Whether by luck or misfortune, the ritual showed no signs of ending, even as the appointed time approached.
So, I decided to head out, taking Raiko with me.
We arrived at a sushi restaurant on the outskirts of Shinjuku as planned. It was one of those so-called high-end establishments—an upscale place where a single meal easily costs hundreds of dollars.
"Oh, you're here?"
As we stepped inside, Zenin Naobito, seated at the counter, greeted me. Seeing him after a while, I felt an odd sense of familiarity.
"Ah. You've arrived, Big Brother?"
Naoya, seated beside him, hurriedly stood up to pay his respects. With his matured physique and traditional attire, he looked exactly like the man I remembered from the original Jujutsu Kaisen.
"It's been a while, Naobito-san. Good to see you, Naoya."
"Yes, sir. And Sister Raiko, you've come as well?"
"It has been a long time," Raiko replied with a graceful bow and a warm smile.
The two men standing behind the counter stared at Raiko, momentarily entranced by her presence. However, that lasted only a second before they regained their professional composure, acting as if nothing had happened.
"Welcome. Please, take a seat wherever you feel comfortable."
"Thank you."
I exchanged greetings with the owner and took a seat. Soon, various appetizers and sushi pieces were placed on the plates before us. This was high-end sushi—the kind I'd only ever seen in pictures. Actually eating it for the first time made me feel a surge of nervous excitement.
"Let's eat first, talk later," Naobito grunted.
"Thank you for the food."
Naobito began chewing his sushi and knocking back drinks as if he'd been waiting for this all day. True to his reputation as a functioning alcoholic, he was drinking straight from the bottle.
"By any chance, are the others…?" Naoya asked once we had finished the sushi. It was a natural question, given that he knew I usually moved with backup Servants.
"Only Raiko came with me today."
"Will that be alright?"
"There are days like this. More importantly, why did you ask to see me?" I asked, watching Naobito drink. In the time we took to eat, he'd already emptied two long bottles of sake.
"Hmm…? Ah. Right." Burp. Naobito let out a soft belch and set the bottle down. Despite the staggering amount of alcohol he'd consumed, he showed no signs of intoxication.
"Shall we go outside to talk? The topic isn't exactly suitable for a public place like this."
"Fine by me. Naoya?"
"I'm good as well, sir."
"Then let's move. Lead the way."
As I nodded, Naobito stood up. "Alright then, let's go."
Naoya and I followed Naobito out. Naobito handled the bill, and after walking for a bit, we ended up in a nearby karaoke bar. He booked a room for three hours.
"This is unexpected."
"Isn't it perfect? No prying ears, a private bathroom, and plenty to drink," Naobito chuckled, leaning back into the sofa with the air of a complete layabout.
"I suppose so. But really, what's the occasion? I wouldn't have minded if you just wanted to see my face, but…"
"I wanted to ask you two things. They're a bit too sensitive for a phone call." Despite the gravity of the statement, his attitude remained light. I gathered it wasn't a dire emergency.
"Go ahead."
"First. You seem to be raising Maki and Mai well… are you actually thinking of taking them in?"
Seriously, this again? It was an absurd question, yet I'd heard it often enough that it no longer caught me off guard.
"Only if that's what the girls want."
I already had six Servants by my side. Taking in the twins on top of that felt like a lack of conscience, but… I knew the look in their eyes. I could hear the raw emotion in their voices too clearly to turn them away.
"Fair enough," Naobito snickered, reclining sideways on the sofa. Naoya remained silent, focused on his water.
"Now, the second point. This is the main reason I called you. We found a human with a 'marking' on their forehead."
A human with a marking. The face of Fushiguro Tsumiki flashed through my mind. In the original timeline, Tsumiki was cursed and fell into a coma, eventually revealed as one of Kenjaku's pieces. However, she shouldn't be cursed yet—that wouldn't happen until 2017.
