"This is your family matter. What does it have to do with the Zenin clan?"
From outside the courtyard, an old man spoke as he stepped out, followed by a dozen members of the Kukuru Unit who hadn't taken part in the previous battle.
His name was Chojuro Zenin, the last surviving member of Hei who hadn't yet fought against the brothers. But faced with Naoki's hysterical shouting, he responded with a cold refusal.
He had seen everything on his way here: the annihilation of the Kukuru Unit, the gruesome death of Ogi, and the miserable defeat of Jinichi. Two members of Hei had been crushed without even managing to wear the brothers down.
Chojuro didn't believe stepping in would make any difference. It would only add more corpses to the pile. At times like this, the best choice was to play deaf and dumb. After all, this was just an internal conflict. As long as someone else's life could settle it, then it wasn't really a problem at all.
"What a cunning old fox…" Naoki sneered through gritted teeth, then crossed his arms and glared at the brothers.
"Secret Art: Falling Blossom Emotion!"
Cursed energy spread through his entire body. The moment he was touched, the technique would trigger an automatic counterattack.
"You or me?" Toji asked, glancing at his brother.
"I'll handle it," Mukuro replied.
"Make it quick. Onshin's probably hungry by now."
Their calm, almost casual tone made it sound like they were discussing dinner plans, not a fight to the death.
"You bastards—"
"First, I'll throw a punch. You'd better block it," Mukuro said, cutting him off mid-anger.
He raised his right arm, thin compared to Toji's muscular build, and gave a smile.
"Don't get cocky..." Naoki growled, but his words froze in his throat. His eyes widened, blood vessels bursting in shock.
The world seemed to slow down infinitely. Both his body and Mukuro's movements looked as if time itself had thickened.
Because of Falling Blossom Emotion, his hands instinctively lifted to block. But Mukuro's fist kept growing larger in his sight.
'Move, damn it! Move!' Naoki screamed in his mind. Finally, just before the punch landed, he raised his arms to protect his head.
Bang!
That frail-looking fist carried monstrous strength. Even with a perfect block, the impact sent Naoki skidding backward several meters. He barely kept himself from falling.
"Fast and strong, I'll give you that," he said coldly, forcing his voice steady. "But without cursed tools, killing you is no harder than crushing an ant."
He straightened, clasping his trembling hands behind his back to hide how badly they shook.
"Trying to provoke me? I suppose I can humor you," Mukuro responded lightly. He spread his hands and stepped forward.
"Projection Sorcery!"
Taking advantage of the moment, Naoki reactivated his technique. The world slowed again, a single second split into twenty-four frames. He could see each movement he was about to make.
If he touched Mukuro during this time, he could force him into paralysis for one second. That was all he needed to kill a monkey without cursed energy.
He couldn't plan every action. Relying on instinct, Naoki chose to make contact on the eighth frame, the fastest he could move.
Yet even as he attacked, unease lingered. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Toji standing with his arms crossed, expression calm as ever. Neither brother looked concerned.
Their gaze was unsettling, as if they could see right through him.
Unsurprisingly, when he reached the eighth movement, his plan failed once more. Mukuro's speed was still just slightly faster.
There was no time to curse. Sixteen frames remained, and he had to continue.
"Twenty-four frames, right?"
Mukuro's voice sounded abruptly beside his ear, cold and mocking, like a whisper from hell. At the same time, his hand shot out, gripping the man who was just about to complete his final frame of motion.
'No...!' Naoki's pupils shrank in terror. His Projection Sorcery had been forcibly interrupted.
"Let's see if you can take this punch." Mukuro tightened his fist and drew it back, the image of his target frozen in place like he was trapped inside glass.
Bang!
The glass shattered. His fist slammed into Naoki's abdomen, the blow sending him flying through several buildings before finally coming to a stop.
"That's... the true power of the Twin Tyrants?" Chojuro, who had watched Naoki's body fly past at incredible speed, was left speechless. The strength he'd witnessed was beyond comprehension.
"Out of my way."
Mukuro wasn't in the mood to play anymore. He picked up his trident and started walking toward the direction Naoki had flown.
The weapon scraped against the ground, throwing sparks as it dragged, the sound sharp enough to make the onlookers' hair stand on end.
"Y-yes, of course!"
The seasoned old fox that he was, Chojuro immediately led the others aside, staying in a corner to watch from a safe distance.
"Any last words?" Mukuro said, lifting his trident. "I don't mind hearing your dying screams."
With blood pouring from his eyes and nose, Naoki started laughing wildly. "Last words? Hahahaha! Thank you, my dear son. Thanks to you, I've finally touched the pinnacle of my technique! The position of clan head is mine!"
That punch had nearly sent him into the afterlife. But in that moment, standing on the edge between life and death, he had finally found what he'd been chasing.
"Domain Expansion: Time Valley Night Garden!"
He crossed his index and middle fingers. A wave of darkness spread out instantly, engulfing both him and Mukuro.
"Let's see you—"
His words stopped mid-sentence.
Mukuro stood right in front of him, yet the domain's guaranteed-hit effect wouldn't activate.
"Wait... what?!"
The trident was already swinging toward him. He tried to move but with his bones shattered, his body refused to obey.
Bang!
The domain collapsed with a deafening crack.
Mukuro clapped his hands and walked out of the fading darkness. Behind him, Naoki knelt in a pool of blood, motionless.
Even in death, he couldn't understand how he'd lost the moment he reached enlightenment.
"Come on." Toji spoke up.
With Naoki dead, the brothers had no reason to stay any longer.
"I leave for a few hours and you two turn the whole clan upside down."
A familiar voice echoed suddenly.
Naobito, who was supposed to be away on a trip, had returned.
"If you want answers, ask those who are still breathing," Toji said, resting the Split Soul Katana on his shoulder. "Or if you'd rather avenge them, you can try that too."
Naobito shook his head. "They brought it upon themselves. No one else to blame."
He already knew the story from Ogi's wife. Instead of anger or pity, what he felt toward the brothers actions was closer to relief. Keeping such people around might have meant more strength for the clan, but they were parasites all the same. Someone had simply done the dirty work for him.
"Let's go," Toji said.
They passed by him without another word.
From that day on, the Zenin clan truly became Naobito's to rule. But the price had been heavy.
* * *
A few hours later, at Toji's home.
"What? You two want to change your surname to Takatsuki? Absolutely not!"
Hearing Toji's plan to abandon the Zenin name and take hers instead, Onshin firmly rejected it.
"I don't mind if you pick some other name and we all change together, but you can't take mine!"
She had plenty of friends. If word got out that her husband had taken her surname, what would they think of him? She didn't care how others saw her, but she refused to let anyone look down on him.
"Hmm... what do you think, Mukuro?" Toji looked at his younger brother, rubbing his chin.
Mukuro paused, then smiled faintly. "Let's go with Fushiguro."
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