After squeezing money out of Yuki, Jinsuke led her to a rather stylish little loft. The interior was finely decorated—clearly not cheap.
"Come on in."
Jinsuke pulled out a key and unlocked the door with practiced ease.
"Don't tell me this is your place?"
Yuki's face lit up with shock as she stepped inside, looking around in disbelief. Where did this guy get the money for such a fancy place? Could it be… scammed out of someone?
Suspicion flared in her chest.
"Of course it's not mine. Do I look like someone who'd waste money on buying property?"
Jinsuke shot her a sidelong glance.
Why would he ever blow money on something like a house, when freeloading could solve everything?
"That's a relief."
Yuki immediately let out a long breath, feeling a little better inside.
"All right, let's get this over with quickly."
Back in the bedroom, Jinsuke stripped off his shirt and flopped face-down onto the bed, like he'd already been through this routine countless times.
Seeing the explosive muscles rippling across his back, Yuki swallowed hard, her face heating slightly.
Even though she'd seen him before, every time made her feel something unusual stir inside.
She couldn't help but sigh. Not only was he handsome, but his body was perfect too. He really was born to live off women.
Shaking her head to chase away those thoughts, Yuki pressed her pale hand to Jinsuke's back, letting a surge of pure cursed energy flow into his body.
With his sharpened senses, Jinsuke could clearly feel that cursed energy moving through him, probing at the mysteries of Heavenly Restriction.
Yuki's strained relationship with the Jujutsu higher-ups stemmed from one reason: ideology.
She believed that exorcising curses was only treating the symptoms, never the cause.
After all, every human in this world carried cursed energy within them. Most couldn't sense it, but for those who could—and could wield it—they became sorcerers.
And sorcerers' main role was to exorcise curses born from negative energy, protecting normal people.
Of course, not all sorcerers followed the rules. Some abused their power, committing crimes, spreading terror, destabilizing society. These were known as curse users — rogues, enemies to sorcerers themselves.
Yuki believed the root of curses lay in cursed energy itself. If all cursed energy in the world vanished, curses would never be born again.
And among humans, only two were known to naturally have no cursed energy at all.
One was Toji Zenin — the infamous Sorcerer Killer.
The other was the man lying before her: Jinsuke Zenin .
And fate had made them brothers.
"Are you done yet? My time is valuable, you know."
Jinsuke's body tensed, veins bulging like coiled dragons, as though rejecting the cursed energy rampaging inside him.
"...Hah."
Yuki pulled her hand back, letting out a long sigh, frustration written across her face.
"Why? Why is your body capable of existing without producing cursed energy?"
She felt like she'd wasted her money yet again—no answers, just more mystery.
"Told you to give up. This is useless. Better to go exorcise some curses, earn money, eat well, and live comfortably. That's what really matters."
After years of dealing with Yuki, Jinsuke knew exactly what she was after.
"No way. Let me try again!"
Her eyes burned with determination. "If I just spend more time, I know I can uncover something!"
She had felt it: the longer her cursed energy lingered inside him, the stronger the rejection grew. If she could endure longer, or pour in even more energy, maybe — just maybe — she could grasp the principle behind Heavenly Restriction.
"Not happening. No money, no deal."
Jinsuke waved her off without hesitation. He wasn't about to let her freeload her research off him. If he let it slide once, she'd try a hundred times.
"I'll pay! Triple the price!"
A vein throbbed on Yuki's forehead as she gestured sharply with her hand.
"One last time. If I still can't figure it out, I'll really give up."
She clenched her teeth. After four or five years, she had nothing to show for it but an empty wallet. She swore this would be her final attempt. If she couldn't crack Heavenly Restriction, then she'd chase other solutions—like turning all humanity into sorcerers to eliminate the root cause of curses.
"Fine. But this is the last time. No more bothering me afterward."
Jinsuke finally agreed, albeit reluctantly. For him, lying down and getting paid was hardly a bad deal.
And besides — Yuki would never figure it out anyway.
Easy money like this? He doubted he'd ever find another sucker like her. After all, even freeloading usually required physical effort.
Meanwhile, for Yuki, every attempt felt like paying but never getting anywhere — leaving her frustrated for days afterward.
"This time I'll push harder. If you can't take it, tell me."
Yuki took a deep breath, her eyes firm with resolve. This was her last chance — failure wasn't an option.
The next moment, her cold hand pressed to his back again. A torrent of cursed energy surged into Jinsuke's body, instantly provoking an intense rejection.
Veins bulged grotesquely, crawling across his skin.
Jinsuke's expression twisted. In his mind, a strange, futuristic-looking scripture began to tremble violently.
"Boom!"
A wave of scorching heat burst from his body, forcibly expelling all the cursed energy inside. The overwhelming force made Yuki stagger back several steps before she steadied herself.
"What the hell was that?!"
Her eyes narrowed, filled with tension. Was that… another power of Heavenly Restriction? Why was it so overwhelming?
"Haa..."
Jinsuke quickly suppressed the rampaging force, his flushed skin slowly returning to normal.
"My Heavenly Restriction naturally rejects cursed energy. This kind of reaction isn't surprising."
Even so, he hadn't expected this. After all, Yuki's energy had entered his body many times before. But this time, his "cheat" had finally rebelled.
Deep within his consciousness, the scripture floated quietly.
The Eight Gates Released Formation.
That's right — the very pinnacle of taijutsu.
It had appeared in his mind on his eighteenth birthday.
Perhaps, in his past life, he had died while watching a highlight reel of Might Guy's legendary battle. And so, in this life, he had awakened this golden finger.
When it first appeared, he had been overjoyed. Late or not, a cheat was still a cheat.
Heavenly Restriction paired with the Eight Gates? A perfect match!
But when he tried to unleash it, he hit a wall. No chakra, no way to open his tenketsu, no way to even begin the Gates.
Fortunately, this cheat had a shred of mercy. The training method had been altered slightly.
Instead of chakra, he could refine the raw power of his body — vital energy, blood force.
By condensing this energy into substance, he could break open the body's gates, mimicking chakra's effect.
In other words, this Eight Gates wasn't just taijutsu — it was pure, unadulterated body training. A method to push physical strength to its absolute limit.
The problem was… tempering blood force was absurdly difficult.
As he opened the scripture in his mind, glowing text appeared before him:
Gate of Opening: 100%
Gate of Healing: 100%
Gate of Life: 100%
Gate of Pain: 11%
…
Gate of Death: 0%
So far, he could only fully open the first three gates. They gave him some boosts—speed, aura, stamina—but nothing outrageous.
With Heavenly Restriction's body already at monstrous levels, if he wanted true explosive growth, he needed to at least reach the fifth gate—Gate of Limit.
He was close. If he slowed down his freeloading lifestyle just a little and trained harder, it wouldn't be long before the world learned what ultimate taijutsu really was.
After all, the Eight Gates' power scaled directly with the user's body.
Might Guy opening Five Gates, and Rock Lee opening Five Gates, were worlds apart.
And with Heavenly Restriction fused with the Eight Gates, his strength would reach terrifying heights.