Author's Notes: Chapter edited and corrected by Vongrak.
September 6, 20xx - Izumi Pov.
"Here we are." My mother said as she stopped the car. "Are you sure you really want to do this?" she asked, gripping the steering wheel tightly. I hummed.
"Too late to repent, isn't it? Besides, if anything happens, I'll trap you in my shadows and kill the entire Zenin clan." I said easily. Mom grimaced.
"You shouldn't talk about killing so easily," Mom said with a sigh. I almost snorted; she couldn't feel even the slightest bit of pity for the Zenin dying, but she was worried that I might kill someone.
"The moment they decided to hurt you, even if it was before I was born, they were already branded like animals waiting to be slaughtered. To have them harm you again, along with my fiancées, well, now they have the same value as insects, or less than insects. I don't mean to insult Taylor's insects, they are important." I said dryly. Mom, despite herself, let out a small laugh while rolling her eyes.
"Aww, you're a mama's boy." Mother said mockingly as she pulled me towards her, I just huffed.
"Of course," I said proudly. Mom sneered as she walked away.
"I trust you, my son. Do what you want, go crazy if you have to," Mom said calmly. I smiled slightly at her words. With that, we both got out of the car and headed to the Zenin clan's family compound.
The enormous buildings, which were surely centuries old, were quite impressive and very well maintained; it would have been a nice sight if it weren't for the Zenin that plagued the place.
We entered through the main door and a woman was waiting for us at the door; she leaned slightly in our direction.
"Iori Zenin-sama, Izumi Zen-"
"Miyamura, call us by other names again and I'll cut out your tongue," I said coldly as I let my Conqueror's Haki press against her body, not enough to knock her unconscious, but enough to completely terrify her. I could see her begin to tremble violently; she bent even further, almost 90 degrees without hesitation.
"I-I'm sorry, Iori Miyamura-sama, Izumi Miyamura-sama, w-welcome, Naomi Zenin-sama is waiting for you in the central inner courtyard along with the rest of the clan." The woman said immediately while her voice trembled strongly. I snorted, making my haki disappear, allowing her to breathe once more.
"Lead us," I said with a grimace. The woman nodded and straightened up abruptly. I could see she was completely pale as she began to sweat profusely, but she made no move to clean herself or calm down; she just turned around and started walking.
I grimaced, grabbed my mother's arm, and began to sense the entire place. I could easily feel them; when the woman said that Naomi Zenin, along with the clan, was waiting for us, she meant the entire clan. I could sense more than 200 presences, all waiting in the same place.
Now, that was interesting, the Zenin wanted to put on some kind of show? Well, let's see what they have planned.
We walked through several buildings until we reached where they were waiting for us: a huge gravel courtyard. In front of us, on one of the wooden walkways surrounding the courtyard, sat Naomi Zenin lazily, drinking alcohol from a gourd bottle. Ougi sat with one knee drawn up, her hand resting on it, Naoko leaned against a wooden pillar with an arrogant smile, and Jinko was in seiza behind the group.
I looked around, all the members of the Zenin clan were present, more than 200 members surrounded the wooden corridors sitting in Seiza and in a completely orderly row while some were standing behind them.
I could quickly see the arrangement. They were forming an inverted U; at the top were the main members of the Zenin clan, right in the center, to their sides but still at the top, were other clan members, strong enough to hold a high rank within the clan.
In the side corridors, flanking us, stood most of them. They looked exactly alike, to the point of seeming like clones. All women, same haircut, clothes, posture—everything was the same. Even their builds would be similar if it weren't for the various types of musculature due to their fully or slightly mutant quirks. And at the very back, in a small corner, closest to us and furthest from the main family, were the men, submissive, looking down, not daring to raise their eyes.
My gaze finally fell on two of the people who were almost at the end. Maki and Mai Zenin were after the clones, but before the men; they were at the bottom of the clan's food chain, but apparently not as low as the men.
I snorted dismissively, just like my mother, who was also watching the scene. The woman who had been leading us quickly moved away from us and went to her assigned position along with the rest of the group.
