Two years after Maki and Mai were born.
Naoya turned six years old.
Standing on the training ground, Naoya brought his palms together and made a hand sign.
The shadow under him rippled before Piercing Ox and Tiger Funeral appeared.
It had been three months since he had managed to form a bond with these shikigami after beating them.
In terms of pure strength, they were stronger than any of his other shikigami.
With these two done, only the last shikigami, Mahoraga, remained.
Naoya unsummoned the two beasts, then focused on his technique before making a new hand sign.
At the same time, the shadow under him wiggled for a moment before it calmed down.
Nothing new emerged from the shadow. Instead, something incredible happened to Naoya.
On his back, a pair of owl wings burst out.
This was something new he had managed to grasp after repeatedly practicing with the Ten Shadows Technique.
It was inspired by Sukuna using Mahoraga's wheel by himself in the original series.
He named it….
Combined Form: Nue!
Under Naoya's control, the shikigami wings behind him flapped and took him into the sky.
"Woh!"
Flying for the first time as a birdman, Naoya struggled and almost crash-landed on the ground.
But with a little more practice and guidance from his shikigami, he was able to maintain a steady flight.
As he flew through the sky, several members of the Zenin clan pointed at him in surprise.
Naoya even saw his father and waved at him before turning away.
'Now then...'
After getting the hang of it, Naoya suddenly used his cursed energy, making his shikigami wings light up with flowing lightning.
Under his control, a ball of condensed lightning formed between his wings, producing several cracking sounds.
Choosing a random mountain, Naoya didn't hesitate and released his lightning ball attack.
Crackle
The small hill was instantly enveloped in a mini dome of lightning. The trees cracked and burned, while the ground was charred in most places.
'Good power…..'
Naoya thought to himself while observing the destruction caused by his lightning orb.
He had to say, Megumi really didn't use this technique well.
Landing back on the ground, Naoya tried several other forms.
Combined Form: Max Elephant!
He grew a trunk from his nose. Moving it around, he spewed out a high-pressure stream of water, cutting a rock cleanly in two.
Combined Form: Ox!
A pair of large ox horns appeared on his head while his legs turned into hooves.
Naoya placed a foot on the ground and sped up, running at an incredible speed.
As he ran in a straight line, his speed and kinetic energy increased without fail. Alas, the ground wasn't large enough, so he had to stop himself before crashing into a wall and breaking it.
Combined Form: Tiger Funeral!
His skin turned pale white as his body grew in size, almost reaching eight feet.
He suddenly transformed from a small boy into a muscular monster with hardened skin and tiger-like black stripes.
Feeling his increased strength, Naoya clenched his fist and punched the ground, making it tremble as spider-web-like cracks spread outward, sending gravel flying everywhere.
"This form gives an overall improvement to my body strength…," Naoya muttered in a hoarse voice as his body shrank and returned to its original form.
Unfortunately, due to the transformation, all of his clothes were torn apart, leaving him standing completely naked.
"Bring me a pair of clothes," Naoya said to the trembling guards nearby, not caring about his little brother who had been left out in the open.
After wearing the new clothes provided by the servants, Naoya sat down and thought calmly.
'I have already mastered Projection Sorcery and can use the full 24 frames to attack…'
It was much easier to accomplish than training with the Ten Shadows Technique.
His cursed energy efficiency had increased a lot, but he seemed to have hit a wall and had been unable to improve it further for about a month.
His cursed energy body reinforcement was in a similar condition. He seemed to have reached a limit, and the only thing he could do now was train consistently and wait for his natural development phase to kick in so his physical strength could improve further.
This would be a long and drawn-out process.
He had mastered Falling Blossom Emotion as well as Simple Domain from his father. Unfortunately, he hadn't made much progress regarding his own domain.
'Now... only Mahoraga and a Domain remain before I pretty much become my strongest version.'
Unknowingly, within the span of a year, he had reached this level.
He was already much stronger than his father and could be considered the strongest Zenin alive after Toji.
Oh wait, Toji might have become a Fushiguro by now, so maybe he was the strongest Zenin...
And yes, about half a year ago, Toji left the clan.
The elders claimed he was excommunicated, but Naoya thought Toji probably left on his own after getting tired of their bullshit.
