With a tremendous crash, the main gate of the Zen'in Family residence was blown open, and a figure was hurled with immense force through the wind and rain into the reception hall.
Zen'in Naoya tumbled two or three times across the floor before finally coming to a stop.
He gasped for breath, a clear wound visible on his chest.
The tip of Kirigiri hadn't cut him in half directly; instead, it had gently brushed across his chest like a lover's hand.
His heart was almost exposed, its thumping echoing in Zen'in Naoya's ears.
He was still alive at this moment.
He looked up at the main seat, where the Zen'in Family Head looked down at him.
Zen'in Naoya pressed hard against his chest, but blood continued to seep out.
He uttered the last words of the Zen'in Family Head's son:
"Projection Sorcery... it's useless against him!"
The Family Head rose from the main seat and walked over to Zen'in Naoya.
He extended a hand and gently placed it over Zen'in Naoya's face, taking a deep breath.
The wind and rain suddenly intensified, and the reception hall creaked.
Thunder boomed in the sky, as if some great entity were descending upon this place with the might of the heavens.
Sure enough, someone limped in from outside the door.
Mahito bypassed all obstacles and arrived at the very heart of the Zen'in Family, where the Family Head awaited him.
The Family Head removed his hand from Zen'in Naoya's face.
As he did, Zen'in Naoya's previously open eyes were now closed.
He slowly exhaled and rose from his crouching posture, looking up at Mahito.
Despite having fought his way through the Zen'in Family, Mahito's clothes were still immaculate.
He walked out of the wind and rain, lightning flashing behind him, carrying a long-bladed greatsword.
The wooden geta on his feet made a crisp sound with each step, a sound even the thunder in the sky could not drown out.
Mahito looked up, his heterochromatic eyes glowing silently like a demon god's glare, an overwhelming pressure seeping into the Family Head's heart.
—This was the Cursed Spirit that had slaughtered the Zen'in Family.
"The legendary King of Curses," the Family Head murmured.
"Indeed. Your reputation precedes you."
"I didn't expect the first compliment I'd receive upon coming to the Zen'in Family would be from the last remaining Zen'in Family Head," Mahito said.
The Family Head's heart stirred slightly.
He was certainly not the last person in the Zen'in Family.
In the Zen'in Family's underground training grounds, the remaining elderly and weak of the clan were still sheltering.
These people were the seeds of the Zen'in Family.
Even if they lost their status as one of the Big Three Families, as long as these people were not annihilated, the Zen'in Family would not truly be destroyed.
The rest would merely be a matter of finding a patron and rising again.
The Family Head suddenly thought: with Mahito's current exceptional state and perception, it was impossible for him not to know that a large number of people still existed in the underground training grounds.
Yet Mahito had explicitly stated that the Family Head was the last person in the Zen'in Family.
The Family Head wondered, could it be...
"Cursed Spirits... also have compassion?"
the Family Head sighed.
"We shouldn't have come to this," Mahito said calmly.
"My method of immortality isn't something I consider worth keeping secret.
In fact, I've even told others the principles behind it and openly sold it.
If the Zen'in Family had the intention, they could have sent Jujutsu Sorcerers to inquire with me.
But you didn't.
You insulted me."
"I won't naively believe that you insulted me because I am a Cursed Spirit.
You have been high and mighty for too long, so long that you no longer understand reverence.
And I am your executioner."
The Family Head chewed over Mahito's words and found that he could not refute them.
As Mahito said, this wasn't a matter of Cursed Spirits versus humans at all.
Currently, Cursed Spirits were also imprisoned in the underground training grounds; those Cursed Spirits were specifically captured for Jujutsu Sorcerers to practice exorcising.
In fact, the act of utilizing Cursed Spirits was nothing new to the Big Three Families.
Let alone the Big Three Families—even the entire jujutsu world had long had cases of using Cursed Spirits.
If it wasn't a spirit problem, then what could it be?
It was power.
The Zen'in Family, as one of the Big Three Families of the jujutsu world, inherently possessed a kind of arrogance.
The entire world should revolve around the Big Three Families, and everyone else must obey their commands.
Mahito was a Cursed Spirit, so they commanded him.
But if Mahito were not a Cursed Spirit, would the Zen'in Family truly not command him?
This really was a genuine case of hitting a wall too hard.
