Naoya behind and went ahead to meet the elders of the clan.
His youngest son had awakened their clan's legendary cursed technique.
There was finally hope for the Zenin clan.
The old man unknowingly smiled and relaxed, as if an unknown burden had been removed from his shoulders.
After waking up, Naoya touched his head. Feeling the pain, he clenched his teeth and released a breath of air.
"Child-abusing old retard..."
The servants around him flinched, then chose to pretend they hadn't heard Naoya curse the family head.
"Naoya-sama, you are awake."
"Oh, you're here." Naoya nodded at the familiar maid before stopping and asking her,
"Um.... what's your name?"
He searched through the original Naoya's memories and couldn't find her name at all.
"My name is Kiyo.... young master Naoya," Kiyo was a little taken aback but still bowed her head and replied.
"Hm... so who are you guys?" Naoya asked while looking at the several men carrying swords, standing all around the room.
"We are here to protect you, young master Naoya, under the family head's command."
"And where did the old man go?"
".... The family head has gone to meet the elders."
'Informing them about the Ten Shadows Technique? The old man is too impatient.'
Naoya clicked his tongue. At first, he thought about saying that he awakened Projection Sorcery, but then he remembered it would be extremely hard to hide the technique while practicing it.
Unlike the Ten Shadows Technique, which literally summons shikigami, his other techniques were not so conspicuous.
As for why he didn't say he awakened four techniques outright? Simple—because he didn't want to become a complete anomaly and give rise to unexpected situations.
Who knows? Kenjaku might prepare two Prison Realms after hearing about his powers.
Can't let that old fossil know more information—not to mention the snakes inside the Zenin clan, plus the special-grade cursed spirits who could gain his information.
In short, it was to give his future opponents a big surprise.
A lack of information in a battle can play a major role, you know.
Revealing the Ten Shadows Technique would give him enough fame and attention—anything more would simply be asking for trouble.
Of course, he would be facing assassination attempts, but in turn, he would also gain the Zenin clan's full support for training.