Zen'in Clan Main Hall – Afternoon
The great hall of the Zen'in clan was steeped in a tense calm. The wooden doors stood ajar, allowing the evening breeze to caress the curtains. The elders were gathered, sitting in a circle on carefully arranged tatami mats. In front of them, on a low cedar table, lay an unfolded scroll. It was no simple document; it was the mission report of fourteen-year-old Naoya Zen'in, grandson of one of the sternest patriarchs the clan had ever had.
"Did you read it twice, Genji?" one of the elders asked, his voice raspy with age, but still full of authority.
Genji Zen'in, a bald man with piercing eyes, nodded as he rolled up the scroll.
"Three times," he replied. "And I still can't believe what he did."
"A Level 2 spirit...?" —another elder murmured, narrowing his eyes. —And he eliminated it using... a time technique that isn't documented in his bloodline?
—Not only that. He humiliated him,—Genji added. —He didn't use his domain expansion. Only a time-jumping technique. He seemed to be... experimenting.
Everyone fell silent. A few minutes later, one of the servants entered and prostrated himself.
—Forgive the interruption, sirs. The complete destruction of the spirit has been confirmed. Also... the remains were mutilated beyond recognition. They say the boy laughed as he crushed it against a broken clock in the old industrial district...
—A clock?—one of the elders asked, frowning.
—Yes. A rusty clock, stopped at 3:33. He used it as a symbolic object. He marked the scene with his cursed energy.
The elders exchanged glances. There was something deeply unsettling about that detail.
Flashback: One Week Ago – Internal Assignments Office
Naoya stood in front of the mission table, a cocky smile on his lips. He was wearing the traditional clan uniform, but he wore it with disdain: the collar loose, the sleeves rolled up.
"I want a mission," he said, arms crossed.
The manager looked at him in surprise.
"You're requesting it? I thought you'd be sent back to training."
"I'm bored. I need a challenge. Give me something... interesting. A Level 2 spirit, for example."
The manager blinked.
"Level 2? Are you crazy? You're barely 14. Those kinds of missions require a companion or direct authorization from the council."
Naoya leaned toward him, his eyes shining with a mixture of defiance and superiority.
"Who do you think I am? I'm Naoya Zen'in. If I die, you lose an heir. But if I win?" He paused, letting the tension grow. "The clan gains a weapon that can control time."
The caretaker hesitated. Then, slowly, he wrote on the scroll.
"I'll warn you only once: if you fail, the clan won't lift a finger for you."
"That's what I want," Naoya whispered. "No safety net. Just me... and the monster."
Back to the Present – Zen'in Clan Hall
"Is this what's growing inside him...?" one of the elders said quietly. "An obsession with absolute control... a cursed technique he didn't inherit, but created."
"He might be a genius," another said. "But genius without balance becomes a curse. We can't allow him to repeat Toji Fushiguro's mistakes."
"And what do you propose? Intervene?"
"No. Not yet. It's in an exploratory stage." If we intervene now, it could turn against the clan.
"So we'll watch from the shadows?"
"For now, yes. But we must record his every move. This 'time jump'... could upset the balance of the lineage."
One of the elders, Patriarch Jinsuke Zen'in, opened his eyes for the first time in the entire meeting. His voice was slow, but definitive:
"Watch. Do not interfere. He's not yet a traitor... but he's not one of us either."
Meanwhile, on the clan grounds...
Naoya trained under the shade of a tree, punching the air, disappearing for fractions of a second and reappearing a meter further away. Each blow was perfectly calculated. His eyes shone with a mixture of concentration and dark delight.
"Three-tenths of a second... No, two." I can reduce it if I synchronize the activation with the opponent's killing intent...
A young servant watched him from a distance, his skin crawling. The boy—who had been arrogant but controlled—now seemed to move with the contempt of a god looking at insects.
Naoya noticed. He turned his head and glared at him. The servant trembled.
"Do you like watching?" Naoya said unkindly.
"F-sorry, young master..."
"Next time, make sure you don't interrupt someone who can kill you before you even blink."
The servant fled, while Naoya stared at his hands and muttered,
"Time... is on my side."