We both walked down the wooden corridor until we reached the small stairs, went down to the inner gravel courtyard and approached Naomi Zenin.
"Well, well, well," Naoka said, taking a step forward with an arrogant smile. She approached me and stared intently, first at my face and then at the rest of my body without any shame. "You have a pretty face, a slim enough body, quite masculine. You'll be good for warming my bed and that of any clan member who wants you. Say goodbye to your mother's worthlessness; you'll be living in the clan from now on," Naoka said mockingly.
Without even waiting, she turned around and started walking.
"Yeah no, I wouldn't sleep with you even if you were the last living being on the face of the earth. And I say living being because I'd rather sleep with men or even animals than consider having sex with you. Even then, I'd prefer the company of a rock or anything inanimate that's more worthy of my time than you."
"I think just thinking about it will make me vomit, in fact, I'm trembling with disgust, the idea repulses me so much that I would never again in my life get an erection if I saw you naked, killing myself would be an act of mercy, even a cactus is more attractive than –"
I smiled broadly as I gave Mom a light push, moving my head just in time to see Naoka's fist pass right where it had been. I could see Naoka's expression, completely furious as she glared at me.
"You wretched bastard, I see my dear cousin failed even to raise you properly. Don't worry, I'll take care of your upbringing. You'll learn your place: on your knees before me, nodding at every command." Naoka hissed murderously. I smiled savagely, drew Wado Ichimonji fully unsheathed from my shadows, and attacked Naoka.
Wado Ichimonji tried to cut Naoka's neck, she disappeared and appeared next to me, her fist was heading for my face once again, I dodged it easily, I saw as Naoka began to move quickly.
Honestly, seeing that Projection Technique was disconcerting. I understood that the technique divided one second into 24 segments, into 24 frames ; the user had to decide beforehand what position, speed, and posture their body would be in for each frame, and then their body would move to replicate those 'pre-loaded' movements.
There were some requirements that had to be met, the main one being not to excessively break physics; they couldn't move much faster than the maximum they themselves could achieve in a single frame, but they could increase their speed slightly, for example.
Or they could move at angles that were normally slightly impossible, or things like that. Watching someone use that technique was baffling, especially to me.
My Transparent World was excellent for knowing what kind of moves the opponent would make, what their limit was, what they could physically do, I could predict the next move with ease, even without my observation haki.
But now that failed enormously, there was a… 'forced physics' on Naoka's body, her movements did not correspond to her body at all and created an annoying discordance.
But I adapted easily as my eyes followed Naoka with ease.
I dodged all of Naoka's blows, which only made her increase her speed explosively in the next second. I didn't even know if it was possible, but for every 'frame' she made, she threw several blows in my direction.
I used Wado Ichimonji to absorb all the blows, easily matching her speed. My sword struck Naoka's aura without causing any real damage. My eyes followed Naoka, scanning her every move and studying them closely. Naoka returned, increasing her speed once more, enough this time to touch my shoulder.
I could feel Naoka's quirk forcibly activating on my body, let's see, planning 24 frames and moving -
My body froze completely, that… was more disconcerting than I expected; knowing how it worked was one thing, putting it into action was another.
My eyes darted around as I saw Naoka's utterly arrogant and petulant smile. Naoka's fist slammed into my frozen body; I used Armament Haki to absorb the blow to my cheek.
Naoka's quirk that froze me broke the moment she hit me; my head was thrown back, but I didn't take a single step back, I had barely felt the blow thanks to my haki.
"Is that all Ryuma's grandson is capable of?" Naoka mocked dismissively, and I laughed amusedly.
"I was just giving you a treat, it seems you're the type who would cry if I completely won you over." I said mockingly, which only made Naoka growl and start moving again.
This time, Naoka reached incredible speed even faster. I simply matched her pace and let her touch my chest once more. I felt her quirk activate again. Naoka smiled triumphantly, and I just let my body move perfectly.
24 frames, the instant Naoka touched me, I planned my next 24 instances, I could feel the technique activate easily and my body moved the same as those pre-programmed movements.