Alas, he had been unable to form a bond with the Heavenly Tyrant. Toji wouldn't even give him a chance to talk due to his Zenin identity.
Naoya shook his head and sighed.
Toji seemed like a lost cause at this point. Perhaps he could try again after Toji found his wife.
Aside from all these major developments, his normal life had been pretty decent.
Since he hadn't been able to improve much through training, he had more free time, which he used to watch anime, talk with Satoru, and visit Maki and Mai.
Except for him and his father, no one in the Zenin family bothered to visit the twins. Even their mentally ill father, Ogi, only visited them a few times at the beginning before completely ignoring them.
Even then, he only came to check their cursed energy aptitude. Upon finding it lacking, he didn't spare them a second glance before leaving.
Which, when Naoya thought about it, might have been a good thing.
It was better for the children's mental peace to stay as far away from their batshit-crazy Zenin father as possible.
As Naoya was thinking, a hesitant voice reached his ears.
"Brother Naoya, is your training done…?"
Turning his head, he saw Mai and Maki standing together, looking at him with big, curious eyes.
Naoya smiled and got up, stopping in front of them. He raised his dirt-covered hand and patted both their heads at the same time.
"Ew! You did it again! Don't put dirt in Mai's hair!"
Mai quickly grabbed his hand and started complaining loudly.
Maki, on the other hand, remained calm and silently brushed the dirt away.
"Wah! You always bully us! Even though Mai came to meet you!"
Mai raised her hands and started attacking Naoya with her fists while crying.
Seeing the scene, Naoya tilted his head in confusion.
He had played plenty of pranks on them, but Mai had never cried like this before.
Naoya took a towel from a maid and wiped away the dirt and tears from her face before asking curiously.
"Did something happen?"
"I awakened my cursed technique!"
"You awakened your cursed technique? Isn't that a good thing? Why are you crying?"
"That's because… that's because…"
"My cursed energy is too small… and Maki didn't awaken any technique… sniff…"
Naoya wiped her tears again before placing the towel on her nose and letting her blow.
"Brother Naoya!" Mai cried loudly and suddenly hugged him.
Naoya patted her head while handing the snot-filled towel to a servant.
Turning to the calm Maki, he asked, "Are you alright, Maki?"
Maki remained silent and simply turned her head away.
There was nothing wrong here. She had always been like this.
She wasn't as expressive as Mai and generally remained calm in almost every situation.
Though this was probably a big hit for her, she was simply hiding her feelings due to the number of people around.
As Mai cried in his arms, a servant approached them.
"Naoya-sama, the elders have ordered Mai and Maki to be sent to the Kukuru Unit."
Mai suddenly stopped crying and looked up at him with teary eyes.
"Kukuru Unit?"
So that was why they suddenly came to visit him in the middle of his training.
The Kukuru Unit was where clan members who didn't possess cursed energy were trained in basic combat.
It was the lowest unit of the Zenin clan and was completely looked down upon. Those sent there were often carefully manipulated into becoming suicide attackers.
Naoya waved his hand without hesitation.
"They won't go to the Kukuru Unit."
"Naoya-sama, this is the elders' command—"
"I'm sorry, but did I ask for your opinion?"
Naoya looked at the guard with calm eyes, making him unconsciously take a step back.
"I-I'm just following Elder Ogi's orders…" the guard said weakly.
Naoya sighed and turned to his own guards.
"Get this idiot out of here."
"Yes, Naoya-sama!"
The guard was quickly dragged away by Naoya's servants.
After he was gone, Mai's tears instantly disappeared. She jumped out of Naoya's arms and ran to her sister, grabbing her hands excitedly.
"See! I told you it would work! Brother Naoya would definitely chase those stupid guys away!"
"Um… yes," Maki nodded hesitantly.
"Hmph! I told you to act cuter, but you just stood there like a statue!"
"Th-that… sorry."
Naoya rested his chin on his arm and smiled at the bickering sisters.
He was already used to their unconventional behavior and didn't mind it at all.
Even if they had asked him directly, he would have helped them.
Just then, Mai turned toward him.
"Brother Naoya! Mai has a request! You have to agree!"
"Oh? A request? Tell me what it is first," Naoya said curiously.
