Chapter 4: Zenin Maki's Doubt
"Surprised to see me?"
Zenin Jinsuke glanced at the wary faces around him and gave a disdainful smile.
"Why are you making that expression? I'm not some kind of monster."
With that, Zenin Jinsuke stopped paying attention to them. He withdrew the arm that had been resting on the man's shoulder and, without looking back, walked toward the inner room.
A bunch of self-important sorcerers—he couldn't even be bothered to spare them a proper glance.
"Hah…"
Watching him leave, everyone's eyes tightened and their brows furrowed. Only the one who had called Maki trash let out a breath—his back already soaked through with sweat.
It wasn't that he was timid. The pressure Zenin Jinsuke gave off was simply too overwhelming.
"Mom, who is he?"
Zenin Maki lifted her head toward that retreating back, tugged lightly at the woman's hand, and asked curiously.
"He… is kind of your cousin…"
The woman's eyes also held a bit of shock. She hadn't expected that man to return to this clan.
A man with no cursed energy, who had endured cold stares and discrimination since childhood, yet forced the entire clan to fear him with nothing but his fists.
"…Cousin?"
"How did that guy with no cursed energy come back? Shouldn't he have been expelled from the Zenin Clan?"
The surrounding clansmen began whispering.
"I hope what happened back then doesn't happen again."
"Hmph. Just a trash with no cursed energy—could he really stand against the entire Zenin Clan?"
"You didn't experience what happened back then yourself, so of course you'd say that."
"Alright, enough of this boring talk. Disperse."
An elder of the Zenin Clan drove off the gossiping clansmen.
Family shame shouldn't be spread. They didn't want this matter leaking out.
Zenin Maki watched, thoughtful, and murmured softly, "So that person also has no cursed energy? Then why is everyone so afraid of him?"
Her little head couldn't understand it.
After the crowd dispersed, Zenin Jinsuke entered the inner room and looked at the old man sitting cross-legged on a cushion.
"Well, old man, you're still alive?"
The current head of the Zenin Clan, a special Grade 1 sorcerer: Zenin Naobito.
Zenin Naobito slowly poured a cup of tea and pushed it forward, showing no surprise at Zenin Jinsuke's appearance.
"It's been eight full years. Now that you're back, you won't be leaving again, will you?" Zenin Naobito asked.
It was like speaking to an old friend. Unlike the others, he showed no fear.
In his eyes, no matter how strong Zenin Jinsuke was, he was still a junior.
"Who knows."
Zenin Jinsuke took a sip of tea, then stuck out his tongue—it was bitter as hell.
"What about Toji?"
"Him? After you left, he quit the Zenin Clan. I heard he married into another family and changed his name to Fushiguro Toji."
Zenin Naobito said calmly.
Toji didn't get along with the Zenin Clan, but his relationship with Naobito, the clan head, was still decent. They even kept in touch occasionally.
They'd seen each other not long ago.
"Recently, he sold his son to the Zenin Clan."
"I see. That fits his personality."
Zenin Jinsuke's face remained blank.
He knew Toji extremely well—they'd grown up together in the Zenin Clan since childhood.
"And you agreed?"
Seeing Zenin Jinsuke show no strong reaction, Zenin Naobito was a bit puzzled.
"Toji selling his son to the Zenin Clan was his own decision. Besides, do you really want two guys with zero cursed energy to teach the kid?"
Zenin Jinsuke had no intention of taking Fushiguro Megumi back.
Megumi had the Zenin Clan's inherited technique—someone who could one day stand alongside the strongest sorcerer, Gojo Satoru.
With the Zenin Clan's resources, Megumi's talent could be brought out better.
Zenin Jinsuke understood the logic of letting someone else raise the chicken so you can take the egg.
And he wouldn't feel bad using the Zenin Clan's resources.
Still, the relationship between Toji and Megumi did need improvement.
"Fair enough. The existence of the Gojo Clan has already broken the balance of the jujutsu world. I hope Toji's son awakens the Zenin Clan's inherited technique."
Zenin Naobito still didn't know what technique Megumi would awaken in the future.
He'd already negotiated the price with Toji: if Megumi awakened the inherited technique, he was willing to give everything to Toji.
Everything here included all of the Zenin Clan.
"Gojo Satoru…"
Zenin Jinsuke was naturally very familiar with him.
"By the way, any big moves in the jujutsu world lately?"
"Big moves… if I had to say, it would be Tengen's once-every-five-hundred-years assimilation. It should be happening within the next few days."
Zenin Naobito said calmly.
As one of the three great clans, the Zenin Clan naturally knew quite a bit about Tengen's affairs.
"Is that so? Then I came back at just the right time."
Zenin Jinsuke suddenly felt grateful to Tsukumo Yuki. Good thing he returned in time.
Otherwise, he might lose his little brother.
"Old man, stay alive. If you die, the Zenin Clan will be finished."
Zenin Jinsuke stood up, scratching his ear as he left.
Out of the entire Zenin Clan, only this clan head was at least somewhat decent.
Watching his back, Zenin Naobito let out a small sigh.
Just thinking about those two brothers gave him a headache.
Only because it was him. If it were another clan head, the Zenin Clan would've collapsed sooner or later.
After leaving, Zenin Jinsuke ran into Zenin Maki at the main gate.
She stood there with her small body held upright, and behind her was the timid Zenin Mai.
"S-sis… sister, he's so scary. L-let's run!"
Fear filled Zenin Mai's eyes as she whispered into Zenin Maki's ear.
Her little hand gripped her sister's tightly.
Looking at Zenin Jinsuke, she felt even more afraid than when she saw cursed spirits.
Zenin Maki kept her gaze locked on Zenin Jinsuke, ignoring her sister's pleading. She simply held her hand casually.
"Hey! Why are they afraid of you?"
Zenin Maki spoke up. She raised her head and asked Zenin Jinsuke as he approached, with no fear in her eyes—only a hunger for an answer.
Zenin Jinsuke, who had been about to leave, stopped. He looked down at Zenin Maki, interest curling at the corner of his mouth.
"Kid, you've got a good look in your eyes."
Then he walked past the two sisters and left.
"Hey! You still haven't answered me!"
Zenin Maki turned around and shouted, clenching her fists.
"Because they're afraid to die…"
He answered without turning back. While Zenin Maki was still stunned, the figure ahead was already gone.
"Afraid to die…?" Zenin Maki murmured.
"Sis, let's go back. You have to hold my hand tight—don't let go, okay?"
"Got it."
Coming back to herself, Zenin Maki took her sister's hand and left.
Meanwhile, Zenin Jinsuke had already set off to find his little brother.
As for Zenin Maki, he felt a bit of sympathy.
He could sense a tiny amount of cursed energy in her—so little it could be ignored.
That meant she couldn't become a sorcerer, but also couldn't be like him and Toji and gain an overwhelmingly powerful body.
She was destined to suffer countless cold stares and mockery.
And she didn't have enough power to resist…