Still, I had been curious about the marked humans or those who had already awakened. Modern humans gifted with cursed techniques or vessels reincarnated from the past—those were the two main types who would eventually participate in the Culling Game. Tsumiki belonged to the latter. But Kenjaku was dead. My Servants and I had personally seen to that.
The Culling Game would never happen now, but the traces remained. He had been preparing for far too long for his death to erase everything. 'So they really exist.'
I'd thought most would only activate during the Shibuya Incident via Idle Transfiguration, but I was certain that wasn't the case for everyone. Uraume, Sukuna's subordinate, had been incarnated long before the Culling Game ever began.
"What is their status?"
"They've been in a peaceful slumber for several months. We've found about three other similar cases."
"Can you find more?"
"Of course. And those we've found are being protected in secret. Just as you asked, the higher-ups haven't noticed a thing."
As Naobito waved a hand, Naoya spoke up. "Don't you worry. We've handled it thoroughly, just as you instructed, Big Brother."
"You took care of it personally?"
"I couldn't just leave it to someone else. Also, the clan has reached a conclusion. We're throwing our lot in with you."
This was news to me. Naoya's words hit me like a physical shock. "For real? Are you sure you're okay with that?"
"Yes. We know you've been sharpening your blades for a while now. Joining your side is not only the most profitable move, it's our only way to survive."
"I appreciate the sentiment, but that's a heavy burden to place on me."
"It's no burden at all. Don't overthink it. If there's anything you need done, just say the word."
Anything I needed? Nothing came to mind immediately, but something flickered in the back of my head. "Then, capture three Curse Users for me."
"Curse Users? What do you want with that trash?"
"I'll tell you later. It's… a bit unpleasant to talk about right now."
"I understand. And you, Head of the House? What do you say?" Naoya asked, looking at Naobito. There was a faint pressure in the room, as if he were forcing the older man to agree to the predetermined answer.
"If he gives the order, we follow. It won't harm us, so quit worrying."
"A wise decision."
"Wise, my foot. More importantly, are you short on child support? Those kids are growing fast; they must be eating through money like wildfire." Naobito suddenly brought up a very grounded, practical concern.
I appreciated the offer, but I wasn't struggling. The fortune Koyanskaya had amassed only continued to grow. Besides, the sisters weren't the wasteful type, so we didn't need much. "Well, a little extra would be appreciated."
Still, for the sisters' sake and to bolster their future savings, I swallowed my pride. "Alright. Will an additional 300,000 yen a month suffice?"
"That would be great." 300,000 yen. Roughly 3,000 dollars. It was an amount that made me want to pump my fist in secret joy.
"Oh. About those Curse Users… should I catch some with actual skill, or will any old riff-raff do?"
"The stronger, the better."
"Got it. I'll be in touch soon." Naoya nodded obediently. Naobito did the same. Soon, Naoya and Naobito left the karaoke room and headed home.
They actually had sung a bit too. Naobito sang pop songs, while Naoya belted out an opera that chilled me to the bone.
"Hey. Weren't you excited about finally mastering your Domain? I thought you were dying to show it off," Naobito asked, leaning back in the rear seat of their sedan next to Naoya.
"You think I'm that dense? The atmosphere seemed serious, so I kept my mouth shut. I'll show it off next time we meet."
"That's probably for the best," Naobito nodded, closing his eyes. He looked more and more like a dog tamed by its master… but that was far better than him being a prideful prick.
Besides, with a Domain, Reverse Cursed Technique, and precise Cursed Energy control, even if he didn't have the inherited technique of the main line, he was more than qualified to be the next head. He was simply hiding his true strength. Zenin Naoya was, without a doubt, the greatest sorcerer currently in the Zenin clan.
Unless Fushiguro Megumi mastered the Ten Shadows Technique and did the impossible by exorcising Mahoraga… 'No. Even then, it's better this guy takes the lead.' Megumi was the son of Toji, who had severed all ties with the clan. Megumi himself would likely despise the position. Having Naoya keep the Zenin name afloat for now was good enough. It beat dealing with more friction.
