"Haha, hahahaha! I lost. Oh man, I really lost!"
Zenin Naobito laughed loudly, casually taking out a flask from beside him and pouring the liquor into his mouth in one go.
He drank for a full two or three seconds before putting the flask down and letting out a boozy burp.
He sat under a cherry blossom tree, a pristine white cloth spread beneath him.
Before him were two flat sake bowls and a flask.
But he didn't even look at the two bowls, grabbing the flask directly.
He was still half-dressed in a kimono, exposing half of his naked torso.
His white hair was slicked back, and his British-style handlebar mustache twitched as he drank.
Suddenly, he asked, "Hey, how do you plan to walk the path ahead?"
"You're already dead, yet you're still considering such things."
Mahito slowly limped out from behind the cherry blossom tree.
"Aren't you tired, old man?"
"What nonsense are you talking about? As the head of the Zenin Clan, what's wrong with caring about these things!"
Zenin Naobito barked impatiently.
"Stop nagging. If you have something to say, say it quickly!"
Now Mahito particularly understood why Maki Zenin in the original work found this old man so annoying, even though he was the last shred of conscience in the Zenin Clan.
I'm annoyed by him too!
Mahito sat opposite Zenin Naobito.
Zenin Naobito lifted the flask to pour for Mahito, filling one of the flat sake bowls.
Mahito picked up the bowl, and a cherry blossom petal happened to fall into it, sending a ripple through the calm liquid.
Mahito couldn't help but say, "How elegant, old man."
"Seeing your slicked-back hair and trimmed mustache, I thought you were just a rebellious old guy."
"I didn't expect the final space you'd imagine after death would be a cherry tree, two sake bowls, and an enemy you could see one last time."
Zenin Naobito said self-deprecatingly, "Who wasn't young once?"
"Can you imagine? In our Zenin Clan, there's a rule for women, regardless of talent: they must walk three steps behind a man."
"It's 2018 now, you know? The 21st century! What a joke!"
"The Zenin Clan lives like it's the Heian period!"
"It seems you're quite dissatisfied?" Mahito asked.
"But you're already the head of the Zenin Clan; you have the power to change all this."
"Of course I can change it."
Zenin Naobito's voice suddenly turned cold.
"But even if I change this generation, the next will return to the old rules..."
"Unfortunately, my son is exactly the type who strictly adheres to the Zenin Clan's rules."
"Once I die and he succeeds me, nothing will have changed, and nothing can be changed."
"That's a failure of your education," Mahito said.
"Unfortunately, education in the Zenin Clan is centralized. I have no right to interfere."
"In fact, it's a great stroke of luck that an outlier like me could even emerge in the Zenin Clan."
"Fortunately, my talent was strong enough to beat everyone who opposed me into the ICU; otherwise, I wouldn't even be able to hold onto this position as head."
Zenin Naobito grit his teeth.
"But even so, I couldn't go on a killing spree unless I completely cut myself off from the Jujutsu world and became a Curse User."
"But if I were a Curse User, how could I be the head of the family?"
"When I was a kid, I always thought about what I'd do when I became the head."
"But once I actually became it, I felt as if I were bound by countless chains—shackling my hands and feet, my brain, my heart, my ideals, and my will."
Mahito said indifferently, "Now you don't have to worry. Everyone in your family who could call the shots is dead."
Zenin Naobito was stunned for a moment, then suddenly burst out laughing.
"That's right, now I don't have to worry. The Zenin Clan can never dream of going back to the way it was!"
This made Mahito curious.
He asked, "You don't seem to hate me much? Even though I nearly exterminated the Zenin Clan."
Zenin Naobito laughed. "Let me guess."
"Although you act calm, you don't fully understand the state you and I are currently in?"
"I've heard that if Jujutsu Sorcerers are in a life-and-death battle, they occasionally enter a state where they can see into each other's hearts," Mahito said.
"However, this only happens in very few cases. Most of the time, dead is dead, and nothing happens."
Zenin Naobito took a sip from the flask.
"Then let me tell you a more elegant explanation."
"Legend has it that after people die, they enter the River of Souls to undergo Reincarnation."
"We Jujutsu Sorcerers can resist the current of the River of Souls better than ordinary people."
"Before death, we can temporarily construct a space for a final 'revolving lantern'."
"In this space, a Jujutsu Sorcerer can clearly judge themselves, cast aside all worldly matters, and step into the final Reincarnation."
Mahito nodded thoughtfully, remembering that this indeed seemed to be a thing in the original work.
After some important characters died, such revolving lanterns often appeared, and some were so real it was as if they hadn't died at all.
The most typical example was when Satoru Gojo died; he constructed a train station platform, sitting on a bench with people who had long since passed away appearing beside him.
In the original work, the Mahito would also come here after he died, but he didn't respond to the River of Souls.
Instead, he insisted on staying by the river and waiting, until the end of the original work when Ryomen Sukuna also died.
Then, the Mahito ran into Ryomen Sukuna, and they even had a conversation.