Compared to the being before him, the Zen'in Family actually seemed more like irrational Cursed Spirits.
How ridiculous.
How... tragic.
The Family Head, wearing a light-colored haori over a dark kimono, now removed the outer haori and casually threw it over Zen'in Naoya, covering his corpse.
He continued forward, one hand retracting into the wide sleeve of his kimono, then emerging from the chest fold of the garment, stripping off half of it to reveal his bare upper body.
"My Cursed Technique is called Projection Sorcery,"
the Family Head said, activating his Cursed Technique.
"Since you were born in modern times, you should know about movies.
When filming a movie, the film reel rolls—that's the principle behind Projection Sorcery."
"When used, the user divides one second into 24 frames, using their field of vision as the angle of view, and then imitates pre-designed actions within that field of view.
The pre-designed actions cannot be corrected midway.
If actions that excessively disregard physical laws and movement trajectories are performed, the user themselves will be frozen."
"Anyone touched by the user while the Cursed Technique is active must also perform actions in units of 1/24th of a second.
If they fail, their movements become disordered and they will be frozen for 1 second."
In the original work, Zen'in Naoya was defeated in this exact way.
Zen'in Naoya, using Projection Sorcery, had clearly touched his opponent and assumed that the target would definitely be frozen for 1 second, so he made no defenses.
On the contrary, the opponent had already prepared and immediately struck him upon contact.
The original Zen'in Naoya never anticipated this counterattack and was directly defeated.
The Family Head strode forward, arriving in the middle of the reception hall.
Though he was also a middle-aged man, there were almost no wrinkles on his face.
He combed his white hair into a slicked-back style, with slender eyebrows and two upturned English-style mustaches.
"Cursed Spirit, well done.
You have awakened the Zen'in Family from this day forward.
I once heard someone say that ignorance is never an obstacle to survival, but arrogance is.
Never before have I understood the meaning of this sentence so clearly."
The Family Head's voice was like thunder.
He had finally completed all his preparations.
He half-shed his kimono, revealing half of his bare body.
He stood tall, his muscle lines so defined they looked specially sculpted.
He deliberately styled his hair into a slicked-back look with two English-style mustaches, showing no trace of a samurai.
Yet at this moment, he looked more like a samurai than anyone in the Zen'in Family.
Usually, he was always jovial and unrestrained.
But at the moment of life and death, he stood up with overwhelming presence, bearing all the deaths on his back.
Mahito smiled.
"I thought you would be more enraged, considering I slaughtered the Zen'in Family."
"It seems you still don't understand Jujutsu Sorcerers,"
the Family Head said.
"I'm all ears."
"A Jujutsu Sorcerer's Cursed Energy originates from negative emotions.
Our negative emotions are refined by the Cursed Energy core and flow into our limbs and bones.
The more exceptional a Jujutsu Sorcerer, the more Cursed Energy they can extract from negative emotions.
This Cursed Energy is with us.
The more enraged, the more fearful, the more burdened by pressure we are, the stronger a Jujutsu Sorcerer becomes—
the more... invincible!"
The Family Head's voice was originally as calm as a lake, but the more he explained, the louder it became, until finally his voice was like thunder, exploding in Mahito's ears.
"Cursed Spirit, do you think I am calm right now?"
"No!"
I am more enraged and more fearful now than ever before!"
"I am furious that you treated my clansmen this way.
You slaughtered them, scattered them, and threw my son's corpse before me."
"At the same time, I am also afraid.
I am afraid of what will happen to the Zen'in Family's future if I die.
I am afraid of how the other Big Three Families will treat the Zen'in Family without the protection of its elite sorcerer group.
I am even more afraid that after me, the Zen'in Family will never return to its current status."
"But listen carefully, Cursed Spirit."
"A so-called Jujutsu Sorcerer is a being who can utilize this rage and fear."
"To transform this anger and fear into tangible Cursed Energy—
that is what a Jujutsu Sorcerer is!"
The Family Head extended a fist, pointing it directly at Mahito.
Although he was extremely enraged at this moment, he curled his lips into a smile.
His voice, which had been a roar, returned to calmness, articulating each word clearly and deliberately:
"Zen'in Family Head, Zen'in Naobito!"
"Presenting myself—!!!"
(T/N: Naobito is so cool. Too bad he was one-shotted by Jogo)
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