"Yes. I'll use catching those Curse Users as a chance to experiment with my Domain."
"You know your cursed technique burns out after using a Domain, right?"
"Obviously. I've already timed it—it takes exactly two minutes and eleven seconds to recover. That's enough time to cover myself with cursed tools and cursed energy until I can make a break for it."
Two minutes and eleven seconds. In a real battle, it was a massive opening, but it wasn't a slow recovery time either.
"You speak of running away so naturally now."
"If I can't win the hit, it's only wise to move."
Naobito liked that Naoya wasn't ashamed of a strategic retreat. There was no room for argument.
"More importantly, should we really not tell him? About the fact that some of the marked non-sorcerers have gone missing?"
"Stop worrying. We have no way of knowing where they went anyway, do we?"
"I suppose not." Naoya sighed deeply. He wasn't worried about the missing people—he just felt bad for keeping information from the Master.
"Anyway, be careful for the time being. He might be fine, but we have to look out for ourselves."
"And I'm the one coming up with the plan?"
"It's not bad practice. If you want to be Head, these are things you must do." Naoya watched Naobito's smirk and let out another sigh. In terms of both skill and status, it was infuriating, but he couldn't find a single word of protest.
In the depths of the dark night, Geto Suguru visited a cold, damp basement. It was a vast, empty space, with a bathtub set up in the center like a stage, surrounded by strange mechanical devices and a network of pipes snaking behind it. A man was submerged in the tub, which was filled with a fluid that looked suspiciously like blood.
The atmosphere was both gloomy and strangely clinical. "Are you Muta Kokichi?"
A man approached the figure in the tub. He had a distinct fringe and sharp, narrowed eyes—Geto Suguru, now a confirmed Special Grade sorcerer.
"And you are Geto Suguru. What brings a Special Grade all the way here?" the man in the tub asked. His entire body was wrapped in bandages, and the sight of his missing arm was pitiful.
"First, let me apologize for the delay. I've been… quite busy lately." Geto stood before Muta, his gaze notably sympathetic. Muta tilted his head in confusion.
"Apologize? Do you owe me something?"
"In a way, yes. Regardless, I'm here because I have something for you."
"Which is?"
"First, will you accept this?" Geto reached into his pocket and produced a small object. A ring.
Muta stared at it blankly. "A ring? Are you proposing? Has the weight of Cursed Spirit Manipulation finally given you a fetish for the broken…?" Muta's eyes sank into a deep gloom; he was being entirely serious.
Geto hurriedly shook his head. He definitely liked women. "Uh… no. It's not that. This is a ring that mitigates pain. Think of it as a Mystic Code… or a cursed tool."
"It reduces pain?" Muta's eyes widened in shock. His gaze flickered between disbelief and raw hope.
"Yes. Hold out your hand. You can still move your arm, right?"
What did he want? Muta was suspicious, yet he complied and extended his arm. His opponent was a Special Grade—the undisputed king of attrition and numerical warfare. He couldn't win a fight against such a man, and more importantly, Geto showed no hostility. It was wiser to follow the flow.
"There we go." Geto slipped the ring onto Muta's index finger. It fit perfectly, neither too tight nor too loose.
Suddenly, the ring pulsed with a faint blue light before fading. Muta's eyes grew even larger. The agonizing pain that felt like thousands of needles stabbing his skin—the sensation of his very flesh burning—began to recede.
"How… is this…?"
"It seems it worked. Does it help with the pain?"
"It does, but… where did you get a tool like this?"
"I received it from an acquaintance. I can't tell you the source; my lips are sealed on that." Geto smiled, thinking of the white-haired man who acted as his benefactor and advisor.
Muta stared blankly at his hand before looking up. "There must be a reason for such a gift."
"Yes, there is."
"Tell me. Whatever it is, if you're giving me something this valuable, it can't be all bad news."
"Spot on." Geto nodded simply. Now, it was time for the real business.
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