"Since you're so strong! Please train us!"
As she finished speaking, Mai bowed deeply.
Maki, who had been silent, stepped forward and bowed as well.
"Please, Brother Naoya!"
"Please, Brother Naoya..."
Two identical voices with very different levels of enthusiasm reached his ears.
"You want me to teach you?"
"Yes!"
Naoya smiled.
"My teaching is quite expensive, you know."
"What?! You'll charge us money?!"
Mai stared at him with eyes full of betrayal.
Naoya raised his hand and made a money gesture.
"One million each."
"A-a million..."
Mai staggered back in shock.
She had never seen that much money in her life.
A dejected look appeared on Mai's face.
"So expensive… Brother Naoya doesn't want to teach us..."
As she sulked, Maki suddenly took out a small pouch and placed it in Naoya's hand.
"This is all I have for now. I'll repay the rest later."
Naoya barely restrained his expression before returning the pouch to Maki's hand.
Though she didn't say anything, he clearly saw Maki's shoulders droop slightly.
After teasing them enough, Naoya patted their shoulders.
"Alright. Since you're my sisters, I'll give you a family discount and do it for free."
Mai froze for two seconds before erupting with happiness.
Maki remained calm, but the corners of her mouth lifted slightly.
----
Back in his room, Naoya was looking through Phantom's memories.
In the past two years, he had copied and published several series from his previous life and had become a very renowned creator.
This helped him amass a lot of funds, and it was only going to increase further in the future, especially due to the stocks he had purchased in companies that would become successful.
But the most interesting thing was...
[Wah, Naoya! Look! I just bought the latest manga of My Hero Academia!] (Satoru Gojo)
The future strongest had somehow become a huge fan of his stolen works.
Naoya scratched his cheek, wondering how she would react if she ever found out he was the creator.
Hehe, it would definitely make for a fun memory.
[Hm, Naoya, I have to say, this author is really arrogant. Can you believe it? His pen name is 'Strongest'! What does that mean? Don't tell me he's challenging me??💪💪] (Satoru Gojo)
Indeed, this author was a bit too arrogant.
As he was texting her, his maid Kiyo suddenly called from outside the door.
"Naoya-sama, your sister Maki wants to meet you."
'Maki?'
"Let her in."
The door slid open, and Maki walked in before closing it behind her.
Naoya put down his phone and looked at her.
"Maki, what's up?"
"Brother Naoya, do you think I'm useless?" she asked calmly.
That came out of nowhere.
"Why are you asking this? Did something happen?"
The image of her father, Ogi Zenin, calling her worthless trash flashed through her mind, but she said nothing and simply looked at Naoya, waiting for his answer.
Seeing this, Naoya patted the space beside him.
"Come here and sit."
Maki obediently walked over and sat down next to him.
"Did someone call you trash or something?"
"I don't care about other people's opinions, Brother Naoya," Maki replied without hesitation.
"Oh? Then why did you ask me?" Naoya said with a smile.
"Because you're Brother Naoya… not just anyone," Maki replied softly while looking up at him.
She was still waiting for his answer.
The image of the Heavenly Tyrant Maki flashed through his mind.
With a serious expression, Naoya said, "No, you are not useless."
Maki stared at his face.
It didn't seem like he was lying.
Turning her head away, she nodded.
"I see. Thank you, Brother Naoya."
"Hey, if anyone bullies you, just tell them my name, okay? If they don't listen, tell me, and I'll beat them up for you!"
"Yes, I understand."
Maki replied calmly, making Naoya scratch his cheek.
'With a face like that, it's really hard to tell whether she's happy or sad...' Naoya thought while rubbing his forehead.
Just as he thought she was about to leave, Maki suddenly turned back and asked hesitantly.
"Um, Brother Naoya..."
"Hm? What is it?"
"Can I… get a hug too?"
"???"
"Like Mai..."
Naoya looked at her calm expression, then smiled and opened his arms.
"Alright, come here."
Maki blinked, then stepped forward and placed her head against his chest.
Naoya gently wrapped his arms around her back and hugged her.
Maki trembled slightly before relaxing. From an angle others couldn't see, small drops of tears formed in her eyes before disappearing.