(Pov Satoshi)
After dealing with Chojuro, the rest of the Zenin clan proved little challenge. The stragglers, having lost most of their most powerful allies, and the shock of Naoya switching sides worked well to demoralize them. So, after Chojuro dropped and a large commotion a few blocks away ended with a suspiciously Ogi-shaped blob flying away, the remaining Kukuru members began to surrender.
They threw their swords and other assorted weapons down, and in the end, we had a big pile of sad guys in masks sitting around. We had also corralled the defeated hei members, as well as Jinichi and Ranta, who were the least injured, only suffering from some bruises and mild concussions. Chojuro had it worse with a shoulder that had been crudely put back in place, and he had cuts across his back and arms from the fall earlier.
The worst, though, had been given to Ogi. I was honestly shocked he was still alive after what happened to him. Multiple bones had been broken, including a fractured skull; his personal sword had been shattered, and he was barely breathing.
Naoya had gone a little overboard, it seems, when he caught up with him, but the fact he hadn't outright killed him was good, I think. Honestly, I didn't really care about Zenin's internal politics; I want access to all their shiny weapons since mine are still on lockdown. Plus, Maki could use an upgrade, and it was still her clan, technically. Now I just had to hope Naoya would be a decent human and not make this more difficult than it needed to be, a long shot, but if he didn't want to cooperate, I could kick his ass.
"So, Satoshi, how does it feel, our great victory? I'm sure it will be talked about for years." Naoya said, suddenly appearing next to me.
"I'm sure, but there's still something we need to talk about." I began, but before I could continue, he held up his hand.
"Don't worry, you just helped secure my position in the clan. I would be glad to help, but I need you to do one more thing first. He said, producing a piece of paper and a pen. "Sign this paper if you don't mind."
I took the paper and looked it over. It was a rather simple legal contract releasing the Zenin clan from the deal made between Gojo Satoru and Zenin Naobito.
"You see, my father made a rather foolish decision some years back, and when he found out Satoru-Kun had taken charge of Megumi, he made a deal that would make him head of the clan should Satoru die or become indisposed." He said. "So if you sign this and void that deal, I'll become the head of the Zenin and can then provide any assistance you would require. How does that sound?"
I could remember this plot point from the original story: it was why Naoya had tried to kill Yuji in the first place, as he was looking for Megumi. Honestly, this whole clan is such a pain. They just don't know when to quit. Naobito was terrified of Toji and yet desperate enough for the Ten Shadows to try to buy his son.
"Sure, whatever, just don't come after Megumi once I sign, or else I will stop you," I said before signing the paper and handing it back to him.
"Wouldn't dream of it now as head of the Zenin clan, how can I assist?" He said with an odd mix of sincerity and arrogance.
"I need access to your cursed tools; mine are indisposed currently, so until I can get them back, I need backups, and I can't keep borrowing them from Maki," I told him bluntly, and I could see his face sour when I mentioned his former bullying target. But he was more professional than I had expected, as he quickly regained his composure.
"Oh, alright, I suppose come by the compound in a week, and I'll have everything set." He said, then turned to his remaining clan members and shouted orders at them.
I left him to deal with that and began returning to our main group. Now that we had secured weaponry, it was about time we went to see Tengen. She would help fill the others in on what needed to be done. If we got lucky, she might even know how to fix up my inventory worm so we could get Satoru free sooner, and with him, the culling games would be over in an instant.
I couldn't help but feel like there was something else going on, that there was a piece I was missing, but at this point, things had changed too much, so my prior knowledge was well and truly useless now. So I would have to wing it, essentially, from here on out, lucky me.
(Pov Kenjaku)
So Gojo Satoshi has survived even without his arsenal. Truly, those with Heavenly Restriction could not be accounted for. I had been planning this for over a thousand years, the great merger of humanity and cursed energy, yet even I could not predict the existence of Satoshi.
At every step, he was there thwarting my plans; he had even taken my greatest asset off the board. Geto Suguru and his technique would have made this so much easier, and yet Satoshi had stepped in and saved him and the Star Plasma Vessel.
I had almost considered the possibility that he had been intentionally lying about his lack of cursed energy and that he, in fact, had some foresight technique. Still, it was easy to confirm he did not.
Still, his knowledge of my movements and plans was impressive. I looked forward to further understanding how a body such as his worked one day, but that had to wait. For now, the Culling Games were beginning, and I had so much to do, it was exciting.
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Sorry for the late post. I had family over and couldn't work on the chapter over the weekend, but I still hope you enjoyed it. If you did, please leave a comment or a power stone. See you next week.