I could see Naoka's eyes widen when she realized I hadn't been frozen, but was still attacking even under the effects of her quirk. My vision of the future made programming the 24 frames incredibly easy; I dodged Naoka's attacks with ease and countered simultaneously.
Wado Ichimonji finally struck Naoka's body hard, but that didn't stop her. She just glared at me with even more hatred and increased her speed. She touched me again, so I replanned the 24 moves.
The result was the same, my blows fell on Naoka's body with extreme ease, I was gaining more and more speed, I even took advantage of the 'bug' to move in a slightly unnatural way, really, it was disconcerting, but quite useful.
Was this all she had? Was this really the limit Naoka could reach? It was… almost pathetic. I wouldn't have even needed to use her technique against her by interrupting her movements to freeze herself; the only reason I let her touch me was to insult her further. I suppose she couldn't demonstrate her full strength in such a confined space, but still, this was almost disappointing.
I moved Wado Ichimonji in a final movement that connected with Naoka's cheek; my sword pierced Naoka's aura slightly and left a small cut on her cheek.
She was absolutely furious, and to my surprise, Naoka vanished, even faster than she had been just a few seconds ago. I opened my eyes slightly before turning my sword and placing it behind my back, coating Wado Ichimonji in my Haki, and taking Naoka's blow aimed at my back.
That… it had been much faster than I'd anticipated. I turned around quickly, my eyes widening slightly. Naoka's body was completely enveloped in Armament Haki, completely. That… was impressive, to say the least. A full Armament Haki armor was difficult to achieve.
I suppose that greatly increased her physical abilities, and also the upper limit to which she could push her Projection quirk.
Naoka moved once more, at dozens of times her initial speed. I went on the defensive and began to absorb all her blows with my haki without retreating, which only made Naoka even angrier.
To my further surprise, Naoka pulled a dagger from her back. My eyes widened as I saw the weapon, and I raised my sword to receive the attack of that weapon when I felt it.
My aura and my haki turned to dust the moment that dagger touched Wado Ichimonji.
Inverted Spear of Heaven
Naoka possessed the damned Inverted Spear of Heaven. How the hell had that kind of weapon fallen into the hands of the Zenin? Especially since it shouldn't exist in this world. I couldn't remember how Toji had acquired the Inverted Spear of Heaven, or perhaps they never mentioned it, but the fact that Naoka had it was utterly horrifying.
Especially because its 'forced cancellation', the dagger's inherent effect, was able to cancel and break my aura and my haki with a simple touch; that spear didn't just deactivate quirks, it canceled everything.
I gripped my sword tightly, took a deep breath, Sun Breathing: Thirteenth F -
"Enough," Naomi said, stopping us both.I could see the conflict on Naoka's face as she looked at me, then she glared at me with hatred before clicking her tongue, wiping the blood from her cheek with her finger and then spitting on the ground in front of me, I narrowed my eyes in her direction.
That was the end of the plan to kill her now and steal the Inverted Spear of Heaven. And I still had big questions: where had it come from? Had they been able to forge something similar to the original canonical version using resources from the dungeon monsters?
Did that mean the rest of the Zenin clan's cursed weapons were around here? What were the Zenin's weapons? I don't recall them showing it specifically.
But if we go by Toji's logic, I only hoped that the Split Soul Katana didn't exist in this cursed world, and if it did, that it wasn't in the hands of the Zenin. Instinctively, my eyes went to Ougi, the only one with a katana.
I gritted my teeth as I looked at the tsuba, the hand guard of the sword, wrapped in a rather distinct furry skin. I could feel my stomach drop several degrees.
This had gotten much worse than I expected.
"So, shall we begin?" Naomi asked mockingly as I dropped Wado Ichimonji into my shadows. Mom slowly approached from where she had retreated during the fight. I ignored the surprised looks from the rest of the clan as I stared intently at Naomi.
"Let's end this, Naomi," Mom said curtly. Naomi just shrugged.
