Ah, what a heartwarming display of fatherly love and filial piety.
Or at least, that's how it would appear on the surface.
In truth, neither father nor son seemed the slightest bit surprised by the other's attitude.
There was no outrage from the father over his son's biting sarcasm, nor any concern for the killing intent the boy made no effort to conceal.
Zenin Toji drew his blade with a frigid glare fixed on the boy before him.
"Do you know why the previous clan head chose Naobito over me as his successor?"
"Was it because you're more beast than man?"
Zenin Mirai shot back with a mocking smirk, the insult leaving his lips without a moment's thought.
A flicker of murderous intent passed through Toji's eyes as he silently gathered cursed energy, channeling it into an iaido draw.
"Secret Technique: Falling Blossoms of Sorrow."
In the darkness of the narrow room, a flash of light flared and vanished in the blink of an eye!
Even before his own son, Zenin Toji held nothing back.
His strike ripped through the air, past the boy, and landed on the hallway wall behind him. Slowly, Toji sheathed his sword and spoke coldly:
"I lost the clan head position because of you. You, and those useless twin daughters, brought nothing but disgrace."
"As a sorcerer, the only thing I lacked compared to Naobito… was the ability to produce capable offspring."
"And as children, how dare you drag your father down?"
He believed that one strike was enough to take his son's life. Having vented the bitterness buried deep in his chest, Toji began to turn away.
Only to freeze in disbelief.
"What?!"
His eyes fell on Mirai's untouched body, not a single wound marring the boy's skin.
Even in the dim light, Toji had clearly seen his sword arc across Mirai's abdomen, yet the boy stood there, unharmed.
"Hm?"
Then he saw his son's eyes.
Scarlet pupils spun slowly, complex shapes etched within them, like rotating blades.
If not for the many times Toji had encountered this rebellious child while training with the Kukuju team, he might've mistaken the boy before him for a Cursed Spirit wearing a human skin.
The aura around him was just that... wrong.
Clang!
Drawing the katana from his waist, Toji's gaze sharpened further.
"So you've awakened some unknown technique. That's the only explanation for this sudden surge of courage from a so-called failure."
But Mirai only smirked wider. His hands began weaving hand signs.
"Don't rush, Father. I've prepared another surprise for you."
Toji sneered, locking eyes with his son. "Arrogant fool. You overestimate yourself."
"Great Serpent."
BOOM!!
A massive serpent burst from the shadows, smashing through the house in an instant!
Its gaping jaws descended on Zenin Toji with terrifying speed. He reacted a heartbeat too late, barely managing to wedge his legs against the serpent's maw, keeping its fangs from snapping shut.
"Divine Dog: Totality."
Mirai called again, and this time his shikigami didn't hide.
A thunderous howl tore through the night.
Towering nearly five meters tall, the Divine Dog was cloaked in black fur, its forehead marked with the intricate sigil of the Ten Shadows Technique. Its razor-sharp claws shimmered menacingly under the moonlight.
And in its eyes, glowed the same eerie crimson as Mirai's.
The serpent too bore those same blood-red eyes.
After announcing its arrival, the Divine Dog leapt nimbly to the rooftop, streaking toward the restrained Zenin Toji.
"Ten Shadows Technique?!"
"Two Shikigami at once?!"
Trapped between the serpent's jaws, Toji's pupils trembled.
How is this possible?!
When did that failure of a son awaken the Ten Shadows?
And how could he summon two shikigami simultaneously?!
Even more terrifying, their sheer size surpassed anything a normal Ten Shadows user could manage. It was a silent testament to the monstrous depths of Mirai's cursed energy control.
Toji twisted midair, narrowly dodging the Divine Dog's deadly claws, but not without cost.
Pain shot through his shoulder, and a spray of blood splashed across the air as the claws grazed him.
Still trapped, he gritted his teeth and channeled cursed energy into his blade.
Then, an idea.
He flipped his sword, striking not with the edge, but with the dull side, aimed at the Divine Dog.
Their bond was practically nonexistent. There was no affection between them. But even so, Toji couldn't deny one fact:
This boy, Zenin Mirai, the one wielding the Ten Shadows... was his biological son.
And for that reason alone, Toji put on a masterful performance worthy of Sichuan opera.
"Mirai! My dear son! Please stop this at once!"
"If your dear old dad accidentally kills your shikigami, what a terrible loss that would be. Come now, stop before something unfortunate happens!"
That, was the real reason he flipped his blade.
You see, when a shikigami summoned through the Ten Shadows Technique is destroyed, it's gone forever, for the summoner.
Only the current user suffers that consequence. If another sorcerer awakens the Ten Shadows in the future, their own set of shikigami will be entirely different and unaffected.
So yes, Toji's desperate plea was nothing more than a strategic act.
His shout rang through the ruins of the night.
And Mirai… stopped smiling.
His expression twisted in disgust.
He wasn't stunned by the plea. It was the sickening tone of affection. The way Toji had called him "my good son."
My good son...
Mirai still remembered, while he was in the womb, he'd once heard Toji utter that very phrase.
But after his birth?
"Trash."
"Disgrace."
"Failure."
Those were the only words Toji ever used.
As if sensing its master's rising fury, the serpent's fangs clamped down harder, and the Divine Dog's attacks grew more savage.
Toji, still refusing to use lethal force, found himself buckling under the pressure.
He didn't dare harm his "good son's" shikigami, not when they might be the very key to reclaiming the clan's leadership.
BOOM! BOOM BOOM!
Each twist of the massive serpent's body sent another building crashing down. The Divine Dog bounded from rooftop to rooftop, kicking up clouds of dust that danced in the moonlight.
The sheer scale of destruction finally broke the stalemate.
CRASH!
A burst of force struck the serpent's jaw, flinging it aside. Its mouth opened just long enough for Toji to escape.
A figure emerged through the swirling debris.
Zenin Naobito, current head of the Zenin Clan.
Mirai recognized him instantly.
Long white hair tied back, narrow brows and flowing twin beards. A simple dark yukata hung from his shoulders, a sake gourd at his waist, and a pair of wooden sandals on his feet.
Known as the strongest Grade 1 sorcerer, second only to Gojo Satoru in speed.
While Mirai silently assessed the old man, Naobito's eyes scanned the scene, from the two monstrous shikigami, to Toji staggering upright, and finally, to Mirai himself.
No explanation was needed.
As clan head, Naobito instantly grasped what had happened.
The blood seeping from the surrounding rubble, the heavy scent of death thick in the air, none of it mattered anymore.
The truth was plain: Zenin Mirai had awakened the Ten Shadows Technique.
And nothing could undo that now.
What mattered… was how to preserve Zenin Toji's life, while also quelling Mirai's fury, and turning him back to the side of the Zenin Clan.
Because whether they liked it or not…
Zenin Mirai had become a force they could no longer ignore.
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200 P.S = 1 Extra Chapter