This should be true, though as a Jujutsu Sorcerer, there's no way to confirm its veracity.
But since these extreme, special phenomena have indeed been discovered, it's called an "elegant" explanation out of uncertainty.
"And then, if this Jujutsu Sorcerer happens to be in a death match with another Jujutsu Sorcerer before dying, their hearts can understand each other through the blending of their Cursed Energy."
"Thus, in this revolving lantern, they can see their opponent from the death match before heading to Reincarnation."
Zenin Naobito looked at Mahito with a smile.
"Even though we've hardly spoken and never understood each other, it's quite incredible... I believe you."
"I believe you now more than anyone else."
"King of Spirits, Mahito," Zenin Naobito said solemnly.
"If it's you—if it's the one who killed me who decides to change this Jujutsu world—then I believe you can definitely do it."
"No one in this world can stop you. Not the Zenin Clan, not the other Big Three Families, not even that Satoru Gojo!"
Mahito was stunned. "I don't even have that much confidence in myself."
"You just haven't noticed your own confidence," Zenin Naobito said indifferently.
"When you came to the Zenin Clan wearing a haori, a kimono, and a hakama, with a bamboo hat on your head, you had already made your choice."
"You can't imagine how much the people of the Zenin Clan feared you then, nor how much they admired you."
"You never even considered that the entire Zenin Clan was swallowed by the wind, rain, and lightning you brought with you."
"Haven't you noticed? Everyone who opposed you introduced themselves in unison, solemn and grave, like the last samurai in a chanbara film facing the person most worth fighting on a rainy night."
Mahito whispered, "I thought all 'Righteous Paths' were like that."
Zenin Naobito laughed loudly.
"Let me say it again, it's already 2018! Who still plays by that ancient set of rules with you?"
"Even the Zenin Clan doesn't play that way anymore! For the sake of victory, our despicableness is something you simply cannot imagine!"
Mahito suddenly thought of the original work when Satoru Gojo and Ryomen Sukuna had their final battle.
When Satoru Gojo fell into a disadvantage, everyone discussed how to help him.
The emotionally unstable ones were the first to stand up, wanting to help Satoru Gojo, but an Ancient Sorcerer who had been resurrected stopped them.
Others also rationally advised the agitated person.
In their analysis, the modern Jujutsu Sorcerers determined that letting Satoru Gojo and Ryomen Sukuna continue their duel alone was the optimal solution.
But the Ancient Sorcerer was dismissive of these analyses.
He said indifferently, "Are modern Jujutsu Sorcerers all such weaklings? Listen up, this is a battle between Satoru Gojo and Ryomen Sukuna; no one else is allowed to interfere."
The ideas of the ancient and modern eras were far apart, and their pursuit of honor was completely different.
Mahito also began to laugh. "So that's how it is. I was thinking about it the wrong way."
Zenin Naobito took another sip of wine.
"But the moment you showed up at our door, you changed the Zenin Clan."
"All the clansmen yearned to fight you; they couldn't wait to introduce themselves to mask the excitement in their hearts."
"They thought they were conducting a righteous suppression of a Cursed Spirit, but they weren't."
"At that moment, they had all returned to the ancient times of pursuing benevolence, righteousness, and glory, as if they were those very warriors engaging in a final duel with their lifelong enemy, making even death worthwhile."
"Such being the case, how could I ever hate you?"
Mahito said mockingly, "But not everyone introduced themselves. Before I fought your son, I was besieged for quite a while."
"That's because they are all trash who will never be able to use Black Flash in their lives," Zenin Naobito said coldly.
Only Zenin Naobito could call the people within the elite Jujutsu group of the Zenin Clan—who were esteemed Grade 1 Sorcerers—trash without any hesitation.
But Mahito knew that Zenin Naobito was right.
In the battle at the Zenin Clan, as long as someone introduced themselves, there was a clear gap in strength between them and the others.
This gap wasn't merely in the amount of Cursed Energy, but a more pure one—a gap of the heart.
"When I fought Ogi Zenin and Jinichi Zenin, people still interfered," Mahito said.
Zenin Naobito said impatiently, "So they are also trash."
"Especially Naoya; as a Jujutsu Sorcerer who deeply cultivated Iai, he couldn't even achieve Zanshin. He deserved to be sneak-attacked to death by you."
"By the way, if Ranta had been safe at that time and hadn't fought to the death, then Jinichi wouldn't have been able to use Black Flash until the day he died, because he simply couldn't achieve single-mindedness."
Mahito suddenly thought of the original work's protagonist, Yuji Itadori.
The original work's narrator once said that a person with a sincere heart like Yuji Itadori is a Jujutsu Sorcerer beloved by Black Flash.
Other Jujutsu Sorcerers, including Satoru Gojo and Ryomen Sukuna, can only use Black Flash when the fight reaches its most intense point or when their emotions are at their peak.
Only Yuji Itadori can definitely use Black Flash whenever he wants.
'Single-mindedness', huh.
Mahito smiled. "I see. You've had a breakthrough."
Zenin Naobito said proudly, "So you noticed."