"There's not much to say, you know why they're here, your son will marry a member of the Zenin clan, he'll become one of us." Naomi said with such certainty as if what she was saying was already a done deal.
"As long as it's not Naoka." I said dryly.
"I don't blame you, that demonstration was quite pathetic." Naomi said without looking at her daughter. I could see Naoka grit her teeth in fury as she glared at me. "But let's keep it simple. You'll oppose every decision we make, so I'll be magnanimous and leave the decision to you. Choose whomever you want, nephew." Naomi said with a mocking smile.
"What if I don't want to choose anyone? What if the only reason I came here is to take control of the Zenin Clan? " I asked easily. Naomi just looked at me for a few moments before bursting into laughter.
"Then I'd say good luck killing us all!" Naomi said with an amused smile. "I see the Zenin blood runs strong in you," she added. I grimaced.
"There was no need to insult me like that," I said with a grimace. Naomi burst out laughing again.
"So, that's what you really want?" Naomi asked playfully, and I nodded.
"Yes, I want you to place me as the heir to the Zenin family." I said easily to Naomi while looking into her eyes.
"You really want to die, you bastard." Naoka growled with a furious look.
"You're strong, I noticed you holding back." Naomi said easily as she took a swig from her bottle. "Ryuma taught you well, I'm sure none of us would be left alive if you decided to go all out."
"Mother?!" Naoka exclaimed incredulously as she looked at Naomi, who just ignored her.
"So? Is that a yes to me becoming the heir?" I asked dryly.
"You're strong," Naomi repeated, staring at me. "But you're a man," she said with the same ease. I wrinkled my nose in contempt; she just shrugged.
"Then... I'll propose a deal." I said playfully, smiling broadly as I looked at Naomi. "You don't want me to be the clan's heir? Fine, then let's do it differently. I was given the choice of one person to marry from the entire clan. I'll teach that person how to fight, I'll teach them everything I know, and I'll make them strong enough to defeat all of you. Then that person will become the heir." I said with an arrogant smile.
"Oh... you seem a little too confident, boy," Ougi teased as she looked at me for the first time. I shrugged.
"Of course I could, I could kill you all, but you'd cause me more problems than you'd solve. I doubt all the clan members are here. You're not worth the trouble," I said dismissively. I could see everyone in the Zenin clan frown and get angry.
"Ha, very well, boy, let's see your choice," Naomi said, sounding terribly amused. I just scoffed and pointed behind me in a certain direction.
"I choose her," I said easily. Everyone turned to see where I was pointing.
"Mai?" Naoka asked incredulously before bursting into laughter. "You choose that trash?!" Naoka continued laughing. I just smiled sarcastically.
"W-what- no-" Mai tried to say, completely pale, I just turned away.
"Oh, sorry, I misspoke. I meant, I choose both of them. I'll marry Maki and Mai Zenin, and I'll train Maki enough so she can beat you all up in two years," I said with a wide grin. I could hear everyone fall silent before the uproar began.
"What?!" I ignored the scream that both twins let out and continued looking ahead.
"You want Maki and Mai... both of them?" Ougi asked in surprise, I just smiled petulantly.
"What, isn't this what you wanted? For me to choose several women from the Zenin clan? I'm choosing two, they're twins, that's sexy." I said playfully, I could see the disgusted looks that all the men and most of the women threw at me. "Besides, think of it this way, you considered my mother a burden, a waste, and now you're here, blackmailing me in any way you can to get me to join you."
"Who knows, they might be surprised, now, or in the future," I said playfully. Everyone remained silent until Naoka snorted.
"The exception is not the rule. If you think those scoundrels can defeat us no matter how many years they train, you're very wrong, especially Maki. She's complete garbage; not even her children will be good for anything," Naoka said dismissively.
"Then you have nothing to lose. I'll marry Mai and Maki, train Maki to defeat all of you, and if she can't, well, I'll be the willing plaything you've been looking for. What do you say? Will you accept or not, Naomi Zenin? " I asked with a huge, wide smile as I stared intently at Naomi.