"What can I do about that? With new knowledge and techniques right in front of me, could you expect me not to learn?"
Hii Kōri responded equally confidently. "When it comes down to it, we're both the type of bastards who can hardly be considerate of others' feelings."
"Bastards who, despite that, are fortunate enough to be loved."
Under the winter sky, Matazaburō sighed thus.
"I don't mind on my end, but you and the old hag are all in tune with each other and completely understand each other. Are you just not going to bother with Big Brother at all?"
Seeing Matazaburō gazing skyward with a wistful expression, Hii Kōri squinted and mercilessly poked at his sore spot. "Don't act like you two are true love and Big Brother was some accident, you old bastard."
This was his unique way of interacting with his foster parents. Chiyo's personality was far from serious, and her kindred spirit Matazaburō was naturally just as unreliable.
Communication with them demanded this pure "combat, cool" atmosphere.
Looking at it this way, Mataza—their biological son—ended up being the most serious person in the entire family.
Though their dynamic had been awkward initially, living together for a long time, Mataza and Hii Kōri had grown accustomed to their seemingly cold "end conversations within three sentences" approach. They even found it quite comfortable.
In terms of actual atmosphere, their relationship was probably better than outsiders imagined.
Matazaburō had been away too long—hence his misunderstanding. In reality, Mataza had long been relieved about Hii Kōri's talent.
Jealousy and fear only appeared when the gap wasn't that large. When faced with a gap that obviously couldn't be bridged or even touched, no superfluous emotions arose.
Besides awe, nothing else.
There would always be true geniuses in this world—why couldn't one be his adopted Brother?
Harboring such thoughts, Mataza had become much more cheerful and relaxed than before.
So, given the opportunity, Hii Kōri was happy to fight against injustice for his big brother.
"Haa... getting lectured by you, kid. Guess I really have been pretty bad..."
Pressed to this point, Matazaburō dropped his subject-changing attempts.
Even if aware of his own shortcomings, without someone pointing them out, he'd still harbor wishful thinking and ignore them.
"Walking back together? I brought adzuki bean cakes."
Matazaburō lifted the bags in his hand and shook them. Most contained souvenirs from his travels.
Chiyo loved all kinds of beans and bean products. Mataza preferred pastries. Hii Kōri had no particular favorite foods but had a high sugar demand.
Adzuki bean cakes—three wishes, one fulfillment.
"You go ahead. I'm off to the library for new research."
Hii Kōri waved dismissively, indicating that if Matazaburō hadn't suddenly returned, he'd already be in the library, studying in the dark and not knowing what the world is.
"Hey, kid. How often do you take medicine now?"
Hearing this, Matazaburō frowned slightly, his tone growing somewhat serious.
"About once every week or two. Don't think I'm that stupid. I wouldn't abuse drugs."
Hii Kōri tucked scattered sideburns behind his ear, pulled a pair of large round-frame glasses from his lapel, and put them on, answering nonchalantly.
After completing twofold divided thinking, Hii Kōri had further optimized his physical energy utilization. Combined with medical ninjutsu applications, he'd even compressed sleep to just twenty percent of each day.
But even with nearly eighty percent of his time devoted to various research, it still felt insufficient.
So after reigniting cursed energy sparks with his spiritual power, he attempted a new Binding Vow—trading "inability to sleep" for the ability to "maximally absorb and convert consumed substances."
Undoubtedly, for ordinary people, inability to sleep was an extremely severe cost. Before long, severe mental depletion would completely destroy one's mind.
But from Hii Kōri's perspective, this "cost" was exactly what he needed.
He'd always believed that as a jujutsu sorcerer, one must make good use of Binding Vows—even finding loopholes to profit.
Though even his Uzumaki constitution couldn't maintain sleeplessness indefinitely, "can't sleep" didn't mean "can't close your eyes." Zazen meditation could also regulate physical and mental states.
Worst case, medication could assist with regulation. As for energy... his soul strength wasn't just for show!
Just sleepiness? Watch me push it back with curiosity!.jpg
In short, this Binding Vow was fundamentally a win-win deal—the kind where he won twice.
Win-win (shrug).
This was another main reason Mataza felt no jealousy toward Hii Kōri's "talent."
Already is extremely talented and working this hard—of course he'd succeed at everything.
Conversely, Hii Kōri—having achieved twofold divided thinking with quadruple parallel processing, able to learn and research 24/7—still took three years to fully master Matazaburō's Wind Release notes. That proved just how terrifying this man's mastery was.
Even without incorporating high-level Wind techniques—just pure conceptual analysis and operational methods—it had enabled nine-year-old Hii Kōri to achieve strength rivaling chūnin.
At least in a true all-out battle, Mataza stood no chance against Hii Kōri.
But Hii Kōri's learning style,
though unproblematic to him, wasn't something others could accept or understand.
Chiyo had repeatedly expressed concern about his physical and mental state. She'd even refused to provide medication, citing irreversible damage from overmedication.
Back then, it was Matazaburō—rarely home—who'd vouch for him.
Precisely because he sensed a similar aura in Hii Kōri, Matazaburō understood better than Chiyo: even if refused, Hii Kōri would find another way to solve the problem himself.
"Fine."
Matazaburō clicked his tongue, said no more, and turned toward home.
Compared to his biological son Mataza, Hii Kōri truly wasn't worrisome.
After his foster father's figure gradually disappeared from view, Hii Kōri lingered no longer by the roadside and headed for the library.
"Winter... still want to see snow, though..."
***
Dive deeper into the story with 30+ advance chapters, available now on Patreon!patreon.com/CNBLUE
If you're enjoying the novel, please consider leaving a review. Your support is crucial and helps the story grow immensely. Thank you!